6 November 1939

UNITED STATES: Congressional elections are held today for seats in the 74th Congress that will convene in January 1935:

- In the Senate, the Democrats gain ten seats, the Republicans lose 11 and independents gain one; the Democrats still control the Senate with 69 of 96 seats.

- In the House of Representatives, the Democrats gain nine seats, the Republicans lose four and independents gain five. The Democrats still control the House with 322 of the 435 seats.

UNITED KINGDOM: Test pilot P.W.S. "George" Bullman flies the Hawker High-Speed Monoplane, RAF serial number K5083, for the first time. Later renamed the Hurricane it proves to be a major leap forward in capability when compared to the biplanes in service at the time.

SPAIN: Insurgent forces encircle Madrid and the Republican government moves to Valencia. Despite heavy fighting in the suburbs of the city and Nationalist air attack, Loyalist forces dig in and defend the capital. The Nationalist offensive grinds down, resulting in a siege of the city.

ITALY: Italy joins the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern pact. This original pact, signed by Germany and Japan on 25 November 1936, declared the hostility of the two countries to international communism. In case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against them, the two nations agreed to consult on what measures to take "to safeguard their common interests." It also stated that neither would make any political treaties with the Soviet Union. Germany also agreed to recognize the Japanese puppet regime in Manchuria. This expansion of the pact reflects a new coalition of revisionist states, united to upset the World War I peace treaties and the status quo.

JAPAN: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew sends the following message to Washington regarding Italy signing the Anti-Comintern pact: The threat to England is very real and immediately apparent upon reflection that with the addition of Japan to the Rome-Berlin axis the life-line of the British Empire is threatened from the North Sea through the Mediterranean and beyond Singapore."

Submarines HMS Upright and Usk laid down.

Destroyer HMS Khartoum commissioned.

NORTH SEA: U-21 encountered the British submarine HMS Sealion in the North Sea. The Sealion fired six torpedoes at U-21, but all missed.

GERMANY: U-65 launched.

NORWAY: Bergen: Captain Joseph H Gainard told today how his US cargo ship, City of Flint, was taken by the German battleship Deutschland. A party from the Deutschland came aboard on 9 October and declared the ship a prize of war. The Germans painted out all US insignia and headed for Murmansk in Russia, and then for Germany. But they were stopped by the Norwegian navy, and another German ship ordered them to Haugesund where the US ship was returned to her captain.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Molotov says Russia's aim is peace, and blames the war on forces of capitalism.

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Exeter is detained by British authorities. She is released the same day after 700 bags of U.S. mail are removed from the ship. Freighter SS Exminster, detained at Gibraltar by the British since 1 November, is released without any confiscation of cargo.

JAPAN: U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Grew gives an official protest against Japanese violations of the Open Door policy in China. In the fall of 1898, U.S. President William McKinley stated his desire for the creation of an "open door" that would allow all trading nations access to the Chinese market. In 1899, the U.S. sought a formal endorsement of the concept by circulating diplomatic notes among the major powers however, none of them would sign it and the U.S. simply announced that agreement had been reached. Only Russia and Japan voiced displeasure.

RAF No. 608 Squadron of Coastal Command at RAF Thornaby, Yorkshire, England, was equipped with the Blackburn Botha Mk. I in May 1940. The Botha, which was designed to be used as a general reconnaissance aircraft or a torpedo bomber, was to replace the Avro Anson Mk. Is the squadron was using. Today, they are withdrawn from operational flying. The Botha is seriously underpowered and is relegated to training units. No. 608 squadron reverts to Anson Mk. Is.

The German airforce used RF beacons (200-500kHz) for general navigation. These low power beacons were spread around German Occupied territory and transmitted a continuous, omni-directional carrier with a morse identification on an allotted frequency. The position of these beacons (acting somewhat like invisible lighthouses) were marked on German charts, and by using normal direction finding equipment, and two beacons, aircrew could "fix" their position.

The British set up receivers fitted with directional aerials around the south and east coasts of England, and tuned into the enemy beacons. The received signals were sent by landline to counterfeit beacon transmitters elsewhere in Britain, and radiated the enemy beacon signal on the same frequency but (obviously) from a false location. However the enemy signal was changed, the counterfeit transmitter continued to reproduce it faithfully and deceive the enemy aircrew's DF.

This "masking" began in August 1940, and proved very successful. A slight refinement was possible when German aircrews requested a bearing from their ground station. Then the aircraft transmitter would be re-radiated from a spurious ground transmitter which was DF'd by the ground crew, on the same frequency so that they might give a position report that could be as much as 100 miles in error.

I did not think it right for me as a foreigner to express any opinion upon American policies while the Election was on, but now I feel you will not mind my saying that I prayed for your success and that I am truly thankful for it.

GERMANY: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Faulhaber, submits a letter of protest to Minister of Justice Franz Gärtner. Faulhaber writes that despite all attempts at secrecy, everyone now knows that large numbers of patients are being killed in the course of a compulsory euthanasia program. The killing of these innocent people, Faulhaber ending his letter, raises a moral issue which can not be ignored. (Lewy)

CRETE: British troops are landed at Suda Bay from the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney (D 48) and British light cruiser HMS Ajax (22).

