13 November 1939

UNITED STATES: The first dust storm of the great dust bowl era of the 1930s occurs. The dust storm, which has spread from Montana to the Ohio Valley yesterday, prevails from Georgia to Maine resulting in a black rain over New York and a brown snow in Vermont. Parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa reported zero visibility yesterday. Today, dust reduces the visibility to half a mile (805 meters) in Tennessee.

LEBANON: The French and Lebanese governments sign a treaty which recognizes the special social and political character of Lebanon in relation to the new Syrian state.

Shetland Islands: German bombers dropped bombs on British soil for the first time today. Damage was confined to a deserted crofter's cottage and a rabbit. The bombers missed naval vessels and anchored flying boats. The Germans claimed hits on a cruiser and two aircraft. "This is only the beginning," said their spokesman.
This led to the famous Flannigan and Allen song 'Run Rabbit Run', popular with the BEF.

U.S. freighter SS Black Hawk is detained by British authorities at Ramsgate, Kent, England.

GERMANY: The RAF resumes aerial leaflet drops over Germany. These drops continue until 9 April 1940, when German forces invade Denmark and Norway.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Finnish delegates leave for Helsinki after peace talks break down; Stalin orders preparations for war against Finland.

By this date at the latest the Soviets take measures to create a 'People's Government of Finland'. Komintern official Otto Willie Kuusinen, a Finnish emigrant communist who somehow managed to survive the purges (which also devastated the Finnish Communist Party), becomes the Prime and Foreign Minister.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, the British steamship SS Sirdhana, bound for Hong Kong, blunders into a British minefield off Singapore, Malaya; ten U.S. citizens (a troupe of magicians) are among the survivors. There are no casualties.

UNITED STATES: The USN orders a Lockheed (Model 18-08) XR5O-1 Lodestar, msn 18-2008, for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Minister of Home Security reports that 6,334 civilians have been killed and 8,965 injured in the October air raids.

I was astonished to find that you have nearly 1,000 aircraft and pilots with 16,000 personnel in the Middle East. ...surely out of this establishment you ought to be able to produce a substantially larger number of modern aircraft operationally fit?

FRANCE: During the night of 13/14 November, two aircraft of the RAF Wireless Intelligence and Development Unit make the first direct attack on German Ruffian navigational radar installations on the Cherbourg Peninsula by homing in on their transmission.

VICHY FRANCE: Pierre Dupuy leaves for Vichy. Dupuy, a French-Canadian who had lived and worked in France since 1919 in the office of the Canadian High Commission in Paris, is being used as an intermediary between Britain and the Vichy government. He has had at least two meetings with Halifax, although the minutes of Cabinet meeting on the 12th suggest that Dupuy's brief extended no further than to cultivate good relations with Vichy and report any promising openings.

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler orders Göring to prepare the Luftwaffe for an invasion of Russia next May.

Molotov again meets with von Ribbentrop. He presses him on the purpose of the German troops present in Finland. Ribbentrop replies that the troops are merely in transit to northern Norway and that the whole matter is a "misunderstanding". Hitler also evaded the question when he met later with Molotov instead launching into a speech on the dissolution of the British Empire and it's subsequent carving up between the Axis powers (and the Soviet Union at this point). Molotov also presses Hitler on the recent German-Italian guarantees to Romania which work against Soviet interests. Hitler evades the question.

That evening Molotov gives a banquet in the Russian Embassy in Unter den Linden and entertains von Ribbentrop. The banquet is interrupted by an air-raid [We had heard of the conference beforehand, says Churchill, and though not invited to join in the discussion did not wish to be entirely left out of the proceedings.] carrying on their conversation in an air-raid shelter Ribbentrop talks of the need to divide up the British Empire now that England is so decisively beaten. "If England is so beaten, why are we sitting in this shelter?" retorts Molotov.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 0120 hours local, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney (D 48) and the British destroyer HMS Mohawk (G 31) attack an Italian convoy consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by two destroyers in the Straits of Oranto between Italy and Albania. All four merchant ships are sunk.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The Dutch East Indies agrees to supply Japan with nearly two million tons of oil a year.

I ... have sent instructions to the American Charge d'Affaires in Vichy to confirm or deny the report that Jean Bart and Richelieu are to be transferred to the Mediterranean.

If the report is confirmed, the Charge d'Affaires will convey to Petain an expression of the grave concern of this Government that the ships will be moved to places subject to a control inconsistent with the ultimate interests of the US.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Three powder plants blow up in less than an hour. At least 14 are dead and 23 seriously injured.

New York: The liner Queen Elizabeth, which has lain at dock since March, left port last night.

Walt Disney's animated musical "Fantasia" opens at the Broadway Theater in New York City. This was the first film with stereophonic sound. As a result of the film, Mickey Mouse regains the position of the favourite Disney character, a position he has lost to Donald Duck over the last several years.

Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles, on the strength of a report that French battleships Richelieu (then at Dakar, French West Africa) and Jean Bart (then at Casablanca, French Morocco) are to be moved, perhaps to Toulon, France (within the German sphere of influence), requests the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in Spain, H. Freeman Matthews, to let the appropriate French authorities know that the U.S. government would be prepared to contemplate purchase of both capital ships if the French government is willing to dispose of them with the agreement that they would not be used in the present war.

