14 November 1939

UNITED STATES: Eugene Ely, a Curtiss exhibition pilot, takes off from the deck of the USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser No. 2) while it is anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia, thus becoming the first pilot to fly from the deck of a Navy ship.

UNITED STATES: The motion picture "Morocco" opens at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. This romantic drama directed by Josef von Sternberg stars Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Adolphe Menjou. The film is nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Dietrich) and Best Director. The members of the American Film Institute have ranked this film as No. 83 on the list of the 100 Greatest American Love Stories.

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims the Philippine Islands a free commonwealth.

GERMANY: Under the Versailles Treaty, major German rivers and canals came under international control. Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces that the German government would resume control over waterways in Germany. Only the Czechoslovak, French, and Yugoslav governments protested against this unilateral action, otherwise the denouncement caused barely a ripple of protest despite another breach of the international treaty system.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: In response to the political tensions following the suppression of a Sudete German Party meeting, the Czechoslovak government postpones national elections and forbids political meetings. The situation develops into crisis proportions between the German and Czechoslovak governments.

PALESTINE: Violence escalates to the point of pitched battles in Jerusalem between Arab and Jewish forces. The British expand their efforts to restore security in the Palestine mandate.

UNITED STATES: At a secret White House meeting with his military leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls for an Army Air Corps of 20,000 airplanes. Although he can not immediately request sufficient funds for the program from Congress, Roosevelt commits his administration to a vastly expanded air force.

The U.S. recalls its Ambassador from Berlin."with a view to gaining a first-hand picture of the situation in Germany . . ."

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Aircraft of Nos. 101, 105 and 110 Squadrons attack Cambrai and Beauvais, home of KG 76 and KG 53. Also airfields at Etaples, Knocke, Rennes and Amiens/Glisy are bombed.

Special Constable Brandon Moss (b. 1909) saved four people trapped under the dangerously unstable debris of two bombed buildings. (George Cross)

Today the German Luftwaffe made several unsuccessful attempts to penetrate to London. British fighters put up vigorous resistance enabling them to repel each of the attack waves. Not one bomb fell on London.

On the night before Thursday, the Italian naval port of Taranto was again bombed.

London: Neville Chamberlain's funeral is held at Westminster Abbey.

Prime Minister to General Wavell: General situation makes it very desirable to undertake operation (Operation Compass) of which you spoke to Eden. It is unlikely that Germany will leave her flagging ally unsupported indefinitely. ...now is the time to take risks and strike the Italians ...

Coventry: Last night 449 Luftwaffe bombers, led by the specialised pathfinders of KG 100, bombed the city of Coventry. The 14th-century St. Michael's Cathedral was turned into smoking rubble and many factories making munitions, engines for tanks and aircraft and other war supplies were badly damaged. 568 people were killed and 863 seriously injured. "Coventry is finished" said one survivor.

Many have fled, the army wants to impose martial law until essential services are restored. There is no water supply or transport and the telephone system has been disrupted. The air is still warm from the fire which raged through the city centre and daylight is obscured by a pall of sooty fog. The raid arrived in three streams over Lincolnshire, Portland and Dungeness. The first bombs, 10,224 incendiaries and 48 small high-explosive devices were dropped by 13 He-111s of KG 100 at 7.20 pm. They started fires which acted as beacons for the main force. Land mines, high explosive and incendiary bombs came crashing down. Groups of bombers were assigned to particular factories:

Lehrgeschwader I: The Standard Motor Company and Coventry Radiator and Press Company.

The factories are situated amongst residential areas though and ordinary homes took the brunt of the bombing. It is estimated that 60,000 out of the city's 75,000 buildings have been damaged, among them 111 factories, 600 shops, 28 hotels, 121 offices and all the city's railway lines.

FRANCE: Vichy France protests German expulsion of French-speaking inhabitants from Lorraine stating, "No measure of this kind was ever under discussion at the Franco-German meetings."

GERMANY: Soviet-German negotiations on the USSR joining the alliance of the fascist states failed.

ROMANIA: Romania's Legionary (Iron Guard) government asks Germany for two tank units, which are immediately sent by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler along with instructors to train their Romanian crews. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini protests and suggests that Romania also should ask for Italian troops. Romania declines.

