The British Admiralty announced that in a sea battle off North
Cape on
31
December 1942, that the destroyer HMS Achates was sunk
and HMS Onslow was badly damaged. Kriegsmarine ships that
took part were
Admiral
Hipper,
Lützow
and the destroyers
Theodor
Riedel,
Richard
Beitzen,
Friedrich
Eckoldt,
Z24,
Z30
and
Z31,
however the convoy reached Russian ports without loss.
The British Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers again raided the
Ruhr.
North Africa. United States of America aircraft attacked Axis
concentrations at Kairouan.
Russian Front. The Wehrmacht Sixth Army trapped in Stalingrad,
General Konstantin Rokossovsky, commander of the Red Army
on the Don front, called a cease fire and offered
Friedrich
Paulus men generous surrender terms normal rations, medical
treatment for the ill and wounded, permission to retain their
badges, decorations, uniforms and personal effects, and repatriation
to any country they wished after the war. Rokossovsky also
noted that
Friedrich
Paulus was in a nearly impossible situation.
Adolf
Hitler ordered
Friedrich
Paulus hold Stalingrad. Soviet ground forces occupied
Zimovniki.
In Australasia. Three Japanese surface transports in convoy
bound for Lae sunk by bombers.
Twelfth Air Force. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) B-17
Flying Fortress heavy bombers hit docks at Ferryville and
naval base at Bizerte. B-25 Mitchell medium bombers hit bridges
and rail junctions at Graiba and at Kalaa Srira while B-26
Marauder medium bombers hit Kairouan airfield. The heavy bombers
and medium bombers are escorted by P-38 Lightning fighters.
A-20 Havoc light bombers, escorted by P-40 fighters, bomb
tank concentration near Gabes. Other fighters fly numerous
patrols and reconnaissance missions.
Ninth Air Force. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) B-24
Liberator heavy bombers hit Tunis after weather and engine
trouble prevent planned attack on Bizerte. The British Royal
Air Force (RAF) Liberators, under IX Bomber Command operational
control, attack rail junction near Tripoli.
Tenth Air Force. 6 United States Army Air Force (USAAF) P-40
fighters bomb and strafe Watugyi and Nsopzup and strafe other
targets. 6 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers bomb storage area
at Bhamo.
Fifth Air Force. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) heavy
bombers, medium bombers, and Light bombers, with fighters
cover, join Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aeroplanes in
continued pounding of convoy as it unloads about 4,000 reinforcements
at Lae. Enemy fighters cover and allied aircraft continue
fierce air combat.
Eleventh Air Force. A United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
B-24 Liberator heavy bombers flies photo reconnaissance over
Amchitka. Another B-24 Liberator heavy bombers aborts a weather
run over Kiska because of instrument trouble.
M489
Minesweeper
Sunk 8 January 1943
Go To: 9th
January
Articles:
The Second Great War.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
The War Illustrated.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
2194 Days Of War.
ISBN-10: 086136614X
For a complete list of
sources
