This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Njaco]

MEDITERRANEAN: The German General Staff ordered Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's forces to occupy Italy if the Badoglio government surrenders.
.... B-17s of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force bombed Viterbo Airfield and B-25s hit the Civitavecchia marshalling yard. P-40s strafed a radar station at Pula, Sardinia. Also in Italy, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers attacked marshalling yards at Marina di Cantanzaro and Paola, and gun emplacements and bivouac south of Reggio di Calabria and A-36 Apaches bombed marshalling yards at Sapri and Lamezia.
....In a massive air battle over Italy, 44 US P-38 fighters of the 1st FG, escorting B-26 medium bombers of the 319th and 320th BGs ran into 75 Luftwaffe fighters. The two fighter groups fought as the bombers went on to obliterate the marshalling yards at Aversa. The Americans lost 13 fighters to the German 9. This battle featured substantial inflated claims on both sides. Luftwaffe pilots from JG 53, JG 3 and JG 77 claimed to have shot down at least 32 P-38s and 2 Marauders. The 1st FG claimed 8 Bf 109s including one each from JG 77 and JG 53.
....The 'Nagwa' was shelled by 'U-596' and sank within three minutes.

EASTERN FRONT: The withdrawal in the south began as Taganrog on the Sea of Azoz was abandoned by the Germans. Further to the north, the Soviets rolled forward in the Smolensk area. The Soviet Army scored two more victories as it took Taganrog and Yelnya, a road center on central Russia's Desna river and moved to cut off the Germans in the Crimea. Since the defeat of German panzer divisions at Kursk, the Heer hasn't been able to halt the Soviet tanks that repeatedly have gouged huge holes in its defenses.
....'U-18' attacked the Soviet SKA-0132 with the 20mm AA gun and scored several hits before the U-boat had to break off the attack because a floodlight from the coast dazzled the Germans

WESTERN FRONT: A FW 190A-2 from 11./JG 5 crashed at Sola and the pilot, Uffz. Reinhard Neugebauer, was killed. A Bf 109G-2 from IV./JG 5 also crashed but the pilot survived. A FW 190A-4 from 10./JG 11 was 40% damaged when it overturned during landing at Fliegerplatz Aalborg Ost due to pilot error. The pilot was unharmed.
....The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command in England flew Mission 38: 33 B-26B Marauders bombed an ammunition dump at Foret d'Eperlecques near Saint-Omer, France without loss.
....The German submarine 'U-634' was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, by depth charges from the RN sloop HMS 'Stork' and the corvette HMS 'Stonecrop'. All hands on the U-boat, 47-men, were lost.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command both fly missions against targets in France. The US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 104 B-26B Marauders bombed the Rouen and Mazingarbe power stations, Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields and the Hesdin fuel dump. 1 B-26 was lost. The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 88 against two aviation locations. 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses attacked Glisy Airfield at Amiens and claimed 5-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft. 3 B-17s were lost. 149 B-17s were dispatched to the aircraft plant at Meulan. The plant was cloud covered and 1 B-17 hit a railway northeast of Rouen. These missions were escorted by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts which claimed 2-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft. 2 P-47s were lost.
....The Japanese submarine I-8 reached Brest from Singapore.
....The Luftwaffe suffered the loss of several planes in Norway. A Bf 109G-4 from IV./JG 5 and a Bf 109G-4 from 1.(F)/124 both crashed without injuring the pilots. A Ju 87D-5 from I./StG 5 crashed at Hosio, killing the pilot, Lt. Ernst Scharwat, and injuring Uffz. Rolf Jahn.

GERMANY: Battle of Berlin cont.: RAF Bomber Command dispatched 613 aircraft: 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings with nine Oboe Mosquitoes as route markers. Many of the crews were tired, having had only a few hours sleep since the raid of the previous night. The force was easily tracked on its approach and at least 18 bombers were shot down by fighters. Twenty-two aircraft, mostly Stirlings and Halifaxes were shot down in the target area and during the initial 70 miles of the journey back to England. A total of 377 bombing photographs were examined. Only ten of the photos showed aircraft bombing in the center of Berlin. Most bombs fell in a long spread 30 miles south of Berlin, scattered in a wide area of the south. Sixty-eight people were killed in Berlin and 19 in the countryside.

