8 November 1939

GERMANY: Adolf Hitler, president of the far-right Nazi Party, launches the Beer Hall Putsch, his first attempt at seizing control of the German government. Hitler planned a coup against the state government of Bavaria, which he hopes will spread to the dissatisfied German army, which in turn would bring down the central democratic government in Berlin. This evening, Nazi forces under Hermann Göring surround the Munich beer hall where Bavarian government officials are meeting with local business leaders. A moment later, Hitler bursts in with a group of Nazi storm troopers, discharges his pistol into the air, and declares that "the national revolution has begun." Threatened at gunpoint, the Bavarian leaders reluctantly agree to support Hitler's new regime. In the early morning of 9 November, however, the Bavarian leaders repudiate their coerced support of Hitler and order a rapid suppression of the Nazis. At dawn, government troops surround the main Nazi force occupying the War Ministry building. A desperate Hitler responds by leading a march toward the center of Munich in a last-ditch effort to rally support. Near the War Ministry building, 3,000 Nazi marchers came face to face with 100 armed policemen. Shots are exchanged, and 16 Nazis and three policemen are killed. Hermann Göring is shot in the groin, and Hitler suffers a dislocated elbow but manages to escape. Three days later, Hitler and former General Erich Ludendorff, World War I Quartermaster General of the German Army, are arrested. Convicted of treason, he is given the minimum sentence of five years in prison. He is imprisoned in the Landsberg fortress and spends his time writing his autobiography, Mein Kampf, and working on his oratorical skills. Political pressure from the Nazis forced the Bavarian government to commute Hitler's sentence, and he is released after serving only nine months. Hitler himself soon rose (1925) to become the leader of the Nazi Party. (Tom Hickcox and Jack McKillop)

- In the Presidential race, the Democratic Party candidates, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Gardner, defeat the Republican contenders, President Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis. Hoover carries six states; Roosevelt carries the other 42. Roosevelt wins 57.4 percent of the popular vote and 88.9 percent of the Electoral College vote (472 versus 59).

- In the Senate contests, the Republicans lose 12 seats to the Democrats and the Democrats gain control of the Senate with 59 of 96 seats.

- In the House of Representatives contests, the Democrats gain 97 seats, the Republicans lose 101 and the independents gain 4. The Democrats gain control of the House with 313 of 435 seats.

The Columbia Broadcasting System's experimental TV station W2XAB in New York City reports on the presidential election to an estimated 7500 sets, or 9000 sets according to CBS's estimate. The program consists of commentary, return charts and still cartoons of politicians. (Jack McKiticians. (Jack McKiticians.

UNITED STATES: The motion picture "Mutiny on the Bounty" premiers at the Capitol Theater in New York City. This adventure film directed by Frank Lloyd stars Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Donald Crisp and Spring Byington. James Cagney, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Dick Haymes and David Niven appear as uncredited extras. During the filming, Gable objects to the "pigtail and velvet knee pants and shoes with silver buckles" while Laughton gets seasick. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture (it won), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gable, Laughton and Tone are nominated) and Best Director. The members of the American Film Institute have ranked this film No. 86 on the list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time.

When Hitler is told of the bomb, he cries: "Providence intends me to reach my goal!" Extra.

ROMANIA: 1,000 people are feared dead in an earthquake which has damaged oilfields.

JAPAN: Admiral NOMURA Kichasaburo is appointed Japanese Ambassador to the United States.

GERMANY: Last night RAF bombers attacked Cologne, Berlin and Mannheim in the heaviest bombing so far in a single night.

The RAF is radically reviewing its bombing strategy after German air defences took a heavy toll of RAF bombers and aircrew tonight. A total of 380 aircraft attacked Berlin, Cologne, Mannheim and the Ruhr; 34 - nearly a tenth - were lost.

GERMANY's Kammhüber Line, as it is known to the RAF, is responsible. This is a series of ground-controlled interception "boxes" along the most frequently-used routes; in each "box" a night-fighter waits to pounce, so far with great effect.

Berlin: Reliable sources said today that the Gestapo has arrested Bernhard Lichtenberg, the dean of St Hedwig's Roman Catholic Cathedral here. Renowned for his opposition to the Nazis, he used to close all his services with a prayer for the Jews and prisoners in the concentration camps.

This summer the police questioned him after he preached a series of sermons criticizing Nazi policies and the behaviour of the Gestapo in particular. He was released, but confined to challenge Hitler inside and outside church; together with his colleague the Roman Catholic bishop of Münster, he carried on preaching against the Nazi regime.

Most recently, he wrote to the Reich chief physician, Leonardo Conti, to protest against the authorities "euthanasia" campaign of killing mentally defective and incurably ill patients. "As a human being, a Christian, a priest and a German," he wrote, "I demand ... that you answer for the crimes that have been perpetrated with your consent, which will bring the vengeance of the Lord on the heads of the German people."

U.S.S.R.: The Germans occupy Yalta, in the Crimea, and Tikhvin, in the north, completing the encirclement of Leningrad.

