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1943 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events
1943 Aviation Records
Speed: 623.85-mph (Nazi Germany) Heini Dittmar, Messerschmitt Me.163A “Komet”, October 2, 1941. [3]
Distance: 8,038-miles (Italy) Tondi, Degasso, Vignoli, Savoia-Marchetti “S.M.75”, August 1, 1939. [3]
Altitude: 56,046-feet (Italy) Mario Pezzi, “Caproni 161bis”, October 22, 1938. [3]
Weight: 166,447-lbs (Nazi Germany), Junkers, “Ju.390”.[3]
Engine Power: 3,748-lbs thrust (Nazi Germany), Walter HWK, “109-509 A-2”.[3]
1943
1943 (Japan) — Watanabe Iron Works transfers its aircraft manufacturing business to a new subsidiary, the Kyushu Airplane Company Ltd. [1]
January 1943
January 6, 1943 (Guadacanal) — Firing at a Japanese Aichi D3A “Val” south of Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) claims the first hit on an enemy aircraft by antiaircraft ammunition employing the Mark 32 VT proximity fuse. [1]
January 13, 1943 (New Caledonia) — The United States Army Air Forces activate the Thirteenth Air Force in New Caledonia. [1]
January 14-15 (overnight), 1943 (France) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command begins an area-bombing campaign against ports in France in an effort to attack German submarines and their bases there. [1]
January 16-17 (overnight), 1943 (Berlin, Germany) — British bombing accuracy is poor in a raid on Berlin, which is beyond the range of the “Gee” and “Oboe” navigation aids. British bomber losses are small. [1]
January 17-18 (overnight), 1943 (Berlin, Germany) — 188 British bombers attack Berlin, with poor accuracy. The Germans expect a return visit to Berlin and put up a better defense; the British lose 22 bombers, a very high 11.8 percent loss rate. [1]
January 21, 1943 (Ukiah, California) — The Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Rear Admiral Robert H. English, and all 18 others aboard are killed in the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 1104, a Martin M-130 flying boat, into a mountain near Ukiah, California. [1]
January 24-25, 1943 (Barents Sea) — German aircraft attack Convoy JW-52 while it is en route the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union via the Barents Sea but cause no damage. [1]
January 27, 1943 (Germany) — The U.S. Army Air Forces make their first daylight bombing raid on Germany. [1]
January 27-28, 1943 (Germany) — For the first time, Oboe-equipped British “Mosquitos” leading the way for a British raid on Düsseldorf drop ground markers rather than sky markers to guide follow-on Pathfinder aircraft, clearly improving British night-bombing accuracy over that experienced before. [1]
January 28, 1943 (New Guinea) — In a vital operation, Douglas C-47 “Dakota” transports fly 57 sorties under Japanese fire to drop to Australian battalions on the besieged town of Wau. [3]
January 29-30, 1943 (Guadacanal) — In the last naval battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of Rennell Island, Japanese land-based Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” torpedo bombers attack a U.S. convoy bound for Guadalcanal while it is steaming east of Rennell Island in the southeastern Solomon Islands. They sink the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29). [1]
January 30, 1943 (Berlin, Germany) — Royal Air Force de Havilland “Mosquitos” make the first daylight air raid on Berlin. [1]
January 30, 1943 (Germany) — Construction of the incomplete and much-delayed German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin is halted for the last time. [1]
January 30, 1943 (Berlin, Germany) — In the RAF's first daylight raid on the German capital, de Havilland “Mosquito” bombers of 105 and 139 Squadrons attack the radio station and succeed in holding up a broadcast by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels for more than an hour. [3]
January 30-31 (overnight), 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — In a raid on Hamburg, Germany, Royal Air Force bombers use the H2S radar for navigation operationally for the first time. [1]
February 1943
February 3, 1943 (Germany) — While shooting down a British “Halifax” bomber, German night fighter ace Reinhold Knacke is himself shot down and killed by one of the “Halifax's” gunners. The first of three out of Germany's top four night fighter aces to die during the month, his score stands at 44, all at night, when he is killed. [1]
February 3-4 (overnight), 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — 263 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany; 16 are shot down, mostly by Messerschmitt Bf.110 night fighters of “Nachtjagdgeschwader 1”. [1]
February 4, 1943 (Great Britain) — The Casablanca directive directs the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces to accomplish the “progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial, and economic system and the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened.” It also establishes bombing priorities, notably including German submarine construction yards and oil plants and the German aircraft industry and transportation system. [1]
February 6-15, 1943 (Bay of Biscay) — Royal Air Force Coastal Command and the U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command carry out “Operation Gondola” over the Bay of Biscay to test the theory that every German submarine transiting an interdicted area could be attacked at least once by Allied aircraft if they flew in sufficient numbers day and night. Aircraft of the two commands fly a combined 2,260 flight hours during the operation. [1]
February 10, 1943 (North Atlantic) — A U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command B-24D “Liberator” sinks a German submarine, apparently U-519 in the North Atlantic Ocean, the first submarine sunk by the command. [1]
February 13, 1943 (Solomon Islands) — The Vought F4U “Corsair” naval fighter makes its operational debut, escorting PB4Y “Liberators” (U.S. Navy's version of the B-24) raiding Bougainville. [1,3]
February 14, 1943 (South Pacific) — The first combat action of the F4U “Corsair” occurs, when 50 Imperial Japanese Navy A6M “Zero” fighters attack a formation of American bombers and their escorting fighters. In what the Americans call the “St. Valentine's Day Massacre,” the Japanese shoot down two U.S. Marine Corps “Corsairs” and eight U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft - two P-40s, four P-38s, and two B-24s - losing three “Zeroes” in exchange. [1]
February 15, 1943 (Scotland/USSR) — Convoy JW-53 departs Loch Ewe, Scotland, for the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union. The British aircraft HMS Dasher escorts it, but must turn Back after only two days due to damage incurred during bad weather. No aircraft carrier escorts an Arctic convoy again until February 1944. [1]
February 18, 1943 (Seattle, Washington) — The second completed Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” heavy bomber catches fire in the air and crashes into a building just north of Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, killing all ten aboard the plane - including famed Boeing test pilot Edmund “Eddie” Allen - and 19 or 20 people on the ground. [1,3]
February 19, 1943 (Washington, DC) — Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest J. King places the responsibility for the development of the helicopter in the United States Department of the Navy under the United States Coast Guard. [1]
February 24, 1943 (Germany) — The second of three top German night fighter aces to die during the month, Paul Gildner, is killed in a crash after an electrical failure aboard his Messerschmitt Bf.110. Like Reinhold Knacke, who died earlier in the month, he has 44 night victories when he dies; his overall score is 48 kills. [1]
February 25-26, 1943 (Scotland/USSR) — German aircraft attack Convoy JW-53 during its voyage from Loch Ewe, Scotland, to Molotovsk in the Soviet Union via the Barents Sea, causing no damage. [1]
February 26, 1943 (North Sea) — German night fighter ace Ludwig Becker is shot down and killed over the North Sea during a daytime mission against U.S. Army Eighth Air Force B-17 “Flying Fortress” bombers, the third of three top German night aces to die during the month. Like Reinhold Knacke and Paul Gildner, his night score stands at 44 when he dies; he is credited with 46 kills overall. The three men had been the second-, third-, and fourth-ranking German night aces. [1]
March 1943
March, 1943 (Japan) — The Aichi Clock and Electric Company Ltd. forms a separate firm, Aichi Aircraft Company, to take over its aircraft and aircraft engine business. [1]
March 1, 1943 (Germany/Italy) — Since January 14, Royal Air Force Bomber Command has launched major raids on Wilhelmshaven four times, Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg three times each, and Bremen, Düsseldorf, and Nuremberg once each, as well as on Milan and Turin. [1]
March 1-2, 1943 (France) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command flies the last raid of its early 1943 campaign against German submarines and their bases in France. It has attacked Lorient nine times and Brest once since the start of the campaign on January 14, but found German submarine pens impervious to its bombs. The raids have caused much damage to the French cities and their residents.
