18 November 1939

1922 (SATURDAY)

UNITED STATES: Commander Kenneth Whiting, piloting a Naval Aircraft Factory PT torpedo seaplane, makes the first catapult launching from the aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1), while she was at anchor in the York River, Virginia.

1935 (MONDAY)

ITALY: The trade sanctions against Italy imposed by the League of Nations Assembly go into effect and includes embargoes on arms, credit, and raw materials (not petroleum), as well as a prohibition of imports from Italy. A number of countries issue reservations on these sanctions, which provide a series of loopholes for the Italians. In response, the Italian government ends all economic relations with the sanctioning powers and imposes a system of rigid control on food and fuel to meet the emergency. Despite the economic sanctions, the Italians continue their offensive in Ethiopia. Acute tensions emerge between the Italian and British governments in response to the war in East Africa. During the winter of 1935-1936, the British conclude agreements with France, Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Yugoslavia which provide for mutual support in the event a war erupts as a result of League of Nations action. The British collect a large naval force at Malta to control the Mediterranean, bu t have to withdraw the force to Alexandria, Egypt, due to exposure to potential Italian air attack.

1936 (WEDNESDAY)

SPAIN: The German and Italian governments officially recognize General Francisco Franco's government as the new regime in Spain. The British and French governments continue to maintain their embargo on military supplies to the Republican government and attempt to organize the other powers to embrace a policy of non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War for fear that the war will escalate into a general European conflict. Twenty-seven nations, including Germany and Italy, agree to participate in a non-intervention committee in London. They draw up a supervision scheme, but the plan proves ineffective as powers who wish to participate in the fighting ignore the agreement. The Italian government slowly expands their public support for the Franco government and sends approximately 75,000 troops to Spain.

1938 (FRIDAY)

GERMANY: The government recalls its Ambassador from Washington in retaliation for the U.S. recalling its ambassador on 14 November. .

JAPAN: The government officially repudiate the Open Door policy in its response to the U.S. note of 6 November. The Japanese declare that the Open Door is "inapplicable" to the new conditions in East Asia and to the conditions of "today and tomorrow."

November 18th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The IRA is blamed for four bombs in Piccadilly, London.

The Luftwaffe starts dropping magnetic mines into British coastal waters.

Destroyers HMS Blencartha and Brocklesby laid down.

NORTH SEA: A Dutch passenger liner today became the latest civilian ship to fall victim to German mines. The 8,309-ton 'Simon Bolivar' sank with about 400 passengers and crew aboard. It is estimated that 86 people, many of them women and children, have lost their lives.

People were playing games on deck when a terrific explosion hit the Simon Bolivar under the bridge. Captain Voorspuiy was killed instantly. The liner's oil pipes burst and the ship listed heavily, making it difficult to lower the boats. Many passengers swarmed down the ropes or jumped over the side.

A Sister of Charity nun was rescued clinging to a piece of driftwood. One British passenger, Sydney Preece of Maidenhead, put his three year old daughter in a wooden box and swam with it through the oil-covered icy water for nearly an hour.

Many of the survivors were landed at an east coast port. An air-raid warning immediately after sent them hurrying for the air-raid shelters. There were heartrending stories of children whose parents had drowned, and one West Indian lost his own wife and two children but managed to rescue a white child aged three.

Dutch public opinion is outraged because the mine was in a major traffic lane. International law as well as common humanity, requires that any such mine-laying must be notified. The Dutch believe that the mines are a deadly new magnetic type. This view was supported today by a Danish skipper, Captain Knudsen, giving evidence in Copenhagen about the sinking of his ship, 'Canada', off the Humber on 4 November. The Germans, who claim that their U-boats sank 115 ships in the first two months of the war, are clearly putting a further massive effort into the war at sea. The total British tonnage lost so far is small, only around 300,000 out of nearly 18 million tons. No one knows how many mines are already laid.

FRANCE: Corvette FS La Bastiaise laid down.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Martial law is declared in Prague.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-18 sank SS Wigmore.

U-19 sank SS Carica Milica.

U-22 sank SS Parkhill.

18 November 1940

November 18th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill berates the First Lord of the Admiralty about the number of destroyers available for service in the North-western Approaches. Out of 151 destroyers available only 84 are serviceable, and of these only 33 are marked for use in the area. What has happened to the American destroyers, are repairs and construction falling behind?

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler meets with Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano over Italian Premier Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece. Hitler, had been caught off guard, especially since Mussolini"> Mussolini had led Hitler to believe he had no such intention. Even Mussolini's own chief of army staff found out about the invasion only after the fact! At their meeting in Obersalzberg, Hitler excoriates Ciano for opening an opportunity for the British to enter Greece and establish an airbase in Athens, putting the British within striking distance of valuable oil reserves in Romania, which Hitler relies upon for his war machine. It also meant that Hitler will have to divert forces from North Africa, a high strategic priority, to Greece in order to bail Mussolini out. Hitler considers leaving the Italians to fight their own way out of this debacle-possibly even making peace with the Greeks as a way of forestalling an Allied intervention. But Germany will eventually invade, in April 1941, adding Greece to its list of conquests.

Hitler orders that all confiscated works of art be brought to Germany and placed at his personal disposal. (Peter Kilduff)

ITALY: Rome: Mussolini says that he had to invade Greece because it had given the Allies use of important air and sea bases.

