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• Arturo Riccardi was awarded the Iron Cross medal by Germany. ww2dbase [Arturo Riccardi | CPC]

• Brigadier General Howard Ramey arrived in Australia to replace the recently missing Kenneth Walker. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USAAF B-17 and P-39 aircraft sank Japanese cargo ship Yamafuku Maru off Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Shortland Islands | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Truk | CPC]
• Admiral Yamamoto came aboard battleship Musashi at Truk in the Caroline Islands, which would officially become his flagship on 11 Feb 1943. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | Truk | CPC]
• Repair ship Akashi completed refitting light cruiser Agano at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
• One hundred miles southeast of Truk Atoll, Gato-class submarine USS Silversides intercepted the 10,000-ton tanker Toei Maru. Silversides scored 3 out of 4 torpedo hits sinking the tanker. Escort ships and aircraft attacked the Silversides with depth charges, causing moderate damage. ww2dbase [Silversides | DS]

• Major General Yamawaki Masao was named the commanding officer of Japanese Unit 516 chemical weapons research unit based in Qiqihar, Nenjiang Province, China, replacing Colonel Seiichi Miyamoto. ww2dbase [Qiqihar, Nenjiang | CPC]

• USS Runner departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Runner (Gato-class) | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Hong Kong. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]

• Destroyer Yukikaze departed Kure, Japan to escort carriers Zuikaku and Zuiho to Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• British submarine Thunderbolt departed Malta for Tripoli, Libya with two Chariot manned torpedoes. The two Chariot teams discovered the harbor to be empty of ships and became stuck far behind enemy lines. One team became captured and the other escaped and eventually would find the advancing British 8th Army. ww2dbase [Chariot-class | Tripoli | AC]

• The first armed resistance against deportation began in Warsaw Ghetto in Poland. ww2dbase [Warsaw | CPC]

• Cherkessk in the Caucasus region of southern Russia was liberated by Soviet troops. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Cherkessk, Karachay-Cherkess | TH]
• Operation Spark, which commenced 6 days earlier, successfully opened a corridor into Leningrad, Russia on this day. The Soviet government announced the end of the siege, although that state would still continue until 27 Jan 1943. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Leningrad | CPC]
• Late in the day, three He 111 transport aircraft of German Luftwaffe unit III./KG 55 attempted to land at the small Gumrak Airfield at Stalingrad, Russia. The first landed but would not be able to takeoff again, the second made ten failed attempts at lining up with the wreck-strewn short runway but ultimately pushed its cargo of 20 sacks of bread out of the bomb bay doors without landing, and the third followed suit. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• US government banned the sale of sliced bread by commercial bakers; they must sell their bread in entire loaves in order to save wrapping material. The ban would be lifted on 8 Mar 1943 after officials realized the ban was ineffective. ww2dbase [CPC]

18 Jan 1943 Interactive Map