This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.

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CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 P-40's from Suichwan intercept an attacking force of 27 bombers and 21 Zekes; 1 bomber and 1 fighter are shot down, and the attackers retire in the direction of Canton without dropping their bombs.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon, 8 P-39's and 8 USN F4U's strafe barges off the W coast of Choiseul. 24 B-25's of the 42nd BG and 14 P-38's carry out a low-level strike against Kahili Airfield at dusk dropping parafrag bombs, damaging or destroying several parked aircraft. Lost is B-25D 41-30567.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: ALAMO (U.S. Sixth Army) Scouts land at Cape
Gloucester, New Britain Island, for reconnaissance.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): B-25's sweep along coastal areas of New Britain and through to the N and W, bombing and strafing targets of opportunity.

NEW GUINEA: In North East New Guinea, the Australian 2/17th Battalion is fighting at Kumawa, between Finschhafen and Sattleberg. Elements of the Australian 7th Division take Dumpu with unexpected ease and it will become a staging field for fighters.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Japanese evacuate 600 men from Vella Lavella Island
during the night of 6/7 October but they are met by USN destroyers resulting in the Battle of Vella Lavella. Three USN destroyers intercept and attack six Japanese destroyers, three destroyer transports and small armed craft some 12 nautical miles off Marquana Bay; this proves to be the last surface engagement in the central Solomon Islands.
The three USN destroyers are damaged: USS O'Bannon in a collision with destroyer USS Chevalier; USS Selfridge by torpedo fired from either of Japanese destroyers HIJMS Shigure or HIJMS Samidare; and USS Chevalier by torpedo from Japanese destroyer HIJMS Yugumo. USS Chevalier is scuttled by destroyer USS LaVallette tomorrow. Torpedoes from USS Chevalier and Selfridge sink Japanese destroyer HIJMS Yugumo.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Action in the central Solomons comes to a close. Elements of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, make an
unopposed landing on Kolombangara Island during the morning. U.S. casualties during the central Solomons campaign total 1,094 killed and
3,873 wounded. The counted Japanese dead, except on Vella Lavella Island,
total 2,483. The campaign yields Allied forces four airfields (Munda, Ondonga
and Segi on New Georgia Island and Barakoma on Vella Lavella Island) within range of Bougainville Island, the next objective.
In the air, eight USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-39 Airacobras and eight USN F4U Corsairs strafe barges off the west coast of Choiseul Island while 24 B-25 Mitchells and 14 P-38 Lightnings carry out a low-level strike against Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island, damaging or destroying several parked aircraft.

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CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25's attack a 2,500-ton freighter 100 miles S of Amoy, China scoring 3 direct hits; the vessel is left burning and listing. 9 B-24's and 22 fighters hit a cement plant at Haiphong, French Indochina causing heavy damage to the kiln building. The 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, transfers from Dinjan, India to Kunming, China with P-40's.

WAKE ISLAND: Imperial Japanese Navy Rear Admiral Sakaibara Shigematsu,
commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, orders the execution
of 96 American civilian construction workers who have been held on the
island since the American surrender in December 1941. The men are marched to the beach and machine gunned. This followed two days of attacks by a USN task force (see 5 October). I have heard two claims of why the men are executed,
(1) the Japanese claimed the civilians were trying to make radio contact with the task force and
(2) the Japanese were afraid that the U.S. was going to invade the island and the civilian prisoners would tell the invaders where the Japanese defensive positions were and how weak they were.
After the war, Sakaibara and eleven of his officers are sentenced to death by a USN Court at Kwajalein

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Formosa Strait, four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force
B-25s attack a 2,500-ton freighter 100 miles south of Amoy, China scoring three direct hits; the vessel is left burning and listing.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): The 72nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th BG, based on Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides with B-24's, begins operating from Guadalcanal.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In the Bismarck Archipelago, a B-24 on patrol bombs Umboi scoring damaging hits on several buildings. HQ 374th Troop Carrier Group transfers from Port Moresby to Towns.

NEW GUINEA: In North East New Guinea, the Australian 2/17th Battalion
continues battling the Japanese at Kumawa in the Finschhafen area.

