Fall, 1943
Chapter 27
Driving the Axis Back
October - December
Europe: The Eastern Front
Civilians greet Soviet tankers after the liberation of Smolensk
Russian Ministry of Defense
As the war dragged on the Germans found themselves being pushed back ever further toward the pre-invasion border. In early October the Red Army launched yet another large attack on the German positions on Kuban, an isolated pocket bordering the Black sea that had been intended as a staging area for a renewed offensive into the Caucasus. As the Soviets broke through the lines the Germans withdrew across the Kerch Strait back into the Crimea, in what was to set the stage for the season to come.
Soviet soldiers wade to the Crimea after the Germans are driven from the northern coast of the Sea of Azov
Farther north, the Red Army recaptured the cities of Smolensk and Melitopol, the latter placing them on the doorstep of the Ukrainian capitol of Kiev. Following a massive bombardment on 3 November the Soviets engaged the German defenders outside of Kiev at their bridgeheads on the Dnieper, and as the pressure mounted the Wehrmacht was compelled to abandon the city three days later. Subsequent operations by the Red Army were aimed at cutting land and rail links to the north, with an eye toward envelopment of Army Group South in the Ukraine.
German soldiers dig in along the Dnieper
Russian National Archives
In order to prevent this catastrophe, the OKW diverted the 4th Panzer Army to stop the Soviet advance, eventually retaking Zhitomir. Soviet counterattacks in late November led to large tank battles around the city, but by the end of the year the front had stabilized as both sides found themselves exhausted as the winter set in.
Red Army engineers working on bridging the Dnieper, with sign “On to Kiev!” behind them
Russian National Archives
Despite this, Soviet reinforcements continued to arrive on the front, and a new offensive was launched on 24 December, which began once again to slam the Germans back westward toward the foot of the Carpathians, and more importantly the pre-Barbarossa borders of the USSR. If successful in the new year, this could leave the Red Army on the borders of the Axis homelands themselves.
German Panzer IV tanks engage Soviet forces along a Ukrainian road
German Federal Archives
Europe: Italy
US troops enter Naples after its liberation
US Army
Following four days of local uprisings, the German forces occupying the city of Naples in Italy had withdrawn on the last day of September, and the following day British troops had entered the city, cementing the victory of the Italian resistance and preventing the Germans from turning the city into a fortress. With this major objective secure, the Allies were able to continue their push northward along the peninsula, as the Germans made a fighting withdrawal towards the line of the Sangro River, where a major defensive system was being created, designated the Gustav Line.
A German MG42 in position in the mountainous country of Italy
German Federal Archives
This formidable position stretched from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea (coast to coast) across the entire peninsula, anchored around the mountain town of Cassino, which was itself dominated by Monte Cassino, with a large Benedictine monastery at its summit. The eastern terminus of the line was at the town of Ortona, which was reached by Canadian troops on 20 December.
Canadian troops entering the town found entrenched Fallschirmjager units who had turned it into a fortress. Dug in machine guns and anti-tank positions were strewn about, and the battle for Ortona would come to be known as the “Italian Stalingrad” as it took the Canadians over a week to secure it with heavy casualties. Meanwhile, New Zealand units were held up by equally heavy resistance at Orsonga, eventually halting the entire British 8th Army, as the Allies realized that their exhausted troops could not be expected to continue the offensive as the winter set in.
Canadian troops advance during the drive on the Moro River
Canadian Army
On the western side, American forces were attacking San Pietro, backed by the reorganized Regio Esercito that was now beginning to trickle units into the line to assist in the liberation of their homeland. In that battle the village of San Pietro was totally razed, and again the Allies were stalled after victory here due to exhaustion. The Italian Royalists, for their part, were commended by the American leadership for the contribution to the battle, highlighting their commitment to the Allied cause.
Europe: The War at Sea
A US Navy Dauntless dive bomber off the Norwegian coast
US Navy
The US Navy was by this stage of the war fully entering the European naval war alongside the Royal Navy. Operation Leader was launched in early October, which saw the carrier USS Ranger launching a raid against German shipping in the North Sea and Norway. This attack came as a surprise to the Luftwaffe, which had grown accustomed to a lack of carriers in the theater, and in the end five Germans ships were sunk and several more damaged, with only a handful of German planes even launched to counter the strike.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound
Royal Navy
In a development at the highest levels of the Allied naval command, Fleet Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Sea Lord and thus head of the British Admiralty, had been for some time suffering from declining health. He had suffered a stroke while attending high level conferences in July, and a second stroke resulted in paralysis and his resignation in late September. He succumbed to a brain tumor only weeks later, on 21 September. He was replaced by Admiral Andrew Cunningham as the leader of the Royal Navy.