March 1-4, 1943 (Bismarck Sea) — Battle of the Bismarck Sea. [2]
March 2-5, 1943 (Bismarck Sea) — In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, U.S. Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft attack a convoy of eight Japanese cargo ships escorted by eight destroyers carrying troops from Rabaul, New Britain, to Lae, New Guinea, as it transits an unnamed body of water soon to be named the Bismarck Sea. For the loss of five aircraft, they sink all eight cargo ships and four of the destroyers, damage the other four destroyers, and shoot down 20 to 30 Japanese fighters attempting to provide air defense. About 3,000 Japanese troops are killed. [1,2,3]
March 5, 1943 (Scotland/USSR) — Twelve German Heinkel He.111 bombers attack Convoy RA-53 during its voyage from Murmansk in the Soviet Union to Loch Ewe, Scotland, but cause no damage. [1]
March 5, 1943 (North Atlantic) — In the North Atlantic Ocean, the first U.S. Navy antisubmarine hunter-killer group begins combat operations, centered around the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) and the aircraft of Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9) embarked aboard her. [1]
March 5, 1943 (Gloucestershire, England) — The prototype Gloster “Meteor” twin-jet fighter flies for the first time. [3]
March 5-6 (overnight), 1943 (Germany) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command begins a bombing campaign against the Ruhr area of Germany with an Oboe-marked raid on Essen. Known as the “Battle of the Ruhr”, it will last until mid-July. The first raid destroys 53 buildings in the Krupp complex and destroys 160 acres (64.8 hectares) of Essen. [1]
March 10, 1943 (China) — The United States 14th Air Force is activated under the command of former “Flying Tigers” chief Major-General Claire L. Chennault. [1,3]
March 10, 1943 (France) — The first combat mission of the U.S. Army Air Forces Republic P-47 “Thunderbolt” takes place, a fighter sweep by England-based 4th Fighter Group P-47 “Thunderbolts” over France. They encounter no enemy aircraft. [1]
March 12-13 (overnight), 1943 (Essen, Germany) — The second Royal Air Force Bomber Command raid on Essen during the Battle of the Ruhr is even more destructive than the first one of March 5-6. [1]
March 13, 1943 (United States) — Consolidated Aircraft merges with Vultee Aircraft to form the Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation (Convair). The company, which numbers 100,000 employees, plans to manufacture more than 10,400 aircraft this year. [1,3]
March 19, 1943 (Washington, DC) — Lt. General Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the AAF, advanced to full four-star general, the first in air history. [2]
March 20, 1943 (Bougainville) — During the evening, aircraft drop naval mines for the first time in the Pacific, when 42 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps TBF “Avengers” from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, mine the harbor at Kahili, Bougainville, during a diversionary raid on Kahili Airfield by 18 U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 “Flying Fortressess”. The following evening, 40 “Avengers” carry out another mining operation at Kahili during a diversionary raid by 21 U.S. Army Air Forces bombers on the airfield. [1]
March 27, 1943 (Isle of Arran) — The British escort aircraft carrier HMS Dasher suffers a massive accidental internal explosion and sinks off the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, killing 379. There are 149 survivors. [1]
March 28, 1943 (Oro Bay, New Guinea) — 57 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft - 18 Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers and 37 Mitsubishi A6M “Zeros” - attack Allied shipping in Oro Bay off New Guinea, sinking a United States Army transport and a Dutch merchant ship. [1]
March 31, 1943 (Germany) — Since January 1, Royal Air Force Bomber Command has flown 12,760 sorties and lost 348 bombers, a 2.7 percent loss rate. German night fighters have shot down 201 of the bombers. [1]
April 1943
April, 1943 (Australia/Ceylon) — Qantas Empire Airways begins the longest scheduled nonstop airline service in history, a 28-hour flight between Perth, Australia, and Ceylon using PBY “Catalina” flying boats which becomes known as the “Double Sunrise Route” because passengers and crew see two sunrises during the journey. Each flight can carry up to three passengers, who are advised that the flight can take as little as 24 hours or as long as 32 hours. [1]
April 1, 1943 (Cambridgeshire, England) — N°1409 (Meteorological) Flight RAF is formed for long-range weather reconnaissance duties for Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force. [3]
April 1, 1943 (Solomon Islands/New Guinea) — The Imperial Japanese Navy begins the “I Operation”, a land-based air offensive over the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, with a fighter sweep by 58 Japanese Mitsubishi A6M “Zeroes” from Rabaul down New Georgia Sound toward Guadalcanal. Over the Russell Islands, 41 U.S. F4F “Wildcats”, F4U “Corsairs”, and P-38 “Lightnings” intercept them. The Japanese lose 18 “Zeros” in exchange for six American fighters. [1]
April 1-2, 1943 (South Pacific) — U.S. Army Fifth Air Force bombers attack a Japanese convoy bound for Kavieng, sinking a merchant ship and damaging the heavy cruiser Aoba and a destroyer. Aoba is never again capable of steaming at maximum speed. [1]
April 8, 1943 (Ironbottom Sound, Guadacanal/Tulagi) — 177 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft, 1943 - 67 Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers escorted by 110 “Zeroes” conduct the largest Japanese air attack since the attack on Pearl Harbor, targeting U.S. shipping in Ironbottom Sound off Guadalcanal and Tulagi. They sink a U.S. destroyer, a New Zealand corvette, and a U.S. tanker. Seventy-six U.S. fighters intercept the Japanese, losing seven of their number while shooting down 12 “Vals” and an estimated 27 “Zeroes”. U.S. Marine Corps Reserve First Lieutenant James E. Swett shoots down seven Japanese aircraft, all “Vals”, during his flight. [1]
April 11, 1943 (Oro Bay, New Guinea) — 94 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft, 22 Aichi D3A “Vals” and 72 Mitsubishi A6M “Zeroes”, attack Allied shipping at Oro Bay off New Guinea, sinking a merchant ship and damaging a merchant ship and a minesweeper. The 50 Allied fighters based at Dobodura, New Guinea, intercept the Japanese, shooting down six Japanese planes without loss to themselves. [1]
April 12, 1943 (South Pacific) — The Japanese conduct their largest air raid in the Southwest Pacific thus far in World War II, with 174 planes, 131 fighters and 43 medium bombers, attacking Port Moresby, New Guinea. The raid causes little damage, and the 44 Allied fighters that intercept the Japanese shoot down five aircraft, all fighters, for the loss of two of their own. [1]
