15 November 1939

UNITED STATES: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) is commissioned at the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The USN now has nine heavy cruisers in commission.

UNITED STATES: Plans to install hydraulic flush deck catapults aboard aircraft carriers were formalized in a USN Bureau of Aeronautics request that space be reserved on the aircraft carriers Yorktown (CV-5) and Enterprise (CV-6) for two bow catapults on the flight deck and one athwartships on the hangar deck.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The new Philippine constitution goes into effect. President Manuel Quezon enjoys most of the powers of the governor-general and held office for six years. The National Assembly becomes the new unicameral legislature for the islands. The U.S. government retains control of defense and foreign relations, exercises control of critical financial issues, and reserves the right to intervene in the affairs of the islands to preserve the commonwealth government. Philippine court decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. There are still demands, on the part of Philippine nationalists, for immediate and total independence from the United States, which marks the beginning of opposition to the Quezon administration.

UNITED STATES: The Chief, USN Bureau of Aeronautics, approved recommendations from a fighter design competition and thereby initiates development of the Grumman XF4F-1 Wildcat biplane and the Brewster XF2A-1 Buffalo monoplane. The developmental sequence thus set in motion, although it includes many subsequent changes and modifications, provides prototypes of the Navy s first-line fighters in use when the U.S. enters World War II.

The motion picture "A Night At The Opera" is released in the U.S. This romantic comedy directed by Sam Wood stars the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico and Harpo) and Kitty Carlisle. The members of the American Film Institute ranked this film No. 12 on the list of the 100 Funniest American Movies.

SPAIN: The German Legion Condor, formed to counter the increasing numbers of Soviet aircraft on the Republican side, begins operations in Spain.

BELGIUM: In Brussels, the Nine-Power Conference adopts the Anglo-Franco-American declaration chiding Japan as an aggressor in China. The conferees determine that Japan violated the Nine-Power Treaty of 1922 which Japan was a signatory.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Prague: The Gestapo arrests and summarily executes nationalist protestors at the funeral of Jan Opletal, a student leader fatally wounded in protests on 28 October.

INDIAN OCEAN: The British motor tanker AFRICA SHELL (706 BRT) is stopped and sunk by the GRAF SPEE. (Navynews)

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces that Australia will participate in the Empire Air Training Scheme and provide help and train 10,000 aircrew per year for the RAF.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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.

The city's defences consisted 24 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns, plus the 12 Bofors of 157/53 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, a figure acknowledges as inadequate by General Pile of AA Command on the 4th of November. The balloon barrage consisted of 56 balloons of No. 916 and 917 Squadrons, RAF.

121 sorties were flown by RAF night fighters. These consisted of 10 A.I. Beaufighters, 39 A.I. Blenheims, 22 Defiants, 45 Hurricanes, 4 Gladiators and 1 Spitfire. The fighter operations resulted in 11 A.I. detections, culminating in one enemy sighting; one sighting assisted by searchlights and 9 unassisted sightings. 2 engagements resulted from these sightings and one enemy aircraft was damaged.

The disappointing number of combats which followed on the 21 interceptions or enemy detections is attributed, inter alia, to the exhaust glow from Hurricanes and Defiants and the poor vision through the perspex screens of Blenheims and Hurricanes.

London is bombed heavily this night. More than a 100 bombers drops HE's and incendiaries. Drury Lane Theatre is hit.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group: Raids are carried out on Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen and ports from Stavanger in Norway to Lorient in Brittany. The raid on Berlin caused a number of serious fires which were visible 30 miles away.

The prototype de Havilland Mosquito takes off for the first time; designed as a bomber fast enough to dispense with defensive armament, it has a top speed of 400 mph (644 km/h).

GERMANY: During the night of 15/16 November, 67 RAF Bomber Command Wellington, Whitley, and Hampden bombers attack Hamburg doing extensive damage to the city and shipyards, with no loss of aircraft. Another 25 find alternative targets.

POLAND: Warsaw: The Jewish ghetto, with 400,000 inhabitants, is sealed off from the rest of the city.

