70 Years Ago Today: Saturday, July 24, 1943 Rome: In an extraordinary meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, Benito Mussolini receives a vote of no confidence. Alaska Theater: 11th Air Force dispatches 62 P-40s on nine missions to Kiska Island, bombing the runway and scoring many hits, with Royal Canadian Air Force pilots participating on two of the missions. Anti-aircraft positions are strafed on North Head and Little Kiska Island, with one gun placement taking a direct hit and exploding. One P-40 and pilot are lost. European Theater: 8th Air Force Mission 75 – In its first mission to Norway and its longest (1,900 miles round trip) to date, three targets are attacked: 179 B-17s and one YB-40 are dispatched to the nitrate works at Heroya. Work at the plant is disrupted for 3 ½ months, and unfinished aluminum and magnesium plants are damaged and subsequently abandoned by the Germans. Elsewhere, 45 B-17s are sent to the port area at Trondheim, while 84 B-17s are attack the port area at Bergen, bad weather forces them to return to base with their bombs. Crews successfully experiment with a new assembly procedure for occasions when bad weather conditions prevent ascent in formation. Aircraft take off individually on instruments, proceed to a designated “splasher beacon” for group formation and then to a long line of 3 splasher beacons for final assembly. The method works well and makes possible many future missions which might otherwise have been abandoned. For the day, two B-17s are lost, with 10 men listed as missing. During the night, 791 RAF aircraft make the first raid of the Battle of Hamburg, aka Operation Gomorrah, losing 12 aircraft and crews. Window was used for the first time. The raid takes only about 50 minutes causing severe damage to central area of the city, with about 1,500 people killed. While the raqid is in progress, six Wellingtons lay mines in the River Elbe. Elsewhere, 33 Lancasters, returning from North Africa, bomb the Leghorn docks. Meanwhile, 13 Mosquitos carry out diversionary and nuisance raids to Bremen, Kiel, Lübeck and Duisburg, while seven other aircraft flew training missions. Russian Front: The Red Army recovers positions in the Belgorod area, which they held at start of German offensive on July 5. Eastern Mediterranean: Desert Air Task Force P-40s, from the 9th Air Force, fly armored reconnaissance and fighter-bomber missions over the Adrano and Milazzo areas in Sicily, attacking motor transport targets. Western Mediterranean: Northwest African Air Force B-17s and B-25s, from the 12th Air Force, bomb the railroad yards at Bologna and B-26s hit the railroad yards at Paola in Italy. Elsewhere, fighter-bombers hit barges, warships and docks in the Messina-Milazzo area and transport northeast of Mount Etna in Sicily. On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army continues to mop up the western part of Sicily, while, further east, the US 45th Infantry Division takes Cefalu and Castelbuono and the US 1st Infantry Division seizes Gangi and heads toward Nicosia. Pacific Ocean Area: 7th Air Force sends eight B-24s to attack Wake Island, bombing oil storage, barracks and a gun emplacement. They are attacked by 20-30 Zekes, losing one B-24 in a collision with a falling Japanese fighter. South Pacific Area: 13th Air Force sends 48 fighters, joined by Navy and Marine dive bombers, in support of ground forces in the Bairoko area on New Georgia Island. Later in the day gun positions at Bibolo Hill near Munda are hit, along with other targets. As XIV Corps prepares for an assault on Munda, scheduled for tomorrow, the 161st Infantry runs into tenacious opposition as it tries in vain to reach line of departure. Southwest Pacific Theater: 5th Air Force B-25s bomb Lautem, Fuiloro, Koepang and Tenau on Timor Island, the airfield and surrounding areas at Lae, New Guinea, and attack barges in the Wapelik and Cape Busching area of New Britain Island and villages on the Itni River on New Britain.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:56:57 +0000
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