10 November 1939

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA: The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, passes a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This resolution, establishes the Continental Marines and marks the birth date of the United States Marine Corps. After American independence is achieved in 1783, the Continental Navy is demobilized and its Marines disbanded. In the next decade, however, increasing conflict at sea with Revolutionary France leads the U.S. Congress to establish formally the U.S. Navy in May 1798. Two months later, on 11 July, President John Adams signs the bill establishing the U.S. Marine Corps as a permanent military force under the jurisdiction of the Department of Navy.

PACIFIC OCEAN: South of the Aleutian Islands, a major submarine earthquake, centered in a sparsely populated area, was felt strongly at False Pass, Unimak Island. It also is reported at Port Moller and Anchorage. The earthquake generates a small tsunami, which is recorded at Dutch Harbor, Seward, and Sitka, Alaska, and at Hilo and Honolulu, Hawaii.

UNITED STATES: Singer Kate Smith sings "God Bless America" for the very first time on her CBS radio show tonight. Composer Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, but never released it until Miss Smith sang it tonight. It is a fitting tribute to its composer who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional, song to the Boy Scouts of America. The song became Kate Smith's second signature after "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" and the unofficial national anthem of the United States during World War II.

The song "God Bless America," written by Irving Berlin in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, was recorded by Kate Smith for Victor Records today. Ms. Smith had introduced the song on her live radio show on Thursday, 10 November 1938, the day before Armistice Day. It was a fitting tribute to its composer who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional, song to the Boy Scouts of America. The song became Kate Smith's second signature after "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" and the unofficial national anthem of the United States during World War II.

RAF Bomber Command Ops. 4 Grp. Leaflets and Reconnaissance - Ruhr. 77 Sqn. Five aircraft. One returned early with W/T failure, one crashed on return.

CANADA: Patrol vessel HMCS Allaverdy chartered. Appraised at $27,423.00. Originally built by Capt Roberts and paid for by running guns to rebels in Spain, and bring cork out. On return to owner 12 Apr 45, settlement was $3,300.00 in lieu or repairs.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Roaring '20s" opens at the Strand Theater in New York City. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this gangster drama stars James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Frank McHugh. On stage is Bob Crosby And His Orchestra and Paul Winchell and his dummy Jerry Mahoney.

The motion picture "Allegheny Uprising" is released. Directed by William Seiter and based on a novel by Neil H. Swanson, this action adventure film in British Colonial America stars John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Brian Donlevy and Chill Wills

We have been much disturbed by reports of the intention of the French Government to bring [the battleships] Jean Bart and Richelieu to Mediterranean for completion. The danger is that these ships will fall under German control. We should feel bound to do our best to prevent it.

I would be most helpful if you felt able to give a further warning at Vichy on this matter.

[Roosevelt responded quickly offering to purchase the two ships for US Navy and guaranteeing that they would not be used in the present war.]

RAF Bomber Command: 111 aircraft are dispatched to the largest number of targets yet attacked in Germany in one night. The largest raid - with 25 Wellingtons involved - being on Gelsenkirchen. Bad weather over Europe makes the raids hazardous, with ice, thunder and cloud from ground to 18,000 feet.

ASW trawler HMS Kingston Alalite mined off Plymouth.

Submarine HMS Unbeaten commissioned.

The End of the Battle of Britain. The onset of winter weather significantly reduces the threat of a German invasion of Britain. The Germans conducted a massive raid on Coventry, which destroyed the industrial city. But the British survived the worst of the Blitzkrieg as German air raids became increasingly sporadic. In the Battle of Britain, from 8 August-31 October1940, the Luftwaffe lost 2,375 planes while the RAF lost 800 planes. Many British cities, however, were seriously damaged and burned. German air attacks would resume in the spring of 1941, but the Luftwaffe had to shift air resources to the east in preparation for the German invasion of Russia.

FRANCE: The German-French definitive peace postponed until end of war with the U.K. "because of uncertainty and flux of points to enter the treaty."

Our aerial combat formations continued their retaliatory raids on London all day and through the night. Once again they hit a large number of war-related industrial plants.

Margaret White, a 26-year-old woman born in England and married to William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw), makes her first radio broadcast on Berlin Radio as Lady Haw Haw. In 1942 she broadcasts under her real name with weekly talks about women's economic problems. Both are arrested on 28 May 1945 and taken to London for trial on charges of treason. William Joyce is found guilty and hanged in 1946. Margaret Joyce is spared a trial on the basis that she was a German citizen (her husband having become a naturalized German citizen in 1940). She is deported to Germany and interned as a security suspect for a short while. After her release she returned to London where she died in 1972.