Algiers: Professor Louis Rougier and Weygand meet. Rougier had come from London where he met with Halifax and Churchill to broker a peace between Britain and Vichy. Although Rougier has no power to negotiate and Churchill conveyed no message to Petain or Weygand he was thought to be useful in persuading the French of the high state of morale in Britain and the certainty of British victory. They discuss a plan whereby Vichy defends it colonies and bases from German control, refrains from attempts to win back its dissident colonies by force or to interfere with those sponsored by de Gaulle and at an opportune moment to re-enter the war at England's side.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Submarine FAA Di Bruno sunk by destroyers HMCS Ottawa and HMS Harvester in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Ireland. There were no survivors from her crew of 57. Ottawa and Harvester were ordered to the assistance of an independently routed merchantman, the Melrose Abbey (2,500 GRT), which had reported that it was being pursued by a submarine. As they drew near, both destroyers sighted the submarine and opened fire with their main armament. The submarine dove and Ottawa conducted 4 depth charge attacks and Harvester conducted 5. The 2 destroyers expended at total of 83 depth charges. After Harvester's last attack, 2 secondary underwater explosions occurred and contact was lost. At first light the next morning a large amount of oil was sighted on the surface. Although the ships' CO's and the Admiralty were certain a submarine had been sunk, the U-boat Assessment Committee felt there was insufficient evidence to award a kill. It was not until Post WW.II, that record reconstruction has proven that FAA Di Bruno was sunk. Vice-Admiral Mainguy died before he could know that he had participated in the first sinking of a submarine by Canadian naval forces. FAA Di Bruno was a long-range Marcello-class submarine. She was commissioned on 23 Oct 39 and deployed on her first patrol on 31 Oct 40. She had not sunk or damaged any ships up to the time of her loss.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: In a major speech commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Revolution, Stalin today called on the west to establish a "second front" in Europe against the Nazis. He told a rally of Moscow party workers: "There is no doubt that the absence of a second front is making the enemy's task easier, but we hope that a second front will be established, and in the near future, thus relieving the task of the Russian army."

The delegates, meeting in the ornate marble hall of the Mayakosvsky Underground station because of the Luftwaffe's continuous attacks, gave Stalin a thunderous welcome and cheered again when he told then that the Germans, who had been given orders to kill everything Russian, "would get their war of annihilation and would be exterminated without mercy". It was a brave speech to make with the Germans hammering at the gates of Moscow, but Stalin was full of confidence: "Our army must win, and will win. The German army must be defeated, and will be defeated."

There are three basic facts, he said, which will lead to Hitler's army being crushed: "The first of these facts is the instability of German imperialism, and Hitler's New Order. We are assured that Hitler acts like Napoleon in everything. I can tell you that Hitler no more resembles Napoleon that a kitten resembles a lion."

"Secondly, Napoleon fought for liberal forces against reactionary forces. Hitler is fighting for reaction and will perish by the hand of the progressive forces.

Thirdly, who doubts that Britain and the United States will give us full support to conquer Hitler? .... Modern war is a war of machines. The war will be won by the one who has an overwhelming superiority on the output of machines. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the inevitable doom of the predatory Nazi imperialism. Our task is now revenge." Today, at the traditional military parade before Lenin's tomb in Red Square, Stalin urged the army to defend "Holy Russia." The soldiers, in full battle kit, marched straight from Red Square to take their place in Moscow's front line.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Brereton issues training order directing that all units were to work “maximum hours” and specifying that 40% of all training flights were to be at night. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt announces a loan of 1 billion dollars (US) to the USSR for financing Lend-Lease supplies.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Odenwald, a German blockade runner, is captured by USS Omaha about 577 nautical miles (1068 km) northeast of Natal, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, in position 00.40N, 28.04W. She was carrying a cargo of rubber from Japan.
The United States had proclaimed a security zone in waters adjoining the Western Hemisphere, although this almost certainly had no real meaning in international law. The British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) oiler Olwen had reported a German raider on November 4. On 6 November 1941 USN Task Group 3.6, light cruiser USS OMAHA (CL-4) and destroyer USS SOMERS (DD-381), on patrol in the South Atlantic midway between Brazil and Africa, en-route to Recife, Brazil, encountered a steamer showing American colours and the name "Willmoto, Philadelphia." But her appearance was wrong for this ship, and the suspicions of the U.S. ships were aroused. The ship was in fact ODENWALD, a German vessel that had been in Japan since the outbreak of war, and was now running the blockade with a cargo of rubber and food. ODENWALD initially did not respond to challenges.

A boarding party was sent from OMAHA, but before it got there the crew of the German ship began to abandon ship, and hoisted a distress signal meaning "I am sinking. Send boats." The Germans had in fact exploded charges in order to scuttle the ship. U.S. sailors boarded her and with the help of a diesel engine specialist from Somers, salvaged the ship. The cruiser's Curtiss SOC Seagull aircraft and the Somers screen the operation. The three ships then proceed to Trinidad, British West Indies, because of possible complications with the Brazilian government; in view of the precarious fuel state in the American ships, USS Somers' crew ingeniously rigs a sail that cuts fuel consumption and allows her to reach her destination with fuel to spare. British Royal Fleet Auxiliary oiler Olwen subsequently reports that she had made the "raider" signal when what was probably a surfaced submarine had fired upon her at dawn on 4 November. Ten U.S. and British warships had searched for two days for a phantom enemy.

The legalities of this episode are ambiguous. Most authorities do consider the showing of false flags to be a legal ruse of war. The U.S. Neutrality Acts stipulated that any foreign ship that used U.S. colours would be banned from American ports for three months, but this law did not apply here. On the face of it, the U.S. ships had no right to board the German. On the other hand, the German ship had signalled that she was sinking and requested help, and the U.S. government argued that this made it a case not of seizure but of marine salvage, and in fact in 1947 the crews of the two U.S. warships were awarded prize money, the first time U.S. sailors had received it since 1839. Members of the boarding party itself got $3,000 each, a pretty hefty sum in those days. (66)(Keith Allen)

In the North Atlantic, USN destroyer USS Madison (DD-425), on the flank of convoy ON-39 (U.K. to North America), carries out a depth charge attack about 504 nautical miles (934 kilometers) east of St. John's, Newfoundland, in position 45.50N, 40.40W; investigation later proves their quarry to have been a whale.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British War Office announced that hostilities had ceased in Madagascar at 2 -00 p. m., and that an armistice had been signed.

