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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{yearbox
|in?=in aviation
|cp=19th Century
|c=20th century
|cf=21st century
|yp1=1940
|yp2=1941
|yp3=1942
|year=1943
|ya1=1944
|ya2=1945
|ya3=1946
|dp3=1910s
|dp2=1920s
|dp1=1930s
|d=1940s
|dn1=1950s
|dn2=1960s
|dn3=1970s
}}
{{Portal|Aviation}}
This is a list of [[aviation]]-related events from 1943:

==Events==
* Watanabe Iron Works transfers its aircraft manufacturing business to a new subsidiary, the [[Kyushu Hikoki K.K.|Kyushu Airplane Company Ltd.]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 22.</ref>

===January===
* January 5 – In support of the American occupation of [[Amchitka]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] scheduled for the next day, [[United States Army Air Forces]] aircraft fly [[photographic reconnaissance]] missions over Amchitka and strike Japanese forces on [[Attu Island|Attu]] and [[Kiska]], sinking two fully loaded Japanese [[Transport (ship)|transports]] approaching Attu and Kiska.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Garfield |title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians |location=[[Fairbanks, Alaska]] |publisher=[[University of Alaska Press]] |year=1995 |isbn=0-912006-82-X |pages=210–211}}</ref>
* January 6 – Firing at a Japanese [[Aichi D3A]] [[dive bomber]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Val") south of [[Guadalcanal]], the [[United States Navy]] [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Helena|CL-50|6}} claims the first hit on an enemy aircraft by [[antiaircraft]] ammunition employing the Mark 32 VT [[proximity fuse]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |series=[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] |volume=V |title=The Struggle For Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943 |location=[[Boston]] |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |year=1989 |pages=329–330}}</ref>
* January 13
** The U.S. Army Air Forces activate the [[Thirteenth Air Force]] in [[New Caledonia]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Maurer |editor-first=Maurer |title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II |orig-year=1961 |url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |edition=reprint |year=1983 |publisher=Office of Air Force History |location=[[Washington, DC]] |isbn=0-912799-02-1 |lccn=61060979 |page=468}}</ref>
** Operating from [[Guadalcanal]], [[United States Marine Corps]] [[Major (United States)|Major]] [[Joe Foss]] shoots down three Japanese [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighters, bringing his victory total to 26, all scored since October 13, 1942; he is the first American to match [[Eddie Rickenbacker]]{{'}}s [[World War I]] score of 26. Although Foss never shoots down another plane, his total is enough to make him the second-highest-scoring Marine Corps ace in history and the highest-scoring one to score all of his victories while in Marine Corps service.
* January 14–15 (overnight) – [[Royal Air Force]] [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] begins an [[Area bombardment|area-bombing campaign]] against ports in [[France]] in an effort to attack German [[submarine]]s and their bases there.<ref name="hinchcliffe112">{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=[[Edison, New Jersey]] |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=112}}</ref>
* January 14
** The [[Casablanca Conference]], where [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] becomes the first [[president of the United States]] to travel by [[airplane]] while in office ([[Miami, Florida]] to [[French Morocco]] to meet with [[Winston Churchill]] to discuss [[World War II]]).
** [[Aircraft carrier]] [[USS Independence (CVL-22)|USS ''Independence'']] is commissioned in the United States.
* January 15 – A [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster|Douglas C-54-DO Skymaster]] flying from the United States to the [[Casablanca Conference]] Morocco and operated by [[Transcontinental & Western Air]] on behalf of U.S. Army Air Forces [[Air Transport Command]], disintegrates in mid-air for undetermined reasons and crashes in the jungle near [[Reynsdorp]], [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]], {{convert|40|km|mi|sp=us}} east-northeast of [[Paramaribo]], killing all 35 people aboard.<ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19430115-0 Aviation Safety Network Accident Description]</ref> The English novelist and screenwriter [[Eric Knight]], creator of the fictional [[collie]] [[Lassie]], is among the dead.<ref name="famous40s">{{cite web |url=http://planecrashinfo.com/famous1940s.htm |website=planecrashinfo.com |title=Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1940s}}</ref>
* January 16–17 (overnight) – British bombing accuracy is poor in a raid on [[Berlin]], which is beyond the range of the [[GEE (navigation)|Gee]] and [[Oboe (navigation)|Oboe]] navigation aids. British bomber losses are small.<ref name="hinchcliffe113">{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=113}}</ref> Target indicator bombs are used for the first time.
* January 17–18 (overnight) – 188 British bombers attack Berlin, with poor accuracy. The Germans expect a return visit to Berlin and put up a better defence; the British lose 22 bombers, a very high 11.8 percent loss rate.<ref name="hinchcliffe113"/>
* January 21 – The [[COMSUBPAC|Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet]], [[Rear Admiral]] [[Robert Henry English|Robert H. English]], and all 18 others aboard are killed in the crash of [[Pan Am Flight 1104|Pan American World Airways Flight 1104]], a [[Martin M-130]] [[flying boat]], into a mountain near [[Ukiah, California|Ukiah]], [[California]].
* January 23 – The pilot of a Japanese [[Nakajima A6M2-N]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Rufe") [[floatplane]] fighter discovers that American forces have occupied Amchitka. Japanese aircraft from [[Kiska]] begin frequent raids against Amchitka that day and continue them for almost four weeks.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 214">{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Brian |title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=University of Alaska Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-912006-82-X |page=214}}</ref>
* January 24–25 – German aircraft attack [[Convoy JW 52]] while it is en route the [[Kola Inlet]] in the [[Soviet Union]] via the [[Barents Sea]] but cause no damage.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=I |title=The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |pages=367–368}}</ref>
* January 26 – Three U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] of the [[Seventh Air Force]] make the {{convert|704|nmi|km|adj=on}} flight from [[Funafuti]] to bomb [[Tarawa Atoll]], where they discover a new Japanese airfield on the island of [[Betio]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VII |title=Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1984 |pages=82–83, 41}}</ref>
* January 27
** The U.S. Army Air Forces make their first daylight bombing raid on [[Germany]], hitting the naval facilities in [[Bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II|Wilhelmshaven]].
** The [[Soviet Union]] cancels the [[Polikarpov I-185]] program.
* January 27–28 – For the first time, [[Oboe (navigation)|Oboe]]-equipped British [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquitos]] leading the way for a British raid on [[Düsseldorf]] drop ground markers rather than sky markers to guide follow-on [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinder]] aircraft, clearly improving British night-bombing accuracy over that experienced before.<ref name="hinchcliffe112"/>
* January 28
** The Japanese begin to use their new airfield on Betio.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VII |title=Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1984 |page=77}}</ref>
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40 Warhawk]] fighter [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] begins operations from Amchitka, the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft to do so. They intercept attacking Japanese aircraft for the first time the following day, shooting down both attacking "Rufes."<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 214"/>
* January 29–30 – In the last naval battle of the [[Guadalcanal Campaign]], the [[Battle of Rennell Island]], Japanese land-based [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") [[torpedo bomber]]s attack a U.S. [[convoy]] bound for [[Guadalcanal]] while it is steaming east of [[Rennell Island]] in the southeastern [[Solomon Islands]]. They sink the U.S. Navy [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Chicago|CA-29|6}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=V |title=The Struggle For Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1989 |pages=351–363}}</ref>
* January 30
** [[Royal Air Force]] [[de Havilland Mosquito]]s make the first daylight air raid on [[Berlin]].
** Construction of the incomplete and much-delayed German [[aircraft carrier]] {{ship|German aircraft carrier|Graf Zeppelin||2}} is halted for the last time.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Chesneau |editor-first=Roger |title=Conway′s all the World{{'}}s Fighting Ships 1922–1946 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=Mayflower Books |year=1980 |isbn=0-8317-0303-2 |page=227}}</ref>
* January 30–31 (overnight) – In a raid on [[Hamburg]], Germany, Royal Air Force bombers use the [[H2S radar]] for navigation operationally for the first time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=109}}</ref>
* January 31
** Piloting one of eight [[United States Marine Corps]] [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|F4F-4 Wildcat]] fighters escorting 12 [[Douglas SBD Dauntless|SBD-3 Dauntless]] [[dive bomber]]s attacking Japanese shipping off [[Kolombangara]], [[First lieutenant#U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force|First Lieutenant]] [[Jefferson J. DeBlanc]] shoots down two [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[Mitsubishi F1M]]2 ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Pete") [[floatplane]]s before [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] [[Nakajima Ki-43]] ''Hayabusa'' ("[[peregrine falcon]]"; [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Oscar") fighters attack. During the ensuring dogfight, DeBlanc and fellow Wildcat pilot [[Staff Sergeant]] James A. Feliton use [[Thach Weave]] tactics that allow DeBlanc to shoot down two Ki-43s. After Feliton is shot down, DeBlanc downs another Ki-43 – his fifth victory of the day – before being shot down himself. Japanese ace [[Takeo Takahashi (pilot)|Takeo Takahashi]] receives credit for downing both Wildcats. DeBlanc and Feliton [[Parachuting|parachute]] into [[Vella Gulf]], swim to Kolombangara, are rescued by [[coastwatcher]]s, and return to their base on [[Guadalcanal]] on February 12. DeBlanc will receive the [[Medal of Honor]] for the flight.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Guttman |first=John |title=Nakajima′s Fragile Falcon |journal=Aviation History |date=May 2017 |page=35}}</ref>
** Bad weather has so restricted operations of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] during the January that it has dropped only {{convert|10+1/2|t|kg}} of bombs on Japanese bases in the [[Aleutian Islands]] during the month and lost eleven aircraft, none to enemy action.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Brian |title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=University of Alaska Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-912006-82-X |page=236}}</ref>

===February===
* February – Nine months after the ''[[Amerikabomber]]'' aircraft design competition's proposal documents arrive in [[Hermann Goering]]'s offices there, the Nazi German [[Reich Air Ministry]] states to the [[Heinkel]] firm during this month, that the only developments of their firm's operational [[Heinkel He 177]]A heavy bomber they would approve funding for "further development" of were the He 177A-5, A-6 and A-7 subtypes, and for the firm's  [[Heinkel He 277#Trio of separate efforts|entirely separate, 8–277 airframe]] design project; ordering a trio of [[BMW 801|four-engined]], 8–277 airframed prototypes and ten service test airframes in the spring of 1943 for what would soon become Heinkel's entry in the ''Amerikabomber'' trans-Atlantic range strategic bomber design competition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=179 }}</ref>
* February 1 – The [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] of ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' ace [[Erich Paczia]] – probably already dead – collides with the U.S. Army Air Forces [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17F Flying Fortress]] ''All-American'' over [[Tunisia]], slicing off the bomber{{'}}s left [[horizontal stabilizer]] and [[Elevator (aircraft)|elevator]] and leaving the tail section connected to the rest of the aircraft only by a few [[longeron]]s and a narrow strip of [[aluminum]] skin. Despite the damage, the B-17F{{'}}s pilot, Lieutenant Kendrick Bragg, lands it safely at [[Biskra]], [[Algeria]], without injury to anyone on board. ''All-American'' is repaired and later returns to action.<ref>Wilkinson, Stephan, "Amazing But True Stories," ''Aviation History'', May 2014, pp. 34–35.</ref>
* February 3 – While shooting down a British [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifax]] bomber, German night fighter [[Flying ace|ace]] [[Reinhold Knacke]] is himself shot down and killed by one of the Halifax's gunners.  The first of three out of Germany's top four night fighter aces to die during the month, his score stands at 44, all at night, when he is killed.<ref name="hinchcliffe1996">Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 113–114.</ref>
* February 3–4 (overnight) – 263 British bombers attack [[Hamburg]], Germany; 16 are shot down, mostly by [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]] [[night fighter]]s of [[Nachtjagdgeschwader 1|''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 1]].<ref name="hinchcliffe113"/>
* February 4 – The [[Casablanca directive]] directs the [[Royal Air Force]] and the [[United States Army Air Forces]] to accomplish the "progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial, and economic system and the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened." It also establishes bombing priorities, notably including German [[submarine]] construction yards and [[oil]] plants and the German aircraft industry and transportation system.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 115.</ref>
* February 6–15 – [[Royal Air Force]] [[RAF Coastal Command|Coastal Command]] and the [[Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command|U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command]] carry out [[Operation Gondola]] over the [[Bay of Biscay]] to test the theory that every German [[submarine]] transiting an interdicted area could be attacked at least once by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft if they flew in sufficient numbers day and night. Aircraft of the two commands fly a combined 2,260 flight hours during the operation.<ref>Schoenfeld, Max, ''Stalking the U-Boat: USAAF Offensive Antisubmarine Operations in World War II'', Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-1-56098-403-0}}, pp. 45–46.</ref>
* February 9 – Shortly after takeoff from [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]], [[Florida]], for a flight to [[North Africa]] via the [[Azores]], a U.S. Army Air Forces [[C-87 Liberator Express]] [[cargo aircraft]] begins to experience severe vibration. The pilot turns around and attempts to fly to [[Miami]], Florida, for an [[emergency landing]], but {{convert|10|mi|km}} short of Miami the vibration becomes so severe that he orders the crew to bail out over the Atlantic Ocean, where six of the eight men are later rescued. On [[automatic pilot]], the unmanned C-87 then climbs to altitude, flies {{convert|1,300|mi|km}} across Florida and the [[Gulf of Mexico]] to [[Zaragoza Municipality, Coahuila|Zaragoza]], [[Mexico]], in 4½ hours, and circles over Zaragoza for two more hours before crashing into a mountain.<ref>Wilkinson, Stephan, "Amazing But True Stories," ''Aviation History'', May 2014, pp. 32–33</ref>
* February 10 – A U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command [[B-24 Liberator|B-24D Liberator]] sinks a German submarine, apparently {{GS|U-519||2}}, in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]], the first submarine sunk by the command.<ref>Schoenfeld, Max, ''Stalking the U-Boat: USAAF Offensive Antisubmarine Operations in World War II'', Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-1-56098-403-0}}, pp. 50–52.</ref>
* February 13 – First combat mission of the [[Vought F4U Corsair]], when [[Guadalcanal]]-based [[VMF-124|Marine Fighter Squadron 124 (VMF-124)]] Corsairs escort U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberator]] bombers on a raid against [[Kahili Airfield]] on [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]]. They encounter no enemy aircraft.<ref name="definitive440">Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 440.</ref>
* February 14 – The first combat action of the F4U Corsair occurs, when 50 [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero|A6M Zero]] fighters attack a formation of American bombers and their escorting fighters. In what the Americans call the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre,"<ref>A reference to the 1929 gangster shooting known as the [[St. Valentine's Day Massacre]].</ref> the Japanese shoot down two U.S. Marine Corps Corsairs and eight U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft – two [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40s]], four [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38s]], and two B-24s – losing three Zeroes in exchange.<ref name="definitive440"/>
* February 15 – [[Convoy JW 53]] departs [[Loch Ewe]], [[Scotland]], for the [[Kola Inlet]] in the [[Soviet Union]]. The British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Dasher|D37|6}} escorts it, but must turn back after only two days due to damage incurred during bad weather. No aircraft carrier escorts an [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoy]] again until February 1944.<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 104.</ref>
* February 17 – U.S. Army Air Forces [[Seventh Air Force]] aircraft on a [[photographic reconnaissance]] mission discover a large Japanese [[seaplane]] base at [[Butaritari]] at [[Tarawa Atoll]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 84.</ref>
* February 18
** The second completed [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] heavy [[bomber]] catches fire in the air and crashes into a building just north of [[Boeing Field]] in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], killing all ten aboard the plane – including famed [[Boeing]] [[test pilot]] [[Edmund Allen (pilot)|Edmund "Eddie" Allen]] – and 19 or 20 people on the ground.<ref>Wikipedia [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] article.</ref><ref>Jablonski, Edward, ''Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1965, pp. 272–273.</ref>
** Japanese aircraft raid [[Amchitka]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] for the last time.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 214"/>
* February 19 – [[Chief of Naval Operations]] [[Admiral]] [[Ernest J. King]] places the responsibility for the development of the [[helicopter]] in the [[United States Department of the Navy]] under the [[United States Coast Guard]].<ref name="uscg1939">{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webaircraft/CGAviationHistory1939_1956.pdf|title=A History of Coast Guard Aviation: The Growth Years (1939–1956)|work=uscg.mil}}</ref>
* February 22 – A [[Pan American Airways]] [[Boeing 314 Clipper|Boeing 314A Clipper]] [[flying boat]] (registration NC18603) on a [[United Service Organizations]] flight crashes near [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]], when its left [[wing]] hits the water of the [[Tagus]] while it turns on descent to a landing at Lisbon. Twenty-five of the 39 people on board die, including American novelist, journalist, and war correspondent [[Ben Robertson (journalist)|Ben Robertson]] and the Russian-born American singer and actress [[Tamara Drasin]]. Also on the plane is American actress [[Jane Froman]], who had exchanged seats with Drasin and survives with serious injuries.<ref name="famous40s"/><ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19430222-0 Aviation Safety Network Accident Description]</ref>
* February 24 – The second of three top German night fighter aces to die during the month, [[Paul Gildner]], is killed in a crash after an electrical failure aboard his [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]]. Like [[Reinhold Knacke]], who died earlier in the month, he has 44 night victories when he dies; his overall score is 48 kills.<ref name="hinchcliffe1996"/>
* February 25–26 – German aircraft attack [[Convoy JW 53]] during its voyage from [[Loch Ewe]], [[Scotland]], to [[Molotovsk]] in the [[Soviet Union]] via the [[Barents Sea]], causing no damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 368–369.</ref>
* February 26
** Soviet troops shoot down the [[Fieseler Fi 156 Storch]] of German [[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazi]] SS-''[[Obergruppenführer]]'' [[Theodor Eicke]] near [[Lozovaya]] in the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] while he is conducting a battlefield reconnaissance during the opening stages of the [[Third Battle of Kharkov]], killing Eicke and the other two men on board.
* February 28 – Aircraft of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] have dropped {{convert|150|t|kg}} of bombs on Japanese bases in the [[Aleutian Islands]] during the month, although half of their sorties have suffered from icy and corroded bomb racks that fail to release bombs.<ref>Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, pp. 236–237.</ref>

