Today in
World War II History

F6F Hellcat (foreground) and SBD Dauntless aircraft on deck of carrier USS Essex, 20 March 1943 (US National Archives: 80-G-K-698)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 19, 1943: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lvov; prisoners make a mass escape attempt and a few succeed.

Lt. Hamilton McWhorter of carrier USS Essex squadron VF-9 becomes the first F6F Hellcat ace (5 victories) when his fighter downs a Japanese G4M bomber over Tarawa.

Flying Officer J.B. Burnside, Lancaster flight engineer of No.619 Squadron RAF checks settings on the control panel (Imperial War Museum: CH 12289)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 18, 1943: RAF begins Battle of Berlin, as 440 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos bomb the German capital.

Chinese retake Changde, China, from the Japanese, but will soon be besieged.

Australian soldiers from the 2/48th Battalion around Sattelberg, New Guinea, 17 November 1943 (Australian War Memorial #060601)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 17, 1943: Australians launch assault on Sattelberg, New Guinea.

First US Fifteenth Air Force heavy bomber group transfers to Italy from North Africa.

Patch of the US Fifteenth Air Force, WWII

Vemork hydroelectric plant after US air raid, Telemark, Norway, 16 Nov 1943 (Source: Norsk Hydro ASA)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 16, 1943: Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) is established with Allied forces under Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten in Delhi, India.

US Eighth Air Force bombs Rjukan and Knaben in Nazi-occupied Norway, including heavy water facilities critical for atomic bomb development.

Southeast Asia Command insignia, WWII

Soldiers of US Fifth Army battle mud in Italy, fall 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 15, 1943: Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) is established under Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory for Operation Overlord (D-day). Read more: “D-Day in the Air.”

German Adm. Karl Dönitz abandons U-boat campaign in western Atlantic.

Britain resumes Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union.

Gen. Mark Clark orders two-week halt to US offensive in Italy to allow for rest and reinforcement.

Battleship USS Iowa, Long Beach, CA, February 2018 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 14, 1943: Battleship USS Iowa, carrying President Roosevelt to Africa, is almost hit by an accidentally fired torpedo from destroyer USS William D. Porter.

Leonard Bernstein debuts as conductor of New York Philharmonic when Bruno Walter is sick.

US aircraft carrier deck crewman resting between aircraft landings, off Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, Nov 1943 (US National Archives: 80-G-211064)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 13, 1943: US Seventh Air Force and US Navy Task Force 57 carrier aircraft begin pre-invasion bombing of Tarawa, Makin, and Betio in Gilbert Islands.

French Resistance attacks ball-bearing plant at Annecy.

US 3rd Bomb Group bombers attacking Haguro and other ships in Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, New Britain, 2 Nov 1943 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 95559)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 12, 1943: Japanese bomb Parap, Adelaide River, and Batchelor Airfield in final air raid on Australia.

French proclaim martial law in Lebanon after Lebanese unilaterally amend constitution to end French mandate (on Nov. 8).

After previous day’s Allied air raid, Japanese remove aircraft carriers from Rabaul, essentially neutralizing their major air and sea base in the Solomon Islands.

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, 1943-45 (US Navy photo)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 11, 1943: US Navy carrier aircraft & land-based aircraft, plus bombers of the US Fifth & Thirteenth Air Forces and the Royal Australian Air Force (total of over 300 aircraft), make a major raid on the Japanese base at Rabaul, destroying 55 aircraft.

In Rabaul raid, US Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver makes its combat debut.

US Eighth Air Force activates “Carpetbagger” squadrons to deliver supplies to resistance members in Nazi-occupied Europe.

US Navy poster with quote from Adm. Alan Kirk, 1944 (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—Nov. 10, 1943: Soviets break through German lines at Gomel, Byelorussia.

Rear Adm. Alan Kirk assumes command of Western Naval Task Force (US Task Force 122), over US naval forces for Operation Overlord (D-day).