Minesweeper HMS Latrobe commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Goathland commissioned.

FRANCE: During the day, 12 (A-20) Bostons bomb Carpiquet Airfield, 3.5 miles (5,6 kilometers) west of Caen.

During the night of 6/7 November, RAF Bomber Command sends bombers to mine areas off three seaports: 11 mine the Gironde Estuary, ten lay mines off La Pallice and five lay mines off Lorient. Two Stirlings are lost.

GERMANY: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 14 Wellingtons and five Lancasters on cloud-cover raids: four each bomb Osnabruck and Wilhelmshaven and one each hits Emden and Norden.

FINLAND expels eight Jewish refugees to Tallinn, where they are handed over to Gestapo. Ultimately they all end in concentration camps, and only one survives the war.

To this day it is not known why these particular Jews were chosen, and whether the Chief of the State Police acted on his own initiative or did the Minister of Interior sanction the act (these men naturally had all the reasons to obfuscate their part after the war). The Jews were officially suspected of crimes, but apparently on very weak grounds.

However, this act causes an uproar in Finland, and the government steps in to prevent any further expellations. It is thought that Finland's reputation as a civilized country is on stake, and these unfortunate eight are the only Jews Finland handed to the Germans.

In Helsinki, Finland, 27 political prisoners, mostly Estonians and Russians, are delivered by the Finnish Security Police Valtiollinen poliisi to German freighter S/S Hohenhörn. Among them are eight Jewish refugees who had arrived to Finland between 1938 and 1940. They were:

Hans Eduard Szübilski, born 1907, former German citizen Heinrich Huppert, born 1896, former Austrian citizen Kurt Huppert, born 1931, Heinrich's child Georg Kollmann, born 1912, former Austrian citizen Janko Kollmann, born 1910, Georg's wife Frans Olof Kollmann, born 1942, Georg's and Janko's child Hans Robert Martin Korn, born 1919, former Austrian citizen

The ship departs later that day. In Tallinn they are handed to Gestapo and ultimately all the Jews end in Auschwitz. Only Georg Kollmann survived the war. They are the only Jewish civilians from Finland who were destroyed in the Holocaust.

How this came to be is linked to the person of Arno Anthoni, the director of Finnish Security Police. Anthoni was a career police official, who had been the head of the Security Police since February 1941. During the Continuation War it was only natural for the Finnish Security Police to cooperate with its German counterpart, Gestapo, and exchange of information on communists and other elements deemed suspicious was daily routine. But Anthoni took the cooperation farther than was necessary. While he was no Nazi, Anthoni seems to have been an opportunist who wanted to ingratiate himself with the Germans -- even to the extent of handing Jews to Gestapo while fully aware of their probable fate. In April 1942 Anthoni visited his German counterpart SS-Gruppenführer Henrich Müller in Berlin. In this meeting Anthoni agreed to assist in delivering all the Finland's Jews to Gestapo, and also handed over a list of all Jews then resident in Finland.

Jews residing in Finland during the Continuation War fell in three categories: Finnish Jews, Jewish refugees and Soviet POWs of Jewish faith. Finnish Jews were fully integrated citizens, and the men fought in the front like everybody else (15 were killed in the Winter War, 8 in the Continuation War). Soviet POWs were under military authorities' control (more on them below), but it was the Jewish refugees who were Security Police's domain.

Anthoni and his assistants in Valpo started with the refugees. In October 1942 a number of Jewish refugees (along with Estonian and Russian political prisoners) were about to be deported to German hands. Anthoni and Minister of Interior Toivo Horelli had agreed that the affair would be handled as a normal police matter without involving the cabinet - officially the deportees were accused of crimes or suspected of spying. Rumors of the deportations leaked out, and concerned citizens started a campaign to prevent them. The influential Minister of State Finances Väinö Tanner called Anthoni and asked him about the rumours. Anthoni lied to him that no such thing was about to happen. Later Tanner found out how the matters really were, and used his authority to postpone the deportations until the cabinet had decided on the matter.

On 3 November 1942 the cabinet convened. When Minister of Interior Horelli heard of Tanner's intervention, he was enraged. Insisting that the deportations were purely a police matter, and that the deportees were ordinary criminals, Horelli threatened to resign if the cabinet interfered. This would have caused a major political crisis, and after a vote, cabinet decided to let the deportations proceed. Three days later the eight Jews and 19 others were sent by ship to Estonia. But this incident caused an outcry. The press and public opinion protested vocally, and no further deportations took place. Anthoni, who also began to sense that war was not going to end in German victory, became more careful. He had to resign in early 1944.

In 1945 Anthoni was arrested for his part in the deportations. He was finally tried in 1948, but the trial turned out to be a rather curious affair. Anthoni was accused of misconduct in office because he hadn't given the deported Jews change to leave the country to a destination of their choice - a very trivial offense. Anthoni claimed that he didn't know of the fate of Jews in Germany, and feigned amnesia.