ALBANIA: The RAF Bomb the port of Valona, base to Italian troops and supplies coming from Bari.

GREECE: HQ British Air Forces in Greece is formed to control units operating in Greece. Air Vice Marshal J.H. D'Albiac is in command. The unit ceased to exist following fall of Greece, Apr 1941.

LIBYA: Sidi Barrani: As Italian troops work to fortify this remote coastal village, the limit of their advance towards the Nile Delta, British troops are carrying out clandestine preparations for a major counter-offensive.

Moving only by night, and lying low under camouflage netting by day, they are burying large quantities of water and fuel in secret dumps along the 75-mile "no-man's-land" from Mersa Matruh and westward.

Marshal Graziani shows no sign of advancing further. An Italian observer reports a "holiday atmosphere" in their ranks as more British tanks arrive in Egypt.

EGYPT: Cairo: Telegram from HQ RAF ME to Air Ministry: [In reply to Churchill's of the 13th.]

CAS has explained that high figures quoted represent large proportion of non-operational aircraft and ancillary personnel. Rest assures I will continue to operate all available aircraft whilst not providing their fighters with too easy prey.

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA: In Gabon, Brigadier General Charles DeGaulle, Commander-in-Chief Free French Forces, visits Vichy prisoners in an attempt to win them over to Free France. Most reject the offer and are interned along with Air Force General Marcel Tetu, the Vichy Governor-General of French Equatorial Africa, at Brazzaville.

The first 75,000 men are called to Armed Forces duty under the peacetime draft (conscription).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-65 sank SS Havbør and Kohinur in Convoy OB-235. U-65 captured the second officer of the ship Kohinur after sinking that vessel.

BERMUDA: U.S. naval air operations began from Bermuda, one of the bases involved in the destroyers-for-bases pact with the U.K.. First to operate are the PBY-2 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Fifty Four (VP-54) based on the seaplane tender (destroyer) USS George E. Badger (AVD-3).

The de Havilland Mosquito Mk. IV light bomber enters service with No. 105 Squadron at RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England.

BALTIC SEA: U-583 sank at 2148hrs in the Baltic, near Danzig, in position 55.23N, 17.05E after a collision with U-153. 45 dead (all hands lost).

Moscow: On the night of 6-7 November the frost which heralds the arrival of the Russian winter gripped the steppes of western Russia. The temperatures plummeted, but overnight the mud which had bogged down the German thrust on Moscow for the past month vanished. Today, with light snow on the ground but under clear skies, the Germans were able to resume their offensive. Winter has restored the mobility of the German armies, but it has also brought a host of problems which are bound to grow worse.

The cold, far more intense than in western Europe - with temperatures of -28 degrees Fahrenheit (-40C) - affects everything. Tank and truck engines can only be started if fires are kept in lit under the vehicles. Guns and vehicles become frozen in and can only be freed by chipping away at the ice with pickaxes. Weapons seize up because the oil in them freezes. Worse, only a small proportion of the German troops have been issued with winter clothing - a sign of the dangerous over optimism with which Hitler and his generals were imbued at the start of the campaign. The result is that frostbite is rapidly increasing the sick list.

Soviet troops, on the other hand, especially the Siberian divisions passing through the Moscow to the front, are used to these conditions. "General Winter" is an ally of the USSR, not Germany, and may yet deny Hitler Moscow.

EGYPT: Cairo: A "Special Air Service Brigade" which was formed in the summer has lost 32 out of 55 men in an attempted para-drop in a sandstorm. The targets - Rommel's airfields - are untouched. The leader - Captain David Stirling, who proposed the idea of the SAS Brigade in July, was retrieved by another special force, the Long Range Desert Group. The LRDG, formed 14 months ago, comprises pre-war desert explorers practising deep reconnaissance with special vehicles. Stirling wants a partnership with it after this debacle.

HONG KONG: The converted passenger liner Awatea arrived here this evening, carrying 2,000 Canadian troops under Brigadier J Lawson.

