(a coded message, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world" is then sent to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt). December 4 The Holocaust: In Warsaw, two women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz, risk their lives by setting up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews. WWII: USAAF bombers make their first raid on Italy. December 6 – Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka massacre: 5 families in Occupied Poland are executed by the Ordnungspolizei as part of the German retribution against Poles who helped Jews. December 7 – WWII: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour. The battleship is launched at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. December 8 – A fire at Seacliff Lunatic Asylum in New Zealand kills 39 patients. December 10 – The Holocaust: The Polish government-in-exile sends copies of The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland, including Raczyński's Note, the first official report on The Holocaust, to 26 governments who signed the Declaration by United Nations. December 11 – WWII: Operation Lilliput: The Allies start a convoy operation for transportation of troops, weapons, and supplies in a regular transport service between Milne Bay and Oro Bay in New Guinea. The first vessel to arrive at Oro Bay is Karsik, escorted by HMAS Lithgow, with four Stuart light tanks. December 12 – WWII: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad. December 15 – WWII: Guadalcanal Campaign – Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse: the United States and allied forces begin to attack Japanese positions near the Matanikau River. December 17 – The Allies issue the Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations (as the answer to Raczyński's Note), the first time they publicly acknowledge the Holocaust. December 20 – WWII: First Arakan Campaign: Allied forces begin a counter-offensive into Burma. During the offensive, Japanese defenders occupying well-prepared positions repeatedly repulse the British and Indian forces. December 22 An avalanche in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, kills 26, including Vulcan Crucible Steel heir-apparent Samuel A. Stafford Sr., when two 100 ton boulders fall on a bus filled with wartime steelworkers on their way home. An airplane carrying prominent Ustashe general Jure Francetić crashes. Francetić dies as a result of the injuries on December 27. December 24 – French Admiral Darlan, the former Vichy leader who has switched over to the