The first Willys-Overland Jeep prototype is completed, and submitted to the U.S. Army for approval. To the Army, the Jeep was known as a "Truck, 1/4-ton, 4x4."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-28 met an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic. Two detonations astern were heard, as the enemy sub apparently made an unsuccessful attack.

The Air Ministry drops a bombshell to Bomber Command's Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Marshal Sir Richard Pierse, that the bomber offensive in its present form is to be stopped whilst the future shape and tactics of Bomber Command are debated. With the exception of a few minor raids in the following months this is exactly what happens and, by early January, Pierse had been reassigned as Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India.

ROMANIA: Transnistria: (i.e. east of the Dniester, or Nistru River as it is known in Romanian) In the department of Golta, under the control of Colonel Modest Isopescu [while unable to confirm this, I suspect he was a Jandarmi officer rather than regular Army], Bogdanovca was a small village chosen by Isopescu, upon his appointment as prefect in early October 1941, as one of those "controlled localities" as a depository for the Jews in the department. Shortly after collection of the local Jewish populace commenced, nine thousand Jews arrived on foot, having been deported from Odessa. Overcrowding quickly produced lethally unhealthy conditions, with a dispatch from Colonel Isopescu to Governor Alexianu today reporting no fewer than eight thousand Jews having died with another eleven thousand crammed into the village's pigsties. (Greg Kelley)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The Germans today resumed their attack on Moscow. Taking advantage of the frost-hardened ground, they have launched one of their customary pincer movements in a final attempt to capture the city before the winter strikes the exposed German army with all its severity.

The plan is for Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group to take Tula, to the south of the Russian capital, and then sweep up behind Moscow to Kolemna. Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group is to form the northern arm of the pincer with the task of driving eastwards to the Volga Canal and then wheeling towards Moscow while Hopner's 4th Panzer Group attacks in the centre.

This may well be the Germans' last chance to take Moscow before "General Winter" takes an icy hand in this war. The Germans are happy that the frost has made the ground hard enough for their tanks and horses and men to operate, but if they cannot reach the shelter of Moscow within the next few weeks they will be forced to go onto the defensive. The initial reports of the fighting show that it is going to be much harder for them to take Moscow than seemed possible last month when panic gripped the city.

Tula has been turned into a strongpoint, and unless the Germans take this communications centre and its airfield they cannot complete their pincer movement. Stalin has put heart into the people of Moscow, and Zhukov has created an effective defence. With both sides desperately weary and apparently short of men and machines, Moscow's fate now hangs in the balance.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: HMS Argus (D 49) and HMS Ark Royal (91) flew 24 Hurricanes to MALTA yesterday. Today they are attacked by U-81 and U-205. At 0506hrs, U-205 fired three torpedoes at HMS Ark Royal, but all missed.

Friedrich Guggenberger's U-81 had received a report that Force H (battleship HMS Malaya (01), light cruiser HMS Hermione (74) and seven destroyers) was returning to Gibraltar. At 15:40 hours the sonar operator aboard HMS Legion detects un unidentified sound, but assumes it is the propellers of a nearby destroyer. One minute later Ark Royal is struck amidships by a torpedo [268, pp.329] between the fuel bunkers and bomb store, and directly below the bridge island. [268, pp.332]The explosion causes Ark Royal to shake, hurled loaded torpedo-bombers into the air and killed Able Seaman Mitchell. [269, pp.332]A 130 feet long by 30 feet deep hole is created on the starboard side, causing flooding. HMS Legion moves alongside the damaged and listing Ark Royal to off survivors.

Immediately after the torpedo strike, Captain Maund attempted to order the engines to full stop, but had to send a runner to the engine room when it was discovered communications were down.[269, pp.338] The hole in the hull was enlarged by the ship's motion, and by the time Ark Royal stopped she had taken on water and begun to list to starboard, reaching 18° from centre within 20 minutes.[269, pp.338] Considering the lean of the carrier, as well as the fates of other carriers, including HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious, which had sunk rapidly with heavy loss of life, Maund gave the order to abandon ship. The crew were assembled on the flight deck to determine who would remain onboard to save the ship while HMS Legion came alongside to take off the rest; as a result, comprehensive damage control measures were not initiated until 49 minutes after the attack. The flooding spread unchecked, exacerbated by covers and hatches left open during evacuation of lower decks.[269, pp.338-340]

Water spread to the centreline boiler room, which started to flood from below, and power was lost shipwide when the boiler uptakes became choked; Ark Royal had no backup diesel generators. [268, pp.345] About half an hour after the explosion, the carrier appeared to stabilise. Admiral Somerville, determined to save Ark Royal, ordered damage control parties back to the carrier before taking the battleship HMS Malaya (01) to Gibraltar to organise salvage efforts. The damage control parties were able to re-light a boiler, restoring power to the bilge pumps. The destroyer HMS Laforey came alongside to provide power and additional pumps, while Swordfish aircraft from Gibraltar arrived to supplement anti-submarine patrols.[269, pp.342] The tug Thames arrived from Gibraltar at 20:00 hours and attached a tow line to Ark Royal, but flooding caused the list to reach 20° between 02:05 and 02:30 hours, and when 'abandon ship' was declared again at 04:00 hours, had reached 27°.[269, pp.346] Ark Royal's complement had been evacuated to Legion by 04:30 hours; with the exception of Mitchell, there were no fatalities. The 1,487 officers and crew were transported to Gibraltar.[270, pp. 136] The list reached 45° before Ark Royal capsized and sank at 06:19 hours on 14 November.[269, pp. 348] Witnesses reported the carrier rolling to 90°, where she remained for three minutes before inverting. Ark Royal broke in two, the aft sinking within a couple of minutes, followed by the bow.[268, pp. 375-6] (Web455)

JAPAN: A message from the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo to the Japanese Ambassador in Washington, D.C., includes the following: "Judging from the tone of these talks, the United States is apparently still assuming that they are of a preliminary nature. We pleaded with the U. S. Ambassador (to Japan) again on the 12th to try and see the seriousness of the situation. Will you, too, do everything in your power to make them realize this in accordance with the lines contained in my various instructions on this subject."

