German forces in Tunisia commanded byAlbert Kesselring counterattacked atTebourba and began pushing the Allies back.[1]
TheBeveridge Report was published in the United Kingdom, providing the blueprint for a postwar welfare state that would provide citizens with social security insurance.[2]
Battle of Skerki Bank: British ships attacked an Italian troop convoy near theSkerki Banks between Sicily and Tunisia, sinking all four troop and cargo ships as well as the destroyerFolgore. Over 2,000 Italians perished.[6]
Benito Mussolini addressed theChamber of Fasces and Corporations for the first time in eighteen months, reporting on the present state of the war and insisting that "The last word has not yet been spoken." Mussolini advised the population to evacuate Italian cities, causing a panic as there was no planning or organisation to do it.[7][8]
British destroyerQuentin was sunk by German aircraft off North Africa.
To solve America's manpower shortage, President Roosevelt suspended the induction of all men over age 38 into the armed forces.[14] That same day, he transferred responsibility for all manpower issues and the Selective Service system over to theWar Manpower Commission headed byPaul V. McNutt.[15]
The British ocean linerCeramic was torpedoed and sunk west of theAzores by German submarineU-515. There was only one survivor of the 657 people aboard and he was taken aboardU-515 as a prisoner of war.
Italianmanned torpedoes and commando frogmen conducted theRaid on Algiers, sinking 2 Allied cargo ships and damaging 3 other vessels although 16 commandos were captured.
British destroyerHMSBlean was torpedoed and sunk northwest of Oran by German submarineU-443.
Ethiopia declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan.[19]
The British cruiserArgonaut was torpedoed and heavily damaged in the Mediterranean by Italian submarineMocenigo. Repairs took until November 1943 to complete.
Benito Mussolini sentGaleazzo Ciano to meet with Hitler at theWolf's Lair. Ciano carried Mussolini's message urging Hitler to seek a separate peace with the Soviets, but Hitler strongly rejected the idea.[21]
The Japanese light cruiserTenryū was torpedoed and sunk offMadang, New Guinea by the American submarineAlbacore.
Soviet tanks broke through German defenses at Tatsinskaya Airfield inRostov Oblast, an important airfield flying supplies to Stalingrad. 124Ju 52 transport planes were able to evacuate, but 46 other aircraft were damaged, destroyed or left behind.[22]
Pope Pius XII delivered theChristmas address overVatican Radio denouncing the extermination of people based on race, though it was carefully worded in general terms rather than specifically condemning the Nazis.
Hitler issuedDirective No. 47, concerning command and defense measures in the southeast. The directive referred to the possibility of attacks in the region ofCrete and theBalkans.[29]
Frank Sinatra performed his first solo concert at theParamount Theatre in New York City. Sinatra later recalled being "scared stiff" when the audience of 5,000bobby soxers shrieked and screamed continuously for America's newteen idol.[30]
EmperorHirohito gave Japanese commanders permission to withdraw their forces fromGuadalcanal.[23]
Hitler issued an Order of the Day to the German armed forces declaring, "The year 1943 will perhaps be hard but certainly not harder than the one just behind us."[31]
^Rose, Sonya O. (2006).Which People's War?: National Identity and Citizenship in Wartime Britain 1939–1945. Oxford University Press. p. 65.ISBN978-0-19-927317-1.
^abcMercer, Derrik, ed. (1989).Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 576.ISBN978-0-582-03919-3.
^Hauner, Milan (2008).Hitler: A Chronology of his Life and Time. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 1943.ISBN978-0-230-58449-5.
^ab"1942".World War II Database. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2016.
^abPolmar, Norman; Allen, Thomas B. (2012).World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945. Dover Publications. p. 29.ISBN978-0-486-47962-0.