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CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 9 B-24's, supported by 20 P-40's, bomb Gia Lam Airfield in French Indochina. While on ferry mission over the Hump, 3 B-24's bomb Tengchung, China scoring hits on warehouses, barracks, and a HQ area.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): B-25's and P-40's sink a barge off the W coast of Choiseul in the Solomon

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): A single B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Cape Gloucester Airfield. Lost is P-38H 42-66904.

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ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 12 Kuril-based Japanese bombers attack Attu.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25's on a shipping sweep off the SE China coast in the Amoy-Quemoy area sink a 150-ft (45.7 m) tanker and damage a patrol vessel, and a freighter. 1 B-25 crashes into a hill and explodes. 10 P-40's bomb fuel storage and barracks at Mangshih, China; 1 P-40 is downed by ground fire.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): B-25's and P-40's hit barges and concentrations on W Choiseul. P-39's and USN F4U's strafe buildings, a radar station, and gun positions at Poporang.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): A-20's and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airplanes bomb and strafe defensive positions in the Sattelberg and Finschhafen areas. B-24's bomb Makassar on Celebes.
The 2d Bombardment Squadron, 22d BG (Medium), transfers from Reid River, Australia to Dobodura with B-26's. They re-entered combat on 5 Oct after R&R in Australia since Jan 43.
The 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, transfers from Port Moresby to Nadzab. The squadron is operating from Tsili Tsili with C-47's.

ELLICE ISLANDS: Nukufetau Airstrip on Motulalo Island is ready for use.

RAAF - Written off after suffering bomb damage at Vivigani is Beaufort A9-226.

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BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 7 B-24's pound the Meza railroad bridge in Burma, destroying the 3 spans on the E end and dropping the end of a central span into the river.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 20 B-24's and 18 P-40's pound docks at Haiphong, French Indochina. In China, 8 P-40's bomb a match factory and ammunition dump at Tengchung; 8 others hit a supply dump and targets of opportunity in the Lungling area.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek takes the oath of office as president of China.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 24 B-24's, 50+ P-38's (seporated from the formation near Kolombangara) soon after rendevous. P-40's, and P-39's, and 50+ USN fighters and dive bombers participated, including eight F4Us from VMF-214 'The Black Sheep', but two aborted due to mechanical failures. The remaining aircraft hit Kahili Airfield and surrounding areas, hitting runways, a fuel dump, supply area, buildings, the Navy dive bombers hit Malabita Hill gun positions. The bombing was not accurate with about half the load falling into the water off Bougainville 'killing many small fish'. Jumped by 10-15 Zeros, and fired on by accurate anti-aircraft guns at Kahili and Ballale. Two B-24s are damaged. Lost is B-24D 42-40210. US airplanes claim 15 interceptors shot down, but Japanese records only show the loss of two Zeros from the 201th Kokutai.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, A-20's, along with RAAF airplanes, again pound the Sattelberg area. HQ 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group arrives at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from the US.
The ground echelon of the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), arrives at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from the US. The squadron is attached to the 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group and will be reassigned to the 6th on 5 Dec 43. The air echelon, with B-24's and F-7's, will remain in the US until 26 Jan 44. The 70th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, transfers from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with C-47's.

EAST INDIES: During the night of 10/11 October, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25s hit Saumlaki on Yamdena Island in the Netherlands East Indies.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS Kingfish lays mines off Cape Pepe, Makassar Strait, Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies.

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BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): HQ 311th Fighter-Bomber Group transfers from Nawadih to Dinjan, India.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 8 B-24's bomb the town areas of Tengchung, China, and Sadon and Myitkyina, Burma. The 75th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group, transfers from Kunming to Kweilin, China with P-40's.