A propaganda shot of German E-Boats being passed by an AR196 floatplane
Polish National Archives
Elsewhere at sea, the Germans scored a small victory off the French coast in late October. By this point in the war the Kriegsmarine was fighting a losing battle on the Atlantic, and German shipping was heavily restricted. The Royal Navy became aware of an attempt by a German blockade runner to make its way through the channel by skirting the French coast. A flotilla was dispatched to intercept it off of Brittany, but was ambushed by a group of German E-Boats (torpedo boats also known as S-Boats). In the ensuing battle the cruiser HMS Charydbis was dunk with over 400 hands and another British destroyer was badly damaged. The German runner escaped into the night.
The German submarine U537 photographed off the Canadian coast as crew unload their weather monitoring equipment
German Federal Archives
On the far side of the Atlantic, a small but notable first took place, as the U-boat U537 landed an armed German unit on the Canadian coast in early October to deploy an automated weather station. Landing on the coast of Labrador in the far north, the Germans set up the monitoring equipment and beacon with its collection of batteries, while an armed party kept watch, thus becoming the only armed German landing in North America in this war. The station itself would fail within weeks, and would be forgotten until the 1980s, while U537 had been badly damaged in the crossing, and indeed it was around this time that the Kriegsmarine cancelled submarine operations in the western Atlantic due to the increasing Allied superiority in the region.
The German battleship Scharnhorst in port in 1939
US Navy
Returning to the the frigid waters of the North Sea, the Kriegsmarine still posed a significant threat to the Allied convoys supplying the Soviets at Murmansk. Despite the losses it had sustained, the battleships Scharnhorst and Tirpitz (the sister of the famous Bismarck) remained operational and based in the region, hanging over the Allies like the proverbial Sword of Damocles.
To combat this threat, the British had devised a plan ot bait the Germans with a convoy, hoping to draw out the German warships and force them to battle. This proved successful, as a German flotilla of destroyers along with Scharnhorst sortied to engage Convoy JW55B on Christmas Day, unknowingly into the waiting arms of a Royal Navy task force.
British sailors keep watch from the ice encrusted bridge of a cruiser
Royal Navy
On the stormy morning of Boxing Day the Scharnhorst encountered Royal Navy cruisers. Early in the engagement the German ship suffered hits to her fire control systems, blinding her as the weather deteriorated. After breaking off from the attack, the Scharnhorst attempted to flank around the convoy, Attempting to attack again later resulting in damage to the cruiser HMS Norfolk before disengaging and making for port. Shadowed by the cruiser HMS Belfast, Scharnhorst was caught by the British battleship HMS Duke of York in the afternoon, and quickly surrouned. Despite putting up a strong fight, the Scharnhorst eventually succumbed to the deluge of shells and torpedoes, and at 1945hrs one of the last capital shops of the Kriegsmarine foundered with almost all hands.
Europe: The Air War
A USAAF B17 Flying Fortress returning home to England as Schweinfurt burns
US Army
By this phase of the war the Allies were well into their bombing campaign against Germany. As the RAF bombed by night, the USAAF was increasing its attacks in the daylight, with many large raids such as one on Munster incurring heavy casualties. Another large raid was undertaken by USAAF bombers on the industrial city of Schweinfurt in early October, with almost 300 B17 Flying Fortresses launching against the city. The result of this raid was one in four casualties, and the Americans were forced to concede that they had lost air superiority over Germany, while the ball bearing works of the city were only out of action for a matter of weeks after what became known as “Black Thursday”.
Two men survey the devastation wrought on Kassel by the RAF
Library of Congress
Shortly afterward, the RAF launched a major night raid on the city of Kassel with almost 700 planes equipped with incendiaries. The result was a firestorm much like that which had consumed Hamburg in July, obliterating much of the city center and killing, wounding or displacing over 100,000 people. Additional US and British bombers continued raids as the year came to a close, striking targets including Bremen, Kiel, Hamburg and the German capitol of Berlin.
