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• » 12 Jan 1943

• German troops withdrew from the Caucasus region in southern Russia to the Kuban bridgehead. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | TH]
• Operation Spark: Soviets launched an offensive to restore communication and over-land supply route to Leningrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | TH]
• US troops landed on Amchitka, Aleutian Islands unopposed. Destroyer Worden, covering the landing, ran aground and sank during the operation. ww2dbase [CPC]
• On Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the US 6th Marine Regiment and the artillery of the US 2nd Marine Division were re-assigned to a joint Army-Marine division which also included the US Army 82nd Infantry Regiment, US Army 147th Infantry Regiment, and artillery of the US Army Americal Division. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• The US 1st Marine Division arrived at Melbourne, Australia after months of fighting on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Air Vice-Marshal Frank McNamara, an Australian, was made the commanding officer of British Forces Aden, succeeding Frederick Hards. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Gao Youxin, commanding officer of Chinese 21st Pursuit Squadron flying P-43A Lancer fighters, took off from Liangshan Airfield in Sichuan Province, China with a wingman on a reconnaissance mission. He claimed to have shot down a Japanese Ki-43 aircraft near the Yangtze River. ww2dbase [Gao Youxin | CPC]

• USS Tunny departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Tunny | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Irako transited the Bungo Strait between Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan. ww2dbase [Irako | CPC]
• Zuikaku, Mutsu, and Suzuya arrived at Kure, Japan, escorted by Yugure, Inazuma, Isonami, Asashio, and Ariake. ww2dbase [Zuikaku | Mutsu | Suzuya | Arashio | Yugure | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Saufley departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides bound for Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Saufley | Segund Channel, Espirtu Santo | DS]

• As Submarine USS Spearfish was departing her assigned patrol area to return to base, she made one more sighting of the properly marked hospital ship. ww2dbase [Spearfish | Bismarck Sea | DS]

• The BI-2 rocket-powered prototype aircraft took its second flight at Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, reaching an altitude of 2,190 meters and reaching the speed of 675 kilometers per hour. ww2dbase [BI | Sverdlovsk | CPC]

12 Jan 1943 Interactive Map