ALBANIA: General Soddu replaces General Prasca as the head of the Italian attack on Greece.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Martin Maryland's of No. 431 Flight RAF are used to reconnoitre the Italian Fleet at Taranto.

INDIAN OCEAN: The German auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) HK Atlantis, German ship 16 (known to the British as Raider "C") captures its 12th victim, the 8,305 ton Norwegian tanker SS Ole Jakob.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Canada and Britain start Trans-Atlantic Ferry Service to move planes, men and supplies to the U.K. from Goose Bay, Labrador, and Gander, Newfoundland.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On U-28, Maschinengefreiter Sachse was severely injured by boiling water.

Shortly after leaving Lorient, the crew of U-43 realized the boat was leaking fuel. U-43 returned to base and set out on patrol again the next day.

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill announces in a speech: "... should the United States become involved in a war with Japan, a British declaration of war will follow within the hour."

FINLAND: The Finnish troops of Group O (Maj. Gen. Woldemar Oinonen) cut the Murmansk railway at Perälahti. This doesn't seriously hinder the Soviet supply flow, however; Soviets had already constructed a railway further east.

S-34 Black Sea Fleet off Emine Cape (mined in Burgas Bay) (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander-in-Chief Asiatic Fleet, receives permission to withdraw the river gunboats from the Yangtze River in China and Marine forces from China.

CANADA: Calgary: LAC Karl Mander Gravell (b.1922), RCAF, crashed and tried, despite terrible burns and the loss of an eye, to save his pilot. He later died. (George Cross)

A troop convoy designated WS-124 sails from Halifax, consisting mainly of U.S. transports, with a U.S. escort formed around the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) as far as South Africa. Among the transports are the three premier liners of the American merchant marine (America, Manhattan and Washington), now in Navy service as USS West Point, Wakefield and Mount Vernon, respectively, transporting more than 20,000 British soldiers. The convoy is initially destined for Basra. (Keith Allen)

The Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., NOMURA Kichisaburo, sends the following message to the Foreign Office in Tokyo: "I sent Moore [a] to contact Senator Thomas of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and [Secretary of State Cordell] Hull. His report reads as follows: "The United States is not bluffing. If Japan invades again, the United States will fight with Japan. Psychologically the American people are ready. The Navy is prepared and ready for action." Yesterday evening, Sunday, a certain Cabinet member, discarding all quibbling, began by saying to me: "You are indeed a dear friend of mine and I tell this to you alone." Then he continued: "The American Government is receiving a number of reliable reports that Japan will be on the move soon. The American Government does not believe that your visit on Monday to the President or the coming of Mr. KURUSU Saburu will have any effect on the general situation." I took pains to explain in detail how impatient the

Japanese have grown since the freezing; how they are eager for a quick understanding; how both the Government and the people do not desire a Japanese-American war; and how we will hope for peace until the end."

In the North Atlantic, U-109 met the Silva Plana, a German capture, and escorted it to safe French waters.

U-752 was slightly damaged when it struck bottom in the Arctic Sea.

USN destroyer USS Ericsson (DD-440), screening convoy HX-157 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact later evaluated as a "doubtful" submarine.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Buoyant after the desert victory at El Alamein, the Allied landings in North Africa, the relief of the island of Malta and prospects of success in Russia - but still warning of hardships to come for the people of Britain - Churchill told a Mansion House dinner tonight: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps the end of the beginning" for the Allies.

Submarine HMS Tiptoe laid down.

Submarine HMS Universal launched.

Corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec arrived Londonderry for Operation Torch duties.

FRANCE: Eighteen RAF Bomber Command (A-20) Bostons are dispatched to continue attacks on the large German ship at Le Havre but it had been moved. Sixteen aircraft bomb the dock area. Two Bostons crash in the sea.

During the night of 10/11 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off three Biscay ports: five lay mines in the Gironde Estuary and one each off Bayonne and St. Jean de Luz.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 10/11 November, 30 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

GERMANY: Hitler, Laval and Ciano meet at Munich to discuss the situation in Africa. Hitler decides to hold on.

U.S.S.R.: Units of the XLVIII Panzer Corps are sent north from around Stalingrad to reinforce reserves in the area of the 3rd Romanian Army. This action comes in response to reports of a Soviet build up in that area.

CRETE: Six US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the port area at Candia.

Submarine FS Meduse damaged off Casablanca on 8 November 1942 by American aircraft. Beached at Mazagan north off Cape Blanco and wrecked after being bombed again by an aircraft from light cruiser USS Philadelphia.

After being battered with depth charges in the Mediterranean, the periscope of U-565 was damaged so severely that the boat was forced return to base.

