Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd merge to form The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). BOAC is the exclusive British state airline until 1946.

BATTLE OF SUOMUSSALMI

In the coming offensive against Finland the mission of Soviet 9th Army is to attack along a roughly 400 km (250 mile)-wide front between Lake Segozero (south) and city of Kandalaksha (north). The ultimate aim is to reach the city of Oulu on Finland's western coast, thus cutting Finland in half at her narrow 'waist'. Today the army HQ, located at Kem on White Sea, issues orders for its 47th Rifle Corps. Army commander, komkor [1] Mikhail Pavlovich Duhanov, orders the corps -- commanded by kombrig Ivan Fedorovich Dashichev -- to support the right flank of the Army's main offensive. Corps's 122th Rifle Division (Col. Petr Semenovich Shevchenko) is to attack on Army's northern flank through Salla towards Kemijärvi, and 163rd Rifle Division (kombrig Andrei Ivanovich Zelentsov) at the middle of 9th Army front through Suomussalmi towards Puolanka. The main attack is carried out by Special Rifle Corps on the Army's southern flank through Kuhmo and Kajaani towards Oulu.

Finns are not expecting any major attacks on this sector. Roads in the region are few and generally in poor condition, and any major motorized force would face great difficulties, especially in the middle of northern winter. Consequently the sector where two Soviet rifle corps are about to attack is screened by only four detached infantry battalions, some detached companies and small border guard groups.

Finnish forces are under the overall command of Major General Wiljo Tuompo's North Finland Group, which HQ is located at Kajaani. Gen. Tuompo had commanded the Border Guard during the peace time, and is well acquainted with the problems Finland's long border, running through mostly uninhabited regions, presents to military operations.

The Finnish forces have no artillery, but the rank-and-file are mostly native to northern Finland and know the conditions quite well -- some are literally defending their homes. Good example is Detached Battalion 15 (Lt. Col. Leo Kyander) which has been mobilized in Suomussalmi, and is now responsible for its defense. Additionally around Suomussalmi there are Detached Company Kontula (Capt. Eero Kontula) and the 58-man-strong Border Guard Detachment II (2Lt. M. Elo). These men are about to face the 163rd Rifle Division. But, as the Finns are not yet aware of the forces arrayed against them, all the Finnish forces have been given offensive missions in event of war. For example, Detached Battalion 15 has orders to advance to Vuokkiniemi, some 30 km (c. 20 miles) beyond the Fenno-Soviet border.

[1] Before June 1940 the Red Army did not use general's ranks, but titles derived from their nominal command competence:

kombrig (komandir brigady) - brigade commander komdiv (komandir diviziyi) - division commander komkor (komandir korpusa) - corps commander komandarm (komandir armii) vtorogo ranga - army commander 2nd rank komandarm pervogo ranga - army commander 1st rank

During the Winter War most Soviet commanders commanded a formation a step or two above their titular formation sizes.

ROMANIA: Gheorghe Tatarescu became the new Romanian prime minister.

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Nishmaha, her master having signed an agreement yesterday under protest to proceed to Marseille, France, via Barcelona, Spain, clears Gibraltar.

The first Canadian graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) arrive.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 7,448 ton British freighter SS Port Hobart sailed from Liverpool, England, on 4 November as part of a convoy bound for New Zealand. On 20 November, she left the convoy to head for the Panama Canal on her own. At 1115 hours today, smoke is spotted to the northwest and closing very fast and at 1157 hours the unidentified raider opens fire with 28 centimeter (11 inch) guns from a range of 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) and, as instructed, the Port Hobart stops. The raider, which turns out to be the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, puts an armed party aboard. The crew takes to the lifeboats and a launch is sent to disembark the only lady passenger before the Admiral Scheer sinks the Port Hobart with gunfire.

During the war, no German prisoner of war escaped from the U.K. Many believe that Luftwaffe Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant or Flying Offiver) Franz Von Werra is the most notable escapee but von Werra made his escape in Canada, where he is sent as a POW. (There were 21 POW camps in Canada.) The most audacious attempt is made by Leutnant Heinz Schnabel and Oberleutnant Harry Wappler today. The two Luftwaffe officers are prisoners in Camp No.15 near Penrith, Northumberland, England, (formally the Shap Wells Hotel). Forging papers that identifies them as two Dutch officers serving in the RAF, they make their way to RAF Carlisle, a flying training base, located 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) north of Carlisle, Cumberland. Without difficulty they enter the station and with the help of a ground mechanic start the engine of a Miles Magister, of which there are 50 parked around the airfield. Taking off, they headed southeast for the North Sea and the Netherlands, a distance of some 365 miles (587 kilometers) to the Dutch coast. Over the North Sea they realize they could not make the Netherlands because the maximum range of a Magister is 367 miles (591 kilometers) on full tanks. Rather reluctantly they decide to turn back and land in a field about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, on the coast. Back at Camp No. 15 again, the two daring escapees are sentenced to 28 days solitary confinement.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Theresienstadt, a ghetto where 150,000 Jews are deported and transferred to death camps, is established at Terezin, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Prague. It is used to camouflage the extermination of European Jews, by the Nazis who tout it as a "model Jewish settlement." When the Red Cross visits, dummy stores, cafes, schools and gardens are set up