SPAIN: At 0030hrs, U-77 reached the Spanish port of Vigo and was serviced by the German tanker Bessel. The U-boat left harbour at 0525hrs.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Last night Force K from MALTA attacks an Italian convoy sinking seven transports and one escort, the destroyer Fulmine. Force K consists of three light cruisers including HMS Aurora (12) and Penelope (97) and two destroyers, HMS Lance (G 87) and Lively (G 40).
Bruno Brivonesi commands the 3rd Division (now comprising heavy cruisers TRIESTE and TRENTO plus four destroyers) assigned as the cover force for a badly-needed convoy, known as the "Duisburg" convoy to the Germans (because the German merchant ship of that name was included in it) and the "Beta" convoy to the Italians. It consisted of seven ships carrying 34,000 tons of material, including 17,000 tons of fuel and 389 motor vehicles, with close escort of seven destroyers. In addition, 64 Italian aircraft (including six seaplanes) plus eight German planes allowed an escort of eight aircraft overhead from dawn to dusk.
The British though, attacked at night with the advantages of radar (which the Italians didn't) and prior intelligence from Ultra (the British code breaking efforts had cracked the Italian C38m code, which was used for communications between Italian forces at sea and their land-based HQ). Ultra had provided the British with the position and route of the convoy.
Force K made radar contact at a range of eight miles, and manoeuvred unseen into perfect attack position (not only down-moon, meaning the convoy was silhouetted by moonlight, but also waiting until Brivonesi's big ships were on the opposite tack, ten miles away and with the convoy between them and the British). The resulting action was a slaughter. The British first opened up-- at point-blank naval range, a mile and half to a mile and three-quarters-- on the three nearest destroyers of the close escort. They sank one, induced the other to retire at high speed (the third made smoke and tried to attack), and then sank all seven ships of the convoy before Brivonesi could come to the rescue. The Italian admiral chased the departing raiders, straddling enemy ships twice at ranges of five-and-a-half to ten miles, but eventually giving up a stern chase against faster vessels. Later, while rescuing survivors of the shipwrecks, the destroyer Libeccio is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M Upholder (N 99). (Mike Yaklich)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 3^rd Pursuit Squadron receives 25 P-40E’s. (Marc Small)

UNITED STATES: The keel of the Liberty ship SS Robert E. Peary is laid at the Permanente Metals Corporation (Kaiser) No.2 Yard in Richmond, California, at 0001 hours. The 250,000 parts weighing about 7,000 tons (6 350 metric tonnes) are assembled in 4 days, 15 hours and 29 minutes and she is launched on 12 November. The ship survives the war and is scrapped in June 1963.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Martlet aeroplanes from HMS AUDACITY shoot down two Focke-Wulf FW200s during an attack on Convoy ON-76.

During the night of 8/9 November, seven RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, the arm of the North Sea extending south and east of Heligoland Island.

ASPIDISTRA becomes operational today. ASPIDISTRA is the codename given to the powerful 600 kilowatt medium wave transmitter which was purchased from the U.S. for use in broadcasting propaganda on the German controlled wave-lengths. It cost UK£111,801, 4 shillings and 10 pence to buy the apparatus from the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Another sum of UK£16,000 is spent to prepare the site and erect the masts near Crowborough, Essex, England. The transmitter is not only the biggest and loudest radio in Europe at that time, it is also the nippiest. It has been specially designed to be able to make lightning changes of frequency. As Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, had noted in his Diary, "it hopped all over the waveband." First it broadcast on its own regular frequency, then it switches suddenly to that of the Deutschlandsender, when that station went off the air, or to that of Radio Frankfort or Radio Munich. The station engineers could accomplish a frequency switch in less than 30 seconds, something which it would take an ordinary transmitter hours to make, if not days. This faculty came in handy when the German jammers which were now devoting more and more of their strength to howling down the transmitter.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 8/9 November, 21 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

A joint American-British Declaration is broadcast to the people of Metropolitan France stating that the landing of American troops in French North Africa, is the first step toward the liberation of France, and had as its object the destruction of Axis forces there. "The hour of national uprising has not sounded. We have already promised you that we will warn you when this hour shall have come. Today that moment is closer."

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 17: 53 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to hit two targets; one B-17 is lost: 11 B-17s bomb Drucat Airfield at Abbeville while 31 B-17s bomb the Atclier d'Hellemmes locomotive works at Lille.

During the night of 8/9 November, 24 RAF Bomber Command Stirlings drop leaflets over many towns in France. Additionally, Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five seaports: four each lay mines off Brest and Lorient and three each lay mines off Gironde, the Gironde Estuary and St. Nazaire with the loss of two aircraft.

VICHY FRANCE: Ministers announce that the US, by "carrying the war to French territory, had by that very fact broken off diplomatic relations."

GERMANY: Munich: In his traditional speech on the anniversary of the Beercellar Putsch, Hitler says that Stalingrad has fallen "apart from some very small parts" and victory is certain.

During the night of 8/9 November, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the River Elbe Estuary.