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army advanced south from Sevsk and captured Glukhov and Rylask.
....Soviet submarine "Sch-130" of the Pacific Fleet was lost when it collided with "Shc-128" at America Gulf. (Later raised and went into service.) Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sank the Finnish minelayer 'Riilahti'. 24 men, including the commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna were lost.

MEDITERRANEAN: Negotiations for Italy's surrender resumed near Syracuse, with General Giuseppe Castellano of the Italian General Staff pleading with the Allies to occupy Rome and protect King Victor Emmanuel and the Badoglio government. U. S. General Walter Bedell Smith insisted on unconditional surrender, with the armistice to be announced as a large Allied army lands in Italy. Smith refused to tell Castellano where the Allies would come ashore or how large the army would be. Disappointed by the unconditional surrender demand and fearful of the large numbers flooding into Italy, Castellano returned to Rome to confer with Italy's new head of state, Marshal Pietro Badoglio.
....US Ninth Air Force B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Pescara and claimed 9 enemy fighters destroyed. About 150 Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s blasted the Pisa marshalling yard, doing a large amount of damage. Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium and light bombers bombed the Cosenza marshalling yard and road-railway junction in Cantanzaro during the morning, and in the afternoon bombed the area around Cosenza when clouds prevented hitting specific targets; and fighter-bombers hit Sapri railroad and seaplane base; and during the night light bombers hit the bivouac areas southeast of Reggio di Calabria.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet troops made good progress around Smolensk and Vyazma capturing Dorogobuzh, east of Smolensk, and south around Taganrog.
....On a morning bomber escort mission, Oblt. Walter Nowotny, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, destroyed 4 attacking Soviet fighters. Quickly noticing another formation of Russian fighters, he attacked and shot down 2 more. As the dogfight carried him 180km over Russian lines, he closed in on a 7th victim, only to have his cannon jam, finishing off the Soviet with his machine guns. He made good his return by flying on the deck, right through flak thrown uo from a large town. Later that afternoon, on another sortie, he added 3 more during an in-and-out duel in the clouds, bringing his total for the day to 10 kills.
....A Soviet IL-2s rear gunner shot down and killed Fw. Helmut Kabisch of 2./JG 52 (7 kills).

MEDITERRANEAN: NAAF P-40s bombed a zinc plant at Iglesias and strafed a factory north of Gonnesa while medium and light bombers hit Bova Marina, areas near Salina and Sant' Eufemia d'Aspromonte town area and a bridge at Oliveto.
....All Administrative functions of the Army Air Forces elements of the Northwest African Air Force were transferred to the appropriate US Twelfth Air Force organizations. Operational control remained with the Northwest African Air Force. The 506th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), ceased operating from
Benina, Libya with B-24s and returned to it's base at Shipdham, England.
....II./KG 6 and II./KG 51 were both deployed to Greece and remained there through No. '43. Both were used exclusively in the Aegian and Dodecanese Island areas against British forces and did not take part in anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia.

WESTERN FRONT: The USN assumed full responsibility for all airborne antisubmarine operations by US forces in the Atlantic and USAAF units were reassigned. The 5th and 13th Anti-submarine Squadrons (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, ceased flying ASW patrols from Westover Field, Massachusetts and Grenier Field, New Hampshire respectively with B-24s. The 5th was redesignated the 827th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 Oct 43 and would arrive in Italy in Apr 44 with B-24s. The 13th was redesignated 863d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and would arrive in England in Jan 44 with B-17s.
....30 RAF OTU Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitos and 5 Lancasters of the Pathfinders successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Forêt de Mormal, 8 Mosquitos were sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisians, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.
....7 aircraft of RAF No. 305 Sqdrn (Polish) took off for a night attack on enemy rail movements in France & Belgium and all aircraft successfully carried out their tasks. RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) flew to Manston in the morning. Fourteen aircraft took off at 0850 hours led by S/LDR. KORNICKI, F. Several operations seemed probable but none did infact materialise, and the aircraft returned again to Fairlop at about 1600 hours. The weather was apparently too cloudy for bombers to operate. Two aircraft of “A” Flight carried out tests. Six aircraft escorted Mustangs to Bologne.
....Geschwaderkommodore Obslt. Walter Oesau introduced a new emblem that was to be used by all JG 1 Gruppen - a red winged '1' in a white diamond, which was enclosed in a black circle. II./JG 1 - like I./JG 1 - quickly adopted this symbol in place of their traditional markings