ALGERIA: The presidents of the General Councils of Oran, Algiers and Constantine denounce French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner for French North Africa, for acting under the authority of Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, Head of the Vichy French State. The Presidents express their opinion that in doing so the Admiral has shown that he has fulfilled none of the conditions which would allow him to assume the powers of an independent and legal government.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol the Oran-Nouvion-Tafaraoui area, and fly sea patrol off Oran and destroy several aircraft and attack ground targets in the vicinity of Gabes, Tunisia.

TUNISIA: The British First Army is ordered to advance on Tunis, with Tebourba and Mateur as first objectives. The main body of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, begins a move from Tafaraoui, Algeria, to Tunisia; forward elements (1st Battalion of 1st Armored Regiment) arrive at BC)dja and are attached to Blade Force.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning escort, are dispatched against the harbor at Bizerte but must abort because of bad weather.

The front is quiet generally as General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, plans an assault on the El Agheila bottleneck. The British army forces must be regrouped and supplies and reinforcements amassed.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna areas.

BURMA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief US China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, and Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) is informed by the U.S. War Department that little more aid, aside from existing commitments, can be provided for the northern Burma offensive.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Japanese continue to repel efforts of the Australian 25th Brigade, 7th Division, to take Gona. The 3d Battalion of the 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, pushes on toward Sanananda: Two Australian companies join Company L in a battle for the food dump on the right; on the left, Companies I and K reach a clearing west of Killerton trail, some 1,200 yards (1 097 meters) north of the original starting point, but are driven back into a swamp by Japanese infiltrators. The Urbana Force launches a co-ordinated assault on the Triangle at 1428 hours after ineffective air and a brief mortar preparation. While Company F of the 126th Infantry Regiment makes a frontal assault in which Company H of the 128th Infantry Regiment joins, Company E of the 126th Infantry Regiment takes over the left flank positions along the Entrance Creek and Companies E and G of the 128th Infantry Regiment attack on the right flank. The attack, although carefully planned, is a failure. The Warren Force front along coast is quiet.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs, B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders, B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-40s, and P-39and P-400s Airacobras, hit Sanananda Point, the Buna area, the Sanananda-Soputa trail south of Sanananda, and the area between Cape Killerton and Sanananda Point as Allied forces launch a ground assault on The Triangle; the attack is repelled by fierce resistance. USAAF B-17s and B-25s and RAAF Beaufighters sink Japanese destroyer HIJMS Hayashio in Huon Gulf between Lae and Finschafen and damage torpedo boats Otori and Hiyodori east of Lae.

Search aircraft over the Buin, Bougainville Island area report a large number of destroyers and cargo vessels in the harbor. By this date elements of the Americal Division have pushed along the N coast of Guadalcanal Island to a position S of Point Cruz where they wait until a general offensive can be prepared following the arrival of reinforcements. Throughout these operations P-39Airacobras have continually hit ground positions and troops all along the coast, flying as many as 11 strikes on some days.

TheUSAAF"> USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 136: seven B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped 2.4 million leaflets over Lille, France; and Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi and Ghent, Belgium between 2026-2111 hours.

FRANCE:USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb Toulon harbor, sinking light cruiser Jeanne de Vienne, destroyer Aigle and sloop SG 21.

During the night of 24/25 November, fiveRAF"> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos drop leaflets over the country.

During the night of 24/25 November, fourRAF"> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin through cloud.

ITALY: The U.S. Fifth Army outlines a final plan of attack to begin about 2 December. The first phase calls for the capture of the Mt. Camino-Mt. Ia Difensa-Mt. Maggiore area, to be preceded on 1 December by the capture of Calabritto. In the second phase, Mt. Sammucro is to be cleared in conjunction with a drive west along the Colli-Atina road. The third phase is to be an attack into the Liri Valley.

In the British Eighth Army area, XIII Corps captures Castel Alfedena. The corpsb bridgehead north of the Sangro River is now firmly established.

Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force bombers, along withRAF"> RAF Desert Air Force fighter-bombers, in close support of the British Eighth Army, hit gun positions and defended points in the Fossacesia area. TheUSAAF"> USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches, in support of the U.S. Fifth Army, hit roads northwest of the battleline, and bomb the harbor at Civitavecchia.

