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• Otto Skorzeny thought Benito Mussolini was being kept in La Spezia, Italy, and was about to launch a rescue attempt when he learned that he was moved hours prior, and canceled the operation at the last moment. In fact, his intelligence was flawed as Mussolini was never transferred to La Spezia; on this date, Mussolini was being transferred out of the island of Ponza, Italy via a destroyer. ww2dbase [Operation Eiche | CPC]
• The keel of submarine Hawkbill was laid down. ww2dbase [Hawkbill | CPC]
• Oberstleutnant Ernst Kühl stepped down as the commanding officer of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing. ww2dbase [CPC]
• While at Nouméa, New Caledonia, Destroyer Squadron 21 (DesRon21), USS Nicholas flagship, experienced a routine change of command with Captain Thomas J. Ryan relieving Captain Francis McInerney as squadron commander. Captain Ryan was a 1923 Medal of Honor recipient and had just completed service as Squadron Commander for DesRon12 where he had been awarded the Navy Cross a month earlier for actions during the landings on Rendova, Solomon Islands. Nicholas departed later that day for Efate, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• In a coordinated attack by six TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bombers and four F4F-4 Wildcat fighters with Composite Squadron VC-1 flying from USS Card, German supply submarine U-117 was sunk with Mark 24 FIDO acoustic homing torpedoes. U-117 had been supplying U-66 in the mid-Atlantic when both were caught on the surface by Lt(jg) A.H. Sallenger in his Avenger. U-117 was sunk and U-66 was likely damaged. ww2dbase [TBF Avenger | Mark XXIV | Card | U-117 | Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | F4F Wildcat | DS]

• The Munda airfield on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, captured by the Americans from the Japanese on 1 Aug 1943, was declared operational for emergencies. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Munda, New Georgia | CPC]

• RAF Bomber Command launched a raid on Milan and another on Turin to bring pressure on the new Italian Government, led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, to accept the Allies peace terms. During the Milan raid a Lancaster bomber piloted by Herbert Barley was heavily damaged by an Italian fighter (probably a Macchi C.205 Veltro) losing two engines, but in a remarkable piece of flying the crew fought their crippled aircraft all the way across the Mediterranean Sea to a safe landing in Tunisia. ww2dbase [Invasion of Sicily and Italy's Surrender | AC]

• USS Whale patrolled waters between Japan and Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]

• USS Cisco departed the Panama Canal Zone. ww2dbase [Cisco | CPC]

• Soviet troops reached the area northeast of Poltava and Akhtyrka, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Belgorod | Poltava | CPC]

7 Aug 1943 Interactive Map