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• » 24 Jan 1943

• Tirpitz completed its refitting at Fættenfjord/Lofjord near Trondheim, Norway. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• The Casablanca Conference ended with the announcement of a requirement for unconditional surrender from Germany to end the war. ww2dbase [Casablanca Conference | TH]
• Soviet troops liberated Starobelskiy, Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• The Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front's offensive toward the Kuban bridgehead was halted near Krasnodar and Novorossiysk. A new offensive drive, named the Tikhoretsk-Eisk Offensive Operation, was launched on this date. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | TH]
• British war expenditure was estimated to be running at £14 million a day. ww2dbase [AC]
• American destroyers bombarded Japanese fuel and munitions dumps in the Stanmore area, Kolombangara, Solomon Islands. Later on the same day, US Navy carrier aircraft attacked the same targets. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• 12 German aircraft were launched to attack Allied convoy JW-52; only three of them found and attacked the convoy, and all three were shot down. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• While covering the landings on Amchitka Island, Alaska, destroyers USS Bailey and Bancroft made a depth charge attack on a submerged sonar contact with no results. ww2dbase [Bailey | Aleutian Islands | DS]

• Cruisers USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis with destroyers USS Drayton, USS Lamson, and USS Hughes arrived at Purvis Bay, Tulagi, Solomon Islands, refueled, and departed for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Honolulu | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", shot down a Wellington bomber over Rangoon, Burma, his 19th victory. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | Rangoon | CPC]

• Cruisers USS Nashville and USS Helena with destroyers USS Nicholas, USS DeHaven, USS O’Bannon, and USS Radford made a nighttime bombardment of Vila airstrip, Kolombangara, Solomon Islands, followed by repelling a nighttime Japanese air attack. The destroyers then anchored at Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Walden Ainsworth | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Nashville | Nicholas | Kolombangara, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Nachi refueled from oiler Teiyo Maru at Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• USS Wahoo reconnoitered waters far north of Wewak, Australian New Guinea. Encountering Japanese destroyer Harusame with submarines nearby, she fired three bow torpedoes, a fourth bow torpedo as Harusame turned toward Wahoo. After all four had missed, Wahoo repositioned her self and fired two more torpedoes, this time hitting and seriously damaging Harusame. Harusame was able to beach herself to prevent sinking. ww2dbase [Wahoo | CPC]

• A transport from a psychiatric hospital at Apeldoornse Bosh with 921 Jews arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. After the selection, 16 men and 60 women were registered; the remaining were sent to the gas chambers. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The Soviets once again demanded surrender from the encircled German forces in Stalingrad, Russia. Responding to Friedrich Paulus' message requesting permission to surrender as his men were now nearly out of ammunition and medical supplies, Adolf Hitler told Paulus to fight to the last man even if defeat was imminent. By the end of this day, the German forces in Stalingrad would be divided in two pockets and would have lost the use of the final airstrip available to them, Stalingradsaya Airfield. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | TH, CPC]

• Glyndwr Michael, homeless and suffering from mental illness, was found dead in an abandoned warehouse in King's Cross, London, England, United Kingdom after consuming rat poison which contained phosphorus; it was unknown whether he had committed suicide or simply ate what he thought was thrown-away food laced with the poison for the purpose of pest control. The discovery of his remains was reported to MI5 per previous request for such a body. ww2dbase [Operation Mincemeat | London, England | CPC]

24 Jan 1943 Interactive Map