JAPAN: The submarine USS Wahoo is sunk in La Perouse Strait off the coast of Hokkaido with its ace skipper, Commander Dudley "Mush the Magnificent" Morton. During five patrols, Morton and Wahoo sank 19 ships. Japanese records report that, on 11 October, the date USS Wahoo is due to exit through La Perouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft found a surfaced submarine and attacks, dropping three depth charges sinking the sub.
Also on 11 October 1943, the commander of a Japanese shore battery overlooking Soya Strait reports sighting and firing on a surfaced submarine. A number of hits are claimed before the submarine dives and an aircraft from Ominato is sent to the spot. At 0920 hours, the plane detects an oil patch and the shadow of a conning tower and bombs are dropped on this shape. The aircraft radios for assistance and circles until other planes arrive.
A submarine is positively identified and more bombs are dropped until surface ships, including HIJMS Submarine Chasers 15 and 43 arrive. These, and other ships, drop depth charges. HIJMS Submarine Chaser 15 reports part of a ship's propeller thrown to the surface by an underwater explosion. More aircraft and HIJMS Auxiliary Minesweeper 18 arrive, but nothing more of the submarine is seen.] USS Wahoo is announced overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Navy list on 6 December 1943.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force) 22 B-24's join 30+ USN dive bombers in pounding Kahili Airfield and the nearby area. Hits are scored on the airstrip, fuel dumps, supply areas, gun positions, bridges between Rangu and Jakohina, barges at the mouth of the Uguima River, and several other targets. The B-24's and the USN and AAF fighters covering the attack claim 12 Japanese airplanes downed.
Japanese aircraft attack U.S. shipping off Koli Point, Guadalcanal, torpedoing two merchant freighters.

NEW GUINEA: Over Northeast New Guinea, Colonel Neal Kearby, Commanding Officer 348th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force, shoots down six Japanese fighters, four Zeros and two "Tonys" near Wewak, Northeast New Guina. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.
In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack Manokwari, Bira, and Fakfak and score hits on a small vessel at Fakfak.

EAST INDIES: During the night of 11/12 October, 5th AF B-25s bomb Cape Chater and Lautem Airfields on Dutch Timor Island in the Netherlands East Indies.

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CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 5 B-24's bomb the warehouse area and railroad yards at Myitkyina, Burma

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 2 B-25's skip-bomb 2 small vessels in Matchin Bay on Bougainville. Lost is B-25C 42-64571.

NEW BRITAIN: Rabaul is the target of the US 5th Air Force and receives 350
tons of bombs.
The Fifth Air Force and RAAF open an aerial campaign to neutralize or cripple the four Japanese airfields and naval base at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in support of the upcoming invasion of Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands.
The first mission today is flown by 349 aircraft, 87 B-24s, 114 B-25s, 125 P-38s, 12 RAAF Beaufighters and 11 weather and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft attack the airfields, the town, the harbour and ships in the harbour and sink 2 transports, 2 cargo lighters and a guard boat and damage 3 destroyers, 3 submarines, a special service ship, an oiler and 2 auxiliary sailing vessels. 50+ Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground; 4 B-24s and a B-25 are lost.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: B-25s fly small strikes against targets on Timor
Island and other areas of the Netherlands East Indies.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 2 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s skip-bomb 2 small vessels in
Matchin Bay on Bougainville Island.

WESTERN PACIFIC: Submarine USS Halibut torpedoes and sinks the Japanese
cargo ship Ehime Maru (4,500 tons), a medium freighter.

NEI: B-25's fly small strikes against targets on Timor and other areas of the Netherlands East Indies.

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ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 11 P-40's unsuccessfully intercept 8 Japanese medium bombers attacking Massacre Bay and the nearby airfield on Attu.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Japanese fighters appear in strength over Sumprabum, Burma to attack over-the-Hump flights. The enemy evades US patrols and shoots down 3 transports. A fighter-bomber offensive against airfields in Burma from which fighters might operate against Hump transports opens with an attack by P-40's on Myitkyina.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 3 B-25's on a sea sweep off SE China hit shipping in Amoy harbor, claiming 1 freighter sunk and another damaged.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon, a detachment of the 17th Photographic Squadron, 4th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group, based on Guadalcanal with F-5's, begins operating from Munda, New Georgia . The air echelons of "C" and "D" Flights are still in the US.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 100+ B-24's and B-25's are sent against Rabaul; bad weather forces the bombers to turn back, but 40+ B-24's hit targets including Hoskins, Lindenhafen, Cape Gloucester and Gasmata. Lost is B-24D 42-40934 ditching.

PACIFIC: A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese cargo ship.
USS Barbel sinks a destroyer at 29-38 N, 127-27 E at about 0600.
USS Begall sinks an attack transport at 11-53 N, 109-17 E (Japanese give
location as 11-53 N, 109-17 E) at about 0900.
USS Permit sinks a patrol vessel at 07-15 N, 151-45 E at about 1500.