The most curious event of the trial was the statement of the sole survivor, Georg Kollmann. Kollmann claimed he was treated very well by the Security Police, when all the evidence now available points to the opposite. Kollmann asked that Anthoni was to be found not guilty. This caused scandal, and afterwards many Finnish Jews regarded Kollmann a traitor. In an interview 31 years later Kollmann claimed he hadn't said anything like that, and surmised that the interpreter had misrepresented his words (this is quite impossibe - even if the persons involved would have been ready to commit such an outrage, there were in the audience, among others, Finnish Jews who were fluent in German, the language Kollmann spoke, and they would have been certain to act if the interpreter would have tried to misrepresent Kollmann's testimony). Kollmann's attitude at the time and later indicates that he perhaps wanted to forget all about his sufferings, and let bygones to be bygones, no matter what.

Anthoni was released of all charges, although the Supreme Court repealed this decision in the next year. But even the Supreme Court only gave him a written reprimand. Anthoni also won substantial damages from the state for the three years he had been arrested before the trial. Afterwards he was given employment by certain industrialist who during the war had been well-known for his extremely pro-German sympathies. Anthoni died in 1961.

Minister of Interior Toivo Horelli's motives in the case remain a mystery. How much Horelli at the time actually knew of the fate of Jews in Germany, and whether he truly believed the deported Jews were criminals, is not known. After the war Horelli refused to answer questions pertaining this incident, stating that he will only speak if sued. He never was. Horelli was dropped from the new cabinet formed in February 1943, and was the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament until 1944. He died in 1975.

Georg Kollmann was liberated in 1945 and until 1950 worked as a doctor in a US military hospital in Austria. He then emigrated to Israel, continued to practice medicine and founded a new family. He refused to discuss his experiences, except for a short interview he gave to a Finnish researcher in 1979. His general attitude in the interview can be summarized as 'what use it is to dig up such old matters, it's better to forget'. Kollmann occasionally visited Finland, and stated he bore no grudge to Finns. He died in 1992.

Alas, the eight civilians deported in November 1942 were no the only Jews delivered to German hands by Finns. During the early Continuation War the Finnish military authorities began an exchange program with Germans. Certain groups of Soviet POWs, namely officers and politruks, were exchanged for Finnish-related people living in the German occupied lands. Finns were ready and willing to receive especially Ingrians who speak a language closely related to Finnish (some classify the Ingrian as a dialect of Finnish), and could also offer them a significantly better conditions than the German-run refugee camps. More than 3000 Ingrians were taken to Finland, and in exchange a similar number of Soviet POWs were handed to Germans. A number of these POWs were of Jewish faith. How much, is not known for certain, but the number is more than 50 and less than 100. But in their case it's significant that they were not handed to Germans because they were Jews, but because they were officers and politruks Finns had agreed to exchange for Ingrians.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin, speaking today at a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, blamed the Germans' successes in Russia on Britain and America's failure to open a second front in Europe.

"There is no doubt", he said, "that the Germans would not otherwise have been able to attain a success on our front. The absence of a second front enabled them to carry out this operation without any risk to themselves."

He said he was sure, however, that it will come to pass "because it is no less needed by our Allies than by us." He declares that the aim of the coalition is to save mankind from reversion to savagery and mediaeval brutality.

Fighting continues in Stalingrad area but on a diminishing scale. In the Caucasus, halted before Ordshonikidse, the German 13.Panzer Division is fighting to prevent being cut off by superior Soviet forces attacking its flanks and rear.

ITALY: During the night of 6/7 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 72 Lancasters to bomb Genoa; 67 bomb the target with the loss of two Lancasters. The attack is concentrated but most bombs fall in residential areas.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A difficult day for U-boats in the Mediterranean. On this day Allied aircraft attacked three U-boats in this operational area - U-77 (twice), U-81, and U-458. All boats suffered only slight damage and continued their patrols.

EGYPT: The confusion around El Alamein continues to delay fuel supplies to the British front line units. What is left of the German 21st Panzer Division is out of fuel and thus stranded. It is caught by the British 7th Armoured Division and destroyed. Heavy rains late in the day limit travel to the coast road and cut radio contact.

LIBYA: Twenty six US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the harbors of Tobruk and Bengasi scoring hits on two vessels.

MADAGASCAR: The Madagascar campaign is almost over. A few square miles at Ihosy, in the south of the island, are all that Vichy still controls. Already the South African Pretoria Regiment is within sight of the town. The governor, M. Annet, has indicated that he will surrender tomorrow. War casualties have been light in this campaign, which was aimed at forestalling the use of the island as a Japanese naval base. Only 60 Allied troops have been killed in action (mostly East Africans), but some battalions have lost a quarter of their numbers from malaria.

NEW GUINEA: Port Moresby: General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, arrives in Point Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where the Advanced Echelon of General Headquarters opens to direct operations.

The Australian 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions, 16th Brigade, 7th Division, continue heavy fighting against the Japanese at Oivi in Papua New Guinea.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 7th Marine Regiment establishes a bridgehead on the east bank of the Nalimbiu River. The Army's 164th Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) continues toward Koli Point, the 3d Battalion reaching it after nightfall. Aola Force transports complete unloading operations and withdraw. The run of the Tokyo Express tonight is commanded by Captain Sato Torajiro. (Are you a Tom Clancy Fan? Have you read Debt of Honor? Captain Sato is mentioned in Chapter 13! ) The Cactus Air Force strikes for some damage, but not enough to stop the run.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A single USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchell attacks a Japanese destroyer off the southern tip of New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago; no hits are scored.

U.S.A.: First officer and enlisted women from training schools report for shore duty around the USA.

U-160 sank SS Arica in Convoy TRIN-24.

U-625 sank SS Chulmleigh and Empire Sky.