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Red army forces liberated Lisichansk and Kommunarsk in the Donets while to the north, Sumy and Glushkovo were recaptured.
....Fw. Bernhard Hessel of 2./JG 51 (40 kills) was listed as missing in action.
....Lt. Erich Hartmann was appointed Staffelkapitaen of 9./JG 52.

WESTERN FRONT: The US Eighth Air Force in England dispatched both the VIII Air Support Command and the VIII Bomber Command to attack targets in France. The VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 41 and 42: 216 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 5 targets in France (36 per target). The missions to a power station at Rouen and Poix/Nord and Lille/Nord Airfields were aborted due to weather but 35 B-26s hit a power station at Mazingarbe and 69 hit a fuel dump at Hesden. 1 B-26 was lost.
....The VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 89 against airfields in France but because of unfavorable cloud conditions only part of one force was able to attack a target. B-17 Flying Fortresses were dispatched to airfields in northwestern France but the mission was abandoned at the French coast due to heavy clouds. 34 of 86 B-17s dispatched to Mardyck and Denain/Prouvy Airfields hit the target at 1922 and 1905 hours respectively. 182 P-47 Thunderbolts were dispatched to escort the bombers but they carried out fighter sweeps. 3 P-47's were lost.
....Obfw. Kurt Welter was transferred from Blindflugschule 10 to 5./JG 301, a 'Wilde Sau' unit. Here he performed missions intercepting Allied bombers in a single-seat fighter at night.
....Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix was appointed as Jagdfliegerfuhrer of Jafu 4 in place of Obstlt. Walter Oesau.
....The crew of a Ju 88C-6 from Stab IV./NJG 3 were on conversion flight training when the pilot suffered from “Höhenkrankheit” which can best be translated as lack of oxygen and at approximately 18:00 hours belly landed in a turnips field belonging to Tage Sloth of Borre. Engineer Uffz. Hubert Groten was injured during the landing and was taken to Lazarett Viborg for treatment by Luftwaffe personnel arriving from Fliegerhorst Grove. The JU 88 was 25% damaged and was dismantled over the next 4-5 days and taken back to Fliegerhorst Grove.

GERMANY: Hitler appointed Albert Speer, the minister of armaments and munitions, to the new post of Reich minister for arms and war production.

MEDITERRANEAN: Almost 200 B-17s and B-25s of the US Twelfth Air Force bombed marshalling yards at Bologna, Trento, Bolzano, and Cancello Arnone; bombers and fighters escorting the B-25s claimed 28 enemy airplanes shot down; and tactical aircraft, including RAF and US Ninth Air Force airplanes, hit gun positions and other targets on the Italian toe, bombed rail communications at Bova Marina, Locri, Marina di Monasterace, Siderno Marina, Lamezia, and Catanzaro, and attacked barges in the Golfo di Sant' Eufemia and an ammunition dump at Saptri.
....Shortly after noon, fighters from II./JG 53 intercepted the Allied flight of bombers attacking the marshalling yards at Cancello Arnone but were bounced by the escorting flight of P-38s. 10 P-38s were shot down but at a cost. as Oblt. Franz Scheiss (67 kills) was shot down. Other German air units involved were JG 3, JG 53 and JG 77 and claimed at least 18 P-38s destroyed.
....The Italian mainland defenses near Reggio were shelled by British battleships HMS 'Valiant' and HMS 'Warspite'.