During the night of 24/25 November,RAF"> RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft bomb four targets: Six bomb a ball bearing plant in Turin with the loss of one aircraft; and one each bomb a highway at Gallinaria, a railroad at Genoa and a highway at Savona.

BULGARIA: SeventeenUSAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lighting escorts, bomb the marshalling yard at Sofia with the loss of two aircraft.

CHINA: FiveUSAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 P-40 s bomb Hanshow and strafe 15-20 small boats north of the city; two other B-25 Mitchells attack the harbor and town of Amoy and two direct hits are scored on a docked freighter.

NETHERLAND EAST INDIES: EighteenUSAAF"> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit shipping at Halmahera Island, Netherlands East Indies.

In Northeast New Guinea, over 30USAAF"> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders, and A-20 Havocs bomb the village of Kalasa while 15 A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells, with P-38 Lightnings escorting, hit stores and supplies in the Finschhafen area.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: TwentyUSAAF"> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Ellice Islands bomb Maloelap Atoll, scoring hits on Taroa Airfield and a cargo vessel.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Over 20USAAF"> USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, supported by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Gasmata on southern New Britain Island.

On Bougainville, the 3d Marine Division makes substantial progress, gaining commanding ground in the Piva Forks area

A Marine SBD Dauntless makes a successful forced landing on the Torokina fighter strip, although strip has not yet been completed.

On Bougainville, 25USAAF"> USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Chabai and Buka Island; 20 B-25 Mitchells hit the airfield at Kahili and six others bomb and strafe a possible radio station at Mutupina Point; fighter patrols strafe Gazelle and Queen Carola Harbors, sinking a barge and damaging a schooner.

GILBERT ISLANDS: On Makin Atoll, Regimental Combat Team 165, less the 3d Battalion, leaves for Hawaii. The 3d Battalion and miscellaneous units are left behind to conduct minor mopping up operations and to support the construction forces. Command is turned over to Colonel Clesen H. Tenney, Garrison Force commander. The 27th Infantry Division casualties for Makin total 218, of whom eight are killed and eight die of wounds. Japanese casualties, aside from those subsequently inflicted during the mop-up, are estimated at 550, including 105 prisoners.

On Tarawa Atoll, two Marine Regimental Combat Teamb's (the 8th and the 2d) leave for Hawaii. Embarking from Betio Island, the 2d Battalion of 6th Marine Regiment, guided by scouts of the 2d Tank Battalion, begins an uneventful search for the Japanese on islands up the long east side of Tarawa Atoll.

PACIFIC OCEAN: At 0510 hours local, the USN escort aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) is struck abaft the after engine room by a torpedo fired by the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-175 about 21 nautical miles (40 kilometers) west-southwest of Butaritari Island, Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, in position 02.54N, 172.30E. The aircraft bomb magazine detonates a few moments later and the entire interior bursts into flames. At 0533 hours Liscome Bay lists to starboard and sinks carrying Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinix, commander of Task Group 52.3, Liscome Bay's skipper Captain I.D. Wiltsie, 53 other officers, and 591 enlisted men down with her; 272 of her crew are rescued. One of the enlisted men killed is black Ship's Cook Third Class Doris "Dorie" Miller who was awarded the Navy Cross at Pearl Harbor by moving his mortally wounded captain to a place of greater safety and then manning a 50 calibre (12.7 millimeter) machine gun on the deck of the USS West Virginia (BB-40) until he ran out of ammunition and is ordered to abandon ship. Miller is commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked: "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts."

In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, helped by tanks and intense preparatory shelling, takes Hilsprich. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, continues an attack against the German rear-guard line Vittersbourg-Altwiller; the 101st Infantry Regiment makes a vain and costly attempt to take the chateau strongpoint in the center of the Bois de Bonnefontaine.

The 6th Army Group penetrates the German line along the Vosges River. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, beginning a tour of inspection of the 6th Army Group front, attends a conference of commanders, where it is decided to clear the region west of the Rhine River before attempting an assault across it. The U.S. Seventh Army is to drive north to help the U.S. Third Army. The French First Army is to reduce the Colmar Pocket, the German's bridgehead west of the Rhine.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, French armor in Strasbourg will be seriously threatened unless it can be bolstered by infantrymen. The Germans continue pressure from the north in the region north of Sarrebourg. In the VI Corps area, forward elements of the 3d Infantry Division reach Rothau. The 103d Infantry Division continues an outflanking movement against Steige, clearing Lubine, to the southwest. The 142d Infantry Regiment spearheads an eastward drive of 36th Infantry Division, reaching Ban-de-Laveline and La Croix-aux-Mines.