The Canadians will boost the garrison in Hong Kong, but, as Churchill himself has pointed out, two semi-trained battalions are unlikely to deter Japan from war, but will merely increase the numbers of prisoners the Japanese can take. The Canadians seem only too aware of this. "Oh God, another Dunkirk," Signalman William Allister said when he heard where he was going. "No fella," another voice added, "at Dunkirk they had somewhere to go."

U.S.A.: Saburo Kurusu, an experienced diplomat, arrives in Washington to make a last-ditch effort to reach a compromise with the US. (Marc Small)

UNITED KINGDOM: Church bells across Britain, silent since June 1940, pealed out this Sunday morning to celebrate victory at El Alamein. The bells of Westminster Abbey were broadcast by the BBC to occupied Europe and Germany. The bells of Coventry Cathedral's only surviving bell-tower were heard with the 9am news on the second anniversary of the city's great Luftwaffe raid. Many bellringers had to be "lent" from the services.

FRANCE: During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off thee French ports in the Bay of Biscay: seven aircraft lay mines off La Pallice, three of Lorient and two off St. Nazaire. One aircraft is lost.

GERMANY: The prototype Heinkel He 219 V1 Uhu (Owl) makes it first flight. The Uhu was the only piston-engined night fighters capable of meeting the British de Havilland Mosquito on equal terms.

ITALY: During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 78 aircraft, 40 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters and 11 Stirlings, to continue the raids on Genoa with further accurate bombing; 68 bomb the target without loss.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-259 sunk in the Mediterranean north of Algiers, in position 37.20N, 03.05E, by depth charges from British Hudson aircraft (Sqn 500/S). 48 dead (all hands lost). The aircraft's depth charges exploded on contact crippling the aircraft forcing the crew to bail out.

Minesweeper HMS Algerine torpedoed and sunk off Bougie, Algeria by the Italian submarine Ascianghi.

The Germans have rapidly built up their forces in Tunisia and now count over 10000 troops and over 100 combat aircraft based on French fields.

The Allied aircraft are flying from temporary fields which are not as close to the front.

ALGERIA: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan assumes the position of High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa, appointing General Henri-Honeré Giraud as commander in chief of French armed forces in North Africa.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains transport the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Youk-les-Bains, near Tebessa and 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Bone.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators from two groups are sent to bomb Tripoli, but unfavorable weather prevents them from reaching the target. However, one group bombs a motor convoy, as well as an airfield and crowded roads in the Bengasi area. P-40s fly sweeps and fighter-bomber missions against the retreating enemy west of Martuba. The British Eighth Army's X Corps captures Martuba Airfield which is soon occupied by the USAAF 57th Fighter Group.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australians complete bridges on the Kumusi River and the Australian 25th Brigade its crossing of the river and heads for Gona, continuing their advance to Wairopi and Ilimow.

The 16th Brigade begins crossing the river but only headquarters and one battalion gets across by the end of the day. USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs strafe targets near Gona while B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders hit antiaircraft positions at Buna and Soputa as U.S. and Australian ground forces prepare to move against the Buna-Gona beachhead.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack shipping in Rabaul Harbor on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Admiral Tanaka heads his destroyers north from Guadalcanal, at 0430 after beaching the four remaining transports from his convoy. Between 0600 and 0845 the Cactus AF and aircraft from Enterprise attack these ships and the supplies unloaded on shore. They are joined by 155mm Arty from the 244th Coast Artillery and 2 of the 5" coast defence cannon of the Marines.

Destroyer USS Meade, which escorted the cargo ship Okpara to Guadalcanal, joins in. She ignites blazes on the 3 transports not already on fire from the aircraft strikes. Later in the day the Cactus AF strikes at some of the transports abandoned previously in the slot.

