Posted on 09/15/2013 6:15:17 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Tanks Lash Allies (Bracker) – 2
Gen. Clark Went Ashore in Italy (by Reynolds Packard, first-time contributor) – 3
Nazis Say Mussolini was Captive on Peak; Berlin Embroiders its ‘Liberation’ Report – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Along the Salerno Front with Our Fighting Men of the Fifth Army (photos) – 4-6
London is Anxious (Middleton) – 7-8
Germans Claim ‘Dunkerque’ on Beachheads at Salerno – 8
German Troops Enter Vatican City after Battles in Streets of Rome – 9
Part of City Taken – 10-11
Japanese Routed Fleeing Salamaua – 11
American Paratroopers Stalk Foe in High Jungle Grass outside Lae (Kluckhohn) – 12
A Mud Bath Not Suggested for Beauty Seekers (photo) – 12
Draft of Fathers Opposed by Public (Gallup) – 14
Canada Explains Cut in Home Army (Philip) – 14
Disbanding in Canada (by Arthur Krock) – 15
Climax Near at Salerno (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 16
Red Cross On Job in Salerno Area – 16
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 17-18
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/sep1943/f15sep43.htm
Salerno beachhead being reinforced
Wednesday, September 15, 1943 www.onwar.com
Supplies brought ashore on the Salerno beachhead [photo at link]
In Italy... On the Salerno beachhead there is a lull in the fighting. German forces are regrouping. They have assembled the equivalent of 4 divisions with as many as 100 tanks. The US 5th Army now has 7 Allied divisions and about 200 tanks ashore. In a morning inspection of the beachhead, Alexander decides to replace General Dawley, commanding the US 6th Corps. To the south, the British 8th Army is advancing. A group of war correspondents manages to drive from beyond the British 8th Army frontline and makes contact with US 5th Army on the Salerno beachhead. Meanwhile the island of Procida in Naples Bay is captured by Allied forces.
In Occupied Italy... Mussolini proclaims the resumption of his authority.
In New Guinea... Australian forces cross the Busu River in force and build bridges. The front is now less than 2 miles from Lae.
In the Mediterranean... In the Aegean Sea, the island of Cos is occupied by British paratroops and a squadron of Spitfires is flown in.
On the Eastern Front... Soviet General Rokossovsky’s forces capture Nezhin, on the rail line from Konotop to Kiev. North of Bryansk, German forces are pushed out Dyatkovo.
In Occupied Greece... At Cephalonia, the Italian “Acqui” Division resists German forces seeking to disarm it.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/15.htm
September 15th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
An RAF Lancaster of No. 617 Squadron drops the first 12,000-lb bomb on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. (22)
The US Eighth Air Force’s VIII Bomber Command flies 2 missions with the loss of 6 bombers.
- Mission 95, in 3 forces, is flown against aviation facilities in France.
(1) 87 B-17s attack the Romilly-sur-Seine air depot at 1848-1850 hours.
(2) 139 B-17s attack three targets; 40 hit the Caudron-Renault industrial area in Paris at 1855 hours, 21 hit the Billancourt-Renault works at 1854 hours, and 78 hit the Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine works in Paris; they claim 12-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17’s are lost.
(3) 47 B-24s hit Chartres Airfield at 1904-1911 hours; they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 is lost.
- Mission 96: 5 B-17s join the RAF in a night attack on the Dunlop factory at Montlucon, France.
The US Eighth Air Force’s VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 58 against 2 airfields in France without loss.
(1) 72 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to Nord Airfield at Lille but the mission is aborted due to weather.
(2) 68 B-26Bs hit Merville Airfield at 1745 and 1748 hours.
Minesweeper HMS Friendship commissioned.
Frigate HMS Nadder launched.
Submarine HMS Vivid launched.
Frigate HMS Spragge laid down.