===March===
* [[Consolidated Aircraft Corporation]] and [[Vultee Aircraft|Vultee Aircraft Inc.]] merge to form Consolidated Vultee Aircraft, soon unofficially, and later officially, known as [[Convair]].<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 95.</ref>
* The Aichi Clock and Electric Company Ltd. forms a separate firm, [[Aichi Kokuki|Aichi Aircraft Company]], to take over its aircraft and aircraft engine business.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 18.</ref>
* March 1
** Since January 14, Royal Air Force Bomber Command has launched major raids on [[Wilhelmshaven]] four times, [[Berlin]], [[Cologne]], and [[Hamburg]] three times each, and [[Bremen]], [[Düsseldorf]], and [[Nuremberg]] once each, as well as on [[Milan]] and [[Turin]].<ref name="hinchcliffe112"/>
** [[RAF Coastal Command]] first deploys [[ASV Mark III radar]].
* March 1–2 (overnight) – Royal Air Force Bomber Command flies the last raid of its early 1943 campaign against German submarines and their bases in France. It has attacked [[Lorient]] nine times and [[Brest, France|Brest]] once since the start of the campaign on January 14, but found German [[submarine pen]]s impervious to its bombs. The raids have caused much damage to the French cities and their residents.<ref name="hinchcliffe112"/>
* March 2–5 – In the [[Battle of the Bismarck Sea]], U.S. Army Air Forces and [[Royal Australian Air Force]] aircraft attack a convoy of eight Japanese [[cargo ship]]s escorted by eight destroyers carrying troops from [[Rabaul]], [[New Britain]], to [[Lae]], [[New Guinea]], as it transits an unnamed body of water soon to be named the [[Bismarck Sea]]. For the loss of five aircraft, they sink all eight cargo ships and four of the destroyers, damage the other four destroyers, and shoot down 20 to 30 Japanese fighters attempting to provide air defense. About 3,000 Japanese troops are killed.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 54–65.</ref>
* March 5
** Twelve German [[Heinkel He 111]] [[bomber]]s attack [[Convoy RA-53]] during its voyage from [[Murmansk]] in the [[Soviet Union]] to [[Loch Ewe]], [[Scotland]], but cause no damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 369.</ref>
** In the [[North Atlantic Ocean]], the first U.S. Navy antisubmarine [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer group]] begins combat operations, centered on the [[escort carrier]] {{USS|Bogue|CVE-9|6}} and the aircraft of [[VC-9|Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9)]] embarked aboard her.<ref>Y{{'}}Blood, William T., ''Hunter-Killer: U.S. Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-286-4}}, p. 35, 282.</ref>
* March 5–6 (overnight) – Royal Air Force Bomber Command begins a bombing campaign against the [[Ruhr]] area of Germany with an [[Oboe (navigation)|Oboe]]-marked raid on [[Essen]]. Known as the [[Battle of the Ruhr]], it will last until mid-July. The first raid destroys 53 buildings in the [[Krupp]] complex and destroys {{convert|160|acre|ha|lk=on}} of Essen.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 116.</ref>
* March 10
** The U.S. Army Air Forces activate the [[Fourteenth Air Force]]<ref>Maurer, p. 469.</ref> in [[China]].
** The first combat mission of the U.S. Army Air Forces [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]] takes place, a fighter sweep by [[England]]-based [[4th Fighter Group]] P-47s over [[France]]. They encounter no enemy aircraft.<ref name="definitive391">Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 391.</ref>
* March 12–13 (overnight) – The second Royal Air Force Bomber Command raid on Essen during the [[Battle of the Ruhr]] is even more destructive than the first one of March 5–6.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 117.</ref>
* March 20 – During the evening, aircraft drop [[naval mine]]s for the first time in the Pacific, when 42 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF Avengers]] from [[Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)|Henderson Field]], [[Guadalcanal]], mine the harbor at [[Kahili Airfield|Kahili]], [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]], during a diversionary raid on [[Kahili Airfield]] by 18 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortresses]]. The following evening, 40 Avengers carry out another mining operation at Kahili during a diversionary raid by 21 U.S. Army Air Forces bombers on the airfield.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 111.</ref>
* March 27
** The British escort carrier {{HMS|Dasher|D37|6}} suffers a massive accidental internal explosion and sinks off the [[Isle of Arran]]<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 83.</ref> in the [[Firth of Clyde]], killing 379. There are 149 survivors.
** The German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' decides to discontinue development of the [[Heinkel He 280]] jet fighter.<ref>Boyne, Walter J., "Lost Luftwaffe Airplanes," ''Aviation History'', November 2015, p. 35.</ref>
* March 28 – 57 Japanese [[Rabaul]]-based aircraft – 18 [[Aichi D3A]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Val") [[dive bomber]]s and 37 [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]]s – attack [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] shipping in [[Oro Bay]] off New Guinea, sinking a [[United States Army]] [[Transport (ship)|transport]] and a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] merchant ship.<ref name="operations125">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 125.</ref>
* March 31 – Since January 1, Royal Air Force Bomber Command has flown 12,760 sorties and lost 348 bombers, a 2.7 percent loss rate. German night fighters have shot down 201 of the bombers.<ref name="hinchcliffe113"/>

===April===
* [[Qantas Empire Airways]] begins the longest scheduled nonstop airline service in history, a 28-hour flight between [[Perth]], [[Australia]], and [[Ceylon]] using [[PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]]s which becomes known as the "Double Sunrise Route" because passengers and crew see two sunrises during the journey. Each flight can carry up to three passengers, who are advised that the flight can take as little as 24 hours or as long as 32 hours.<ref>Wilkinson, Stephan, "The PBYs That Flew Forever," ''Aviation History'', July 2011, pp. 50–53.</ref>
* April 1 – The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] begins the [[I Operation]], a land-based air offensive over the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[New Guinea]], with a fighter sweep by 58 Japanese [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]]es from [[Rabaul]] down [[New Georgia Sound]] toward [[Guadalcanal]]. Over the [[Russell Islands]], 41 U.S. [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|F4F Wildcats]], [[Chance-Vought F4U Corsair|F4U Corsairs]], and [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]] intercept them. The Japanese lose 18 Zeros in exchange for six American fighters.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 118.</ref>
* April 1–2 – U.S. Army [[Fifth Air Force]] bombers attack a Japanese [[convoy]] bound for [[Kavieng]], sinking a merchant ship and damaging the [[heavy cruiser]] {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Aoba||2}} and a destroyer.<ref name="operations125"/> ''Aoba'' is never again capable of steaming at maximum speed.
* April 8 – 177 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft – 67 [[Aichi D3A]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Val") [[dive bomber]]s escorted by 110 Zeroes – conduct the largest Japanese air attack since the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], targeting U.S. shipping in [[Ironbottom Sound]] off [[Guadalcanal]] and [[Tulagi]]. They sink a U.S. destroyer, a [[New Zealand]] [[corvette]], and a U.S. tanker. Seventy-six U.S. fighters intercept the Japanese, losing seven of their number while shooting down 12 Vals and an estimated 27 Zeroes. [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|U.S. Marine Corps Reserve]] [[First Lieutenant]] [[James E. Swett]] shoots down seven Japanese aircraft, all Vals, during his flight.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 120–124.</ref>
* April 11 – 94 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft – 22 Aichi D3As and 72 Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes – attack [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] shipping at [[Oro Bay]] off [[New Guinea]], sinking a [[merchant ship]] and damaging a merchant ship and a [[minesweeper]]. The 50 Allied fighters based at [[Dobodura]], New Guinea, intercept the Japanese, shooting down six Japanese planes without loss to themselves.<ref name="operations125"/>
* April 12 – The Japanese conduct their largest air raid in the [[South West Pacific Theatre of World War II|Southwest Pacific]] thus far in World War II, with 174 planes – 131 fighters and 43 medium bombers – attacking [[Port Moresby]], New Guinea. The raid causes little damage, and the 44 Allied fighters that intercept the Japanese shoot down five aircraft, all fighters, for the loss of two of their own.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 125–126.</ref>
* April 14
** 188 Japanese planes from Rabaul raid [[Milne Bay]], New Guinea, destroying one [[merchant ship]] and damaging others. Twenty-four [[Royal Australian Air Force]] [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|Curtiss Kittyhawks]] intercept them, shooting down seven Japanese aircraft in exchange for three Kittyhawks.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 126–127.</ref>
** {{MV|Empire MacAlpine}} enters service as the first British [[merchant aircraft carrier]], or "MAC-ship." Each of the 19 MAC-ships ultimately placed in service is a [[bulk cargo ship]] or [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] which continues to carry cargo while equipped with a full-length [[flight deck]]. Steaming within [[convoy]]s, MAC-ships each operate three or four [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] aircraft for [[Antisubmarine warfare|antisubmarine]] patrols. Although no MAC-ship{{'}}s aircraft ever sink a German submarine, no convoy containing a MAC-ship ever loses a ship, and none of the MAC ships are lost.<ref name="Sturtivant_p110">Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 110.</ref>
* April 15
** [[Operation Flax]], the systematic targeting by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] fighter pilots of ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' transport aircraft bound for [[North Africa]], is put into effect.
** The first encounter of the U.S. Army Air Forces P-47 Thunderbolt with enemy fighters occurs, as [[335th Fighter Squadron]] P-47Cs shoot down three German fighters in exchange for a loss of three P-47Cs.<ref name="definitive391"/>
** During a single 12-hour period, the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] flies 112 sorties against Japanese bases in the [[Aleutian Islands]], dropping {{convert|180,000|lb|kg}} of bombs on [[Kiska]] and {{convert|4,000|lb|kg}} on [[Attu Island|Attu]].<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 262">Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, p. 262.</ref>
* April 16 – Believing they had sunk a [[cruiser]], two [[destroyer]]s, and 25 [[Transport (ship)|transports]] and shot down 175 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft, the Japanese end the I Operation air offensive. Actual Allied losses have been one destroyer, one [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]], one [[corvette]], and two [[cargo ship]]s sunk and about 25 planes shot down.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 127.</ref>
* April 18 – Precisely one year after the [[Doolittle Raid]], Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], Commander-in-Chief of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]{{'}}s [[Combined Fleet]], is killed when the [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") in which he is riding as a passenger, [[T1-323]], is ambushed and shot down by U.S. Army Air Forces [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightning]] fighters over [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] in [[Operation Vengeance]]. The attacking P-38s also shoot down an accompanying Betty – critically injuring Yamamoto{{'}}s chief of staff, [[Vice Admiral]] [[Matome Ugaki]] – and three out of six Zero fighters escorting them. One P-38 is shot down.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 128–129.</ref>
* April 20 – Led personally by the commander of the [[Seventh Air Force]], [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Willis H. Hale]], 22 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] from [[Funafuti]] bomb and photograph [[Nauru]]. Japanese aircraft follow them home and attack Funafuti early on April 21, destroying two B-24s and killing six men.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 83">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 83.</ref>
* April 21 – Since the second week of April, the U.S. Army Air Force{{'}}s [[Eleventh Air Force]] has raided [[Kiska]] 83 times.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 39.</ref>
* April 23 – Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb [[Tarawa Atoll]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 83"/>
* April 26–27 (overnight) – The British employ [[Ground Grocer]], the first device capable of [[Radio jamming|jamming]] the airborne, UHF-band early version of the [[Lichtenstein radar|''Lichtenstein B/C'' radar]] employed by German [[night fighter]]s of the time. Ground-based, Ground Grocer{{'}}s range is limited by the [[curvature of the Earth]], placing most German night fighter operations below its coverage.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 116–117, 121–135.</ref>
* April 27 – Wing Commander [[Hugh Malcolm]] of the Royal Air Force is awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] posthumously for his actions during the North African campaign.<ref>"V.C. For Dead Airman." Times [London, England] 28 Apr. 1943: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.</ref>
* April 30 – In preparation for the upcoming American invasion of [[Attu Island|Attu]], the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} Eleventh Air Force has flown 1,175 combat sorties against Japanese bases in the [[Aleutian Islands]] during April, including a two-week period in which 60 aircraft per day attack [[Kiska]].<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 214"/>

===May===
* ''[[Oberleutnant]]'' [[Rudolf Schoenert]], piloting a [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]] night fighter, uses ''[[Schräge Musik]]'' ("Jazz Music") – automatic cannon mounted to fire obliquely upward and forward – to shoot down an enemy bomber for the first time. Officially adopted by the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' in June, ''Schräge Musik'' will become a devastating German anti-bomber weapon during the second half of 1943.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 136–139.</ref> (Also see the May 21 entry for its debut use by Japan.)
* The [[United States Department of the Navy]] begins development of the [[helicopter]] as an [[antisubmarine warfare]] platform, with the [[United States Coast Guard]] leading the effort at [[Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn]] in [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name="uscg1939"/>
* May 1–7 – The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] drops 200,000 pounds (90,719&nbsp;kg) of bombs on Japanese forces on [[Attu Island|Attu]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in support of the upcoming American invasion of the island.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 262"/>
* May 8
** A 60-plane U.S. strike from [[Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)|Henderson Field]], [[Guadalcanal]], sinks two Japanese destroyers and badly damages a third off [[Kolombangara]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 115.</ref>
** [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft begin a bombing campaign against [[Pantelleria]], the first of 5,285 sorties they will fly against the island before it is invaded on June 11.<ref name="operations277">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume II: Operations in North African Waters, October 1942 – June 1943'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 277.</ref>
* May 9 – A German night fighter crew defects to the United Kingdom, flying a [[Junkers Ju 88|Junkers Ju 88R-1]] there, [[Junkers Ju 88#Survivors|which is still in the UK in the 21st century]]. The defection gives British scientists and tacticians access to an FuG 202 [[Lichtenstein radar|''Lichtenstein B/C'']] UHF-band airborne interception radar for the first time,<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 134–135.</ref> compromising the secrets of the early ''B/C'' UHF-band version of the radar.
* May 10 – [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] introduces its first female [[flight attendant]], Rosamond Gilmour, on a [[Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport|Bristol (Whitchurch)]]–[[Shannon Airport|Shannon]] feeder flight.
* May 11 – In [[Operation Landcrab]], American forces [[Battle of Attu|invade]] [[Attu Island|Attu]]. With an all-[[Grumman F4F Wildcat|F4F Wildcat]] airwing consisting of 26 F4F-4 fighters and three F4F-3P [[photographic reconnaissance]] aircraft, the [[escort carrier]] {{USS|Nassau|CVE-16|6}} supports operations on Attu until May 20; it is the first time that the U.S. Navy employs carrier-based photographic reconnaissance aircraft and the first time in the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater of Operations]] that an escort carrier engages in combat. The U.S. Navy concludes that bombers should be included in future escort carrier air wings to make them more effective in supporting [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] operations.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, pp. 373-387">Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, pp. 373–387, 389.</ref><ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 38, 334–335.</ref>
* May 13
** Twenty Japanese [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") [[torpedo bomber]]s fly from [[Paramushiro]] to attack American ships off Attu, but bad weather forces them to turn back without launching an attack.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 48.</ref>
** The [[Venezuela]]n airline [[Avensa]] is founded. It will begin flights in [[1943 in aviation#December|December]].
* May 15 – ''Luftwaffe'' ace ''[[Leutnant]]'' [[Horst Hannig]] is killed when his [[parachute]] fails to open after he bails out of his [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] over France during combat with fighters of the Royal Air Force's [[No. 611 Squadron RAF|No. 611 Squadron]] that are attacking [[Caen – Carpiquet Airport|Caen-Carpiquet Airdrome]] and [[Poix Airdrome]]. He is credited with 98 aerial victories.
* May 17–18 – Specially modified RAF [[Avro Lancaster]]s of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]], Royal Air Force, make the "[[Operation Chastise|Dambusters]]" raids on the [[Möhne Dam|Möhne]], [[Edersee|Eder]], and [[Sorpe Dam|Sorpe]] dams.
* May 19 – The [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17F Flying Fortress]] [[Memphis Belle (aircraft)|''Memphis Belle'']] returns to England from a raid on [[Kiel]], Germany, becoming the first American heavy bomber to complete 25 missions with its crew intact. ''Memphis Belle'' and her crew return to the [[United States]] in June to promote the sale of [[war bonds]].
* May 21 – In [[Schräge Musik#Japan|the first use of upward-firing cannon]] by a Japanese aircraft, an Imperial Japanese Navy [[Nakajima J1N]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Irving") twin-engined night fighter uses upward-firing 20-mm [[Type 99 cannon]] in downing two U.S. Army Air Forces [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es. Japanese Navy [[Commander (rank)|Commander]] [[Yasuna Kozono]] had conceived of the upward-firing cannon arrangement independently of the similar German ''[[Schräge Musik]]'' weapons fit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19600338000 |title=Nakajima J1N1-S Gekko (Moonlight) IRVING |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum |access-date=July 7, 2015 |archive-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708142353/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19600338000 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* May 22
** A U.S. Navy antisubmarine [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer group]] scores a kill of an enemy submarine for the first time, when [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBM Avengers]] of [[VC-9|Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9)]] from the escort carrier {{USS|Bogue|CVE-9|6}} sink the German submarine {{GS|U-569||2}} in the North Atlantic Ocean. Aircraft of U.S. hunter-killer groups will sink – or cooperate with surface warships in sinking – 31 more ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' and two [[Imperial Japanese Navy|IJN]] submarines – likely both the [[German submarine U-1224|German-built ''RO-501'' of the IJN]] and {{Jsub|I-52|1942|2}}, on separate [[Yanagi missions|''yanagi'' missions]] – in the Atlantic during World War II.<ref name="annapolis42">Y{{'}}Blood, William T., ''Hunter-Killer: U.S. Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-286-4}}, pp. 42–44, 282–283.</ref>
** 19 Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" torpedo bombers based at Paramushiro make the only Japanese air strike of the [[Battle of Attu]], attacking the U.S. Navy [[destroyer]] {{USS|Phelps|DD-360|6}} and gunboat {{USS|Charleston|PG-51|6}} off Attu. They lose two aircraft and score no hits.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 49.</ref>
* May 23 – An aircraft sinks an enemy submarine with air-to-surface rockets for the first time, as a [[Fairey Swordfish]] from the British escort carrier {{HMS|Archer|D78|6}} sinks the German submarine {{GS|U-752||2}} in the Atlantic.<ref name="annapolis42"/>
* May 25–26 (overnight) – 759 British bombers attack [[Düsseldorf]], Germany. [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinder]] aircraft fail to concentrate markers on the target, and the raid fails when the bombers spread their bombs widely throughout the countryside.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 118.</ref>
* May 29
** A [[merchant aircraft carrier]], or "MAC-ship," puts to sea with a [[convoy]] for the first time as {{MV|Empire MacAlpine}} sets out from the United Kingdom with [[Convoy ONS 59]] bound for [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]. She carries four [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] aircraft of [[836 Naval Air Squadron|No. 836 Squadron]].<ref name="Sturtivant_p110"/>
** Japanese resistance on Attu ends.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 50.</ref>