ALBANIA: Dimitry Statharos' unit is lobbing artillery shells on the Italians in Koritsa which he will capture around the 22nd. (Steve Stathros)

EAST AFRICA: The cruiser HMS Dorsetshire (40) bombards Zante in Italian Somaliland.

CANADA: HMC MTB 1 commissioned.

U.S.A.: Washington: Telegram from Roosevelt to Churchill:

When he was informed by the American Charge d'Affaires in Vichy of my offer with regard to the battleships Petain replied:

The most solemn assurances have been given by me that the French fleet, shall never fall into the hands of Germany. .... These ships will be used to defend the possessions and territories of France. ... I cannot sell those ships ... under the terms of the armistice. ... France is under Germany's heel and impotent.

Three Texas National Guard cavalry units are inducted into Federal Service, the 56th Cavalry Brigade and the 112th and 124th Cavalry Regiments (Horse).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-65 sank SS Congonian.

18 November 1941

November 18th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: General Brooke replaces General Dill and Chief of the Imperial General Staff. General Dill is assigned to Washington, DC. General Paget becomes C. in C. British Home Forces. These appointments will become effective in December.
Brooke comes from an Ulster Loyalist family in County Fermanagh. There is a well-established tradition of having a loyal Irishman as Britain's top soldier. The list includes Sir Henry Wilson, assassinated by the IRA in 1922, as well as Brooke's predecessor, Sir John Dill.

General Brooke has a passion for innovation in military mobility, mechanization and gunnery. He commanded II Corps of the BEF in the Dunkirk withdrawal. On his return to took over from Lord Ironside as Chief of the Home Defence Forces, becoming responsible for leading resistance to invasion. Now aged 58, he is described by Dill as "a young man" who should have chance to get on.

Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan launched Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Destroyer HMS Belvoir launched.

Submarine HMS Safari launched.

GERMANY: Alfred Rosenberg, Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, tells German journalists at a confidential briefing that the "Final Solution" has begun; a "biological extermination of all Jews in Europe." No Jew could remain on the continent to the Ural Mountains; they will either be forced beyond the Urals or exterminated. The press is not to write about the extermination in detail, but the reporters could use stock phrases such as the "definite solution" or the "total solution of the Jewish question."

U-704 commissioned.

U-179, U-514 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Fighting near Venev, seriously holds up Guderian's infantry divisions with heavy losses. The Germans commit additional 2nd Panzer Army forces to recover ground lost yesterday when his 112th Infantry Division panicked and broke. The new attacks captured Epifan and Dedilovo south of Moscow.

Strokovo: In an act of tremendous heroism, 11 Red Army engineers hold up 20 German tanks.

Soviet submarine SC-137 commissioned.

LIBYA: German General Erwin Rommel, commander of Panzer Gruppe Africa, dismisses Italian warnings of a possible British attack and destroys Italian reconnaissance photographs revealing a massive increase in British vehicles and men. Rommel states the Italian warnings as "excessive Latin nervousness." Luckily for Rommel, General Ettore Bastico, governor of Libya and commander of all troops on the North African Theatre, convinces Rommel not to deploy his armoured units around Tobruk. General Gastone Gambara, commander of the Manoeuvrable Corps and Lieutenant General Fedele de Giorgis, commander of the 55th Division Savona, place the Ariete, Trieste and Savona Divisions on alert.

Operation Crusader begins. This British attack has the XXX Corps cross into Libya from Egypt. With 450 cruiser tanks and 132 infantry models and more in the Tobruk Garrison. The Afrika Korps has 180 Mk III and IV tanks with 220 Italian and other German models. This British attack disrupts Rommel's plan to attack Tobruk on the 21st.

The order was "Get Rommel". In one of the most daring operations of the war, a small commando unit led by Lieut-Colonel Geoffrey Charles Tasker Keyes (b. 1917) landed by night on beaches behind enemy lines. Their objective was a villa several miles inland used by the Germans as headquarters. Rommel - the "Desert Fox" - was to be captured or killed as the British launched a major offensive.

Several men were drowned in the heavy swell, and they came ashore to rough, rainswept terrain.

As they approached the villa, a sentry who tackled the colonel had to be shot. All surprise was lost.

Opening one door they found 12 Germans preparing for a fight. Keyes opened it again to throw in a grenade. He was shot dead. Most of the survivors were taken prisoner. Colonel Robert Laycock and another commando escaped back to British lines. There they learnt that Rommel had been in Rome at the time of the raid.

Later Keyes was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Part of Crusader includes the Battle of the Omars.

The US M3 Stuart light tank has its first trials in action with the British 8th Army, at the start of Operation Crusader.

JAPAN:

The Japanese Imperial Diet (legislature) secretly approves a "resolution of hostility" against the United States.

Five mother submarines, HIJMS I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22 and I-24, each with a midget sub lashed to the deck, depart Kure Naval Base for Pearl Harbor. The submarines arrive off Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, on 6 December. Nine submarines from Kwajalein will also sail for their stations.

Special emissary Kurusu intimated Japan might do something to "outshine" the Axis Pact.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur"> MacArthur tasks FEAF to review the "installation and operation of the Air Force as projected." (Marc James Small)

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Kitchener (ex-HMCS Vancouver) launched Sorel, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMCS Oakville commissioned.

