U.S.A.: 11 pm (9:00 am Washington time)  Stimson called Roosevelt to draw his attention to an intelligence report that the Japanese had sent five divisions by sea from Formosa to the south.

Marshall stated at a conference that war could be expected by March.

Navy Department advises Hart that war is impending.  

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November 26th, 1942 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Sloop HMS Woodstock launched.

Destroyer HMS Carron laid down.

FRANCE: During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off two Biscay Bay ports: two each lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 26/27 November, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

GERMANY: U-650 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: The Russians have thrown a ring of fire and steel around the German Sixth Army trapped in Stalingrad, the city it had come to capture three months ago. It failed, and now this once proud army faces destruction by the avenging Russians.

Three days ago Lieutenant-Colonel Filippov, the commander of the 14th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Russian XXVI Tank Corps, led his detachment, with light fulls on in the pre-dawn darkness, to the German-held bridge over the Don at Kalach. He was counting on the Germans assuming that his were captured tanks being taken to a nearby German anti-tank warfare training school for practice. The bridge was primed to be blown up, but Filippov's ruse worked. The Germans waved him on and he captured the bridge, holding it with his small force until the rest of the town was captured.

The next day Soviet tanks poured over the bridge and met up with the southern arm of the pincer movement 30 miles to the southeast at Sovetsky. The ring was closed.

Inside it are Paulus' Sixth Army and part of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, 270,000 men comprising 22 divisions. There are also the remains of the Third and Fourth Romanian Armies, whose men have been surrendering in their thousands. The situation is reminiscent of the Germans' early great encirclement victories, and the Russians' aim is the same as their enemy's was: the destruction of the trapped divisions.

Paulus wants to break out to safety in the west. When he was told of the Russian link-up at Sovetsky he sent a signal to Hitler: "Army heading for disaster. It is essential to withdraw all our divisions from Stalingrad." But Hitler has ordered him to stand firm: "I will do everything in my power to supply the Sixth Army adequately and to disengage it when the time is convenient."

Göring , inspired by the Luftwaffe's successful supply of the Wehrmacht's "hedgehogs" last winter, has promised Hitler he will be able to airlift sufficient supplies to keep Paulus's army in being until the Russians are driven off. But the Luftwaffe is going to be hard-pressed. Virtually every transport aircraft in the air force will be needed to carry the daily total of 500 tons of fuel and ammunition necessary to sustain the trapped army. Many of its transport aircraft have been sent to the Middle East; two-thirds of them are unserviceable at any given time. The weather is appalling. The only two airfields still in German hands are in danger of falling to the Russians. As Paulus says the, the Sixth Army is heading for disaster.

TUNISIA: The British First Army continues to advance. The British 78th Division captures Medjez el Bab.

Blade Force engages in its first armored battle on the plain south of Mateur. A US armored battalion raids the German air base at Djedeida.

LIBYA: Twelve USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly three missions against the port area at Tripoli, scoring direct hits on two vessels, one B-24 bombs a ship at Homs harbor while P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna area.

THAILAND: USAAF planes attack Bangkok oil refinery.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the stalemate continues on Gona front. Further frontal and flanking attacks of 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, toward Sanananda makes limited progress: The 1st Battalion (-) is pinned down on the Soputa- Sanananda track after a 100-yard (91 meter) advance; on the left, the 3d Battalion (-) drives east to within 700 yards (640 meters) of the Killerton trail; on the right, Company L and the Australians finally overrun the bitterly contested food dump. The Urbana Force halts frontal and right flank attacks on the Triangle and prepares to make a strong effort on left, since the Japanese are disposed in less strength west of Entrance Creek and the terrain is more favorable. The Warren Force, under personal observation of Major General Edwin Harding, Commanding General 32d Infantry Division, makes a determined effort to advance after strong air and artillery preparation. The Japanese retire into bunkers during the bombardment and emerge afterward to meet the attack. The 3d Battalion of the 128th Infantry Regiment (-) and 1st Battalion of 126th Infantry Regiment (-) advance abreast, the latter on the left followed by the 1st Battalion of the128th. Little is accomplished by the attack. Company I of the 128th Infantry Regiment and the Australian 2/6th Independent Company, Maroubra Force, charged respectively with securing the west and east ends of New Strip, are unable to advance. The Japanese retain air superiority over Buna front and sink a lugger bound for Hariko with ammunition. The 127th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, reaches Port Moresby from Australia.