The Italian Armed Forces Bulletin No. 138 reported on the enemy raid on Taranto on the night of 11th-12th November. Yesterday in the House of Commons, Churchill gave a completely false version of this incident. However, Italian authorities do not think it necessary to reply to this kind of tendentious twisting of the facts.

GREECE: RAF squadrons deploy from their bases in the Middle East to Greece under the command of Air Vice Marshal J D'Albiac, Air Officer Commanding RAF Palestine.

ALBANIA: Dimitry Statharos reaches the Albanian front south of Koritsa (Korce) and participates in a week long bombardment of the Italian stronghold. The next two and a half weeks will be his busiest combat period of the six month campaign, in addition to bombarding Italian positions he and his men must fight off the cold and hunger as it is in this three week period that food supplies arrive sporadically and his men must turn to boiling snails at times in order to get by. (Steve Statharos)

SINGAPORE: Air Marshall Brooke-Popham arrives as the new British Commander in Chief.

CANADA: Corvette HMS Trillium arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

In Victoria, British Columbia, the Canadian Joint Board on Defence adopts its 10th Recommendation stating that the government will establish airfields and essential facilities as soon as possible permitting rapid deployment of aircraft to the Territory of Alaska.

U.S.A.: Washington: It is reported that Congress has had to take other quarters because engineers have decided that the 112-ton roof of the House chamber and the 90-ton roof of the Senate may crash any day.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German armored ship Admiral Scheer is resupplied by supply ship Nordmark east of Bermuda.

U.S.S.R.: Elements of the German11th Army close on Sevastopol, cutting the city off from landward communications. On the other side of the peninsula, Kerch is occupied. Meanwhile, the Soviet 49th Army hits the German 12 and 13 Corps in the Tula area. Fighting is very heavy.

Submarine M-98 of the Baltic Fleet is mined and sunk off Naissaar Island in the Gulf of Finland. (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)

Soviet destroyer Gordy sunk by Finnish mine while participating in the evacuation of Hangö Island in the Baltic.

GIBRALTAR: Lord Haw-Haw had claimed the sinking of HMS ARK ROYAL so many times that it had become a standing joke with the British. It was no joke today, however, when the great carrier sank 25 miles from Gibraltar after a fight to keep her afloat.

In an attack by U-81 and U-205 yesterday she had been hit amidships by one torpedo from U-81. The ARK ROYAL began to list at once, losing all power and light. For a few hours it seemed as if she could reach Gibraltar under tow by two tugs, her list corrected and steam raised in one boiler. In the early hours of this morning, however, fire broke out in her port boiler room and her list increased to 35 degrees. The ARK ROYAL was abandoned and sank at 6.13 this morning with the loss of only one crew member.

With HMS Illustrious and HMS FORMIDABLE both under repair in the USA, the Mediterranean Fleet is left without a carrier - a parlous situation since Hitler, desperate to supply Rommel, is preparing to order one Fliegerkorps of bombers from Russia to Sicily - a serious threat to Malta and the Royal Navy.

CHINA: Seven hundred fifty U.S. Marines are ordered out of Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin in Japanese occupied China. One hundred eighty three have transportation difficulties and will be imprisoned by the Japanese when hostilities begin.

JAPAN: The Foreign Ministry sends the following message to the Japanese embassy in Hong Kong: "Though the Imperial Government hopes for great things from the Japan-American negotiations, they do not permit optimism for the future. Should the negotiations collapse, the international situation in which the Empire will find herself will be one of tremendous crisis. Accompanying this, the Empire's foreign policy as it has been decided by the cabinet, insofar as it pertains to China, is: (a) We will completely destroy British and American power in China, (b) We will take over all enemy concessions and enemy important rights and interests (customs and minerals, etc.) in China, We will take over all rights and interests owned by enemy Powers, even though they might have connections with the new Chinese government, should it become necessary. In realizing these steps in China, we will avoid, insofar as possible, exhausting our veteran troops. Thus we will cope with a world war on a long-time scale. Should our reserves for total war and our future military strength wane, we have decided to reinforce them from the whole Far Eastern area. This has become the whole fundamental policy of the Empire. Therefore, in consideration of the desirability to lighten our personal and material load, we will encourage the activities of important Chinese in their efforts in the occupied territories insofar as is possible. Japan and China, working in cooperation, will take over military bases. Thus, operating wherever possible, we will realize peace throughout the entire Far East. At the same time, we place great importance upon the acquisition of materials (especially from unoccupied areas). In order to do this, all in the cabinet have concurred, in view of the necessity, in a reasonable relaxation of the various restrictions now in force (after you have duly realized the critical situation which has brought the above decisions into being you will, of course, wait fo r instructions from home before carrying them out).

