4 November 1939

MANCHURIA: The Japanese battle for the Nonni River Bridge during the next three days. It had been destroyed in a Chinese civil war and is important strategically and economically; Japanese protection has been sought by Japanese management during repairs.

GERMANY: Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler refuses to attempt to form a government on President Paul von Hindenberg's terms. The President has refused to grant presidential powers to a party leader.

UNITED STATES: The prototype Beech Model 17R Staggerwing, msn 1, registered 499N, makes its first flight at the Wichita, Kansas, Municipal Airport at 1230 hours local. A total of 781 Model 17s are built from 1932 to 1949. During World War II, 105 Staggerwings are built for the USAAF as the C-43 and 320 for the USN as the GB and JB; over 100 civilian Staggerwings are impressed (drafted) by the USAAF. In addition, the Model 17 served with a number of air forces around the world.

GERMANY AND POLAND: The German and Polish governments sign an economic agreement to promote trade between the two countries.

UNITED STATES: The Pan American Airways Martin 130 flying boat, msn 556, registered NC14714 and named "Hawaiian Clipper," completes the first regular passenger transpacific flight from Alameda, California, to Manila, the Philippine Islands, and return. The aircraft had left Alameda on 21 October.

JAPAN: The Foreign Office says the Nine Power Treaty of 1922 is obsolete because of their plans for a new order. (See below.)

UNITED STATES: U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull protests against the Japanese violation of Chinese integrity and reasserts American support for the Nine-Power Treaty of 1922. The British government supports the American position, but the protests fall on deaf ears in Tokyo. (See above.)

U-21 laid nine mines in the Firth of Forth, which later resulted in the sinking of three ships.

U-23 laid nine mines off Cromarthy Firth, but without result.

NORWAY: Oslo: A "German scientist who wishes you well" leaves a prototype proximity mine fuse and a report with details of German weapons research on a British consulate windowsill.

The Norwegian Admiralty reports that it has interned the German crew of the captured US freighter 'City of Flint' after she docked at Haugesund, en route from Murmansk to Germany.

POLAND: Today the Gestapo ordered Warsaw's Jews to move into an area of the city which will be designated as a ghetto. They have taken 24 hostages whom they will shoot if the Jews do not comply. The area will eventually be surrounded by barbed wire and placed under guard.

With the conquest of Poland, some two million Jews have come under Nazi rule. The victorious German soldiers have been taught since their schooldays to hate the Jews as the age-old "enemies of the German people."

It is no surprise, then that 5,000 Jews have already been killed and countless numbers terrorized in random attacks. More than a million live in, or have fled eastwards into the Soviet-occupied zone, but there is little hope for those trapped in the General Government area governed by Hans Frank.

Just three weeks after the invasion a senior SS official, Reinhardt Heydrich, outlined plans to clear Western Poland of Jews. They are to be moved east and "resettled" in labour camps and ghettoes.

Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann, a former emigration officer, has been put in charge of resettlement and the movement of Jews to Poland. He sent a transport of Czech Jews to Lublin last month; many fear that the Nazis intend to segregate their Jews in the General Government area's cramped conditions.

INDIAN OCEAN: The German commerce raider GRAF SPEE moves here from the South Atlantic. (Navynews)

Destroyer HMS Lookout launched.

Destroyer HMS Nerissa commissioned.

GERMANY: U-189, U-190, U-191, U-192, U-193, U-194, U-195, U-196, U-197, U-198, U-199, U-200 ordered.

UNITED KINGDOM: Leicester: A woman who refused to sign up for war work with the army ordnance department is fined £2.

Battleship HMS Duke of York commissioned.

Submarine HMS P-511 (ex-USS R-3) commissioned.

Submarine ORP Jastrzab (ex-USS S-25) commissioned.

FRANCE: U-81 left Brest, but headed back some hours later after discovering they did not have charts for their operational area.

FINLAND: Second evacuation of Soviet troops from Hanko. One destroyer and one sweeper lost in mines.

U.S.S.R.: Feodosia falls the the German 170th Division. The Germans are making good progress throughout the Crimea.

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: British and South African naval ships have intercepted a Vichy French convoy carrying tin and rubber from Indochina to Germany. The convoy of five ships, escorted by a sloop, the D'Iberville, was captured by four cruisers. The ships tried to scuttle, but boarding parties took them over and prevented the holds from flooding.

