70 Years Ago Today: Tuesday, August 24, 1943 Quebec: The Quadrant Conference comes to an end. Operation Overlord, the invasion of northwestern Europe, target date is set for May 1, 1944, and Operation Pointblank, Combined Bomber Offensive to destroy economic and military power of Germany as a prelude to Operation Overlord, shall constitute the primary effort against Germany. Plans for the invasion of Italy are approved, but the forces to be employed are confined to those already allotted at the TRIDENT Conference. Advances against Japan are to be made along both the Central Pacific and the Southwest Pacific Area route. Action in the Central Pacific is to begin with the invasion of the Gilberts and the Marshalls. In the Southwest Pacific Area, Rabaul will be neutralized but not captured, ; New Guinea will be neutralized as far west as Wewak, and Manus and Kavieng are to be secured as bases from which further advances can be supported. A new Allied command, Southeast Asia Command (SEAC), is authorized to simplify command structure in Asia, with Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten is to be Supreme Commander and General Stilwell will be his deputy. The China theater is not included in SEAC, as China is an area of US strategic responsibility, and General Stilwell is responsible to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The North Burma offensive is scheduled to begin in February 1944. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks US President Franklin Roosevelt to commit to the Habbakuk ice ship project. Roosevelt reluctantly agrees. American Theater: The Army Air Force’s Antisubmarine Command is redesignated 1st Bomber Command and reassigned to the 1st Air Force after the Army and USN reach an agreement under which the Army Air Force withdraws from antisubmarine operations. During the remainder of August, the 25th Antisubmarine Wing at Westover Field, Ayr, Massachusetts, and the 26th Antisubmarine Wing at Jacksonville Municipal Airport, Florida, cease flying antisubmarine warfare missions. European Theater (Pointblank): 8th Air Force Mission 86 – 110 B-17s are dispatched to the Villacoublay Air Depot in France, while 42 other B-17s are sent to the Conches and Evreux/Fauville Airfields in France, and 36 more B-17s fly a diversion without incident. One B-17 is lost, with one crew member listed as killed. Meanwhile, 85 B-17s, which had flown to North Africa after attacking Regensburg, Germany on August 17, are dispatched to the Bordeaux/Merignac Airfield in France, losing three B-17s are lost, with 30 men listed as missing. Nine of these B-17s returned to North Africa after encountering difficulties. The VIII Air Support Command flies two diversionary missions with B-26s. During the night, eight RAF Mosquitos attack Berlin, while 66 aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland, Frisian and Texel areas. Western Mediterranean: 12th Air Force Northwest African Air Force fighter-bombers hit a railroad tunnel and cruiser offshore at Sibari, tracks and buildings at Castrovillari, the town area at Sibari, motor transport north of Reggio di Calabria and provide withdrawal cover for the fighter-bombers. The 314th Troop Carrier Group transfers from Tunisia to Sicily. China – Burma – India Theater (China): 14th Air Force sends seven B-24s and six B-25s, escorted by 22 P-40s and P-38s, to bomb airfields at Hankow and Wuchang, losing four B-24s and their crews. Pacific Ocean Area: The Fifth Amphibious Force is established under the command of Admiral Turner. South Pacific Area: 13th Air Force dispatches 25 B-24s, with fighter escort, to bomb Papatura Fa Island and attack the eastern shore of Ringa Cove on New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, while P-39s strafe barges at Kakasa on Choiseul Island. The 23rd Bomb Squadron (Heavy), with B-17s, returns to its base on Espiritu Santo Island in the New Hebrides Islands for R&R. Southwest Pacific Theater: 5th Air Force B-24s thoroughly pound Wewak and bomb Salamaua, while and B-25s bomb Larat and barges east of Wotap in New Guinea.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 12:55:41 +0000