HMC ML 050 commissioned.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Corvettes HMCS Dunvegan and Sorel departed St John's escort the 46-ship Sydney to Liverpool convoy SC-55 as far as Iceland. Convoy arrived safely in Liverpool on 05 Dec intact.

U.S.A.: Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Admiral NOMURA Kichisaburo sends the following message to Tokyo: "On the evening of the 17th, both of us (NOMURA and special envoy KURUSU) went to call on a certain cabinet member and this is what he told us: "The President is very desirous of an understanding between Japan and the United States. In his latest speech he showed that he entertained no ill will towards Japan. I would call that to your attention. Now the great majority of the cabinet members, with two exceptions, in principle approve of a Japanese American understanding. If Japan would now do something real, such as evacuating French Indo-China, showing her peaceful intentions, the way would be open for us to furnish you with oil and it would probably lead to the re-establishment of normal trade relations. The Secretary of State cannot bring public opinion in line so long as you do not take some real and definite steps to reassure the Americans."

NOMURA and KURUSU meet with Secretary of State Cordell Hull at 1030 hours and then sends the following in a message to Tokyo: "In our conversations of today, as a practical means of alleviating the ever worsening front with which we are faced and to quiet the fearful situation, as well as, to bring about a return to the situation existing before the application of the freezing legislation, we suggested the evacuation of Japanese troops stationed in the southern part of French Indochina. During this meeting, Hull brought up the question of the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan, and KURUSU said ". . . he could not say that Japan would abrogate the Tripartite Pact . . . he desires to emphasize that Japan would not be a cat's-paw for Germany, that Japan's purpose in entering into the Tripartite alliance was to use it for Japan's own purposes, that Japan entered the Tripartite Pact because Japan felt isolated."

Doctor L. A. DuBridge of the Radiation Laboratory reported that the initial design of a 3-centimeter aircraft intercept radar was completed.

Minesweepers USS Sway and Symbol laid down.

18 November 1942

November 18th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 21: 65 bombers are dispatched to hit targets against U-boat bases in France: (1) 19 B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the U-boat pens at La Pallice with the loss of one aircraft; (2) 19 B-17s hit targets of opportunity at St. Nazaire; and (3) 13 B-24 Liberators bomb the U-boat pens at Lorient.

During the night of 18/19 November, four RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

Submarines HMS Varne and Vulpine laid down.

Corvette HMS Linaria launched.

Minesweeper HMS Horsham commissioned.

Destroyer ORP Orkan (ex-HMS Myrmidon) commissioned.

VICHY FRANCE: Pierre Laval is granted, by Marshal Petain, the authority to issue decrees solely on his own authority. This move underscores the decreasing practical importance of Petain.

GERMANY:

U-245, U-319, U-400 laid down.

U-307, U-419 commissioned.

ITALY: Twelve RAF Spitfire fighter-bombers from Malta each slung with two 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs attack a chemical factory at Pachino, Sicily.

During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 77 aircraft to bomb Turin; 71 hit the target. Many fires are started in the city-center area and hits are also achieved on the Fiat motor factory. Turin records show that 42 people were killed and 72 injured.

FINLAND: Finnish motor torpedo boats Syöksy, Vinha and Vihuri sink enemy gunboat Krasnoje Znamja in Lavansaari.

MALTA: The British minelayer HMS Welshman (M 84) arrives with more essential supplies.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: British light cruiser HMS Arethusa (26) escorting Convoy MW-13 (Operation STONEAGE) from Alexandria, Egypt to Malta, is hit by a aerial torpedo dropped by a low-flying aircraft with the loss of 156 crewmen. She is heavily damaged and towed back to Alexandria and undergoes total repair in the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina.

NORTH AFRICA: The British Brigade at Djebel Abiod, Tunisia successfully defends against a German attack. Simultaneously French troops at Medjez el Bab also repel an attack. General Louis Barre, the C-in-C of the French 19h Corps, rejects a German ultimatum to evacuate, signalling a switch from Vichy to the Allies.

ALGERIA: Several USAAF"> USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-38 Lightnings are damaged in an Axis air raid on Maison Blanche Airfield.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the marshalling yard and docks at Bengasi.

TUNISIA: The British First Army's 36th Brigade, 78th Division, repels a German attack at Djebel Abiod, but the Hart Force (11th Brigade), spearheading the drive, becomes isolated in the region east of Djebel Abiod. The Germans attack French forces of the XIX Corps at Medjez el Bab, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Tunis and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Mateur.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade, Maroubra Force, reaches Popondetta, where airfield construction is immediately begun, and continues toward Soputa without making contact with the Japanese. In the Gona area, the Australian 2/33rd Battalion, 25th Brigade, takes Jumbota and continues on towards Gona. The U.S. 32d Infantry Division's 126th Infantry Regiment is ordered to establish contact with the Australians. Because of supply problems, Task Force Warren remains in place.

In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the airfields at Lae Aerodrome and Salamaua Airstrip while B-26 Marauders bomb and strafe the area between Cape Endaiadere and Buna. B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Japanese Navy ships near Buna, Gona and Cape Ward Hunt, Papua New Guinea, damaging two destroyers.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 2nd Btn 182nd Infantry crosses the Matinakau River with cover provided by the 8th Marines. They reach the top of Hill 66 around noon against only minor resistance.