The action has already drawn predictable protest from Vichy which regards it as akin to piracy. The convoy was carrying "supplies for the natives of French West Africa, and for French people in the unoccupied zone", according to a statement from Vichy. "There was no contraband or material that could be used for war." For some time Britain has watched impotently while Germany brings vital war supplied into Europe on French vessels.

On 30 March a convoy of four French merchantmen escorted by the destroyer Simoun was seen passing the Straits of Gibraltar. When Royal Navy ships ordered the convoy to halt it took refuge in the Algerian port of Nemours. At the time Vichy said that the ships were bringing food to the native Algerians. Later the convoy reached Marseilles. It was carrying rubber from Thailand. This time the Allies have ensured that the rubber has not got through.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Major General Brereton arrives on Pan American Clipper to take up his appointment as Commander, FEAF, bringing with him a draft of revised Rainbow-5 calling for defence of entire Philippine Commonwealth. (Marc Small)

General Douglas MacArthur, commander of US Army Forces Far East, receives a letter from General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, indicating that the Congress would " .... give us everything we asked for." However, the tanks, guns and men requested would not be arriving until April 1942.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS The Pas arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USN PBY-5 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Seventy Three (VP-73) based at Skerja Fjord, near Reykjavik, Iceland, continue their air coverage for convoy ON-31 (U.K. to North America).

British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) oiler Olwen reports a German surface raider attack about 738 nautical miles (1 367 kilometers) west-southwest of Monrovia, Liberia, in position 03.04N, 22.42W. Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic, Vice Admiral Algernon U. Willis, RN, orders heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire (40), accompanied by armed merchant cruiser HMS Canton (F 97) to investigate. Light cruiser HMS Dunedin (D 93) and special service vessels HMS Queen Emma and Princess Beatrix are ordered to depart Freetown, Sierra Leone, to join in the search. HMS Dorsetshire and Canton part company, with the former heading southeast and the latter steaming toward a position to the northwest, to be supported by USN Task Group 3.6, light cruiser USS Omaha (CL-4) and destroyer USS Somers (DD-381), which are at this time well to the northwest of the reported enemy position. Light cruiser USS Memphis (CL-4) and destroyers USS Davis (DD-395) and Jouett (DD-396), near to Olwen's position, sear ch the area without result; USS Omaha and Somers search unsuccessfully for survivors.

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill takes the chair of the Cabinet Anti-U-Boat Warfare Committee. Including the service chiefs, some government ministers and scientists in radar and operational research. This type of committee is unmatched by the Axis powers.

Britain: Now that winter has come the hazards facing airmen are significantly increased. One of the worst is fog, which especially affects RAF bomber crews returning from long flights over Germany. Trying to land a heavy bomber in fog, especially if it has been damaged is highly dangerous, and many aircraft have been written off and crews killed as a result.

Some months ago Mr. Churchill ordered the Petroleum Warfare Department to investigate methods of dispersing fog at airfields. It has now arrived at a solution, Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation (Fido). This consists of petrol burners positioned at intervals at he edges of runways. These are lit shortly before take-off and landing and have proved successful in reducing the fog, as well as providing additional illumination.

The plan is to install Fido at three emergency landing strips, Carnaby (Yorks), Manston (Kent) and Woodbridge (Suffolk). Crippled bombers, using an emergency radio system codenamed "Darkee", will be guided to one of these airstrips, which also have the latest approach-and-landing aids. Later other airfields will also have Fido fitted. The complexity of the system, which involves laying much underground piping, makes it unlikely that the system will be operational this winter.

Whilst on a training exercise in Loch Striven, Scotland, miniature submarine X-3 sinks when her induction trunk valve failed, and she floods and bottoms in 100 feet of water. All three crew make successful escapes and the submarine is raised later the same evening and returned to Vickers for repair. (Under the guarantee?) (Alex Gordon)(108)

GERMANY: Obermaschinist Alfred Wernicke died after an accident onboard U-197 in Kiel.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Following up on shipping concentrations at Gibraltar, their are 10 German and 21 Italian submarines patrol in the western Mediterranean. They will have some success during the next two weeks.

USN submarines USS Shad (SS-235), Gunnel (SS-253), Herring (SS-233), Barb (SS-220), and Blackfish (SS-221) are deployed to reconnoiter French North African waters off Rabat, Fedala, Casablanca and Safi, French Morocco, and Dakar, French West Africa, in advance of Operation TORCH (the invasion of Northwest Africa).