DENMARK: During the night of 8/9 November, nine RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in Little Belt, the 30 miles (48 kilometer) strait between Fyn Island and the mainland of Denmark. Three other aircraft lay mines in the 40 miles (64 kilometers) long Great Belt between Sjaelland and Fyn Island.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet forces have begun an attack on the Terek front in the Caucasus. This threatens to cut off some units in the German III Panzer Corps.

PORTUGAL AND SPAIN: The British Foreign Office issues a statement announcing that the Ambassadors in Madrid and Lisbon have been instructed to inform the Spanish and Portuguese Governments that the British Government is at one with the United States Government regarding the American landings in French North Africa. The conversations take the form of solid bids for confidence from which it is hoped would come trade, agreements long sought by the United Nations.

Casablanca is the Western Area, sailing from the United States there are 35,000 troops of the US 2nd Armoured, 4rd Infantry and part of the 9th Infantry Divisions. They will land on three beaches around Casablanca with a 200 mile front. General George Patton is in command of the Ground Forces. Admiral Hewitt commands the naval forces which include two battleships, one fleet carrier, five escort carriers and escorting cruisers and destroyers.

Oran is the Centre Area. General Gredendall commands 39,000 troops of the US 1st Infantry and 1st Armored Divisions. Commodore Troubridge commands the naval forces of two escort carriers and escorting cruisers and destroyers.

The Eastern Area is Algiers. Major General Charles W. Ryder commands 33,000 troops of the US 34th Infantry and parts of the US 9th Infantry and US 1st Armored Divisions. The British 78 Division is part of this force. Admiral Burrough commands the Eastern Naval Task Force, consisting of two British aircraft carriers, three cruisers, 13 destroyers and 40 other warships, escorting the 33 auxiliaries carrying the landing force. Force H at Gibraltar, under Admiral Syfret has 3 battleships, three fleet carriers and escorting cruisers and destroyers, is on guard against the still formidable Italian Fleet.

The Eastern Assault Force (Regimental Combat Team 39, U.S. 9th Infantry Division; Regimental Combat Team 168, U.S. 34th Infantry Division; 11th and 36th Brigades, British 78th Division; British 1st and 6th Commando Battalions), lands east and west of Algiers at 0100 hours.

The US 11th Brigade and US Regimental Combat Team 168 go ashore west of Algiers near Castiglione and Sidi Ferruch. US Regimental Combat Team 39 lands east of Algiers near Cap Matifou.

Algiers landings make good early progress capturing the town of Algiers and French Admiral Darlan. The Oran landings are not so successful, but by nightfall the landing is well established and the Tafaraiu Airfield is in Allied hands and operational following a military combat parachute jump by the US 509th PIB (Parachute Infantry Brigade) to seize the airfield. (Mike Yared) The French battleship Jean Bart, armed and anchored, fights a gunnery duel with the USS Massachusetts. She had some near misses but not hits. MASSACHUSETTS hit her five times in return and damaged her, then the JEAN BART was hit by American dive bombers. The JEAN BART is only 80% complete and has one four-gun forward turret installed. The French destroyers also put up a fight. The landings at Safi go well, those at Port Lyautey are resisted. Escort sloops HMS HARTLAND and HMS WALNEY (ex USCG SEBANGO) are lost attempting to storm Oran harbour. WALNEY is fired on by shore batteries and ships in the harbour as she attempts to come alongside the jetty. She drifts out of control and is later abandoned, before exploding. Ex-US coast guard cutter Hartland receives similar treatment as well as firing from the destroyer Typhoon and drifts out into the harbour where she is later abandoned.

V and W class destroyer HMS Broke manages to get alongside the Quai de Falaise at Algiers, lands her US Rangers but has to recall them when her position is made untenable by light field guns. Broke leaves harbour on fire, and is then taken in tow by Zetland until she founders in heavy weather on 9 November.

Flower class corvette HMS Gardenia collides with the trawler Fluellan and sinks in fog off Oran at 35 49N 01 05W. There are no casualties. (Charles R. Gregory and Alex Gordon(108))

There is some help from the French, most helpful is General Mast at Algiers. While the troops are mostly US, the shipping is mostly British; this is an effort to present Torch as a US operation to pacify the French. General de Gaulle makes a suitable approving broadcast at the last minute, since he was not told in advance of the landings.

The 70th tank battalion is split with B Company and the 47th Infantry Regiment landing at Safi, French Morocco, C Company and the 60th at Port Lyautey, French Morocco , and A Company and the 39th at Algiers, Algeria. Combat is over in a day except at Port Lyautey where it lasts three days. (Mike Yared)

The ground echelon of the USAAF 31st Fighter Group land at the Arzeu beach in Algeria, and the pilots fly their aircraft to Tafaraoui, Algeria, to join the 52nd Fighter Group.

Light cruiser HMS Jamaica assisted in the invasion of North Africa. She was part of the Center Task Force (Oran area).

EPERVIER, Vichy French Destroyer Leader, 5.45am Damaged off Oran by 6in Gunfire from the cruiser HMS Aurora and two destroyers, and beached

TRAMONTANE, Vichy French Destroyer, 5.40am, sunk off Oran (35-55N 01-05W) by 6in gunfire from the cruiser Aurora. The first broadside swept the bridge of TRAMONTANE and disabled half of her armament. She runs aground under the cliffs off Cape Aiguille.