[Hugh Spencer]

2nd September 1943
30 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Lancasters successfully bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Mormal. 8 Mosquitoes were sent to Cologne and Duisburg. 89 aircraft were minelaying in the Frisian Islands, near Texel and off Brittany and Biscay ports. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.

[Hugh Spencer]

3rd September 1943
316 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes attacked Berlin. Because of the high casualty rates among Halifaxes and Stirlings in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was composed only of Lancasters. 22 Lancasters were lost. The Mosquitoes were used to drop 'spoof' flares well away from the bombers' route to attract German night fighters. This raid approached Berlin from the north-east but the marking and bombing were, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built up area fell on residential parts of Charlotteburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories were hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action were major water and electricity works and one of Berlin's largest breweries. 422 people were listed as killed - 225 civilians, 24 servicemen, 18 men and 2 women of the air-raid services, 123 foreign workers - 92 women and 31 men. 170 further civilians were 'missing'. The Berlin records also mentioned the deaths of another soldier and 7 'criminal' assistants when the 2 delayed-action bombs on which they were working exploded. These 'criminals' could earn remission of their sentences by volunteering for this work on unexploded and delayed-action bombs.
32 Wellingtons, 6 Mosquitoes and 6 Halifaxes went to an ammunition dump in the Foret de Raismes near Valenciennes. 44 Stirlings and 12 Halifaxes went minelaying off Denmark, in the Frisians and off the Biscay coast. 4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington were lost.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 44 without loss: 36 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 36 were dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and 69 were dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille. The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort was provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 were lost. 168 B-17s were dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot, 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux. They claimed 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s were lost. 65 B-17s were dispatched to Mureaux Airfield while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe and 65 B-17s were dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris. They claimed 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s were lost.
....After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship 'SAMARIA'. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers."
....Ofw. Kurt Knappe of 10./JG 2 (56 kills) was killed in action.

GERMANY: One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.
....The Battle of Berlin continued. (For a short list and history of some of the RAF planes lost this night - Lancaster III W4988 crashed Larös North West of Helsingborg, Sweden 4/9 1943)

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet offensive rolled forward as the Germans abandoned Putivl. Bovask in the Donets Basin was also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line was cut.
....III./JG 5 lost two Bf 109F-4s during the day without the pilots being injured. Lt. Joachim Hamer of 7./JG 51 (35 kills) was listed as missing in action.
....An He 111H-16 from 4(F)./122 crashed at Sarabus with 2 killed and 1 injured.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, on the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria.
....Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings were planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft.
....The invaders were fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work were causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara were captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys were preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, would hit the mainland at Salerno.
....Ninth Air Force: B-24s bombed the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy and claimed 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s were lost. Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attacked airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza.
....On the Main Guard Square in Valletta, Malta the remains of a Gloster Sea Gladiator, labelled Faith and serialled N5520, was presented to the people of Malta. During this presentation, the Air Officer Commanding, Sir Keith Park, said,"the famous fighter........the sole survivor Faith". He then added, "Faith has earned a place of honour in the Armoury'.
....Near Syracuse, Sicily, Italian Guiseppe Castellano signed the capitulation of Italy. General Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Allies.

[Hugh Spencer]

4th September 1943
8 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and Duisburg. 25 Wellingtons and 13 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, in the River Gironde and off Lorient and St Nazaire without loss.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 47: 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 4 marshalling yards in France (36 B-26s to each target); 33 hit Courtrai marshalling yard, 33 hit the Deliverance marshalling yard at Lille, 34 hit the Hazebrouck marshalling yard and 23 hit the St Pol marshalling yard.
....Lt. Elfried Eichhoff and Wop Gefr. Gerhard Köhler of II./LLG 1 took off from Fliegerhorst Aalborg West with a fully loaded DFS 237 glider in tow. The purpose was to tow it to Stavanger in Norway where it would demonstrate a glider assault. The Ju 87 stalled shortly after take off and at 13:10 hours crashed in a field belonging to Farmer Røn of Vadum killing Lt. Eichhoff outright and severely wounding Gefreiter Köhler. Köhler was taken to Luftwaffe Lazarett Aalborg where he died on 6 September. On 13 September 1943 both Eichhoff and Köhler were laid to rest in Frederikshavn cemetery. The pilot of the glider reacted quickly when the JU 87 stalled, and let go of the tow wire and landed safe in a field belonging to Farmer Therp a little southwest of the crash site.
.... Against the Allies Lt. Kurt Goltzsch of 8./JG 2 was severely wounded while Ofw. Walter Grunlinger of Stab./JG 26 (7 kills) was killed.
....Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen was appointed commander of Luftflotte 2, giving up his duties as commander of Luftflotte 4.

