WHAT ALL HAPPENED JUNE TO DECEMBER 1943
Find out what all happened June to December 1943

World War II: the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 is rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and sinks. Lt. John F. Kennedy, future U.S. President, saves all but two of his crew. (2. August 1943)

World War II: The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment lands and occupies Lae_Nadzab_Airport, near Lae in the Salamaua–Lae campaign. (5. September 1943)

World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks, killing 650 men. (24. November 1943)

World War II: German warship Scharnhorst is sunk off of Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces. (26. December 1943)

World War II: First flight of the Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil". (26. October 1943)

World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland. (23. June 1943)

World War II: Japanese forces evacuate New Georgia Island in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. (27. August 1943)

World War II: The Allied invasion of Italy concludes when Heinrich von Vietinghoff, commander of the German Tenth Army, orders his troops to withdraw from Salerno. (16. September 1943)

The Pennsylvania Railroad's premier train derails at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing 79 people and injuring 117 others. (6. September 1943)

World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943). (5. July 1943)

World War II: U.S. Army Air Force begins attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow. (5. December 1943)

A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, kills 55 people. (7. September 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)

The Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England. (23. July 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)

The Provisional Government of Free India formally declared war on Britain and the United States of America. (24. October 1943)

World War II: The Royal Air Force begins Operation Hydra, the first air raid of the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Germany's V-weapon program. (17. August 1943)

98 American POW's executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island. (5. October 1943)

World War II: Operation Gomorrah – The British bomb Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians. (28. July 1943)

José P. Laurel takes the oath of office as President of the Philippines (Second Philippine Republic). (14. October 1943)