Today in World War II History—January 15, 1943
Andrée de Jongh after visiting Buckingham Palace to receive the George Medal for rescuing Allied airmen, February 1946 (Imperial War Museum: HU 55451)
80 Years Ago—Jan. 15, 1943: British Eighth Army under Montgomery begins offensive at Buerat, Libya, against the Germans.
In the Solomons, US Navy, Marine Corps, and Thirteenth Air Force aircraft attack Japanese destroyers and shoot down 38 Japanese aircraft.
Over Guadalcanal, USMC F4F pilot Capt. Joseph Foss downs 3 aircraft, a total of 26 in 44 days, an unsurpassed US record in WWII; he receives the Medal of Honor.
In the Pyrenees, the Germans arrest Andrée de Jongh, Belgian founder of the Comet escape line, which helped Allied airmen escape from Nazi-occupied Belgium across the Pyrenees into Spain; she will survive the war in a concentration camp.
US Navy or USMC SBD Dauntless dive-bombers on mission in the Solomon Islands, early 1943 (US Navy photo)