EASTERN FRONT: Hitler partially corrected one of his stupidities by ordering the German 17.Armee to abandon Novorossisk and a tiny corner of the Kuban steppe, north of the Caucasus. For seven months more than 250,000 Germans and Romanians were uselessly cooped up in the Kuban because Hitler thought the Heer some day would go on the offensive again and capture the Caucasian oilfields. There was now a good chance the 17.Armee would be trapped and captured by the Soviet Army.
....Uffz. Karl-Ernst Homann of 11./JG 5 was killed when his FW 190A-4 crashed for unknown reasons.

GERMANY: Lord Haw-Haw tells Britain that "the final blow will be struck by Adolf Hitler."

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 2: Allied troops landed between Reggio and Catona.
....Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, bad weather prevented XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses from locating their targets (airfields); P-38s sent to hit landing grounds at Grazzanise also failed to find targets, but attacked targets of opportunity in the general area; US fighter-bombers and RAF light bombers hit motor transport scattered along the Italian toe, and bombed gun positions northeast of Reggio di Calabria and roads and railroad junction in the Cosenza-Catanzaro-Nicastro area and at Colosimi.
....The Luftwaffe finally made an appearance over the Allied invasion fleet near Messina and lost Oblt. Martin Laube of 5./JG 53 (10 kills) who was listed as missing in action.
....Lieutenant John Bridge (b. 1915), RNVR, was awarded the George Cross for leading the bomb disposal work at Messina with the Royal Navy's Port Clearance Party 1500. P1500 had started work on 25 August, attempting to make the port useable in time for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy. P1500's original officer and four others were killed at the start by booby-trapped depth charges. Under Bridge's leadership, over 250 booby-traps ashore, and forty in the water, were made safe. Bridge himself made 28 dives to disarm two large clusters of depth charges.

ENGLAND: At RAF conversion units (a training unit for pilots changing the type of aircraft they fly, usually heavier planes) the accident rate was high. Riccall airfield near Selby, was one such unit and in this month alone ten crashes were recorded. Although some of these took place outside the boundaries, they have, this once, been included as a pointer to the number of casualties caused by occurrences of this nature. The first was at 14.10 hours, caused by a Halifax bomber pilot, on a training flight, who collapsed the undercarriage as he tried to correct a swing on take-off. One of the crew was injured.
....A. Plisnier of RAF No. 350 Sqdrn (Belgian) earned a DFC.

[Hugh Spencer]

5th August 1943
299 Lancasters, 195 Halifaxes and 111 Stirlings raided Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, 34 aircraft lost.
The target area for this double attack was clear of cloud and the Pathfinder marking plan worked perfectly. Ground markers were placed on the eastern side of Mannheim so that the bombing of the Main Force, approaching from the west, could move back across Mannheim and then into Ludwigshaven on the western bank of the Rhine. The creepback did not become excessive and severe destruction was caused in both targets. Mannheim's normally detailed air-raid report did not give any specific details of property damage or casualties. It is probable that the raid was so severe that the normal report gathering and recording process broke down. The Mannheim records speak only of 'a catastrophe' and give general comments on the activities of the air-raid services and the behaviour of the population which are both described as 'vorbildlich' (exemplary). More detail was available from Ludwigshaven where the central and southern parts of the town were devastated. The fire department recorded 1,993 separate fires including 3 classed as 'fire areas' and 986 as large fires. 139 of the fires were in industrial areas. 1,080 houses, 6 military and 4 industrial buildings were destroyed and 8 more industrial buildings were seriously damaged including the I.G.Farben works. 127 peope were killed and 568 were injured. 10 of the dead were Flak troops. A further 1,605 people were described as suffering from eye injuries. The relatively small number of deaths may be an indication that many of the German cities were evacuating parts of their population after the recent firestorm disaster at Hamburg and other heavy raids.
4 Mosquitoes went to Dusseldorf. 25 aircraft went minelaying in the German Bight, near Texel and off Brest and Lorient, all without loss.