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Hart informed by Navy Department that deployment of the Asiatic Fleet was to be made by him as its commander. (Marc Small)

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Clayoquot, Quinte and Ungava arrived Halifax from Esquimalt. DS)

"The Government of the United States has decided to withdraw the American Marine detachments now maintained ashore in China, at Peiping, Tientsin, and Shanghai.
It is reported that the withdrawal will begin shortly." (Stuart W. Millis)

The Japanese Ambassador in Washington, NOMURA Kichisaburo, sends the following message to Foreign Minister MATSUOKA Yosuke in Tokyo: "However, I must tell you the following: (1) As I told you in a number of messages, the policy of the American Government in the Pacific is to stop any further moves on our part either southward or northward. With every economic weapon at their command, they have attempted to achieve this objective, and now they are contriving by every possible means to prepare for actual warfare. (2) In short, they are making every military and every other kind of preparation to prevent us from a thrust northward or a thrust southward; they are conspiring most actively with the nations concerned and rather than yield on this fundamental political policy of theirs in which they believe so firmly, they would not hesitate, I am sure, to fight us. It is not their intention, I know, to repeat such a thing as the Munich conference which took place seve ral years ago and which turned out to be such a failure. Already I think the apex of German victories has been passed. Soviet resistance persists, and the possibility of a separate peace has receded, and hereafter this trend will be more and more in evidence. (3) The United States is sealing ever-friendlier relations with China, and insofar as possible she is assisting CHIANG. For the sake of peace in the Pacific, the United States would not favor us at the sacrifice of China. Therefore, the China problem might become the stumbling block to the pacification of the Pacific and as a result the possibility of the United States and Japan ever making up might vanish."

- USS Benson (DD-421) and Niblack (DD-424), screening convoy ON-34 (U.K. to North America), depth charge sound contacts.

- USS Edison (DD-439), en route to the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point (MOMP) in Task Unit 4.1.1 to screen convoy ON-35, attacks a sound contact about 102 nautical miles (190 kilometers) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, in position 62.53N, 24.30W.

After shooting down a German into the sea off Malta, a Canadian Spitfire pilot made a gallant bid to save the life of his victim. Although if another enemy pilot had taken him by surprise he might have needed it himself, the Canadian dropped his dinghy into the water beside the German.

The pilot was Flt. Lieut. Henry William McLeod. "When he hit the water I circled over him and he waved to me, apparently quite cheerfully," said McLeod, "so I dropped my dinghy for him to show that I had no hard feelings."

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 19: 34 bombers are dispatched to hit U-boats pens at La Pallice but the target is covered by 10/10 clouds and 15 of 21 B-17 Flying Fortresses and nine of 13 B-24 Liberators hit the secondary, the port area at St Nazaire; one B-24 is damaged. Six B-24 Liberators fly a diversion for this mission.

U-871, U-994, U-1162 laid down.

U-842, U-955, U-956 launched.

U-231, U-733 commissioned.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-77 rescued two badly injured crewmembers of a German aircraft.

U-595 sunk in the Mediterranean NE of Oran, in position 36.38N, 00.30E, by depth charges from 2 British Hudson aircraft (Sqn 608). 45 survivors (No casualties)

U-605 sunk in the Mediterranean near Algiers, in position 36.20N, 01.01W, by depth charges from a British Hudson aircraft (Sqn 233/B). 46 dead (all hands lost).

