Recruiting poster for RAF Bomber Command, WWII
75 Years Ago—Oct. 18, 1943: Germans send first Roman Jews to Auschwitz; of 1200 Jews arrested in Rome, only 16 will survive the war.
On a mission to Hannover, Germany, RAF Bomber Command suffers its 5000th loss out of 144,500 sorties, 3.5% loss rate.
“Bridge over the River Kwai” by Leo Rawlings, depicting four prisoners of war building bridge on Burma Railway, 1943 (Imperial War Museum)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 17, 1943: Japanese complete Burma-Siam “Death Railway,” 93,000 Allied POWs and natives were killed in its construction.
Germans begin evacuating art from the Abbey of Monte Cassino to the Vatican for protection as the Allies approach; most of the monks, nuns, orphans, schoolchildren, and refugees go to Rome as well.
Last German auxiliary cruiser in Pacific, Michel, sunk by sub USS Tarpon off Chichi Jima.
German troops unloading art treasures from the Abbey at Monte Cassino in the Vatican for protection, late 1943 (German Federal Archive: Bild 101I-729-0003-13)
Patch of the US Ninth Air Force, WWII
75 Years Ago—Oct. 16, 1943: After transfer from Italy, US Ninth Air Force is re-formed as a tactical force at Sunninghill, England under Lt. Gen. Lewis Brereton (Eighth Air Force to be a strategic force).
US-built Lend-Lease destroyer escorts, transferred to the Royal Navy (which calls them frigates), enter combat for the first time, escorting an Allied North Atlantic convoy.
Italian Air Force begins to fly with Allies in Italy.
New song in Top Ten: “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old.”
Portrait of Gen. William Slim and the badge of the Fourteenth Army, 1945 (public domain via National Archives, United Kingdom)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 15, 1943: British Fourteenth Army activated in India under Lt. Gen. Sir William Slim.
Map showing US Eighth Air Force mission to Schweinfurt, Germany, 14 October 1943 (Source: US Air Force)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 14, 1943: Schweinfurt mission: US Eighth Air Force sends 291 B-17s (plus 29 B-24s flying a diversion) to bomb ball-bearings plant at Schweinfurt, Germany, 60 B-17s lost; heavy losses lead to temporary suspension of daytime bombing without fighter escort.
Luftwaffe Oberleutnant Walter Nowotny becomes the first fighter pilot in the world with 250 victories.
Prisoners at Sobibor concentration camp destroy extermination facilities; 350 escape, 100 are recaptured, about 50 join partisans.
US self-propelled 105-mm howitzer on a pontoon treadway bridge at the Volturno River, Italy, 1943 (US Army Center for Military History)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 13, 1943: US Fifth Army crosses Volturno River in Italy, securing beachhead and valley.
Italy declares war on Germany.
Low-flying US bombers dropping parachute bombs on Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul, 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 12, 1943: Portugal allows Allies to use air and naval bases in the Azores.
US Fifth Air Force & Royal Australian Air Force begin major assault on Rabaul, New Britain, key to Japan’s South Pacific defense; 349 bombers strike, sinking 5 ships.
Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, September 1942 (US Navy photo)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 11, 1943: Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher succeeds Thomas Kinkaid over North Pacific Area.
World Series concludes: New York Yankees defeat St. Louis Cardinals four games to one.
Members of Spanish Blue Division fighting for Germany near Leningrad, 1943 (public domain via Wikipedia)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 10, 1943: Gen. Franco of Spain orders “Blue” Division of Spanish volunteers serving in German army back to Spain; a few thousand disobey and remain.
A German time bomb in Naples kills 23 US combat engineers.
B-17F of US 94th Bomb Group over Marienburg, Germany, 9 October 1943 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—Oct. 9, 1943: US Eighth Air Force sends 378 B-17 and B-24 bombers to bomb Marienburg, Anklam, Danzig, and Gdynia—their longest mission to date, which allows them to surprise the Germans.
“Sundin’s craft is inimitable, and her literary finesse radiates from every page.”—Booklist starred review for The Sound of Light