British destroyer HMS Martin (G 44) is struck by three torpedoes fired by German submarine U-431 and sinks about 88 nautical miles (163 kilometers) north-northeast of Algiers, Algeria, in position 37.53N, 03.57E. Only 63 of the 224 crewmen on the destroyer survive.

Italian submarine R.Smg Emo is scuttled after an attack by antisubmarine trawler HMS Lord Nuffield (FY 221).

ALGERIA: Oran falls to US forces. Patton's units begin moving into Casablanca. In Algiers, French Admiral Francois Darlan, commander of the Vichy French military, acting on the advice of General Alphonse Pierre Juin, Commander-in-Chief French Morocco, orders a general cease fire of Vichy troops throughout French North Africa. U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, on receiving news of Darlan's cease fire order, announces that "all civil and military authorities will be maintained in their present functions." French General Henri Honere Giraud arrives at Dar Mahidine and is received by Darlan who offers to turn command over to him. Giraud agrees to accept Darlan's leadership with the proviso that Giraud be named commander of the troops. Darlan orders Lieutenant General Georges Barre, commander of French forces in Tunisia, to group his forces in the vicinity of Medjez el Bab, Tunisia, and prepare to engage the Germans.

No heavy gunfire announced the beginning of Operation Torch. As the huge fleet loomed out of the darkness two days ago and waves of landing craft raced across the ocean swell, shipboard loudspeakers broke the silence: "Don't shoot," they blared in French, "we are Americans." The invaders were hoping fervently that French defenders in Morocco and Algeria would welcome them as friends. It was not to be. All three invasion forces faced fierce French resistance. At Algiers, where 33,000 troops were to land, two British destroyers, HMS MALCOLM and HMS BROKE, flying American flags, came under shellfire as they tried to land 600 US troops. The MALCOLM was badly damaged; the BROKE was sunk. The 250 men who managed to get ashore were made prisoners. The beach parties were more successful.

By early evening, General Juin had surrendered Algiers. Oran, under attack by a landing force of 39,000, fell today, but not without heavy losses. Bad weather foiled an airborne attempt to take the town's airports.

Destroyer HMS Martin is torpedoed and sunk by U-431 85 miles NE of Algiers at 37 53N 03 57E. Martin was incorrectly identified by Korvettenkapitan Wilhelm Domnes as a Leander class cruiser and he observed three of the four torpedoes that he fired to hit the destroyer. There are 161 casualties and 63 survivors.

Sloop HMS Ibis is attacked by Italian aircraft 10 miles North of Algiers at 37N 03E. She shoots down three of the attacking aircraft but a torpedo dropped by another hit the ship amidships and she capsized and sank almost immediately. 102 survivors are picked up by cruiser HMS Scylla after dark. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Troops of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division and of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, converge on Oran; Regimental Combat Team 16 has leading elements within the city by 0830 hours; Combat Command B columns enter Oran from the before French surrender at 1230 hours. .

USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires escort a convoy, fly reconnaissance, and attack tanks and other vehicles in the Oran area.

FRENCH MOROCCO: The toughest resistance was to come at Casablanca where 34,300 troops were to land. The French battleship JEAN BART, still under construction, used her 15-inch guns to challenge the US battleship USS MASSACHUSETTS until eight direct hits put the French ship out of action. Major General George S. Patton Jnr., the US commander, arrived on the beach to find his army in chaos with landing craft waiting to be unloaded and men, unused to battle, cowering in foxholes as French aircraft roared in from the sea strafing tempting targets. Wearing two pearl-handled Colt revolvers, Patton strode among his men bellowing orders until they moved slowly forward.

French resistance in the Port Lyautey area ends. U.S. forces from Fedala close in on Casablanca and prepare for concerted assault at dawn tomorrow. Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, breaks off their drive toward Marrakech from the Safi area and marches toward Mazagan in order to conserve strength for the attack on Casablanca.

LIBYA: The British Eighth Army takes Sidi Barrani recently evacuated by Panzerarmee Afrika.

Fifteen US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Bengasi.

EGYPT: Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery is knighted and promoted to general. The British Eighth Army clears the Halfaya Pass.

EAST INDIES: On Timor Island, the commander of "Sparrow Force," the Australian and Dutch troops that landed on the island in December 1941 and continued fighting a guerilla war against the Japanese, radios that the 2/2nd Independent Company, one of the two Australian units of the force, urgently needs relief.

NEW GUINEA: The 25th Australian Brigade takes Gorari. This cuts off General Horii and the Japanese forces at Oivi.