At 1947 hours submarine HMS Sahib sank the Italian transport Scillin (built 1903, 1579 BRT). The Scillin was transporting Allied POWs, many of whom drowned. (Date correction by Brian Sims)

At 1947 hours, the Italian cargo/passenger ship SS Scillin is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M Sahib (P 212) in the Tyrrhenian Sea 10 nautical miles (18,5 kilometers) north of Cape Milazzo, in northern Sicily. The ship is carrying about 815 Commonwealth POWs from Tunisia to Sicily. Sahib rescues 27 POWs from the water (26 British and one South African) plus the Scillin's captain and 45 Italian crew members. Only then, when the sub captain hears the survivors speaking English, does he realize that he has sunk a ship carrying Allied POWs and some Italian soldiers and has drowned 783 men. At a subsequent inquiry into this "friendly fire" tragedy, the captain is cleared of any wrongdoing as the ship was unmarked and at the time he firmly believed that it was carrying Italian troops. The Ministry of Defence keeps this incident a closely guarded secret for 54-years, telling relatives a pack of lies, maintaining that they had died while POWs in Italian camps or simply "lost at sea." It is not until 1996, after repeated requests for information from the families of the drowned men, that the truth came out.

TUNISIA: French Lieutenant General Georges-Edmond Barré, Commander-in-Chief Tunisia, prepares to go over to the Allies, by moving his troops away from the coastal towns in Tunisia.

ALGERIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires fly routine patrols in the Oran-Tafaraoui area and escort C-53 Skytroopers carrying paratroops from Gibraltar to Algiers.

LIBYA: Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to attack the harbor at Bengasi but only one locates the target and drops its bombs.

TUNISIA: French Lieutenant General Georges-Edmond Barré, Commander-in-Chief Tunisia, prepares to go over to the Allies, by moving his troops away from the coastal towns in Tunisia.

NEW GUINEA: The New Guinea Force, which commands all Australian and U.S. forces in Papua and Northeast New Guinea, issues an attack plan for the reduction of the Buna-Gona beachhead in Papua New Guinea. Advance elements of 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, are consolidating positions at Natunga. Task Force Warren (128th Infantry Regiment of 32d Infantry Division and Australian 2/6th Independent Company) is consolidating and patrolling in the Oro Bay-Embogu-Embi area. On the Kokoda Trail, the Australian 25th Brigade starts crossing the improvised bridge at Wairopi, and the USAAF Fifth Air Force drops bridging equipment. In the air, a Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchell bombs and strafes the track north of Soputa.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Rear Admiral NISHIMURA Shoji with heavy cruisers HIJMS Maya and Suzuya, light cruiser HIJMS Tenryu and destroyers HIJMS Yugumo, Makikumo and Kazegumo as the Support Force to Vice Admiral MIKAWA Gunichi's main body of heavy cruisers HIJMS Chokai and Kinugasa, light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and two destroyers bombard Henderson Field with almost 1,000 eight-inch (20,3 centimeter) shells at 0130 hours.

In the morning, Japanese heavy cruisers HIJMS Chokai, Kinugasa, Maya and Suzuya, light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and Tenryu and six destroyers come under attack by planes from carrier Enterprise (CV-6) and from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. HIJMS Kinugasa is sunk by USMC SBD Dauntlesses of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty Two (VMSB 132), 15 nautical miles northwest of Rendova Island; HIJMS Maya, crashed by a crippled Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10) SBD and Isuzu are damaged south of New Georgia Island; Chokai, Tenryu, and destroyer Ayanami are also damaged.

Aircraft from the USN aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) are joined by land-based USMC and USAAF aircraft in driving off the force that bombarded Henderson last night. In view of the pressing need for aircraft in the South Pacific Area, Admiral Chester W Nimitz, Commander Pacific Ocean Areas and Commander Pacific Fleet, is given more freedom to deploy his air weapons; he receives authority to distribute as he sees fit all available air units assigned to the South and Central Pacific provided he move units rather than individual aircraft and crews. Two USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack transport in the Solomon Islands.

In the afternoon, USMC and USN land-based SBD Dauntlesses and TBF Avengers bomb a Japanese convoy off Guadalcanal, sinking two transports/cargo ships and five merchant transport/cargo ships. A cargo ship is damaged. U.S. losses are five SBDs, two F4F Wildcats vs. 13 Japanese "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters). One of the Wildcats lost was piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, USMC. He had downed a "Zeke" bringing his total to ten and bails out of his aircraft but is never seen again. Col. Bauer will be awarded, posthumously, the MOH for his actions in the air from Henderson Field since his arrival October 14, 1942.Admiral TANAKA's convoy, with four remaining transports, continues to Tassafaronga after nightfall to unload about 4,000 troops and a few tons of supplies.