TORNADE, Vichy French Destroyer, 5.40am, damaged by gunfire from Aurora sank at 7.30am.

TYPHON, Vichy French Destroyer, Scuttled in Oran harbour following damage from Aurora.

LA SURPRISE, Vichy French Aviso, sunk off Oran by 4.7in gunfire from HMS Brilliant

BROKE, HMS, RN Destroyer, 8.30am damaged by Vichy shore batteries, abandoned and scuttled at 7pm.

Submarine FS Argonaute sunk off Oran during the Allied landings in North Africa by destroyer HMS Achates.

Destroyers FS Boulonnais, Brestois, Fougeaux, Frondeur, sunk by gunfire from Allied warships off Casablanca.

Destroyer FS Milan ran aground at Casablanca after being damaged by American naval gunfire and American aircraft.

Submarines FS La Psyche and Oreade sunk in Casablanca by US aircraft during Allied landings. Raised 1944 and not repaired.

OPERATION TORCH: The invasion of North Africa. F4F Wildcats of VF-41 from the USS RANGER down 13 Vichy French fighters over Cazes Aerodrome, French Morocco. Five other French warplanes are destroyed by pilots from other fighter squadrons in the area.

1700 hours: The 308th FS and 309 FS of the 31st FG arrive at Tafaraoui Airdrome, south of Oran, Algeria after staging through Gibraltar from England. One 309th FS Spitfire is shot down in the landing pattern by Vichy French fighters and its pilot is killed.

FRENCH MOROCCO: The Western Naval Task Force, consisting of three USN battleships, one aircraft carrier, four escort aircraft carriers, seven cruisers, 38 destroyers and 16 other warships, escorts 36 auxiliaries and merchant ships carrying 35,000 U.S. troops of the Western Task Force (Major General George S. Patton). These troops will land at three points along a 200 mile (322 kilometer) front. The landings are scheduled to begin at 0400 hours, but they are delayed at least an hour in landing the Casablanca assault forces; they engage the French fleet at Casablanca. The French force (Rear Admiral Gervais de Lafonde in destroyer leader Milan) makes a valiant attempt to disrupt the landings, but is overwhelmed by gunfire from covering USN ships. U.S. ships damaged are the battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59), heavy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45), light cruiser USS Brooklyn (CL-40), destroyers USS Ludlow (DD-438) and Murphy (DD-603), and high speed minesweeper USS Palmer (DMS-5) by

French shore batteries; high speed minesweeper USS Stansbury (DMS-8) by mine; and transport USS Leedstown (AP-73) by German aerial torpedo. French ships sunk area merchant passenger liner and a cargo ship by USS Massachusetts; destroyer Fougueux by USS Massachusetts and heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37); destroyer Boulonnais by light cruiser USS Brooklyn (CL-40); destroyers Brestois and Frondeur by U.S. ships; submarines Sidi-Ferruch, Oréade, Amphitrite, and Psyché by U.S. Navy carrier-based planes; and a merchant passenger liner, a tanker and a cargo ship i. French ships damaged are battleship Jean Bart by battleship USS Massachusetts; submarine Le Tonnant by U.S. Navy ships; submarine Meduse by aircraft; and light cruiser Primaguet, destroyer leader Milan, and destroyers Albatros and Alcyon by naval aircraft. French sloops Grandiere, Commandant Delage, and Gracieuse sortie during the afternoon and pick up survivors from the French warships sunk in battle that morning. The latter two sloops will repeat the operation on 10 November. (Ron Babuka, Alex Gordon, Skip Guidry, Jack McKillop and James Paterson)

The Northern Attack Group Task Force (60th Infantry Regiment of 9th Infantry Division and 1st Battalion of the 66th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division) under Major General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr., USA, lands on the beaches north and south of the Sebou River at Mehdia; they attempt to reach Port Lyautey and the airfield 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) north but meet considerable opposition and cannot reach their objective. The Task Force of the Center Attack Group (3d Infantry Division and 1st Battalion of 67th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division) under Major General Jonathan W. Anderson, USA, lands northeast of Fedala, sustaining serious loss of landing craft (242 or 64 percent), and takes their D-Day objectives. The surprised Vichy French Fedala garrison surrenders and the advance is continued toward Casablanca. The Southern Attack Group's landing force (47th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division; 2d and 3d Battalions of the 67th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division; and special units) under Major General Ernest N. Harmon, USA, secures a 5,000-yard (4 572 meter) beachhead in the Safi area and takes Safi. Two USN destroyers, with Companies K and L of the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and a naval contingent aboard, enter Safi Harbor ahead of the landings; after silencing batteries with gunfire, land the assault force, which takes harbor facilities without opposition. (Ron Babuka, Alex Gordon, Skip Guidry, Jack McKillop and James Paterson)

