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1931   (WEDNESDAY) 

CHINA: The Government appeals for the establishment of a neutral zone between Japanese and Chinese forces. The Japanese are advancing on Chinchow.

 

UNITED STATES: Secretary of State Henry Stimson approves the idea of a neutral commission for Manchuria "to support the League of Nations Council action."

 

1935   (MONDAY) 

CHINA: The failure of the Japanese to establish an autonomous North China leads the Japanese government to create an East Hopei Autonomous Council to govern Japanese-occupied north China (between T'ungchou, outside Peinping, and the Yellow Sea). The Japanese are able to openly smuggle goods wholesale into China through this autonomous region, including narcotics from the world market. This policy is met by student demonstrations in Peiping against Japanese imperialism.

 

1936   (WEDNESDAY) 

GERMANY: The German-Japanese Anti-Comintern pact is signed. The two countries state that they recognize "that the aim of the Communist International, known as the Comintern, is to disintegrate and subdue existing States by all the means at its command; convinced that the toleration of interference by the Communist International in the internal affairs of the nations not only endangers their internal peace and social well-being, but is also a menace to the peace of the world; desirous of co-operating in the defense against Communist subversive activities; . . ." This agreement further drove the Soviets to seek support from the democratic states to avoid political isolation.

November 25th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Chamberlain makes his first broadcast of the war, saying that Britain knows the secret of the magnetic mine.
After attempts to save New Forest ponies in the blackout by painting them like zebras, they are removed to pastures. horse20.gif (6606 bytes) Extra.

RAF Fighter Command: Reports a raid over the North Sea by an unknown number of enemy aircraft against British warships. There are no casualties.

In the North Sea, the 14,294 ton Polish passenger liner MS Pilsudski strikes a mine laid by German destroyers and sinks near the mouth of the River Humber which runs between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. The ship is on charter to the Royal Navy and is en route from the River Tyne, Northumberland, England, to Australia. The captain and nine crewman are lost.  (Dave Shirlaw & Tom Hickcox)

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-28 sank SS Royston Grange in Convoy SL-8B.

U-43 sank SS Uskmouth.

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25 November 1940

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November 25th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 101 Sqn. attacks the oil refinery at Wanne Eickel. one aircraft makes a crash landing injuring the crew.

The prototype De Havilland D.H. 98 Mosquito, RAF s/n E0234, msn 98001, makes its first flight at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, piloted by Geoffrey de Havilland.

Arthur Harris is appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff for the RAF

The first success of mine sweepers against German acoustic mines; three are exploded. 

Minesweeping trawler HMS Conquistador sunk in a collision in the Thames Estuary.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Kennymore mined and sunk in a collision in the Thames Estuary.

VICHY FRANCE:

On Dupuy's first visit to Vichy he meets Petain, Darlan, Huntziger and Chevalier over the next 11 days. Petain assures Dupuy that 'I am obliged officially to maintain the balance between both sides, but you know where my sympathies lie.'

Petain seemed willing to contemplate surrendering colonial bases to the Germans , regarding this as only 'passive' collaboration.

GERMANY:

U-92, U-177 laid down.


BULGARIA:
Bulgaria responds to Soviet pressure and refuses to join the Axis pact. 

EUROPE: The German puppet government of Slovakia signs the Tripartite Pact.

PALESTINE: The passenger liner SS Patria blows up in Haifa harbor, killing 267 illegal Jewish immigrants. They are among 3,000 Jewish refugees from Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czechoslovakia; and Danzig, Poland, who are attempting to reach Palestine. In September, a convoy of four river steamers, set sail down the Danube River and reached the Romanian port of Tulcea where they transferred to three Greek cargo ships named Atlantic, Pacific and Milos. Eventually the ships reached Palestinian waters, but the British Colonial Office refused them permission to land. It was finally decided to deport the refugees to the British island of Mauritius where a special camp was to be built. [Mauritius is 720 square mile (1 864 square kilometer) island in the Indian Ocean about 461 nautical miles (853 kilometers) east of Madagascar.] The three ships are then brought into Haifa harbor where the liner SS Patria is berthed. The refugees are embarked on the Patria and as the last passengers from  the Atlantic are coming aboard, a tremendous explosion rips the liner apart. The death toll is 267 refugees killed. The explosion is the work of the Jewish underground army, the Haganah, who meant only to damage the ship to prevent it sailing but has miscalculated the amount of explosives.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The 247 ton coastal steamer SS Holmwood, en route from New Zealand's Chatham Islands, located about 350 nautical miles (644 kilometers) east of New Zealand, to the mainland is intercepted by the German raiders HK Komet (Ship number 45 known to the British as Raider B) and Orion (Ship number 36 known to the British as Raider A) and the supply ship Kulmerland at 0720 hours. The Holmwood is carrying 29 passengers and crew, including four women and four children, 1,370 sheep, two dogs and a horse. All of the crew and passengers are removed to Komet and the sheep were distributed among the three ships and SS Holmwood was sunk by gunfire.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Cobalt and Orillia commissioned.

U.S.A.: The first Martin Model 179, USAAF B-26-MA Marauder, s/n 40-1361, msn 1226, makes its first flight at the Martin Airport in Middle River, Maryland, piloted by William K. Ebel, the chief engineer of the Glenn L. Martin Company.