The Japanese are forced back from Oivi by Australian 16th Brigade. Japanese troops doggedly contest the Australian pursuit down the northern face of the Owen Stanley Ranges. In the air, USAAF B-26 Marauders bomb antiaircraft positions and supply dumps along the Sanananda-Soputa trail; A-20 Havocs hit positions at Soputa as Australian ground forces push the Japanese from Oivi toward the mouth of the Kumusi River.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: The Japanese survivors (about 3000) that escaped from the pocket on the Metapona River, east of the Lunga perimeter are led inland by Col. Shoji. During their trek around the Marine perimeter, they will be pursued by Col. Evans Carlson's 2nd Marine Raiders. They will reach other Japanese forces west of the perimeter after 13 days, subsisting on what edible items they can find in the jungle. The jungle, disease and the 2nd Raiders will whittle their number down to about 1300.

The 7th Marine Regiment (-) and 2d Battalion of the 164th Infantry Regiment continue the reduction of the pocket astride Gavaga Creek and they make an unsuccessful attempt to close gap in line. Westward offensive toward Kokumbona is renewed by the 2d Marine Regiment. 1st Battalion of 164th Infantry Regiment and 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion) attack west from Pt Cruz with 8th Marine Regiment protecting left rear.

Fifteen Japanese Navy "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) attempt a fighter sweep over Guadalcanal. There are 31 Marine F4F Wildcat fighters in the air but only two are able to intercept the Japanese; one "Zeke" is shot down.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN high speed minesweeper USS Southard (DMS-10) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-15 about 47 nautical miles (88 kilometers) south of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in position 10.13S, 161.09E. All 91 crewmen are lost.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force flies reconnaissance over Semichi, Segula, Alaid, and Japanese-held Attu and Kiska Islands; five B-24 Liberators and a B-17 Flying Fortress bomb Kiska Island, but they cannot bomb the Kiska submarine base and return with some bombs; two P-38 Lightnings fly local air coverage.

U.S.A.: The 78th Fighter Group, USAAF, departs March Field for New York City where they are due to sail on the Queen Elizabeth on 24 November.

The Boeing XB-40-BO flies for the first time. This is the prototype of the B-17 with extra armament and armour.

German submarine U-608 lays mines off New York City, east of Ambrose Light. Ambrose Light is located about 10 nautical miles (18 kilometers) east-northeast of Highlands, New Jersey, in position 40.27N, 73.48W.

The Cuban Minister of State announced that diplomatic relations with the Vichy Government had been broken off.

Nicaragua and Haiti severed diplomatic relations with France.

Eight survivors of US freighter WEST KEBAR reach Guadelupe, French West Indies. (Rodney Sanders)(83)

U-505 shot down RAF Hudson a/c, Sqn 53/L in the Caribbean. The II WO and one lookout from U-505 were seriously wounded. The boat was damaged heavily and returned to base. 12 days later the wounded II WO was transferred to the Milk Cow U-462.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Soviet submarine M-121 sunk by mine off the Norwegian coast - Varangerfjord. All crew - 22 men - lost.

U-128 sank SS Cerinthus and Start Point.

U-181 sank SS KG Meldahl.

U-81 sank SS Garlinge.

U-73 fired four torpedoes at the battleship Rodney from a distance of nearly 3 miles; not surprisingly, all missed.

U-77 fired four torpedoes at the aircraft carrier Furious, with no result.

U-128 captured an officer and the chief from the sunken ship Start Point. Some hours later the captives were transferred to the milkcow U-462.

U-458 fired three torpedoes at a destroyer, with no result.

U-608 laid a minefield in New York Harbor near the Ambrose lightship, but it was detected before any ships were lost to it.

One seaman from U-620 was killed in another air attack. [Bootsmaat Josef Leisten].

U-561 fired four torpedoes at the carrier Argus, with no result.

Off French North Africa, aircraft escort vessel USS Chenango (ACV-28) flies off 76 USAAF P-40Fs into Port Lyautey and they are landing on the airfield by 1200 hours.

French submarine Le Tonnant unsuccessfully attacks USN aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) and submarines Meduse and Antiope conduct similarly fruitless attacks against battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) and heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37).

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 126: five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 1 million leaflets over Paris, Rennes, Le Mans and Rouen, France at 2020-2051 hours.

Bad weather causes the USAAF Ninth Air Force aircraft sent to bomb Vendeville Airfield at Lille to abandon their mission, though a few bombers manage to bomb other targets in the area. A force of 72 B-26 Marauders dispatched to attack Montdidier Airfield suffers numerous aborts due to weather but six bombers manage to bomb what is believed to be the secondary target of Glisy Airfield at Amiens.