During the night of 14/15 November, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is fought between the Japanese and U.S. Navies. The Japanese forces, under Vice Admiral KONDO Nobutakare, are the battleship HIJMS Kirishima, heavy cruisers HIJMS Atago and Takao, light cruisers HIJMS Sendai and Nagara and the destroyers HIJMS Asagumo, Ayanami, Kagero, Oyashio, Shikinami, Uranami. The USNâ€™s Task Force LOVE consists of the battleships USS Washington (BB-56) and South Dakota (BB-57) and the destroyers USS Benham (DD-397), Gwin (DD-433), Preston (DD-379) , and Walke (DD-416) under the command of Rear Admiral Willis "Ching" Lee, Commander Battleship Division 6. Lee arrives first about 2200 hours and radios Henderson Field for last minute intelligence. There are no preplanned radio codes, so Lee is forced to radio "Cactus, this is Lee. Tell your boss 'Ching' Lee is here and wants the latest information." At 2317 hours, motor torpedo boat (PTs) from Tulagi Island are spotted moving in . Lee radios "Refer your big boss about Ching Lee; Chinese, catchee? Call off your boys!" Henderson Field has no new information for him. Meanwhile Admiral KONDO, north of Savo Island, splits his force with one cruiser and three destroyers heading east of Savo and the bombardment force west. At 0001 hours, Washington makes radar contact with enemy east of Savo and at 0016 hours, Washington opens fire at 18,500 yards (16,9 kilometers) using radar ranges and optical train. About a minute later, South Dakota opens fire on the nearest ship of the main group at a range of 15,700 yards (14,4 kilometers), using radar control.. Their targets are the ships east of Savo. At 0019 hours, after the Washington's seventh or eighth salvo, her flaming target disappears and is presumed to have sunk. Several reports reach Admiral KONDO identifying the US ships as battleships, Kondo does not believe them. By 2358 hours lookouts on the flagship heavy cruiser HIJMS Atago re-identify USS South Dak ota as a cruiser. At 2359 hours, the Japanese recognize their error but Admiral KONDO still hesitates but Japanese "Long Lance" torpedoes are launched. At midnight, heavy cruisers HIJMS Atago's searchlights open on battleship USS South Dakota and Admiral KONDO is convinced about her size. This time the Japanese torpedoes miss, but South Dakota has an electric fault that takes her guns out of an early part of the battle and she is hit with 27 shells. The damage topside knocks out all radios, most radar and control crew. USS Washington now takes battleship HIJMS Kirishima under fire while South Dakota pulls out of the fight to concentrate on damage control. The Japanese lose Kirishima and a destroyer, the US loses 3 destroyers with damage to South Dakota and destroyer Gwin.

Admiral Tanaka's convoy, with 4 remaining transports, is ordered to beach themselves on Guadalcanal.

SADO MARU, Japanese Navy Transport (7180 GRT) is sunk in convoy at 08° 30'S, 158° 45'E - in New Georgia Sound. (89)(Peter Beeston)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: On USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator flies armed reconnaissance over Japanese-held Kiska and Attu Islands and bombs Holtz Bay and Chichagof on Attu with negative results. Bombers at Adak and Umnak Islands are alerted for shipping targets.

U.S.A.: At the Colorado River Relocation Camp for Japanese-Americans near Poston, Arizona, two popular inmates are arrested accused of attacking a man widely perceived as an informer. This incident soon mushrooms into a mass strike.

U-134 sank SS Scapa Flow.

U-413 sank SS Warwick Castle in Convoy MKF-1X.

The 20,107 ton British troop transport SS Warwick Castle in convoy MKF-1X (Mediterranean to U.K.) had landed troops for the North Africa landings and is empty on her return voyage. The ship is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-413 about 203 nautical miles (376 kilometers) west of Lisbon, Portugal, in position 39.12N, 13.25W. Of the 428 men aboard, 314 survive. This is one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats in World War II.

U-73 damaged SS Lalanded in Operation Torch.