EGYPT: British X Corps reaches open ground. The fighting causes heavy losses of the Ariete, 90th Light and HQ units before they break off the action and retreat. German General Von Thoma is captured. Despite Montgomery's orders the British fail to advance, while the Axis forces retreat toward Fuka. Eventually 16,000 Italians are captured in 14 days. Rommel loses 32,000 men, 1,000 guns and 450 tanks. The Afrika Korps now only consists of 35 German tanks and almost 100 obsolete Italian tanks. British Commonwealth Forces lose 13,500 troops, but win in a decisive victory over the Axis Forces.

Many will remember the huge October moon that bathed the desert that night - even more than they will remember the ear-splitting crash of the first artillery salvo. The moon was the last thing of beauty that they would see for 11 terrible days and nights of fighting.

For the soldiers who went out under that barrage with fixed bayonets and experienced the horror of battle at close quarters, the memories will be more vivid.

"Monty's" order was to "hit the enemy for six out of Africa". Lieutenant George Greenfield was serving with the Buffs at Alamein, "It was not too hard to sit in the pavilion of army headquarters and urge the others out in the face the fast bowling." He will always remember holding a fellow soldier's leg while it was amputated. "I was left squatting on the sand, stupidly holding the unattached leg, still in it's stocking, webbing gaiter and boot, across my knee. I had never realised before the utter dead weight of a solitary leg." Others will remember the piper, Duncan McIntyre, aged 19, who led the Black Watch to the first ridge. Twice wounded, he continued playing "The Road to the Isles" until a burst of machine-gun fire silenced him for ever.

As Panzer Army Afrika was being ground into dust and bones by the British offensive, General Von Thoma rode a tank of his headquarters unit directly into the fire of the British lines, and after having it shot out from under him, he climbed out of the burning hulk and waited for capture. He dined with General Montgomery that same night. (Russ Folsom)

US Army, Middle East Air Force (USAFIME) B-25 Mitchells and P-40s attack motor transport and troops retreating west from the El Alamein battleline with British in pursuit. Lieutenant General Frank M Andrews replaces Brigadier General Russell L Maxwell as Commanding General USAFIME.

ALGERIA: French Admiral Jean Darlan, Head of the French Armed Forces and High Commissioner in North Africa, is told that his son has been hospitalized with polio in Algiers. The situation is so serious that a coffin has been ordered and the admiral rushes from Vichy France to Algiers to be with him.

LIBYA: Twenty five US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Bengasi harbor, hitting three ships and claiming one Axis fighter shot down.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Lunga perimeter command is reorganized and garrison is reinforced, two sectors are established, the commander of each being responsible to 1st Marine Division headquarters. Brigadier General William H. Rupertus, Assistant Commanding General of the division, is assigned the sector east of Lunga River and Brigadier General Edmund B. Sebree, Assistant Commanding General of the Americal Division, the western sector. The 8th Marine Regiment, reinforced, of the 2d Marine Division debarks from a naval task force in the Lunga-Kukum area and is attached to 1st Marine Division. The 1st Marine Division halts their westward offensive short of Kokumbona because of a Japanese threat east of perimeter. The 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion), reinforced by the 1st Battalion of the 164th Infantry Regiment, after driving 2,000 yards (1 829 meters) west of Point Cruz, breaks off their attack and digs in at Point Cruz; the 5th Marine Regiment and the Whaling Group return to positions east of the Matanikau River. East of the perimeter, Brigadier General Rupertus and Headquarters and 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, arrive in the Koli Point area to assist the 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. The 164 Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) and Company B of the 8th Marine Regiment march to the west bank of the Nalimbiu River in the region south of the 7th Marine Regiment and elements start north along the river.

Meanwhile, the naval task force transporting the 8th Marine Regiment lands forces at Aola Bay to establish an airfield. The Aola Force (1st Battalion of 147th Infantry Regiment; companies C and E of the 2d Marine Raider Battalion; the 5th Defense Battalion detachment; Battery K of the 246th Field Artillery Battalion, Americal Division; and 500 naval construction troops) establishes a beachhead a little east of the Aola River without opposition. This landing is the result of the cancellation of the landings on Ndeni Island in the Santa Cruz Islands; Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, wants to build another airfield there. Coastwatcher Martin Clemens and Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, oppose this plan. Work is begun at once on an airfield, but the site is later found unsuitable. The 2d Raider Battalion is ordered to march west from Aola Bay to Koli Point to assist with the action east of the Lunga perimeter.

