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• » 9 Feb 1943

• Allied authorities declared Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands secure after Japan evacuated its remaining forces from the island. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• Soviet troops recaptured Belgorod, Russia. ww2dbase [TH]
• The first Chindit operation began. Brigadier Orde Wingate took a force of 3,000 troops into Burma to conduct a guerrilla-style campaign behind Japanese lines. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | AC]
• On Ambon Island in eastern Indonesia, the Japanese beheaded 85 Australian and Dutch prisoners. ww2dbase [AC]
• Shoe rationing went into effect in the United States. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Gar began her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
• HMS Erica (Lieutenant A. C. C. Charles Cuthbert Seligman) was mined and sunk whilst escorting a convoy from Benghazi, Libya to Alexandria, Egypt. ww2dbase [AC]
• Chinese leaders Song Ziwen and He Yingqin, British leaders Archibald Wavell and John Dill, and American leaders Henry Arnold, Joseph Stilwell, Clayton Bissell, and Brehon Somervell met in Delhi, India. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• USS Runner attacked a Japanese transport and an escorting destroyer in the western Pacific; she claimed the sinking of a Japanese transport, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Runner (Gato-class) | CPC]
• George Kenney ordered a series of strong night attacks on Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [George Kenney | CPC]

• Irako supplied food to seaplane tender Sanyo Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Irako | Truk | CPC]

• Yugure completed a troop convoy escort mission from Sasebo, Japan to Qingdao, China. ww2dbase [Yugure | Qingdao, Shandong | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Army 72nd Fighter Squadron, consisting of 21 aircraft (Model P-40K), with a compliment of 25 officers and 229 men, departed for Bellows Field. The 19th Fighter Squadron arrived on board, with 32 aircraft (Model P-40F), 26 officers and 238 men. Note: the 72nd Fighter Squadron and its successor, the 19th Fighter Squadron, were on a constant alert status. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• The first of seven Axis convoys left Italy with reinforcements bound for Tunisia but British aircraft from Malta, submarines, and minefields took a heavy toll. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | AC]
• During the night, Canadian corvette Regina located and sank the Italian submarine Avorio (Lieutenant Leone Fiorentini) off Philippeville, Algeria. ww2dbase [HM]

• USS Tunny fired torpedoes on a Japanese convoy in the Taiwan Strait, damaging one transport with two torpedoes. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]

• Allied convoy RA-52 arrived at Loch Ewe, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Loch Ewe, Scotland | CPC]

• The US Naval Dry Docks, Roosevelt Base was established near Los Angeles, California, United States. ww2dbase [Los Angeles, California | CPC]

9 Feb 1943 Interactive Map