U-117 took on two ill crewmembers from U-84.

UNITED KINGDOM: Wigan, Lancashire: Ernest Bevin, the minister of labour, explained his plans for employment after the war here today. He foresaw that controls would be required for several years and a "human budget" would be needed every year to allocate labour. Rehousing alone would provide jobs for five million. "There is hardly a home in this country that is not short of domestic utensils. I want to compel the manufacture of goods of proper quality - no rubbish - to replenish our homes," said Mr. Bevin.

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Petain, having tried and failed to reintroduce a measure of legitimacy and thus free France and himself from the head of government, Pierre Laval, and his collaborationist clique, is now virtually a German prisoner.

Petain planned to say in a speech that he represented legitimate authority in France, and that on his death power would revert to the National Assembly. However, the contents of the speech were communicated to Hitler, who ordered Petain not to give it. Instead, the Germans plan to launch a campaign of repression and terror against the Resistance, exploiting what is left of Marshal Petain's reputation.

GERMANY: U-794, the Germany navy's first true submarine, goes into service at Kiel: it has a Schnorkel to provide the engines with oxygen while it is submerged.

U.S.S.R.: Manteuffel's 7th Panzer Division is ordered to counterattack south of Zhitomir from near Berdichev.

ITALY: The British 8th Indian Division with the 2nd New Zealand Division captures Perano.

The Italian Socialist Republic (RSI), or SalÃ² Republic, led by Benito Mussolini, is established as an independent fascist state of Northern Italy to continue the war against the Allies. RSI holds a conference in Verona today to discuss many factors: to established the structure and socialization of the new republic, that the acts of the Grand Council on 25 July 1943 are those of traitors and the need to stifle partisan actions. A bill of 18 articles is written by the party secretary Alessadro Pavolini and endorsed by Mussolini. After the conference, Pavolini organizes the first of many RSI attacks on insurgents when 17 anti-fascists in Ferrara are killed. The focus of the RSI is to avoid a civil war.

Operations by the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command are curtailed by weather, and only battle area patrols are flown; RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit trains on the east coast near Avezzano; and fighters strafe the airfields at Furbara and Tarquinia.

YUGOSLAVIA: RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers hit targets along the Dalmatian coast southeast of Metkovic and at Sarajevo.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack a supply and bivouac area west of Sio.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, after a delay to await an air strike, replenishment of water supply, and repair of communications, the 21st Marine Regiment, supported by five tanks, renews the battle for the Numa Numa and East-West Trails junction, advance along jungle tracks using tanks for an armoured spearhead, and takes it and establish perimeter defense.

During the night of 14/15 November, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-70 night fighters hit the Shortland Island-Faisi Island area, claiming a seaplane and two barges destroyed.

Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nukufetau Island in the Ellice Islands bomb Tarawa Atoll.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nanumea Island in the Ellice Islands hit Mili (Mille) Atoll.

U.S.A.: Off BERMUDA: A U.S. torpedo is accidentally fired at U.S.S. Iowa with President Franklin Roosevelt on board. It exploded by chance in wake of Roosevelt's ship. (Glenn Steinberg)

Jack McKillop adds: On 12 November 1943, the destroyer USS William D. Porter (DD-579) departed Norfolk, Virginia, and the following day rendezvoused with the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). The battleship was on her way to North Africa carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Cairo and Teheran Conferences. During battle drills on the afternoon of the 14 November, the crew of the destroyer inadvertently fired a live torpedo at Iowa however, the destroyer signalled Iowa in plenty of time to allow the battleship to turn hard to starboard, parallel to the torpedo's wake. The torpedo exploded some 3,000 yards (2,743.2 meters) astern of the battleship. USS William D. Porter completed her part in the mission and steamed west to Bermuda, where she arrived on 16 November.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The USN battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) and her escorts are east of Bermuda. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is aboard en route from the U.S. to Casablanca, French Morocco, for a conference in Tehran, Iran. During battle drills destroyer USS William D. Porter (DD-579) inadvertently fires a live torpedo at USS Iowa . (Glenn Stenberg)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his wife Doris died today when the Avro York transport carrying them to Ceylon crashed in atrocious weather on the Cheminee du Diable in the French Alps.