Additional National Guard units are inducted into Federal service. Called up are two divisions, six brigades, 21 regiments and five observation squadrons. The divisions are Alabama's 31st and Texas' 36th. Two of the regiments are coast artillery regiments and one is a cavalry regiment.


Walter Lanz releases Knock Knock, an Andy Panda cartoon. One of the characters that debuts is Woody Woodpecker.

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25 November 1941

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November 25th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyers HMS Termagant and Terpsichore laid down.

Corvette HMS Loosestrife commissioned.

GERMANY: In Berlin, Finland signs the Anti-Comintern Pact. Germany invited Finland to adhere to the pact in early November, but there was considerable reluctance in Finland to do so. It was thought that Finnish adherence would worsen the relations with the Western Allies. On the other hand, Finland is very dependant on German deliveries of food supplies, and had just requested 175,000 tons of grain. In the end, the Finnish government decided that joining the pact is the lesser of two evils, because adequate level of food supplies has to be secured for the duration of winter. (Mikko Härmeinen)

     Renewal for five years of the Anti-Comintern Pact of 25 November 1936 at Berlin, by Germany, Japan, Italy, Hungary, Spain, Manchukuo, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Rumania, Slovakia, and the Japanese puppet Nanking regime in China.

U-230, U-670 laid down.

U-510 commissioned.

FINLAND: In Berlin, Finland signs the Anti-Comintern Pact. Germany invited Finland to adhere to the pact in early November, but there was considerable reluctance in Finland to do so. It was thought that Finnish adherence would worsen the relations with the Western Allies. On the other hand, Finland is very dependant on German deliveries of food supplies, and had just requested 175 000 tons of grain. In the end, the Finnish government decided that joining the pact is the lesser of two evils, because adequate level of food supplies has to be secured for the duration of winter.

U.S.S.R.: Istra in the Moscow sector falls to the Germans.

Moscow: Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister has sent an impassioned Note to all the non-Axis powers protesting against Germany's barbaric treatment of Russian prisoners of war.

Broadcasting from embattled Moscow, Mr Molotov claimed that "prisoners have been tortured with red-hot irons, their eyes have been poked out, and their ears and noses ripped open. They have been tied to tanks and pulled to pieces.

He went on to accuse the Germans of the systematic extermination of Russian prisoners by shooting, beating and starvation: "The German High Command has ordered that Soviet prisoners shall be given worse and less food than prisoners of other countries. In the early morning, whatever their state of health, they are roused by blows with sticks and clubs and driven out to work. In one day alone in the Chernukhinsk camp in the Ukraine 95 prisoners were shot."

These appalling revelations are by no means the full story of German cruelty towards Russian prisoners. Many PoWs are being gassed in experiments to find the most efficient methods of exterminating the Jews. Over 18,000 Russians have been killed at Sachsenhausen concentration camp since the invasion started.

U-578 was attacked and rammed in the Arctic Sea by a Soviet escort, but suffered only slight damage.

BULGARIA: The Government signs the Three-Power Treaty and became part of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British Mediterranean Fleet is covering Force "K" from Malta while it attacks an Axis convoy. The battleship HMS Barham blows up at 32 34N, 26 24E after being hit by three torpedoes of a four torpedo salvo from U-331. The U-boat struck at 4.29pm today. Admiral Cunningham had sailed from Alexandria to chase an Italian convoy. He brought up his three battleships to support the destroyers and cruisers in the Ionian Sea in case the enemy fleet attacked.

Baron von Tiesenhausen in U-331 dived beneath the destroyer screen and fired a salvo of torpedoes at HMS BARHAM from a range of a few hundred yards. There were three direct hits, producing an explosion so violent that the U-boat was forced to the surface. Four minutes she rolled over to port and her after maagzines exploded and the Barham, the flagship of the Fleet's second-in-command, Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell, sank. The captain and 858 crew perished. Amazingly, 450 survived.

HMS Hotspur hauled many of them on board. Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Hodgkinson described the scene: "Each man as he came over the side was black with oil. Bales of cotton waste were brought up to clean them. The whole upper deck became layered with oil, so that one could hardly stand." One man, swimming by a raft to give weaker men a chance, was the last hauled up: "He put up an arm ... it seemed to be nothing but gold stripe, and I realized who it was. I never expected to receive an admiral on board in such circumstances."

ETHIOPIA: Tadda Ridge is captured by the British from the Italians near Gondar.

LIBYA: Tobruk: Capt. James Joseph Bernard Jackman (b.1916), Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, cooly led his machine-gun company between British and German lines. He was killed next day. (Victoria Cross)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Shipment of 24 crated P-40E’s arrived in Manila. (Marc Small)

JAPAN: Japanese Diet convenes.
First Air Fleet sets sail for Pearl Harbor attack. (Marc Small)

Admiral YAMAMOTO Isoroku, Commander-in-Chief, Combined Fleet, issues Operations Order No. 5: "The Carrier Striking Task Force will immediately complete taking on supplies and depart with utmost secrecy from Hitokappu Bay (Etorofu Island, Kurile Islands) on 26 November and advance to the standby point (42 N, 170 W) by the evening of 3 December." The standby point is about 1,380 nautical miles (2 557 kilometers) north-northwest of Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii and 728 nautical miles (1 348 kilometers) south-southwest of Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alaska.