U.S.A.: Washington: The House of Representatives voted here tonight by 212 votes to 194 to revise the Neutrality Act of 1939 to allow US merchant ships to unload munitions in British ports.

The roll was called in tense silence. As soon as it was over, the Speaker, Sam Rayburn of Texas, who immediately before the vote went on to the floor and read a letter from the president urging passage, happily signed it. The president will sign it on Monday.

The bill's history was a notable demonstration not only of the declining, though still formidable, power of the isolationists but also of President Roosevelt's political skill. Realizing that he did not at first have the votes for revising the Neutrality Act so drastically as to allow American ships to enter war zones, he first sent a bill allowing US merchantmen to be armed to the House. Polls suggested that most Americans were in favour, and the bill was passed by the House by almost two votes to one on 17 October. Then, after making a speech in which he claimed that the Nazis were planning to subjugate Central and South America, he sent the more ambitious bill allowing ships to go into war zones to the Senate, where it passed by 50 to 37. That was close.

Senator Hiram Johnson, a leading isolationist, told his son that it was a good result, given that "the bundles to Britain crew and all the Anglophiles were pulling and hauling and doing everything they could". But only then did the president send the stronger bill to the House of Representatives.

USN destroyer USS Edison (DD-439), screening convoy ON-34 (U.K. to North America) southwest of Iceland, depth charges a sound contact. Destroyer USS Decatur (DD-341), screening convoy HX-159 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact; although it is regarded as a good contact, the ensuing search yields no evidence of a submarine.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos set out to Flushing to attack a damaged merchant ship but do not return. It is believed, however, that they did hit the ship again. Two more Mosquitos and six (A-20) Bostons then take off to carry out a sea search for the crews of the two2 lost Mosquitos. These are not found and one of the Bostons is then lost.

FRANCE: El Salvador, Brazil and Panama severed diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

During the night of 13/14 November, 12 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five lay mines off St. Nazaire and four off Lorient.

During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are sent to bomb Emden but only one aircraft drops bombs, which hit fields.

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: General Paulus, desperately anxious to secure Stalingrad before winter sets in, launched yet another offensive against the city's defenders two days ago, with infantry and tanks fighting their way through the rubble behind one of the most intensive barrages of the battle.

The Germans managed to reach the Volga on a 500-yard front, thus splitting the defences. They also captured most of the Red October factory, clearing it room by room, floor by floor. Both sides have developed special units for this type of fighting. The Germans call them Kampfgruppen, and they fight in cellars and attics and sewers with cruel expertise.

Despite the German successes, the Russians are still holding on, defying Hitler's boast in his Munich Beerkellar speech last week that "we've got Stalingrad ... there are only a few more tiny pockets of resistance."

There are also signs that Paulus has shot his bolt. His men and machines are exhausted and the Volga has begun to freeze. Meanwhile the Russians have been building up a formidable new army in the east.

ITALY: During the night of 13/14 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 67 Lancasters and nine Stirlings to bomb Genoa; 70 aircraft bomb the city and docks.

NORTH AFRICA: The British 36th Brigade has now passed Djidjelli as they move east from Algiers.

Admiral Darlan and General Clark sign a formal agreement recognizing Darlan as head of the French civil government in North Africa. Generals Eisenhower, Nogues and Juin will ratify it later. General Giraud will command the French armed services.

ALGERIA: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Vichy French Army, and U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Force, sign a formal agreement recognizing Darlan as head of the French civil government in North Africa. U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Force and French Generals Charles-Auguste Nogues, high commissioner of Morocco, and Alphonse-Pierre Juin, commander of Vichy forces in North Africa, will ratify it later. General Henri-Honeré Giraud will command the French armed services.

Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, flies to Algiers to conclude the agreement with Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan. Allied convoy arrives at B6ne and unloads 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group (later called Blade Force), 1st Parachute Brigade (-), transport of the 78th Division (-), and Advance Headquarters of the British First Army. The main body of the 36th Brigade, 78th Division, advances to Djidjelli, 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Bougie.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains, with P-38 Lightning escort, fly antiaircraft guns and aviation gasoline (petrol) to Duzerville Airfield. USAAF Spitfires patrol the Oran-Tafaraoui area.

NEW GUINEA: Papua: The Japanese General Horii pulls back over the Kumusi river, marking the Kokoda campaign's end.

Australian troops destroy the Japanese rear guard at the Kumusi River crossing in Papua New Guinea. In the early afternoon, the Australian 2/31st Battalion reaches Waitropi.