U-68 sank SS City of Cairo.

German submarine U-68 [KorvettenkapitÃ¤n (Commander) Karl-Friedrich Merten] torpedoes and sinks the 8.034 ton British passenger ship SS City of Cairo about 453 nautical miles (840 kilometers) south of the British island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean or 1,401 nautical miles (2 595 kilometers) west-northwest of Cape Town, South Africa. About 100 of the 300 passengers and crew survive. Merten believed the ship was a cargo vessel and after the sinking, the U-boat commander helps rescue survivors still in the water and has them placed in the lifeboats. He then departs the scene with an apology for the sinking but not before he provides the survivors with precise details of how to reach St. Helena. However, one lifeboat drifts for 51 days before reaching the coast of Brazil; only two of its original 18 occupants survive. Some years later the British survivors hold a reunion in London and Merten is invited to attend having previously published his own acc ount of the sinking. At the reunion, one of the survivors is heard to remark "We couldn't have been sunk by a nicer man." Merten died of cancer in May, 1993. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Bomber Command, which has transferred from Bengasi, Libya, establishes headquarters at Marks Hall, Essex, England.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 6/7 November, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Texel Island.

- The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 123. Two B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 440,000 leaflets over Paris at 0241-0250 hours.

- RAF Bomber Command dispatches Wellingtons to lay mines off coastal ports: nine each lay mines off Brest, Gironde and Lorient, eight off St. Nazaire, five off La Pallice, three off St. Jean de Luz and two off Bayonne. An additional 15 aircraft drop leaflets over northern France.

During the night of 6/7 November, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to bomb six targets: seven hit the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Bochum, four attack Duisburg while two attack the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Duisburg, two each attack Dusseldorf and a steel factory at Hamborn, and one each bombs Grounau and Recklinghausen.

U.S.S.R.: Kiev is liberated by Vatutin's units. Stalin issues a special order of the day and broadcasts to celebrate this victory. Despite losing 6,000 as POW the Germans slip out again.

Kiev: Celebrations for tomorrow's anniversary of the 1917 Revolution started early today with the news that Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, has been liberated after more than two years of German rule.

The battle to free the city was launched by General Vatutin three days ago, Vatutin first tricked von Manstein into thinking that he was going to attack out of the bridgehead across the Dnieper at Bukrin and then, when the Germans concentrated at Bukrin, made his assault out of the smaller lodgement at Lyutezh.

The Russians ripped a great hole in the German lines and swung west behind Kiev. It rapidly became obvious that the Germans would not be able to hold the city.

Von Manstein pulled out most of his men, leaving only the 88th Infantry Division behind as a rearguard. The 88th, outnumbered and outgunned, has been cut to pieces and its few survivors are straggling back to the German lines having lost all their heavy equipment.

The fall of Kiev marks not only a psychological victory for the Russians but also an end to a short series of successful German counter-attacks.

They had virtually wiped out 7,000 paratroopers dropped across the Dnieper; they had foiled an early breakout from Bukrin and administered a severe check at Krivoi Rog, where they killed 10,000 Russians and captured 5,000. Now the Red Army is once again sweeping westwards.

Moscow: More men, more tanks, more guns, more aircraft - that is the secret of the Red Army's astonishing turnabout success against the most professional army in the world just when it seemed that the Soviet Union was about to collapse.

The inexhaustible supplies of men and materials emerging from the depths of Russia have ground down the Germans. The Red Army now fields 6.5 million men against 4.3 million Germans. The Russians have 5,600 tanks against the Germans' 2,600. They have 90,000 guns against 54,000, and 8,000 aircraft against 3,000. But it is a matter of quality as well as quantity. Russian tanks and aircraft now match the once superior German equipment.

The Russians have also learnt how to fight a modern war. New commanders have emerged to use new tactics. But most important of all has been the fortitude and patriotism of the Russian soldier.

ITALY: German armour is being raced eastwards to counter a major threat to the Gustav Line by the Eighth Army which stormed Vasto yesterday, meeting fierce resistance from General Herr's tanks. British destroyers are giving supporting fire from the Adriatic as British and Canadian troops advance along the coast.

The 8th Indian Division had reached Palmoli and the US Fifth Army is reported to be ten miles from Capua, a key point on the road to Rome, held up by torrential rain as well as the Germans.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the 56th Division continues an attack toward Mt. Camino, elements taking Calabritto. In the U.S. VI Corps' the 3d Infantry Division sector, the 7th Infantry Regiment is still fighting for Mt. Ia Difensa; efforts of the 15th Infantry Regiment to take Hill 253, the southeast nose of Mt. Lungo, are unsuccessful, as are those of the 30th Infantry Regiment to take Mt. Rotondo. To the east, the 45th and 34th Infantry Division batter at hills and mountains with little success.

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers strike gun positions, bridges, and roads around Mignano, vehicles north of Cassino, and a train north of Aquino Airfield. Other Northwest African Tactical Air Force) fighters attack numerous road and rail transport targets throughout Italy north of the battleline.

Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack the Fiora River bridge, three bomb a bridge north of Orbetello, and 11 P-38 Lightnings attack a bridge south of Orvieto. P-38 Lightnings escorted by others, hit approaches to a bridge near Monte Molino, and the escorting fighters afterwards strafe Tarquinia Airfield, a train north of Civitavecchia, and vehicles between Montefiascone and Vetralla.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: German aircraft attack Naples, Italy-bound fast convoy KMF-25A. USN destroyer USS Beatty (DD-640) is torpedoed, breaks in two and sinks about three hours and 22 minutes later with the loss of 11 crewmen. The ship sinks about 144 nautical miles (266 kilometers) east of Algiers, off Cape Bougaroun, in position 37.10N, 06.00E.