Sir Trafford was on his way to take up his new appointment as commander of the Allied air forces in South-east Asia (SEAC). It would have been the culmination of a brilliant, if sometimes controversial, career.

He opposed Lord Dowding over his tactics in the Battle of Britain. Dowding won the battle, but lost the quarrel, and was bypassed while Leigh-Mallory went on to command the Allied Expeditionary Air Force for the invasion of Europe. Buried in snow, the wreck is not found until June, 1945. Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, Deputy Allied Air Commander in Chief, Air Command - South East Asia Command, is later appointed to this position.

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, XII Corps opens an offensive to reduce the German bridgehead west of the Maas River around Nederweert in the Roermond-Venlo area, attacking across Nord and Wesscm Canals with the 53d and 51st Divisions while the 7th Armoured Division takes the locks at Panheel.

FRANCE: Free French troops launch Operation Independence, to close the Belfort Gap.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, Oudrenne falls to the 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division; the 358th cuts the Inglange-Distroff road and clears Distroff. The 90th Reconnaissance Troop links the bridgeheads of the 90oth and 95th Infantry Divisions, providing the 10th Armored Division a protected route of advance. A Bailey bridge is completed at Thionville during morning, and Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division starts across it in afternoon. Combat Command A of the 10th Armored Division and the 3d Cavalry Group (Mechanized) cross at Mailing, latter to screen in the Sarre-Moselle triangle. The 95th Infantry Division, which has been engaged largely in containing the German bridgehead west of Metz, begins attacks west of the river with the 379th Infantry Regiment after artillery preparation: while the 2d Battalion works around to the rear of Fort Jeanne d'Arc and holds off counterattacks, the 1st Battalion begins the reduction of fortifications known as the Seven Dwarfs, taking the three northern works and attempting in vain to gain the next, Fort Bois Ia Dame. The regiment is isolated in these advanced positions, though, and must be supplied by air. East of the Moselle River, the 2d Battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, takes Haute Yutz and opens an assault on Fort d'IlLange; the 1st Battalion, 377th Infantry Regiment, is heavily engaged at Bertrange and Imeldange. The 10th and 11th Infantry Regiments, 5th Infantry Division, drive northward abreast toward Metz while the 3d Battalion, 2d Infantry Regiment, moves to the Sorbey area; the 11th clears the woods southwest of Fort Verdun and takes Prayelle Farm; the 10th cleans out the southern half of Bois de l´pital. In the XII Corps area, Lieutenant General Manton Eddy, Commanding General XII Corps, limits the 80th Infantry Division'™s mission to clearing the high ground south of Faulquemont. Combat Command A of the 6th Armored Division attacks toward Côte de Suisse, a ridge extending from Landroff to Thicourt, taking Brulange, Suisse, and Landroff. The Germans begin a series of determined attempts to recover Landroff at dusk, pushing into the village. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, and the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, close in on Morhange, seizing Destry and Baronville in bitter fighting. The 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, moves forward to the right. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, sweeps through Bois de Kerperche, extending northeast from Koecking ridge, and gets elements to Guebling. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, continues to clear Koecking forest, from which the Germans begin withdrawing, during the night of 14/15 November.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division continues to battle the Germans near Leintrey. The 79th Infantry Division overcomes opposition at Ste Pole and Ancerviller.

In the French First Army area, I Corps opens an offensive toward the Belfort Gap, attacking astride the Doubs River at noon with the 2d Moroccan Division assisted by the 5th Armored Division on the left and the 9th Colonial Division on the right. Tactical surprise is achieved and gains are made all along front.

GERMANY: U-3034, U-4706 laid down.

NORWAY: The Norwegian government-in-exile announces that Norwegian troops under Colonel Arne Dahi have landed in Norway to operate with the Soviet Karelian forces against the Germans on the Arctic front.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: General Andrei Vlasov, a Russian officer captured by the Germans in 1942, defects. Vlasov argues that Germany should set up a Russian provisional government and recruit a Russian army of liberation under his command. Vlasov writes an anti-Bolshevik leaflet which aircraft drop by the millions on Soviet forces, and as a direct consequence thousands of Soviets desert. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler authorizes him to set up the Russian Liberation Committee and the Russian Liberation Army, known as ROA (from Russkaya Osvoboditel'naya Armiya), to fight the Soviets.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 4th Division reaches the Montone River in the region north of Highway 9. Advancing along the highway, the 167th Brigade of the 56th Division crosses the Montone River. South of Highway 9, the 6th Division continues toward the Samoggia River.