The air and sea battle which has raged around Guadalcanal has been fought to enable each side to resupply their forces on the island. The Japanese have landed 2000 troops with few supplies and losing all transports committed. The US lands 5500+ men (2 Btns of the 182nd Infantry) and full supplies, losing no transports.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Kentville arrived Halifax from builder Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The 100th Infantry Division is activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, under the command of Major General Withers A. Burress (VMI, Class of 1914). (William L. Howard)

HMCS Saguenay, a River-class destroyer, was damaged when she was rammed by the Panamanian freighter SS AZRA, south of Cape Race Newfoundland. She was damaged further when her own depth charges exploded and destroyed her stern. Saguenay was declared a constructive total loss and was assigned to harbour training duties for the remainder of the war at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. She was paid off on 30 Jul 45 and broken up for scrap in 1946 at Hamilton, Ontario.

U-98 sunk in North Atlantic west of Gibraltar in position 36.09N, 07.42W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wrestler (D 35), which is escorting convoy MKF-1. 46 dead (all hands lost).

The commander of U-603 fell ill, forcing the boat to return to base.

At 0305, British Long Island-class escort carrier HMS Avenger (D 14, ex USN BAVG-2) was torpedoed by U-155 (KptLt Adolf Piening, Knight's Cross, CO) 47 nautical miles (87 kilometres) south of Faro, Portugal, in position 36.15N, 07.45W. The ship had participated in the Operation TORCH landings of North Africa and departed Gibraltar with convoy MKF-1 (Mediterranean to U.K.) yesterday. Early in the morning, U-155 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy and one of the torpedoes hit the port side amidships, which in turn ignited her bomb room, blowing out the centre section of the ship. Her bow and stern sections rose in the air and sunk within two minutes, leaving only 12 survivors of the 526 crewmen aboard.

U-155 sank SS Ettrick and damaged USS Almaack and Electra in Convoy MKF-1Y.

U-178 damaged SS Adviser.

U-67 sank SS King Arthur.

ICELAND: The Regent of Iceland, at the opening session of the newly elected Althing, speaks of Iceland's excellent relations with Britain and America. (The British troops had, now left Iceland, and have been replaced by Americans. The British had come against the will of the Icelanders but quickly gained their respect and sympathy; the Americans came at their request and according to their free agreement, and Iceland's respect and sympathy for the United States had increased on closer acquaintance.)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) is formed to control all Allied tactical air operations in connection with Operation "Overlord." RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory is named commander of the AEAF and USAAF Brigadier General William O Butler is named Deputy Commander. The new unit will have control of two RAF units, Tactical Air Force, which is redesignated the Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF), and Fighter Command, which is redesignated Air Defence Great Britain. AEAF will be given operational control of the USAAF's Ninth Air Force in December. AEAF is disbanded on 15 October 1944.

Destroyer HMCS Chaudiere (ex-HMS Hero) was commissioned into the RCN at Portsmouth.

Destroyers HMCS Haida, Huron and Iroquois departed Loch Ewe with the 19-ship convoy JW-54A to Kola Inlet. All ships were Tribal-class destroyers. The trip with JW54A was an uneventful passage to Archangel. On the return trip, with convoy JW55B, the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst was sunk. Although not actively involved in the sinking, the three Canadian destroyers contributed indirectly to the battle's outcome.

FRANCE: Tonight the British Special Operations Executive lands six agents in France and takes 12, including Francois Mitterrand, back to Britain.

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit four cities: five bomb Dusseldorf, two each attack Bonn and Duisburg and one attacks Krefeld.

Continuing their offensive toward Rechitsa, Soviet forces cut the rail line between Gomel and Pinsk.

The guns are silent along the entire Italian line. The invading armies are exhausted. The plight of the defenders is no better. Both the British and Americans have given their all in the Fifth Army sector. On 5 November the British 56th Infantry Division attacked Monte Camino, a barren 3,000-foot mountain which the Germans had covered with mines and booby-traps. At the half-way point, they faced a series of brutal counter-attacks by the 15 Panzergrenadier Division but held on. They were finally forced to retire through sheer exhaustion. The US VI Corps suffered days of attacking elusive German defenders. It was only then that General Mark Clark gave the order to withdraw.

