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• Tatsuta Maru departed Makassar, Celebes. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• Axis convoys between Italy and Tripoli, Libya were suspended after a British force of two cruisers and four destroyers sank 14 ships trying to reinforce and supply Erwin Rommel's troops. ww2dbase [AC]
• General Rokossovsky issued a surrender ultimatum to German 6th Army, which guaranteed their lives and safety until their return to Germany after the war. Paulus refused the ultimatum. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | TH]
• Japanese troops again halted a British assault at Donbaik, Burma. ww2dbase [First Battle of Arakan | CPC]
• British submarine P311 (Commander R. D. Cayley) was reported missing and was believed sunk by a mine in the Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [AC]
• Cruisers USS Nashville, USS St. Louis, USS Helena, USS Honolulu, HMNZS Achilles, USS Columbia, and USS Louisville escorted by destroyers USS Fletcher, USS Nicholas, USS O’Bannon, USS Lamson, and USS Drayton returned to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Columbia | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Walden Ainsworth | Honolulu | Louisville | St. Louis | Nashville | Drayton | Nicholas | DS]

• Allied aircraft sank Myoko Maru in Huon Gulf off Australian New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Huon Gulf | CPC]

• I-168 departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | Truk | CPC]

• Walter Dornberger and Werhner von Braun met with Albert Speer. During the meeting, Speer informed the rocket research leaders that construction of a rocket launching site along the English Channel coast would soon commence. ww2dbase [Walter Dornberger | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Wernher von Braun | Albert Speer | V-Weapons Campaign | CPC]

• British RAF Bomber Command's No. 8 Group was reformed as No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group under the command of Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett. With specialist squadrons the group's primary task would be to accurately mark targets to be attacked by other Bomber Command aircraft. ww2dbase [Donald Bennett | AC]

• With a load of 72 USAAF P-40F fighters, USS Ranger departed Norfolk, Virginia bound for North Africa. ww2dbase [Ranger | Norfolk Navy Yard | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

8 Jan 1943 Interactive Map