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CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25's attack shipping in the Amoy area, damaging 2 freighters, and also bomb Amoy Airfield.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): A single B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs 4 barges W of Taiof, leaving 1 sinking. The 371st Bombardment Squadron, 307th BG, ceases operating from Guadalcanal and returns to it's base on Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides with B-24's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 60+ medium bombers pound Cape Gloucester on New Britain and Alexishafen. 3 others fly harassing strikes against Dili and Lautem on Timor.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 1700 hours: USS Grayback sinks an attack transport at 27-35 N, 127-30 E.

1800 hours: USS Bonefish sinks a schooner at 00-10 N, 119-15 E.

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BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 89th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, transfers from Karachi to Gushkara, India with P-40's. A detachment will operate from Sadiya, India during Oct.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 21 B-24's, 12 P-38's, and 17 USN F4U's pound Kahili Airfield supply and personnel areas. 6 Zeros are claimed shot down. During the late evening B-25's bomb the airfield on Buka .

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 50+ P-38's and P-40's intercept around 100 Japanese aircraft attacking Allied shipping at Oro Bay; the US fighters claim 40+ shot down; 4 other P-40's, encountering 20+ Japanese airplanes E of Finschhafen, claim 5 destroyed; and 70+ medium bombers hit positions and villages from Sio to Saidor.
HQ 22d Bombardment Group and it's 33d and 408th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) transfer from Australia to Dobodura with B-25's; the 22d and 33d transfer from Woodstock and the 408th from Reid River.

NEI: 6 B-24's bomb Boela on Ceram in the Moluccas.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0100 hours: USS Tullibee sinks a transport at 24-30 N,
120-26 E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Admiral Halsey issues orders for the invasion of Northern Solomons by Task
Force 31.

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CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): HQ 41st BG (Medium) arrives at Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii from the US.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Fighter patrols are increased from 4 to 8 aircraft with little effect on enemy marauders over the Hump. 3 A-36's fail to return from a mission over Sumprabum, Burma.

CHINA: British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC), arrives in Chungking.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): B-24's bomb Kara Airfield. 6 B-25's hit the airfield on Ballale.
N. SOLOMONS (USMC) Five Black Sheep divisions (20 planes) took off in the morning, three to escort some SBD's on a strike against Kara Airfield, the other two on a fighter sweep. Bolt flew with the fighter sweep, which Boyington was leading. As they flew over Kahili at Tonolei Harbor, they saw that it was filled with Japanese barges. "Nobody shoot" ordered the normally aggressive Boyington, who led the eight Corsairs on a long, erratic route. While Boyington proceeded back to Munda, Bolt and the rest could only make Vella Lavella. At Vella, Bolt decided to fly back to Tonolei Harbor himself, to shoot up those barges. "The skipper will be pissed," a pilot warned. Bolt went anyway, and at Tonolei, he blasted one barge full of troops, an empty barge, a tug, and another small cargo vessel. Most of the vessels, he left burning and sinking. Back at Munda, Boyington was indeed "pissed", and the incident became know as 'Bolts War'. But Admiral Halsey was more supportive writing a cable: "That one man war... conducted by Lieut. Bolt against Jap stuff in Tonolei Harbor, Warm Heart (Stop) Halsey"

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, 60+ B-25's attack the Alexishafen area, hit coastal targets between Reiss Point and Sio, and bomb the airfield at Wewak. A-20's bomb and strafe Gasmata. A lone B-24 destroys a patrol craft between Hoskins and Rabaul. Lost on a search and rescue mission is OA-10 Catalina 43-3262.
All four squadrons of the 345th BG B-25 participated in a morning strike on Boram Airfield, anti-aircraft defenses and Wewak Airfield, protected by three squadrons of P-38 escort fighters. About 20 Japanese Ki-43 and Ki-61 fighters took off to intercept with only a few minutes warning. They dropped 100 lbs 'daisy cutter' bombs and straffed the area. Many parked aircraft were destroyed or damaged. Lost was B-25D 41-30561.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 9th Division uses captured documents to repel the first of a series of sharp counterattacks from Sattelberg.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The U.S. 3d Marine Division, having trained at Guadalcanal for operations against Bougainville, conducts rehearsals in the New Hebrides, concluding them on 20 October.

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BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers bomb Naba, Burma.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 7 B-24's bomb Htawgaw, Burma.

