Third Reich
Tag
(378)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
April
- 07
- The Hitler–Mussolini meeting at KlessheimOn 7–10 April 1943 Hitler hosted a sick and dispirited Mussolini at Klessheim Palace near Salzburg. The Duce failed to press through a peace with the USSR.
- Bolivia declares war on the AxisOn 7 April 1943 President Enrique Peñaranda decreed that Bolivia was at war with Germany, Italy and Japan. The country supplied the Allies with tin.
- 15
- Finland and peace with the USSRIn April 1943 Finland turned down an American offer to mediate peace talks with the USSR and announced it would continue its “defensive war”.
- The raids on Stuttgart and PilsenOn the night of 14–15 April 1943 the RAF bombed Stuttgart. Two nights later a raid on the Škoda works at Pilsen missed its target, and 36 bombers were lost.
May
June
July
August
- 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.