WAKE ISLAND: USN submarines USS Triton (SS-201) and Tambor (SS-198) arrive off Wake Island on simulated war patrols.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese troop transports en route to Malaya are sighted off Formosa.

CANADA: Armed yacht HMCS Lynx transferred to Halifax.

Trawler HMS Manitoulin laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The US establishes compulsory convoying of merchants in the Pacific.

CARIBBEAN SEA: The Canadian Saguenay Terminals bulk carrier Proteus, an ex-USN collier (10,653 GRT), was lost in the Caribbean Sea. She was on route from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, with a load of bauxite. There were no survivors from the 58 crewmembers that were onboard. The cause of her loss has never been established although sabotage was originally suspected. Rear-Admiral George van Deurs, USN (retired), who served in this class of ship, suggested the colliers were poorly constructed to begin with and that the natural acidity of coal seriously weakened the ship’s plating and frame. It is now generally accepted that both Proteus and her sister ship, Nereus, were unseaworthy and broke up in heavy seas.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German supply ship "Python" (3660 tons) takes on board the crew of the sunken British vessel "Atlantis". (Alex Gordon)

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25 November 1942

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November 25th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeper HMS Orestes launched.

HS Miaoulis (ex-HMS Modbury) commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: Five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands during the night of 25/26 November.

GERMANY:

U-995, U-1223 laid down.

U-275, U-533 commissioned.

NORWAY: Five hundred thirty one Jewish women and children are seized and deported from Oslo and Bergen to Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of Oswiecim, Poland . Of the 740 Jews deported from Norway, only 12 survive the war. As many as 930 Norwegian Jews escape into Sweden.

U.S.S.R.: Luftwaffe supply flights into the Stalingrad pocket begin today.

GREECE: A British Special Operations Executive (SOE) team uses 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of plastic explosives to blow up the Gorgopotamos Railway Bridge over the river of the same name. Up to 50 trains a day carrying supplies to support the Axis forces in North Africa rumble over the bridge in central Greece bound for the port of Piraeus. The bridge is located on the Salonika-Athens rail line about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from Athens. Protective cover is provided by two mutually suspicious Greek guerrilla detachments, one made up of E.D.E.S. nationalists and the other of E.L.A.S. Communists. In reprisal, 14 Greek hostages are executed by the Italian occupation forces. Ever since, Communists and rightists have argued about whose guerrillas deserved the greater glory at the bridge and in the war generally.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U class submarine HMS Utmost is depth charged by Italian destroyer Groppo in the Mediterranean off Marittimo and sunk. There are no survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

ASW trawler HMS Leyland sunk in a collision off Gibraltar.

ALGERIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires and P-38 Lightnings fly widespread reconnaissance missions over coastal regions.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s escort minesweepers in the vicinity of Bengasi harbor. During the night of 25/26 November, RAF bombers bomb Tripoli harbor.

TUNISIA: The British First Army attacks toward Tunis. On the north, the 36th Brigade of the 78th Division advances from Djebel Abiod toward Mateur. In the center, Blade Force (British 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group) penetrates Axis positions between Mateur and Tebourba; attached elements of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, raid Djedeida Airfield, 5 miles (8 kilometers) east of Tebourba, destroying 30 planes. The 11th Brigade of the 78th Division recaptures Medjez el Bab.

CHINA: USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force B-25 Mitchells and P-40s cripple three freighters on the Pearl River near Canton.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, firm Japanese opposition on the entire front has resulted in a virtual stalemate. Artillery fire is exchanged and patrols are active in some sectors. In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-38 Lightnings hit the airfield at Lae.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-17 lands 11 tons (10 metric tonnes) of supplies at Kamimbo Bay, Guadalcanal. Submarine missions to supply the beleaguered Japanese garrison on Guadalcanal will continue through the end of November.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Japanese 18th Army (Lt-Gen Adachi) arrives in the South-West Pacific theatre. (Michael Alexander)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: After eight months of work, the Alcan Highway is completed.

USAAF Eleventh Air Force aircraft fly reconnaissance is flown over the Semichi Islands and Japanese-held Kiska and Attu Islands.

CANADA: Algerine-class minesweepers HMS Coquette (ex-HMCS Bowmanville), HMS Courier (ex-HMCS Arnprior), HMS Felicity (ex-HMCS Copper Cliff), HMS Flying Fish (ex-HMCS Tillsonburg), HMS Golden Fleece (ex-HMCS Humberstone), HMS Lioness (ex-HMCS Petrolia), HMS Prompt (ex-HMCS Huntsville), HMS Lysander (ex-HMCS Hespeler), HMCS New Liskeard and HMCS Fort Frances ordered from Ontario shipyards.

Minesweeper HMCS Transcona commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Cobourg laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The motion picture Gentleman Jim is released. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this biography of boxer Jim Corbett stars Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, William Frawley, Ward Bond and Arthur Shields.

Santa Fe: The decision was taken today to take over a 50,000-acre site at Los Alamos, in the Jemez mountains in New Mexico, 20 miles from here, to house a secret laboratory for research into the atomic bomb. The site, formerly a boarding school for boys, is on top of a 7,200-foot plateau.