During the night of 10/11 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 313 Lancasters to attack the railway yards at Modane on the main line between France and Italy; 301 aircraft bomb the target. The Pathfinder marking, in difficult conditions, is slightly beyond the target but 200 aircraft brought back photographs to show that their bombs fell within 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) of the target and the railway system is seriously damaged. Mining missions are flown by seven Stirlings with four laying mines off Gironde and three off La Pallice while 20 aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

U.S.S.R.: Two new military decorations are created: the Order of Victory - large ruby star encrusted with 91 diamonds - for senior officers, and the Order of Glory for other ranks.

Ambassador Litvinov says in Moscow that the principle of unconditional surrender does not include Finland. This is in response to the Nov 3 announcement in London that unconditional surrender did apply to Finland. (Gene Hanson)

ITALY: The Allied Control Commission is formed, to yoke the Italian economy into the overall Allied war effort.

North of Mignano: Lieutenant Maurice L. Britt, U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division in the face of German hand grenades and close-range machine-pistol, machinegun and rifle fire, inspired and led a handful of his men in repelling a bitter counterattack by approximately 100 Germans against his company positions. MOH

In The U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, elements of the 45th Infantry Division take the hills between Pozzilli and Filignano without opposition.

The USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command and RAF fighter-bombers hit Rocca and nearby gun positions, and trains and troops south of Rome; fighters strafe trucks and trains in the Rome-La Spezia and the Piombino-Leghorn areas.

Twenty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Villarperosa ball-bearing works at Turin, and 68 B-17 Flying Fortresses pound a bridge and marshalling yards at Bolzano with the loss of three B-17s. P-38 Lightnings escort the B-24s all the way and accompany the B-17 Flying Fortresses almost to the target.

During the night of 10/11 November, 23 RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) bombers attack the railroad viaduct at Recco while two others drop leaflets over Florence.

YUGOSLAVIA: Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force bombers hit shipping at Split.

ALBANIA: Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force bombers hit shipping at Durazzo.

CHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighters on armed reconnaissance sink three large motor boats in the Yoyang-Sinti area and damage or sink 15 sampans and a barge in the Hwajung-Shasi vicinity.

EAST INDIES: USAAF B-24 Liberators bomb Surabaja (Surabaya) on the north coast of Java, Netherlands East Indies.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Alexishafen Airfield.

AUSTRALIA: General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the South West Pacific, cancels the projected offensive against Gasmata on New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Lakunai Airfield near Rabaul on New Britain Island and hit a new landing ground on Duke of York Island located between New Britain and New Ireland Islands.

During the night of 10/11 November, Australian Beauforts attack targets in the Rabaul area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Marine Major General Roy S. Geiger takes command of Allied forces on Bougainville and the Treasury Islands.

Over 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells carry out strikes on Kara Airfield on southern Bougainville Island and the Ballale Airfield on Ballale Island south of Bougainville. They also attack shipping between Suhane Island and Tarlena.

Marine TBF Avengers fly their first air-ground attack mission over Bougainville. At 1015 hours, 12 TBFs each drop twelve 100-pound (45 kilogram) bombs on Japanese ground targets some of which are only 120 yards (110 meters) ahead of the Marine infantry. This is the first attack of its kind in the Pacific.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomon Sea, the crew of the USN destroyer USS Spence (DD-512) spots a raft with four live Japanese on board. As Spence drew along side to attempt a rescue, the Japanese open fire with a machine-gun. Rather than face the shame of surrender the Japanese officer in charge of the raft then put his pistol in each man's mouth and blew out the back of each man's skull. He then turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. All four bodies fell into the water to be devoured by sharks.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Guadalcanal Diary" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. Directed by Lewis Seiler, this war drama about the Marines fighting on Guadalcanal is based on Richard Tregaskis' book stars Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn and Richard Jaeckel. This was Jaeckel's first film.

Minesweeper USS Competent commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Lansing commissioned.

Destroyer USS Newcomb commissioned.

U-966 sunk in the Bay of Biscay near Cape Ortegal, Spain, by depth charges from British, American and Czech Wellington and Liberator aircraft (Sqn 612/B, 311/D, VB-103/E, VB-110/E). 8 dead and 42 survivors.

The U.S. Liberators came from VB-103, VB-105 and VB-110. The flak from the U-boat was intense and one Liberator was hit, returning to Dunkeswell with one engine out.

The U-966 story: Against all odds.

During stormy weather a lookout on U-373 broke his arm.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Winston Churchill at last admitted today that Britain is under attack by the secret German long-range rocket, the V2. Nearly 100 have landed since the first hit Chiswick in West London on 8 September, but the British authorities have suppressed the information until today. As many as eight rockets a day have been launched from sites in the Netherlands - and their impact is far deadlier than that of the earlier V1, with hundreds of Londoners already killed.