April 14, 1943 (Milne Bay, New Guinea) — 188 Japanese planes from Rabaul raid Milne Bay, New Guinea, destroying one merchant ship and damaging others. Twenty-four Royal Australian Air Force Curtiss “Kittyhawk” fighters intercept them, shooting down seven Japanese aircraft in exchange for three “Kittyhawks”. [1]
April 14, 1943 (North Atlantic) — MV Empire MacAlpine enters service as the first British Merchant Aircraft Carrier, or “MAC-ship.” Each of the 19 MAC-ships ultimately placed in service is a bulk cargo ship or tanker which continues to carry cargo while equipped with a full-length flight deck. Steaming within convoys, MAC-ships each operate three or four “Swordfish” aircraft for antisubmarine patrols. Although no MAC-ship's aircraft ever sink a German submarine, no convoy containing a MAC-ship ever loses a ship, and none of the MAC ships are lost. [1]
April 15, 1943 (North Africa) — “Operation Flax” is put into effect, the systematic targeting by Allied fighter pilots of Luftwaffe transport aircraft bound for North Africa. [1]
April 15, 1943 (France) — The first encounter of the U.S. Army Air Forces P-47 “Thunderbolt” fighters with enemy fighters occurs, as 335th Fighter Squadron P-47C “Thunderbolts” shoot down three German fighters in exchange for a loss of three P-47C “Thunderbolts”. [1]
April 16, 1943 (South Pacific) — Believing they had sunk a cruiser, two destroyers, and 25 transports and shot down 175 Allied aircraft, the Japanese end the “I Operation” air offensive. Actual Allied losses have been one destroyer, one tanker, one corvette, and two cargo ships sunk and about 25 planes shot down. [1]
April 18, 1943 (Bougainville) — Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, is killed when the Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” in which he is riding as a passenger (T1-323), is ambushed and shot down by U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters over Bougainville in “Operation Vengeance.” The attacking Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters also shoot down an accompanying “Betty” critically injuring Yamamoto's chief of staff, Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki and three out of six “Zero” fighters escorting them. One Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” is shot down. [1]
April 21, 1943 (Germany) — The RAF bombs Stettin, Rostock and Berlin to mark Adolf Hitler's 54th birthday. [3]
April 26-27 (overnight), 1943 (Great Britain) — The British employ “Ground Grocer”, the first device capable of jamming the airborne “Lichtenstein” radar employed by German night fighters. Ground-based, “Ground Grocer's” range is limited by the curvature of the earth, placing most German night fighter operations below its coverage. [1]
April 29, 1843, 1943 (Kent, England) — Barnes Wallis's experimental “bouncing bomb” is successfully tested at Reculver; the normally reserved Wallis is so overjoyed he dances in the rain. [3]
May 1943
May 1943 (Germany) — Oberleutnant Rudolf Schoenert, piloting a Messerschmitt Bf.110 night fighter, uses “Schräge Musik” (“Jazz Music”), automatic cannon mounted to fire obliquely upward and forward to shoot down an enemy bomber for the first time. Officially adopted by the Luftwaffe in June, “Schräge Musik” will become a devastating German anti-bomber during the second half of 1943. [1]
May 1943 (Brooklyn, New York) — The United States Department of the Navy begins development of the helicopter as an antisubmarine warfare platform, with the United States Coast Guard leading the effort at Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York. [1]
May 7, 1943 (Long Island Sound, New York) — The United States Navy concludes tests into the feasibility of helicopter operations at sea, in which Colonel Frank Gregory has made many take-offs and landings in a Sikorsky XR-4 aboard the tanker Bunker Hill. [3]
May 8, 1943 (Guadacanal) — A 60-plane U.S. strike from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, sinks two Japanese destroyers and badly damages a third off Kolombangara. [1]
May 8, 1943 (Pantelleria, Italy) — Allied aircraft begin a bombing campaign against Pantelleria, the first of 5,285 sorties they will fly against the island before it is invaded on June 11. [1]
May 9, 1943 (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) — A Junkers Ju.88R night fighter lands, delivering a working FuG 202 “Liechtenstein” radar set; the German crew appears to have come over to the Allies. [1,3]
May 17-18, 1943 (Germany) — Specially modified RAF Avro “Lancasters” of 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, make the “Dambusters” raids on the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams. [1]
May 19, 1943 (England) — The B-17F “Flying Fortress “Memphis Belle” returns to England from a raid on Kiel, Germany, becoming the first American heavy bomber to complete 25 missions with its crew intact. “Memphis Belle” and her crew return to the United States in June to promote the sale of war bonds. [1]
May 22, 1943 (North Atlantic) — A U.S. Navy antisubmarine hunter-killer group scores a kill of an enemy submarine for the first time, when TBM “Avengers” of Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9} from the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) sink the German submarine U-569 in the North Atlantic Ocean. Aircraft of U.S. hunter-killer groups will sink or cooperate with surface warships in sinking 31 more German and two Japanese submarines in the Atlantic during World War II. [1]
May 23, 1943 (Atlantic Ocean) — A Fairey “Swordfish” from the Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Archer sinks the German U-boat U-752 in the first successful use of a rocket launched by an aircraft against a submarine. [1,3]
May 25/26, 1943 (Düsseldorf, Germany) — 759 British bombers attack Düsseldorf, Germany. Pathfinder aircraft fail to concentrate markers on the target, and the raid fails when the bombers spread their bombs widely throughout the countryside. [1]
May 29, 1943 (Great Britain/Nova Scotia) — A merchant aircraft carrier, or “MAC-ship,” puts to sea with a convoy for the first time as MV Empire MacAlpine sets out from the United Kingdom with Convoy ONS-59 bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She carries four “Swordfish” aircraft of No. 836 Squadron. [1]
June 1943
June 1, 1943 (Pantelleria, Italy) — Allied aircraft begin a final period of heavy bombing of Pantelleria during the ten days prior to the scheduled invasion of the island, during which they will fly 3,647 sorties. [1]
June 1, 1943 (Portugal/England) — German Junkers Ju.88 fighters shoot down a Douglas DC-3 airliner operating as BOAC Flight 777 during its flight from Lisbon, Portugal, to the United Kingdom. All 17 people on board die, including actor Leslie Howard. The Germans believed Winston Churchill was on the aircraft. [1,3]