The site was chosen by the director, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, appointed in spite of his left-wing politics. Dr. Oppenheimer says that his two great loves are physics and desert country; now he can enjoy both at once.

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 "Artillery in the Desert." (William L. Howard)

Minesweeper USS Skylark commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A lookout on U-566 broke his arm and the commander of U-608 was also injured as a result of very bad weather.

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25 November 1943

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November 25th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: General Jan Christiaan Smuts, the Prime Minister of South Africa, in a speech to the United Kingdom Branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association states that the continued collaboration of Britain, Russia, and the United States is imperative. He suggests further that Britain consider working closely in the future with the smaller democracies of Western Europe, and warns that the future of the Empire might depend on greater fusion of the centralization in London and decentralization in the Commonwealth.

     RAF Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory, heading the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), activates his headquarters at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex, England. The RAF Second Tactical Air Force and RAF Air Defence of Great Britain (former Fighter Command), and later Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton's USAAF Ninth Air Force come under.

Corvettes HMCS Kincardine (ex-HMS Tamworth Castle) and Orangeville (ex-HMS Hedingham Castle) laid down.

Minesweeper HMS Rifleman launched.

Frigate HMS Lawson commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Postillion commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 25/26 November, four RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

FRANCE: The Gestapo rounds up students at Strasburg university.

USAAF Eighth Air Force bombing by P-47 Thunderbolts is inaugurated by the VIII Fighter Command in an attack on Saint-Omer airfield by the 56th and 353d Fighter Groups. Two other fighter groups, the 55th (P-38 Lightnings) and 352d (P-47 Thunderbolts), carry out offensive sweeps in the Lille area; the fighters, including two escorting groups, fly over 330 offensive sorties.

     During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off seven Bay of Biscay ports: seven aircraft lay mines off La Pallice; six off Gironde with the loss of one Stirling; five each off Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire; three off Bayonne and two off Cherbourg. Twenty eight other aircraft drop leaflets over Northern France.

GERMANY: During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 262 aircraft, 236 Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters, to Frankfurt-am-Main; 237 bomb. As on the previous night, there are no major diversions and the bomber force takes a relatively direct route to the target. The German controller does not know whether Mannheim or Frankfurt is the real objective but he eventually chooses Frankfurt, where the flak is restricted to 15,000 feet (4 572 meters). Twelve bombers, 11 Halifaxes and a Lancaster, are lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. Another attack is carried out on Berlin by three Mosquitos.

U-245 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Attacking in the Propoisk area, north of Gomel, Soviet forces achieve breakthrough on a broad front and cut the highway between Gomel and Mogilev, greatly increasing the peril to Germans in Gomel. 

ITALY: The U.S. Fifth Army's plan for amphibious operations at Anzio (Operation SHINGLE) is approved. A single infantry division, reinforced, is to establish a beachhead and attempt to join the main body within a week.

     The French increment of the Fifth Army general staff arrives from North Africa by air to prepare for arrival of French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) under General Alphonse-Pierre Juin.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force light and medium bombers of the XII Air Support Command, along with Allied airplanes, bomb gun positions and defended points in the Lanciano-Fossacesia area; medium bombers also Ancona, Italy; USAAF and RAF fighters attack vehicles, gun positions, and strongpoints in the Casoli-Castelfrentano-Lanciano-Fossacesia area.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit Sarajevo and Travnik.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-593 encountered an enemy submarine off St. Tropez in the Mediterranean. Both boats fired torpedoes, but neither achieved a hit.

EGYPT: Cairo: In a heavily-guarded, barbed-wire-protected compound in the shadow of the Pyramids outside Cairo, Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek today ended a meeting to plan the next moves in the war against the Japanese empire. Called the "Sextant Conference", this has been the seventh wartime summit meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt, but the first involving the Chinese Nationalist leader.

The first days of the conference were attended by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme commander in South-east Asia, and General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, the C-in-C of US Ground Forces in Burma, China and India. Mme Chiang acted as interpreter for her husband. The conference compound has had to accommodate 320 delegates - 201 British, 90 American and 20 Chinese. Over 40 villas and a hotel were taken over and cleared of guests, and a specially installed telephone system connected the hotel conference rooms with delegates' villas. A tented camp was erected by US engineers for the 1,000 troops guarding the conference. Three Bedouin families on the site were persuaded with gifts to move. No official statement will be released until Chiang Kai-shek is back in China and Churchill and Roosevelt have left for another secret meeting.

CHINA: Fourteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs attack the airfield at Shinchiku, hitting a parking area, hangars, barracks, and other buildings. Thirty two Japanese aircraft are claimed destroyed in the air and on the ground. Sixteen P-40s on armed reconnaissance over the Hanshow-Chanpte area sink two 60-foot (18,3 meter) boats and 15 sampans and strafe many small supply and troop carrying boats.

BURMA: In a raid on Rangoon, B-24 Liberators of the 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy), borrowed from the Fourteenth Air Force, are unable to bomb because of bad weather, but USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, covered by P-51 Mustangs, manage to hit Mingaladon airfield, damaging the field and claiming two airplanes destroyed. Japanese fighters intercept and in the ensuing battle the B-25s and P-51s claim two shot down; two P-51s are lost.

