1943 The Second World War in Photographs

The Turning Point

1943 saw the Allies on the offensive, with victories in North Africa followed by the invasion of Sicily and landings in Italy establishing a foothold on mainland Europe, while on the Eastern Front the Red Army was making gains, and in the Pacific the Japanese-held islands were falling. The change in the Allies’ fortunes had begun the previous year and now they were building on those successes, paving the way for the major return to Europe with D-Day planned for 1944. The 8th Army’s successes in the Tunisian campaign pushed the German Afrika Korps out of North Africa. This was followed by the invasion of Sicily in May and landings on the toe of Italy in September, resulting in the ousting of Benito Mussolini. Other Allied successes came in the Pacific with the taking of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, together with British and Chinese advances in Burma, putting the Japanese onto the defensive. The conflict in Russia saw the key tank battle at Kursk and the subsequent retaking of some German-held territory. Other events included the Dambuster raids, an attack on the Ploesti oil refineries and the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon tell the story of 1943 at war using many rare and often unpublished images, showing the rapidly changing nature of the conflict.