USN cruisers and destroyers of Task Group 65.4 bombard Japanese positions near Koli Point, Guadalcanal.

Companies C and E of the 2nd marine Raider Btn land unopposed at Aola Bay in Eastern Guadalcanal. Their landing is the result of the cancellation of the landings on Ndeni on the Santa Cruz Islands. Admiral Turner's idea is to build another airfield there. Coastwatcher Martin Clemens and General Vandegrift have opposed this plan. They are to be followed by the 147th Infantry and Seabees.

NEW CALEDONIA: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a "Glen" seaplane (Kugisho E14Y, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to reconnoiters Nouméa, New Caledonia Island.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade begins an attack on Oivi and finds the Japanese prepared fora firm stand. Colonel Leif Sverdrup, the deputy to the Southwest Pacific Area Engineer Officer, by this time has cleared sites for three more airfields in the general vicinity of Dyke Ackland Bay, the most important of these at Pongani.

In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-25 Mitchells bomb the town and harbor of Salamaua. In Papua New Guinea, A-20 Havocs hit troop concentrations at Oivi, where an Australian attack meets firm resistance; transports fly most of the remainder of the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, to Wanigela.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Japanese strongpoints at Aileu on Portugese (East) Timor Island.

PORTUGESE TIMOR: The Australian signaller, Laidlaw, of Sparrow Force who had witnessed the air battle over Dili yesterday between American Marauder bombers and Japanese Zero fighters, once more breaks into the USAAF radio net and asks 'did Hitchcock make it?' The bomber crews though are too busy to reply. But later this night a message is received from the United States Army Air Force Command in Darwin: "Thanks Diggers. Hitchcock made it. Crash landed on Bathurst Island." The effect of this action on the troops on Timor was immeasurable in lifting their morale, for the first time in months they felt they were not alone in the fight against the Japanese, Hitchock and his plight will be discussed up and down the lines for the next few days. (William L. Howard)(188, 189, 190, 191)

AUSTRALIA: The USAAF's 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and its four component squadrons, the 319th, 320th, 321st and 400th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) arrive at Iron Range, Queensland. They are equipped with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.

FIJI ISLANDS: Japanese submarine I-31 launches a "Glen" seaplane (Kugisho E14Y, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to reconnoiters Suva.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-65 is sunk in the harbor of Kiska Island, when she accidentally dives into a reef while seeking to avoid an attack. .

Bad weather at Umnak Island and Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island and a flooded field at Adak Island preclude missions by the USAAF Eleventh Air Force; a new Adak Island runway permits an air alert.

CANADA: HMCS Dawson, a Flower-class corvette, A/LCdr. Anthony Hubert Storrs RCNR CO, returned to Esquimalt,, British Columbia., from the Aleutian Campaign. 'Tony' Storrs was a reserve officer and was the first of the very few to transfer to the RCN and subsequently reach flag rank. Rear-Admiral Storrs was often at odds with the professional officers of the RCN, both during the war and afterwards (see Marc Milner's comments about Storrs in Canada's Navy: The First Century). He found them to be a largely unintelligent and poorly educated group that was slavishly devoted to their RN customs and traditions. He refused to mimic the British accents and manners of his contemporaries and was adored by his crews during the war, partly as a result of his complete lack of hubris. He was a calm and quick thinking warrior, along the lines of Vice-Admiral Herbert Rayner, rather than the much more aggressive Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf. Storrs’ appointments included command of the aircraft carrier Magnificent, Commandant of the National Defense College at Kingston and, after retirement, Director of Marine Operations for the Canadian Coast Guard, where he was instrumental in the founding of the Canadian Coast Guard College at Point Edward, Nova Scotia. Tony Storrs built, in the face of substantial institutional opposition, a reputation as an outstanding intellectual and an original thinker. He, along with Rayner, was among the officers considered for commemoration when the name 'DeWolf Hall' was selected for the recent expansion to the Canadian Forces College. His awards and honours included: Distinguished Service Cross and Bar, Legion of Merit, Legion d'Honneur, Croix de Guerre avec palmes, Honorary Commodore of the Canadian Coast Guard. Tony Storrs died in 2002, at the age of 95.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The I WO of U-108 fell overboard in a heavy sea, but the crew rescued him within fifteen minutes.