FORMOSA: Forty-Two Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground at Shinchiku airfield, as the US 14th Air Force mounts its first attack on the island. This mission was under the command of Colonel "Tex" Hill, Commanding Officer of the 23d Fighter Group. The attack force consisted of 14 North American B-25C Mitchells of the 11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium); eight battle worn but newly arrived North American P-51A Mustangs of the 76th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group; and eight Lockheed P-38 Lightnings of the 449th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group .

Taking off from Suichwan, the attack force flew at low altitude over the Formosa Straight to avoid detection. The P-38s led the mission with the job of destroying any airborne enemy aircraft; they shot down 15 of 20 defenders. The B-25s came next at 1,000 feet (305 meters) dropping fragmentation bombs on the airfield. The P-51As, which claimed five airborne enemy aircraft, came in next strafing followed by the P-38s making one more strafing pass. Approximately 22 enemy aircraft (4 by the P-51As) were destroyed without the loss of any Fourteenth Air Force aircraft.

NEW GUINEA: The final Japanese position at Sattelberg falls to Australian forces.

A company of the Australian 2/48th Battalion enters Sattelberg, Northeast New Guinea, and raises the Australian flag at 1000 hours local..

     In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-39 Airacobras strafe Bogadjim Road.

     Lockheed (Model 18-40-11) Lodestar, ex-Netherlands East Indies Air Force serial number LT9-08, registered VH-CAB by the Australian airline QANTAS, crashes into a hill shortly after talking off from Ward's Strip, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. All 15 aboard are killed.

NEW BRITAIN: Captain Arleigh Burke, in command of 5 US destroyers of destroyer Squadron 23, finds and sinks 3 of 5 Japanese destroyers enroute to Buka in the Battle of Cape St. George. This is the last of the night sea battles of the Solomons Campaign.

From Glen Boren's diary: 25 November 1943. Bunker Hill in commission six months today. For some reason, Lt. Kelly landed his F6F on Tarawa. He busted it up some so it was left there.

Last time, I mentioned Lt. Bill Kelly landing his F6F on Tarawa. I was unable to remember the details, so I called him last week to find out. 

Seems his wingman couldn't get his tailhook deployed, so after circling the ship for a while they were to try a landing at Tarawa. Tarawa had a Jeep set up with a radio for control and told them to land short as the war was still going on at the far end of the field. Kelly landed first and pulled into a revetment. His wingman cracked up on landing but was not hurt. Tarawa was expecting Butch O'Hara for some reason and Kelly was treated to a hero's welcome for a few minutes until he assured them that he wasn't Butch. 

Anyway, that is the story on that. Kelly returned to the ship and the other pilot was picked the next day along with a few vital parts of the aircraft. 

The Americans celebrate "Thanksgiving" today. Glen's diary:

After Tarawa was declared "secured" four days after our disastrous landing most of the 2nd Division was relieved by an army outfit and sent back out to the troop transports but one company was left behind and given the task of sweeping up the atoll to kill or capture the Jap holdouts. We got assigned as artillery support for this outfit so were were still on Tawara on Thanksgiving Day. When the last Jap was killed, we five members of the HandS Instrument Section set up our base on a little coral outcrop near the tip of the long leg of the atoll. We had nothing to do so we just basked in the sun, swam in the warm lagoon, and tried to forget the horrors we had just experienced. We spent Thanksgiving Day, 1943, on our little island "paradise". We did get a turkey dinner, though. The Navy was doing its best to help their Marines ashore and sent landing boats up the length of the atoll all loaded with hot chow. We even got ice cream.

GILBERT ISLANDS: On Apamama Atoll, the Apamama Occupation Force, based on the 3d Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment, is en route to atoll.

     On Tarawa Atoll, after scouting about half way up the eastern side of the atoll, Company D of the 2d Marine Tank Battalion is recalled to the village of Eita to prepare to reconnoiter other atolls. The 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, continues an uneventful trek up the Tarawa Atoll. The first unit of the garrison air force, USN Fighting Squadron One (VF-1) equipped with F6F Hellcats, takes off from escort aircraft carriers USS Barnes (CVE-20) and Nassau (CVE-16) and land on Betio Island.

     Just after sunset, 13 Japanese 'Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) from the Marshall Islands attack USN ships off Makin Atoll with torpedoes; no hits are scored. In a second attack, USN F6F Hellcat pilots guided by a Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) radar-equipped TBM Avenger, shoot down three "Bettys" at sea between 1725 and 1928 hours local. However, the commanding officer of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6), Lieutenant Commander Edward "Butch" O'Hare, is lost. O'Hare was a Medal of Honor recipient for action on 20 February 1942 when he shot down five Japanese bombers who were attempting to bomb a USN aircraft carrier.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of USN Task Group 50.1 attack Mili Atoll.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Battle of Cape St. George is fought during the early hours as the five ships of USN Destroyer Squadron 23 intercept five Japanese destroyers off Cape St. George on the southern tip of New Ireland Island. USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570), Claxton (DD-571), and Dyson (DD-572) sink HIJMS Onami with torpedoes and HIJMS Yugiri with gunfire; the same three U.S. ships, joined by USS Spence (DD-512) and Converse (DD-509), sink HIJMS Makinami with torpedoes and gunfire and damage HIJMS Uzuki. The USN destroyers suffer no damage.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN destroyer USS Radford (DD-446) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 about 54 nautical miles (101 kilometers) west of Butaritari Island, Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, in position 03.10N, 171.55E.