June 1, 1943 (Marietta, Georgia) — The USAAF's 58th Very Heavy Bombardment Wing is established; it is to be equipped with Boeing B-29 “Superfortresses” for strategic attacks on Japan. [3]
June 5, 1943 (Russell Islands) — In a battle over the Russell Islands between 81 Japanese Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” fighters and 110 Allied aircraft, the Japanese lose 24 aircraft in exchange for seven U.S. fighters. [1]
June 6, 1943 (The Netherlands) — German pilot Major Werner Streib shoots down five RAF bombers in a single sortie in a Heinkel He.219. [3]
June 6-9, 1943 (Pantelleria, Italy) — Allied aircraft drop an average of 600 tons (544,316 kg) of bombs per day on Pantelleria. [1]
June 10, 1943 (Pantelleria, Italy) — In one of the heaviest and most concentrated air attacks thus far in World War II, Allied aircraft drop 1,571 tons (1,425,202 kg) of bombs on Pantelleria. [1]
June 10, 1943 (Great Britain/United States) — The “Pointblank Directive” modifies the priorities established by the February “Casablanca Directive”, elevating attacks on German fighter strength to the highest priority for the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force. [1]
June 11, 1943 (Mediterranean) — The 11,000-strong Italian garrison on Pantelleria surrenders after a week-long allied onslaught by aircraft alone. [3]
June 11, 1943 (Pantelleria, Italy) — Demoralized by heavy aerial bombing and naval surface bombardment, the Italian garrison on Pantellaria surrenders almost as soon as Allied ground forces land on the island. Pantelleria arguably is the first ground captured by air power almost alone. Allied aircraft have also shot down 57 Axis aircraft since beginning operations against Pantelleria in May, losing 14 of their own. [1]
June 11-12 (overnight), 1943 (Düsseldorf, Germany) — 783 British bombers attack Düsseldorf, killing 1,326 people, injuring 2,600, and leaving 13 missing and 140,000 homeless. Fires burn 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of the city and there are 180 major building collapses. During the raid, the German Heinkel He.219 “Uhu (“Eagle Owl”) night fighter makes its combat debut in the early morning hours of June 12 in an experimental flight piloted by Major Werner Streib. Streib shoots down five British bombers - a “Lancaster” and four “Halifax” bombers - in a single sortie, but his He.219 is wrecked in a landing accident when he returns to base. [1]
June 12, 1943 (Russell Islands) — Another large dogfight between Japanese and Allied aircraft over the Russell Islands yields almost identical results to those of June 5. [1]
June 14, 1943 (Australia) — The Boeing B-17C “Flying Fortress “Miss Every Morning Fixin” (40-2072) crashes at Bakers Creek, Queensland, Australia, killing 40 of the 41 servicemen on board. It remains the worst aviation disaster in Australian history, and it is worst aircraft crash in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. [1]
June 14-15 (overnight), 1943 (Oberhausen, Germany) — Accompanying a raid by 197 British “Lancaster” bombers against Oberhausen, Germany, five British “Beaufighter” night fighters make the first operational use of “Serrate”, a radar detector and homing device that allows them to home in on German night fighters employing the “Lichtenstein” airborne radar from up to 80 km (50 miles) away and intercept them. The “Beaufighters” do not intercept any German aircraft during the raid, however, and 17 British bombers are lost. [1]
June 15, 1943 (Rheine, Germany) — The prototype Arado Ar.234-V1 jet-bomber makes its first flight. [3]
June 16, 1943 (Ironbottom Sound, Guadalcanal) — A raid by 94 Japanese aircraft - 24 Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers and 70 “Zero” fighters - attack U.S. shipping in Ironbottom Sound off Guadalcanal. They damage a cargo ship and a tank landing ship and shoot down six U.S. fighters, but almost all the Japanese aircraft are lost. [1]
June 21-22, 1943 (Krefeld, Germany) — 705 British bombers attack Krefeld, Germany, losing 44 of their number. [1]
June 22, 1943 (Italy/Germany) — In order to better defend Sicily from Allied air attack, Italy and Germany agree to withdraw all of their bombers from Sicily and all but a few from Sardinia, concentrating instead on fighter operations in Sicily and southern Sardinia. [1]
June 24, 1943 (Ephrata, Washington) — World's longest parachute drop, 40,200 feet made by Lt. Col. W.R. Lovelace at Ephrata, Washington. [2]
June 28, 1943 (Washington, DC) — To increase the visibility of the national insignia on its military aircraft, the United States replaces the marking adopted in June 1942 with a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles, with the entire insignia outlined in red. The new marking will cause confusion with Japanese markings and will remain in use only until September 1943. [1]
June 28-29 (overnight), 1943 (Cologne, Germany) — 608 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany, losing 25 of their number. In Cologne, 4,377 people are killed - by far the highest number killed in any single Bomber Command raid so far - 10,000 injured, and 230,000 rendered homeless. In the next two raids, Cologne will incur another 1,000 killed and 120,000 made homeless. [1]
29 June 1943 (Indian Ocean) — QANTAS flies its first service from Perth to Colombo; passengers on the 127-mph “Catalina” are given a certificate of membership of “The Rare and Secret Order of the Double Sunrise” for being airborne for over twenty-four hours. [3]
June 30, 1943 (Rendova Island) — U.S. forces land on Rendova Island. A sweep by 27 Japanese “Zero” fighters over the area accomplishes little and almost is wiped out, and 43 U.S. aircraft bomb Munda Airfield. In the evening, a Japanese torpedo strike by 25 Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers escorted by 24 “Zero” fighters sinks an attack transport, with 17 of the G4M “Betty” bombers shot down by U.S. Marine Corps F4U “Corsair” fighters and antiaircraft fire. [1]
June 30, 1943 (Germany) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command has lost 3,448 aircraft - about 1,600 of them to German night fighters - and about 20,000 aircrew on night raids since the beginning of World War II. Since April 1, Bomber Command has lost 762 aircraft, 561 of them to German night fighters. [1]
June 30, 1943 (Italy) — Since November 1, 1942, Italy has lost 2,190 military aircraft and suffered another 1,790 damaged. [1]
July 1943
July 1, 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — Municipal authorities in Hamburg, Germany, have logged 137 air attacks on the city and the deaths of 1,387 people and injuries to 4,496 in air raids since the beginning of World War II. [1]
July 2, 1943 (Rendova Island) — An airstrike on American forces on Rendova Island by 24 Japanese bombers escorted by 48 fighters achieves complete surprise, killing 55 and wounding 77. [1]