FRANCE: During the night of 15/16 September, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 369 aircraft,
209 Halifaxes, 120 Stirlings, 40 Lancasters, to attack the Dunlop tire and rubber plant at Montlucon. Five USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses also took part. This is a moonlit raid and the Pathfinders marked the target accurately and the Master Bomber brought the Main Force in well to carry out some accurate bombing. Every building in the factory is hit and a large fire is started. Three aircraft are lost.
GERMANY: The 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) Blockbuster bomb is used for the first time, when eight Lancasters of RAF Bomber Command took off to carry out the postponed raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal but the area is misty and five of the six aircraft attacking are lost. These heavy losses, and the losses of the Dams Raid, confirmed that low-level attacks on German targets, even when away from major defended areas, are not viable with heavy bombers and this type of operation is not repeated. Meanwhile, seven Mosquitos bombed Berlin without loss.
U-1162 commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Continuing toward Kiev, Soviet troops of the 1st Byelorussian Front under the command of General Konstantin Rokossovskii capture Nezhin. To the north, the Soviet Army opens a strong offensive against Smolensk. Dyatkovo is evacuated by the Germans. The Germans admit the loss of Bryansk.
ITALY: US Ninth Air Force B-24s hit a marshalling yard at Potenza and attack railroads and warehouses in the areas around Potenza, Altamura, Gravina di Puglia, and Matera.
US Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb highways and a railroad at Torre del Greco while B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit highways and road junctions at or near Torre Annunziata, Battipaglia, Eboli, Serre, Auletta, and Polla. The US XII Air Support Command and other Northwest African Tactical Air Force elements attack buildings, railroads, highways and motor transport in support of US Fifth Army as German counterattacks astride Sele River subside. British Eighth Army forces reach Saptri, threatening the enemy with entrapment between US and British forces.
During the night of 15/16 September, 123 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway at Pompeii.
At Salerno the counterattack by the Germans is halted for them to regroup. HMS Valiant and Warspite join the warships offshore in their bombardment of German positions.
General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, replaces General Dawley of the British VI Corps.
The British 8th Army continues its advance. Forward elements of the British 5th Division, attempting to contact the U.S. VI Corps, reach Sapri. The Germans are threatened with entrapment by the British Eighth Army and the U.S. Fifth Army. .
Procida in Naples Bay is captured by the Allies.
Salo: Supporters of Mussolini form a Fascist republican rival government to the Pietro Badoglio administration.
GREECE: British paratroops occupy the island of Kos in the Dodecanese and a squadron of Spitfires is flown in.
Kos: Much to the disapproval of their American allies, British troops have landed on this Dodecanese island only a mile from the Turkish coast. The 5,000-strong Italian garrison is fighting with them. Such is the low priority given to this operation that General Eisenhower refused the use of landing craft, and Britain’s Special Boat Squadron was forced to requisition Greek fishing caiques to land in Kos.
The SBS was joined by 120 men of the 11th Parachute Battalion dropped from Dakotas, before the main body of troops, the 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry, flew in. The British and their Italian allies have been under continual attack from the Luftwaffe, and troops from a Dakota have been interned in Turkey after the aircraft was forced down on the sea by a Messerschmitt. Hitler has diverted aircraft from all parts of the Mediterranean to the Dodecanese. Eisenhower, on the other hand, has ruled that the Aegean “campaign” as no more than a British side-show.
CHINA: Chiang Kai-shek demands the recall of General Stilwell, who asked Chiang to join the Communists against the Japanese, complaining that Stilwell does not understand the realities of China.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: 5 US Fourteenth Air Force B-24s attack a cement plant at Haiphong; 50+ Japanese fighters attack the B-24’s, shooting down 4 of them; the 1 returning B-24 claims 10 fighters downed.
NEW GUINEA: The Australians of the 7th and 9th Divisions have pushed the front lines to within two miles of Lae.
By dusk, the 7th Division, advancing from the west, is 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Lae and the 9th Division is a little over one mile (1,6 kilometers) east of Lae Aerodrome, the airfield Amelia Earhart took off from in 1937 en route to Howland Island.
