World war II chronology - June 1943

1 June 1943	German Luftwaffe shoots down British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 airliner en route from Lisbon, Portugal, to London, England. (One explanation for the shooting is that the Germans thought British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was on board.)
4 June 1943	Convoy HX 240 from North America arrives at Liverpool, England. All 280 ships arrived safely. London receives the first detailed and accurate (though not realized at the time) intelligence about German rocket work. A Luxembourg scientist working at Peenemünde reports on rockets ten metres long, with range 150-250 km, fueled by bottles of gas.
10 June 1943	The British Air Ministry sends the "Pointblank" directive to Bomber Command head Arthur Harris, giving him freedom to continue destruction of Germany's major towns. However, the primary focus when weather permits is to attack targets identified at the Casablanca conference. German fighter force and related industry are a high priority because of the American intention to begin daylight bombing. Canada's National Research Council head Chalmers Mackenzie informs British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the Habbakuk ice ship project can not be done. Churchill refuses to face that reality, and establishes another committee to investigate use of other materials.
11 June 1943	783 British bombers attack Düsseldorf, Germany. 130 acres of the city are destroyed, in 882 separate fires. 1300 people are killed, and 140,000 made homeless.
12 June 1943	A British Coastal Command Mosquito plane flies a reconnaissance flight over Peenemünde, Germany. Photos show a large rocket lying on a trailer. (The rocket is a V-2, the type first used in September 1944.) Pantelleria Island off Sicily surrenders.
15 June 1943	German General Heinz Guderian tells Adolf Hitler that the new Panther tanks are not ready for battle. British Bomber Command aircraft begin dropping sea mines from 6000 feet, instead of 2000-3000 feet. British military intelligence receives its first report from an agent about a "bomb with wings" (V-1) being developed in Germany. Britain invokes the treaty of Windsor (established in 1386, binding Britain and Portugal to mutual assistance), and requests of Portugal that Britain be allowed to use airfields on the Azores islands.
18 June 1943	In England, Dr. R.V. Jones studies aerial reconnaissance photos of Peenemünde from June 12, and discovers what he concludes is a rocket, about 35 feet long, with five-foot diameter. The British "RDF" or "radiolocation" technology is renamed "radar".
19 June 1943	290 British planes attack Le Creusot, damaging the Schneider arms plant and the Breuil steelworks. Two planes are shot down.
20 June 1943	56 British Lancasters and four Pathfinder Lancasters attack the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen. No planes are lost, and considerable damage is done.
21 June 1943	Adolf Hitler orders Operation Citadel to commence July 3. Gestapo policemen raid a doctor's surgery at Caluire near Lyons, France. They capture Resistance leaders including president of National Resistance Council Jean Moulin. (He is tortured and dies, probably July 8.) 705 British bombers attack Krefeld, Germany, west of the Rhine river. Half of the town is set afire, and 72,000 people are made homeless.
22 June 1943	Sixty British Lancaster bombers attack the former Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen on Lake Constanz, under the assumption that a radar station was being installed. The attack is a success, with no loss of attacking aircraft. (The factory was actually being converted to build A-4 rockets.) Romania issues three postage stamps marking the 2nd anniversary of Romanian entry into the war. 557 British bombers attack Mülheim, Germany, destroying nearly two-thirds of the area.
24 June 1943	630 British bombers attack Elbefeld, destroying 171 factories, 3000 houses, and 1800 people.
25 June 1943	603 British bombers attack Cologne, Germany. About 50 military and industrial buildings are destroyed, along with 15,000 other buildings. 4377 people are killed, and 230,000 are made homeless.
27 June 1943	The British Chiefs of Staff circulate the paper "German Long-Range Rocket: Evidence Received from All Sources", concluding that German rocket development is taking place at Peenemünde, with manufacturing to start soon in the nearby factory area. Canadian troops of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division sail from Great Britain, heading to Sicily, as part of an invasion by United States and British Army units.
29 June 1943	The Defence Committee of the British War Cabinet gives orders for Peenemünde, Germany to be bombed on the heaviest scale. Recent aerial reconnaissance had identified the area to be a center of rocket research and development. (The bombing takes place on August 17/18.)
30 June 1943	American forces under General MacArthur begin landing in New Guinea.