===June===
* June 1
** [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft begin a final period of heavy bombing of [[Pantelleria]] during the ten days prior to the scheduled invasion of the island, during which they will fly 3,647 sorties.<ref name="operations277"/>
** German [[Junkers Ju 88]] fighters shoot down a [[Douglas DC-3]] [[airliner]] operating as [[BOAC Flight 777]] during its flight from [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]], to the United Kingdom.  All 17 people on board die, including actor [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]].
* June 2 – American former [[college football]] star and [[Heisman Trophy]] winner [[Nile Kinnick]], a [[United States Naval Reserve]] fighter pilot, dies when he [[Water landing|ditches]] his [[Grumman F4F Wildcat]] fighter after it develops a serious oil leak over the [[Gulf of Paria]] off [[Venezuela]] during a training flight from the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Lexington|CV-16|6}}. His body is never found.
* June 5 – In a battle over the [[Russell Islands]] between 81 Japanese [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighters and 110 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft, the Japanese lose 24 aircraft in exchange for seven U.S. fighters.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 139–140.</ref>
* June 6–9 – Allied aircraft drop an average of 600 tons (544,316&nbsp;kg) of bombs per day on Pantelleria.<ref name="operations277"/>
* June 10
** In one of the heaviest and most concentrated air attacks thus far in World War II, Allied aircraft drop 1,571 tons (1,425,202&nbsp;kg) of bombs on Pantelleria.<ref name="operations277"/>
** The [[Pointblank Directive]] modifies the priorities established by the February [[Casablanca directive]], elevating attacks on German fighter strength to the highest priority for the [[Royal Air Force]] and [[United States Army Air Forces]].<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 142.</ref>
* June 11 – Demoralized by heavy aerial bombing and naval surface bombardment, the Italian garrison on [[Pantellaria]] surrenders almost as soon as Allied ground forces land on the island. Pantelleria arguably is the first ground captured by air power almost alone. Allied aircraft have also shot down 57 [[Axis Powers|Axis]] aircraft since beginning operations against Pantelleria in May, losing 14 of their own.<ref name="operations277"/>
* June 11–12 (overnight) – 783 British bombers attack [[Düsseldorf]], killing 1,326 people, injuring 2,600, and leaving 13 missing and 140,000 homeless. Fires burn 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of the city and there are 180 major building collapses. During the raid, the German [[Heinkel He 219|Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'']] ("[[Eagle owl|Eagle Owl]]") [[night fighter]] makes its combat debut in the early morning hours of June 12 in an experimental flight piloted by ''[[Major (Germany)|Major]]'' [[Werner Streib]]. Streib shoots down five British bombers – a [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]] and four [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifaxes]] – in a single sortie, but his He 219 is wrecked in a landing accident when he returns to base.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 112, 117–120, 126.</ref>
* June 12 – Another large [[dogfight]] between Japanese and Allied aircraft over the Russell Islands yields almost identical results to those of June 5.<ref name="operations140">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 140.</ref>
* June 14 – The [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17C Flying Fortress]] ''Miss Every Morning Fixin'' (40–2072) [[Bakers Creek air crash|crashes]] at [[Bakers Creek, Queensland|Bakers Creek]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]], killing 40 of the 41 servicemen on board.  It remains the worst aviation disaster in Australian history, and it is worst aircraft crash in the [[Southwest Pacific Theater]] during World War II.
* June 14–15 (overnight) – Accompanying a raid by 197 British [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]] bombers against [[Oberhausen]], Germany, five British [[Bristol Beaufighter|Beaufighter]] night fighters make the first operational use of [[Serrate radar detector|Serrate]], a radar detector and homing device that allows them to home in on German night fighters employing the ''Lichtenstein'' airborne radar from up to {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on}} away and intercept them. The Beaufighters do not intercept any German aircraft during the raid, however, and 17 British bombers are lost.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 136.</ref>
* June 16 – A raid by 94 Japanese aircraft – 24 [[Aichi D3A]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Val") [[dive bomber]]s and 70 Zero fighters – attack U.S. shipping in [[Ironbottom Sound]] off [[Guadalcanal]]. They damage a [[cargo ship]] and a [[tank landing ship]] and shoot down six U.S. fighters, but almost all the Japanese aircraft are lost.<ref name="operations140"/>
* June 20 – The [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] raids [[Winnellie, Northern Territory|Winnellie]] and [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] in [[Australia]]'s [[Northern Territory]] with a force consisting of 18 [[Kawasaki Ki-48]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Lily") and [[Nakajima Ki-49]] (Allied reporting name "Helen") bombers escorted by 22 [[Nakajima Ki-43]] (Allied reporting name "Oscar") fighters, with the Ki-49s hitting Winnellie and the Ki-48s bombing Winnellie and Darwin. Forty-six [[Royal Australian Air Force]] [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire Mark V]] fighters intercept the Japanese. In the ensuring dogfights, the Japanese claim nine Spitfires shot down and six probables and the Australians claim to have shot down nine bombers and five fighters. The actual Japanese losses are one Ki-43 and one Ki-49 shot down and two Ki-48s and one Ki-49 making forced landings upon returning to base, while Australian losses total three losses and two pilots.<ref name=guttmanmay2017>[Guttman, John, "Nakajima's Fragile Falcon," ''Aviation History'', May 2017, p. 37.]</ref>
* June 21 – The first airbase designed for use by [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] bombers in attacks on Japan, [[Shemya Army Airfield]], opens on [[Shemya]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]]. However, B-29s instead attack Japan from bases in [[China]] and the [[Mariana Islands]], and only one B-29 – on a non-combat flight – visits Shemya during [[World War II]].<ref>Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, p. 341.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/Shemya/pdf/Shemya-Construction-1943-1945.pdf |last=Ross |first=James|title=Construction and Operation of a World War II Army Air Force Forward Base: Shemya, Alaska, May 1943 – December 1945 |publisher=Office of History, Alaskan Air Command |date=1969 |pages=11, 13 |work=hlswilliwaw.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927050730/http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/Shemya/pdf/Shemya-Construction-1943-1945.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-27 }}</ref>
* June 21–22 (overnight) – 705 British bombers attack [[Krefeld]], Germany, losing 44 of their number.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 120.</ref>
* June 22 – In order to better defend [[Sicily]] from [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air attack, Italy and Germany agree to withdraw all of their bombers from [[Sicily]] and all but a few from [[Sardinia]], concentrating instead on fighter operations in Sicily and southern Sardinia.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 57.</ref>
* June 28 – To increase the visibility of the [[Military aircraft insignia|national insignia]] on its military aircraft, the United States replaces the marking adopted in June 1942 with a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles, with the entire insignia outlined in red [[File:Roundel of the United States (1943).svg|30px]]. The new marking containing the red graphic elements will cause confusion with Japanese markings and will remain in use only until September 1943.<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, with Peter Bowers, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1985, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, pp. 20–21.</ref>
* June 28–29 (overnight) – 608 British bombers attack [[Cologne]], Germany, losing 25 of their number. In Cologne, 4,377 people are killed – by far the highest number killed in any single Bomber Command raid so far – 10,000 injured, and 230,000 rendered homeless. In the next two raids, Cologne will incur another 1,000 killed and 120,000 made homeless.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 121.</ref>
* June 30
** U.S. forces land on [[Rendova Island]]. A sweep by 27 Japanese Zero fighters over the area accomplishes little and almost is wiped out, and 43 U.S. aircraft bomb [[Munda Airfield]]. In the evening, a Japanese [[torpedo]] strike by 25 [[Mitsubishi G4M]]s ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") escorted by 24 Zero fighters sinks an [[attack transport]], with 17 of the G4Ms shot down by [[U.S. Marine Corps]] [[Vought F4U Corsair]]s and [[antiaircraft]] fire.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 150–151.</ref>
** Royal Air Force Bomber Command has lost 3,448 aircraft – about 1,600 of them to German night fighters – and about 20,000 aircrewmen on night raids since the beginning of [[World War II]]. Since April 1, Bomber Command has lost 762 aircraft, 561 of them to German night fighters.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 139.</ref>
** Since November 1, 1942, Italy has lost 2,190 military aircraft and suffered another 1,790 damaged.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 56.</ref>
** Since June 1, the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] has flown 407 sorties against Japanese forces on [[Kiska]] in the Aleutian Islands. U.S. Navy [[Lockheed PV-1 Ventura|PV-1 Venturas]] have made additional night bombing attacks on the island.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 358">Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, p. 358.</ref>

