September 3, 1943
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 1943

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 11 P-40's and 2 P-38's blast the barracks area at Pho Lu, French Indochina. HQ 68th Fighter Wing and 69th Bombardment Wing are activated at Kunming. Neither unit will be manned until Dec 1943.

SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force): 20+ B-24s, 14 P-40s, and 30+ USN airplanes strike Kahili Airfield. Five B-24's and 10 USN aircraft bomb Vila Airfield. P-40's strafe a wharf in Webster Cove on New Georgia.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers blast gun emplacements and terrace defenses in the Lae area. Other heavy bombers hit Cape Gloucester. Light raids are flown against targets on Ceram and Timor.

USN: USS Ellet (DD-398) claims to sink Japanese submarine I-25, 150 miles northeast of Espiritu Santo at roughly Lat 13°10'S, Long 165°27'E. But, the submarine might have been sunk on August 25, 1943.

USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks Japanese transport Tagonoura Maru off Mikura Jima, 33°38'N, 140°07'E.

USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Akama Maru, 41°00'N, 144°34'E.

U.S. Army: 172d Inf patrol, moving up the west coast of Arundel reach Bustling Point without enemy interference. On Vella Lavella beachhead defenses at Barakoma are firmly established and Task Force 31 (TF 31) commander Admiral Wilkinson relinquishes command of operations.

Allied planners meeting at Port Moresby decide to seize a line from Dumpu-Saidor to protect movement to Cape Gloucester. As air preparation for amphibious landings at Lae continues, the Allied assault force assembles off Buna.