Brigadier General Edmund Sebree, Commanding General of the Western Sector, begins moving forces toward the line of departure west of the Matanikau River (from Point Cruz southward along the ridge containing Hills 80, 81 and 66) in preparation for a full-scale westward offensive. 2d Battalion, 182d Infantry Regiment, covered by the 8th Marine Regiment, which remains east of the Matanikau River, crosses the river about 700 yards (640 meters) from its mouth and takes Hill 66, southernmost point of the line of departure.

Eleven USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and four B-26 Marauders with eight P-38 Lightning escorts sink a Japanese merchant cargo ship off Kahili Airfield on southern Bougainville Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Japanese warships 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Gasmata, New Britain Island.

JAPAN: A Central Agreement between the Chief of Staffs of both the Japanese Army and Navy is issued. A scaled down order after setbacks in November, this plan calls for securing "important areas" in New Guinea to prepare for future operations. The 8th Area Army command is created including the 17th Army for Guadalcanal and the 18th Army for New Guinea. Previously both islands had been covered by the 17th Army. The 8th Area Army receives the 6th Division from China, the 65th Brigade and the 6th Air Division of the JAAF. An attack for January 20 to retake Guadalcanal is included.

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS Outremont laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

HMC ML 103 commissioned.

Minesweeper HMCS Goderich damaged collision with Tanker Iocoma off Halifax. After three weeks under repair, she was returned to service and saw extensive escort duty in the western Atlantic until the end of the war.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Hobby commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Lethbridge arrived New York for duty under USN Commander Eastern Frontier. Employed escorting New York-Guantanamo convoys, Nov 42-Mar 43.

CARIBBEAN SEA: Spanish tanker CAMPARES rescues nine survivors (including six Armed Guard sailors ) from US freighter WEST KEBAR, sunk on October 29.

This is the third group of survivors to be rescued. The first group of 34 was rescued on November 8 and the second group of eight on November 10. (Rodney Sanders)(83)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0851 hours, corvette KNM Montbretia, while escorting Convoy ONS-144, was hit in the starboard bow by one of three torpedoes fired from U-262, while she was investigating a radar contact. The corvette had already been missed earlier that night by a torpedo from U-624 at 0603 hours. The torpedo explosion opened a large hole in the bow, the forecastle deck twisted upwards and caused the ammunition of the 4in gun to explode, sending debris of the gun platform over the after deck killing three men. The roof of the Asdic deck came down, the bridge distorted and the bulkheads in the wheelhouse stowed in, killing the helmsman. The commander gave order to abandon ship and three carley floats were launched until a second torpedo struck on the port side in the boiler room, breaking the ship in two and caused the ship to sink rapidly. First it was thought that the corvette was hit by two different U-boats, but U-262 had fired a single torpedo at 08.57 hours on a second escort vessel, apparently the corvette turned around after the first hit and was hit by the same U-boat. KNM Potentilla picked up 20 survivors from two carley floats and five from a cork net. Some of them were badly injured and two later died and were buried at sea that same afternoon.

U-154 sank SS Tower Grange.

U-43 torpedoed SS Brilliant in Convoy SC-109. Damaged beyond repair.

U-522 sank SS Yaka in Convoy ONS-144.

U-624 sank SS Parismina, President Sergent and damaged SS Yaka in Convoy ONS-144.

U-67 sank SS Tortugas.

Spanish tanker Campares rescues nine survivors (including six Armed Guard sailors) from US freighter West Kebar, sunk on October 29.

18 November 1943

November 18th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command begins the "Battle of Berlin" which will last until March 24, 1944. This well publicized campaign consists of 16 major attacks on the German capital plus attacks on other targets. 9000+ sorties will be flown and over 600 aircraft will be lost.

Aircraft of the USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Troop Carrier Command carry paratroops of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in a rehearsal of cross-channel operations. This is the first of an extended series of training exercises to be conducted prior to the Normandy invasion.

Corvette HMS Berkeley Castle commissioned.

FRANCE: Five USAAF"> USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses fly Mission 133 dropping 980,000 leaflets over Paris, Orleans, Chartres, Rennes and Le Mans between 2015 and 2041 hours.

During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft lay mines off Brest and four each off Lorient and St. Nazaire. Seven other aircraft drop leaflets over northern France.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 18/19 November, three RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Texel Island.

GERMANY:

The "Battle of Berlin" begins. Over the next four months, 16 major attacks are launched against the German capital, involving a total of 9,111 sorties. During this period, 492 aircraft fail to return, and 954 are damaged. Tonight, 440 Lancasters and four Mosquitos are dispatched to attack the German capital; 402 aircraft bomb the city. Few German fighters intercept the force but nine Lancasters are lost, 2.0 per cent of the force. Berlin is completely cloud-covered and both marking and bombing are carried out blindly; Bomber Command could make no assessment of the results. A major diversionary raid by 395 aircraft, 248 Halifaxes, 114 Stirlings and 33 Lancasters, is made to Mannheim and Ludwigshafen; 325 aircraft hit the targets. German fighters successfully engage the bomber force and 23 aircraft, 12 Halifaxes, nine Stirlings and two Lancasters, are lost, 5.8 per cent of the force. Cloud is present over the target area and much of the bombing is scattered. 21 people are killed, 154 injured and 7,500 bombed out. Many bombs fall outside the city and the local report lists much damage and loss at farms. This is the last major raid on the much-bombed city of Mannheim for 15 months. Other raids to five cities are made by Mosquitos eight each bomb the Krupps armaments plant at Essen and the city of Frankfurt-am-Main; six hit Aachen; two attack Groningen and one bombs Hannover.