===July===
* The British [[Women's Auxiliary Air Force]] reaches a peak strength of 182,000.<ref>[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/women-of-the-air-force/womens-auxiliary-air-force-waaf-1939-1949.aspx rafmuseum.org.uk Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) 1939 – 1949]</ref>
* July 1 – Municipal authorities in [[Hamburg]], Germany, have logged 137 air attacks on the city and the deaths of 1,387 people and injuries to 4,496 in air raids since the beginning of [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=143}}</ref>
* July 2 – An airstrike on American forces on [[Rendova Island]] by 24 Japanese bombers escorted by 48 fighters achieves complete surprise, killing 55 and wounding 77.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |page=154}}</ref>
* July 2–3 (overnight) – The Allied [[Northwest African Air Force]] begins heavy day-and-night attacks against [[Axis Powers|Axis]] airfields in Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Sicily. Italy claims to fly 650 fighter sorties and Germany 500 between July 1 and 9 in defending against the Allied bombing campaign, but almost all Axis airfields on Sicily are knocked out by the time of the invasion.<ref name="operations58">{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 ��� June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=58}}</ref>
* July 3–4 (overnight) – 653 British bombers attack [[Cologne]]. During the raid, the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' experiments for the first time with ''[[Wilde Sau]]'' ("Wild Boar") [[night fighter]] tactics, in which single-engine day fighters use any illumination – from [[searchlight]]s, [[Flare (pyrotechnic)|flares]], fires, etc., –  available over a city to visually identify and attack enemy bombers at night. ''Wilde Sau'' pilots and [[antiaircraft artillery]] both claim the same 12 bombers shot down over Cologne and officially each receive credit for six. The experiment{{'}}s success will lead to the formation of [[Jagdgeschwader 300|''Jagdgeschwader'' 300]], which will specialize in ''Wilde Sau'' operations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |pages=127–133}}</ref>
* July 4
** Seventeen Japanese bombers escorted by 66 fighters raid Rendova, destroying and damaging several [[landing craft]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |pages=155–156}}</ref>
** The [[prime minister]] of the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish Government-in-Exile]] and [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[Polish Armed Forces]], [[Władysław Sikorski]], his [[Chief of staff (politics)|chief of staff]], [[Tadeusz Klimecki]], and eight others die in the crash of a [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|Liberator II]] just after takeoff from [[Gibraltar]]. Only the aircraft{{'}}s pilot survives.
* July 6 – A strike by 39 U.S. aircraft destroys a Japanese destroyer beached on [[Kolombangara]] island after the [[Battle of Kula Gulf]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |pages=174–175}}</ref>
* July 7 – An [[Imperial Japanese Army]] [[Tachikawa Ki-77]] takes off from [[Singapore]] with a crew of five and three passengers aboard, intending to make a non-stop flight to the German airfield at Sarabus (now [[Hvardiiske, Simferopol Raion|Hvardiiske]]) in the [[Crimea]]. It disappears over the [[Indian Ocean]] during the flight.
* July 9–10 (overnight) – 160 [[British Army]] [[glider infantry]]men land on [[Sicily]]{{'}}s [[Maddalena Peninsula]], seizing coastal artillery batteries, a radio station, and the Ponte Grande bridge in advance of Allied [[amphibious landing]]s on the morning of July 10.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=160}}</ref>
* July 10
** [[Operation Husky]], the British and American landings on Sicily, begins;<ref name="operations58"/> supporting naval forces include the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} and {{HMS|Formidable|67|6}}.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 167">{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=167}}</ref> [[Axis Powers|Axis]] aircraft attack [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships offshore, and a [[Junkers Ju 87 Stuka]] [[dive bomber]] sinks the American destroyer {{USS|Maddox|DD-622|6}} with the loss of 212 lives.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=100–101}}</ref> [[Floatplane]]s based on American [[light cruiser]]s provide valuable spotting support for naval gunfire against targets ashore.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=102–104}}</ref>
** Six U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] take off from [[Attu Island|Attu]] to fly the {{convert|1,300|mi|km}} round-trip to attack the Japanese base at [[Paramushiro]], in what would have been the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air raid against the [[Kurile Islands]]; however, they are diverted en route to join [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchells]] in attacking a [[convoy]] of Japanese [[Transport (ship)|transports]], suffering one aircraft damaged before returning to Attu. On the same day a separate formation of eight B-25s on its own initiative attempts to bomb Paramushiro; they bomb an unidentified land mass through overcast without knowing if it is [[Japan]], the Kuriles, the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]], or an unidentified North Pacific island.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Brian |title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=University of Alaska Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-912006-82-X |pages=348–351}}</ref>
* July 11 – Axis aircraft make a second major bombing raid against ships off Sicily, sinking two [[ammunition ship]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=119–120}}</ref>
* July 11–12 (overnight) – The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[52nd Troop Carrier Wing]] flies [[United States Army]] [[paratrooper]]s from [[North Africa]] for a parachute landing in Sicily.  The 144 [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]] fly in darkness at low level over Allied ships offshore and Allied troops on the front line, arriving during an Axis bombing attack, and both the ships and troops ashore mistakenly open fire on them. Twenty-three of the aircraft are shot down, with the loss of 100 lives.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=120–121}}</ref>
* July 12 – Germany and Italy mount all air opposition against Allied forces in Sicily from bases in Sardinia and mainland Italy from this date.<ref name="operations58"/>
* July 12–13 (midnight) – An attack by the Allied [[Northwest African Air Force]] destroys the [[headquarters]] of the Italian [[Army of the Po|Sixth Army]] at [[Enna]], Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=172}}</ref>
* July 13 – An Axis air attack destroys a [[Liberty ship]] off Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=164}}</ref>
* July 13–14 (overnight)
** Allied transport aircraft carrying paratroopers from North Africa to Sicily again fly low in darkness over Allied ships and ground forces, and again come under friendly fire. Several are shot down.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=165}}</ref> In [[Operation Fustian]], the British Army{{'}}s [[1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|1st Parachute Brigade]] land in gliders and capture the [[Primosole]] bridge, but a German parachute [[battalion]] that previously had landed nearby drives the British off the bridge by the following evening.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=177–178}}</ref>
** Royal Air Force Bomber Command flies the last raid of its "[[Battle of the Ruhr]]" campaign against the [[Ruhr]] region of Germany. Since the campaign began in March, Bomber Command has flown 29 major attacks against the Ruhr and the [[Rheinland]], including five against [[Essen]] – which alone suffers 1,037 dead, 3,500 severely injured, and 4,830 homes destroyed – four each against [[Duisburg]] and [[Cologne]], three against [[Bochum]], and one or two each against other cities. Bomber Command has lost 672 aircraft during the Ruhr and Rheinland raids, a 4.8 percent loss rate, and 4,400 aviators. Separately, during same period Bomber Command also has flown 18 major attacks against other targets in France, in Italy, and in Germany outside the Ruhr and Rheinland, including two raids on [[Berlin]] and strikes against [[Munich]], [[Stettin]], [[Turin]], [[La Spezia]], and the [[Škoda Works]] in [[Plzeň|Pilsen]].<ref name="hinchcliffe116">{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |pages=116–117, 121–122}}</ref>
* July 14 – Axis [[torpedo bomber]]s see action against Allied ships for the first time in the [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily campaign]]; six Italian torpedo bombers attack two British light cruisers and two British destroyers off [[Cape Spartivento]], scoring no hits.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 167"/>
* July 16 – An Italian torpedo bomber damages the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} off [[Cape Passero]], forcing her to proceed to [[Gibraltar]] for repairs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=167–168}}</ref>
* July 17
** 223 U.S. [[AirSols|Air Solomons]] (AirSols) aircraft strike [[Bougainville Island]], bombing [[Kahili Airfield]] and [[Tonolei]] harbor. They sink one Japanese destroyer.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |page=206}}</ref>
** Axis air attacks damage Allied shipping off Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |pages=164–165}}</ref>
* July 18
** The U.S. Navy [[blimp]] [[US airship K-74|''K-74'']] is shot down by the German [[submarine]] {{GS|U-134|1941|2}}, becoming the only [[airship]] lost to enemy fire during World War II.
** Six Eleventh Air Force B-24s make the first confirmed Allied strike against the Kurile Islands, damaging the Japanese base at Paramushiro and claiming a ship sunk without suffering any losses. It is the first time since the [[Doolittle Raid]] of April 1942 that Allied aircraft have struck the inner portions of the [[Japanese Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Brian |title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=University of Alaska Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-912006-82-X |page=353}}</ref>
* July 19 – [[Soviet Air Forces]] fighter pilot [[Yekaterina Budanova]] is shot down and killed in a [[dogfight]] with [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s over [[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk ''Oblast'']]. Although her victory total is unclear, she is commonly credited with 11 kills. She and Soviet pilot [[Lydia Litvyak]] are the only two female [[Flying ace|aces]] in history.
* July 20 – U.S. aircraft strike the escorts of a Japanese [[convoy]] in [[New Georgia Sound]], sinking two destroyers and damaging the [[heavy cruiser]] {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kumano||2}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |pages=206–207}}</ref>
* July 21 – Serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, American athlete and two-time [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] champion [[Charley Paddock]] dies in the crash of a Navy plane near [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]] in the [[Territory of Alaska]]. All five other men on the aircraft also die.<ref name="famous40s"/>
* July 22
** 46 U.S. bombers attack a Japanese convoy in [[Bougainville Strait]], sinking the [[seaplane carrier]] {{ship|Japanese seaplane carrier|Nisshin||2}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |page=207}}</ref>
** An [[Avro Lancaster]] bomber converted for use as a transport aircraft inaugurates the [[Government of Canada|Canadian Government]]{{'}}s Trans Atlantic Air Service, operated by [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]]. It sets a non-stop speed record for a flight from [[Dorval Airport]], [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]], to [[Prestwick]], [[Scotland]], of 12 hours 26&nbsp;minutes.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Donald |editor-first=David |title=The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft |location=New York |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7607-0592-6 |page=84}}</ref>
* July 23 – The [[Consolidated Vultee]] firm receives a "[[letter of intent]]" from the USAAF, requesting the construction of the first 100 production [[Convair B-36]] bombers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-36-production.htm |title=Weapons of Mass Destruction – Systems – Bombers – B-36 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=globalsecurity.org |access-date=December 12, 2016 |quote=Ensuing talks between Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Assistant Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson, and high ranking officers of the AAF, led Secretary Stimson to waive customary procurement procedures and to authorize the AAF to order B-36 production without awaiting completion and testing of the 2 experimental planes then under contract. Therefore, on 19 June General Arnold directed procurement of 100 B-36s. General Arnold became Commanding General of the AAF in March 1942 and was promoted to 4-star general one year later. His order, however, would be cut back or canceled in the event of excessive production difficulties. The AAF letter of intent for 100 B-36s was signed by Convair on 23 July...The letter of intent of '''23 July 1943''', supplemented by Letter Contract W33-038 ac-7 on 23 August 1943, gave way 1 year later to a definitive contract. The U.S. government was not liable should a letter of intent be canceled. This was not so for the more often used letter contract which obligated funds.}}</ref> – on the same day in Germany, the [[Heinkel]] firm is ordered by the [[Reich Air Ministry|RLM]] to create a wing design for its [[Heinkel He 277#Competing bomber designs|''8–277'' bomber airframe concept]], competing since February 1943 as its ''[[Amerikabomber]]'' aircraft design competition entry, to take either four [[Junkers Jumo 222]] or six [[BMW 801]] engines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=197 }}</ref>
* July 24–25 (overnight) – 791 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany, beginning [[Operation Gomorrah]] or the "[[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II#Significant missions|Battle of Hamburg]]", a systematic effort by Bomber Command chief [[Air Marshal]] [[Arthur Harris]] to destroy the city. For the first time, the Royal Air Force uses [[Chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]], codenamed "[[Window (codename)|Window]]", to foil German radar. About 1,500 people are killed, more than in all 137 previous air attacks on the city combined.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |pages=143–148}}</ref> Twelve British bombers are lost.<ref name="jul43raf">{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary, July 1943. |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504112357/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul43.html |archive-date=2009-05-04}}</ref>
* July 25
** U.S. Army [[Fifth Air Force]] [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchell]] bombers destroy two Japanese destroyers aground on a reef near [[Cape Gloucester (Papua New Guinea)|Cape Gloucester]], [[New Britain]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=VI |title=Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1988 |page=256}}</ref>
** 100 U.S. Army [[Eighth Air Force]] bombers attack Hamburg.<ref name="hinchcliffe154">{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=154}}</ref>
* July 25–26 (overnight) – 705 British bombers attack [[Essen]], Germany, causing considerable damage to the [[Krupp]] works.<ref name="hinchcliffe116"/> Twenty-six British aircraft do not return.<ref name="jul43raf"/> German night fighter pilot [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Werner Streib]] shoots down four bombers in 74 minutes, and his final kill of the night is the 88th and last one credited to his ground controller, ''[[Oberleutnant]]'' Walter Knickmaier.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=149}}</ref>
* July 26
** 60 U.S. Eighth Air Force bombers strike Hamburg.<ref name="hinchcliffe154"/>
** Over 100 German aircraft attack an Allied [[convoy]] off [[Cape Bon]], [[Tunisia]], but defending British fighters prevent them from inflicting any serious damage.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=59}}</ref>
* July 27 – To win a bet with British pilots in training at his [[instrument flight]] school in [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]], [[Texas]], who are skeptical of the airworthiness of the [[AT-6 Texan]] [[trainer aircraft]] at the school, U.S. Army Air Forces [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] James Duckworth and his [[navigator]], [[Lieutenant]] Ralph O'Hair, make the first deliberate flight into a [[hurricane]] in history, reaching the eye of the "[[1943 Surprise Hurricane|Surprise Hurricane]]" in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] off [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], Texas, in an AT-6. In addition to demonstrating the sturdiness of the AT-6, the flight inspires others to attempt similar flights and becomes the genesis of the future "[[Hurricane Hunters]]" weather reconnaissance program.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130714110442/http://weather-center.kinja.com/first-person-to-fly-into-a-hurricane-on-purpose-did-it-705961282 weathercenter.kinja.com "First person to fly into a hurricane on purpose did it for a bet," July 8, 2013, 2:13 p.m.]</ref>
* July 27–28 (overnight) – 787 British bombers attack Hamburg, with a loss of 17 aircraft. Atmospheric conditions create a self-propagating tornadic [[firestorm]] with winds of {{convert|150|mph|kph}} and flames reaching {{convert|1,000|ft|m}} in altitude, resulting in one of the most destructive air raids in history. Air temperatures reach {{convert|1,500|F|C}}, causing [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]] in city streets to catch fire. At least 40,000 people die in the raid and 1,200,000 flee the city, which does not regain its previous industrial capacity for the rest of the war. The raid shocks Germany.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |pages=154–156}}</ref><ref name="raf1943">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary July 1943 |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504112357/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul43.html |archive-date=2009-05-04}}</ref>
* July 28
** ''Luftwaffe'' single-engine fighters use [[Werfer-Granate 21|BR 21 heavy-calibre under-wing rockets]] to attack [[Combat box|concentrated American bomber formations]] for the first time. Employing the new weapon, [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] pilots claim victories over U.S. Army Air Forces bombers attacking the [[Henschel#Aviation|Henschel]] aircraft factories at [[Kassel]] and the [[AGO Flugzeugwerke]] plant, license-building new and rebuilding veteran Fw 190s in [[Oschersleben]], Germany.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Floyd |first=William F. Jr. |title=The Single-Seat Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighter Aircraft Helped to Even the Odds Against Enemy Fighters |journal=[[Military Heritage]] |date=July 2016 |page=14}}</ref>
** A [[Douglas DC-3]] [[airliner]] operating as [[American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Ohio)|American Airlines Flight 63]] crashes in [[Allen County, Kentucky|Allen County]], [[Kentucky]], killing 20 of the 22 people on board.
* July 29–30 (overnight) – Another raid on Hamburg by 777 British bombers targets undamaged areas in the northern part of the city, killing about 1,000 more people.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |pages=157–158}}</ref> The British lose 28 aircraft.<ref name="raf1943"/>
* July 30–31 (overnight) – 273 British bombers attack [[Remscheid]], Germany, losing 15 of their number.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinchcliffe |first=Peter |title=The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Castle Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7858-1418-4 |page=158}}</ref>
* July 31
** German aircraft attack U.S. Navy warships bombarding coastal artillery batteries near [[San Stéfano di Camastra]], Sicily, but score no hits.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 192">{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |series=History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II |volume=IX |title=Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1990 |page=192}}</ref>
** The U.S. Army Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] has carried out even more combat sorties against Japanese forces on [[Kiska]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in July than it had in June.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 358"/>