The troop transport SS Santa Elena is also torpedoed about 160 nautical miles (298 kilometers) east of Algiers in position 37.13N, 06.21E, and abandoned. Transport SS Monterey takes on board the 1,800 Canadian troops and 99 nurses from No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, traveling in Santa Elena while the crew and Armed Guard returns to the ship. However, the ship sank with a large amount of equipment, including all of the hospital's gear. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

INDIA: The Government of India accepts the offer of U.S. troops to help operate the Bengal and Assam Railroad.

BURMA: Two USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators lay mines in the Rangoon River during the night of 6/7 November.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Japanese aircraft attack Nadzab, Dumpu, and Finschhafen but cause no major damage.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s hit Gasmata (Tsurumi) Airfield on the south coast of New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island, the 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, arrives to reinforce the 3d Marine Divisionâ€™s beachhead. Meanwhile, Japanese troops, transported by destroyers, land near Cape Torokina.

Nine USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells with USN fighter support hit the airfield and harbor of Buka Island north of Bougainville Island. On Bougainville, a B-25 bombs Kieta on the west coast and attacks Tinputs Harbor; seven barges and small vessels are claimed sunk; 24 B-25s with fighter support follow USN dive bombers and fighters in an attack on Kara Airfield in southern Bougainville; and 17 B-24 Liberators bomb Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of Bougainville. .

CENTRAL PACIFIC: Advanced headquarters, USAAF Seventh Air Force, is set up on Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice Islands to provide a headquarters closer to targets in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands; VII Bomber Command also establish forward echelons at Funafuti. Landing fields are being built on Baker Island; and Nukufetau and Nanumea Islands in the Ellice Islands, to be used, along with existing fields at Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands and Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice Islands as operational bases for attacks on Tarawa Atoll and Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands; Mille Atoll in the Caroline Islands; Maloelap and Jaluit Atolls in the Marshall Islands and Nauru Island. These operations will mark the assumption of the offensive by the Seventh Air Force and will play a conspicuous role in the invasion and occupation of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

0200: USS HADDOCK (SS-231) sinks an oiler at 07-54 N, 150-06 E and an armed oiler at 08-08 N, 149-45 E. (Skip Guidry)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Alberni departed Gaspe, Province of Quebec for refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) accede to request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, for retention of landing craft. Twelve U.S. and 56 British Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) due to depart from the Mediterranean are to remain until 15 December. A further extension, until 15 January 1944, is subsequently granted.

"Paper Doll" by The Mills Brothers reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 7 August 1943, was charted for 30 weeks, was Number 1 for 12 weeks and was ranked Number 2 for the year 1943.

Destroyer escorts USS Wiseman, Varian, Scroggins launched.

Frigates USS Bangor and Brunswick launched.

Submarine USS Pampanito commissioned.

Frigate USS Tacoma commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Kula Gulf laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Captain F. J. Walker's 2nd Escort Group, built around HMS Tracker ( D 24) sinks two U-boats.

U-226 sunk at 0700hrs in the North Atlantic east of Newfoundland, in position 44.49N, 41.13W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling, HMS Woodcock and HMS Kite. 51 dead (all hands lost).

U-842 sunk at 1400hrs in the western North Atlantic, in position 43.42N, 42.08W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling and HMS Wild Goose. 56 dead (all hands lost).

WESTERN EUROPE: Weather grounds the USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division; fighters, during armed reconnaissance, attack railroads and bridges; the IX Tactical Air Command also supports ground forces in the Schmidt, Germany area.

NETHERLANDS: II Corps takes Middleburg, the largest settlement on Walcheren Island.

4th FG: Lt. John L. Childs, 334 FS, KIA P-51D QP*Z 44-14772 Hit by an Fw 190 near Rheine.

Lt. Earl C. Walsh, 334 FS, POW P-51D QP*N 44-14229 Hit by an Me 109 near Rheine.

55th FG: Lt. Paul R. Porter, 343 FS, KIA P-51D CY*K 44-13874 "Junie Bug II" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out over the English Channel.

364th FG: Lt. Stanley M. Pettengill, 383 FS, POW P-51D N2*B 44-13906 "Doc" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out north of Amsterdam.

469th FG: Lt. Marion W. Steele, 436 FS, KIA P-51D 9B* 44-11201 Suffered mechanical failure and crashed into the North Sea.

NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps clears Middelburg, on Waicheren Island. The British I Corps continues to eliminate scattered strongpoints south of the Maas River. The Polish 1st Armored Division, assisted by elements of the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, begins an attack on Moerdijk, on the German's escape route. The main body of the 104th Infantry Division starts to Aachen, Germany.

In the British Second Army area, the 15th Division continues a limited action north of Meijel.

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division repels further attacks against Kommerscheidt but is forced from the eastern end of Vossenack. The attack on Schmidt by Task Force R is postponed.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 704: 1,131 bombers and 802 fighters in six waves make Pathfinder Force attacks on the oil industry and marshalling yards (M/Ys) in western Germany; five bombers and five fighters are lost: 280 attack two oil refineries in Hamburg, 142 bombing the Grass-Rhen refinery and 138 the Ebano refinery; 231 bomb the M/Y at Neumunster; 209 hit an aqueduct at Minden; 134 bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Sterkrade; 87 attack the Welheim refinery at Bottrop; 65 hit the benzine refinery at Duisburg; 44 bomb the M/Y at Rheydt; 23 bomb the Bf 109 airplane repair facility at Neumunster; 12 attack the M/Y at Hamm; and ten hit targets of opportunity.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 738 bombers, 383 Halifaxes, 324 Lancasters and 31 Mosquitos, to bomb Gelsenkirchen; 693 bomb the city with the loss of three Lancasters and two Halifaxes. This large daylight raid has, as its aiming point, the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant. The attack is not well concentrated but 514 aircraft are able to bomb the approximate position of the oil plant before smoke obscures the ground; 187 aircraft then bomb the general town area of Gelsenkirchen.