BOUGAINVILLE: - Over the past two days (16-17) Japanese records indicate the loss of 15 Zeros in the air, and deaths of 13 pilots (half a squadron). One VMF-214 pilot Milton E. Scheider went MIA, and two F4Us minorly damaged.

NEI: 6 B-24's bomb Ternate, a 2,200-mile round trip.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-36 launches a small "Glen" seaplane to determine how many aircraft carriers are in Pearl Harbor (there are none). The absence of the carriers coupled with the 5 and 6 October raids against Wake Island lead Japanese Navy intelligence officers to believe that an invasion of Wake is imminent. Because of this misinterpretation, Japanese carrier-based aircraft that could have been used to oppose the upcoming invasion of Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands, are withheld for more than a week.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Japanese continue vigorous attacks from Sattelberg after attempting to land four barge loads of troops, of which only one reaches shore. Eighteen USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe Sattelberg and seven B-25 Mitchells hit Boram Aerodrome and Wewak (Wirui) Airstrip with a low-level attack during which 15 Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground and four claimed shot down. Four P-39 Airacobras intercept 18 Japanese airplanes attacking Finschhafen, claiming six shot down. Over 40 fighters intercept a large group of Japanese aircraft attempting to attack Oro Bay; US fighters claim 24 shot down.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The German auxiliary cruiser, HK Michel (ship H), the former Polish freighter SS Biolskoi captured in Norway, is sunk at 0200 hours by the USN submarine USS Tarpon about 121 nautical miles south of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan, in position 33.42N, 140.08E. A tremendous explosion after a torpedo struck sank the ship and she went down within 13 minutes with the loss of 263 crewmen and 19 Norwegian sailors who had been captured; 110 crewmen survived. Michel has sunk three ships on this cruise (with 17 total for two cruises) and is the last auxiliary cruiser in operation for Germany.

PACIFIC: Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill: "We pulled out of Pearl Harbor early for two days of maneuvers in the area.. First, we retrieved our aircraft, respotted the deck and the ship went to General Quarters. The 5-inch guns started firing and I started looking for what they were shooting at. By the time I found the target, the 40 mms and then the 20 mms started. I found what I took to be a "yellow peril" (biplane trainer) buzzing around with all these guns shooting at it. I was wishing I could go home then as nobody hit it. And to think I was going into combat with a bunch of gunners like this.???? Oh well, life was hell for a war hero."

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USMC SBD Dauntlesses and TBF Avengers attack Kahili Airfield near Buin on Bougainville Island while six USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 21 USMC F4U Corsairs sweep Ballalae Airfield on Ballalae Island south of Bougainville. The latter strike is engaged by 40+ Zero fighters; 14 Zeros are shot down with the loss of a Corsair.

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ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): The 406th BS (Medium), Fourth Air Force, departs Elmendorf Field, Anchorage for the US. The squadron will transition from B-25's to B-24's and arrive in England on 2 Nov 43.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 530th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 311th Fighter-Bomber Group, transfers from Nawadih to Dinjan, India with A-36's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 28 B-24's and 40+ USN dive bombers, with cover of 50+ fighters including F4U Corsairs of VMF-214 and VMF-221 hit Ballale Airfield. Lost is F4U 17557. 14 P-39's join 20+ US Navy aircraft in a strike on Kakasa village and a tent area on Choiseul. The 70th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, transfers from Guadalcanal to New Georgia with P-39's.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): Nearly 80 B-24's and fighters are sent against Rabaul, but abort due to bad weather. The mission cost five Liberators, including B-24D "Mitsu Butcher" 41-24043, B-24D 42-40670, B-24D 42-40885, B-24D 41-41088 and B-24D "Mission Belle" 42-40389. 13 of the B-24's bomb Cape Hoskins; 7 others bomb Cape Gloucester and hit Sio. However, 50+ B-25's slip beneath low clouds and pound the town, airfields, and shipping from treetop and mast-height level; the B-25's sink 2 vessels and claim 70+ planes destroyed on the ground and in the air. Lost are B-25D "SNAFU / MFUTU" 41-30054, B-25D "Sorry Satchul" 41-30056, B-25C "Daisy May" 42-32262.
Other B-25's bomb and strafe a road at Bogadjim.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Japanese 78th and 80th
Regiments continue their assaults against Australian troops in the Finschhafen

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BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The 1st Troop Carrier Squadron, Tenth Air Force, transfers from New Delhi to Sookerating, India with C-47's. The 529th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 311th Fighter-Bomber Group, transfers from Nawadih to Dinjan, India with A-36's.