AUSTRALIA: Iron Range, Queensland: USAAF 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) begins combat operations defending eastern Australia and New Guinea. They fly the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USN Task Group 67.4, comprising the heavy cruisers USS San Francisco (CA-38) and Portland (CA-33); light cruisers USS Helena (CL-50), Atlanta (CL-51) and Juneau (CL-52); and destroyers USS Aaron Ward (DD-483), Barton (DD-599), Cushing (DD-376), Fletcher (DD-445), Laffey (DD-459), Monssen (DD-436), O'Bannon (DD-450) and Sterett (DD-407) encounters the Japanese Bombardment Force that includes the battleships HIJMS Hiei and Kirishima, the light cruiser HIJMS Nagara and destroyers HIJMS Akatsuki, Amatsukaze, Asagumo, Harusame, Ikazazuchi, Inazuma, Murasame, Samidare, Shigure, Shiratsuyu, Teruzuki, Yadachi, Yugure and Yukikaze, steaming to bombard Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, shortly after 0000 hours; a savage nocturnal naval action ensues.

Off Guadalcanal, in Ironbottom Bay, the US naval forces are steaming westward along the north coast. The Japanese naval forces sight Cape Esperance at 0125. Weather, recurring rain squalls in the slot, have disrupted the Japanese formation. Their mission is to bombard Henderson Field. The US forces have again not made the best use of the radar equipped ships. Assuming that his destroyers have swept ahead and found no US ships, he orders the bombardment shells readied. USS Helena reports a radar return at 27,100 yards (24,700 meters, 13.5 miles). A series of course changes disrupts the US column. The Japanese open fire at 0148.

The two naval forces are on a collision course. The battle, which is really more of a melee, will be fought at close quarters. The battle of the Japanese battleships and US cruisers has begun. It will end with stricken Hiei without power north of Savo Island, and destroyer Yudachi abandoned and sinking. US destroyers Monssen and Cushing or abandoned, cruiser Portland with damaged steering, Atlanta powerless, drifting and afire, Juneau and San Francisco with heavy damage. The bombardment mission is cancelled at 0200 and the landing of the Japanese reinforcement convoy on the 14th is cancelled.

US Admirals Norman Scott and Daniel Callaghan were killed. Along with BM1 Reinhard John Keppler they will be awarded the MOH posthumously. Lt. Commanders Herbert Schonland and Bruce McCandless are also awarded the MOH.

Adm Scott was aboard the Atlanta. The other 4 sailors were aboard the San Francisco. Schonland and McCandless were the senior surviving officers of San Francisco and their efforts at damage control were instrumental in her survival of the battle. [Anyone knowing why BM1 Keppler was awarded the MOH, I would appreciate knowing.]

The captain of the USS SAN FRANCISCO was Commander Cassin Young who is awarded the Navy Cross. He is killed by enemy shells while closely engaging the Japanese battleship HIEI. The USS SAN FRANCISCO subsequently receives the Presidential Unit Citation. (Drew Philip Halevy)

The destroyer USS Fletcher steams last in line. Radioman 2/c Jason Robards is aboard. Witnessing the spectacular explosion of the USS Barton during the battle, the Fletcher and her crew survive the melee unscathed. (Matt Clark)

Rear Admiral ABE Hiroaki's force inflicts heavy damage on TG 67.4 before it retires northward; Rear Admirals Callaghan and Norman Scott are killed on board their respective flagships, hea vy cruiser USS San Francisco and light cruiser USS Atlanta. Both Callaghan and Scott are awarded Medals of Honor (posthumously). On board San Francisco, Lieutenant Commanders Herbert E. Schonland and Bruce McCandless prove instrumental in saving their ship, and Boatswain's Mate First Class Reinhardt J. Keppler performs a succession of heroic acts in fighting fires and removing wounded during the thick of the battle. Those three men (Keppler posthumously) also earn the nation's highest award for bravery.

This battle became known as the 3rd Battle of Savo Island. It is now referred to as Part 1 of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Part II will take place in two days with much action in between.

USN Task Force 16 (Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid), formed around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), the last operational fleet carrier in the Pacific, nears the battle area and launches air search and attacks against the Japanese.

Light cruiser USS Atlanta, irreparably damaged by Japanese naval gunfire and torpedo as well as by friendly fire from heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, is scuttled by demolition charges 3 nautical miles (5,6 kilometers) off Lunga Point. Also sunk are destroyers USS Cushing and Monssen (DD-435) to gunfire, USS Laffey to gunfire and torpedo, and USS Barton to two torpedoes.

Heavy cruiser USS Portland suffers torpedo damage; USS San Francisco, light cruiser USS Helena and destroyer USS Aaron Ward are damaged by gunfire; and friendly fire damages destroyer USS O'Bannon. With the loss of two light cruisers, the USN now has 25 light cruisers in commission.

Battleship HIJMS Hiei, damaged by gunfire from heavy cruisers USS Portland and San Francisco and destroyers USS Cushing, Laffey, and O'Bannon, is sunk by TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) in aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and USMC SBD Dauntlesses of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron One Hundred Forty Two (VMSB-142) and TBF Avengers of VMSB-131 from Henderson Field. Destroyer HIJMS Akatsuki is sunk by San Francisco and Atlanta gunfire near Savo Island. Destroyer HIJMS Yudachi, damaged by gunfire, is sunk by heavy cruiser USS Portland southeast of Savo Island. Japanese destroyers HIJMS Murasame, Ikazuchi, and Amatsukaze are damaged by gunfire; destroyer HIJMS Yukikaze is damaged by aircraft, off Guadalcanal.