During the night of 6/7 November, 235 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command attempt to cut the Mittelland Canal at its junction with the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Gravenhorst. The marking force experiences great difficulty in finding the target. The crew of a low-flying Mosquito find the canal and dropped their marker with such accuracy that it fell into the water and is extinguished. Only 31 aircraft bomb, before the Master Bomber orders the raid to be abandoned. Ten Lancasters are lost. Koblenz is the target assigned to 128 Lancasters making a night G-H attack; 123 bomb the target with the loss of two Lancasters lost. This is a successful raid with most of the damage being caused by a large area of fire in the centre of the town. The British Bombing Survey Unit later estimates that 303 acres (123 hectares), 58 per cent of the town's built-up area, are destroyed. Bomber Command Mosquitos are also active: 47 bomb Gelsenkirchen, 17 hit Hannover, 11 attack Rhein e and 8 bomb Herford; one aircraft is lost. Finally, 12 Lancasters lay mines off Heligoland Island.

U-2343 commissioned.

U-2347 launched.

U-3033 laid down.

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack industrial targets and marshalling yards (M/Ys) in Vienna and various other cities with the loss of four aircraft: 452 bombers hit three targets in Vienna, 220 bombing the Schonbrunn ordnance depot, 185 hitting the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery and 47 attack the Vosendorf oil refinery; 38 hit the Strashof marshalling yard; 31 bomb the Kapfenburg steel works; 25 attack the Main M/Y at Graz; and five others hit targets of opportunity.

FINLAND: The Finnish Advance in northwest Finland stops in front of a strong German defense line. No real attacks can be attempted since unit strengths are decreasing rapidly because of the demobilization begun on 1 November. Soon only the 1st Division is pushing the Germans to Norway. It's combat value is low and it waits until the Germans leave voluntarily.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 4 assumes command of the coastal sector from the 107th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. In the British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division takes Mt. Monsignano without opposition.

In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps moves forward following limited German withdrawal. In the region west of Highway 67, the 3d Carpathian Division takes Mt. Chioda and Mt. Pratello. The 5th Kresowa Division, east of the highway, seizes Mt. Testa, east of Dovadola.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers strike electric transformers and converters, railway bridges and railway fills on the rail line through the Brenner Pass; fighter-bombers and fighters again hit troops and gun positions in the battlelines south of Bologna and communications targets north of the battle area.

Thirteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers bomb power stations at Bolzano and nine hit the industrial area at Salorno.

Eighty two RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb tactical targets at Podgorica.

YUGOSLAVIA: Tito's partisans enter Monastir. The partisans control the entire Greek border.

Twenty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor.

EGYPT: Lord Moyne, the British Resident Minister in the Middle East, and his driver are shot and killed by two members of the Zionist Stern group in Cairo. The two killers are captured and in their defense they claim that they are carrying out orders from a Zionist terror network operating inside British Mandated Palestine. By finishing off Moyne they are sending a message directly to the highest echelons of the British Foreign Office: "Stop interfering with Jewish immigration into Palestine, or else..." The two are tried, convicted and hung.

INDIA: HQ Army Air Forces, India-Burma Sector, China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater is redesignated Army Air Forces, India-Burma Theater. Headquarters remains near Calcutta.

CHINA: The Japanese threat to Kunming, which is besieged, is by now a matter of serious concern to the U.S. Armyâ€™s China Theater headquarters.

Sixteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack the Mangshih and Lungling areas; and around Chefang and Kweihsien.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the 64th Regiment of the Chinese 22d Division crosses the Irrawaddy River and overcomes light opposition in Shwegugale.

Over 70 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts, sweep airfields at Anisakan, Onbauk, Shwebo, Kin, and Kawlin; destroy and damage a bridge at Wingkang; bomb the town of Mawtaung and marshalling yard at Kanbalu; hit boxcars at Wuntho and Meza, boats along the Irrawaddy River from Katha to Twinnge, and attack several scattered targets of opportunity. Twenty eight P-47s fly combat patrols south of Myitkyina while eight 8 B-25 Mitchells bomb the military area at Namun and supply dump at Mansi.

Fifteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighters hit buildings and other targets of opportunity at Wanling.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Torishima Island, score a hit on a large building, sink two nearby barges, and probably hit other shipping targets. About 20 Japanese fighters intercept, downing one B-25; the B-25s claim 3 victories.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte Island, the X Corps is ordered by Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, to drive as quickly as possible down Highway 2 to secure Ormoc. The 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, probes Breakneck Ridge in preparation for an attack southward. Forward elements of the 3d Battalion are forced back to beach near Colasian by intense Japanese fire. The 1st Battalion attempts in vain to get into position to support assault on Breakneck Ridge. In XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division clears all but isolated pockets on Bloody Ridge, despite well-prepared Japanese positions.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators strike the airfields at Lahug on Cebu Island and Fabrica on Negros Island while fighter-bombers attack Palompon on Leyte Island, a bridge north of Valencia on Mindanao Island, and barges in Ormoc Bay, Leyte Island.