===August===
* The [[United States Navy]] [[Grumman F6F Hellcat]] [[Fighter (aircraft)|fighter]] enters combat.<ref>Crosby, Francis, ''The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day,'' London: Hermes House, 2006, {{ISBN|9781846810008}}, p. 33.</ref>
* August 1
** 48 German aircraft make a surprise attack on ships in the harbor at [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], dropping 60 large bombs and sinking a [[cargo ship]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 192–193.</ref>
** Flying a [[Yakovlev Yak-1]], [[Soviet Air Forces]] fighter ace [[Lydia Litvak]] disappears during a [[dogfight]] with German [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s over the Soviet Union near [[Oryol|Orel]]. Decades later, her body is found, and she is confirmed as having been shot down and killed.<ref>Guttman, Jon, "Aces High," ''MHQ – The Quarterly Journal of Military History'', Winter 2013, p. 16.</ref> Along with [[Yekaterina Budanova]] one of only two female [[Flying ace|aces]] in history, she commonly is credited with 12 victories at the time of her death, although she sometimes is credited with 11 or 13.
** Flying from [[Libya]], U.S. Army Air Forces [[B-24 Liberator]]s [[Operation Tidal Wave|attack the Ploieşti oil refineries]] in [[Romania]].
** During an [[air show]] at [[Lambert–St. Louis International Airport|Lambert Field]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], with several thousand people looking on, the first public demonstration of the St. Louis-built [[Waco CG-4]] [[Military glider|troop-carrying glider]], ends in tragedy when the glider – Waco CG-4A-RO ''42-78839'', built by [[Robertson Aircraft Corporation]] – loses its right [[wing]] immediately after being released over the airfield by the tow airplane. The glider, carrying two [[United States Army Air Forces]] crewmen, St. Louis mayor [[William D. Becker]], Robertson Aircraft and Lambert Field co-founder [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[William B. Robertson]], and six other passengers – crashes, killing everyone on board.<ref>Associated Press, "Mayor and 9 Die in St. Louis Glider Crash", ''The Dallas Morning News'', Dallas, Texas, Monday 2 August 1943, Number 306, page 1.</ref> The accident is attributed to the failure of a defective wing strut fitting.<ref>Gero, David B. "Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908". Sparkford, Yoevil, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-84425-645-7}}, pp. 24–25.</ref>
* August 2
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[C-87 Liberator Express]] operated by [[United Airlines]] carrying Japanese nationals of the [[consular corps]] slated to be exchanged with Japan for Allied [[prisoners of war]] [[1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai|crashes]] just after takeoff from [[Whenuapai Aerodrome]] at [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]], killing 16 of the 30 people on board.
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[Curtiss C-46 Commando|C-46 Commando]] carrying a crew of four and 18 passengers including [[CBS News]] correspondent [[Eric Sevareid]] crashes in the [[Patkai Range]] on the [[Burma]]-[[India]] border, killing its [[flight officer]]. Everyone else on board [[parachute]]s to safety, several suffering injuries in the process, and spend 22 days on the ground before being recovered.<ref name=searsJan2017>Sears, David, "Among the Headhunters," ''Aviation History'', January 2017, p. 59.</ref>
* August 2–3 (overnight) – The final raid of the Battle of Hamburg, by 740 British bombers, fails when the bombers encounter [[thunderstorm]]s over northern Germany and scatter their bombs widely over an area {{convert|100|mi|km}} across. Thirty British aircraft do not return. Despite the enormous damage it has inflicted, Operation Gomorrah has failed to completely destroy Hamburg.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 158, 162.</ref><ref name="raf.mod.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary August 1943 |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011115432/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug43.html |archive-date=2012-10-11 }}</ref>
* August 4
** German aircraft again attack the harbor at Palermo, damaging the American destroyer {{USS|Shubrick|DD-639|6}}.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 193">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 193.</ref>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] flies 135 sorties against [[Kiska]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]], dropping {{convert|304,000|lb|kg}} of bombs.<ref>Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, p. 373.</ref>
* August 5 – The [[Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron]] (WAFS) and the 319th [[Women's Flying Training Detachment]] (WFTD), both organizations of civilian women ferry pilots employed by the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|Air Transport Command]], are merged to form the [[Women Airforce Service Pilots]] (WASP).
* August 6
** The German [[submarine]] {{GS|U-177||2}} uses a manned, towed [[Focke-Achgelis Fa 330]] [[autogyro]] kite to spot the [[Greece|Greek]] [[Steamship|steamer]] ''Efthalia Mari'', which ''U-177'' then intercepts and sinks. It is the only occasion on which a submarine's use of an Fa 330 results in a sinking.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/3036.html|title=Efthalia Mari (Steam merchant) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net|work=uboat.net|access-date=26 August 2011}}</ref>
** A third German air raid on Palermo is driven off by Allied [[night fighter]]s with only a few bombs dropped on the harbor.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 193"/>
* August 7–8 (overnight) – 197 British [[Avro Lancaster|Lancasters]] bombers attack [[Genoa]], [[Milan]], and [[Turin]], with the loss of two aircraft. Over Turin, where 20 people are killed and 79 injured, [[Group Captain]] John H. Searby serves as the first successful "Master of Ceremonies" – later known as "[[Master Bomber]]" – an experienced officer who circles over a bombing target throughout an attack to direct bombing crews by radio and improve their accuracy.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/><ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 175–176.</ref>
* August 8 – Axis bombers attack the American [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Philadelphia|CL-41|6}} off [[Sant'Agata di Militello]], Sicily, scoring no hits.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 192"/>
* August 8–17 – Allied aircraft of the [[Northwest African Air Force]] attack Axis forces evacuating Sicily across the [[Strait of Messina]] to mainland [[Italy]] in [[Operation Lehrgang]]. [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] strategic bombers average 85 sorties nightly – attacking evacuation beaches in Sicily until the night of August 13–14, then ports in mainland Italy – and medium bombers and fighter-bombers fly 1,170 sorties. Allied planes face no Axis air opposition but face heavy [[Antiaircraft gun|antiaircraft fire]] and succeed in sinking only a few vessels, never endangering the success of the Axis evacuation.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 214–215.</ref>
* August 9–10 (overnight) – 457 British bombers attack [[Mannheim]], Germany, and scatter their bombs due to cloud cover. Nine do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 10 – Reinforced by 250 [[Imperial Japanese Army]] aircraft from [[Rabaul]], Japanese air forces in [[New Guinea]] are ordered to conduct an air offensive against [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] airfields on New Guinea and Allied convoys along the [[Territory of Papua|Papuan]] coast.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 258.</ref>
* August 10 – Official backing for the trio of [[Heinkel He 177#Further development-the Heinkel He 177 B|Heinkel He 177B]] [[Daimler-Benz DB 603|"separately"-four-engined]] strategic bomber prototypes, numbered V101 through V103 comes from Luftwaffe ''Generalfeldmarschall'' [[Erhard Milch]], ordering ''[[Arado Flugzeugwerke]]'', already the sole subcontractor for the He 177A, to start work towards production of the new B-series airframes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=162 }}</ref>
* August 10–11 (overnight) – 653 British bombers strike [[Nuremberg]], Germany, damaging the central and southern parts of the city and starting a large fire. Sixteen bombers are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 11
** Eight German [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]]s attack USS ''Philadelphia'' and two American destroyers off [[Brolo]], Sicily; they score no hits. ''Philadelphia'' shoots down five of them and the destroyer {{USS|Ludlow|DD-438|6}} and a U.S. Army Air Forces fighter shoot down one each. Allied aircraft break up a German counterattack against U.S. Army forces at Brolo, but seven U.S. Army Air Forces [[North American A-36 Apache|A-36]] bombers mistakenly attack the American positions, destroying the command post and four artillery pieces.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 204–205.</ref>
** Nine U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] of the [[Eleventh Air Force]] make the second raid of [[World War II]] against the [[Kurile Islands]], again attacking the Japanese base at [[Paramushiro]], causing noteworthy damage. Japanese fighters shoot down one B-24 and damage the other eight; the B-24s shoot down 13 Japanese fighters. The Eleventh Air Force decides not to raid the Kuriles again without fighter escort of its bombers.<ref>Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, pp. 354–355.</ref>
* August 12–13 (overnight) – 504 British bombers bomb Milan and 152 strike [[Turin]], losing five of their number. Although horribly wounded by misdirected machine-gun fire from another bomber while approaching Turin, [[Flight Sergeant]] [[Arthur Louis Aaron]], the pilot of a [[No. 218 Squadron RAF|No. 218 Squadron]] [[Short Stirling]], assists his surviving crew in getting the plane home before dying; he later receives a posthumous [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 13 – The U.S. Army Air Forces make their first bombing raid on [[Austria]].
* August 14 – Japanese aircraft raid the Allied air base at [[Marilinan]], New Guinea.<ref name="operations259">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 259.</ref>
* August 14–15 (overnight) – 140 British Lancasters bomb Milan. One does not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 15
** U.S. forces land on [[Vella Lavella]]. The Japanese respond with air raids of 54, 59, and eight planes during the day, but do little damage, and U.S. Marine Corps F4U Corsair fighters [[Strafing|strafe]] [[Kahili Airfield]] on [[Bougainville Island]]. The Japanese claim to have lost 17 planes, but U.S. forces claim 44 shot down.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 230–232.</ref>
** In [[Operation Cottage]], American and [[Canada|Canadian]] forces invade [[Kiska]], only to find that all Japanese had evacuated the island secretly on July 28. Employing 359 combat aircraft – the most it ever had during World War II – the Eleventh Air Force has conducted a continuous bombing campaign and dropped surrender [[Leaflet (information)|leaflets]] for three weeks before the invasion, mostly against an uninhabited island.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, pp. 373-387"/> Since June 1, the Eleventh Air Force has made 1,454 sorties against Kiska, dropping {{convert|1,255|t|kg}} of bombs.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 54.</ref>
** The landings on Kiska end the 439-day-long [[Aleutian Islands campaign]], during which the Eleventh Air Force has flown 3,609 combat sorties, dropped {{convert|3,500|t|kg}} of bombs, lost 40 aircraft in combat and 174 to other causes, and suffered 192 aircraft damaged. U.S. Navy patrol aircraft have flown 704 combat sorties, dropped {{convert|590,000|lb|kg}} of bombs, and lost 16 planes in combat and 35 due to other causes. Including [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]], the Allies lost 471 aircraft during the campaign to all causes, while the Japanese lost 69 aircraft in combat and about 200 to other causes.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, pp. 373-387"/>
* August 15–16 (overnight) – Royal Air Force Bomber Command makes its last raid on Italy, with 199 Lancasters attacking Milan and 154 striking Turin. Eleven bombers are lost, most of them shot down by German fighters waiting for them as they make their return flight across France.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 17
** 164 U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft of the [[Fifth Air Force]] attack Japanese airfields at [[Wewak]], New Guinea, destroying 70 planes while the Japanese are servicing them for another raid on Marilinan.<ref name="operations259"/>
** 60 U.S. Army Air Forces bombers are lost in [[Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission|raids]] on [[Regensburg]] and [[Schweinfurt]].
** The last Axis forces evacuate Sicily, bringing the [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily campaign]] to an end. The U.S. Army Air Forces have lost 28 killed, 41 wounded, and 88 missing during the campaign.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 223.</ref>
** The Germans make the first operational use of any type of rocket-boosted [[precision-guided munition|PGM]] in aerial warfare, with their [[MCLOS]] [[Kehl-Strasbourg radio control link|radio-guidance]] [[Henschel Hs 293]] [[anti-ship missile]].
* August 17–18 – The German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' makes two 80-plane raids by [[Junkers Ju 88]]s against [[Bizerte]], [[Tunisia]], where Allied ships are assembling for the invasion of mainland Italy. They sink an [[Landing Craft Infantry|infantry landing craft]], damage three other vessels, destroy oil installations, kill 22 men, and wound 215.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 248.</ref>
* August 17–18 (overnight) – 596 Royal Air Force bombers attack the German [[ballistic missile]] research station at [[Peenemünde]] for the first time in a raid especially designed to kill as many German scientists and other workers as possible before they can reach [[air raid shelter]]s. They kill nearly 200 people in the accommodations area, but also mistakenly bomb a nearby prison camp for foreign slave workers, killing 500 to 600 there. For the first time, the British bombers fly a route intended to trick German [[night fighter]] forces into deploying to defend the wrong target. Also for the first time, the British employ the new [[Spotfire (bomb)|Spotfire]] {{convert|250|lb|kg|abbr=on}} [[target indicator]]. Forty British bombers (6.7 percent) fail to return. The raid sets the German ballistic missile program back at least two, and perhaps more than six, months.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, pp. 177–179.</ref>
* August 19 – ''[[Generaloberst]]'' [[Hans Jeschonnek]], the Chief of the General Staff of the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'', commits suicide.
* August 22–23 (overnight) – Bomber Command sends 462 aircraft to attack the [[IG Farben]] factory at [[Leverkusen]], Germany. Due to thick cloud cover and a partial failure of the Oboe navigation system, heir bombs scatter widely, striking 12 other towns in addition to Leverkusen. Five bombers do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 23 – About 20 German [[Junkers Ju 88]] bombers attack the harbor at Palermo, Sicily, damaging several ships.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 194.</ref>
* August 23–24 (overnight) – Royal Air Force Bomber Command resumes the bombing of Berlin with a raid by 727 bombers. Poor target marking, poor timing by bombers, and the difficulty [[H2S radar|H2S]] navigation radar has in identifying landmarks in Berlin lead to wide scattering of bombs, although the Germans suffer nearly 900 casualties on the ground. For the first time, the Germans employ new ''[[Zahme Sau]]'' ("Tame Boar") tactics – the use of ground-based guidance to direct night fighters into the British bomber stream, after which the night fighters operate independently against targets they find – and the British lose 56 bombers, the highest number so far in a single night and 7.9 percent of the participating aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/><ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 186.</ref>
* August 25 – A ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft, a [[Dornier Do 217]] of II.Gruppe/[[Kampfgeschwader 100]] scores the first hit on a target in history using a [[guided missile]], striking the [[Royal Navy]] [[Sloop-of-war|sloop]] {{HMS|Bideford|L43|6}} in the [[Bay of Biscay]] with a [[Walter HWK 109-507|rocket-boosted]] [[Henschel Hs 293]] [[glide bomb]]. The warhead does not explode, and damage to ''Bideford'' is minimal. In the same sortie, another attempt at an Hs 293 strike slightly damages the Royal Navy [[patrol vessel]] {{HMS|Landguard|Y56|6}} with a near miss.
* August 27 – Just two days after the strike attempt on HMS ''Bideford'', guided missiles sink a ship for the first time, when a squadron of eighteen KG 100 [[Dornier Do 217]]s launching Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs sinks the Royal Navy sloop {{HMS|Egret|L75|6}} in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of 198 lives.<ref>[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3909.html HMS Egret (L 75 / U 75)]</ref>  In the same strike, the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] destroyer {{HMCS|Athabaskan|G07|6}} suffers heavy damage from Hs 293 hits, while the Royal Navy destroyer {{HMS|Grenville|R97|6}} evades damage by out-turning the Hs 293s as the German bombers launch them at her one at a time.<ref>{{cite book |title=Destroyer Captain |year=1975 |author=Hill, Roger |publisher=Periscope |pages=116–121 |isbn=0718300947}}</ref> The loss of ''Egret'' and damage to ''Athabaskan'' lead the Allies to halt [[Antisubmarine warfare|antisubmarine]] patrols in the Bay of Biscay by surface ships.<ref>[[Marc Milner|Milner, Marc]] (1994). ''The U-boat hunters: the Royal Canadian Navy and the offensive against Germany's submarines''. University of Toronto Press, p. 57
</ref>
* August 27–28 (overnight) – 674 British bombers attack Nuremberg, suffering the loss of 33 aircraft. Despite clear skies, it is very dark and many aircraft have trouble with their H2S radar sets and with hearing the directions of the Master Bomber, and results are unsatisfactory.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 30 – A [[Qantas Empire Airways]] [[PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]] on the "Double Sunrise Route" from [[Ceylon]] to [[Perth]], [[Australia]], completes the longest non-stop scheduled airline flight in history. From mooring [[buoy]] to mooring buoy, the flight takes 31 hours 51&nbsp;minutes.<ref>Wilkinson, Stephan, "The PBYs That Flew Forever," ''Aviation History'', July 2011, p. 53.</ref>
* August 30–31 (overnight)
** RAF Bomber Command dispatches 660 bombers to attack [[Mönchengladbach]] and [[Rheydt]], Germany. Good visibility and successful marking by Pathfinder aircraft leads to a successful raid.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
** Bomber Command begins a series of small night raids against German ammunition dumps in forests in northern France.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* August 31 – Serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, American professional football player [[Len Supulski]] dies along with seven other men in the crash of a B-17 Flying Fortress near [[Kearny, Nebraska|Kearny]], [[Nebraska]], during a training flight.
* August 31 – September 1 (overnight) – RAF Bomber Command sends 622 bombers to attack Berlin. For the first time, the ''Luftwaffe'' employs illuminator aircraft – Junkers Ju 88s dropping flares – to provide light for attacking [[Wilde Sau|"Wild Boar"]] daylight fighters. Cloud cover, H2S problems, and stiff German resistance cause Pathfinder aircraft to drop their markers well south of the target area and lead the bombers to scatter their bombs as much as {{convert|30|mi|km}} back along the approach route to Berlin, suggesting that Bomber Command crews are turning back early in the face of increasing losses. Forty-seven bombers do not return; although this is only 1.6 percent of the overall force, the loss rate among [[Handley Page Halifax]]es is 11.4 percent and that among [[Short Stirling]]s is 16 percent. German fighters have shot down two-thirds of the lost bombers. Despite the raid{{'}}s failure, it prompts [[List of Gauleiters|''Gauleiter'' of Berlin]] [[Joseph Goebbels]] to order all children and all adults not engaged in war work to be evacuated from Berlin to the countryside and to towns in eastern Germany where air raids are not expected.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706011932/http:/www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug43.html Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary August 1943]</ref><ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 190.</ref>