U-1231 launched.

U-771, U-1001, U-1196 commissioned.

NORWAY: The USAAF"> USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 132: 78 B-24 Liberators hit Kjeller Airfield 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Oslo; nine B-24s are lost. Four other aircraft bomb Rygge Airfield 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) east of Rygge.

BALTIC SEA: U-718 sunk in the Baltic Sea NE of Bornholm in position 55.21N, 15.24E after collision with U-476. 43 dead and 7 survivors

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops force the Dnieper River near Cherkassy, southeast of Kiev, and take Ovruch, northwest of Kiev, but continue to fall back under German pressure in the Zhitomir area. The German XXXXVIII Pz. K. recaptures Zhitomir overnight, then turn their attack to the north-east. To the north, German forces in Gomel are imperilled by rapid expansion of the Rechitsa salient. (Jack McKillop and Jeff Chrisman)

Korosten is liberated by Soviet forces in the Kiev sector.

ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium and light bombers of the XII Air Support Command and the RAF attack a billeting area at Rivisondoli and road, railway and town area west of San Vito Chietino and at Lanciano. Defended points and gun positions along the battleline are also attacked.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF"> USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers hit a ship in the Krka River, trains at the Knin marshalling yard and between Knin and Kosovo, the landing ground at Sinj, harbor and vessels at Sibenik.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings escort transports dropping supplies to partisans.

GREECE: Fifty USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning escort, bomb Eleusis Airfield near Athens; two aircraft are lost. P-38 Lightnings also escort USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium and light bombers of the XII Air Support Command and RAF aircraft in an attack on Larissa Airfield, 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) east of the city of Larissa.

CHINA: Twelve USAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe troops and horses and sink a troop barge at Shihmen; four others, in support of Chinese forces, strafe the Tahsai ferry.

NEW GUINEA: In the Finschhafen area, the Australians send in three more tanks to replace those blocked on the main road; they encounter numerous antitank ditches.

In the air over Northeast New Guinea, over 30 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders hit enemy positions in the Sattelberg area; B-24 Liberators carry out a light raid on Fak Fak; and P-40s bomb Iworep.

AUSTRALIA: Frigate HMAS Gascoyne commissioned.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Gilbert Islands:

From Glen Boren's diary:

On the morning of 18 November 1943, we were some 100 miles from Tarawa. We launched our first strike at 0415. The predawn attack caught the nips by surprise. There were no aircraft in the air; however, the anti-aircraft fire was severe. One strafing run would silence them and on the next run, all was to be done over again. Four aircraft went to Makin to strafe the sea planes there. The aircraft fired and dropped everything they had and returned to the ship. The Warships took over and gave the island the famous fleet haircut. We launched four more strikes that day with the big ships firing between the flights. The only jap aircraft in the air was a small sea plane that was shot down by the CAP. After dark, a boggie came in and everyone opened up on him. Unknown if it was a hit .....

GILBERT ISLANDS: Two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Ellice Islands bomb Tarawa Atoll.

The USN submarine USS Nautilus (SS-168) enters Tarawa lagoon in the first submarine photograph reconnaissance mission. She also obtains last minute information on weather and surf conditions, landing hazards and the results of recent bombardments. At 2159 hour, mistaking her as an enemy, the USN destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500) fired at Nautilus, sending a 5-inch (12.7 centimetre) shell through the conning tower damaging the main induction drain. Diving as soon as the topography permitted, the boat was rigged for depth charges and the damage control party went to work. Within two hours repairs were sufficient to allow Nautilus to continue with her primary mission.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Four squadrons of USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Buka Airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville and Kara Airfield in southwest Bougainville Island.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nineteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Ellice Islands bomb Mili Atoll.

NAURU ISLAND: Carrier-based USN carrier force (Task Group 50.4) attack the island in support of the unfolding operations to capture the Gilbert Islands. Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific Ocean, located about halfway between the Gilbert and Solomon Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942. TG 50.4 is built around the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) with Carrier Air Group Twelve (CVG-12), small aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Three (CVLG-23) and ten destroyers. (Jack McKillop & Massimiliano Stola)

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS Capilano laid down Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Minesweeper HMCS Wallaceburg commissioned.

Tug HMCS Glenada launched Owen Sound, Ontario.

Corvette HMCS Strathroy laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.:

Submarines USS Cabezon, Dentuda and Sea Devil laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Gilligan, La Prade, McCoy Reynolds, Sheehan and Straus laid down.

Destroyer USS Laws commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Whilst escorting combined convoys MKS.30 and SL.139, sloop HMS Chanticleer has her stern blown off by a Zaunkoenig fired by U-515. There are 28 casualties. She is towed to the Azores and paid off, but subsequently recommissioned as Lusitania and served as a base ship at Horta. Location: 250 miles ENE of the Azores at 39 47N 20 12W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-18 damaged SS Josif Stalin.

U-81 sank SS Empire Dunstan in Convoy KMS-31.