The light cruiser USS Juneau damaged by gunfire and steaming south from last night's action [early morning of the 13th] with San Francisco, Helena and two destroyers, is torpedoed by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-26 about 121 nautical miles (224 kilometres) southeast of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, in position 10.34S, 161.44E. A massive explosion occurs and the Juneau disappears. With her go 683 sailors including the five Sullivan Brothers, Francis, Joseph, Madison, Albert and George. George survives the explosion with 100+ others. Over the next seven days, all but ten of these survivors will die, due to a series of assumptions and mistakes.

Eight P-38 Lightnings of the 339th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, arrive on Fighter 1 strip just east of Henderson Field after flight from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.

At 0925 hours, a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress sights 12 Japanese transports escorted by ten warships in New Georgia Sound. The force turns back and not sighted again today.

During the night of 13 November, heavy cruisers HIJMS Suzuya and Maya approach Guadalcanal to shell Henderson Field, intending to render it inoperable the following morning.

Air strength on Guadalcanal Island is raised by the arrival of three B-26 Marauders of the 69th and 70th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 38th Bombardment Group (Medium), from New Hebrides Island as the naval battle of Guadalcanal Island continues; Japanese cruisers and destroyers bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal during the night of 13/14 November, and destroy one of the new P-38s.

On Bougainville Island, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb shipping off Tonolai-Komaleai Point and the airfield at Kahili.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: A USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress strafes a schooner in Lorengau harbor on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force aircraft fly reconnaissance over Agattu and Japanese-held Attu Islands reveals five Japanese landing barges in Chichagof harbor on Attu Island.

Corvette HMCS Parry Sound launched Midland, Ontario.

Trawler HMS Magdalen arrived Halifax from workups Pictou , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: The minimum draft age is reduced from 21 to 18. (Tony Giuliani)

U-458 was attacked by a British Hudson aircraft and was damaged so badly that she was forced to return to base.

U-509 hit a mine off Casablanca but suffered only slight damage.

At 0615, destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers was hit by two torpedoes from U-431 on the starboard side. One torpedo struck an oil tank, spreading burning oil over the ship and the water. The second torpedo hit the longroom and officers quarters, killing all 13 officers sleeping there. The survivors were picked up by the British armed trawler HMS Loch Oskaig, which also tried to get alongside the burning ship, but did had to abandon the plan due to the heavy fires and exploding ammunition.

U-411 sunk in the North Atlantic west of Gibraltar in position 36.00N, 09.53W by 4 depth charges from a British Hudson aircraft (Sqn 500/D). 46 dead (all hands lost).

U-81 sank SS Maron.

U-181 sank SS Excello.

U-178 sank SS Louise Moller.

U-159 sank SS Star of Scotland.

UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMCS Hespeler (ex-HMS Guildford Castle) launched Leith, Scotland.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Vatersay launched.

Frigates HMS Cranstoun and Brathwaite commissioned.

Minesweepers HMS Combatant and Chance commissioned.

Frigate HMS Thornborough launched.

Submarine HMS Vampire commissioned.

VICHY FRANCE: The Nazis stop Marshal Petain broadcasting to the nation. Unable to act as premier he goes on strike.

FRANCE: During the night of 13/14 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb two targets in southern France: six aircraft bomb the Var River railroad bridge and four hit a railroad viaduct at Antheor.

GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 130: 117 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators hit the port area at Bremen at 1120-1145 hours; over 100 aircraft abort the mission due to weather; three B-17s and 13 B-24s are lost. Other targets hit are: eight aircraft bomb targets of opportunity on Heligoland Island in the North Sea; six hit the industrial area at Flensberg; one attacks the industrial area at Kiel; and 11 bomb miscellaneous targets of opportunity.

During the night of 13/14 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 Mosquitos to bomb four targets: seven hit the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory at Bochum; five attack Berlin; and one each bomb Bremen and Emden.

U.S.S.R.: Having captured Zhitomir, the Soviets begin moving north toward Korosten.

ITALY: While the British 8th Army continues its advance, capturing Atessa; General Clark advises Alexander that the US 5th Army's attacks should be halted.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, scales Hill 640 but is forced off. Hills 640 and 769 must be cleared before the advance on Acquafondata can be continued.

Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force light bombers hit Palena and Atina and later bomb Civitavecchia harbor and a road west of Terracina. USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers, along with RAF Desert Air Force airplanes, bomb Giulianova harbor and shipping, roads leading to the battle zone, and landing grounds of Aquino, Frosinone, and Marcigliana; fighters hit train and trucks in the Pescara-Rieti area.