[Hugh Spencer]

6th September 1943
257 Lancasters and 147 Halifaxes attacked Munich, 16 aircraft lost. The Pathfinders found that Munich was mostly covered by cloud and neither their ground-markers nor their sky-markers were very effective. Most of the Main Force crews could do no more than bomb on a timed run from the Ammersee, a lake situated 21 miles south-west of the target. The bombing was mostly scattered over the southern and western parts of the city. No report was available from Munich.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command Mission 48: 3 marshalling yards were targeted. 72 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to 2 marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium; 31 bombed one yard and 32 bombed the second yard. The 36 B-26s dispatched to the marshalling yard at Courtrai, France were recalled due to weather.
....The United States 101st Airborne Division troops leave New York by ship for Britain.

EASTERN FRONT: The sectors of Bryansk and Donets find the Red Army making excellent advances against the defending Germans. Red army forces continued their attacks, liberating Artemovsk, Kuhtov and Mikhailovsky.
....Another experte was lost over Russia. Hptm. Heinz Schmidt of 6./JG 52 (173 kills) went missing in action near Marker. There was a belief that he was possibly shot down by mistake by a Hungarian fighter.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 3: Montgomery's Eighth Army was taking its time liberating the peninsula's toe. In three days with no opposition, the British have crawled 15 miles (24 kilometres) to Bagnara on Calabria's north coast.
....The Allies' main Italian invasion force sailed from North African ports and headed for Salerno, 25 miles (40 kilometres) south of Naples. More than 450 ships were carrying 69,000 American and British troops commanded by General Mark Clark, Commanding General U.S. Fifth Army. The Allies would land at Salerno on 9 September, and Clark confidently expected to take Naples five days later.
....In the air, 130+ USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed the airfield at Viterbo and the town of Civitavecchia; 200+ B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit landing grounds at Grazzanise. Weather hampered operations of the fighters and medium and light bombers of the Twelfth Air Force and RAF, and only a few targets (guns, roads, railroads, and troops) were attacked during missions over the toe of Italy. In Sardinia USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers and fighters hit the Pula radar station and town of Pabillonis.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command flew Missions 50 and 51 without loss. 144 B-26B Marauders were dispatched to the marshalling yards at Ghent, Belgium and Rouen, France. The Ghent mission was recalled when bad weather prevented the fighter escort from taking off. 66 B-26s hit Rouen and 126 B-26s bombed the marshalling yards at Amiens and Serqueux, France.
....Squadron Leader Johnny Checketts, RAF No. 485(NZ) Sqn. (Biggin Hill) flying a Spitfire IX, was shot down during a dogfight over France involving some 20 Focke-Wulf 190s. With no ammunition left, Checketts had no chance and his Spitfire was soon belching flames through the cockpit. Badly burned, he parachuted to safety and was looked after and hidden by the French for several weeks until he and 12 other escaping servicemen were crammed into a small fishing boat and smuggled across the channel back to England. He had burns to his face, legs and arms and was wounded in both legs, knees and arms.
....During the Ameins raid, twelve aircraft of RAF No. 317 Sqdrn (Polish) led by S/LDR. KORNICKI took to the air to play the part of escort cover to the first “box” of two “boxes” of 36 Marauders in each. It was whilst whirling left that F/O. J. Walawski on the right hand wing, was left behind while weaving. He saw a Spitfire VII go diving past him and also six FW 190s at 8,000 feet above him at 25,000 feet. He dived down and came up again with a diving Bf109 and a pursued Spitfire Vb as he was giving emergency boost. He went in getting the Bf 109 into his sight at 200 yards and let him have it. The enemy aircraft pulled up and F/O. J. Walawski was able to give him another burst, using all his cannon shells and 400 rounds of .303 ammunition. This manoeuvre brought on a stall and spin and when he looked again he saw the Bf 109 crash on the ground and burst into flames. F/O. J. Walawski claimed it as destroyed
....Unternehmen Sizilien. 'Scharnhorst' together with the battleship 'Tirpitz', and the destroyers Z-27, Z-29, Z-30, Z-31, Z-33, 'Erich Steinbrinck', 'Karl Galster', 'Hans Lody' and 'Theodor Riedel', left Altenfiord under the command of Admiral Kummetz, to attack the allied installations in the island of Spitzbergen.
....Luftwaffenpersonalamt issued an order for Jagdfliegerfuhrer 4 to be renamed Jafu Bretagne and for the creation of a new Jafu 4 and for a Jafu 5, although there was evidence that Jafu 4 may have been using Jafu Bretagne as early as July 1943. The headquarters of Jafu Bretagne was initially located in a monastery in Rennes. Obstlt. Dr. Erich Mix gave up his position as Jagdfliegerfuhrer of Jafu 4.