U-515 torpedoed sloop HMS Chanticleer in Convoy MKS-30. Total loss.

18 November 1944

November 18th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS St Austell Bay launched.

BELGIUM: Brussels: At the request of the Allied armies, Belgian resistance fighters agree to lay down their arms and leave the battle to regular soldiers.

During the night of 18/19 November, USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 717: four B-24 Liberators and six B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflets in Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

FRANCE: To the south, Patton's Third Army still has to capture Metz and Thionville in order to secure a passage through Lorraine to the Saar. The Germans, occupying the Maginot Line, have turned their guns round to face West and hit Patton's men. Further South the US-French Army Group, which includes General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's First French Army, is poised to drive through the Belfort Gap between the Vosges and the Jura. There is a dangerous gap between Patton and the British and the Americans to the north; only six US divisions hold the 70-mile front in the Ardennes.

The French First Army drives seven miles through the Belfort Gap.

Paris: De Gaulle sets up a high court of five magistrates and 24 jurors to try Vichy leaders and collaborators.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division continues to pursue the Germans, Combat Command B columns reaching Launstroff and Schwerdorff and Combat Command A detachment reaching the Nied River opposite Bouzonville; finding a damaged bridge north of Bouzonville near Filstroff, the Combat Command A force begins crossing. The 90th Infantry Division races southward to cut off the retreating Germans; the 359th Infantry Regiment is committed and gets elements across the Nied River at Conde Northen; the 90th Reconnaissance Troop seizes Avancy. The 357th Infantry Regiment, on the division's left, is slowed by antitank ditches, mines, and craters. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, pushes into the northeast part of Metz, overrunning Fort St Julien and Fort Bellacroix; the 95th Infantry Division forces west of Metz reach the Moselle River and find all bridges except one blown; the 377th Infantry Regiment clears the island formed by the Hafen Canal and the river; a 378th Infantry patrol starts across the Moselle bridge into Metz but the Germans blow the bridge, and other elements of the regiment begin an assault on Fort Plappeville; the 379th Infantry Regiment drives to the Moselle River at Moulins-ls-Metz, where a bridge is down. The 5th Infantry Division advances into Metz from the south: the 11th Infantry Regiment, leaving elements behind to contain Fort St Privat, pushes into the city and begins clearing the southern part; some elements of the 10th Infantry drive into Metz while others remain behind at Fort Queuleu; the 2d Infantry Regiment advances northward as quickly as possible in an effort to make contact with the 90th Infantry Division and complete the encirclement of Metz, overrunning Courcelles-sur-Nied and Ars-Laquenexy. XII Corps renews a drive toward the Sarre River with two divisions abreast after preparatory fire. The 35th Infantry Division takes Bistroff and positions east of Vallerange. the 26th Infantry Division attacks to the right of the 35th Infantry Division against the German Dieuze-Benestroff line and pushes through Bois de Benestroff and recapturing Guebling with the assistance of tanks and tank destroyers and drives to edge of Bourgaltroff,

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division begins assault on Fremonville; elements find Blamont clear of Germans. In VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division attacks Raon-l'Etape, the 397th Infantry Regiment pushing into town and 398th Infantry starting across the Plaine River. The 36th Infantry Division is closing along the Meurthe River on the southern flank of corps and gains positions overlooking Gerardmer.

In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 5th Armored and 2d Moroccan Divisions are closing in on Belfort on the northern flank of the corps. The 1st Armored Division, assisted by the 9th Colonial Division, drives 7 miles (11 kilometers) through Belfort Gap between the Rhine-Rhone Canal and the Swiss border to Delle; from the Allaine River, where the Germans are holding out at Morvillars, the 1st Armored Division reconnoiters east toward the Rhine River, taking Faverois, Courtelevant, Suarce, and Joncherey.

GERMANY: The US 3rd Army closes on the German border in the area of Metz.

The British XXX Corps joins the 1st and 9th Armies in their attacks liberating Jülich and Düren.

In the British Second Army area, XXX Corps begins an offensive to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient (Operation CLIPPER), driving northeast with the 43d Division on the left and the U.S. 84th Infantry Division, reinforced by the British Drewforce (flail tanks and searchlight battery), on the right. The 43d Division secures Tripsrath and most of Bauchem. The 334th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division, takes Prummern; continuing their assault after nightfall with the aid of searchlights, gains a position dominating Sueggerath but is unable to take the high ground, called Mahogany Hill, northeast of Prummern. Geilenkirchen is now surrounded on three sides.

Allied forces, now joined by a third US army, Lieutenant-General William H. Simpson's Ninth, are poised for a three pronged drive into Germany. The US First and Ninth Armies stand before the Aachen Gap, a 20-mile stretch of open country between Stolberg and Heinsberg. Here, the Roer river has almost certainly been incorporated into the Siegfried Line defences. Montgomery's 21st Army Group stands to the north.