U-126 sank SS Oued Grou.

U-132 sank SS Empire Lynx and Hobbema in Convoy SC-107.

U-442 and U-132 sank SS Hatimura in Convoy SC-107.

U-89 sank SS Daleby in Convoy SC-107.

U-178 sank SS Hai Hing and Trekieve.

U-354 sank SS William Clark.

UNITED KINGDOM: ETO: The 354th FG, destined to be the first US fighter group in the ETO or MTO to be equipped with the P-51, arrives in England by ship without aircraft. (Skip Guidry)

ENGLISH CHANNEL: German E-boats and mines are still capable of taking a toll of coastal shipping. On the night of the 4/5 November, Channel convoy CW-221 loses three ships off Beachy Head, Sussex, England, to E-boat attack.

NORTH SEA: Ten RAF Bomber Command Sirlings lay mines in the Kattegat, the body of water between Sweden and Denmark, with the loss of four aircraft.

FRANCE: RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off French ports: six lay mines off Lorient and five each lay mines off Brest and St. Nazaire.

During the night of 4/5 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Mosquitos to attack several targets: 15 bomb the I. G. Farben chemical plant at Leverkusen, four bomb Aachen and three hit Cologne.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's area, British X Corps, with Mt. Massico and Mt. St. Croce hill masses under its control, prepares for assault on Mt. Camino by the 56th Division. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 2d Battalion of 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, clears Rocca Pipirozzi and digs in on a ridge to the northwest; and makes contact with the 4th Ranger Battalion at Cannavinelle. The 3d Battalion of the 179th Infantry Regiment, upon crossing the Volturno River south of Venafro, attacks and captures Venafro. The 34th Infantry Division's 133d Infantry Regiment seizes St. Maria Oliveto while the 168th takes Roccaravindola.

In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps troops enter Isernia without opposition. V Corps takes the St. Salvo ridge, the Germans having made a general withdrawal in the area.

Full lateral communications are now in place between both Allied Armies through Isernia, Italy.

Fifteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb railroads between Montalto di Castro and Orbetello, between Orbetello and Talamone, and between San Vincenzo and Cecina; bomb-carrying P-38 Lightnings, escorted by others, hit a tunnel north of Terni and strafe Montalto di Castro. XII Air Support Command and RAF fighters and fighter-bombers hit trucks and trains in the Sora-Avezzano area, the airfields of Furbara and Tarquinia, and small vessels off Pescara.

During the night of 4/5 November, 42 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the marshalling yard at Orte.

U.S.S.R.: The Germans are forced to yield additional ground along the Dnieper River as Soviet troops press forward to its mouth opposite Kherson. Red Army units open a major offensive in the Kiev area, pushing south from the Dnieper River bridgehead and threatening the city with encirclement.

B-25 Mitchells hit Amoy and Swatow successfully bombing and strafing ground troops, supply facilities, and shipping; the B-25 crews sink a Japanese cargo ship in Swatow harbor; the ship was carrying 100,000,000 Yuan in Central Reserve Bank notes. The Chinese-American Composite Wing consisted of a medium bomber group and two fighter groups consisting of four squadron each that were attached to the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force.

BURMA: The 112th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, digs in at their current positions in northern Burma, since all efforts to advance have been futile and costly. The 2d Battalion is still short of Sharaw Ga. By this time, the 1st Battalion, directed against Yupbang Ga, is isolated by a Japanese roadblock and must be supplied by air; the 3d Battalion is pinned down at Ngajatzup, 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Ningbyen.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Vice Admiral KURITA Takeo, Commander-in-Chief Second Fleet, leads ten cruisers and ten destroyers into Rabaul, New Britain Island. These vessels seriously threaten the beachheads on Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands. Since they are sighted en route by a USN PB4Y-1 Liberator, USN Task Force 38, with land-based air cover, is ordered to mount an air strike.

The 2d Marine Parachute Battalion withdraws from Choiseul Island in Landing Craft Infantry vessels (LCIs).

Twenty three USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators strike the airfield on Buka Island located north of Bougainville.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s bomb Jacquinot Bay Aerodrome and B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance claim one vessel sunk north of New Britain Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine Silversides (SS-236) lays a minefield off New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago; subsequently, a Japanese surveying ship and a transport are sunk and light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and destroyer HIJMS Isokaze, are damaged.