This week German radio claimed that London was "devastated" by the new weapon. Mr. Churchill today denied this: "The damage and casualties have not so far been heavy," he told parliament. But no single weapon has ever been more destructive than the V2 which rises to a height of 60-70 miles and travels at 3,600 mph, carrying a ton of explosive in its nosecone. A single rocker killed 17 people in Southgate, in north London, and four rockets wrecked 2,000 houses in Croydon, in Surrey. Coming on top of the V1 attacks it means that Hitler's much-vaunted secret weapons have destroyed 25,000 houses and damaged a million others in five months. Antwerp, too, has been hit by V2s.

What makes the V2 so alarming is that no public warning can be given; it is simply too fast. Nor is there much apparent defence; the rocket penetrates all but the deepest shelters. The first that anyone knows is the sound of the huge explosion followed by a whooshing sound, flashes and plumes of smoke. "A gas works explosion" was the official explanation of the first blast at Chiswick, which was heard over much of West London. So often was this phrase trotted out that London would have been without gas had the explanations been true. "Another flying gas main" one Londoner wrote sardonically in her diary during October.

It was in an effort to still the rumours of secret weapons and to counter Nazi propaganda that Mr. Churchill lifted - at least partially - the official silence. "There is no need to exaggerate the danger. The scale and effect has not hitherto been significant," he claimed. Although there has been no panic, action against the V2s depends upon Allied forces destroying the rocket bases in the Netherlands.

The Germans were forced to withdraw their rocket launch sites eastwards in September. Attempts to use Denmark were not deemed successful because London remained beyond the 200-mile range of the 46-foot-long rockets. Since 3 October, though, the battle has been resumed in earnest.

Minesweeper HMS Hydra is mined off Ostend and abandoned. However as she remained afloat she was reboarded and towed back to Sheerness. She is not repaired and is subsequently broken up. (Alex Gordon)(108)

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 711: six B-17 Flying Fortresses and nine B-24 Liberators drop leaflets over the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.

FRANCE: The US 3rd Army continues to make good progress south of Thionville and beyond Metz.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans mount a tank-infantry counterattack at 0300 hours that overruns Kerling and threatens Petite-Hettange before the 359th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division, helped by massed artillery fire on Kerling, contains the onslaught; the 357th Infantry Regiment begins an assault on the Metrich group of fortifications southeast of Koenigsmacker, partially reducing it; the 358th Infantry Regiment continues efforts to take Fort Koenigsmacker, elements bypassing the fort to reach the Bois d'Elzange ridge. A battalion of the 377th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, maintains the Uckange bridgehead and is supplied by air; an action to finish clearing the German salient west of the Moselle River has been broken off by the rest of the 377th Infantry Regiment since Hauconcou is now flooded; a battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment, starts to Thionville to reconnoiter in force across the Moselle River. A bridge is completed at the mailing site about midnight. The 2d Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division, its left flank covered by the 10th Infantry Regiment, continues northeast to the left and rear of the XII Corps' Combat Command B, 6th Armored Division, taking Pagny-les-Goin, Silly-en-Saulnois, and a road junction east of the latter; relieves armor at Vigny and Buchy, on intercorps main supply route. In the XII Corps area, the 6th Armored and 8oth Infantry Divisions advance rapidly on the flank of the corps in spite of mud, mines, and congestion on highways. Combat Command B of the 6th Armored Division, in conjunction with the 5th Infantry Division (XX Corps), drives through Vigny and Buchy while Combat Command A pushes to Luppy. The 80th Infantry Division gains nearly 8 miles (13 kilometers). Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, attempts to swing elements from Hannocourt to Fonteny but finds the Germans blocking the route at Viviers. The 137th Infantry Regiment of the 35 th Infantry Division moves up behind the armor, clearing Viviers in hard fight and pushing beyond Laneuveville-en-Saulnois to the Fonteny area; the 320th Infantry Regiment drives from Bois d'Amelecourt into Foret de Chateau-Salins while the 134th Infantry Regiment advances on Gerbecourt. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, drives through the left flank of the 26th Infantry Division, forward elements reaching Hampont. The 101st Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division continues flanking attacks toward the crest of Hill 310, gaining a ridge northeast of the hill and positions in the Bois St Martin.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, German resistance west of the Meurthe River is weakening noticeably. Continuing northward along the river, the 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division takes Etival. The 142d Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division, which has been inching southeast through Foret Domniale de Champ from Les Rouges Eaux, finds Vanemont and La Houssire, at the southeastern edge of the forest, undefended.

Over 150 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers dispatched against an ordnance arsenal and camp area are recalled due to weather; seven others drop leaflets; the XXIX Tactical Air Command attacks railroads while the XIX Tactical Air Command escorts bombers and supports the 80th and 5th Infantry Divisions in the U.S. Third Army assault in the Metz, France area.