Carrier-based aircraft of USN Task Force 38 resumes strikes against Luzon; Task Group 38.3 planes sink a Japanese transport in Silanguin Bay while aircraft from aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), in TG 38.3, sink a tanker previously damaged by submarine USS Flier (SS-250) on 13 June 1944, in Mariveles harbor. In two days of attacks, TF 38 aircraft have destroyed an estimated 400 Japanese aircraft, mostly on the ground, with the loss of 25 USN aircraft.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Malili on Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies.

Australian (B-25) Mitchells sink a Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser off Soemba Island, Netherlands East Indies.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan in the Mariana Islands bomb shipping at Okimura and Higashi-minato and hit Ani Jima Island. During the night of 6/7 November a snooper mission is flown over Iwo Jima airfields and the dispersal areas and runways are bombed.

The blockading of the Nanpo Shoto region, which includes the Bonin and Volcano Islands, by mining begins as Project MIKE commences. USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s, fly from Guam and stage through Isely Field, Saipan, where the mines are loaded and fuel tanks topped off. The B-24s lay 10 mines off Chichi Jima. Continuing through 24 December 1944, B-24s on Saipan fly 24 missions to lay 170 mines in several anchorages throughout the Bonin Islands.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Twenty three Australian Beauforts attack Japanese positions in the Wide Bay area on New Britain Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: US Navy Special Task Air Group One makes last attack in month long demonstration of TDR drone missile against Japanese shipping and islands in the Pacific. Of 46 missiles fired, 29 reached their target areas. (Robert Wear)

Tug HMCS Glendyne laid down Owen Sound, Ontario.

Frigate HMCS Penetang departed builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec for Halifax.

Corvette HMCS Beauharnois departed Halifax for workups in Bermuda.

Frigate HMCS Cape Breton arrived Shelburne NS for refit.

U.S.A.: Franklin Roosevelt is elected to a 4th term as President. Presidents have commonly picked their own choices for Vice-President. These have varied according to the notion of the Presidential nominee -- a "Veep" who would actually be qualified in the unlikely event of filling the top slot has always been the campaign story, but rare in fact. As a rule, they have been picked for purely political reasons -- to "balance" a ticket by putting on it someone from another region; to help garner votes from a particular voting segment; to remove someone likely to be a problem from the political arena (it was one of FDR's early Veep choices, John Nance Garner, who was famously quoted as saying that as a job, the Vice-Presidency "wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit"; or simply to put in somebody who was so apparently inconsequential that he simply filled a required hole into which he would be left for the next four years. Or some combination thereof. A fourth term was truly unique; no other President has ever served more than two, and after FDR a Constitutional Amendment was passed prohibiting more than two. After three others, the last one Henry Wallace, a populist and rather pink "fellow-traveller", this time Roosevelt went the first and fourth routes -- a Southerner who was also an apparent inconsequential. He picked a former WWI Army artillery captain, failed haberdasher, and Kansas City wardheeler who proved to be one of the toughest-minded individuals ever to hold the office of President, and very arguably one of the best -- Harry S Truman.

- In the Presidential race, the Democratic Party candidates, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, defeat the Republican candidates, Governor Thomas E. Dewey and John W. Bricker. Dewey carries 12 states, Roosevelt carries the other 36. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented fourth term with 53.5 percent of the popular vote and 81.4 percent of the Electoral College vote (432 versus 99).

- In the Senate contests, no seats change hands. The Democrats still control the Senate with 57 of 96 seats.

- In the House of Representatives contests, the Democrats gain 21 seats, the Republicans lose 19 and the independents lose two. The Democrats control the House with 243 of 435 seats.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-273 was commissioned at New York with LT W. P. Clark Jr., USCGR, as her first commanding officer. Lt. Edward L. Ayers, USCGR, succeeded him. LTJG Louis B. Adair, USCGR, succeeded him on 1 February 1945. LT Juan E. Lacson, USCGR, took command on 30 September 1945. She departed New York 3 December 1944 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war. She was decommissioned 30 October 1945.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-275 was commissioned at New York. LT H. L. Sutcliffe, USCGR, became her first commanding officer. She departed New York on 3 December 1944, for the Southwest Pacific, where she operated during the war.

Patrol Escort Vessel USS CASPER returns from her two month weather patrol to San Francisco. From here she will operate as a plane guard and weather patrol between California and Pearl Harbor. (Henry Sirotin)

A secret OSS report originating in Stockholm stated that four U-boats armed with V-1s would shortly sail on a patrol against New York; this was the third such report in 10 days.

GERMANY: Captain Walter Farmer, director of the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point, is ordered by the US Military Government office to select at least two hundred German museum-owned artworks and ship them to the United States to be stored at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Reportedly, General Lucius Clay had several reasons for issuing the order: to hold on to the art in exchange for wartime reparations; to hold the paintings in trusteeship for the German people and return the items once the nation earned the right to retain ownership; fear that the Soviet Union could steal the masterpieces; and entitlement of the American people to view the masterpieces. Farmer is outraged; He calls this "blatant looting" and "systematic looting" of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum and the Berlin Nationalgalerie by the U.S. Army. (Peter Kilduff)(205 p.65)

Minesweepers HMCS Mahone and Medicine Hat paid off Halifax and laid up Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

Minesweeper HMS Goderich paid off Halifax and laid up Sorel, Province of Quebec

Depot ship HMCS Preserver paid off.

UNITED STATES: Top songs on the pop record charts are: "Till the End of Time" by Perry Como, "I'll Buy that Dream" by The Pied Pipers, "That's for Me" by Dick Haymes and "With Tears in My Eyes" by Wesley Tuttle.