F4F Wildcats of Fighting Squadron Forty One (VF-41) in the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) down 13 Vichy French fighters over Cazes Airdrome. Five other French warplanes are destroyed by pilots from other fighter squadrons in the area. (Ron Babuka, Alex Gordon, Skip Guidry, Jack McKillop and James Paterson)

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains of the 60th Troop Carrier Group attempting to land troops at La Senia Airfield find the French unexpectedly hostile and have several aircraft shot down by fighters and antiaircraft; several other C-47s are damaged when trying to land on the dry lakebed of Sebkra d'Oran. (Ron Babuka, Alex Gordon, Skip Guidry, Jack McKillop and James Paterson)

FRENCH NORTHWEST AFRICA: Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, broadcasts a message calling on all Frenchmen in North Africa to rise without reserve and join the Allies. "Our Algeria, our Morocco, our Tunisia are to be made the jumping-off ground for the liberation of France."

ALGERIA: Oran: Capt. Frederick Thornton Peters (b.1889) took HMS WALNEY into Oran harbour under blistering fire; of 17 on the bridge, only he survived. He died in an air crash on 13 November. (Victoria Cross)

TUNISIA: The Bey of Tunis received a message from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the arrival of American troopsin Northwest Africa, and asking passage of these troops through Tunisia. Roosevelt states that "The troops were arriving with, no aim but the "early destruction of our common enemies." The Axis Powers were seeking to occupy and dominate Tunisia, and to impose on its people a "condition of misery to which I am sure they will never submit." "

EGYPT: The British Eighth Army, although still delayed by rainfall, clears opposition in the Mersa Matruh area.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit Japanese forces in the Oivi area in the Owen Stanley Range as Australian ground forces push over the mountains toward the Gona-Buna area. USAAF transports fly the final elements of Task Force Warren (1st Battalion of 128th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division) from Port Moresby to Wanigela; from there are move forward by boat.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In the action east of the Lunga perimeter, on Guadalcanal, Col Puller suffers multiple wounds.

The 7th Marine Regiment and 2d Battalion of the Army’s 164th Infantry Regiment, latter being attached to 7th Marine Regiment as reserve, move east along the coast to surround the Japanese now disposed astride Gavaga Creek, west of Tetere. 1st and 2d Battalions of 7th Marine Regiment take up positions on the west and east banks, respectively, of the creek. (John Nicholas)

The "Tokyo Express" has been landing reinforcements along the coast from Kokumbona to Cape Esperance during the period 28 October to date. A run of the "Express" is located too late in the day for interception by the Cactus Air Force.

During the day Admiral Halsey lands to observe conditions for himself. Halsey is treated to a demonstration of why the Marines referred to the waters north of the island as "Sleepless Lagoon" by a shelling from the Tokyo Express.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the radio station and airfield at Gasmata on New Britain Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: On her seventh war patrol, USN submarine Seawolf (SS-197) sinks a Japanese gunboat about 50 nautical miles (92 kilometers) south-southeast of Davao, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, in position 06.22N, 126.02E.

CANADA: The Government of Canada severs relations with Vichy France stating that "there no longer existed in France any government with "effective independent existence." "

U.S.A.: The Bogue class auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) USS Card (ACV-11) is commissioned; the USN now has 13 ACVs in commission. The ACVs will be redesignated escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) on 15 July 1943. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

MEXICO: The Government severs diplomatic relations with France. President Avila Camacho broadcasts the announcement that the Government of Mexico has broken off diplomatic relations with Vichy stating "Mexico cannot continue relations with a nation failing to cooperate with the democracies. We are sure that all Frenchmen will understand our move. . . ."

CARIBBEAN SEA: British patrol boat rescues 34 survivors of US freighter WEST KEBAR , sunk on October 29, and transports them to Barbados, British West Indies. (Rodney Sanders)(83)

U-128 sank SS Maloja.

U-154 sank SS D´Entrecasteaux.

U-161 damaged SS Benalder and sank SS West Humhaw.

U-181 sank SS Plaudit.

U-67 damaged SS Capo Olmo.

While refuelling U-454 on 8 Nov Leutnant zur See der Reserve Helmut Schwenzel from U-117 was washed overboard.

UNITED KINGDOM: The decision had been taken today to form the No. 100 Group of the RAF. Its role, under Bomber Command, will be to wage the radio counter-measures war against the German air defences and so reduce bomber casualties. Under Air Vice-Marshal E. B. Addison's command, it will be located at airfields in northern Norfolk, its squadrons being mainly equipped with Halifaxes and Mosquitoes.

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 125: Two B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 312,000 leaflets over Paris at 0038-0042 hours.

GERMANY: Munich: Hitler visited Munich for his annual Beerkellar speech and promised the German people that he would retaliate for the "terror bombing" of the Reich by Britain. "Even if for the present we cannot reach America," he said, "thank God that at least one country is near enough for us to tackle, and on that country we are going to concentrate. The hundreds of thousands of our bombed-out people will become the advance guard of revenge." He appealed to the German people not to lose their nerve and crack. He denounced "scoundrels" who wished for peace.

During the night of 8/9 November, Oboe equipped RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: three each hit Cologne and the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Duisburg.

