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• Sir Henry Maitland Wilson was designated Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean, with General Harold Alexander as the Commander-in-Chief of Allied Armies in Italy under him. ww2dbase [Harold Alexander | TH]

• While escort carrier USS Card and her escorts were shadowing an Allied convoy bound for Gibraltar from Liverpool through bad weather, one of the convoy’s escorts, destroyer HMS Hurricane, was struck by a German GNAT acoustic homing torpedo launched from submarine U-415. 30-feet of Hurricane’s stern was blown off and the ship was scuttled by torpedo the following day. Three were killed and nine were wounded. Card and her screen continued to battle the wolfpack of German U-boats. Destroyer USS Schenck sank German submarine U-645. USS Leary was torpedoed and sunk by U-275, also with a GNAT. 97 of Leary’s crew were killed and 59 were picked up by Schenk. ww2dbase [Card | DS]

• 50 Allied aircraft (Australian Kittyhawk fighters and US F6F fighters) conducted a fighters sweep over Rabaul, New Britain. A raid by heavy bombers followed the fighter sweep. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• 18 B-24 bombers of US 14th Air Force, escorted by fighters, attacked Tianhe Airfield in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, claiming 20 Japanese fighters shot down; one B-24 bomber was shot down. ww2dbase [Tianhe Airfield | Guangzhou, Guangdong | CPC]

• New Zealand 5th Infantry Brigade engaged in combat along the Gustav Line in Italy. In Ortona, Italy, German troops counterattacked against Canadian positions and caused heavy casualties. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | Ortona, Abruzzo | CPC]

• General Nikolai Vatutin launched another winter offensive, starting with the capture of Berdychiv, Ukraine. ww2dbase [Nikolai Vatutin | Berdychiv, Zhytomyr | TH]

• US Army General Dwight Eisenhower was named the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | England | CPC]
• While in Britain, Oliver Leese received orders to take command of British Eighth Army in Italy. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | CPC]

24 Dec 1943 Interactive Map