===September===
* [[United States Coast Guard]] [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Frank A. Erickson]] completes training as the Coast Guard's first [[helicopter]] pilot and is designated Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot No. 1. He also becomes the first Coast Guard helicopter instructor.<ref name=uscgerickson>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/people/EricksonFrankBio.asp uscg.mil United States Coast Guard Historian′s Office: Captain Frank A. Erickson, USCG (1907–1978)]</ref>
* September 1
** Due to the vast distances involved, land-based American aircraft have flown only 102 combat sorties in the [[Central Pacific Area]] since January 1.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 96">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 96.</ref>
** U.S. Navy aircraft from the carriers {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}}, {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}}, and {{USS|Independence|CVL-22|6}} fly six strikes totaling 275 sorties against [[Marcus Island]], destroying several Japanese [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") bombers on the ground in exchange for the loss of four American aircraft.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 92">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 92.</ref>
** [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] [[Fifth Air Force]] aircraft conduct a major raid against the Japanese airfield at [[Madang]], New Guinea.<ref name="operations262">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 262.</ref>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces disband the [[Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command]], although some Army antisubmarine squadrons will operate until November.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 245.</ref>
** The [[Civil Air Patrol]] is relieved of maritime patrol duties off the coast of the [[United States]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 281.</ref>
** The U.S. Navy [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY-5A Catalina]] ''41-2459'' is retired from patrol service over the [[Atlantic Ocean]] after serving in Patrol Squadrons [[VP-73|73 (VP-73)]] and [[VP-84|84 (VP-84)]] and is relegated to transport service for the remainder of World War II. Sinking three German submarines and damaging another badly enough for British forces to sink it later, ''41-2459'' finishes the war as the most successful submarine-killing Catalina of World War II.<ref>Guttman, John, "Dutch Cat's Nine Lives," ''Aviation History'', January 2017, pp. 12–13.</ref>
* September 1–11 – The aircraft carriers {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23|6}} and {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24|6}} and [[Canton Island]]-based U.S. Navy [[PV-1 Ventura]]s cover the unopposed American landing on [[Baker Island]]. On three occasions, [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcats]] from the carriers shoot down an approaching Japanese [[Kawanishi H8K]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Emily") [[flying boat]]. A U.S. Army Air Forces fighter squadron arrives on Baker Island on September 11.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 95–96.</ref>
* September 2 – U.S. Army Fifth Air Force aircraft attack the airfield and harbor at [[Wewak]], New Guinea, sinking two Japanese [[merchant ship]]s.<ref name="operations262"/>
* September 3–4 (overnight) – 316 British Lancasters attack Berlin while four [[de Havilland Mosquito]]s drop "spoof" flares to draw German night fighters away from them, but 22 Lancasters (almost 7 percent) nonetheless are lost. The raid hits residential areas and several factories and knocks out major water and electricity plants and one of the city{{'}}s largest [[Brewery|breweries]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/sep43.html|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary September 1943|work=raf.mod.uk|access-date=2012-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040929002241/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/sep43.html|archive-date=2004-09-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* September 4
** Finding the red in the [[United States military aircraft national insignia#American entry into World War II|national insignia]] adopted in June 1943 for its military aircraft could cause confusion with Japanese markings during combat, the United States adopts a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles, with the entire insignia outlined in blue [[File:Roundel of the United States (1943–1947).svg|30px]]. The new marking will remain in use until January 1947.<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, with Peter Bowers, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1985, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, pp. 21.</ref>
** Allied forces land at [[Lae]], New Guinea. A small raid by nine Japanese planes destroys a [[tank landing ship]] off Lae. Later, the Japanese mount a strike of 80 aircraft; after U.S. Army Air Forces [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]] shoot down 23, the rest attack Allied ships off Lae, damaging two [[tank landing ship]]s.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 263–266.</ref>
* September 5 – In the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] parachute assault of the [[Pacific War]],<ref>[[Ross, Steven T.]], ''American War Plans, 1941–1945: The Test of Battle'', Frank Cass: Portland, Oregon, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7146-4194-4}}, p. 55.</ref> 1,700 men of the [[United States Army]]{{'}}s [[503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment]] parachute onto the Japanese airfield at [[Nadzab]], New Guinea, capturing it easily. An airlift of several thousand more Allied troops to the airfield occurs over the next few days.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 266.</ref>
* September 5–6 (overnight) – 605 British bombers make a very successful attack on Mannheim and [[Ludwigshafen]], Germany, but lose 34 (5.6 percent) of their number.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 6–7 (overnight)
** 180 Axis aircraft attack an Allied [[convoy]] anchored in the harbor at [[Bizerte]], [[Tunisia]], but a [[smoke screen]] prevents them from scoring any hits.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 252.</ref>
** 404 British bombers attack [[Munich]], but scatter their bombs due to cloud cover. Sixteen bombers (4 percent) do not return.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 8
** German aircraft attack Allied convoys south of Sicily, sinking a [[Landing Craft Tank|tank landing craft]] and damaging other ships.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 254.</ref>
** 131 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortresses]] conduct a [[Frascati bombing raid (8 September 1943)|bombing raid]] against the headquarters of [[Field Marshal]] [[Albert Kesselring]] at [[Frascati]], [[Italy]], killing 485 civilians.
** [[Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces|Italy's surrender]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] is proclaimed.
* September 8–9 (overnight) – American aircraft participate in a Bomber Command night raid for the first time, when five U.S. Army Air Forces [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es join 257 British bombers in an attack on a German long-range gun position at [[Boulogne]], France. The gun position is not damaged. All bombers return safely.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 9
** In Operations [[Operation Avalanche|Avalanche]] and [[Operation Slapstick|Slapstick]], [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces [[Amphibious landing|land]] at [[Salerno]] and [[Taranto]], Italy, respectively. The British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}}, {{HMS|Formidable|67|6}}, and {{HMS|Unicorn|I72|6}} and [[escort carrier]]s {{HMS|Attacker|D02|6}}, {{HMS|Battler|D18|6}}, {{HMS|Hunter|D80|6}}, and {{HMS|Stalker|D91|6}} cover the landings.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 254, 250–251, 393.</ref> In an innovation at Salerno, U.S. Army Air Forces [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustangs]] of the [[111th Fighter Squadron]] join the more vulnerable U.S. Navy [[floatplane]]s of American [[light cruiser]]s in spotting fire for naval gunfire against German forces ashore.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 267.</ref> The German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' puts up only minor opposition to the landings, with only four air raid alerts occurring during the day.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 277–278.</ref>
** Within weeks of the rocket-boosted Henschel Hs 293's pioneering deployment, ''Luftwaffe'' [[Dornier Do 217]] bombers of [[Kampfgeschwader 100]] sink the {{ship|Italian battleship|Roma|1940|6}} west of [[Corsica]] with two [[Fritz X]] radio-controlled [[glide bomb]]s—the first documented successful use of a "free-fall", unpowered [[Precision-guided munition|PGM ordnance device]] in military aviation history—as she steams to surrender to the Allies; 1,253 of the 1,849 aboard are lost.
* September 10–12 – Allied forces detect only 158 German ''Luftwaffe'' sorties against the Salerno beachhead. Allied fighters break up most of the German attacks before they reach the beachhead.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 278.</ref>
* September 11
** [[France|French]] fighter ace [[Pierre Le Gloan]] (18 victories) dies in a crash.
** A ''Luftwaffe'' Dornier Do 217 bomber badly damages the U.S. Navy [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Savannah|CL-42|6}} with a Fritz X off [[Salerno]], Italy, knocking her out of service for a year.
** The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eleventh Air Force]] launches its third raid against Japanese bases in the [[Kurile Islands]], with seven [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] and 12 [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchells]] dropping {{convert|12|t|kg}} of bombs on [[Paramushiro]] and [[Shumushu]]. During a 50-minute [[dogfight]] with 60 Japanese fighters, three of the bombers are shot down and seven so badly damaged that they crashland in the [[Neutral country|neutral]] [[Soviet Union]], where they are [[Internment|interned]]. Suffering its worst losses in any single mission, the Eleventh Air Force loses half its long-range striking power during the raid, and attempts no further bombing raids against the Kuriles during 1943.<ref>Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, pp. 390–391.</ref>
* September 12
** In a [[Gran Sasso raid|daring air assault]], 26 [[Waffen SS]] troops and 82 ''[[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|Fallschirmjäger]]'' (paratroopers) under the command of ''[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' [[Otto Skorzeny]] arriving at [[Campo Imperatore]] in Italy's [[Gran Sasso]] massif, high in the [[Apennine Mountains]], in ten [[DFS 230]] [[Glider (aircraft)|gliders]] towed by [[Henschel Hs 126]] aircraft. They free [[Benito Mussolini]] from imprisonment in the Campo Imperatore Hotel without firing a shot, and Mussolini is flown from the scene in a ''Luftwaffe'' [[Fieseler Fi 156|Fieseler Fi 156C-3/Trop Storch]] [[STOL]] aircraft, bearing ''Stammkennzeichen'' code of "SJ+LL" to the military airport of [[Pratica di Mare]], near [[Rome]]. Mussolini then embarks in a [[Heinkel He 111]] and flies on to [[Vienna]].
** The British escort carriers ''Attacker'', ''Battler'', ''Hunter'', and ''Stalker'' fly off 26 [[Supermarine Seafire]]s to operate from [[Paestum]] airfield in the Salerno beachhead, then withdraw to [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], to refuel.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 286.</ref>
* September 13 – Off Salerno, the American [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Philadelphia|CL-41|6}} avoids two German [[Fritz X]] guided [[glide bomb]]s, but Fritz X badly damages the British light cruiser {{HMS|Uganda|66|6}}, and [[Henschel Hs 293]] glide bomb fatally damages the British [[hospital ship]]<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 287, 290, 300.</ref> {{ship|HMHS|Newfoundland}}, which was scuttled the following day. During the evening, 82 [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47 Skytrains]] and [[Douglas C-53 Skytrooper|C-53 Skytroopers]] flying from Sicily drop 600 [[paratrooper]]s of the [[United States Army]]{{'}}s [[82nd Airborne Division]] behind Allied lines in the Salerno beachhead.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 291">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 291.</ref>
* September 14 – The Allied [[Northwest African Air Force]] conducts large strikes against German ground forces around the Salerno beachhead.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 294.</ref> Off Salerno, an American [[Liberty ship]] becomes a total loss after a German guided bomb hits her.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 299">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 299.</ref>
* September 14–15 (overnight) – U.S. Army Air Forces [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]] drop 1,900 more U.S. Army paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division into the Salerno beachhead.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 291"/>
* September 15 – A German guided bomb strikes another American Liberty ship off Salerno, and she becomes a total loss.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 299"/>
* September 15–16 (overnight)
** 369 British bombers and five U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses make a very successful attack on the [[Dunlop Rubber]] factory at [[Montluçon]], France, hitting every building and starting a large fire. Three British bombers are lost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
** Eight Lancasters of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] drop the Royal Air Force{{'}}s [[Blockbuster bomb#Design|new HC-class, triple-length]] {{convert|12,000|lb|kg|adj=on}} "high capacity" bomb – not to be confused with the "[[Tallboy bomb|Tallboy]]" {{convert|12,000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bomb first used in 1944 – for the first time in a low-level raid on the banks of the [[Dortmund-Ems Canal]] near [[Ladbergen]], Germany. Five Lancasters are lost, and the Royal Air Force discontinues low-level raids by heavy bombers for the remainder of World War II.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 16 – The British [[battleship]] {{HMS|Warspite|03|6}} is badly damaged by two hits and two near misses by German guided bombs off Salerno.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 296–297.</ref> She is out of service until mid-1944.
* September 16–17 – 340 British bombers and five U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses attack the railway yards at [[Modane]], France, in an attempt to cut rail communications between France and Italy. The raid is unsuccessful due to inaccurate bombing, and three British bombers are lost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 18–19 – U.S. Navy aircraft from the carriers {{USS|Lexington|CV-16|6}}, {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23|6}}, and {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24|6}} make seven strikes against [[Tarawa Atoll]], destroying nine Japanese aircraft on the ground, sinking a [[merchant ship]] in the [[lagoon]], and leaving facilities on the [[atoll]] ablaze and many Japanese dead. They also photograph potential [[Amphibious landing|landing beaches]] on the island of [[Betio]].  Four American aircraft are lost.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 92"/>
* September 20–21 (overnight) – To disrupt the German evacuation of [[Corsica]], Allied [[Northwest African Air Force]] [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]], [[North American B-25 Mitchell|Mitchell]], and [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|Liberator]] bombers begin strikes against airfields, shipping, and port facilities at [[Bastia]], Corsica, and [[Livorno|Leghorn]] and [[Pisa]], Italy.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 306–307.</ref>
* September 21 – [[John William Ditter]], a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] representing [[Pennsylvania]]'s [[Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district|17th Congressional District]], dies along with another man in the fiery crash of a U.S. Navy plane in heavy rain near [[Columbia, Pennsylvania|Columbia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="famous40s"/>
* September 21–22 (overnight) – A Northwest African Air Force raid on Bastia damages the port enough to slow the German evacuation of Corsica.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 307">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 307.</ref>
* September 22 – Allied forces land at [[Finschhafen]], New Guinea. A raid by 41 [[Rabaul]]-based Japanese aircraft inflicts no damage on the Allied ships involved, demonstrating that Allied fears that their ships could not operate survivably in the [[Solomon Sea]] and [[Bismarck Sea]] are no longer warranted.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 269–270.</ref>
* September 22–24 – [[Ernst Jachmann]] flies his single-seat glider for 55 hours 51&nbsp;minutes in a [[thermal]].
* September 22–23 (overnight) – 711 British bombers and 5 U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses make the first raid on [[Hanover]], Germany, in two years, bombing mostly its south and southeastern portions in the first of a series of four heavy raids on the city. It is the first night raid on Germany by American bombers. Twenty-six British aircraft (3.7 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 23–24 (overnight) – 628 British bombers and 5 U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses strike [[Mannheim]], Germany, in a successful raid that also damages part of neighboring [[Ludwigshafen]]. Thirty-two British aircraft (5.1 percent of the force) are lost. A diversionary raid by 29 other British bombers on nearby [[Darmstadt]] causes significant damage there.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* September 25–26 – Allied aircraft attack airfields on Corsica and [[ferry]] traffic between Corsica and Italy, and shoot down four German [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 307"/>
* September 27 – The U.S. Navy formally terminates its [[Military glider#United States Navy and Marine Corps|amphibious glider program]], having concluded that gliders are impractical for the landing of [[United States Marine Corps]] forces on beachheads.<ref name=flyingboatgliders>Guttman, Robert, "Flying-Boat Gliders," ''Aviation History'', September 2016, p. 13.</ref>
* September 27–28 (overnight) – 678 British bombers and 5 U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses strike Hanover, Germany, mostly hitting open countryside and villages north of the city. Thirty-eight British aircraft (5.6 percent of the force) and one B-17 are lost. A diversionary raid by 27 other British bombers on [[Braunschweig]] kills 218 people and loses one Lancaster.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> German [[night fighter]] [[Flying ace|ace]] ''[[Hauptmann]]'' [[Hans-Dieter Frank]] dies in a collision with another night fighter over Hanover late on the 27th; his score stands at 55 kills at his death.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 126.</ref>
* September 29–30 (overnight) – 352 British bombers attack [[Bochum]], Germany, in an accurate and successful raid. Nine British aircraft (2.6 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===October===
* The U.S. Navy takes delivery of its first helicopter, a [[Sikorsky HNS|Sikorsky HNS-1]].<ref>Wooldridge, E.T., Captain (ret.), USN, "Snapshots From the First Century of Naval Aviation," ''Proceedings'', September 2011, p. 52.</ref>
* During the month, American land-based aircraft fly 3,187 combat sorties in the [[South Pacific Area]], but only 71 sorties in the [[Central Pacific Area]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 96"/> [[AirSols|Air Solomons]] (AirSols) aircraft make 158 flights totalling 3,259 sorties against Japanese land targets and ships at [[Kahili Airfield|Kahili]], [[Kara, Bougainville|Kara]], [[Ballale Island]], [[Buka Island]], [[Bonis Airfield|Bonis]], and [[Choiseul Island]], badly damaging five Japanese airfields and claiming 139 Japanese aircraft destroyed in exchange for the loss of 26 Allied aircraft.<ref name="operations275">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 275.</ref>
* October 1–2 (overnight) – 253 British bombers make a very successful attack on [[Hagen]], Germany, with the loss of two aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/oct43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary October 1943 |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303235000/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/oct43.html |archive-date=2009-03-03 }}</ref>
* October 2–3 (overnight) – 294 British Lancasters and two U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Munich, Germany, with limited successful due to scattering of Pathfinder markers. Eight Lancasters are lost (2.8 percent of the force).<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 3–4 (overnight) – 547 British bombers attack [[Kassel]], Germany, losing 24 of their number (4.4 percent). Poor target marking leads to most of the bombs hitting the western suburbs and outlying towns and villages.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 4 – During [[Operation Leader]], aircraft from the American aircraft carrier {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|6}} raid German shipping along the coast of [[Norway]], sinking six [[Steamship|steamers]] and damaging four others, including a [[Transport (ship)|transport]] on which about 200 German troops are killed.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume X: The Atlantic Battle Won May 1943 – May 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 231–233.</ref>
* October 4–5 (overnight) – 406 British bombers and three U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses attack [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], Germany, and inflict the first serious damage on the city, hitting its eastern half and the docks on the [[River Main]]. Ten British aircraft (2.5 percent of the force) are lost as well as one B-17. It is the last time that American aircraft participate in a Royal Air Force night-bombing raid.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 5–6 – The [[Fast Carrier Task Force]], [[U.S. Pacific Fleet]], strikes [[Wake Island]] with the largest force of American fast carriers – three [[Fleet aircraft carrier|fleet carriers]] and three [[Light aircraft carrier|light carriers]] – ever organized at the time.  Their aircraft make six strikes totalling 738 sorties, destroying 22 of the 34 Japanese aircraft on the island in exchange for the loss of 12 American aircraft lost in combat and 14 to other causes. For the first time, a U.S. Navy submarine is assigned to support the raid by performing "lifeguard" duties for aviators forced down at sea during the strike; {{USS|Skate|SS-305|6}} rescues four fliers. Submarines "lifeguarding" will become a standard feature of American carrier raids beyond the range of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Search and rescue|search-and-rescue]] aircraft.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 92–94.</ref>
* October 7 – While serving as a German [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer, [[Prince Christoph of Hesse]] dies in an aviation accident in the [[Apennine Mountains]] near [[Forlì]], [[Italy]]. His body is found two days later.
* October 7–8 (overnight) – 343 British Lancasters attack [[Stuttgart]], Germany, including the first aircraft equipped with ABC equipment for jamming German night fighter communications. Few German night fighters interfere because they are misdirected to a diversionary raid on Munich, and only four Lancasters (1.2 percent) are lost. An additional 16 Lancasters attack Friederichshafen and claim hits on the [[Zeppelin]] factory there.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 8–9 (overnight) – In the last [[RAF Bomber Command]] raid in which [[Vickers Wellington]]s participate, 504 British bombers strike Hanover and successfully bomb the city center in probably the most damaging attack on the city during the war. German night fighters are well placed for interception, and 27 British aircraft (5.4 percent) are lost. In the largest diversionary raid thus far in the war, 119 other British bombers attack [[Bremen]], scattering their bombs widely and losing three aircraft (2.5 percent of the force).<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 10 – In a USAAF bombing raid on [[Münster]] targeting war workers' housing, the only surviving B-17 of the 100th Bomb Group's 13 Flying Fortresses to sortie from their base at [[RAF Thorpe Abbotts]] into occupied European airspace that day, s/n 42-6087 ''Royal Flush'', piloted by then-Lieutenant [[Robert Rosenthal (USAAF officer)|Robert Rosenthal]] makes it home to Thorpe Abbotts with two shot-out engines and the two waist-gunners seriously wounded.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:black-week&catid=18:special-interest |title= Black Week (October 8–14, 1943) – Munster – 10 Oct 1943 |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=100thbg.com |date= 10 April 2012 |publisher=100th Bomb Group (Heavy) Foundation |access-date=October 8, 2018 |quote=A/C 42-6087 "ROYAL FLUSH" 418TH LD-Z – LT ROBERT ROSENTHAL – P[ilot] – CPT – FLEW 52 MISSIONS – The only crew to return from the mission with two engines shot out and two crew members seriously wounded.}}</ref>
* October 11 – Leading a flight of four [[Fifth Air Force]] [[P-47 Thunderbolt]]s conducting a reconnaissance flight over Japanese facilities near [[Wewak]], [[New Guinea]], [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Neel E. Kearby]], the [[commanding officer]] of the [[348th Fighter Group]], shoots down a Japanese fighter below him, then leads his four P-47s in an attack on 12 Japanese bombers escorted by 36 fighters. He quickly downs three more Japanese aircraft, then comes to the aid of a P-47 being chased by two Japanese fighters by shooting both of the Japanese planes. All four P-47s return safely. For shooting down six enemy aircraft on a single mission, Kearby will receive the [[Medal of Honor]].
* October 12 – The U.S. Army Air Forces' Fifth Air Force conducts the largest Allied airstrike thus far in [[World War II]] in the Pacific, sending 349 aircraft to attack the Japanese airfields, shipping, and supply depots at [[Rabaul]], New Britain, losing five aircraft. Allied airstrikes on Rabaul will continue for much of the rest of the war.<ref name="operations275"/>
* October 13
** The Italian royal government declares war on Germany.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 244.</ref> Its air force will be constituted as the [[Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force]] and fight on the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] side for the remainder of World War II, while Italian aircraft which fight for [[Benito Mussolini]]{{'}}s [[Italian Social Republic]] on the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] side will be constituted as the ''[[Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana]]'' (National Republican Air Force).
** The German ace [[Emil Lang]] shoots down ten Soviet aircraft in one day over the Soviet Union near [[Kiev]].
** Nine Japanese four-engine bombers attack [[Attu Island|Attu]]. It is the last Japanese air raid against the [[Aleutian Islands]].<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 391">Garfield, Brian, ''The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians'', Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-912006-82-X}}, p. 391.</ref>
* October 14 – The [[Eighth Air Force]]'s [[Second Raid on Schweinfurt|Mission 115]] on Schweinfurt takes place, leading to the disastrous loss of some 77 out of 291 heavy bombers sent on the raid (60 shot down/17 written-off) and some 650 pilots and aircrew dead or missing to elements of six defending German [[Jagdgeschwader]] day-fighter wings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cate |first1=James |last2=Craven |first2=Wesley |date=1949 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume Two: Europe, Torch to Pointblank, August 1942 to December 1943 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago |pages=704–705 }}</ref>
* October 15 – A [[Douglas DC-3]] [[airliner]] operating as [[American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Missouri)|American Airlines Flight 63]] crashes near [[Centerville, Tennessee|Centerville]], [[Tennessee]], killing all 11 people on board.
* October 18 – From [[Dobodura]], New Guinea, the Fifth Air Force mounts another raid on Rabaul of about the same size as the October 12 raid, but bad weather hampers the aircraft and only 54 [[B-25 Mitchell]] bombers get through.<ref name="operations286">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 286.</ref>
* October 18–19 (overnight)
** In the conclusion of the four-raid series against Hanover, 360 Lancasters attack the city with the loss of 18 of their number (5 percent of the force). Due to cloud cover and poor target marking, they scatter their bombs widely, mostly over open country to the north and west of Hanover. One of the British bombers is the 5,000th lost by Bomber Command during World War II. In the four Hanover raids, the British have flown 2,253 sorties and the U.S. Army Air Forces have contributed 10 B-17 Flying Fortress sorties, and 110 bombers (4.9 percent) have been lost.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** Through raids of this night, Bomber Command aircraft have flown about 144,500 sorties since the beginning of World War II, 90 percent of them at night. It has lost 5,004 aircraft, 4,365 at night and 639 in daylight.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 20 – A U.S. Navy [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]] and an [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") bomber exchange fire off Attu. It is the last air combat action in the Aleutian Islands.<ref name="Garfield, Brian 1995, p. 391"/>
* October 20–21 (overnight) – 358 British Lancasters make the first major attack on [[Leipzig]] with the loss of 16 aircraft (4.5 percent). Due to what Bomber Command calls "appalling" weather, the aircraft scatter their bombs widely.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 21 – The German ace Emil Lang shoots down 12 Soviet aircraft in one day over the Soviet Union near Kiev, raising his victory total to 72.
* October 22–23 (overnight)
** 569 British bombers strike Kassell, Germany, in the most destructive raid since the July 1943 Hamburg raid and not equalled until well into 1944, with a [[firestorm]] breaking out in the city center. German night fighters are well positioned for interception, and the British lose 43 bombers (7.6 percent of the force). A diversionary raid on Frankfurt-am-Main by another 36 bombers scatters its bombs and loses an additional Lancaster.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** A Royal Air Force ground radio station in England begins broadcasts to break into German ground controller communications with night fighters and give false and confusing directions to the German aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* October 23 – 45 Fifth Air Force [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] raid Rabaul, escorted by 47 [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]].<ref name="operations287">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 287.</ref>
* October 24 – 62 Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells raid Rabaul, escorted by 54 P-38 Lightnings.<ref name="operations287"/>
* October 25 – 61 Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators raid Rabaul, escorted by 50 P-38 Lightnings. The Fifth Air Force{{'}}s commander, [[Major General]] [[George Kenney]], claims 175 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the raids of October 23–25; the Japanese admit a loss of nine of their planes shot down and 25 destroyed on the ground.<ref name="operations287"/>
* October 27 – During U.S. landings in the [[Treasury Islands]], 25 Japanese [[Aichi D3A]] ("Val") [[dive bomber]]s attack U.S. ships offshore, damaging a destroyer in exchange for the loss of 12 aircraft.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 295.</ref>
* October 29 – Between 37 and 41 Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, escorted by between 53 and 75 P-38 Lightnings, drop {{convert|115|t|kg}} of bombs on [[Vunakanau]] airfield at Rabaul, claiming 45 Japanese aircraft shot down or destroyed on the ground; the Japanese admit a loss of seven of their planes shot down and three destroyed on the ground.<ref name="operations287"/>