GREECE: Aegean: British escort destroyer HMS Dulverton (L 63) is in the Aegean north of Rhodes looking for landing forces when she is hit by an Hs.293 glider bomb launched from a German Do.217 aircraft off Kos. The glider bomb struck HMS Dulverton abreast the bridge, inflicting serious damage and starting extensive fires. The destroyer sustained heavy casualties, but her consorts take off six officers and 114 ratings before she is scuttled two hours later by escort destroyer HMS Belvoir (L 32). Three officers, including Captain of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, and 75 ratings are lost with HMS Dulvarton. Same location as Rockwood entry above. (Alex Gordon & Jack McKillop)(108)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British escort destroyer HMS Dulverton (L 63) is sunk by a Henschel Hs 293A glider bomb from a German Do.217 aircraft off Kos Island in the Dodecanese Islands. The glider bomb struck HMS Dulverton abreast the bridge, inflicting serious damage and starting extensive fires. The destroyer sustained heavy casualties, but her consorts took off six officers and 114 ratings (enlisted men) before she is scuttled two hours later by the escort destroyer HMS Belvoir (L 32). Three officers, including Captain (D) of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, and 75 ratings are lost with HMS Dulverton.

INDIA: Colonel Francis G. Brink is given responsibility for training of the GALAHAD forces, (American long range penetration group), a task previously held by Lieutenant Colonel Charles N. Hunter. On 1 January 1944, the GALAHAD Force is activated as the 5307th Composite Regiment (Provisional).

MANCHURIA: Mukden: A Red Cross official is allowed by the Japanese to make the first visit to the PoW camp. He meets only with Major Robert Peaty (British army) and the senior American officer, Major Stanley H. Hankins. Major Peaty notes that the question and answer session is "very limited". (151)(Linda Goetz Holmes)

BURMA: A single USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberator mines the Rangoon River during the night of 13/14 November.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: Six USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam, escorting US Navy photo aircraft over Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands, attack shipping at Futamiko in the Bonin Islands while one B-24 from Saipan, carrying out an unsuccessful shipping search, bombs Iwo Jima Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) lands men and supplies at Paluan Bay on Mindoro Island.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and RAAF Beaufighters claim the sinking of a small freighter off Tanimbar Island in the Moluccas Islands.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, nearly 57 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and 62 B-25 Mitchells bomb airfields at Alexishafen and Madang in the heaviest Allied air raid on New Guinea while P-40s strafe the area. Other B-24 Liberators hit Kokenau and Timoeka, Dutch New Guinea.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, seven USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island hit oil storage on Malakal Island and attack a bridge between Malakal and Koror Islands.

ELLICE ISLAND: Japanese bombers bomb Funafuti Airfield in Funafuti Atoll destroying two aircraft on the ground.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Eighteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, staging through Funafuti and Nanomea airdromes in the Ellice Islands, attack Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, with fifty five 500-pound (227 kilogram) general purpose bombs and 126 twenty-pound (9, 1 kilogram) fragmentation bombs. One B-24 is lost to antiaircraft fire. Fires are started and they could be seen up to 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) away. This is the first attack in preparation for the upcoming invasion.

USN land-based aircraft of Task Force 57 begin daily bombings of Japanese positions in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. TF 57 consists of six USN land-based units: two bombing squadrons with PB4Y-1 Liberators, two patrol squadrons with PBY Catalinas, one bombing squadron with PV-1 Venturas and one photographic squadron with PB4Y-1 Liberators.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Mili Aerodrome in Mili Atoll while USN PB4Y-1 Liberators fly photographic reconnaissance missions over Wotje and Maloelap Atolls.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0430 hours local, Marine Night Fighter Squadron Five Hundred Thirty One [VMF(N)-531] scores its first victory when the crew of PV-1 Ventura number 54 shoots down a "Betty" bomber (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bomber) about 50 nautical miles (93 kilometers) southwest of Torokina Point on Bougainville Island. The standard procedure for intercepts is that the pilot has to fly within 150 to 700 feet (46 to 210 meters) to visually identify the unknown aircraft ("bogey") before opening fire; this prevents the accidental shooting down of a friendly aircraft with a malfunctioning Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system. This Marine Squadron was commissioned 16 November1942 and is the first Marine night fighter squadron in action.

Seventeen USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit antiaircraft positions, dispersal areas, and runway at Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of Bougainville Island. Six B-25 Mitchells carry out a low-level raid on the airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville. Night fighters harass the Shortland Island and Kahili Airfield in southern Bougainville and Bonis Airfields in northern Bougainville, claiming four grounded airplanes destroyed at the latter.

During the night of 13/14 November, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-70 crews begin heckling missions against Bonis Airfield in northern Bougainville and Kahili Airfield in southern Bougainville. Targets in the Shortland Islands are also attacked.

Marine Major General Roy Geiger becomes responsible to Admiral William F. Halsey, Commander South Pacific and Commander Third Fleet, as Vice Admiral Theodore Wilkinson, Commander of the 3rd Amphibious Force, relinquishes command. The 21st Marine Regiment begins an attack for the junction of the Numa Numa Trail with the East-West Trail to ensure the safety of airfield site.

The 129th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division arrives on Bougainville. During a heavy air attack the light cruiser USS Denver (CL-58) is hit by an aerial torpedo which knocks out all power and communications and kills 20 of her crew. The ship has to be towed away for repairs.

US B-17s strike Tarawa in the first attack in preparation for the upcoming invasion.