- USS Tautog (SS-199) torpedoes and sinks a Japanese submarine chaser after 1100 hours in the Philippine Sea about 23 nautical miles (43 kilometers) northwest of Koror, Koror Island, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, in position 7.34N, 134.09E.

- USS Seawolf (SS-197) sinks a 3,177 ton freighter after 2200 hours in the South China Sea about 71 nautical miles (131 kilometers) southwest of the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in position 21.22N, 113.20E. (Skip Guidry)

U.S.A.: The War Department Operations Division recommends that current commitments to China be fulfilled; that a limited bomber offensive from China be mounted; and that only 30 Chinese divisions be trained and equipped, plus equipment for three additional divisions in order to start training of the ZEBRA Force (U.S. sponsored Chinese divisions in east China).

The motion picture "The North Star" premieres at the Palace and Victoria Theaters in New York City. Directed by Lewis Milestone, this war drama about partisans fighting in the Soviet Union stars Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Erich von Stroheim, Farley Granger and Walter Brennan. Later re-edited and renamed "Armored Attack."

A plutonium-manufacturing plant, codenamed "X-10", opens at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Destroyer USS Twiggs commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Samuel S Miles commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Lance commissioned.

Destroyer HMCS Buxton (ex-HMS Buxton) commissioned as training ship. Built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd., Squantum, Maine as USS Edwards. 1,190 tons, 314.25x30.75x9.25ft, 28kts, crew 10/143, 4-4in, 12-21in TT (4xIII) Laid down - 20 Apr 1918, Launched - 10 Oct 1918, Completed - 24 Apr 1919, commissioned HMS Buxton 8 Oct 40.

Submarine USS Bumper laid down.

Destroyer USS Lofberg laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Conklin and Corbesier laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Osmus launched.

356th FG: F/O Willard W. Royer, 360 FS, KIA P-47D PI*N 42-262898 "Georgia=92s Best" Hit by an Me 262 near Enschelde.

359th FG: Lt. Edward J. Thorne, 369 FS, POW P-51C IV*F 42-103339 "Princess Pat" Hit by flak and bailed out near Quackenbruck. (Skip Guidry)

BELGIUM: British minesweepers reach Antwerp as they clear the approaches to the port. When the Allies finish clearing this port they will cut many miles off their logistics chain. Most of their supplies are coming through Normandy.
The British I Corps continues its advance to the estuary of the Maas River.

NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the British 52d Division and commandos are methodically clearing Walcheren Island. A junction is made between forces at the causeway and those who have crossed the Slooe Channel. The Germans are being cleared from the northern coast. In the British I Corps area, 49th Division and the U.S. 104th Infantry Divisions continue to push north toward the Maas River in the center of the corps. The Polish 1st Armored Division, on the right flank, takes Geertruidenberg. Steenbergen, on the left flank, is encircled. The U.S. 104th Infantry Division is directed to move to Aachen, Germany, when released from current mission.

In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division continues to clear the northwest bank of the Canal du Nord.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 3d Cavalry Group takes a hill overlooking Berg but is driven off in a counterattack.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division continues to clear Foret de Mortagne west of St Die and open ground to the north, where La Salle is now clear. The 36th Infantry Division is clearing Foret Domaniale de Champ and pushing toward Corcicux on the southern flank of the corps.

During the night of 4/5 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 701: three B-17 Flying Fortresses and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets over the country.

In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the Germans counterattack vigorously toward Schmidt and Kommerscheidt, regaining the former. A few tanks that have reached Kommerscheidt help materially in turning the Germans back. The 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, withstands a determined German attack to the north; the 110th makes limited progress and takes Simonskall.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 700: 1,160 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators and 890 fighters are dispatched in six forces to Pathfinder Force (PFF) attacks on the oil industry in western Germany; five bombers and two fighters are lost: in Hamburg, 238 aircraft hit the Grass-Rhen oil refinery while 186 bomb the Rhenania oil refinery; 211 attack the Misburg oil refinery in Hannover; 139 hit the benzine refinery at Neuenkirchen; 133 bomb the Nordstern synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen; and 103 bomb the Welheim synthetic oil refinery at Bottrop. Marshalling yards (M/Ys) are also hit as targets of opportunity: 35 aircraft bomb the M/Y at Saarbrucken, 26 hit the M/Y at Hamm and 25 attack the M/Y at Neuenkirchen; 13 other aircraft hit other targets of opportunity.