===November===
* During the month, the Japanese government sets up a Ministry of Munitions to expedite the production of aircraft and to unify and simplify the production of military goods and raw materials.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 6.</ref>
* During the month, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft fly 2,284 combat sorties against the [[Gilbert Islands|Gilbert]] and [[Marshall Islands|Marshall]] islands, dropping {{convert|917|t|kg}} of bombs. Land-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] and U.S. Navy [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|PB4Y-1]] Liberators fly 259 sorties against the islands and drop {{convert|275|t|kg}}.
* During the month, American aircraft carriers lose 47 aircraft in combat and 73 due to other causes out of 831 carried, a loss rate of 14 percent.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 145">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 145.</ref>
* During the month, the [[United States]] and [[United Kingdom]] conduct joint evaluations aboard the [[Steamship|steamer]] {{SS|Daghestan||2}} off [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]], to determine the limiting conditions for carrying out helicopter flights from a ship underway at sea.<ref name=uscgerickson/>
* November 1
** U.S. Marines land at [[Cape Torokina]] on [[Bougainville Island]]. Two Japanese air raids on the ships offshore – the first by 53 and the second by approximately 100 Japanese planes – are ineffective.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 300, 303.</ref>
** 173 Japanese carrier aircraft land at shore bases at Rabaul to reinforce about 200 [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[11th Air Fleet]] aircraft already there.<ref name="operations287"/>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces activate the [[Fifteenth Air Force]] in the [[Mediterranean]]<ref>Maurer, p. 470.</ref> as a strategic air force.
* November 1–2 – Carrier aircraft from {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}} and {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23|6}} raid two Japanese airfields adjacent to the [[Buka Passage]] between [[Buka Island]] and Bougainville.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 292–293.</ref>
* November 1–2 (overnight) – 627 British bombers attack [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, with the loss of 20 aircraft. Some of the bombers employ the [[Gee-H (navigation)|Gee-H]] blind bombing system hardware in combat for the first time. The raid inflicts much damage on residential and industrial property. [[Flight Lieutenant]] [[William Reid (VC)|William Reid]] of [[No. 61 Squadron RAF|No. 61 Squadron]], badly wounded by two German night fighter attacks, flies his heavily damaged bomber to the target and back and later receives the [[Victoria Cross]] for his actions. A diversionary raid on [[Cologne]] by another 62 bombers suffers no losses.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/nov43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary November 1943 |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706011932/http:/www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/nov43.html |archive-date=2007-07-06 }}</ref>
* November 2 – 75 Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells escorted by 80 P-38 Lightnings raid Rabaul, where they encounter the newly arrived Japanese carrier aircraft and lose nine B-25s and 10 P-38s shot down. They shoot down 20 Japanese planes and sink two [[merchant ship]]s and a [[minesweeper]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 287–288.</ref>
* November 3 – Flying [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]]A fighters, the German ace [[Emil Lang]] shoots down 18 Soviet aircraft over the Soviet Union during four sorties near [[Kiev]]. It remains the record for the most aerial victories by a pilot in one day.<ref>Guttman, Jon, "Aces High," ''MHQ – the Quarterly Journal of Military History'', Winter 2013, p. 16.</ref>
* November 5 – 97 carrier aircraft from USS ''Saratoga'' and USS ''Princeton'' carry out a destructive strike on a Japanese task force at [[Simpson Harbor]], [[Rabaul]], damaging the  [[heavy cruiser]]s {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Atago||2}}, {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Maya||2}}, {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Mogami|1934|2}}, and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Takao|1930|2}}, the [[light cruiser]]s {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Agano||2}} and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Noshiro||2}}, and a destroyer for the loss of 10 aircraft. The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Fifth Air Force]] follows up with a strike by 27 B-24 Liberators escorted by 67 P-38 Lighntings on Rabaul town and its wharves. A counterstrike by 18 Japanese [[Nakajima B5N]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Kate") [[torpedo bomber]]s against the U.S. aircraft carriers mistakenly attacks a group of [[PT boat]]s and a [[tank landing craft]]. The Japanese never risk heavy ships in the [[Solomon Islands]] again.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 325–328.</ref>
* November 6–7 (overnight) – The last Japanese air raid on [[Munda Airfield]] takes place.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 350.</ref>
* November 8 – A morning strike by 97 Japanese dive bombers and fighters and a few torpedo bombers damages a U.S. [[attack transport]] off Bougainville. An evening strike by 30 or 40 aircraft damages the light cruiser {{USS|Birmingham|CL-62|6}}.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 344.</ref>
* November 10–11 (overnight) – 313 Bomber Command Lancasters attack the railway yards at [[Modane]], France, and the main rail line between France and Italy, inflicting serious damage on the railway system.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 11
** A strike by carrier aircraft from USS ''Saratoga'' and USS ''Princeton'' against Japanese ships at Rabaul is ineffective due to bad weather. Another strike by approximately 185 aircraft from {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}}, {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|6}}, and {{USS|Independence|CVL-22|6}} sinks a Japanese destroyer and damages the light cruiser ''Agano'' and a destroyer; the raid is the combat debut of the [[Curtiss SB2C Helldiver|SB2C Helldiver]] [[dive bomber]]. A counterstrike by 108 Japanese Zero fighters, Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers, and Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers and a number of [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ("Betty") bombers is ineffective. The U.S. loses 11 aircraft, while the Japanese lose 39 single-engine planes and several G4Ms. During operations from shore bases at Rabaul, Japanese carrier aircraft have lost 50 percent of their fighters, 85 percent of their dive bombers, and 90 percent of their torpedo bombers in less than two weeks.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 330–336.</ref>
** The last unit of the former [[Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command|U.S. Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command]], the [[480th Antisubmarine Group]], is disbanded, and all American antisubmarine activities become the responsibility of the U.S. Navy.<ref>Schoenfeld, Max, ''Stalking the U-Boat: USAAF Offensive Antisubmarine Operations in World War II'', Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-1-56098-403-0}}, p. 160.</ref> The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} antisubmarine effort has sunk 12 German submarines.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume X: The Atlantic Battle Won May 1943 – May 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 29.</ref>
* November 11–12 (overnight)
** 134 British bombers raid the railroad marshalling yards at [[Cannes]], France, and the main railway line between France and Italy, losing four aircraft. The raid fails to hit the railroad yards and succeeds only in inflicting blast damage on railway workshops.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** After Bomber Command{{'}}s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] completes its training to operate from high altitudes following the abandonment of low-level missions by heavy bombers, 10 of the squadron{{'}}s Lancasters attack French railroads with {{convert|12,000|lb|kg|adj=on}} bombs, scoring one hit on a railroad viaduct at [[Anthéor]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 12 – A strike by five Japanese Mitsubishi G4M ("Betty") bombers damages the light cruiser {{USS|Denver|CL-58|6}} off Bougainville.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 346.</ref>
* November 13 – American preparatory bombing for the [[amphibious landing]]s in the [[Gilbert Islands]] begins with a strike by 17 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] against Japanese forces on [[Betio]] island at [[Tarawa Atoll]]. For the next week, B-24s raid Betio, [[Butaritari]], or both every day, [[Mili Atoll|Mili]] four times, and [[Jaluit]] and [[Maloelap]] twice each, destroying several Japanese aircraft. Japanese aircraft strike [[Nanumea]] and [[Funafuti]] once each, destroying one B-24 and damaging two.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 98.</ref>
* November 17 – [[AirSols|Air Solomons]] (AirSols) fighters intercept 35 Japanese planes heading for a strike on the U.S. landings on Bougainville, shooting down 16 for the loss of two [[Vought F4U Corsair]]s. A Japanese torpedo bomber sinks a U.S. [[Fast transport|destroyer-transport]] off Bougainville with heavy loss of life.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 350, 351.</ref>
* November 17–18 – 83 British bombers make a completely blind bombing raid on Ludwigshafen. Germany, guided only [[H2S radar]]. British radio broadcasts succeed in misdirecting most German night fighters to land too early to intercept them, and only one Lancaster is lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 18–19 – Carrier aircraft from {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}}, {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11|6}}, and {{USS|Cabot|CVL-28|6}} strike the island of [[Betio]] at [[Tarawa Atoll]], inflicting considerable damage on Japanese forces there.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 149.</ref>
* November 18–19 (overnight) – Bomber Command{{'}}s "Battle of Berlin" begins with a raid by 444 bombers on Berlin, of which nine (2 percent) are lost; few German night fighters intercept them, but Berlin is covered by cloud and they bomb blindly with unknown results. German night fighters successfully intercept a major diversionary raid by another 395 British bombers on [[Mannheim]] and shoot down 23 bombers (5.9 percent of the force). Mannheim also is cloud-covered and the raid scatters its bombs largely outside the city, but nonetheless kills 21 people, injures 154, and renders 7,500 homeless. It is the last raid on Mannheim for 15 months.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 19–20 (overnight) – 266 British bombers attack [[Leverkusen]], Germany, in bad weather, which prevents most German night fighters from intercepting them but also makes them scatter their bombs so widely that only one bomb lands in Leverkusen, with other bombs hitting at least 27 other towns well to the north. Five bombers (1.9 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 20 – [[Operation Galvanic]], the American invasion of the [[Gilbert Islands]], begins with [[amphibious landing]]s on Betio island at Tarawa Atoll and on [[Butaritari]]. The invasion is supported by 11 [[Fleet aircraft carrier|fleet]] and [[Light aircraft carrier|light]] aircraft carriers, eight [[escort aircraft carrier]]s, and land-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Air Force{{'}}s [[Seventh Air Force]]. To oppose them, the Japanese have only 46 aircraft in the Gilbert and [[Marshall Islands]] combined. During the evening, Japanese [[torpedo bomber]]s hit the aircraft carrier {{USS|Independence|CVL-22|6}} with on [[torpedo]], forcing her to withdraw for repairs but losing eight of their number; it is the only damage Japanese aircraft inflict on any American ship during the [[Gilbert Islands campaign]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 114–118, 120, 121, 138, 142, 336–340.</ref>
* November 22–23 – Bomber Command mounts its largest raid on Berlin to date, dispatching 746 bombers. Despite having to bomb in weather bad enough to ground most German night fighters, the bombers conduct one of the most successful raids of the war, creating several [[firestorm]]s with smoke reaching an altitude of {{convert|19,000|ft|m}}, rendering 175,000 people homeless, and damaging many sights and attractions in central Berlin as well as several factories and government buildings. Twenty-six British bombers (3.4 percent of the force) are lost. It is the last time that [[Short Stirling]]s participate in a raid against a target in Germany.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 23–24 (overnight) – 383 British bombers attack Berlin with the loss of 20 of their number (5.2 percent of the force). Although cloud cover interferes with target marking, bomber crews are able to bomb using 11 major fires still burning from the previous night as aiming points and inflict further heavy damage on the city.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 24
** The Japanese [[submarine]] {{Jsub|I-175||2}} torpedoes and sinks the U.S. Navy [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Liscome Bay|CVE-56|6}} {{convert|20|nmi|km|lk=in}} southwest of [[Butaritari]] with the loss of 644 lives, including that of [[Rear Admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Henry M. Mullinnix]]; there are 272 survivors.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, pp. 139-141">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 139–141.</ref>
** The first Allied aircraft – a damaged U.S. Marine Corps [[Douglas SBD Dauntless|SBD Dauntless]] dive bomber – lands on Bougainville.<ref name="operations362">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 362.</ref>
* November 25–26 (overnight)
** Japanese aircraft attack American ships east of the Gilbert Islands, scoring no hits.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, pp. 139-141"/>
** 262 British bombers raid Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, losing 12 aircraft (4.6 percent of the force).<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 26
** Per orders from ''[[Reichsmarschall]]'' [[Hermann Göring]], the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' puts on a display of Germany's most advanced aircraft and aerial weapons at [[Insterburg]], [[East Prussia]], for [[Adolf Hitler]]. During his 90-minute visit, Hitler appears bored with the [[Dornier Do 335]] ''Zerstörer'' fighter, the six-engined [[Junkers Ju 390]] long-range bomber/transport/maritime patrol plane, the [[Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg|Fi 103R]] ''Reichenberg'' manned flying bomb, the [[Henschel Hs 293]] [[Walter HWK 109-507|rocket-boosted]] [[anti-ship missile]], the [[Fritz X]] anti-warship gravity [[Precision-guided munition|PGM]], a [[Junkers Ju 88]] equipped with special equipment for laying [[smoke screen]]s, and panoramic [[radar]]s and the Korfu receiving set for tracking enemy bombers, and he does not view the [[Messerschmitt Me 163]] rocket fighter at all. He pauses at the [[Junkers Ju 290]] bomber/transport/maritime patrol plane and orders that one be made available as his personal aircraft. He shows great interest in the [[Arado Ar 234]] jet bomber, ordering that 200 be built by the end of 1944, and is most excited by the [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] jet fighter, two of which make demonstration flights. Informed by [[Willy Messerschmitt]] that it could be adapted to carry one or two 250-kg (551-pound) bombs, Hitler orders that the Me 262 be produced as a bomber rather than a fighter, delaying its entry into service.<ref>[http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/german-jets-at-insterburg-hitlers-excellent-air-show/ Dorr, Robert F., "German Jets at Insterburg: Hitler's Excellent Airshow," defensemedianetwork.com, December 11, 2013.]</ref>
** A [[Henschel Hs 293]] [[glide bomb]] launched by a ''Luftwaffe'' [[Heinkel He 177]] sinks the British [[troopship]] {{ship|HMT|Rohna}} in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] with the loss of 1,138 lives. Among the dead are 1,015 U.S. military personnel, and 35 American survivors later die of their wounds; it is the largest loss of life experienced by the U.S. armed forces in a single incident at sea.<ref name=RohnaMNO>{{cite web |last1=Wills |first1=J.E. |last2=Frolich |first2=Alexander |title=Rohna, (British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd), 1926–1943 |work=merchantnavyofficers.com |url=http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/rohna2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020418032602/http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/rohna2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2002 |access-date=8 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wise |first1=James E |last2=Baron |first2=Scott |year=2003 |title=Soldiers lost at sea: a chronicle of troopship disasters |place=Annapolis, MD |publisher=Naval Institute Press |pages=146–147 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KmtozaIf5QAC&pg=PA147|isbn=978-1-59114-966-8 }}, pp. 25, 31, 101.</ref>
* November 26–27 (overnight)
** Japanese aircraft again strike American ships off the Gilbert Islands, scoring no hits. They encounter the first aircraft-carrier-based night [[combat air patrol]] in history, consisting of a [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF Avenger]] torpedo bomber and two [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcat]] fighters. The Avenger shoots down one Japanese plane, but [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Edward H. O'Hare|Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare]], the U.S. Navy{{'}}s second [[Flying ace|ace]] in history and first of World War II, is shot down and killed flying one of the Hellcats;<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 142–143.</ref> he has seven victories at the time of his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acepilots.com/usn_aces.html|title=acepilots.com U.S. Navy Aces of WW2: F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat Pilots|work=acepilots.com}}</ref>
** Bomber Command dispatches 450 bombers to attack Berlin; they scatter their bombs, but add to the damage to the city center and suburbs. German night fighters intercept them, and 28 Lancasters (6.2 percent of the force) are lost and 14 more crash upon reaching England. A diversionary raid on [[Stuttgart]] by 173 more bombers scatters its bombs and loses six additional bombers (3.4 percent of the force).<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* November 28 – Japanese resistance on Tarawa Atoll ends. American aircraft carriers depart the Gilbert Islands area before the end of the month.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 178.</ref>