GERMANY: US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 91: Aircraft and bearing factories in and around Stuttgart, Germany were targeted but extensive clouds prevented all but a few B-17s from attacking the primary targets; 45 B-17s and a P-47 Thunderbolt were lost. Formations became separated and disorganized and attacked targets of opportunity in a wide area. Fighters from JG 50 shot down 4 B-17s during the raid. Credit for one bomber went to Major Graf and another to Oblt. Grislawski for the loss of 3 of the specially-equipped Bf 109s. One pilot was killed. Major Graf was shot down but survived a crash landing. Oblt. Walther Dahl of III./JG 3 brought down 2 of the bombers to bring his score to 53 kills.

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet forces continued their drive through the Donets Basin in the Ukraine capturing the steel centers at Makeyevka and Kromatorsk, and chemical works at Slavyansk. In central Russia, the Soviets took the rail hub at Konotop and pushed toward Kiev and the Dnieper. The capture of these cities resulted in the separation of the German Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Kluge) and Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein).
....A Bf 110G-2 from 13.(Z)/JG 5 collided with a P-39 in combat near Havningsberg. Crewmen Ofw. Hans Kolodziej and Uffz. Willi Schipper were both killed.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 4: The British 8th Army continued creeping through southern Italy, taking Gioia Tauro on Calabria's northern coast. German demolitions caused more resistance than actual German troops. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Commander in Chief South, ordered his 16.Panzerdivision to occupy hills surrounding Salerno, the site of the Allies' upcoming invasion.
....In the air, the USAAF's Twelfth Air Force dispatches B-17s to hit Capodichino Airfield, Villa Literno marshalling yard, Gaeta harbor, and Minturno railroad facilities; weather prevented a B-17 attack on Pomigliano airfield. B-25 Mitchells and B-26s hit Capua airfield and landing grounds at Grazzanise. US and RAF planes operated on a reduced scale, flying patrols and hitting railroads and targets of opportunity on the Italian toe.
....HMS 'Puckeridge' was escorting convoy NSM-1 from Gibraltar to Oran and was attacked by 'U-617' with a spread of 4 torpedoes of which 2 hit the ship, causing her to sink about 40 miles east of Gibraltar. 129 men were rescued.

