August 1943

August

• 01

  • Key eventOperation Tidal WaveOn 1 August 1943 US Liberators attacked the Ploiești refineries at very low level. Nearly a third of the aircraft were lost; the damage was soon repaired.
  • Japan proclaims Burmese independenceOn 1 August 1943 Ba Maw proclaimed the independence of the State of Burma in Rangoon. Japan recognised it the same day, and Burma declared war on the Allies.
• 02

  • The Gypsy family camp at AuschwitzFrom February 1943 the Germans held whole Roma and Sinti families in section BIIe of Birkenau. About 23,000 people were sent there; most did not survive.
  • The sinking of PT-109On 2 August 1943 the Japanese destroyer Amagiri cut PT-109 in two. Its commander, John F. Kennedy, and ten survivors were rescued after six days.
• 03

  • The Patton slapping incidentsOn 3 and 10 August 1943 General George Patton struck two soldiers suffering from combat exhaustion in field hospitals in Sicily. The affair became a scandal.
• 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.
• 11

  • The Axis evacuation of SicilyOn the night of 11–12 August 1943 the Germans began Operation Lehrgang. By 17 August more than 100,000 Axis troops had crossed from Sicily to Calabria.
• 15

  • The landing on Vella LavellaOn 15 August 1943 the Americans bypassed strongly held Kolombangara and landed on weakly held Vella Lavella – the first deliberate “leapfrog” in the Solomons.
  • The landing on an empty KiskaOn 15 August 1943 more than 34,000 Americans and Canadians landed on Kiska. The Japanese had gone, but fog, mines and booby traps still killed many men.
• 16

  • Key eventThe Białystok Ghetto UprisingOn 16 August 1943 the Germans began liquidating the Białystok ghetto. Several hundred poorly armed fighters resisted; their leaders died in the ghetto.
• 17

  • The end of the fighting in SicilyOn the night of 16–17 August 1943 US patrols entered Messina, and Patton drove in that morning. After 38 days of fighting all of Sicily was in Allied hands.
  • 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.
• 19

  • The Quebec Conference and the Quebec AgreementOn 19 August 1943 in Quebec Churchill and Roosevelt signed a secret agreement on jointly building the atomic bomb. The conference also confirmed Overlord.
• 23

  • The liberation of Kharkiv in August 1943On 23 August 1943 Steppe Front troops entered Kharkiv, abandoned by the Germans. The city changed hands for the fourth and last time in the war.
• 29

  • The state of emergency in DenmarkOn 29 August 1943 Germany imposed a state of emergency in Denmark and disarmed its army. The navy scuttled most of its ships; the government ceased to act.
• 31

  • The raid on PisaOn 31 August 1943 some 150 American B-17s bombed the railway junction at Pisa. At least 952 residents were killed; the Leaning Tower survived.