WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1943
Find out what all happened January to August 1943

World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government in exile in London from the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility. (13. April 1943)

World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk. Also known as Operation Citadel (5. July 1943)

World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor. (10. February 1943)

World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal. (9. February 1943)

Ioannis Rallis becomes collaborationist Prime Minister of Greece during the Axis Occupation. (7. April 1943)

World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign. (7. February 1943)

World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. (23. January 1943)

World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe. (11. February 1943)

World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins. (15. January 1943)

World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, and American planes by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings. (24. July 1943)

World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated. (14. February 1943)

World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island. (18. April 1943)

Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech. (18. February 1943)

World War II: Red Army troops re-enter Kharkov. (16. February 1943)

In Diamond, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American. (14. July 1943)

World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the Normandy landings ("D-Day"). It would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather. (19. May 1943)

Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded is Greece. (23. February 1943)

American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies. (20. February 1943)

A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo. (4. June 1943)

World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. The target is the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit. (5. April 1943)