Milan: SS men rounded up nearly 2,000 Italian workers in the industrial suburbs of Milan today and held them as hostages against further sabotage. Even so, explosions have continued to rock this northern city and other forms of sabotage have become widespread. Milan's population has already been fined £1 million; more communal punishments have been threatened.

Frantic efforts are being made to remove thousands of British prisoners of war to Germany. Many took advantage of the confusion following the armistice and escaped. More have linked up with the fast-emerging communist-led partisan movement in the north. Former Italian soldiers are also swelling the guerrilla's ranks.

Resistance continues to grow against the German occupiers and Fascist collaborators. Six Fascists were killed in ambushes in the Florence district.

It was inevitable that Italy's Jewish population should bear the brunt of Nazi fury. At least 7,500 Jews are being rounded up in Rome and herded in trains bound for German death camps. Hundreds more are being sheltered from the Gestapo in Rome's labyrinth of catacombs where Christians once sheltered from persecution.

Whilst entering harbour at Bari destroyer HMS Quail is mined and has to be beached. She capsizes on 18 June 1944 at 40 05N 17 52E while under tow to Taranto for repair. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The U.S. Fifth Army halts their advance in order to reorganize in preparation for another assault on the Winter Line. The 7th Armored Division is withdrawn from left flank of British X Corps to 15th Army Group reserve in preparation for movement to England. The 82d Airborne Division, largely engages in policing Naples, is also to be withdrawn to England before their next offensive. The 1st Armored Division begins arriving at Naples about this time.

GREECE: B-25 Mitchells of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command bomb Kalamaki Airfield.

Forty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Eleusis Airfield near Athens; P-38 Lightnings provide escort.

CHINA: Twenty USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators are dispatched against the Hong Kong-Kowloon area. Bad weather prevents 15 bombers from bombing the targets however, five bomb the docks at Kowloon.

BURMA: On the north Burma front, the Chinese 38th Infantry Division is moving reinforcements forward for the 112th Regiment. The 114th Regiment arrives at the front and is followed in early December by the 113th. In the 11th Army Group's Fourteenth Army sector, the Japanese take Fort White in IV Corps area, having forced the British to abandon it.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, over 30 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Alexishafen. Meanwhile, 88 B-25 Mitchells heading for Wewak and Boram with an escort of 16 P-40s are intercepted by Japanese fighters that are escorting bombers attacking Gusap; the resulting battle causes the B-25s to abort the attack; the Americans claim 20 of the Japanese aircraft shot down with the loss of two P-40s. P-47 Thunderbolt pilots claim five more aircraft destroyed over Wewak.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Jaluit and Atolls.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the beachhead perimeter is expanded to the inland defense line Dog.

Twenty USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators strike Buka Airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville. On Bougainville Island, 18 B-24s bomb Kahili (Kihili) Airfield in the southern part of the island while fighter patrols destroy or damage several barges along the coast and destroy two fuel dumps at Tonolai Harbor off southern Bougainville. During the night of 15/16 November, P-70 night fighterss harass Kahili (Kihili) Airfield. .

U.S.A.: Escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66) is commissioned at Astoria, Oregon. The USN now has 31 escort aircraft carriers in commission.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 714: six B-17s and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

Weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations and limits fighters; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance in the Merzig-Trier-Saarbrucken, Germany area and supports the XX Corps in same area.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division is hit hard by counterattack that reaches Distroff, but forces the Germans to retire and the 357th attacks toward a ridge between Budling and Buding until stopped by fire from Hackenberg works. Combat Command A, 10th Armored Division takes Lemestroff. 95th Infantry Division troops east of the Moselle River are formed into Task Bacon to drive south on Metz. A battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment captures the Illange forts, ending organized resistance in the northern part of the division zone. The 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, takes Fort de Fèves, at the northern end of Canrobert works, and the heights southwest of Bois de Woippy; the 377th Infantry, making their main effort, drives south of Maizières-lès-Metz to La Maxe and Woippy, seizing La Maxe and beginning an assault on Woippy. The 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, takes Augn y and reaches the edge of Frescaty Airport; the 10th Infantry finishes clearing Bois de l'Hopital and enters Marly, where bitter fighting ensues; the 2d Infantry repels German drives toward Sanry bridge from the Sorbey area and clears Mècleuves. In the XII Corps area, the 6th Armored Division, assisted by elements of the 8oth Infantry Division, drives the Germans from Landroff; an armored task force takes Cote de Suisse. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, reaches the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad but is ordered to halt since its flank is exposed and since its movement is confined to roads. The 35th Infantry Division advances through Morhange, which the Germans have abandoned, to the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division continues toward Avricourt. The 79th Infantry presses northward toward the Vezouse River, clearing Halloville, northeast of Ancerviller. In the VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division penetrates German positions north of Raonl'Etape.