Bad weather restricts USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations to fighter-bomber attacks by 17 P-47 Thunderbolts on rail lines and a road north of the battleline.

YUGOSLAVIA: The Yugoslavs announce the fall of Skoplje, which has been a main staging point for the Germans withdrawing from Greece.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the Chinese 22d Division, upon taking Man-tha with ease and blocking the road from Bhamo, is ordered to continue the drive to Si-u. The Chinese 38th Division's 114th and 113th Regiments are converging on Bhamo: the 114th, pressing west toward the town, is bitterly opposed by the Japanese in the Mornauk area, 8 miles (13 kilometers) east of Bhamo; the 113th, upon crossing the Taping River at Myothit, moves west along the south bank of the river toward Bhamo.

Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a supply area near Lashio; 56 fighter-bombers hit supply areas, enemy concentrations, town areas, and general targets of opportunity at Kutkai, Sandaya, Palaung, Kawlin, the Shwebo-Kyaukmyaung area and Tingka, China. Twelve fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Pinwe area, four bomb Sindaw River bridges and over 30 others maintain patrols south of Myitkyina. Transport fly over 300 sorties to forward areas.

In eastern Burma and in the China-Burma boundary areas eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Wanling and Hsenwi while 15 P-38 Lightnings and P-40s on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity around Wanling and Mangshih, China.

BONIN ISLANDS: Project MIKE continues as USAAF B-24s (42d Bomb Squadron) lay six mines in effective locations off Ani Jima and Haha Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, orders Major General Franklin Sibert, Commanding General X Corps, to commit the 32d Infantry Division, originally intended to operate on southern Samar, in the zone of the 24th Infantry Division in order to relieve elements of that division. Breakneck Ridge is now largely clear, but the Japanese still retain several adjacent spurs. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, patrols actively on Kilay Ridge; supplies for the battalion are hand carried by Filipinos from Consuegra. In the XXIV Corps area, the 32d Infantry Regiment of 7th Infantry Division is ordered to start north to the Damulaan-Caridad area and upon order to advance upon Ormoc.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt cover, bomb Bacalod (Bacolod) Airfield on Negros Island while fighter-bombers hit trucks and buildings in the Valencia, Mindanao Island area. On Leyte Island, fighter-bombers attack targets near Linao and hit shipping south of Ormoc. On Cebu Island, B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers attack Lahug and Opon Airfields.

USN Task Force 38 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) air strikes against Japanese shipping in Philippines continue. At Manila, Navy carrier-based planes sink a transport, a merchant tanker, two merchant cargo ships, and damage a transport and an army cargo ship; a cargo ship is sunk just outside Manila Bay. Off Mindoro, F6F Hellcats from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) attack Japanese convoy SIMA-04, sinking a merchant tanker; and damaging an army cargo ship as well as four escorting submarine chasers. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators strike Langoan Airfield on the northeastern tip of Celebes Island.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells bomb Pegun Island in preparation for allied amphibious landings early tomorrow morning.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Twenty two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Woleai Atoll hitting the airfield and adjacent installations and firing an oil dump.

PACIFIC OCEAN: During the night of 14/15 November a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on a snooper mission attacks shipping southwest of the Bonin Islands.

A paper Japanese Fu-Go balloon, including the envelope, rigging and some apparatus, is recovered from the sea about 4.3 nautical miles (8,0 kilometers) west of Kailua, Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, at 1000 hours local by the USCG. This is the first paper balloon recovered. Kailua is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Honolulu.

UNITED KINGDOM: The second Lockheed YP-80, USAAF s/n 44-83027, msn 080-1006, was lent to Rolls-Royce to be used as a testbed for their B-41 turbojet engine. This aircraft was destroyed today when it crashed after an engine failure.

Top songs on the hit record charts are: "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by The Harry James Orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen; "Till the End of Time" by Perry Como; "I'll Buy that Dream" by The Pied Pipers; and "With Tears in My Eyes" by Wesley Tuttle.