The crew of the B17 Ye Olde Pub
USAAF Photo
In an interesting incident that took place in late December in the skies over Europe, as American bombers returned to base after a raid on aircraft factories in Bremen. One USAAF B17F, named Ye Olde Pub had taken heavy damage from both flak and Luftwaffe fighters, and was limping home, falling well behind the main formation due to loss of three of its four engines. The aircraft and her crew were in a pitiable state when they were intercepted by a lone German Bf109G fighter, who observed the damage as well as te efforts of the surviving crew to tend to their wounds. Unable to destroy the crippled machine, the German pilot instead escorted it out of German controled airspace, departing with a quick salute as the bomber cleared. Forty years after the war, the two pilots, Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler, would meet again, becoming close friends until their deaths in 2008.
Europe: Under Occupation
German soldiers emplacing obstacles on a Channel beach
German Federal Archives
Across the vast expanses of occupied Europe, the Germans continued their campaign to deport and eliminate the populations of all whom they had declared “subhuman”. Towards the end of 1943 the Nazi authorities declared Denmark to be cleared of Jews, while the ghetto in Minsk was liquidated ahead of the Red Army liberating the city. Meanwhile, German forces were redeployed to strengthen the garrisons in the west, as construction of the new “Atlantic Wall” continued along the coasts in anticipation of an Anglo-American invasion of the continent.
The Pacific: Islands
Australian soldiers cross a bridge during the advance on Dumpu in New Guinea
Australia Defense Force
On the islands of the Pacific, the brutal campaign for New Guinea continued unabated. US and Australian troops continued their slog through the dense jungle against the well dug in Japanese defenders. Advancing on the heels of the Japanese after their victory at Kaiapit in late September, the Australians managed to capture the village of Dumpu, allowing for the construction of an airfield that would in turn allow aerial resupply and reinforcement.
Australians stand on a beach near abandoned Japanese landing craft in New Guinea
Australia Defense Force
Elsewhere, the Australians also took Finschhafen after an amphibious landing, which was subjected to a large Japanese counterattack, which included their own amphibious attack. As the main force drove at the Australian lines overland in two elements, another attempted to land at the same beachhead used by the Allies for their earlier landing to flank them. When the attack commenced, however, the two land based elements failed to properly coordinate, while the landing force was set upon by US Navy PT boats, resulting in more than half being destroyed. When the survivors landed they met a tenacious defense by US Army troops, including one machine gunner who would be decorated posthumously with the Medal of Honor for his actions stopping the landing.
Australian troops advance toward Sattelberg with Matilda tanks
State Library of South Australia
Following the defeat of the Japanese counterattacks the Australians landed tanks to support their drive toward Sattelberg, the next Japanese position on their line of advance. Despite the difficulties the armor encountered in the muddy jungle conditions, the armor proved valuable in reducing the enemy positions around Sattelberg, and the Allies advanced further to capture Wareo in December, ending the year fighting along Japanese lines at Sio, as the exhausted Australians dug in to rest before launching fresh attacks in the new year.
US Army soldiers in the jungle on Vella Lavella
US Army
Farther north in the Pacific, US forces had landed on the New Georgia islands in the Solomons in the late summer, and in early October the fighting for the islands came to close with Vella Lavella and New Georgia itself being secured after the Japanese withdrew the last of their forces from the islands. The Japanese had incorrectly reinforced the island of Kolombangara, which was bypassed by the Vella Lavella landings, leaving them in an untenable position and mandating withdrawal, with US forces now poised for the next phase of the operation in the Solomons: Bougainville.
US Navy landing craft assemble before landing on Bougainville
US Navy
Following diversionary attacks by US and New Zealand forces in the Treasury Islands, US forces landed on Bougainville on 1 November, opening the next major campaign of the Pacific War. The landings achieved surprise, preventing Japanese air and naval interdiction attempts, and reinforcements were dispatched from Rabaul to bolster the weak local garrisons at the landing site. Despite these early advantages, the Americans immediately found themselves engaging in bitter jungle warfare yet again as they attempted to expand their beachhead inland.
3rd Division Marines engage the Japanese on the beaches of New Georgia
US Navy
As the arduous drive inland continued, Allied engineers busied themselves with the construction of airfields near the beaches to support the operation. The Japanese, still convinced the attack was diversionary, were hesitant to commit forces to contain the landings, although by December reinforcements were entrenching on the high ground above the beaches, leading to heavy fighting over the aptly named Hellzapoppin Ridge that ended on Christmas Eve as the Americans finally took the position.