ITALY: The battles in the US 5th Army sector continue with no success on either side. The British 8th Army reaches the Sangro River high up in the hills.

British General Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief 15th Army Group, orders the U.S. Fifth Army to plan for an amphibious operation on the west coast.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, the 56th Division withstands strong counterattacks at Calabritto and seizes a hill to the northeast. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division is still unable to scale Mt. la Difensa, but the 3d Battalion of 15th Infantry Regiment takes Hill 253 and the 3d Battalion of 30th Infantry Regiment reaches the top of Mt. Rotondo. The 45th Infantry Division continues to fight for the mountains north of Venafro and Pozzilli. The 3d Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, opens an assault on the hills between Pozzilli and Filignano. The 34th Infantry Division’s Task Force A takes Montaquila.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 78th Division gains the heights overlooking the Sangro River from its mouth to Paglieta.

Weather cancels all XII Air Support Command missions except fighter patrols. Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft and RAF Desert Air Force fighters fly only six missions, hitting gun positions along the battleline, vehicles west of the Sangro River, and trains at Civitanova and Pescara.

Eighty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Turin ball bearing factory, marshalling yard, and nearby motor and aircraft engine works with the loss of one aircraft. P-38 Lightnings provide escort as far north as Imperia.

During the night of 8/9 November, 12 RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the railroad bridge at Ombrone.

CHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Kiungshan Airfield, scoring direct hits on two hangars and six P-40s attack Hsiangyangchiao bridge, causing little damage.

BURMA: Five USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators lay mines in the Rangoon River during the night of 8/9 November.

NEW GUINEA: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit Utarom (Kaimana) Aerodrome.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance bomb Garowe Island in the Vitu Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Major Gen Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General I Marine Amphibious Corps pending arrival of Major General Roy S. Geiger, reaches Bougainville and takes command of operations there and on the Treasury Islands.

Advance elements of the 37th Infantry Division, Regimental Combat Team 148, also arrive to take over the left flank of the beachhead and are attached to 3d Marine Division. The Battle of Koromokina Lagoon ends as the 1st Battalion of the 21st Marine Regiment, after extremely effective preparatory fire, attacks and eliminates subdued remnants of the Japanese counterlanding force.

On Bougainville Island, 22 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of the island. Six B-25 Mitchells hit targets of opportunity at the month of the Laruma River and northwest of Torokina while six others bomb Kieta on the west coast.

Japanese Navy aircraft, 26 "Val" dive bombers (Aichi D3A, Navy Type Carrier Bombers) and 71 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) attack U.S. ships off Cape Torokina, Bougainville, at 1200 hours damaging light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62) and two attack transports USS Fuller (APA-7) and USS President Jackson. USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings and P-40s shoot down eight "Vals" and seven "Zekes" between 1200 and 1230 hours.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Abercrombie, Coates, Frybarger, Oberrender, Sargent Bay, Vandivier, Wagner laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Howard F Clark and Silverstein launched.

Escort carrier USS Kitkun Bay launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Reynolds and Manlove commissioned.

The USN escort aircraft carrier Niantic (CVE-46) is transferred to the British Royal Navy under Lend-Lease and commissioned HMS Ranee (D 03). This is the 29th CVE transferred to the British under Lend-Lease. She is returned to the USN on 21 November 1946.

UNITED KINGDOM: The transfer of training functions from the USAAF Eighth Air Force’s VIII Air Force Composite Command to combat groups is completed and the VIII Air Force Composite Command ceases to function as personnel are attached to the Air Disarmament Command (Provisional) by the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF). The airfield at Denain/Prouvy, France is assigned to HQ Eighth AF; this is the first step in establishing an VIII Air Force Services Command Service Center on the European continent so that Eighth AF can service and administer its own aircraft and personnel in the area.

WESTERN EUROPE: Weather cancels USAAF Ninth Air Force operations against military depots and troop concentrations in Germany, and fortified positions in France; a mission against rail bridges in Germany is recalled due to weather; fighters fly escort, attack railroads, bridges, factories, supply dumps, and command posts; the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands support the US 28th Infantry Division in the Schmidt, Germany area (V Corps begins withdrawing the Kall River bridgehead) and Third Army elements start an assault on enemy fortifications in the Metz, France area.

NETHERLANDS: Walcheren: Canadian and British commandos, joined by Dutch and French units, overran the last enemy defences on Walcheren Island and opened the Scheldt Estuary to Allied shipping sailing up to the port of Antwerp. Among the 8,000 prisoners taken was General Daser, commanding the German "Dyspeptic Division", the 70th, largely manned by chronic invalids.

RAF bombers had blown a 400-yard gap in the Westkapelle dyke, and the whole of the centre of the island had been flooded. Backed by guns of HMS Warspite, troops in amphibious craft landed on sanddunes and waist-deep in water, advanced into Middleburg, the island capital, where Dutch families and German troops jammed the upper storey of houses. Fighting came to a halt as the Dutch welcomed the liberators. The Germans made no attempt to resist; they sat watching cheering crowds before being taken prisoner and evacuated by boat. It will be two or three weeks before Antwerp can be opened. The 70-mile Scheldt channel must be swept for mines and Antwerp's port installations repaired.