CANADA: Oiler HMCS Dundurn commissioned.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Atule laid down.

Destroyer USS Tingey commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-600 sunk in the North Atlantic north of Punta Delgada, in position 40.31N, 22.07W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Bazely and HMS Blackwood. 54 dead (all hands lost).

U-849 sunk in the South Atlantic West of the Congo estuary, in position 06.30S, 05.40W, by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft (VP-107/B-6). 63 dead (all hands lost).

U-445 left the base at St. Nazaire for patrol, but shortly into the journey struck bottom and was forced to turn back.  

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25 November 1944

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November 25th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: A V2 rocket lands in New Cross Road, London, killing or injuring 268 people. (Alex Gordon)

The most devastating V2 rocket so far scored a direct hit on the Woolworth's store in New Cross, in south-east London, at lunchtime today (1226) when it was crowded with Saturday shoppers. The Co-operative Stores alongside was also wrecked. No details have been made public, but 160 people were killed and 200 injured.

A young girl survivor described the scene after the explosion: "Things were still falling out of the sky, bits of things and bits of people. A horse's head was lying in the gutter. There was a pram hood all twisted and bent and there was a little baby's hand still in its woollen sleeve. Outside the pub there was a crumpled bus, still with rows of people sitting inside, all covered in dust and dead. Where Woolworth's had been, there was nothing. Just an enormous gap covered by clouds of dust. No building, just piles of rubble and bricks, and underneath it all, people screaming.

Minesweeper HMS Nerissa launched.

     The USAAF Eighth Air Force's 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command, starts daily operations with B-24H and B-24J Liberators as a screening force for the bombardment divisions. It is assigned the task of protecting the Eighth's primary VHF and fighter-to-bomber communications from interception during assembly. The increase of flak batteries around German military and industrial installations soon compels the 36th to increase radar countermeasures on each mission. The 36th remains on this assignment until the end of war in Europe.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area, XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division, with the 42d Cavalry Squadron screening its northern flank, attacks with three regiments supported by armor, overrunning the main German positions on the northern flank of the corps. The 6th Armored Division, reinforced by elements of the 134th Infantry Regiment, begins a drive toward Maderbach Creek, greatly hampered by craters, mud, mines, and enemy fire: Combat Command B, driving toward Puttelange, gets forward elements to the Maderbach River at Remering; Combat Command A, aided by an air strike, takes Valette. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, penetrates the German line and captures Vittersbourg; Company G, 101st Infantry Regiment, clears the chateau strongpoint in the Bois de Bonnefontaine, and Company K makes a futile attempt to clear the northern edge of the woods. Combat Command B of the 4th Armored Division, after checking a determined counterattack against Baerendorf, is reinforced and reorganized before continuing an attack late in afternoon.

     In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, elements of 44th Infantry Division and 106th Cavalry Group halt a German column advancing on Schalbach after making slight withdrawals. French armor continues to clear the Strasbourg area. The 79th and 45th Infantry Divisions consolidate north and northwest of Strasbourg. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, makes contact with the 3d Infantry Division of the VI Corps near Schirmeck and is again attached to VI Corps. In the VI Corps area the 100th Infantry Division, on the northern flank, reaches Grandfontaine. The 36th Infantry Division outflanks and captures Ste Marie, gaining control of roads to Selestat and Ribeauville.

     In the French First Army area, II Corps finds that the Germans have withdrawn along most of its front to avoid encirclement. I Corps makes slow progress toward Burnhaupt. In the Alps Sector, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (ETOUSA) orders the U.S. 1st Airborne Task Force to proceed to Soissons, Lyon, and Mourmelon at once.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 724: seven B-17s and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night of 25/26 November.

GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 29th Infantry Division continues to hold off the Germans at Bourheim and gets elements of the 116th Infantry Regiment into Koslar, where they become isolated.

In U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the sky is overcast in the morning the sky but clears in the afternoon, and the USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Tactical Air Command provides close air support in the 104th and 1st Infantry Division areas. The 104th Infantry Division advances to the high ground east of Poetzlohn, and the valley of the Inde River west of Weisweiler is secured. Task Force Richardson takes Wilhelmshoehe and suffers heavy losses while trying to advance across open the Roer Plain to Frenzerburg Castle. The 56th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, attempts unsuccessfully to reach the Weisweiler-Langerwehe highway; assisted by two tanks, a platoon of the 18th Infantry Regiment gets almost to the crest of Hill 203, where it clings. The 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division makes an 800 yard (732 meter) advance. The 22d Infantry Regiment attack Grosshau but is repulsed by intense anti-tank, mortar and artillery fire; the 4th Infantry Division suspends attacks for several days after this. In the V Corps area, Combat Command R of the 5th Armored Division joins the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in an attack toward Huertgen but, halted by large crater and mines, withdraws.. (Robert Rush)

     In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps opens a drive to the Saar River. In the 10th Armored Division zone on the northern flank, the 358th Infantry Regiment continues to batter at the Orscholz line: the 3d Battalion, assisted by aircraft and tanks, seizes Tettingen and relieves the isolated troops at Butzdorf, but pulls back from Butzdorf; the 1st and 2d Battalions continue to fight within and near Oberleuken, the 2d Battalion reaching the top of Hill 388; it is decided to withdraw the 358th Infantry Regiment, which by now is unfit to continue attack. The 90th Infantry Division, with the 359th Infantry Regiment on the left and the 357th on the right, drives steadily toward the Saar reaching Oberesch, within miles of the river. The 95th Infantry Division, supported by artillery of the 5th Infantry Division and of III Corps, attacks across the Nied River on the right flank of corps, the 377th Infantry Regiment on the left and the 378th on right, and pushes into the Maginot Line, where the Germans have abandoned fortifications; takes towns of Boulay, Momerstroff, Narbefontaine, and Hallering.

