World war II chronology - August 1943

1 August 1943	Operation Tidal Wave begins, as 178 American B-24 Liberator bombers take off from Benghazi, destined for the oil-producing center of Ploesti, Romania. 164 American B-24 bombers attack Ploesti, Romania. Due to several factors, some planes take a wrong course, alerting defences. 41 planes are lost during the attack, two collide on the return trip, eight land in Turkey, 23 land at Allied bases in the Mediterranean, and 90 return to Benghazi, many too damaged to fly again. Three hundred American airmen are killed during the operation. (Despite considerable damage done at Ploesti, it is temporary, with production exceeding pre-attack levels within a few months.)
2 August 1943	British Bomber Command makes one last air raid on Hamburg, Germany, this time with 737 bombers. Over the four evening raids, 8500 tons of bombs were dropped, and 87 planes lost. 6200 acres of a total 8383 are made uninhabitable for months, half of the city's living areas destroyed, 900,000 people made homeless, over 1 million forced to leave the city, 186 of 574 large industrial works destroyed, 4118 of 9068 smaller factories destroyed, 180,000 tons of shipping sunk in the harbor or destroyed by fire, 26 or 27 submarines destroyed or delayed in construction. Canadian forces capture Regalbuto, Italy.
3 August 1943	The British War Cabinet agrees with General Dwight Eisenhower that Italy should be air-bombed to accelerate peace talks, and instructs Bomber Command to commence bombing. Soviet forces launch Operation Rumyantsev against German troops in the Belgorod-Kharkov area.
4 August 1943	The Soviet Voronezh Front under Nikolai Vatutin attacks the German 4th Panzer Army at the salient south of Kursk.
5 August 1943	The Soviet Voronezh Front captures Belgorod, south of Kursk. The Soviet Red Army re-captures Orel.
6 August 1943	Canadian forces capture Monte Seggio, Italy.
7 August 1943	Canadian forces in Sicily are put into reserves. British Bomber Command begins new attacks on northern Italy. About 200 Lancasters hit Milan, Turin, and Genoa. Two planes do not return.
10 August 1943	British bombers attack Nuremberg, Germany. Great damage is achieved at little cost.
12 August 1943	In Rawalpindi, India, the Chemical Warfare Research Establishment begins two weeks of testing troop exposure to mustard gas. 477 British bombers attack Milan, Italy. 152 British bombers attack Turin, Italy.
13 August 1943	The US 9th Air Force attacks the Messerschmitt works at Wiener Neustadt in Austria. (Unknown to the Allies at the time, the factory was manufacturing rocket components.)
14 August 1943	134 British bombers attack Milan, Italy.
15 August 1943	The emissary of Italy's Marshal Badoglio arrives in Portugal to begin serious peace talks with the Allies. A Canadian/American Special Services Force lands on Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, finding that the Japanese force left three weeks earlier. After five days, there are dozens of deaths due to friendly fire and Japanese booby traps. About 200 British bombers attack Milan, Italy.   The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion arrives in Britain. Germany declares a state of emergency in Denmark, due to Danish resistance to the occupation troops. Sweden stops the transit traffic between Germany and Norway. The supply of iron ore to Germany is reduced, in exchange for more oil from the United States. German bomber planes first use the Henschel Hs 293 radio-controlled glider bomb against British Atlantic convoys.
16 August 1943	Allied high command agrees that Italy should be the next target, quickly before a massive German build-up of forces can take place. 154 British bombers attack Turin, Italy.
17 August 1943	The last Germans evacuate Sicily. American and British forces arrive in Messina on Sicily. The town is basicly empty of Axis forces. British Bomber Command headquarters gives final orders for a massive raid on Peenemünde that night. 146 American air force bombers make an attack on an airplane assembly plant in Regensburg, Germany. American Flying Fortress aircraft bomb German ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt. In Quebec, Canada, the Quadrant conference is held by representatives of Great Britain and the USA. British and American Chiefs of Staff approve outline plans for operation Overlord, an invasion of France across the English Channel. Target date is set for May 1, 1944. Discussions are held on atomic research and use of an atomic bomb, and measures by each country against Japan on the defeat of Germany. Canadian Chief of General Staff Lieutenant-General Kenneth Stuart gives formal approval for Canadians to take part in Operation Baytown. Portuguese leader António de Oliveira Salazar signs an accord with Britain, allowing British airbases on Azores in return for US$30 million, the promise of modern fighter planes, anti-aircraft guns, and British protection in the event of Axis or Spanish attack.
18 August 1943	Operation Hydra takes place, 597 British bombers in three waves attack the German rocket research site at Peenemünde targeting scientists' housing, the rocket-production plant, and the Experimental Works. 40 planes are shot down during the raid. Eight Mosquito planes make a diversionary attack on Berlin, dropping "Window" reflective strips to fool radar operators into reporting a major attack there. (The extensive damage results in Germans moving the rocket testing to Poland, and production to central Germany. The damaged buildings are successfully used as camoflage for continued work. An estimated two months of V-2 rocket output is lost, about 720 rockets, potentially saving 3600 lives.)
22 August 1943	Albert Speer reports to Adolf Hitler on the damage to the rocket research facilities at Peenemünde. Hitler orders that mass production of rockets be relocated to Blizna near Debice in Poland.
23 August 1943	Soviet forces recapture Kharkov, ending the Battle of Kursk. 727 British bombers are sent against Berlin, Germany. 70 turn back early, and 57 are shot down. Much damage is done to the city.
25 August 1943	German warships attack and sink two Swedish trawlers in Danish waters.
27 August 1943	185 Flying Fortress bombers of US 8th Air Force attack a rocket launching site near Watten and Calais, France, thoroughly destroying the site. All planes return safely. At the Quebec Conference in Canada, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks US President Franklin Roosevelt to commit to the Habbakuk ice ship project. The Americans reluctantly agree. A prototype German V-1 flying bomb crashes on the Danish island of Bornholm, and is retrieved by the Allies, giving them the first confirmation of the bomb's existence. The Danish cabinet is presented with a list of demands from the German government, including a ban on strikes and demonstrations, surrender of all weapons, and imposition of the death penalty for sabotage. The government refuses. German military commander Von Henneken assumes supreme power of the country. The Danish army is disarmed, and naval ships are seized.
31 August 1943	Aircraft of US Task Force 15.5 (carriers Yorktown, Essex, Independence) attack Marcus Island in the North Pacific, the first of a series of minor raids prior to major invasions of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. 613 British heavy bombers are sent against Berlin, Germany. 86 turn back early, and 47 are shot down. Little damage to the city is done.