BORNEO: Local Chinese and native Suluks rise up against the Japanese occupation of North Borneo. The revolt, staged in the capital, Jesselton, resulted in the deaths of 40 Japanese soldiers. The revolt is dealt with quickly and brutally by the Japanese. They destroy dozens of Suluk villages, round up and torture thousands of civilians, and execute almost 200 without trial. In one extreme example of cruelty, several dozen Suluk women and children have their hands tied behind them and are hanged from their wrists from a pillar of a mosque. They are then shot down by machine-gun fire.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): SOLOMON ISLANDS: Kara and Kahili Airfields on Bougainville Island are hit by 24 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, 14 P-38s and 20 P-40s, and eight PV-1s, 20 SBDs, 12 TBFs and ten F4U Corsairs. The targets include antiaircraft emplacements. One PV-1 is lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): A-20's and RAAF airplanes hit Sattelberg and surrounding areas and bomb Gasmata; enemy air raid against Finschhafen causes no effective damage. B-25's and RAAF Hudsons bomb Fuiloro on Timor.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 9th Division, assisted by artillery, contains further Japanese attacks in the Finschhafen

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CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): HQ 30th BG and it's 27th, 38th and 392d Bombardment Squadrons arrive at Hickam Field, Moluleia Field, Kahuku and Barking Sands, Territory of Hawaii respectively from the US with B-24's. The 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 41st Bombardment Group (Medium) arrive at Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii from the US with B-25's.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): The bridge at Meza, Burma, being repaired after being damaged severely on 10 Oct, is attacked and damaged by B-25's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): Kakasa on Choiseul is attacked 3 times by Venturas, P-40's, and USN fighters and dive bombers. 24 P-40's and nearly 50 USN F4U's sweep Kahili; one force of F4U's encounters fighters, claiming 3 destroyed. The 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 42d Bombardment Group (Medium), ceases operating form Guadalcanal with B-25's and returns to it's base on Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield.

CENTRAL SOLOMONS: - The "Tokyo Night Express" completes the evacuation of the Japenese garrison at Kolombangara. Kakasa on Choiseul Island is attacked three times by six USN PV Venturas and seven SBD Dauntlesses. Twenty four P-40s and 24 USN F4U Corsairs, escorted by F6F Hellcats, sweep Kahili Airfield on southern Bougainville Island; one force of F6Fs encounters fighters, claiming four destroyed.

PACIFIC OCEAN: At 1500 hours in the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Kingfish sinks a cargo ship off the coast of French Indochina about 25 nautical miles NE of Nha Trang in position 12.30N, 109.30E.

JAPAN: The Japanese order the air groups from six aircraft carriers, HIJMS Hiyo, Junyo, Ryuho, Shokaku, Zuiho and Zuikaku to Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, to augment land-based air strength and delay Allied progress while the main perimeter defenses of Japan are being strengthened. This plan is called Operation RO.

GILBERT ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators and USN PB4Y-1 Liberators begin extensive photographic reconnaissance of Tarawa Atoll.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): B-25's bomb and strafe the Bogadjim area; B-24's hit 2 freighters near Manokwari and bomb the Manokwari area; and an attack on Finschhafen by 30 Japanese aircraft causes minor damage. A-20's hit Gasmata. Lost in an aerial collision is B-25D 41-30573.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian 24th Brigade arrives by sea at Finschhafen, Northeast New Guinea to reinforce the Australian 9th Division there. They will continue to attack the dug in Japanese units. In the air, B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe the Bogadjim area south of Madang. An attack on Finschhafen by 30 Japanese fighters causes minor damage.
Australian General Headquarters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, issues RENO III, the plan for the operations ending with the capture of islands in the Southern Philippines. The plan consists of five phases between 1 February 1944 and 1 February 1945. According to the plan, the Australians will only participate in one phase, i.e., the capture of islands in the Arafura Sea between New Guinea and Australia in June 1944.

NEI: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit two freighters near Manokwari and bomb the Manokwari area.

RAAF: Lost on a ferry flight is CA-12 Boomerang A46-87.