July 2-3 (overnight), 1943 (Sicily/Sardinia/Italy) — The Allied Northwest African Air Force begins heavy day-and-night attacks against Axis airfields in Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Sicily. Italy claims to fly 650 fighter sorties and Germany 500 between July 1 and 9 in defending against the Allied bombing campaign, but almost all Axis airfields on Sicily are knocked out by the time of the invasion. [1]
July 3-4 (overnight), 1943 (Cologne, Germany) — 653 British bombers attack Cologne. During the raid, the Luftwaffe experiments for the first time with “Wilde Sau (“Wild Boar”)” night fighter tactics, in which single-engine day fighters use any illumination - from searchlights, flares, fires, etc., - available over a city to visually identify and attack enemy bombers at night. “Wilde Sau” pilots and antiaircraft artillery both claim the same 12 bombers shot down over Cologne and officially each receive credited for six. The experiment's success will lead to the formation of Jagdgeschwader 300, which will specialize in “Wilde Sau” operations. [1]
July 4, 1943 (Rendova) — 17 Japanese bombers escorted by 66 fighters raid Rendova, destroying and damaging several landing craft. [1]
July 4, 1943 (Gibraltar) — The prime minister of the Polish Government-in-Exile and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, Wladyslaw Sikorski, and his chief of staff, Tadeusz Klimecki, and eight others die in the crash of a “Liberator II” just after takeoff from Gibraltar. Only the aircraft's pilot survives. [1]
July 6, 1943 (Kolombangara Island) — A strike by 39 U.S. aircraft destroys a Japanese destroyer beached on Kolombangara Island after the Battle of Kula Gulf. [1]
July 10, 1943 (Sicily) — “Operation Husky”, the British and American landings on Sicily, begin. [1]
July 12, 1943 (Sicily) — Germany and Italy mount all air opposition against Allied forces in Sicily from bases in Sardinia and mainland Italy from this date. [1]
July 13-14 (overnight), 1943 (Germany) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command flies the last raid of its “Battle of the Ruhr” campaign against the Ruhr region of Germany. Since the campaign began in March, Bomber Command has flown 29 major attacks against the Ruhr and the Rheinland, including five against Essen - which alone suffers 1,037 dead, 3,500 severely injured, and 4,830 homes destroyed - four each against Duisburg and Cologne, three against Bochum, and one or two each against other cities. Bomber Command has lost 672 aircraft during the Ruhr and Rheinland raids, a 4.8 percent loss rate, and 4,400 aviators. Separately, during same period Bomber Command also has flown 18 major attacks against other targets in France, in Italy, and in Germany outside the Ruhr and Rheinland, including two raids on Berlin and strikes against Munich, Stettin, Turin, La Spezia, and the Škoda Works in Pilsen. [1]
July 17, 1943 (Bougainville Island) — 223 U.S. Air Solomons (AirSols) aircraft strike Bougainville Island, bombing Kahili Airfield and Tonolei harbor. They sink one Japanese destroyer. [1]
July 18, 1943 (Florida, United States) — The United States Navy “K-74” becomes the first airship shot down in the war when it is hit by the German U-boat U-134; the submarine is damaged in the conflict and forced Back to base. [1,3]
July 19, 1943 (Luhansk Oblast, USSR) — Soviet Air Forces fighter pilot Yekaterina Budanova, along with Lydia Litvyak one of only two female aces in history, is shot down and killed in a dogfight with Messerschmitt Bf.109's over Luhansk Oblast. Although her victory total is unclear, she is commonly credited with 11 kills. [1]
July 20, 1943 (New Georgia Sound) — U.S. aircraft strike the escorts of a Japanese convoy in New Georgia Sound, sinking two destroyers and damaging the heavy cruiser Kumano. [1]
July 22, 1943 (Bougainville Strait) — 46 U.S. bombers attack a Japanese convoy in Bougainville Strait, sinking the seaplane carrier Nisshin. [1]
July 22, 1943 (Canada/Scotland) — An Avro “Lancaster” bomber converted for use as a transport aircraft inaugurates the Canadian Government's Trans Atlantic Air Service, operated by Trans-Canada Air Lines. It sets a non-stop speed record for a flight from Dorval Airport, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, to Prestwick, Scotland, of 12 hours 26 minutes. [1]
July 22, 1943 (Montréal, Canada) — Trans-Canada Airlines begins flights to London via Iceland using “Lancaster” bombers converted for passengers; they will carry mainly military personnel and VIP's. [3]
July 24-25 (overnight), 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — 791 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany, beginning “Operation Gomorrah” or the “Battle of Hamburg”, a systematic effort by Bomber Command chief Air Marshal Arthur Harris to destroy the city. For the first time, the Royal Air Force uses chaff, codenamed “Window”, to foil German radar. About 1,500 people are killed, more than in all 137 previous air attacks on the city combined. Twelve British bombers are lost. [1,3]
July 25, 1943 (New Britain) — U.S. Army Fifth Air Force North American B-25 “Mitchell” bombers destroy two Japanese destroyers aground on a reef near Cape Gloucester, New Britain. [1]
July 25, 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — 100 U.S. Army Eighth Air Force bombers attack Hamburg. [1]
July 25-26 (overnight), 1943 (Essen, Germany) — 705 British bombers attack Essen, Germany, causing considerable damage to the Krupp works. Twenty-six British aircraft do not return. [1]
July 26, 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — 60 U.S. Eighth Air Force bombers strike Hamburg. [1]
July 26, 1943 (Cape Bon, Tunisia) — Over 100 German aircraft attack an Allied convoy off Cape Bon, Tunisia, but defending British fighters prevent them from inflicting any serious damage. [1]
July 27-28 (overnight), 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — 787 British bombers attack Hamburg, with a loss of 17 aircraft. Atmospheric conditions create a self-propagating tornadic fire-storm with winds of 150 mph (240 km/hr) and flames reaching 1,000 feet (305 m) in altitude, resulting in one of the most destructive air raids in history. Air temperatures reach 1,500°F (850°C), causing asphalt in city streets to catch fire. At least 40,000 people die in the raid and 1,200,000 flee the city, which does not regain its previous industrial capacity for the rest of the war. The raid shocks Germany. [1]
July 28, 1943 (Allen County, Kentucky) — A Douglas DC-3 airliner operating as American Airlines Flight 63 crashes in Allen County, Kentucky, killing 20 of the 22 people on board. [1]
July 29-30 (overnight), 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — Another raid on Hamburg by 777 British bombers targets undamaged areas in the northern part of the city, killing about 1,000 more people. The British lose 28 aircraft.
