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• US Marine Corps 7th Regiment engaged a strong Japanese defense at Suicide Creek near Cape Gloucester, New Britain. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | New Britain | CPC]
• 20 F6F and 28 F4U fighters from Torokina Airfield in Bougainville conducted a fighter sweep over Rabaul, New Britain; two of these fighters turned back to Torokina due to mechanical problems. 80 A6M fighters rose to defend. The Americans reported 1 kill, 1 probable, and 2 Japanese aircraft damaged. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• US Army troops captured Gumbi Airfield on the northern coast of Australian New Guinea. The airfield's Japanese name was then restored to its prewar English name Saidor, after the nearby village. ww2dbase [Saidor Airfield | New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Saidor | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Palau, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Palau | CPC]

• German Type IXC U-Boat U-505 again returned early to Lorient, France after rescuing 33 crew members from the German torpedo boat T25 sunk on 28 Dec 1943 by British cruisers in the Bay of Biscay. ww2dbase [U-505 | Loirent, Bretagne | DS]

• 383 RAF aircraft (362 Lancaster, 9 Halifax, and 12 Mosquito) attacked Berlin, Germany; 27 aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | CPC]

• Light carrier Ryuho arrived at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• USS Rock departed Panama Canal Zone for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]

• Submarine Baya was launched by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored by the wife of US Navy Lieutenant Commander C. C. Kirkpatrick. ww2dbase [Baya | Electric Boat Company | Groton, Connecticut | CPC]
• USS Iowa departed the east coast of the United States for the Pacific Ocean. ww2dbase [Iowa | CPC]
• Escort carrier USS Card and her remaining task group arrived at Norfolk, Virginia at the conclusion of their Atlantic anti-submarine voyage. Composite Squadron VC-55 disembarked Card and transferred to Norfolk Naval Air Station. Task Group 21.14 was dissolved. Squadron VC-55, all ships of the task group, and all men therein during this sortie were authorized to wear Battle Star E214 on their European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Card | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]
• USS Ranger departed Boston bound for Quonset Point, Rhode Island. ww2dbase [Boston Navy Yard | Ranger | Boston, Massachusetts | DS]

2 Jan 1944 Interactive Map