Łukasz
Author
(1129)1943
January
- 16
- Iraq declares war on the AxisOn 16 January 1943 Nuri al-Said’s government declared Iraq at war with Germany, Italy and Japan from midnight, and Iraq joined the United Nations.
- RAF raids on Berlin in January 1943On the nights of 16/17 and 17/18 January 1943 RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes bombed Berlin after a 14-month gap. Damage was slight, second-night losses heavy.
February
March
- 05
- Manstein's counter-offensiveIn early March 1943 Manstein’s counter-stroke shattered the armies of the South-Western Front and the 3rd Tank Army. The SS Panzer Corps advanced on Kharkiv.
- The Battle of the Ruhr beginsDuring the night of 5–6 March 1943 the RAF bombed Essen, opening the Battle of the Ruhr. On 8–9 and 9–10 March bombers struck Nuremberg and Munich.
- 26
- Breaking the Mareth LineOn 26 March 1943 the New Zealanders and 1st Armoured Division, backed by aircraft, broke through at the Tebaga Gap. Messe’s army had to quit the Mareth Line.
- Action at the ArsenalOn 26 March 1943 scouts of the Grey Ranks Assault Groups freed Jan Bytnar “Rudy” and 20 other prisoners from the Gestapo in Warsaw.
April
May
- 16
- Key eventThe end of the Warsaw Ghetto UprisingOn 16 May 1943 Stroop blew up the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie and declared the Warsaw Ghetto at an end. His report listed 56,065 Jews “caught”.
- Operation ChastiseOn the night of 16–17 May 1943 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron breached the Möhne and Eder dams with “bouncing bombs”. The flood killed some 1,600 people.
- 24
- Key eventBlack MayIn May 1943 the U-boats lost 41–43 boats for meagre results. On 24 May Dönitz pulled them out of the North Atlantic – the turning point of the Atlantic battle.
- Mengele at AuschwitzOn 24 May 1943 Josef Mengele was posted to Auschwitz. From 30 May he was doctor of the Gypsy camp at Birkenau, conducting selections and criminal experiments.
June
July
- 05
- Key eventThe Battle of Kursk beginsOn 5 July 1943 the Germans launched Operation Citadel, attacking the Kursk salient from north and south, and ran into the Red Army’s strongest defences yet.
- The National Bands Agreement in GreeceOn 5 July 1943 ELAS joined an agreement with the British Military Mission that placed the Greek guerrillas under a joint headquarters.
August
- 05
- Sweden ends the German transit trafficOn 5 August 1943 Sweden announced it had terminated the agreement allowing German troops and war material to travel by rail between Norway and the Reich.
- The liberation of Oryol and BelgorodOn 5 August 1943 the Red Army retook Oryol and Belgorod at opposite ends of the Kursk salient. That night Moscow fired its first victory salute of the war.
- 06
- The Germans move into ItalyFrom late July 1943 one Wehrmacht division after another crossed the Alps into Italy. At Tarvisio on 6 August both allies pledged loyalty – and both lied.
- The Battle of Vella GulfOn the night of 6/7 August 1943 six US destroyers ambushed four Japanese destroyers off Kolombangara and sank three of them without suffering a single hit.
- 17
- The Schweinfurt–Regensburg raidOn 17 August 1943 376 US B-17s attacked the Schweinfurt ball-bearing plants and the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg by day. Sixty bombers did not return.
- Key eventOperation HydraOn the night of 17–18 August 1943 nearly 600 RAF bombers attacked the rocket centre at Peenemünde. About 700 people died, most of them forced labourers.
- The Azores AgreementOn 17 August 1943 Salazar, invoking the alliance of 1373, gave Britain the use of ports and airfields in the Azores. Neutral Portugal leaned towards the Allies.
September
- 03
- Operation BaytownOn 3 September 1943 the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps crossed the Strait of Messina to Calabria. The Allies were back on the mainland almost unopposed.
- The evacuation of BerlinAfter Hamburg, Goebbels urged Berliners without work in the city to leave. After raids around the turn of August and September the evacuation was accelerated.
- 04
- Bulgaria after the death of Tsar Boris IIIIn September 1943 Bulgaria buried Tsar Boris III, and a regency council took power for six-year-old Simeon II. There was not yet any war with the USSR.
- The landing at Lae and the drop on NadzabOn 4 September 1943 the Australian 9th Division landed east of Lae, and on 5 September American paratroopers seized Nadzab. Lae fell on 16 September.
- 10
- The Germans occupy RomeOn 10 September 1943, after two days of fighting by Italian troops and civilians left by their commanders, Rome capitulated to the Germans. Occupation began.
- The surrender of the Italian fleetOn 9–11 September 1943 the Italian fleet obeyed the armistice and sailed for Malta. En route German guided bombs sank the battleship Roma and Admiral Bergamini.
- 21
- The end of the fighting on New GeorgiaOn the night of 20–21 September 1943 the Japanese abandoned Arundel Island. The fighting for the New Georgia group was ending, but not the Solomons campaign.
- Key eventThe massacre of the Acqui Division on KefaloniaOn 21 September 1943 the Germans on Kefalonia began shooting surrendering men of the Italian Acqui Division. Thousands died, General Antonio Gandin among them.
- 27
- The Germans take CorfuAfter two weeks of resistance the Italian garrison on Corfu gave in. On 27 September 1943 the Germans shot its commander, Colonel Lusignani, and many officers.
- The execution of Mao ZeminLate on 27 September 1943 in Ürümqi, on Sheng Shicai's orders, Mao Zemin, Mao Zedong's brother, and the communists Chen Tanqiu and Lin Jilu were killed.
October
- 14
- Key eventBlack Thursday over SchweinfurtOn 14 October 1943, 291 American B-17s again struck the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt. Sixty bombers failed to return and some 600 airmen were missing.
- Key eventThe Sobibór uprisingOn 14 October 1943 prisoners of the Sobibór death camp killed a dozen or so SS men and guards. About 300 escaped to the forest; a few dozen survived the war.
November
- 16
- The raid on VemorkOn 16 November 1943 American bombers attacked the Vemork power station and heavy water plant and the works at Rjukan. More than 20 Norwegians were killed.
- The sinking of USS CorvinaOn the night of 16–17 November 1943 the Japanese submarine I-176 sank the surfaced American submarine USS Corvina south of Truk. 82 men were lost.