July 30-31 (overnight), 1943 (Remscheid, Germany) — 273 British bombers attack Remscheid, Germany, losing 15 of their number. [1]
August 1943
August, 1943 (South Pacific) — The United States Navy Grumman F6F “Hellcat” fighter enters combat. [1]
August 1, 1943 (Orel, USSR) — Flying a Yakovlev Yak-1, Soviet Air Forces fighter ace Lydia Litvak is shot down and killed in a dogfight with Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighters near Orel. Along with Yekaterina Budanova one of only two female aces in history, she commonly is credited with 12 victories at the time of her death, although she sometimes is credited with 11 or 13. [1,3]
August 1, 1943 (Ploiesti, Romania) — Flying from Libya, USAAF B-24 “Liberators” attack the Ploiesti oil refineries in Romania. [1]
August 2-3, 1943 (Hamburg, Germany) — The final raid of the “Battle of Hamburg”, by 740 British bombers, fails when the bombers scatter their bombs widely. Thirty British aircraft do not return. Despite the enormous damage it has inflicted, “Operation Gomorrah” has failed to completely destroy Hamburg. [1]
August 5, 1943 (United States) — The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the 319th Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), both organizations of civilian women ferry pilots employed by the U.S. Army Air Forces Air Transport Command, are merged to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). [1]
August 7-8 (overnight), 1943 (Italy) — 197 British “Lancasters” bombers attack Genoa, Milan, and Turin, with the loss of two aircraft. Over Turin, where 20 people are killed and 79 injured, Group Captain John H. Searby serves as the first successful “Master of Ceremonies” - later known as “Master Bomber” - an experienced officer who circles over a bombing target throughout an attack to direct bombing crews by radio and improve their accuracy. [1]
August 10, 1943 (New Guinea) — Reinforced by 250 Imperial Japanese Army aircraft from Rabaul, Japanese air forces in New Guinea are ordered to conduct an air offensive against Allied airfields on New Guinea and Allied convoys along the Papuan coast. [1]
August 13, 1943 (Austria) — The U.S. Army Air Forces makes their first bombing raid on Austria. [1]
August 14, 1943 (Marilinan, New Guinea) — Japanese aircraft raid the Allied air base at Marilinan, New Guinea. [1]
August 15, 1943 (Bougainville Island) — U.S. forces land on Vella Lavella. The Japanese respond with air raids of 54, 59, and eight planes during the day, but do little damage, and U.S. Marine Corps Vought F4U “Corsair” fighters strafe Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. The Japanese claim to have lost 17 planes, but U.S. forces claim 44 shot down. [1]
August 17, 1943 (Wewak, New Guinea) — 164 U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft of the Fifth Air Force attack Japanese airfields at Wewak, New Guinea, destroying 70 planes while the Japanese are servicing them for another raid on Marilinan. [1]
August 17, 1943 (Germany) — 60 U.S. Army Air Forces bombers are lost in raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt. [1]
August 17/18, 1943 (Bay of Biscay) — The German Henschel Hs.293-A1 remote-controlled bomb sees action for the first time, during a raid on Royal Navy warships. [1,3]
August 17-18 (overnight), 1943 (Peenemünde, Germany) — 596 Royal Air Force bombers attack the German ballistic missile research station at Peenemünde for the first time in a raid especially designed to kill as many German scientists and other workers as possible before they can reach air raid shelters. They kill nearly 200 people in the accommodations area, but also mistakenly bomb a nearby prison camp for foreign slave workers, killing 500 to 600 there. For the first time, the British bombers fly a route intended to trick German night fighter forces into deploying to defend the wrong target. Also for the first time, the British employ the new “Spotfire” 250-lb (113-kg) target indicator. Forty British bombers (6.7 percent) fail to return. The raid sets the German ballistic missile program Back at least two, and perhaps more than six, months. [1]
August 19, 1943 (Germany) — Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek, the Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe, commits suicide. [1]
August 23-24 (overnight), 1943 (, Germany) — Royal Air Force Bomber Command resumes the bombing of Berlin with a raid by 727 bombers. Poor target marking, poor timing by bombers, and the difficulty H2S navigation radar has in identifying landmarks in Berlin lead to wide scattering of bombs, although the Germans suffer nearly 900 casualties on the ground. For the first time, the Germans employ new “Zahme Sau (‘Tame Boar’)” tactics - the use of ground-based guidance to direct night fighters into the British bomber stream, after which the night fighters operate independently against targets they find - and the British lose 56 bombers, the highest number so far in a single night and 7.9 percent of the participating aircraft. [1]
August 30, 1943 (Ceylon/Australia) — A Qantas Empire Airways PBY “Catalina” flying boat on the “Double Sunrise Route” from Ceylon to Perth, Australia, completes the longest non-stop scheduled airline flight in history. From mooring buoy to mooring buoy, the flight takes 31 hours 51 minutes. [1]
September 1943
September 1, 1943 (Madang, New Guinea) — U.S. Army Fifth Air Force aircraft conduct a major raid against the Japanese airfield at Madang, New Guinea. [1]
September 1, 1943 (United States) — The United States Army Air Forces disband the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, although some Army antisubmarine squadrons will operate until November. [1]
September 1, 1943 (United States) — The Civil Air Patrol is relieved of maritime patrol duties off the coast of the United States. [1]
September 2, 1943 (Wewak, New Guinea) — U.S. Army Fifth Air Force aircraft attack the airfield and harbor at Wewak, New Guinea, sinking two Japanese merchant ships. [1]
September 4, 1943 (United States) — Finding the red in the national insignia adopted in June 1943 for its military aircraft could cause confusion with Japanese markings during combat, the United States adopts a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles, with the entire insignia outlined in blue. The new marking will remain in use until January 1947. [1]
September 4, 1943 (Lae, New Guinea) — Allied forces land at Lae, New Guinea. A small raid by nine Japanese planes destroys a tank landing ship off Lae. Later, the Japanese mount a strike of 80 aircraft; after U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed P-38 “Lightnings” shoot down 23, the rest attack Allied ships off Lae, damaging two tank landing ships. [1]
September 5, 1943 (Nadzab, New Guinea) — 1,700 men of the United States Army's 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment parachute onto the Japanese airfield at Nadzab, New Guinea, capturing it easily. An airlift of several thousand more Allied troops to the airfield occurs over the next few days. [1]
September 8, 1943 (Frascati, Italy) — 131 U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 “Flying Fortresses” conduct a bombing raid against the headquarters of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring at Frascati, Italy, killing 485 civilians. [1]
September 8, 1943 (Kelly) — Italy's surrender to the Allies is proclaimed. [1]
September 9, 1943 (Corsica) — Luftwaffe Dornier Do.217 bombers sink the Italian battleship Roma west of Corsica with two “Fritz X” radio-controlled glide bombs as she steams to surrender to the Allies; 1,253 of the 1,849 aboard are lost. [1]
September 11, 1943 (France) — French fighter ace Pierre Le Gloan (18 victories) dies in a crash. [1]
September 11, 1943 (Salerno, Italy) — A Luftwaffe Dornier Do.217 bomber badly damages the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Savannah (CL-42) with a “Fritz X” off Salerno, Italy, knocking her out of service for a year. [1]
September 12, 1943 (Italy) — Benito Mussolini is freed in a daring air assault by Otto Skorzeny. [1]
September 15, 1943 (Germany) — RAF “Lancaster” bombers of 617 Squadron hit the Dortmund/Ems canal with 12,000-lb bombs. [3]
