World war II chronology - October 1943

1 October 1943	In Italy, the United States 5th Army enters Naples. British 10th Corps reaches Naples, Italy.
3 October 1943	A British Special Services brigade lands beyond Termoli, on the north coast of Italy, quickly capturing the town behind German lines. Instead of retreating to Sangro River, the Germans counterattack to try to regain Termoli. German forces complete their evacuation of Corsica.
4 October 1943	Adolf Hitler decides not to withdraw to Northern Italy, but to prepare a firm defence called Winterstellung from rivers Garigliano and Rapido in the west, and the river Sangro in the east.
5 October 1943	US carriers Lexington, Essex, Yorktown, Cowpens, Independence, and Belleau Wood commence two days of air strikes on Wake Island.
6 October 1943	Canadian tanks force Germans to withdraw from Termoli, Italy.
8 October 1943	British bombers attack Hanover, Germany, for the third time in a month. The center of the city is devastated, with 4,000 buildings destroyed and 30,000 damaged.
9 October 1943	The United States 8th Air Force launches an attack against several European targets. One group makes a feint to Woensdrecht, another to Leeuwarden, both in the Netherlands. A diversionary strike is made on Anklam, Germany, then the main attack force of 246 B-17 and B-24 bombers attack Gdynia and Danzig in Poland, and destroy the Focke-Wulf aircraft plant at Marienburg in East Prussia. Of the 100 planes sent to Anklam, 18 planes and crew are lost, 51 planes are damaged, and 25 men wounded.
12 October 1943	Allied forces in Italy attack the German defensive line at the Volturno River, 20 miles north-west of Naples. British forces begin landing on the Portuguese Azores islands, to establish airbases.
13 October 1943	Italy declares war on Germany.
14 October 1943	In Italy, the 1st Canadian Corps takes Campobasso. 60 B-24 Liberator bombers and 291 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the US 8th Air Force in England begin Mission 115, an attack on ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany. Due to bad weather, none of the Liberators is able to participate. 26 B-17s turn back due to mechanical difficulties. American P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes provide escort protection up to Aachen, Germany. Beyond that, German planes knock out 37 bombers before they reach their target. The remaining planes complete their bombing successfully. The factories are hit hard, resulting in a loss of 67% of ball-bearing production. Another 23 bombers are downed on the return trip. 200 bombers return, but only 60 survive with little damage. Due to the high losses, the day becomes known to the 8th Air Force as Black Thursday.
15 October 1943	In Italy, the 1st Canadian Corps takes Vinchiaturo.  In England, Louis Mountbatten leaves the position of head of Combined Operations. Most of Denmark's 7000 Jews are evacuated to Sweden. In Germany, Kurt Meyer becomes commander of the 25th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the 12th Panzer Division (Hitler Youth). The Gay Viking, a specially-built British "pocket freighter", dashes through the German blockade of Sweden, arriving in Lysekil harbor to pick up important steel products. (This is the first run of five such ships operating for four months.) Spain orders the withdrawal of the Blue Division from the German Eastern Front. Spanish troops begin leaving the Russian front. British scientists recover German guided bomb parts from nine Dorniers Do 217 bombers abandoned at Foggia, Italy, including tranceivers and control panels, allowing technical analysis.
16 October 1943	Monks at Monte Cassino in Italy begin removing the archive and library, following German warning that it would soon be in the line of fire.
18 October 1943	British, American, and Soviet foreign ministers meet in Moscow, Russia, over 13 days. They establish the European Advisory Commission, to elaborate a joint Allied plan for Germany.
19 October 1943	300 miles off Oahu, Hawaii, Japanese submarine I-36 launches a floatplane to survey Pearl Harbor. It succeeds undetected, and returns to its mother submarine.
22 October 1943	British bombers attack Kassel, Germany, creating a firestorm. 155 industrial buildings are destroyed or damaged, three Henschel factories making V-1 flying bombs are damaged, 26,000 residential buildings destroyed, 9,000 people killed or missing, and 100,000 people made homeless.