ENGLAND: 10 Me 410s of V./KG 2 along with 12 Fw 190s from other units, including SKG 10, were tasked to attack Cambridge during the night. One of the Fw 190s, flown by Helmut Breier was chased by S/L Howitt of RAF No. 85 Sqdrn and shot down south of Felixstowe. Another Fw 190 was chased by F/L Houghton of RAf No. 85 Sqdrn but was lost due to searchlight interference. However a Fw 190 flown by Hptm. Kurt Geisler of 3./SKG 10 crashed at Filey's Farm at Hawstead near Bury St. Edmunds. Hptm. Geisler was a former transport pilot and holder of the Ritterkreuz before becoming Gruppenkommandeur of 1./SKG 10 in March 1943 and had flown over 300 missions.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Air Support Command flew Mission 52: In France, marshalling yards at Lille and St Pol were targeted but confusion at the rendezvous point caused one group and half of another to abort the mission. St Pol was hit by 81 B-26B Marauders. US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission 92 in 3 forces: 105 B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Evere Airfield at Brussels, Belgium, 3 B-24s bombed Alkmaar Airfield at Bergen, the Netherlands and 19 hit a convoy off Texel Island and 147 B-17s were dispatched to attack V-weapon site at Watton, France, but weather was a problem and 3 groups aborted the mission but 58 hit the target. Strikes 1 and 2 were escorted by 178 P-47 Thunderbolt that claimed 3-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-47 was lost. The attacks greatly disrupted the German plan for this new “Blitz” against England.
....'U-596' shelled the 'Hamidieh' in the Atlantic for seven minutes. The sailing vessel caught fire and the stern sank after 20 minutes, but the fore part burned for about eight hours.
....'U-402' shot down RAF Wellington aircraft, Squadron 172/D. Another two Wellingtons were also involved in the attack, one of them had to crash land.
....'U-669' was sunk in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from a Canadian aircraft (RCAF-Sqn. 407).
....One Section of Spitfires from RAF No. 306 Sqdrn (Polish) took off from Friston, and sighted a boat with one person in it 10 miles off Fecamp. The position was given and a Walrus arrived on the scene and picked him up. The person turned out to be a German sailor.

EASTERN FRONT: The German 17.Armee began the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. The Soviet Army captured Baturin, east of Konotop, and Zvenkov in the Kharkov sector. The Germans began evacuations at Stalino.
....Hitler visited the HQ of Heeresgruppe Sud (von Manstein) were he was briefed on the disasters on that front. That afternoon, he flew back to Germany. It was the last time he would set foot on Soviet territory.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Baywood Day 5: The British 8th Army tried to trap the German rearguard in the toe of the Italian boot. Commandos and infantry landed at Pizzo on Calabria's northern coast, but the Germans sidestepped them. Montgomery's army has advanced only 60 miles (97 kilometres) in five days.
....U.S. Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor began a spy mission to see whether a surprise parachute drop by the 82d Airborne Division could capture Rome. Posing as a downed Allied airman, Taylor -- the 82d's artillery commander -- went to Rome and found it crawling with Germans. After meeting with Italian Prime Minister Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Taylor realized the 82d would be cut to pieces. He sent a secret signal to cancel the drop. Taylor then escaped.
....In the air, USAAF XII Bomber Command B-17s bombed 2 satellite airfields at Foggia while B-25s and B-26s hit road and rail bridges at Saptri and Trebisacce and roads at Lauria. A-20s of the Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force supported British landing on 7/8 September near Pizzo in an unsuccessful attempt to cut off enemy retreat up west coast of the Italian toe. Medium and light bombers, in an afternoon raids, bombed Crotone airfield and roadblock and gun batteries north of Catanzaro. USAAF P-40s hit the landing ground at Pabillonis and barges off Portoscuso.
....HQ US Army Air Forces decided to transfer Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Ninth Air Force, and his HQ staff from Africa to the United Kingdom and to reform the Ninth Air Force as a tactical air force in the European Theater of Operations by absorbing the VIII Air Support Command.

ENGLAND: At 12.00 a Halifax bomber operating from Riccall airfield in Yorkshire was on a training flight when it went into a steep bank to starboard with smoke coming from the starboard outer engine, the pilot recovered at 9,000' but the plane then spun-in and exploded two miles S of the airfield. Ten were killed.
....At 17.05 at the same airfield a Halifax bomber had just landed when its undercarriage collapsed. The aircraft was a write off.