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command B of 2d Armored Division, after repelling a minor counterattack against Immendorf, takes Apweiler in a limited attack, then pauses while the 29th Infantry Division is clearing Setterich. The 29th Infantry Division, with close tank and artillery support, makes substantial progress, the 116th Infantry Regiment gaining a firm foothold in Setterich and other elements penetrating the outer defenses of Juelich to take Siersdorf and Bettendorf. The 30th Infantry Division continues to mop up Broichweiden and seizes Warden, southeast of Mariadorf, after being twice driven off.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division seizes most of the Donnerberg and breaks into Eschweiler Woods as the German opposition slackens. Task Force Mills of Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, assisted by reserves, takes .Hastenrath and Scherpenseel; Combat Command B then goes on the defensive. The 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, committing its full strength, takes Hill 232, key to Hamich Ridge, and clears most of town of Hamich as the 26th Infantry Regiment continues slowly toward its first objective, Laufenburg Castle. The Germans make several strong efforts to regain Hamich and Hill 232. The 4th Infantry Division advances in the Huertgen Forest, where the 8th Infantry Regiment, in 1,000-yard (914 meter) drive, penetrates the outer defenses of the approach to Dueren and the 22d Infantry Regiment reaches positions astride the road leading east to Grosshau, but a gap exists between the regiments.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 716: 402 fighters (47 P-47 Thunderbolts and 355 P-51 Mustangs) are dispatched to strafe oil storage depots in the Hanau and Ulm areas, airfields at Leipheim and Lechfeld, and miscellaneous ground targets; 374 actually attack. About 70 Luftwaffe fighters are encountered and the USAAF pilots claim 26-2-6 in the air and 69-0-41 on the ground. Two P-47s and five P-51s are lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 479 aircraft, 367 Halifaxes, 94 Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos, to attack Munster; 444 bomb the city. The raid was not concentrated and bombs fell in all parts of Munster.

During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 285 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos to bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel; 295 bomb the target. The intention of the raid is to hit the local oil plant. Large explosions seem to erupt in the plant and post-raid reconnaissance shows that some further damage is caused to it. The local report does not mention the oil plant but states that the Hannibal coal mine is destroyed. Meanwhile, Mosquitos hit five targets: 31 fly a "spoof" raid to Wiesbaden; 18 hit Hannover; three bomb Erfurt; and one each attack Kassel and Rheinburg.

Over 340 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division strike barracks areas, rail bridges, rail facilities, strongpoints, and defended positions at 13 locations in Germany; fighters escort the bombers, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over western Germany, and support ground forces east of Aachen, Germany and in the Sarreguemines, France area.

U-3037 laid down.

U-1108, U-3511 commissioned.

AUSTRIA: USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack two oil refineries in Vienna: 131 hit the Floridsdorf refinery with the loss of three aircraft while 71 bomb the Korneuburg refinery.

ITALY: The British Eighth Army orders a co-ordinated attack toward Faenza by V Corps and the Polish II Corps, beginning on 20 November. In the Polish II Corps area, the 3d Carpathian Division takes over from the 5th Kresowa Division in Mt. Fortino area and prepares to attack.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb bridges at Pizzighettone, Romano di Lombardia, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Migazzone, Casarsa della Delizia, and Casale Monferrato while fighter-bombers continue successful attacks on rail lines, dumps, guns, and pipelines in the northern Apennines and the Po Valley, XXII Tactical Air Command claiming 100+ train cars, eight locomotives, and nearly 75 vehicles destroyed.

During the night of 18/19 November USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs on armed reconnaissance bomb Ghedi Airfield and targets in the Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, Cremona, and Parma areas.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit four airfields with the loss of four aircraft: 147 bomb Vincenza Airfield; 115 hit Aviano Airfield; 109 attack Udine Airfield and 96 bomb Villa Franca Airfield.

ESTONIA: Saaremaa Island, in the north end of the Gulf of Riga, is attacked again by the Soviet 8th Army.

FINLAND: Germans leave the northernmost tip of Finland, Utsjoki.

BALTIC SEA: U-679 sank Soviet minesweeper SK-62.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF"> USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb a bridge at Zidani Most and also hit the Brod-Ljubljana railway, the principal German escape route in the Balkans.

Sixteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the city and troop concentrations at Visegard.

During the night of 18/19 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack four targets: 42 hit the West marshalling yard at Sarajevo; 19 bomb tactical targets at Sjenica; 16 attack tactical targets at Novi Pasar; and one bombs tactical targets at Pribaj.

BURMA: Myitkyina: All over Burma, along an 800-mile front, the Japanese army is on the defensive. Chinese and US troops in the north, reinforced by the 36th Indian Division, are pushing down the "railway corridor" towards Indaw, while further south in central Burma the Anglo-Indian Fourteenth Army is preparing to cross the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy.

The Allied offensive from the north - commended by Lt-General Daniel Sultan since Stilwell's dismissal - began four weeks ago. It has advanced over 100 miles, along both the railway corridor and the upper Irrawaddy valley, where the 38th Chinese Division threatens Bhamo. Further east the New Chinese Sixth Army is marching along the Burma Road to meet them.

Confronting the force General Masaki Honda's Thirty-Third Army has steadily retreated. He has no hope of reinforcements from Japan; indeed one of his divisions has been taken away from him and sent to Indochina. He is faced with superior forces under Sultan, and also risks being cut off by Lt-Gen William Slim's Fourteenth Army 175 miles to the south.