The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-34 is on a "Yanagi" mission to German-occupied France, the third Japanese Navy submarine to undertake such a mission. The Japanese code name for I-34 is "Momi" (Fir); the Germans code name her the "U-Tanne". Radio traffic between Tokyo and Berlin concerning the I-34's mission is transmitted in diplomatic code, but is intercepted and deciphered by Allied code-breakers. I-34 is carrying a cargo of raw rubber bales, tungsten, tin, quinine, medicinal opium and samples of Japanese weapons. Also aboard are Rear Admiral HIDEO Kojima and two Mitsubishi engineers. Alerted by an "Ultra" special intelligence signal, the British submarine HMS/M TAURUS (P 339) sights I-34 running on the surface at 14 knots. At 0730, six torpedoes are fired at the Japanese sub and one hits the starboard side just below her conning tower. She sinks at 100 feet (30,5 meters) about 16 nautical miles (30 kilometers) west-southwest of Penang, Malaya, in position 05.17N, 100.05E. Twenty crewmen in an after section survive the attack and manage to escape through a deck hatch. Of these, 13 are picked up by a native junk and arrive at Penang that evening, but 84 crewmembers are lost. The I-34 is the first Japanese submarine sunk by a British submarine.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Torokina :The remainder of the US 37th Division and 21st Marines lands on Bougainville.
There is continued Allied concern at the failure of Marine engineers to establish a fighter airstrip at Torokina. The knee-deep swamp conditions are to blame for the lack of progress and the snail's pace Allied advance.

At 0430 hours local, VMF(N)-531 scored its first victory when a the crew of PV-1 number 54 shot down a , Navy Type 1 Attack Bomber (Allied Code Name "Betty") about 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Torokina Point on Bougainville Island.

The standard procedure for intercepts was that the pilot had to fly within 150 to 700 feet (46 to 210 meters) to visually identify the unknown aircraft ("bogey") before opening fire; this prevented the accidental shooting down of a friendly aircraft with a malfunctioning IFF system.

This Marine Squadron was commissioned November 16, 1942 and this is the first Marine night fighter squadron in action.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Gasmata on New Britain Island. Later, nine B-25 Mitchells and 18 Australian Kittyhawks hit Gasmata. This begins the preinvasion bombardment of targets in west New Britain.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Matane arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill into law extending the term of President Manuel Quezon of the Philippines ". . . until the expulsion of the Japanese from the Philippines."

Headquarters, USAAF issues an order redesignating Reconnaissance Squadrons as Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons.

Submarines USS Turbot and Ulna laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Forster launched.

Frigate USS Carson City launched.

Destroyer escort USS Pride commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The milkcow U-488 took on two ill crewmembers from U-193 and U-530.

UNITED KINGDOM: Civil air services to London are restored, with the first flights carried out by Railway Air Services.

WESTERN EUROPE: Four USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and eight B-24 Liberators fly Mission 713 dropping leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

Weather prevents all tactical operations by the USAAF Ninth Air Force except for night patrol and weather reconnaissance by the IX Tactical Air Command.

NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Canadian 3d Division takes over the sector formerly held by U.S. 82d Airborne Division; the airborne division reverts to the control of the First Allied Airborne Army.

FRANCE: The US 3rd Army has crossed the Moselle River north of Thionville. To the south they advance toward Falquemont and Morhange.
German units withdraw from St. Dies in the face of pressure from the US 7th Army.

US forces penetrate the heavy defences of Metz, but they meet strong resistance as they press on to the Saar.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 359th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division recovers Kerling and moves through a dense mine fields to establish contact with the 357th near Oudrenne; the 358th continues down Bois d'Elzange ridge, hampered more by mines than by Germans, to positions near Inglange. Cattenom bridge is opened to traffic, and vehicles and weapons begin crossing in a steady stream. A battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, completes reduction of Fort Yutz and takes Basse Yutz; final elements of the 377th, cross into the Uckange bridgehead, where Bertrange and Imeldange are easily cleared and a German counterattack is repulsed. The 5th Infantry Division drives north on Metz: The 11th Infantry Regiment, on left, takes ground around Fey, Pournoy-la-Chetive, and Coin-les-Cuvry; the 10th overruns Forts Aisne and Yser, south of Bois de l'HÃ´pital; elements of the 2d Infantry Regiment, having crossed the Nied FranÃ§ai se River south of Sanry-sur-Nied, take Ancerville. Engineers construct a bridge near Ancerville. German efforts to drive the 2d Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division back across the Nied River during night fail. In the XII Corps area, a German counterattack against the Sanry bridgehead forces an outpost of Combat Command B, 6th Armored Division, back, but the main line holds; one Combat Command A column continues toward Faulquemont assisted by the 317th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division; another clears the Germans from Arraincourt. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, and 35th Infantry Division begin a drive on Morhange, an important communications center: Combat Command B, followed by the 137th Infantry Regiment, pushes through Villers-sur-Nied to positions north of Marthille on the left and to the ridge commanding Achain on the right; the 134th Infantry Regiment clears Achain on the left and reaches Rougemont Ridge on the right. The 328th Infantry

Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, continues slowly through the woods on Koecking ridge under heavy fire; the 101st Infantry Regiment is still checked to the right rear at St MÃ©dard and Haraucourt, exposing the right flank of the 328th Infantry Regiment.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, XV Corps begins an offensive northeast toward Sarrebourg with the 44th Infantry Division on left, 79th on right, and 106th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) screening the northern flank. The 44th Infantry Division, with the 324th and 71st Infantry Regiments in assault, attacks toward Avricourt from the Leintrey area, coming under heavy fire. The 79th Infantry Division attacks with the 314th and 315th Infantry Regiments from the Montigny area and drives to the outskirts of Ancerviller. In the VI Corps area, an attack of the 100th Infantry Division on the northern flank of the corps is delayed by a German counterattack, which is repelled with the aid of artillery fire. The Germans begin burning St Die in preparation for withdrawal.