===December===
* The [[Venezuela]]n airline [[Avensa]] makes its first flights.
* Early in the month, the U.S. Navy ceases testing of [[Military glider#United States Navy and Marine Corps|amphibious gliders]]. It had formally terminated the amphibious glider program in [[1943 in aviation#September|September]].<ref name=flyingboatgliders/>
* The [[United States Army Air Forces]] request that the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]] submit a proposal for a [[Mach number|Mach 1]]-capable research aircraft.<ref>Guttman, Jon, "Douglas X-3 Stiletto," ''Aviation History'', November 2016, p. 14.</ref>
* December 1 – The United States reopens the former Japanese airfield on [[Betio]] at [[Tarawa Atoll]] as [[Hawkins Field (Tarawa)|Hawkins Field]] for use by fighters. In mid-December, it will begin to handle heavy bombers as well.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 211">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 211.</ref>
* December 2 – A night raid by 105 German [[Junkers Ju 88]] bombers surprise the brilliantly lit Italian port of [[Bari]] while it is crowded with about 30 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships, meeting little opposition. A sheet of flame from a burning [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] spreads over the harbor; 16 ships carrying {{convert|38,000|t|kg}} of cargo are destroyed, eight are damaged, and a quantity of [[mustard gas]] is released from the cargo of one stricken ship; at least 125 American personnel alone are killed; and the port does not return to full operations for three weeks. It is the most destructive single air raid against shipping since the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 321–322.</ref>
* December 2–3 (overnight) – 458 British bombers attack Berlin, scattering their bombs widely across the southern part of the city and the countryside beyond due to adverse winds but nonetheless causing some damage to factories and destroying 136 buildings. German night fighters intercept the raid and the British lose 40 bombers (8.7 percent of the force).<ref name="dec43raf"/>
* December 3–4 (overnight)
** Japanese [[Rabaul]]-based aircraft attack U.S. ships approaching [[Bougainville Island]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 360–361.</ref>
** 527 British bombers raid Leipzig, Germany, with the American broadcast journalist [[Edward R. Murrow]] riding as an observer in a Lancaster of [[No. 619 Squadron RAF|No. 619 Squadron]]. The most successful attack on Leipzig of the war, it inflicts heavy damage on housing and industrial buildings. During the return flight to England, the bombers mistakenly fly over the defenses of [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], where many are shot down. Twenty-four bombers do not return, a 4.6 percent loss rate.<ref name="dec43raf"/>
* December 4
** U.S. Navy carrier aircraft strike [[Kwajalein Atoll]]. Those from {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}} and {{USS|Lexington|CV-16|6}} concentrate on [[Roi-Namur|Roi]], where they shoot down 28 Japanese aircraft and destroy 19 on the ground, sink a large [[cargo ship]], and damage the [[light cruiser]] {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Isuzu||2}}; those from {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} and {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}} strike [[Kwajalein Island]], where they destroy 18 [[floatplane]]s, sink three [[merchant ship]]s, and damage the light cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Nagara||2}}. A combined total of five American aircraft are lost. Twenty-nine ''Yorktown'' aircraft raid [[Wotje]] later in the day. Japanese aircraft attack the retiring carrier force during the afternoon and overnight, damaging ''Lexington'' with a torpedo in exchange for the loss of 29 Japanese planes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 191–197.</ref>
** The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Sailfish|SS-192|6}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Chūyō||2}} near [[Hachijōjima]] with the loss of over 1,243 lives, including 20 American [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/chuyo.htm|title=combinedfleet.com IJN Chuyo: Tabular Record of Movement|work=combinedfleet.com}}</ref>
* December 5 – The only major Japanese air operation involving aircraft of both the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] takes place, as an Army force of 27 [[Mitsubishi Ki-21]] [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Sally") bombers escorted by 101 Army [[Nakajima Ki-43]] ''Hayabusa'' (peregrine falcon"; Allied reporting name "Oscar") fighters followed by nine Navy [[Mitsubishi G4M]]1 (Allied reporting name "Betty") bombers escorted by 27 Navy [[Mitsubishi A6M]]3 Zero (Allied reporting name "Hamp" or "Zeke 32") fighters bomb [[Calcutta]], [[India]]. Defending [[Royal Air Force]] [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire Vc]] and [[Hawker Hurricane|Hurricane Mark IIC]] fighters shoot down one Ki-21 and damage another, while Japanese aircraft shoot down three Hurricanes, killing two Hurricane pilots.<ref name=guttmanmay2017/>
* December 8 – Aircraft from the U.S. Navy carriers {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|6}} and {{USS|Monterey|CVL-26|6}} strike [[Nauru]] in cooperation with a bombardment by surface warships; eight or ten of the 12 Japanese planes on the island are destroyed.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 197–198.</ref>
* December 10 – The Allied airstrip at [[Cape Torokina]] on Bougainville officially opens.<ref name="operations362"/>
* December 13 – Since November 14, the Japanese have lost 122 aircraft based in the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 145"/>
* December 14 – Aircraft of the U.S. Army Air Forces′ [[Fifth Air Force]] attack Japanese forces at [[Arawe]] with 433 tons (393&nbsp;metric tons) of bombs.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 373.</ref>
* December 15 – Fifth Air Force aircraft cover U.S. Army [[Battle of Arawe|landings]] at [[Arawe]]. A strike on the landing forces by 64 Japanese naval aircraft is unsuccessful.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 373–376.</ref>
* December 16–17 – Almost continuous unopposed Japanese air attacks on the landing force at Arawe damage and destroy various U.S. landing craft and small craft.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 376.</ref>
* December 16–17 (overnight)
** 493 British bombers attack Berlin. German night fighters intercept them continuously from the coast of the [[Netherlands]] all the way to the target, and 25 Lancasters (5.2 percent of the force) are shot down; the raid sees the first use of the British Serrate radar homing system, which four British night fighters use to attack German night fighters along the bombers{{'}} route, and they damage one [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]]. Most of the bombs fall on the city; the damage to railroads combines with people using trains to escape the bombing to delay supplies to German forces on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], and damage inflicted by this attack combines with that of earlier attacks to leave one-quarter of Berlin{{'}}s housing destroyed. An additional 29 Lancasters crash upon returning to England due to low cloud cover at their bases.<ref name="dec43raf"/>
** RAF Bomber Command sends 47 bombers against two [[V-1 flying bomb]] launch sites near [[Abbeville]], France. One raid fails, but the other, by [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] Lancasters employing {{convert|12,000|lb|kg|adj=on}} [[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]] bombs, damages its target.<ref name="dec43raf"/>
* December 15–25 – Japanese aircraft at Rabaul bomb U.S. forces on Bougainville nightly, killing 38 and wounding 136.<ref name="operations362"/>
* December 17 – For the first time, the Cape Torokina airstrip on Bougainville is used to stage the first [[AirSols|Air Solomons]] (AirSols) raid on Rabaul.<ref name="operations362"/>
* December 20–21 (overnight) – 650 British bombers raid Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. German night fighters intercept them successfully and 41 British aircraft (6.3 percent) are lost.  Despite the scattering of bombs due to cloud cover – which even leads to the city of [[Mainz]] being hit by mistake – the raid inflicts significant damage on Frankfurt-am-Main. A diversionary raid on [[Mannheim]] mostly misses the city but suffers no losses.<ref name="dec43raf">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec43.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary December 1943 |work=raf.mod.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303234843/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec43.html |archive-date=2009-03-03 }}</ref>
* December 21 – Rabaul-based Japanese aircraft make three [[Dive bombing|dive-bombing]] attacks on U.S. forces unloading at Arawe.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 376–377.</ref>
* December 21–30 – [[Butaritari]]-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Douglas A-24 Banshee]] [[dive bomber]]s make nine strikes on [[Mili Atoll|Mili]] and one on [[Jaluit]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 213.</ref>
* December 23 – American aircraft based at Tarawa strike Nauru.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 212">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 212.</ref>
* December 23–24 – 379 British bombers raid Berlin, losing 16 (4.2 percent) of their number. They scatter their bombs widely due to cloud cover.<ref name="dec43raf"/>
* December 23–25 – [[AirSols|Air Solomons]] (AirSols) aircraft strike Rabaul heavily, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft strike [[Kavieng]] on [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]], and Fifth Air Force aircraft attack Japanese positions at [[Cape Gloucester (Papua New Guinea)|Cape Gloucester]] and [[Cape Hoskins]] on [[New Britain]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 383.</ref>
* December 26 – 70 to 80 Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft attack U.S. ships supporting the day{{'}}s U.S. [[Battle of Cape Gloucester|landing]] at Cape Gloucester, sinking a destroyer and damaging two others. Minor raids follow on the next two days.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 385-386.</ref>
* December 26–27 – Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft raid U.S. forces off Arawe.<ref name="operations377">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942-1 May 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 377.</ref>
* December 28 – American aircraft based at Tarawa strike Nauru.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 212"/>
* December 29–30 (overnight) – 712 British bombers strike Berlin with the loss of 20 aircraft (2.8 percent of the force). Cloud cover makes them scatter their bombs, with many missing the city.<ref name="dec43raf"/>
* December 31
** Japanese Rabaul-based aircraft raid U.S. forces off Arawe, losing four aircraft.<ref name="operations377"/>
** Since mid-December, when they began staging through Tarawa Atoll, U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] have dropped {{convert|601|t|kg}} of bombs on the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 211"/>
** Since June 1, there have been 135 major aircraft accidents on the [[The Hump|"Hump" route]] between [[India]] and [[China]]. The accidents have taken 168 lives.<ref name=searsJan2017/>
** The U.S. Army officially activates the 555th Parachute Infantry Company, the first [[airborne infantry]] unit in history composed entirely of [[African Americans]]. Expanded into the [[55th Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States)|555th Parachute Infantry Battalion]] in 1944, it will be employed on [[Smokejumper|smoke jumping]] duty, fighting [[forest fire]]s in the [[Pacific Northwest]].

==First flights==
* [[Avro Lancastrian]]
* Fairchild XAT-14, prototype of the [[Fairchild AT-21 Gunner]]

===January===
* January 3 – [[Allied Aviation XLRA|Allied Aviation XLRA-1]]<ref name=flyingboatgliders/>
* January 9 – [[Lockheed Constellation]] prototype ''NX67900''
* January 15 – [[Vultee XP-54|Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 459.</ref>

===February===
* [[Vought F4U Corsair|Goodyear FG-1 Corsair]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 437.</ref>
* [[Tachikawa Ki-70]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Clara")<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 257.</ref>
* February 4 – [[Bristol Buckingham]]

===March===
* March 5 – [[Gloster Meteor]] prototype ''DG206''
* March 11 – [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.91]]
* March 24 – [[Bristol XLRQ|Bristol XLRQ-1]]<ref name=flyingboatgliders/>

===April===
* [[Nakajima Ki-84|Nakajima Ki-84 ''Hayate'']] ("[[Gale]]"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Frank"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 231–232.</ref>
* April 8 – [[Douglas BTD Destroyer]]<ref>Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, ''United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911'', London: Putnam, 1976, {{ISBN|978-0-370-10054-8}}, p. 431.</ref>
* April 22 – [[Brewster XA-32]]<ref>Wagner, Ray. "They didn't quite...No, 15: Attack Bombers". ''[[Air Pictorial]]'', May 1962, Vol. 24, No. 5. pp. 149–151.</ref>

===May===
* May 8 – [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.95]]
* May 10 – [[Ilyushin Il-8]]
* May 15 – [[Nakajima C6N|Nakajima C6N ''Saiun'']] ("Painted Cloud"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Myrt"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 436, 568.</ref>

===June===
* June 15 – [[Arado Ar 234]]V1 ''GK+IV''
* June 26 – [[Bell 30|Bell Model 30]] single-rotor helicopter<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kamov.net/more-helicopters/bell-helicopters/bell-30/ |title=Bell 30 |publisher=kamov.net |access-date=May 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511151231/http://www.kamov.net/more-helicopters/bell-helicopters/bell-30/ |archive-date=May 11, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===July===
* July 1 – [[Focke-Wulf Ta 154]]
* July 19 – [[Curtiss-Wright]] [[Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, pp. 177–178.</ref>
* July 21 – [[Curtiss XP-62]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 176.</ref>
* July 22 – [[Miles M.39B Libellula]]

===August===
* [[Yokosuka P1Y|Yokosuka P1Y ''Ginga'']] ("Milky Way"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Frances"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 463, 465.</ref>
* August 7 – [[Ilyushin Il-6]]
* August 18 – [[Junkers Ju 352]]

===September===
* [[Curtiss XF14C-2]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, pp. 170–171.</ref>
* [[Kawasaki Ki-96]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 127.</ref>
* [[Kyushu Q1W|Kyushu Q1W ''Tokai'']] ("Eastern Sea"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Lorna,"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 333.</ref> the world's first airplane designed to specialize in [[antisubmarine warfare]]<ref>Guttman, Robert,"Magnificent Lightning," ''Aviation History'', January 2016, p. 13.</ref>
* September 6 – [[Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 367.</ref>
* September 8 – [[Dornier Do 317]]
* September 20 – [[De Havilland Vampire]] prototype ''LZ548''
* September 22 – [[DFS 228]]
* September 30 – [[Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet]]

===October===
* [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.92]]
* October 20 – [[Junkers Ju 390]]
* October 23 – [[Vickers Windsor]]
* October 26 – [[Dornier Do 335]]V1 ''CP+UA''

===November===
* [[Aichi M6A|Aichi M6A ''Seiran'']] ("Mountain Haze")<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 272.</ref>
* November 17 – [[P-75 Eagle]]

===December===
* [[Kawasaki Ki-64]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 121.</ref>
* December 2 – Grumman XF7F-1, prototype of the [[Grumman F7F Tigercat]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 238.</ref>
* December 20 – [[Heinkel He 177#Further development-the Heinkel He 177 B|Heinkel He 177B]], first flight by the He 177 V102 prototype of the B-series He 177, with quartet of [[DB 603]] "individual" engines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |pages=166–167 |url= <!--|access-date=May 8, 2012 -->}}</ref>
* December 22 – [[Junkers Ju 388]]
* December 31 – [[Kawanishi N1K|Kawanishi N1K2-J ''Shiden Kai'']] ("Violet Lightning Modified"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "George"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 325, 567.</ref>

==Entered service==
* [[Fairchild AT-21 Gunner]] with the [[United States Army Air Forces]]

===January===
* [[Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle]] with [[No. 295 Squadron RAF]]
* [[Junkers Ju 252]] with the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]''
* January 10 – [[Fairey Barracuda]] with [[No. 827 Squadron FAA]]

===February===
* [[Kawasaki Ki-61|Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien]] ("Swallow)," [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Tony," with the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] 23rd Independent Squadron<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 114, 570.</ref>

===October===
* [[Bell P-63 Kingcobra]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 50.</ref><ref>David, Donald, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7607-0592-5}}, p. 108.</ref>

==Retirements==
* [[Westland Wallace]] by the [[Royal Air Force]]

===August===
* [[Lioré et Olivier LeO H-47]] by the [[Vichy French]] Navy

===December===
* [[Northrop N-3PB]] by the Royal Air Force's [[No. 330 Squadron RNoAF|No. 330 (Norwegian) Squadron]]<ref>Guttman, Robert, "Northrop{{'}}s Norwegian Seaplane," ''Aviation History'', January 2011, pp. 14, 15.</ref>
* [[Westland Whirlwind (fighter)|Westland Whirlwind]] by [[No. 263 Squadron RAF|No. 263 Squadron]], [[Royal Air Force]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Aviation timelines navbox}}

[[Category:1943 in aviation| ]]
[[Category:Aviation by year]]
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):
German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin (view source) (semi-protected)
German submarine U-134 (1941) (edit)
German submarine U-177 (edit)
German submarine U-519 (edit)
German submarine U-569 (edit)
German submarine U-752 (edit)
HMCS Athabaskan (G07) (edit)
HMHS Newfoundland (edit)
HMS Archer (D78) (edit)
HMS Attacker (D02) (edit)
HMS Battler (D18) (edit)
HMS Bideford (L43) (edit)
HMS Dasher (D37) (edit)
HMS Egret (L75) (edit)
HMS Formidable (67) (edit)
HMS Grenville (R97) (edit)
HMS Hunter (D80) (edit)
HMS Illustrious (87) (edit)
HMS Indomitable (92) (edit)
HMS Landguard (Y56) (edit)
HMS Stalker (D91) (edit)
HMS Uganda (66) (edit)
HMS Unicorn (I72) (edit)
HMS Warspite (03) (edit)
HMT Rohna (edit)
Italian battleship Roma (1940) (edit)
Japanese aircraft carrier Chūyō (edit)
Japanese cruiser Agano (edit)
Japanese cruiser Aoba (edit)
Japanese cruiser Atago (edit)
Japanese cruiser Isuzu (edit)
Japanese cruiser Kumano (edit)
Japanese cruiser Maya (edit)
Japanese cruiser Mogami (1934) (edit)
Japanese cruiser Nagara (edit)
Japanese cruiser Noshiro (edit)
Japanese cruiser Takao (1930) (edit)
Japanese seaplane carrier Nisshin (edit)
Japanese submarine I-175 (edit)
Japanese submarine I-52 (1942) (edit)
MV Empire MacAlpine (edit)
SS Daghestan (view source)
USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) (edit)
USS Birmingham (CL-62) (edit)
USS Bogue (CVE-9) (edit)
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) (edit)
USS Cabot (CVL-28) (edit)
USS Charleston (PG-51) (edit)
USS Chicago (CA-29) (edit)
USS Denver (CL-58) (edit)
USS Enterprise (CV-6) (edit)
USS Essex (CV-9) (edit)
USS Helena (CL-50) (edit)
USS Independence (CVL-22) (edit)
USS Intrepid (CV-11) (edit)
USS Lexington (CV-16) (edit)
USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) (edit)
USS Ludlow (DD-438) (edit)
USS Maddox (DD-622) (edit)
USS Monterey (CVL-26) (edit)
USS Nassau (CVE-16) (edit)
USS Phelps (DD-360) (edit)
USS Philadelphia (CL-41) (edit)
USS Princeton (CVL-23) (edit)
USS Ranger (CV-4) (edit)
USS Sailfish (SS-192) (edit)
USS Saratoga (CV-3) (edit)
USS Savannah (CL-42) (edit)
USS Shubrick (DD-639) (edit)
USS Skate (SS-305) (edit)
USS Yorktown (CV-10) (edit)
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Return to 1943 in aviation.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_in_aviation"