The 21 Army Group begins an extensive regrouping in order to place the British Second Army along the Meuse River facing eastward.

USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers hit two targets: eight bomb the industrial area at Enschede and one hits the airfield at Dekooy.

During the night of 8/9 November, eight USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers drop leaflets over the Netherlands.

FRANCE: The U.S. Third Army opens an offensive toward the Sarre River. The XX Corps makes final preparations for an assault on the Metz fortified area. By dawn the 90th Infantry Division, which is to make the main effort, completes a secret move to Foret de Cattenom in preparation for an attack across the Moselle River through Koenigsmacker and the Maginot Line. The 10th Armored Division is moving north to attack in conjunction with 90th Infantry Division. The 95th Infantry Division begins a diversionary action (Operation CASANOVA) at 2100 hours when the 377th Infantry Regiment, crosses the Moselle River in assault boats just south of Uckange after an engineer detachment clears the east bank; against light resistance. They move inland some 400 yards (366 meters), but accurate German fire prevents bridging; simultaneously with the river crossing, two battalions of the 377th Infantry Regiment begin clearing a German pocket west of the Moselle in the vicinity of Maizières-lês- Metz. XII Corps begins a drive toward the Sarre River at 0600 hours after preparatory fire. The 8oth Infantry Division, with three regiments abreast on the north flank, attacks across the Seille River, taking Eply, Nomeny, and Aulnois-sur-Seille. The 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, seizes Malaucourt and Jallaucourt while the 320th Infantry Regiment, in conjunction with the 26th Infantry Division, attempts to reach the Morhange plateau but is stopped at Fresnesen-Saulnois on the left and short of Bois d’Amélecourt on the right. The 26th Infantry Division employs three regiments abreast on the right flank of the corps: the 104th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by two small Task Forces. seizes Vic-sur-Seille and Seille bridges there; the 101st Infantry Regiment overruns Moyenvic and takes its bridge, then begins a costly action for Hill 310 (C6te St Jean); feinting toward Dieuze on right flank of corps, the 328th Infantry Regiment seizes Bezange-la-Petite and

Moncourt; the 2d Cavalry Group, attached to the 26th Infantry Division, protects the flank of the corps along the Marne-Rhine Canal.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, XV Corps issues a field order for an offensive to begin on 13 November. Infantry of the 44th and 79th Infantry Divisions are to breach enemy positions and the French 2d Armored Division is then to drive through the gap to exploit.

GERMANY: Major Walter Nowotny, a highly-decorated Luftwaffe hero with 258 "kills" under his belt, dies when his Me262 crashes.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 705: 690 bombers and 890 fighters are dispatched to make a PFF attack on the I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Merseburg the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Rheine: 201 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the refinery with the loss of three aircraft and 77 B-24 Liberators bomb the M/Y without loss. Eleven other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

During the day, 136 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters are dispatched to bomb the Meerbeck synthetic oil plant at Homberg; 134 bomb the target. One Lancaster is lost. The raid opens well and two large fires are seen but smoke then conceals the target and later bombing is scattered.

During the night of 8/9 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: 45 hit Hannover and nine attack Herford without loss.

FINLAND: The Finnish demobilization begins. By 5 December some 380 000 men are released from military service. The ongoing war against Germans in northern Finland slows down as the Finnish forces are reduced in size and veterans are replaced with 19 year-old conscripts (this new phase of the war is nicknamed 'the Children's Crusade').

In the British Eighth Army’s Polish II Corps area, the 3d Carpathian Division is clearing the hills between Modigliana and Dovadola and takes Dovadola. The 5th Kresowa Division presses toward Castrocaro, gaining Mt. della Birra without opposition. The British V Corps makes slow progress in the Forli area. After nightfall, the 46th Division begins an attack across the Rabbi River, the 128th Brigade crossing at St. Martino in Strada and the 138th Brigade, upstream from there.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers strike the rail line in the Brenner Pass and other lines running into Italy from the northeast and bomb bridges in the central and western Po Valley, damaging several and destroying the bridge at Mantua; fighters and fighter-bombers hit communications in the Bologna area, but concentrate most of their operations against bridges and rail lines in the Parma area in an effort to disrupt battle area supply lines.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb three tactical targets: 21 bomb Prijepolje, seven hit Sjenica and six attack Mitrovica; heavy cloud over the targets forces 70+ others to abort. One aircraft is lost.

During the night of 8/9 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb four targets: 31bomb a highway choke point at Sjenica; 23 hit a highway choke point at Novi Pasar; one attack a pontoon bridge at Visegrad; and two bomb targets of opportunity.

GREECE: The Indian 4th Division arrives in Salonika; elements move to Thrace to avert a threat of civil war between Nationalist Liberation Front (EAM), a part of the Greek Communist Party, and its armed forces the Greek National Liberation Army (ELAS), now in control there, and non-Communist nationalist guerrillas.

CHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit railroad tracks at Lohochai in southern China. Meanwhile, 15 B-25s and 13 P-40s and P-51 Mustangs attack storage buildings, villages, and other targets of opportunity throughout the Mangshih area.

British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander South East Asia Command (SEAC), issues a directive calling for Operation ROMULUS (the Arakan part of Operation CAPITAL), to clear the Arakan coastal sector.

In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the Indian 5th Division finishes clearing the Japanese from the region south of Tiddim with the unopposed occupation of Fort White, previously a Japanese strongpoint.

Over 80 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces in the Mawlu area, bomb personnel, supplies, and communications facilities at Tunhong, Chaungdauk, and Kutkai, gun positions at Hsipaw, the Man Hpa town area, Kawlin Airfield and targets of opportunity along the Kawlin-Pinwe railroad and eight B-25 Mitchells knock out the Bawgyo railroad bridge.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit railroad tracks at Duc Tho.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The Japanese land another division at Ormoc, Leyte Island, about this time and send it into the mountains of central Leyte.

In the U.S. X Corps area, the 24th Infantry Division’s 21st Infantry Regiment, despite a raging typhoon, continues attack on Breakneck Ridge but cannot force the Japanese back. The 19th Infantry Regiment succeeds in clearing the ridge, which has been barring its advance, but is still short of Hill 1525; elements move 1,000 yards (914 meters) west to occupy the next ridge. The 21st Infantry Regiment drives to Hill 1525. In the XXIV Corps area, patrols of 382d Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Divison, locate a Japanese force about 2,600 yards (2 377 meters) west of Patok.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators again hit Alicante (Escalente) Airfield in the northeastern section of Negros Island.

EAST INDIES: On Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells bomb Langoan Airfield on the northeast tip of the island while P-38 Lightnings on sweeps over the Kendari area on the southeast corner of the island and hit parked aircraft, shipping, the nickel mine, and other targets of opportunity. On Halmahera Island, B-25 Mitchells attack Kaoe Airfield on the northeast corner of the island and Hate Tabako Airfield in the Moluccas Islands.

BONIN ISLANDS and VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan hit shipping at Chichi Jima and Haha Jima Islands. A single B-24 on a snooper mission bombs Iwo Jima Island during the night of 8/9 November.

Seventeen B-29 Superfortresses of the USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XXI Bomber Command fly Mission 5. The target is one of the airfields on Iwo Jima; six manage to bomb through a hole in the cloud cover; but others fail to bomb the target. Japanese aircraft drop phosphorus bombs on the formations, damaging a B-29. One B-29 ditches, the first aircraft lost by the XXI Bomber Command on a combat mission.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A wolfpack, headed by USS Growler, closed a Japanese convoy for attack, with Growler on the opposite side of the enemy from USS Hake and Hardhead. The order to commence attacking was the last communication ever received from Growler. After the attack was underway, Hake and Hardhead what sounded like a torpedo explosion and then a series of depth charges on Growler's side of the convoy, and then nothing. All efforts to contact Growler for the next 3 days proved futile and the gallant submarine, veteran of seven successful war patrols, was listed as lost in action against the enemy, cause unknown.

U.S.A.: Washington: Franklin Delano Roosevelt went to bed shortly after midnight this morning knowing that after rough campaigning by the Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey, he has been elected president for the fourth time. The aggressive Republican campaign included criticism of Roosevelt's family and end of his dog, Fala.

The president's victory was comfortable, though not a landslide. The latest results show President Roosevelt leading in 35 states with a total of 413 votes in the electoral college, against Mr. Dewey's lead in 13 states with only 118 votes. In terms of the popular vote, Mr. Roosevelt has so far won 23 million votes, and Mr. Dewey has won 20 million.

Mr. Roosevelt was resting today, but his press secretary issued a statement. "What is really important", it said, "is that we have again demonstrated that democracy is a living force."

The Democrats have gained 23 seats in the House of Representatives, and seven in the Senate. They have also kept control of Congress.

Destroyer USS Henry W Tucker launched.

Minesweeper USS Minivet launched.

Minesweeper USS Recruit commissioned.

Coast Guard manned Army FS-348 was commissioned at Kewaunee WI with LTJG M. R. Cook, USCGR, as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area during the war. She was decommissioned on 28 September 1945.

AUSTRIA: Vienna: Mayor Koerner announces that in the past eight weeks, 128,000 cubic meters of rubble has been cleared, and 1,275 tonnes of scrap iron recovered. Over two million bricks have been recovered for rebuilding.

U.S.A.: The United States and Mexico sign a treaty to share the benefits of the Hoover Dam.

In the wake of World War II, America needs to convert its economy back to peacetime conditions. The passage of the Revenue Act of 1945 by the Congress today is a key step in rolling back the heavy taxes which had been implemented to help wage the war. Along with cutting US$6 billion (US$65.1 billion in year 2005 dollars) in taxes, the Revenue Act initiates an extensive post-war revision of the nation's entire tax system.

Admiral Spruance becomes the Pacific Fleet Commander in Chied, succeeding Admiral Chester Nimitz.