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• Axis convoys between Italy and Tripoli, Libya were suspended after a British force of two cruisers and four destroyers sank 14 ships trying to reinforce and supply Erwin Rommel's troops. ww2dbase [AC]
• General Rokossovsky issued a surrender ultimatum to German 6th Army, which guaranteed their lives and safety until their return to Germany after the war. Paulus refused the ultimatum. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | TH]
• Japanese troops again halted a British assault at Donbaik, Burma. ww2dbase [First Battle of Arakan | CPC]
• British submarine P311 (Commander R. D. Cayley) was reported missing and was believed sunk by a mine in the Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [AC]
• Tatsuta Maru departed Makassar, Celebes. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]

• Allied aircraft sank Myoko Maru in Huon Gulf off Australian New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Huon Gulf | CPC]

• I-168 departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [I-68 / I-168 | Truk | CPC]

• Walter Dornberger and Werhner von Braun met with Albert Speer. During the meeting, Speer informed the rocket research leaders that construction of a rocket launching site along the English Channel coast would soon commence. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | V-Weapons Campaign | Albert Speer | Wernher von Braun | Walter Dornberger | CPC]

• British RAF Bomber Command's No. 8 Group was reformed as No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group under the command of Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett. With specialist squadrons the group's primary task would be to accurately mark targets to be attacked by other Bomber Command aircraft. ww2dbase [Donald Bennett | AC]

• With a load of 72 USAAF P-40F fighters, USS Ranger departed Norfolk, Virginia bound for North Africa. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Ranger | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

8 Jan 1943 Interactive Map