In the French First Army area, the II Corps, with the 3d Algerian Division on the north and the 1st Division on the south, moves forward to keep pace with friendly forces on their flanks. The 3d Algerian Division reaches Le Tholy. I Corps makes excellent progress except on the extreme right along the Swiss frontier. The 2d Moroccan Division, assisted by 5th Armored Division, drives beyond Arcey, on the road to Hericourt. The 9th Colonial Division, with the capture of Colombier-Fontame, Ecot, and Ecurcey, opensthe route to Herimoncourt.

The USAAF Ninth Air Force transfers HQ XII Tactical Air Command, along with the 71st Fighter Wing, 50th, 358th, and 371st Fighter Groups, 86th Air Depot Group, and 83d and 312th Service Groups, to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional). The First Tactical Air Force is tasked with providing tactical air support to the Sixth Army Group. At the end of the war, the First Tactical Air Force will be disbanded and all of its units will revert to the Ninth Air Force.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, breaks through to the encircled companies on a plateau southwest of Huertgen and withdraws them, but by now the Regiment holds only the southern edge of the plateau.

One each USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits Passau and the Main marshalling yard at Salzburg.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 177 Lancasters to carry out a G-H attack on the Hoesch synthetic oil plant at Dortmund; 174 hit the target. The raid, through thick cloud, is believed to have been accurate. Two Lancasters are lost.

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit six targets: 34 bomb Berlin, six bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel, five bobm Gotha, four each hit the Karlsruhe and the Buer synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen and one attacks Osnabruck. One aircraft is lost.

U-985 decommissioned following Heavy damages on 23 Oct 1944 at Lister by a German mine. Returned to Kristiansand and taken out of service. Captured there and broken up.

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack nine targets: 50 bomb the Hermann Göring benzol plant at Linz while 17 hit the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck. Individual aircraft bomb Two aircraft bomb Heiflau and individual aircraft bomb Heiflau Klagenfurt, Schwaz, Traunstein and Wolfberg.

BALTIC SEA: U-479 reported missing in the Gulf of Finland. No explanation exists for its loss. 51 dead (all hands lost).

ITALY: Workers in Turin stage a general strike in support of the Allies and the partisans; at the same time more than 1,000 partisans elude a German operation in northern Italy.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, 8th Indian Division troops push into Modigliana, where contact is made with the Polish II Corps.

Bad weather cancels all USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations except for reconnaissance by four P-47 Thunderbolts and attack by two on a railroad bridge and rolling stock in the Po Valley.

YUGOSLAVIA: Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb troop concentrations in the Novi Pazar area.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment begins a march from Camp Landis to help the Chinese 22d Division in the Si-u area. The Chinese 38th Division has blocked the main routes from Bhamo.

In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the British role in Phase I of Operation CAPITAL (the attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay) is nearly completed with the unopposed capture of Kalemyo.

SOUTHEAST ASIA: In Burma, 12 USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the airfield at Kawlin; 42 P-47 Thunderbolts hit supplies, troop and vehicle concentrations, and targets of opportunity at Mansak, Gyogon, Banmauk, Namtao, and Wuntho; 20 support ground forces in the Pinwe area while 16 attack bypass bridges at Kawnghka and Namhkai, knocking out the latter; eight P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kyaikthin rail sidings and junction, eight strafe Anisakan Airfield, and 12 hit targets of opportunity during north Burma road sweeps.

Nineteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s over southwestern China, western Burma, and northern French Indochina hit railroad targets, villages, town areas, and general targets of opportunity at or near man Pwe and Wanling, Burma; Mangshih and Tingka, China; Quang Yen, Nam Dinh, and Thanh Hoa, French Indochina.

JAPAN: Eight USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells weather-abort an armed photo reconnaissance over Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, is to attack south through 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, toward Ormoc. Forward elements of 21st Infantry Regiment are about 5,500 yards (5 029 meters) north of Limon.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning support, bomb La Carlota Airfield on Negros Island while B-25 Mitchells hit Lahug on Cebu Island; B-25s and fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity on Cebu Island and shipping off the west coast of Leyte Island; on Mindanao Island B-24s bomb three airfields while P-38s hit shipping and other targets of opportunity.

NEW GUINEA: U.S. Army Private Avelino Fernandez is executed at Oro Bay, Papua New Guinea. Fernandez had been convicted of the savage murder of Doris Roberts, a part-aboriginal, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, earlier in the year. In an effort to avoid any negative public opinion, the sentence was carried out in New Guinea. (Denis Peck)

The U.S. Eighth Army, in its first offensive, begins amphibious assault to clear Mapia Islands, 160 nautical miles (296 kilometers) northeast of Sansapor, Dutch New Guinea. The amphibious lands are supported by USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers. Little opposition is met by the assault force, elements of 31st Infantry Division. British Captain Lord Ashbourne heads the naval forces during this and subsequent operations against Asia Islands.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on a shipping strike to the Bonin Islands, attack vessels at Haha Jima Island and near Chichi Jima Island. During the night of 15/16 November, one B-24 on a snooper mission, bombs Iwo Jima after failing to find shipping targets in the Bonin Islands.

EAST CHINA SEA: The Japanese Army aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru is sunk about 50 miles northwest of Shimokushiki Jima, between Korea and Japan. The ship was a converted merchant vessel that operated the Kayaba Ka-1 autogyro in an anti-submarine role.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Tanamon on northeast Celebes Island while other B-24, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers hit scattered targets of opportunity on Celebes and Halmahera Islands.

NEW GUINEA: A regiment of the US 31st Division occupies Mapia Island, 160 miles north of the west end of New Guinea.

Private Avelino Fernandez is executed at Oro Bay, New Guinea. Private Fernandez was executed for the savage murder of Doris Roberts, a part- aboriginal, in Brisbane earlier in the year. In an effort to avoid any negative public opinion, the sentence was carried out in New Guinea. (Denis Peck)

AUSTRALIA: The War Cabinet approves the assignment of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) for service in Northeast New Guinea, to replace men for service in forward areas. Each woman must be a volunteer, between the age of 21 and 35 (40 for officers) and the total number assigned cannot be more than 500. Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) are already serving in New Guinea.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Frigate HMCS Royalmount arrived St John's for EGC-11944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-528 was commissioned at Chicago with LT W. E. Ehrman, USCG, as first commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. On 25 November 1945 Captain Bjorn Krogaeth assumed command of FS-528 as her Coast Guard crew was removed.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" premieres at the Capitol Theater in New York City. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this war drama about the Doolittle Raid on Japan in April 1942 stars Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, Phyllis Thaxter, Robert Mitchum, Don DeFore and Stephen McNally. Admission today is the purchase of a War Bond. On stage are Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra and comedian Henny Youngman.

During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "Soldiers Guide to the Japanese Army" (William L. Howard)

UNITED KINGDOM: No.183 Squadron, a Tempest ground-attack unit based at Chilbolton near Oxford, was renumbered No.54, and the squadron spent a year training pilots destined for overseas service before receiving Vampires a year later. (Russ Folsom)

U.S.A.: Prime Minister Attlee of Great Britain and Prime Minister Mackenzie King of Canada, complete their visits to the United States. The purpose was to hold informal discussion with President Truman on the international control of atomic energy.