British Military Aviation in 1943 - Part 4

Part 3

9 September
Six Dornier Do217s of Kampfgeschwader 100, operating from Marseille, attack units of the Italian fleet, which are proceeding to Malta to surrender. Using Fritz-X radio guided glide bombs the Dorniers sink the battleship Roma with two missiles and severely damage the battleship Italia.

14 September
Supermarine Spitfires of No.324 Wing RAF, Supermarine Seafires of the Fleet Air Arm and Lockheed Lightnings of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) deploy ashore to provide land based fighter cover over Salerno landings. During this day the 1st Tactical Air Force flies 700 sorties.

14-15 September
Six Douglas Dakotas of No.216 Squadron RAF led by Squadron Leader Forsyth drop 122 paratroops on the Greek island of Kos (or Cos) in the Dodecanese. RAF Regiment units are transported by air to Kos on the following day and further landings are subsequently made on the neighbouring islands of Leros and Samos. However, all three islands are re-taken by German forces, with heavy Allied ground, air and naval losses, in November 1943.

15-16 September
Following an abortive attack on the previous night, two crews of No.617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command succeed in dropping the first 12,000 pound High Capacity bombs delivered by the Command. The target is the Dortmund-Ems Canal, however, a breach is not achieved.

16 September
The Royal Navy battleship HMS Warspite is severely damaged off the Salerno landing beaches by Fritz-X radio guided glide bombs dropped by Dornier Do217 of Kampfgeschwader 100. Warspite has to be towed to Malta for repairs.

16 September
The Salerno beachead is secured. The air battles over Salerno cost the Luftwaffe 221 aircraft and the Allies 89 aircraft.

22-23 September
The 'spoof' raid technique is used by RAF Bomber Command for the first time. The main target for the raid on this night is Hanover and the 'spoof' target is Oldenburg.

13 October
Italy declares war on Germany.

14 October
Following their raid of 17 August 1943, the United States Eighth Army Air Force launch a second attack on the important ball-bearing production factories located at Schweinfurt in southern Germany. A total of 291 heavy bombers are despatched without long-range fighter escort and sixty are lost. Faced with such heavy losses, the USAAF suspends daylight heavy bomber operations against German targets.

19 October
A posthumous Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Lieutenant W.E. Newton of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for displaying "great courage and an iron determination to inflict the utmost damage on the enemy" during his service in Salamaua in New Guinea. The aircraft involved was a Douglas Boston of No.22 (RAAF) Squadron.

23 October
The Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force is formed.

3 November
The Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Lieutenant W. Reid for his actions in the bombing of Dusseldorf. The aircraft involved was Avro Lancaster LM360 'O' of No.61 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

7 November
A de Havilland Mosquito FB XVIII of No.248 Squadron, RAF Coastal Command, piloted by Flying Officer A.J.L. Bonnett of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) makes the first attack on a U-boat using a 6-pounder (57mm) Molins gun. Bonnett fires eight rounds at the U-123 and achieves several hits on the submarine's conning tower and hull. The damaged submarine docks at the submarine base at Lorient.

15 November
The Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) is formed to control Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) units during the forthcoming invasion of Europe, under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory.

15 November
RAF Fighter Command is renamed Air Defence Great Britain, with Air Marshal R.M. Hill appointed Air Officer Commanding in Chief.

16 November
Air Command South-East Asia is formed, under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse.

18-19 November
The main phase of the 'Battle of Berlin' opens with an attack, by 440 Avro Lancasters and four de Havilland Mosquitoes, on the German capital.

During the Battle as a whole (23/24 August 1943 - 30/31 March 1944), RAF Bomber Command mounted nineteen major raids on Berlin. 10,813 sorties were generated by the Command, of which approximately 9,560 reached the target area and 33,390 tons of bombs were dropped (including at least 5 million incendiaries. Large sections of the city were destroyed and 10,305 German civilians and service personnel were killed. A total of 625 aircraft were lost during the offensive, 2,960 bomber crewmembers were lost en route to, over, or returning from the target and a further 987 were taken prisoner.

23 November
No.100 (Special Duties) Group is formed at West Raynham in RAF Bomber Command, under the command of Air Commodore E.B. Addison. This Group is formed in an effort to draw together Bomber Command's existing Radio Counter Measures (RCM) electronic warfare operations and during the course of the bomber offensive against Germany, No.100 Group and its forebears pioneered the use of offensive Electronic Warfare.

28 November
Aerial photographs of the German research station at Peenemunde reveal a pilotless aircraft on a launching ramp.

2/3 December
'Duppel', the German equivalent of 'Window' (tinfoil strips dropped from aircraft to simulate aircraft echoes and confuse ground search and nightfighter radars), is used for the first time by German aircraft engaged in a minelaying operation in Bari harbour.

10 December
The Mediterranean Air Command and North-West African Air Force are amalgamated to form Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, consisting of all operational Allied Air Units in the Mediterranean theatre, excluding the Middle East.

Part 3