     The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 723: 1,043 bombers and 965 fighters are dispatched to hit an I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant using H2X and a marshalling yard; 8 bombers and 6 fighters are lost: 671 aircraft bomb Merseburg and 252 hit the oil plant at Merseberg and 252 bomb the marshalling yard at Bingen; 12 other bombers hit targets of opportunity. .

     The USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division hits an ordnance arsenal at Landau, road junctions, and an ammunition dump at Neustadt and Kaiserslautern; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth Air Force, fly armed reconnaissance and support ground forces east of Aachen and between Merzig and Sarreguemines, France.

     During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit six targets: 63 bomb Nurnburg with the loss of one; ten attack Hagen; eight each hit Erfurt and Stuttgart; and one each bomb Dortmund and Ludwigshafen.

Berlin: Hitler orders any military commander contemplating surrender to hand over command to the next most senior officer willing to carry on the fight, and fall in behind him.

Stuka pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel is awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords to the Iron Cross. He also receives the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds back-dated to the time of his escape across the Dnjester of 29 March, 1944.

Rudel landed behind Soviet lines to retrieve a downed German aircrew. Snow and mud bogged down the airplane, making it impossible to take off. Approaching Soviet troops forced everyone to flee on foot, but barring their escape was the 900 foot wide river Dnjestr. The Germans stripped to their longjohns, and swam across the ice-clogged river. Rudel's close friend and crewman, Erwin Henstchel, drowned a few feet from the far shore. They had flown 1490 missions together at the time of Hentschel's death. His body was never recovered. Rudel was pursued by hundreds of Soviet troops who were intent on collecting the 100,000 ruble bounty, and he was shot in the shoulder while they chased him with dogs and on horseback. Through incredible ingenuity, audacity, and raw determination, Rudel escaped and made his way, alone and unarmed, back home, despite being more than 30 miles behind Soviet lines when he began his 24 hour trek. He was barefoot and almost naked in the sub-freezing winter weather, without food, compass, or medical attention.

U-2351, U-2530 launched.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: Demolition of the gas chambers and crematoria begins, with the dismantling of heavy plant for transport to other concentration camps further west.

HUNGARY: Red Army troops are clearing Csepel Island., in the Danube River just south of Budapest.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps gets advance elements across the Marzeno River west of Marzeno village. In the V Corps area, the 4th Division reaches the Lamone in the St. Barnaba-Scaldino area east of Faenza. This advance permits the Indian 10th Division to cross elements over the Montone River at Highway 9 and push northward toward the German's switch line that extends generally from Casa Bettini on the Montone River to the region north of Scaldino on the Lamone River. The 46th Division maintains a bridgehead across the Marzeno River but is unable to break out. The U.S. Porter Force, in the Adriatic coastal sector, is placed under command of the Canadian I Corps.

     Three USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter groups fly only 53 sorties against railway targets and targets of opportunity north of the U.S. Fifth Army battle area, cutting lines at 14 places and destroying several vehicles.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 69 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop supplies to partisans.

CHINA: Nanning: The Japanese authorities today claimed that their forces had taken Nanning, the former capital of Kwangsi province, 100 miles from the Indochina border. Japanese forces have been driving south for the past week, and the capture of Nanning would effectively split China in two. Allied sources would not confirm the cities fall, but feared it was likely.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack targets in southern China and Paoching, Ankang, Ishan, and Hochih. .

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the Japanese in the Pinwe region of the railroad corridor who have been holding up the British 36th Division are ordered to fall back toward central Burma.

     Twenty four USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Bhamo area; 24 bomb an airfield at Kawlin while eight more strafe Tabingaung Airfield and town area; 12 attack the Meza railroad station and boxcars in nearby bridge area, storage and personnel areas in the Lashio area and at Nawngyang, Ashang, and Man Mao; and eight P-47 Thunderbolts strafe targets of opportunity along the Wuntho-Shwebo rail line.

     Twelve USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit warehouses, village and town areas at Lashio and Wanling. P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack targets around Namsang, and Mongyu.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack rail targets, trucks, and buildings at Phu Lang Thuong while fighter-bombers hit targets of opportunity in northern French Indochina including Phu Lang Thuong.

THAILAND: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity in Thailand including areas around Bhre and Lampang. .

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, a USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator aborts an armed photo mission over Matsuwa Island due to weather and instead radar bombs Kurabu Airfield on Paramushiru Island; B-25 Mitchells cancel a shipping sweep due to weather.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US advance is held up in most sectors of Leyte due to difficult terrain.