In the French First Army area, the II and I Corps are ordered to converge on Burnhaupt as quickly as possible to pocket enemy forces in Alsace. The II Corps clears Grosmagny and Petit-Magny, on the road to Rougemont-le-Chateau. The It Corps withstands heavy pressure in the Muihouse area and is largely concerned with keeping routes to the Rhine River open.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division continues an assault on the Orscholz line: the 3d Battalion, attacking toward Tettingen and Butzdorf after halting a German counterattack, gets elements into Butzdorf, where they are isolated; the 2d Battalion, reinforced during the day by the 1st Battalion, breaks into Oberleuken, but cannot oust the Germans. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, crosses the Saar River in the XV Corps zone at Romelfing and Gosselming and turns northeast: the northern column takes up blocking positions on the high ground west of Postroff; the southern column brushes aside resistance at Kirrberg and clears Baerendorf in house-to-house fighting.

Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issues orders to close the remaining crematorium at Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of Oswiecim, Poland, and gives instruction to destroy any remaining evidence.

Weather cancels allUSAAF"> USAAF Ninth Air Force operations except for three XIX Tactical Air Command fighters which fly a night intruder mission in Saarbrucken, Zweibrucken, and Homburg/Saar areas.

During the night of 24/25 November,USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit the West marshalling yard at Munich.

During the night of 24/25 November,RAF"> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: 57 hit Berlin and six bomb Gottingen.

AUSTRIA: During the night of 24/25 November, over 40USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24 Liberators bomb the Linz benzol plant, Klagenfurt, and Innsbruck and two unidentified targets of opportunity; during the day P-38 Lightnings fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions.

BALTIC SEA: The 7,000 ton Swedish passenger ship SS Hansa is torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine L-21 about 77 nautical miles (143 kilometers) south of Stockholm, Sweden. The torpedo struck at 0557 hours destroying the bridge and blowing off the forepart of the vessel. Hansa is sailing from the Swedish island of Gotland to the Swedish mainland and the flag of neutral Sweden is painted and lit up on both sides of the ship. Only two of the 86 person on board survive. After this disaster, all Swedish passenger vessels to Gotland are escorted by a minesweeper and a destroyer.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 45 captures Mt. Belvedere but Germans later regain it.

In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps presses toward the Marzeno River on a broad front against disorganized resistance. In the V Corps area, the 4th Division drives toward the Lamone River in the region just north of Highway 9. The 46th Division crosses the Marzeno River on the southern flank of corps.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, in support of the British Eighth Army, bomb defences in the Faenza area. Bad weather restricts fighter-bombers to two missions which damage a road bridge and cut rail line south of Modena.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 73RAF"> RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft fly supples to partisans.

BURMA: Thirty twoUSAAF"> USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts fly close support strikes in the Pinwe and Bhamo sectors; 50 P-47s attack troops and supply areas at Panma, Hpa-Hpen, Nawng-Sang, Kawlin, Wahkyet, Kawngai, and in the Pintha area, eight damage bridges at Meza, Namhkai, and Hsenwi while ten others hit Lashio Airfield. Six B-25 Mitchells attack the storage and ferry area at Meza and four damage approaches to the Namhkai and Hsenwi road bridges.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a storage area near Lashio the towns of Wanling and Wan.

CHINA: Japanese forces in southern China, attempting to gain contact with their forces garrisoning French Indochina, take Nanning.

Twenty oneUSAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the warehouse area and docks at Hankow while B-25 Mitchells hit targets of opportunity in the Hankow, area and Siangtan, and Wuchang, China. Over 120 P-40 s, P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance attack many targets of opportunity in eastern Burma and southwest and southeast China, concentrating on river and rail traffic and supplies at Chefang, Hengshan, and the Sinshih-Changsha area.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: ThreeUSAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Haiphong area.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, repels a minor counterattack against Kilay Ridge. In the XXIV Corps area, the 32d Infantry Regiment recovers some ground previously lost on Shoestring Ridge and holds the perimeter--about 2,000 yards (1 829 meters) long and less than 1,500 yards (1 372 meters) deep--against a vigorous counterattack during the night of 24/25 November.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb antiaircraft positions and targets of opportunity at Camp Downes and Panalisan Point and fighters attack and destroy several aircraft over Carigara Bay and the Leyte Island area. B-24s hit antiaircraft positions and other targets at Matina Aerodrome on Mindanao Island. P-40 s and P-47 Thunderbolts attack one of the groups of ships involved in the 5th phase of the TA Operation, sinking a submarine chaser and three landing ships in Cataingan Bay, Masbate Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN heavy cruisers USS Chester (CA-27), Pensacola (CA-24) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) bombard Iwo Jima.

BONIN ISLANDS: TwoUSAAF"> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan on a shipping reconnaissance attack vessels at Haha Jima and Chichi Jima.

MARCUS ISLAND: ThreeUSAAF"> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam on armed reconnaissance bomb Marcus Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refuelling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.