Two hundred eighteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs hit the Trier ordnance depot, Baumholder, and Eschweiler gun positions while fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, attack railroads, bridges, and other targets, and support the US XIX Corps in the Aachen area.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators with fighter escort hit several targets with the loss of three aircraft:199 bomb the Winterhafen oil storage facility at Regensburg; in Munich, 80 aircraft bomb the Main marshalling yard while 29 bomb the city; 70 hit the marshalling yard at Augsburg and one bombs the city; and 15 others hit targets of opportunity.

During the day, 176 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters are dispatched to Solingen; 174 attack the target but the raid is not successful and the bombing is badly scattered. Four Lancasters are lost.

During the night of 4/5 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 749 aircraft, 384 Halifaxes, 336 Lancasters and 29 Mosquitos, to bomb Bochum: 705 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of 23 Halifaxes and five Lancasters. German night fighters cause most of the casualties. No 346 (Free French) Squadron, based at Elvington, Yorkshire, England, loses five out of its 16 Halifaxes on the raid. This is a particularly successful attack based upon standard Pathfinder marking techniques. Severe damage is caused to the centre of Bochum. More than 4,000 buildings are destroyed or seriously damaged. Bochum's industrial areas are also severely damaged, particularly the important steelworks. This is the last major raid by Bomber Command on this target. In another raid, 174 Lancasters and two Mosquitos are send to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal; 170 bomb the targets with the loss of three Lancasters. The Germans had partly repaired the section of the canal north of Münster after the RAF

raid in September, so this further attack is required. The banks of both branches of the canal are again breached and water drains off, leaving barges stranded and the canal unusable. A report from Armaments Minister Albert Speer to Chancellor Adolf Hitler, dated 11 November 1944, is captured at the end of the war and describes how the bombing of the canal is preventing smelting coke from the Ruhr mines reaching three important steelworks, two near Brunswick and one at Osnabrück. In his post-war interrogation, Speer states that these raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, together with attacks on the German railway system, produce more serious setbacks to the German war industry at this time than any other type of bombing. Finally, Mosquitos hit three cities: 41 bomb Hannover, four attack Herford and one bombs Castrop Rauxel. The Mosquitos claim four Luftwaffe Ju 88s and two Me 110s destroyed and two other night fighters damaged, possibly their most successful night of the war.

U-2518 commissioned.

U-3515, U-3516 launched.

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators with fighter escort hit several targets: two targets are hit at Linz, 167 bomb the Hermann Göring benzine oil facility while 76 hit the Main marshalling yard, 23 hit the marshalling yard at Wels and 16 aircraft bomb targets of opportunity. One aircraft is lost.

HUNGARY: Szolnok, south-east of Budapest, falls to the Soviets of the Second Ukrainian Front in their advance to Cegled which is 40 miles from Budapest on the rail line to the capitol. Here they halt, held up by stiff resistance, rain and exhaustion.

ITALY: Over 200 USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders hit railway and road bridges in the Brenner Pass while 130+ B-25s strike communications in the west Po Valley, cutting at least four bridges. Fighters and fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command concentrate on communications targets and trains in the Po Valley and defenses in the battle area south of Bologna. Some XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft hit guns on the northern Italian coast, some hit a rocket launching site and communications north of battle area, and four P-47 Thunderbolts bomb a Milan hotel where Adolf Hitler is rumored to be staying.

Two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb the marshalling yard at Porto Gruaro.

During the day, 91 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly supplies to the partisans. The mission is repeated again during the night of 4/5 November.

CHINA: Thirty four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings, P-40s and P-51 Mustangs attack road traffic and other targets of opportunity in the Mangshih and Lungling areas while four P-38s bomb the pass near Menghsu, blocking the highway.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the Indian 5th Division clears Kennedy Peak, another Japanese strongpoint south of Tiddim..

Seventeen USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts attack Shwebo Airfield while six others bomb stores of guns and ammunition at Mong Yaw.

JAPAN: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators strike the airfield, buildings, and offshore shipping at Suribachi and Kurabu on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Eighteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Saipan bomb Iwo Jima Island airfields and two others, on a shipping reconnaissance, bomb Naha Jima.

