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• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kwajalein, then arrived at Roi. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• The radio in the German embassy in Ireland was seized in response to Allied pressure to limit German espionage efforts. ww2dbase [TH]
• The German bridgehead across the Dneiper River at Kherson, Ukraine was destroyed. ww2dbase [TH]
• 9 RAF Mosquito aircraft attacked the Mannesmann factory at Düsseldorf, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell arrived in his field headquarters in Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• The 112th Regiment of the Chinese 38th Division was surrounded by elements of the Japanese 18th Division at Yubang Ga, Burma, but by the end of the year the Japanese envelopment would be broken. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A heavy bomber raid originally scheduled for Rabaul, New Britain was canceled due to poor weather. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Balikpapan, Dutch East Indies at 1900 hours and made rendezvous with a convoy consisted of Fujisan Maru, Shoyu Maru, and Ogura Maru No. 3 off Cape Mangkalihat; the group turned south and sailed toward Balikpapan. ww2dbase [Stewart | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Canadian 1st Division attacked Ortona, Italy, beginning a period of tough street fighting in the town. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | Ortona, Abruzzo | TH, CPC]
• Richard O'Connor, having escaped imprisonment, arrived at Bari, Italy and met with Harold Alexander. ww2dbase [Richard O'Connor | Bari, Puglia | CPC]

• USS Grayback attacked a Japanese convoy off southwestern Japan, claiming the sinking of four vessels; 14 torpedoes were expended in this attack. ww2dbase [Grayback | Kagoshima | CPC]

• USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for gunnery exercises. ww2dbase [Honolulu | St. Louis | Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo | DS]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides entered her assigned patrol area east of Palau in the lanes to Truk Atoll. ww2dbase [Silversides | DS]

• The first Firebrand TF.III aircraft, equipped with Bristol Centaurus VII engine, took its first flight. ww2dbase [Firebrand | AC]

• Submarine USS Saury departed Midway for her ninth war patrol assigned to an area north of Okinawa. ww2dbase [Saury | Midway | DS]

21 Dec 1943 Interactive Map