The XII Tactical Air Command; 64th Fighter Wing; 324th Fighter Group; 415th Night Fighter Squadron; 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron; and several signal, fighter control, and service units are relieved from duty with the Twelfth Air Force and assigned to the European Theater of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA) and the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional).

The U.S. First Army alters boundary between VII and V Corps to give the V Corps responsibility for Huertgen in Kleinhau. In the VII Corps area, the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, undergoes a determined counterattack on the plateau southwest of Huertgen that engulfs two companies and forces the remnants back to the southern third of the plateau. In the V Corps area, elements of 28th Infantry Division make limited progress toward the woods line near Huertgen.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 709: 752 bombers and 808 fighters in three forces are dispatched to make Pathfinder Force attacks on airfields; four bombers are lost. At Hanau, 250 aircraft bomb Landgendiebach Airfield with the loss of one aircraft while 41 hit the marshalling yard; at Cologne, 96 attack Butzweilerhof Airfield with the loss of one aircraft, 87 bomb Ostheim Airfield, 12 drop chaff and ten bomb the industrial area; at Wiesbaden, 100 bomb the airfield with the loss of one aircraft and 76 bomb a chemical plant with the loss of one aircraft; and four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Red Cross makes a restricted visit to the camp, shielded from evidence of mass murder and atrocities.

U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: GB "Amgun" - mined close to Aegna Is. in Finland Gulf. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division finds Mt. Ponpegno clear and pushes on to Mt. Bassana.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 4th Division runs into intense opposition as it attempts to advance from Forli.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers continue the interdiction campaign against railways in northeastern Italy, principally the Brenner Pass, Brenta River and Po River bridges, rail ferry at Ostiglia, and several dumps. Fighter-bombers hit rail targets and guns at several points in the Po Valley.

During the night of 10/11 November, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb Ghedi Airfield and targets of opportunity in the Po Valley while 28 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop supplies to partisans in northern Italy; four aircraft are lost. Five other bombers bomb the railroad bridge at Latisana.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship Fort La Baye (7,150 GRT) was damaged by a mine, in the Mediterranean Sea, off Port Said, Egypt, in position 31.25N, 032.23E. There is no record of loss of life in this incident. Fort La Baye was a Victory-class freighter built by West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd of North Vancouver BC. She was completed in Oct 43. Fort La Baye was one of was one of 32 Victory-class ships provided to Great Britain under the terms of a Bare Boat charter. Wm. Counties Ship Management Ltd., of London, England, managed the ship for the British government. Two of these ships were sunk and another four were damaged.

CHINA: The Japanese take Kweilin and Liuchow from the Chinese garrisons without difficulty. The next Japanese objective is Kweiyang.

Over 130 USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-38 Lightnings, and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance over southern China attack river, road and rail traffic, storage, airfield and villages at or near Tingka, Chefang, Kweilin, Yoyang, Nanyo, Changsha, Paoching, Kweihsien, Yungfu, Wuchou, Siangtan, Tanchuk, Mosun, Kweiping, Yuncheng, Chenghsien, Hankow, and Chikhom.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NAC) area, the British 36th Division comes up against the Japanese main line of resistance in the Pine area of the railroad corridor. The Chinese 38th Division successfully turns the Japanese outpost line along the Taping River in the Bhumi area and emerges onto the Bhumi plain.

Over 60 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts again attack a variety of targets including Japanese concentrations at Bhumi, Indaw, Hkapra, and Nawngtao, the town of Naba Station, bridges at Meza and in the Kawlin area, and targets of opportunity along the Irrawaddy River and along the railroad corridor in northern Burma and support ground forces south of Bhumi.

Eleven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit storage buildings and the town area of Wanling.

JAPAN: Tokyo: Wang Ching-wei, the leader and founder of China's Nanking-based collaborationist regime, the Reformed Kuomintang, died today of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital. He was 62. Leadership of the regime passes to Ch'en Kungpo, acting head of state for the last eight months while Wang was ill. Wang will be buried in Nanking close to Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Nationalist China. Wang was considered his natural successor until ousted by Chiang Kai-shek in 1935. He set up the Reformed Kuomintang in 1938, believing that peace with Japan was the best way to preserve China's interests.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty seven USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Saipan bomb Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 24th Division makes a small amphibious movement along the north coast of Leyte. They move some units west from Carigara toward Belen.