U.S. Sixth Army X Corps' area on Leyte Island, the corps, directed to take up a defensive role against seaborne attack in the Carigara area and to patrol to locate sites for artillery within range of Ormoc, regroups. After a patrol of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, finds that the Japanese have fallen back, advance continues through Colasian and Pinamopoan to the edge of the ridge later called Breakneck Ridge. In the XXIV Corps area, 1st Battalion of 382d Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, continues the attack west of Dagami toward Bloody Ridge and gains about 1,000 yards (914 meters) against light opposition. The Japanese counterattacking on night of 4/5 November are turned back by artillery fire and leave 254 dead behind.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators again bomb Alicante Airfield on the northeast coast of Negros Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Australian troops of the 6th Brigade land at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. Jacquinot Bay became an important base for Australian operations against the Japanese on New Britain.

MARCUS ISLAND: Two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance from Guam bomb Marcus Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.

2200: USS Seawolf (SS-197) sinks a civilian cargo ship at 21-00 N, 113-05 E. (Skip Guidry)

1600: USS SAILFISH (SS-192) sinks the destroyer HIJMS HARUKAZE about 109 nautical miles (202 kilometers) north of Aparri, Luzon, Philippine Islands, in position 20.10N, 121.43E. .

1900: USS RAY (SS-271) sinks an armed transport at 15-55 N, 119-44 E. (Skip Guidry)

A rubberized Japanese Fu-Go balloon is recovered about 69 nautical miles (128 kilometers) southwest of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., in position 33.20N, 119.20W at 1555 hours local. The envelope, rigging and some apparatus are recovered. These balloons measured 32 feet (9,8 meters) in diameter and are filled with hydrogen gas. This balloon is rubber but future Fu-Go balloons are crafted from laminated mulberry parchment paper and held together with a persimmon glue. They are designed to rise to a height between 32,000 and 38,000 feet (9 754 and 11 582 meters) and stay aloft for about 65 to 70 hours. At this height, they would be carried by the jet stream (which was unknown to the rest of the world at the time) at a speed of 100 to 200 miles per hour (161 to 322 kilometers per hours) to North America. The design is actually quite ingenious. Each balloon carries five or six incendiary bombs and one conventional bomb. They are equipped with up to 30 six pound (2, 7 kilogram) sandbags for ballast. These sandbags are released one at a time by an aneroid barometer trigger each time the balloon dips below 30,000 feet (9 144 meters). Once the last sandbag is released, the designers figure that the balloon would be over the North America and an onboard battery lit a series of fuses to release the bombs. Finally, a demolition charge is set off to destroy any evidence of the balloons existence. This is the first balloon recovered.

U.S.A.: British Field Marshal Sir John Dill, the head of the British Inter-Service Mission to Washington, dies and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the only foreigner to be so honored. Dill was a Corps commander (1 Corps) in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and rose to be Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). He was renowned as a brilliant staff officer, but struck down by illness from the end of 1941, hence the sideline to Washington. It was there that Dill developed a close personal friendship with General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, which resulted in a closer U.S.-British alliance. On Dill's death, it is Marshall who intervenes to have Dill buried at Arlington National Cemetery, normally reserved only for Americans who had served their nation during wartime. Dill's plot is also marked by only one of two equestrian statues in the cemetery.

Douglas DC-3-277C, msn 2251, registered NC28310 by Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA), crashes at about 1715 hours local at Hanford, California. This is TWA Flight 8 from San Francisco, California to New York City. All 21 passengers and three crew are killed. The cause of the accident is the separation of the wing from the aircraft after it enters a thunderstorm and encounters severe turbulence. The failure of the airplane's structure as a result of severe turbulence, an important contributing cause, is the fact that the airplane is undoubtedly in an abnormal attitude of flight, i.e., inverted, at the instant of structural failure. The cause of the airplane becoming inverted is not determined.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Submarine HMS Venturer, under command of the highly-decorated Lt Jimmy Launders, left Dundee on Operation Hangman to resupply clandestine observers reporting shipping movements along the Norwegian Coast. Chalmers was at the periscope when he saw the conning tower of a U-boat surface a few hundred yards away, and called Launders to the control room. In a snap attack lasting six minutes, Chalmers handled the boat while Launders fired four torpedoes to sink U-771. Next day Venturer resumed its mission, entering Andfjord by night in clear windless weather to land its stores by rubber dinghy. Chalmers was awarded the DSC.

HUNGARY: The first postwar democratic elections are held. A coalition of parliamentary parties takes control after gaining 83% of the vote, the Communists poll only 17%.