September 15-16, 1943 (Germany) — The “Tallboy” 12,000 lb (5,455 kg) bomb is used for the first time, dropped by Royal Air Force “Lancasters”. [1]
September 22, 1943 (Finschhafen, New Guinea) — Allied forces land at Finschhafen, New Guinea. A raid by 41 Rabaul-based Japanese aircraft inflicts no damage on the Allied ships involved, demonstrating that Allied fears that their ships could not operate survivably in the Solomon Sea and Bismarck Sea are no longer warranted. [1]
September 22-24, 1943 (Germany) — Ernst Jachmann flies his single-seat glider 55 hours 51 minutes in a thermal. [1]
September 27, 1943 (Hanover, Germany) — German night fighter ace Hauptmann Hans-Dieter Frank dies in a collision with another night fighter over Hanover, Germany. His score stands at 55 kills at his death. [1]
September 29, 1943 (Hertfordshire, England) — The de Havilland “Vampire” jet fighter prototype makes its first flight at Hatfield. [3]
October 1943
October, 1943 (United States/India) — World's longest freight line opened by Capt. J.L. Okenfus and crew of five in 28,000-mile round-trip flight, Ohio to India. [2]
October, 1943 (South Pacific) — During the month, Air Solomons (AirSols) aircraft make 158 flights totalling 3,259 sorties against Japanese land targets and ships at Kahili, Kara, Ballale Island, Buka Island, Bonis, and Choiseul Island, badly damaging five Japanese airfields and claiming 139 Japanese aircraft destroyed in exchange for the loss of 26 Allied aircraft. [1]
October 4, 1943 (North Atlantic) — During “Operation Leader”, aircraft from the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) raid German shipping along the coast of Norway, sinking six steamers and damaging four others, including a transport on which about 200 German troops are killed. [1]
October 5-6, 1943 (Wake Island) — The Fast Carrier Task Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, strikes Wake Island. [1]
October 12, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — The U.S. Army Air Forces' Fifth Air Force conducts the largest Allied airstrike thus far in World War II in the Pacific, sending 349 aircraft to attack the Japanese airfields, shipping, and supply depots at Rabaul, New Britain, losing five aircraft. Allied airstrikes on Rabaul will continue for much of the rest of the war. [1]
October 15, 1943 (Centerville, Tennessee) — A Douglas DC-3 airliner operating as American Airlines Flight 63 crashes near Centerville, Tennessee, killing all 11 people on board. Speaker of the Tennessee State Senate Blan R. Maxwell is among the dead. [1]
October 18, 1943 (France) — Wing Commander Bob Hodges and Pilot Officer John Affleck fly a secret mission in Lockheed “Hudsons”, taking in four Allied agents and bringing out a record 18. [3]
October 18, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — From Dobodura, New Guinea, the Fifth Air Force mounts another raid on Rabaul of about the same size as the October 12 raid, but bad weather hampers the aircraft and only 54 North American B-25 “Mitchell” bombers get through. [1]
October 23, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 45 Fifth Air Force B-24 “Liberator” bombers raid Rabaul, escorted by 47 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters. [1]
October 24, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 62 Fifth Air Force North American B-25 “Mitchell” bombers raid Rabaul, escorted by 54 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters. [1]
October 25, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 61 Fifth Air Force B-24 “Liberator” bombers raid Rabaul, escorted by 50 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters. The Fifth Air Force's commander, Major General George Kenney, claims 175 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the raids of October 23-25; the Japanese admit a loss of nine of their planes shot down and 25 destroyed on the ground. [1]
October 27, 1943 (Treasury Islands) — During U.S. landings in the Treasury Islands, 25 Japanese Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers attack U.S. ships offshore, damaging a destroyer in exchange for the loss of 12 aircraft. [1]
October 29, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — Between 37 and 41 Fifth Air Force B-24 “Liberator” bombers, escorted by between 53 and 75 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters, drop 115 tons (104,327 kg) of bombs on Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul, claiming 45 Japanese aircraft shot down or destroyed on the ground; the Japanese admit a loss of seven of their planes shot down and three destroyed on the ground. [1]
November 1943
1943 (Japan) — The Japanese government sets up a Ministry of Munitions to expedite the production of aircraft and to unify and simplify the production of military goods and raw materials. [1]
November 1, 1943 (Bougainville Island) — U.S. Marines land at Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island. Two Japanese air raids on the ships offshore - the first by 53 and the second by approximately 100 Japanese planes - are ineffective. [1]
November 1, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 173 Japanese carrier aircraft land at shore bases at Rabaul to reinforce about 200 Imperial Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet aircraft already there. [1]
November 1-2, 1943 (Buka Passage) — Carrier aircraft from USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) raid two Japanese airfields adjacent to the Buka Passage between Buka Island and Bougainville. [1]
November 1, 1943 (Mediterranean) — The U.S. Army Air Forces activate the Fifteenth Air Force in the Mediterranean as a strategic air force. [1]
November 2, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 75 Fifth Air Force North American B-25 “Mitchell” bombers escorted by 80 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters raid Rabaul, where they encounter the newly arrived Japanese carrier aircraft and lose nine North American B-25 “Mitchell” bombers and 10 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters shot down. They shoot down 20 Japanese planes and sink two merchant ships and a minesweeper. [1]
November 2, 1943 (Baltimore, Maryland) — The United States Navy receives the first Martin “Mars” 70-ton, four-engine flying boat; it can carry 133 soldiers or 40 civilian passengers and has a range of 4,600 miles. [3]
November 3, 1943 (England) — Head of RAF Bomber Command, Air Marshal Arthur Harris writes to Prime Minister Winston Churchill that 19 German cities have been “virtually destroyed” by his bombers; he promises that they could “wreck Berlin from end to end” if the USAAF came in on the project. [3]
November 5, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — 97 carrier aircraft from &USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) carry out a destructive strike on a Japanese task force at Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, damaging the heavy cruisers Atago, Maya, Mogami, and Takao, the light cruisers Agano and Noshiro, and a destroyer for the loss of 10 aircraft. The U.S. Army Air Forces' Fifth Air Force follows up with a strike by 27 B-24 “Liberator” bombers escorted by 67 Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighters on Rabaul town and its wharves. A counter strike by 18 Japanese Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bombers against the U.S. aircraft carriers mistakenly attacks a group of PT boats and a tank landing craft. The Japanese never risk heavy ships in the Solomon Islands again. [1]
November 6-7 (overnight), 1943 (Munda Airfield) — The last Japanese air raid on Munda Airfield takes place. [1]
November 8, 1943 (Bouganiville) — A morning strike by 97 Japanese dive bombers and fighters and a few torpedo bombers damages a U.S. attack transport off Bouganiville. An evening strike by 30 or 40 aircraft damages the light cruiser USS Birmingham& (CL-62). [1]