On Leyte, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, halts work on airfields. In the X Corps area, Company A, the most advanced unit of the 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, on Kilay Ridge, repels a heavy Japanese counterattack, during the night of 25/26 November. In the XXIV Corps area, the 32d Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division contains another Japanese counterattack, which is made in less strength after nightfall. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division, starts s difficult westward trek over the mountains from Burauen toward Mahonag, 10 miles (16 kilometers) distant, to ease pressure on the corps units driving on Ormoc.

Seven US carriers of TG 38.2 and TG 38.3 again strike Luzon. The Japanese cruisers Kumano and Yasoshima are sunk. Four of the carriers sustain damage from Kamikaze attacks.

     USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers range over wide areas of Masbate, Cebu, and Leyte Islands, and surrounding waters, attacking shipping, airfields, bivouacs, and a variety of targets.

     Carrier-based aircraft of USN Task Groups 38.3 and 38.4 bomb Japanese shipping off central Luzon. Planes from carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) sink heavy cruiser Kumano in Dasol Bay on west central Luzon. F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers and TBM Avengers from carriers USS Ticonderoga and Essex (CV-9), along with F6Fs and TBMs from small carrier USS Langley (CVL-27) attack a convoy about 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) southwest of Santa Cruz, on the west coast of Luzon, and sink a coast defense ship and three landing ships. Planes from carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) sink two fast transports and damage a fast transport and ah escort destroyer in Balanacan Harbor on Marinduque Island. Planes from USS Essex and Langley sink an army cargo ship and damage a cargo ship in San Fernando harbor.

     Kamikazes breach the fleet's fighter defenses, however, and press home determined attacks, damaging carriers USS Essex, Intrepid and Hancock (CV-19) and small carrier USS Cabot. Small carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) is damaged by crash of own aircraft into island structure.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers hit airfields on Ceram and Boeroe (Buroe) Islands and B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance over northern Borneo hit shipping and other targets of opportunity. During the night of 25/26 November, B-25 Mitchells hit airfields in northeastern Celebes and Halmahera Islands.

BONIN ISLANDS: Seven USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Guam, escorting a photo aircraft, bomb Chichi Jima, Muko Jima, and Haha Jima.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Australian 9th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, relieves the 2d Battalion, U.S. 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Shimotsuki about 220 nautical miles (408 kilometers) east-northeast of Singapore, Malaya.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (CINCPOA) issues Operation Plan 11-44 for the invasion of Iwo Jima. The USN Fifth Fleet commander is to seize Iwo and develop air bases there. The invasion date is tentatively set for 3 February 1945.

U.S.A.: Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis died at age 78. As a Judge, Landis presided over several (in)famous cases, including an anti-trust case against Standard Oil and one involving trade unionist charged with violation of the alien and sedition laws during WWI.  He was appointed the first commissioner of baseball in 1921.(Tony Morano)

Minesweepers USS Surfbird and Toucan commissioned.

Destroyer USS Hugh W Hadley commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-278 was commissioned at New York with LTJG Beverly L. Higgins, USCGR, as first commanding officer.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-716 struck bottom off Horten (Norway) and damaged the depth rudder.

U-322 sunk in the North Atlantic west of the Shetlands, in position 60.18N, 04.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Ascension. 52 dead (all hands lost). The sub had been damaged yesterday by depth charges from an RAF Sunderland Mk. III, of No. 330 (Norwegian) Squadron based at Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands, Scotland.

Corvette HMCS Shawinigan sunk by U-1228. The serious vulnerability of surface escorts in one-on-one engagements against submarines was highlighted, yet again, by the loss of Shawinigan. In a case where an element of surprise is involved in the setting of the engagement, the unit that fires effectively first has an almost insurmountable advantage. The additional advantage of precision weaponry made the outcome a virtual certainty. That Canadian operational commanders persisted in employing their escorts in this highly dangerous and wasteful manner until so late in the war calls their competence into question. The lack of durability in the corvette design caused them to perform poorly when they suffered battle damage. Although renowned in popular and academic histories as seaworthy vessels, in fact, while they were generally able to survive adverse weather, their atrocious seakeeping qualities meant they had no seakindliness whatsoever and they were death traps once hit. Shawinigan was one of three Canadian warships during the Second World War lost with all hands. The others were the auxiliary patrol vessels Brad D’Or – on 19 Oct 40, and HMCS Raccoon – on 06 Sep 42. The auxiliary vessels suffered all of the corvettes's shortcoming but lacked their seaworthiness, making them even more dangerous ships in which to serve. Brad D'Or foundered in bad weather and Racoon suffered the same fate as Shawinigan.

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25 November 1945

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November 25th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

FRANCE: Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) flies a Lockheed Model 049 Constellation on a proving flight from New York to Paris.

GERMANY: The first party Congress of the SPD (Social Democratic Party - Communist) takes place in Berlin.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The last prisoners of war leave the camp of Pakan-Baroe in Sumatra.

CANADA: Frigates HMCS Cap de la Madeleine and Poundmaker paid off Shelburne, Nova Scotia and Sydney, Nova Scotia respectively.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer USS Hamner launched.

Submarine USS Spinax launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Operation Deadlight, the scuttling of the remains of the German U-boat fleet. Between now and February 12th, 1946, 119 U-boats will be scuttled off Malin Head, Ireland, Lishally, Ireland and Loch Ryan, Scotland.

 

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