In the U.S. Sixth Army"s X Corps area on Leyte Island, elements of 1st Cavalry Division begin extensive patrolling of the central mountains. The 24th Infantry Division opens all-out effort to clear the Japanese from the rest of Breakneck Ridge. While the 21st Infantry Regiment continues frontal attacks, a battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment attack toward the commanding ground south of Limon. From Capoocan, a battalion of the 34th moves by landing vehicles, tracked (LVTs) along the coast of Carigara Bay for 7 miles (11 kilometers), lands, and advances inland to a ridge near Belen. In the XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division renews an attack with two battalions and completes the occupation of Bloody Ridge and its sector without opposition.

USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-38 Lightnings attack Japanese convoy (TA Operation, third phase) in Ormoc Bay hit the previous day, sinking two army cargo ships; and damaging a destroyer, a coast defense and an army cargo ship Kinka Maru. B-25 attacks drive a coast defense vessel aground in Matlang Bay, where she is scuttled and abandoned. Three nearby fast transports, however, escorted by two destroyers, are unmolested, and rescue survivors from two merchant ships. On their return voyage to Manila, the convoy rescues men from another merchant vessel, which has run aground off Bondoc Point, Luzon, earlier that day.

Major Richard I. Bong shoots down an "Oscar" fighter (Nakajima Ki-43, Army Type 1 Fighter Hayabusa) over Ormac Bay, Leyte, brining his total victories to 34. Meanwhile, Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. also shoots down an "Oscar" fighter over Tacloban, Leyte. This is his 26th victory.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs bomb Haroekoe Drome on Haroekoe Island off Ambon, Piroe on Ceram Island, and targets of opportunity on the south coast. B-24 Liberators attack Surabaya-bound Japanese ships off Soembawa Island, sinking three merchant ships and damaging a fourth.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, six USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island bomb Koror Island.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: In Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island, the USN's 13,910 ton, 459 foot (140 meter) long ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) is at anchor dispensing ammunition and explosives to ships preparing for the Philippine offensive. At 0855 hours the ship explodes; she is anchored in about 19 fathoms (114 feet or 35 meters) of water and explodes with an estimated 3,800 tons (3 447 metric tonnes) of ordnance materiel on board. The initial explosion causes flame and smoke to shoot up from amidships to more than masthead height. Within seconds, the bulk of her cargo is set off with a more intense explosion. Mushrooming smoke rises to 7,000 feet (2 134 meters), obscuring the ship and the surrounding area for a radius of approximately 500 yards (457 meters). Mount Hood's former position is revealed by a trench in the ocean floor 300 feet (91 meters) long, 50 feet (15 meters) wide, and 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) deep. The largest pieces of metal found measured no bigger than 16 by 10 feet (4,9 by 3,0 meters). The concussion and metal fragments hurled from the ship also cause casualties and damage to ships and small craft within 2,000 yards (1 829 meters). Casualties mount to 45 known dead, 327 missing and 371 injured, including the crew of Mount Hood, of which only 18 ashore survive. The damage to other vessels requires more than 100,000 mahouts to repair, while 22 small boats and landing craft are sunk, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair. A board convened to examine evidence relating to the disaster is unable to ascertain the exact cause.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Greenling (SS-213) sinks Japanese Patrol Boat No.46 (ex-destroyer HIJMS Fuji) about 44 nautical miles (81 kilometers) east-southeast of Hamamatsu, Honshu, Japan, in position 34.30N, 138.34E.

The U.S. 77th Infantry Division, en route from Guam, Mariana Islands, to Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, is ordered to Leyte Island in the Philippine Islands.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-354 was commissioned at New York with LT Ranger Rogers, USCGR, as her first commanding officer. He was succeeded on 22 September 1945 by ENS Frank C. Anderson, USCG who in turn was succeeded by LT George B. Schwartz, USCGR, on 26 November 1945. She departed on 5 December 1944 from New York for the Southwest Pacific, where she operated during the war.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-300 sank SS Shirvan, Godafoss and Empire Wold in Convoy UR-142.

ALBANIA: The Soviet Union and the Western Allies recognized the Communist-dominated government of Premier Enver Hoxha. The Albanian government holds elections on 2 December, which return a single list of official candidates.

INDONESIA: Nationalists begin a counter-offensive against the Dutch who are helped by an Anglo-Indian force.

Destroyer HMCS Assiniboine ran aground East Point, Prince Edward Island, while under tow of SS West York (ex-HMCS West York) while enroute to scrapping Baltimore, Maryland.

Frigate HMCS Penetang paid off Shelburne , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Frederick Clinton Branch is commissioned as the first black officer in the United States' Marine Corps. Branch was a WWII veteran (apparently as a deckhand on merchant vessels though the obits have been scanty on details) and served as an officer in the USMC during the Korean War. He had been refused admission to the Marine Corps Officer Training Corps in 1942 despite high test scores and it was only at the very end of the war when a directive from the White House insisted that racial discrimination be ended in government programs opened the door to him. (Marc James Small)