US Fifth Air Force B-24s, with P-38 escort, bomb airfields in the Wewak area, destroying 10 enemy aircraft on the ground; 14 more are claimed destroyed in air combat. B-17s bomb the Lae area; and B-25s sink about 15 barges between Alexishafen and Finschhafen, blast an ammunition and supply dump near Bogadjim, and attack AA positions at Bostrem Bay.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island and Kahili and Kara airfields on Bougainville Island. B-24s, with fighter escort, later pound the Kahili runway area; others hit Parapatu Point on New Georgia Island. During the night, B-25s hit Kahili Airfield twice and heavy bombers bomb airfields on Buka and Ballale Islands. Ballale Airfield is also hit by USN SBD Dauntlesses, supported by USAAF, USN and USMC fighters; a bivouac area, revetments, supply dumps and gun positions are hit; the runway appears badly damaged by the strikes.
A PBY-5 Catalina of USN Patrol Squadron Twenty Three (VP-23), based in the Florida Islands, spots a submarine southeast 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of San Cristobal Island. The destroyer USS Saufley (DD-465) assists in sinking the Japanese submarine RO-101; all 50 submarines are lost.
GILBERT ISLANDS: Aircraft of USN Task Force 15 attack Tarawa, Makin, and Abemama to decrease Japanese pressure on the Ellice Islands and provide operational training. During the attack on Tarawa, TBF Avengerss, SBD Dauntlesses, and F6F Hellcats from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16), and small aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVL 23) and Belleau Wood (CVL 24) sink Japanese motor torpedo boats Gyoraitei and Gyoraitei No. 3.
AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief South West Pacific Area, orders the New Guinea Force (all Allied ground forces in New Guinea) to capture Kaiapit and Dumpu in Northeast New Guinea with assistance from RAAF and USAAF aircraft.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS Haddock (SS-231) sinks a Japanese collier north of Truk Island in the Caroline Islands.
CANADA: Tug HMCS Beaverton launched.
Loch or River Class frigates ordered for RCN but cancelled by Dec/43 - Canadian Vickers Ltd, Montreal Province of Quebec: HMCS Alexandria, Alvington, Henryville and 9 un-named. Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd. Quebec City, Province of Quebec: 2 un-named. Yarrows Ltd Esquimalt, British Columbia: 8 un-named. Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co. Lauzon, Province of Quebec: HMCS Lingabar, St Edouard, Shipton, St Agathe, Westbury and 2 un-named.
U.S.A.: T.V. Soong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., presents a plan to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the reorganization of the China theater in such a way as to eliminate American Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander of the U.S. China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander of the Northern Area Combat Command in Burma. Stilwell had asked Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek to join the Communists against the Japanese, and Chiang complains that Stilwell does not understand the realities of China.
French Patrol Squadron One (VFP-1), manned by Free French naval personnel trained under U. S. Navy control, was established at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia.
American Airlines DC-3-401, msn 4803, registered NC-33657, crashes at Dallas Texas.
Destroyer escort USS Pennewill commissioned.
Escort carrier USS Wake Island launched.
Submarine USS Pintado launched.
Minesweepers USS Prime and Prowess laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Eversole and Dennis laid down.
Escort carrier USS Marcus Island laid down.
I see on p14 that Churchill’s popularity reached a new high. With the war now moving in the right direction, one would think he’ll be reelected in a landslide.
The p12 photo looks to me a little more like an optical rangefinder than a gun?
They might gain some ground temporarily bit don’t get used to it1
I do not recognize it but the photo quality is poor. It does appear to have “kill rings” on the barrel, claiming the number of combat kills. I would associate that with a gun.
U.S. 90mm AA gun.
The doohickey in the Times photo looks to me more like the height finder than the guns. Maybe they claimed credit for the kills of the whole battery because of their crucial contribution.
Good find on those photos. I agree that the picture in the Times is of the height finder. I agree with Homer that the battery was probably claiming a kill as a unit.
The link below has some good information about the 90mm AA gun and it’s use:
http://www.antiaircraft.org/90mm.htm
Britain had a national unity government in which all parties participated. I believe Parliament suspended elections until after the War.
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