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• USS Cod arrived at Fremantle, Australia for refit, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Cod | CPC]
• In retaliation for a partisan attack in which two German officials were killed, 150 Polish civilians were executed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kwajalein, then arrived at Roi; she would depart later in the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• USS Flying Fish sank a Japanese cargo ship off Luzon, Philippine Islands, hitting her with 3 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]
• USS Gar began her tenth war patrol. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
• Nine Avro Lancater bombers of No. 617 Squadron RAF, using the stablized automatic bomb sight, attacked a V-weapon launching site at Abbeville, France and achieved an astounding ninety-four yard target error. ww2dbase [AC]
• The keel of submarine Carbonero was laid down. ww2dbase [Carbonero | CPC]
• USS Iowa disembarked US President Franklin Roosevelt. ww2dbase [Iowa | CPC]

• The 46 prisoners from U-172 (survivors) sunk three days before were transferred from escort ships to escort carrier USS Bogue including the submarine’s commanding officer, Oberleutnant zur See Hermann Hoffmann, among the youngest submarine commanders in the German Navy at 22. ww2dbase [Bogue | Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | DS]

• Submarine USS Tinosa arrived at Fremantle, Australia to end her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Tinosa | Fremantle | DS]

• The 9th Fighter Squadron (flying P-47 aircraft) of USAAF 49th Fighter Group was transferred out of Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Dobodura Airfield | Dobodura | CPC]

• US naval leadership in the Solomon Islands decided to embark on a fighter sweep campaign against Rabaul, New Britain with US Navy, US Marine Corps, and Royal New Zealand Air Force fighters. The first mission would be launched on the following day. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | CPC]

• Joseph Stilwell met with Chiang Kaishek in Chongqing, China. Chiang told Stilwell that he would only allow a major Chinese offensive into Burma if the Allies could achieve a three-to-one numerical superiority against the Japanese. He also turned over full command of the two Chinese divisions training in Ramgarh, India to Stilwell, who immediately prepared them for operations in northern Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | Chiang Kaishek | Chongqing | CPC]

• 498 RAF aircraft (483 Lancaster and 15 Mosquito) attacked Berlin, Germany; 25 Lancaster bombers were lost in combat and 29 more were lost while landing in bad weather. Berlin rail system was disrupted heavily, while the National Theater and the national archives buildings were destroyed. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]

• German troops counterattacked positions held by New Zealand troops outside of Orsogna, Italy before dawn; the Germans failed to gain ground, but the attack also exhausted New Zealand strength in the region. To the west, US troops captured San Pietro, Italy. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | CPC]
• Benito Mussolini gave Commander Ferrucio Ferrini the authorization to form a new naval infantry corps. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]

• The chief surgeon at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland reported that 106 castration operations had been performed on prisoners. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Marcus Island was launched at Vancouver, Washington, United States, sponsored by Mrs. S. L. La Hache. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Vancouver, Washington | CPC]

16 Dec 1943 Interactive Map