There, Slims' army has been building roads and supply dumps for Operation Extended Capital, which Slim hopes will take his force across the Chindwin, destroy Lt-Gen Shihachi Katamura's Fifteenth Army on Shwebo plain, and carry on over the Irrawaddy. Slim is an unsung British hero. Of the original military commanders on the Burmese stage, Orde Wingate is dead, Stilwell in disgrace and Geoffrey Scoones (the victor of Imphal) in India; while on the Japanese side, the Burma Area Army commander, Masakazu Kawabe, the Fifteenth Army commander, Renya Mutaguchi, and nine other generals have been sacked since the Imphal debacle.

Only Slim remains, quietly exuding confidence and good nature. His brief now is to reopen the Burma Road, but he plans to go further and destroy the Japanese army in Burma. He has no illusions about the task, and calls the Japanese soldier "the most formidable fighting insect in history."

Twenty seven USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers support ground forces south of Pinwe and in the Bhamo area; 16 attack troops and supply area at Panglong and Nga-pwegyi while seven hit the ferry area at Meza and 20 hit targets of opportunity along the Kanbalu-Wuntho railroad and at Maymyo and Wetwin. Nine B-25 Mitchells attack the Man Pwe rail yards, destroying warehouses and other buildings and causing much general damage.

CHINA: Ten USAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack stores at Hengshan and hit populated areas from Ishan to Liuchow; 130+ P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightnings hit targets of opportunity scattered over vast areas of southern China; troops, shipping, supplies, trucks, and railroad targets are hit particularly hard north of Lingling, from Liuchow to Ishan, from Hengshan to Hengyang, from Kweilin to Liuchou, from Siangtan to Paoching, and at Chuanhsien, Hwaiyuanchen, Chingmen, Chuchiang, and Shihkiachwang.

JAPAN: Four USAAF"> USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators strike Suribachi shore batteries on Paramushiru Island, including one on Takikawa Cape. A shipping sweep by six B-25 Mitchells is cancelled due to weather.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF East Air Force B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts supporting, launch a major strike against oil installations at Tarakan, Dutch Borneo; other B-24s and B-25 Mitchells hit shipping off Tarakan and in Brunei Bay, Brunei On Celebes Island in the Netherlands East Indies, B-24s bomb the Makassar and Kendari area and the Polewali shipyards. Other B-24s bomb airfields in the Ceram Island-Ambon Island area while P-38s strafe shipping.

RAAF No. 22 Squadron flying (A-20C) Boston Mk. IIIs fly their first mission from Morotai against targets on northern Celebes Island.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan and Guam hit shipping at Chichi Jima and Haha Jima, Bonin Islands. P-38 Lightnings and B-24 Liberators from Saipan escort photo aircraft over Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands.

Project MIKE continues as USAAF B-24 Liberators lay 12 mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 3d Battalion of 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, halts on a ridge 500 yards (457 meters) north of Limon to await the 1st Battalion, which is still battling the Japanese on Corkscrew Ridge. Positions of the 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, on Kilay Ridge are seriously threatened and under heavy fire.

USAAF Far East Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs again hit airfields and targets of opportunity on Mindanao Island. Fighter-bombers, A-20s and B-25s over several locations in the Philippine Islands attack shipping, supply and personnel areas, harbors, barges, airstrips, and communications targets.

Destroyer escort USS Corbesier shot down a Japanese plane in Leyte Gulf.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Philippine Sea, USN destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) and a TBM Avenger of Composite Squadron Eighty Two (VC-82) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57), sink Japanese submarine HIJMS I-41 about 345 nautical miles (638 kilometers) east-northeast of Tacloban, Leyte, Philippine Islands in position 12.44N, 130.42E. This is the second submarine sunk by these units in two days.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells continue to support ground forces on Mapia Island off the northwest coast of New Guinea.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Woodstock arrived Esquimalt from Halifax to become a weather ship.

Corvette HMCS Fergus commissioned.

Frigate HMCS Inch Arran commissioned.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge launched.

Destroyer USS Metcalf commissioned.

Frigate USS New Bedford commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Rampart commissioned.

18 November 1945

November 18th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

BULGARIA: Communist Fatherland Front wins general election.

IRAN: The Tudeh Party, a Communist dominated organization, foments a rebellion in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan. When the Iranian government attempts to intervene against the rebels, Soviet military forces in the region support the uprising and Red Army troops refuse to evacuate Iranian territory.

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS St Catharines paid off.

Frigate HMCS Thetford Mines paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Minesweeper HMCS Elm Lake completed and assigned to USSR as T-193.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Princeton commissioned.

MEXICO: Esquadron Aereo de Pelea 201 of the Mexican Air Force returns to Mexico from duty in the Pacific Theater. 300 strong, these volunteers made history as Mexico's first - and only - military force to serve outside the Latin American nation's borders. Also known as the "Aztec Eagles," they flew side-by-side with Americans in the Army's 5th Air Force, 58th Fighter Group.

Assigned to Clark Field in the Philippines, the squadron flew 59 combat missions during its six months at war. The pilots' targets were oil depots, bridges, ships, ports and ground forces. Five Mexican pilots were killed. 31 pilots flew P-47D Thunderbolt in missions to Luzon and Formosa.

After the war, members of the squadron received U.S. Air Medals and the Mexican Medal of Valor. Mexico erected a modest monument to their service in Mexico City's sprawling Chapultapec Park. The unit is still operational and is based in Cozumel, flying Pilatus light planes on coastal patrol. (Drew Halevy and Gordon Rottman)