A US solider stands in a Japanese dugout on Makin Atoll
US Army
Concurrently to the landings on New Georgia, US forces made their first major forray in the central Pacific as they struck toward the Marshall and Gilbert Islands in late November. Marine Raiders had landed on Makin Atoll in 1942, but had withdrawn after completion of their objectives. The main landings were preceded by a large scale aerial bombardment by both carrier based Navy aircraft and USAAF B24 heavy bombers. Initial landings encountered little resistance as they drove inland. The defenders made their stand farther inland, but were overwhelmed and destroyed after two days, leaving Makin in US hands with only 66 casualties for the ground forces, a stark contrast to the concurrent US Marine operation at Tarawa.
The Pacific: The War at Sea
IJN destroyers firing at Bougainville Island
Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy had been fully engaged in the Battle for the Solomon Islands for months, but just as fortunes had turned for the Emperor’s Army on land, so it did for his navy at sea. Despite defeating the Americans off of Vella Lavella while they covered the evacuation of the island’s garrison, the totals for the campaign for the central Solomons was solidly in favor of the Americans, with six ships lost to seventeen Japanese ships sunk.
US Navy destroyers damaged at Vella Lavella
US Navy
The next major Allied operation in the Solomons, targeted at Bougainville, was met with resistance by the Japanese, who dispatched a force of four cruisers and six destroyers from their base at Rabaul to Empress Augusta Bay to counter the landings. The clash occurred overnight on 1 November, as US ships sent to reinforce the Bougainville operation intercepted the Japanese strike force, with Japanese ships colliding in the ensuing melee and forced to retire with the loss of one cruiser. Another engagement off the Cape of St. George on Bougainville occurred at the end of November, resulting in US victory. This also marked the end of the Naval Battle of the Solomon Islands, as USN and IJN surface ships would not meet again in this campaign.
The Pacific: The Air War
Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters at Rabaul
Japanese Navy
The air war in the Pacific continued unabated as well, with USAAF bombers striking at Wake Island in October for the first time since its fall, resulting in the Japanese occupation forces executing the remaining 97 POWs held on the island. As this first US raid on Wake occured, in late November the last Japanese raid on Darwin, Australia occurred, ending the attacks on Australia as the Allies pushed Japan farther and
White phosphorous bombs land amongst Japanese bombers based on Rabaul
US Army
The most important objective in the South Pacific remained unquestionably Rabaul. The Allies were subjecting the Japanese stronghold with increasingly heavy air raids, aimed at isolating the base. Increasing casualties on the part of the Japanese both in the air and at sea were increasingly looking toward the accomplishment of that objective.
The Pacific: Under Occupation
Jose Laurel is inaugurated as President of the new Japanese puppet government in the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
In the vast areas that had fallen under the Rising Sun, the Japanese were making moves to consolidate their power. In the Philippines a new puppet government was established in Manila under former Supreme Court Justice Jose Laurel, complete with a pro-Japanese political party, KALIBAPI, formed to support him. This government was, as can be suspected, independent in name only, and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines did not end with this pronunciation. A Greater East Asia Conference was held in November as well, attended by the Japanese and Thais, along with puppet leaders from the Philippines, Manchukuo, Puppet China, Burma and India, although this was little more than a propaganda circus.
Emaciated POWs in Japanese custody in Thailand
Australian War Memorial
Elsewhere those subjugated and captured by Japan continued to suffer. In the humid jungles of Burma the construction of a major railway was completed by an army of enslaved civilians and POWs at the hands of brutal Japanese overseers. Casualties from the project exceeded 100,000, numbers to rival even the Nazi death camps during the same timeframe.
Political Developments
Chiang-Kai-shek, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Cairo Conference
Library of Congress
On the political front, numerous changes were afoot as 1943 came to a close. As the British, Americans and Chinese announced their commitment to an unconditional surrender of Japan at the Cairo Conference the Kingdom of Italy formally joined the Allies as the battle for their homeland continued to escalate. Neutral Portugal, already invaded by the Japanese on far flung Timor, lost another island chain as they were forced to allow the British to open bases in the Azores, and in the halls of leadership of Free France Genera Henri Giraud was formally sidelined, allowing Charles de Gaulle to consolidate his power over the remains of the Third Republic.