November 11, 1943 (Rabaul, New Britain) — A strike by carrier aircraft from USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) against Japanese ships at Rabaul is ineffective due to bad weather. Another strike by approximately 185 aircraft from USS Essex (CV-9), USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), and USS Independence (CVL-22) sinks a Japanese destroyer and damages the light cruiser Agano and a destroyer; the raid is the combat debut of the Curtiss SB2C “Helldiver” dive bomber. A counter strike by 108 Japanese “Zero” fighters, Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers, and Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bombers and a number of Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers is ineffective. The U.S loses 11 aircraft, while the Japanese lose 39 single-engine planes and several G4M “Betty” bombers. During operations from shore bases at Rabaul, Japanese carrier aircraft have lost 50 percent of their fighters, 85 percent of their dive bombers, and 90 percent of their torpedo bombers in less than two weeks. [1]
November 11, 1943 (United States) — The last unit of the former U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, the 480th Antisubmarine Group, is disbanded, and all American antisubmarine activities become the responsibility of the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Army Air Forces' antisubmarine effort has sunk 12 German submarines. [1]
November 12, 1943 (Bougainville) — A strike by five Japanese Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers damages the light cruiser USS Denver (CL-58) off Bougainville. [1]
November 17, 1943 (Bougainville) — Air Solomons (AirSols) fighters intercept 35 Japanese planes heading for a strike on the U.S. landings on Bougainville, shooting down 16 for the loss of two Vought F4U “Corsair” fighters. A Japanese torpedo bomber sinks a U.S. destroyer-transport off Bougainville with heavy loss of life. [1]
November 24, 1943 (Bougainville) — The first Allied aircraft - a damaged U.S. Marine Corps Douglas SBD “Dauntless” dive bomber - lands on Bougainville. [1]
November 26, 1943 (East Prussia, Germany) — Adolf Hitler inspects a Messerschmitt Me.262 jet fighter at Insterburg and orders it into mass production - as a bomber. [3]
November 26, 1943 (Hartford, Connecticut) — Pratt & Whitney announces it has perfected a water injection system which gives engines a surge of extra power on demand. [3]
December 1943
December 3-4 (overnight), 1943 (Bougainville) — Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft attack U.S. ships approaching Bougainville Island. [1]
December 4, 1943 (Hachijojima) — The U.S. Navy submarine USS Sailfish (SS-192) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier Chuyo near Hachijojima with the loss of over 1,243 lives, including 20 American prisoners-of-war. [1]
December 10, 1943 (Bougainville) — The Allied airstrip at Cape Torokina on Bougainville officially opens. [1]
December 14, 1943 (Arawe) — Aircraft of the U.S. Army Air Forces' Fifth Air Force attack Japanese forces at Arawe with 433 tons (392,815 kg) of bombs. [1]
December 15, 1943 (Arawe) — Fifth Air Force aircraft cover U.S. Army landings at Arawe. A strike on the landing forces by 64 Japanese naval aircraft is unsuccessful. [1]
December 16-17, 1943 (Arawe) — Almost continuous unopposed Japanese air attacks on the landing force at Arawe damage and destroy various U.S. landing craft and small craft. [1]
December 15-25, 1943 (Bougainville) — Japanese aircraft at Rabaul bomb U.S. forces on Bougainville nightly, killing 38 and wounding 136. [1]
December 17, 1943 (Bougainville) — For the first time, the Cape Torokina airstrip on Bougainville is used to stage the first Air Solomons (AirSols) raid on Rabaul. [1]
December 21, 1943 (Arawe) — Rabaul-based Japanese aircraft make three dive-bombing attacks on U.S. forces unloading at Arawe. [1]
December 23-25, 1943 (New Britain) — Air Solomons (AirSols) aircraft strike Rabaul heavily, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft strike Kavieng on New Ireland, and Fifth Air Force aircraft attack Japanese positions at Cape Gloucester and Cape Hoskins on New Britain. [1]
December 24, 1943 (France) — The United States Eighth Air Force sends 670 B-17 “Flying Fortresses”, and B-24 “Liberators” to hit German V-1 rocket sites in the Pas-de-Calais area. [3]
December 26, 1943 (Cape Gloucester) — 70 to 80 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft attack U.S. ships supporting the day's U.S. landing at Cape Gloucester, sinking a destroyer and damaging two others. Minor raids follow on the next two days. [1]
December 26-27, 1943 (Arawe) — Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft raid U.S. forces off Arawe. [1]
December 31, 1943 (Arawe) — Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft raid U.S. forces off Arawe, losing four aircraft. [1]
First Flights 1943
January 9, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Lockheed “Constellation” prototype (NX67900) [1]
January 15, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Vultee XP-54 “Swoose Goose.” [1]
February, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Goodyear FG-1 “Corsair”. [1]
February, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Tachikawa Ki-70 “Clara”. [1]
February 4, 1943 (Great Britain) — First flight of the Bristol “Buckingham”. [1]
March 5, 1943 (Great Britain) — First flight of the Gloster “Meteor” prototype (DG206). [1]
April, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Nakajima Ki-84 “Hayate (‘Gale’), Allied “Frank”. [1]
April 8, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Douglas BTD “Destroyer”. [1]
May 15, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Nakajima C6N “Saiun (‘Painted Cloud’)”, Allied “Myrt”. [1]
June 15, 1943 (Germany) — First flight of the Arado Ar.234V1 (GK+IV). [1]
July 19, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Curtiss-Wright XP-55 “Ascender”. [1]
July 21, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Curtiss XP-62. [1]
August, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Yokosuka P1Y “Ginga (‘Milky Way’)”, Allied “Frances”. [1]
August 7, 1943 (USSR) — First flight of the Ilyushin Il-6. [1]
September, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Curtiss XF14C-2. [1]
September, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Kawasaki Ki-96. [1]
September, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Kyushu Q1W “Tokai (‘Eastern Sea’)”, Allied “Lorna”. [1]
September 6, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Northrop XP-56 “Black Bullet”. [1]
September 20, 1943 (Great Britain) — First flight of the De Havilland “Vampire” prototype (LZ548). [1]
September 22, 1943 (Germany) — First flight of the DFS.228. [1]
October 23, 1943 (Great Britain) — First flight of the Vickers “Windsor”. [1]
October 26, 1943 (Germany) — First flight of the Dornier Do.335V1 (CP+UA). [1]
November, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Aichi M6A “Seiran (‘Mountain Haze’)”. [1]
November 17, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Fisher (General Motors) P-75 “Eagle”. [1]
December, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Kawasaki Ki-64. [1]
December 2, 1943 (United States) — First flight of the Grumman XF7F-1, prototype of the F7F “Tigercat”. [1]
December 31, 1943 (Japan) — First flight of the Kawanishi N1K2-J “Shiden Kai (‘Violet Lightning Modified’)”, Allied “George”. [1]
Aircraft Entered Service 1943
January, 1943 (Great Britain) — Armstrong Whitworth “Albemarle” enters service with No. 295 Squadron RAF. [1]
January 10, 1943 (Great Britain) — Fairey “Barracuda” enters service with No. 827 Squadron FAA. [1]
February, 1943 (Japan) — Kawasaki Ki-61 “Hein (‘Swallow’)” Allied “Tony” enters service with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force 23rd Independent Squadron. [1]
October, 1943 (United States) — Bell P-63 “Kingcobra”. [1]
Works Cited
- Wikipedia, 1943 in aviation
- Parrish, Wayne W. (Publisher). "United States Chronology". 1962 Aerospace Yearbook, Forty-Third Annual Edition. Washington, DC: American Aviation Publications, Inc., 1962, 463.
- Gunston, Bill, et al. Chronicle of Aviation. Liberty, Missouri: JL Publishing Inc., 1992. 412-423
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