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September 3rd, 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)

* The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 44 without loss: 
(1) 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 31 hit the target at 1007 hours; 
(2) 36 are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and all hit the target at 0907 hours; and 
(3) 69 are dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille and 31 hit the target at 0828 hours.

* The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort is provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 are lost. 
(1) 168 B-17s are dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot; 100 hit the target at 0903-0911 hours; 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure at 0947-0949 hours; and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux at 0955 hours; they claim 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost; 
(2) 65 B-17s are dispatched to Mureaux Airfield; 38 hit the target at 0843-0844 while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe; and 
(3) 65 B-17s are dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris; 37 hit the target at 0925 hours; they claim 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost. (Jack McKillop)

Frigate HMS Domett is commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.

U.S.S.R.: Putivl, northeast of Konotop falls to the Soviet Army. Bovask in the Donets Basin is also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line is cut.

ITALY: SICILY: Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio radios General Giuseppe Castellano of the General Staff the authorization to surrender. The secret armistice that will take Italy out of the war on 8 September is signed at Cassbili with U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith initialling the agreement for the Allies. No announcement of this is made until arrangements to prevent the German takeover of the government can be worked out.  (Jack McKillop)
 After weeks of talks in Portugal led a "freed" British PoW, Lt-Gen Adrian Carton de Wiart, VC, the Allies have agreed an armistice, to be announced "at the right time" - in order not to prejudice the Salerno landings. From the moment that Marshal Badoglio became Italy's premier, he was determined to take his disillusioned country out of the war. But the Germans are unlikely to take kindly to Italy's surrender.

Straits of Messina: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army cross the Straits of Messina and land in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, today, the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria.

Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings are planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore today. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft.

The invaders are fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and already the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work are causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara are captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys are preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, will hit the mainland at Salerno.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Ninth Air Force: B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy; they claim 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s are lost.

* Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attack airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza. (Jack McKillop)

MALTA: Valletta: On the Main Guard Square the remains of a Gloster Sea Gladiator, labelled Faith and serialled N5520, is  presented to the people of Malta.
During this presentation, the Air Officer Commanding, Sir Keith Park, says "the famous fighter........the sole survivor Faith".
He then added, "Faith has earned a place of honour in the Armoury'.
Dave Wadman adds: It remains a fact however, that the name Faith, while benefiting the presentation ceremony, is not strictly accurate. The Gladiators used in the defence were being flown in rotation..... never more than three at a time, and it was probably the people of Malta who gave them the nicknames of Faith, Hope and Charity. On the other hand, the nicknames may have been given by service personnel as sayings alluding to faith, hope and charity were in vogue in the 30's and 40's.
I don't think that it will ever be known for sure who started the names, though the possibility exists that it was started as a form of morale booster for the people of Malta. Documentation does exist, dated mid to late summer 1940 specifically referring to the three names given to the Gladiators in official and private form.

JAPAN: The worst earthquake in ten years kills 1,400 people in Tottori, 300 miles (483 kilometres) west of Tokyo.  (Jack McKillop)

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS Fourteenth Air Force: 11 P-40's and 2 P-38s blast the barracks area at Pho Lu, FRENCH INDOCHINA. (Jack McKillop)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Three USN vessels sink three Japanese vessels: (1) the destroyer USS Ellet (DD-398) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25, 150 miles (241 kilometres) northeast of Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands; (2) the submarine USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks a transport off Mikura Jima south of Tokyo, Japan; and (3) submarine USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a merchant cargo ship east of Honshu, Japan.  (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US forces take Arundel Island and consolidate their position on Vella Lavella.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, 20+ B-24s, 14 P-40s, and 30+ USN airplanes attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island is bombed by 5 B-24s and 10 USN aircraft. P-40s strafe a wharf at Webster Cove on New Georgia Island. (Jack McKillop)

Eleven RAAF Catalinas bomb Rabaul tonight. (Michael Alexander)

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Fifth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers blast gun emplacements and terrace defenses in the Lae, New Guinea area. Other heavy bombers hit the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain Island. Light raids are flown against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands. (Jack McKillop) 

U.S.A.: After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship SAMARIA. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers." (Gene Hanson)

Destroyer escort USS Raby is launched. Destroyer USS Healy is commissioned. Destroyer escort USS Marts is commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

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