In the French First Army area, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and French Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle visit General Jean-Joseph Lattre, commander of the First Army, at Besançon. In the I Corps area, a blizzard prevents even limited action.

GERMANY: During the night of 13/14 November, 15 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer; one other aircraft bomb Glewitz. Two aircraft are lost.

U-2543 laid down.

U-2528, U-2529 launched.

U-2332 commissioned.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: During the night of 13/14 November, one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs Ruzomberok.

HUNGARY: During the night of 13/14 November, one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits Vac.

POLAND: During the night of 13/14 November, one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits a target of opportunity in Karvina.

FINLAND: Last Finnish naval units leave the Kemi-Tornio area. The German-Finnish sea war has ended.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division renews their assault on Mt. TS. Bartolo and takes it in hard fighting.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 138th Brigade of the 46th Division expands the Montone bridgehead to the Mt. Poggiolo area; the 128th Brigade takes St. Varano. The depleted 167th Brigade, 56th Division, is committed on Highway 9, between the 4th and 46th Divisions.

A thick overcast covering northern Italy during the morning vastly curtails USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers which attack only a railway bridge at Padua while fighter-bombers continue to hit communications north of the battle area and also the oil pipeline across the Po River at Ostiglia.

YUGOSLAVIA: The Germans evacuate Skopie, hitherto their headquarters in Macedonia.

GREECE: The Anglo-Greek agreement of 9 March 1942 is amended in order to place Greek armed forces under the British high command. All of Greece has now been liberated.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: MS "T-899" (ex-RT-412 "Kolguevets") - due to collision, in Murmansk port inner harbour (later raised and went into service) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

CHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Man Pwe while four others blast three warehouses at Wanling. Over 60 P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance over southern China and as far west and southwest as Burma and Thailand hit numerous targets of opportunity including shipping, troops, and railroad targets.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the Indian 5th Division and East African 11th Division make patrol contact near Kalemyo.

Over 100 USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in northern Burma and close support strikes are made in the Pinwe area, bridges at Namhkai, Meza, and Thegyaung, troop concentrations and supplies at Loi-Lum and Namhpakka. The ferry crossing at Shweli is hit by 12-hour delay bombs, the Nawnghkio landing ground is strafed, and numerous targets of opportunity along the Irrawaddy River and rail lines in northern Burma are hit. Transports fly 300+ sorties to forward areas.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Aircraft from three USN carrier task groups (Task Group 38.1, TG 38.3, and TG 38.4) of Task Force 38, under Admiral McCain, hit Japanese shipping and port facilities at Manila and in central Luzon. At the former place, TF 38 planes sink light cruiser HIJMS Kiso, destroyers HIJMS Hatsuharu and Okinami, and auxiliary submarine chaser Cha; and five army cargo ships and as well as four merchant cargo ships, and damage destroyer HIJMS Ushio. At Cavite, Navy carrier planes sink destroyers HIJMS Akebono and Akishimo, a fleet tanker and a guardboat. TF 38 planes also sink an army cargo ship at Cabcaben, and an auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 116 some 20 nautical miles (37 Kilometers) west of Cavite.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 21st Infantry Regiment of 24th Infantry Division gains 400-600 yards (366-549 meters) as it continues to clear Breakneck Ridge. A battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment reaches its objective, Kilay Ridge (named for Henry Kilay, a Filipino soldier who owned it), without opposition. This commanding position lies about 700 yards (640 meters) west of Highway the 19th Infantry Regiment, is maintaining roadblock.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators pound Fabrica Aerodrome on Negros Island while fighter-bombers hit shipping and other targets of opportunity. A few fighter-bombers hit Sanbon Field near Legaspi on southeastern Luzon Island while B-25 Mitchells, with P-38 Lightning cover, hit San Roque Airfield and the town of Zamboanga on Mindanao Island.

EAST INDIES: Over Halmahera Island and in the Ceram Island area of the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers and A-20s bomb airfields and various targets of opportunity.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, Pegun Island is attacked by two waves of 70 USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20 Havocs.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The Australian 5th Division relieves the American 40th Infantry Division in the Cape Hoskins area on New Britain Island.

Corvette HMCS Thorlock commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Riviere Du Loup departed St. John's to escort for the 46-ship New York City to Liverpool convoy HX-319. The convoy arrived safely in the UK on 25 Nov 44 with ships intact.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-276 was commissioned at New York and LT Antonio NS Santa Cruz became her first commanding officer on 5 December 1944, as she departed New York for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-1052 collided with the vessel "Saude" (352 tons) south of Bergen, Norway. The ship sank when the U-boat suddenly reversed and removed the bow from the vessel and left a huge hole in its hull causing the vessel to take on water and sink.

FRANCE: De Gaulle is unanimously elected president of the French provisional government by the Constituent Assembly.

EAST INDIES: Soetan Sjahrir, a Socialist, becomes the premier of the Indonesian republic, while Achmed Soekarno becomes the president.

U.S.A.: Washington D. C. : The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band plays its last concert at the National Press Club dinner for President Harry Truman. Also present are Generals Dwight Eisenhower and Hap Arnold, who thank the band for a job well done.