     In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s, A-20 Havocs, and B-25 Mitchells attack airfields and antiaircraft positions in the Buna area while B-26 Marauders strike the Salamaua area.

AUSTRALIA: At 0320 hours local, Japanese bombers attack the Darwin town area and the Strauss and Hughes Airfields.

Minesweeper HMAS Gladstone launched.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Japanese Lieutenant-General Imamura Hitoshi formally assumes command of the 8th Area Army at Rabaul, New Britain Island. (The 8th Area Army is responsible for the 17th Army in the Solomon Islands and the 18th Army in New Guinea.) Colonel Sugita presents a paper outlining the current situation on Guadalcanal and suggesting withdrawal. General Imamura refuses to formally accept the paper because it is defeatist. Major Hayashi arrives from Guadalcanal with the news that all rice and barley there would be entirely consumed that day.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator reconnoitering Holtz Bay harbor on Japanese-held Attu Island spots shipping targets which are subsequently hit by four B-26 Marauders escorted by four P-38 Lightnings; one cargo ship is damaged. Reconnaissance is flown over Rat Island, Agattu and Semichi Islands and the Japanese-held Kiska Island shipping and the north coast of Attu Island; two P-38s and a B-26 sustain minor damage.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Chambly commenced refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning 1 December.

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November 26th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyers HMCS Huron, Haida and Iroquois departed Arkhangelsk for Loch Ewe with Convoy RA-54B.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 138: 128 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to Paris but they abort the mission on arrival over the target because of complete cloud cover which totally obscures the objective. Four B-17s are lost.

     Almost 140 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack Epinoy Airfield near Cambrai and Amy Airfield at Roye and military construction in the town of Audinghen.

NETHERLANDS: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 19 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons to lay mines off the coast: 18 lay mines in the Frisian Islands and 13 lay mines off Texel Island.

GERMANY: A large Allied air raid targets Bremen in bad weather. It achieves modest results. (Glenn Stenberg)

Chancellor Adolf Hitler watches a demonstration flight of the Me-262 V6 Schwalbe (Swallow), the sixth prototype of this jet fighter, fly at Insterburg. He declares that it is just the thing for carrying a 500 kilogram (1,102 pound) bomb load to England but this will require an extensive modification program. As a result of his decision, the first production Me-262A-0 is not delivered until the summer of 1944 and the first unit, Kommando Nowotny, becomes operational on 3 October 1944.

     The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 138 to Bremen: 350 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 77 B-24 Liberators attack the port area at 1145-1228 hours; 22 B-17s and three B-24s are lost. Eighteen aircraft hit miscellaneous targets.

     During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 443 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos to Berlin and a diversion to Stuttgart. Both forces fly a common route over Northern France and on nearly to Frankfurt before diverging. The German controllers think that Frankfurt is the main target until a late stage and several bombers are shot down as they flew past Frankfurt. Only a few fighters appear over Berlin, where flak is the main danger, but the scattered condition of the bomber stream at Berlin means that bombers are caught by fighters off track on the return flight and the casualties mounted; 407 aircraft hit Berlin with the loss of 28 Lancasters, 6.2 per cent of the force, and 14 more Lancasters crash in England. The weather is clear over Berlin but, after their long approach flight from the south, the Pathfinders marked an area 6-7 miles (9,6 to 11,3 kilometers) northwest of the city centre and most aircraft bomb there. Because of Berlin's size, however, most of the bombing still falls within the city boundaries and particularly on the semi-industrial suburb of Reinickendorf; smaller amounts of bombing fall in the centre and in the Siemensstadt (with many electrical factories) and Tegel districts. The Berlin Zoo is heavily bombed on this night. Many of the animals have been evacuated to zoos in other parts of Germany but the bombing kills most of the remainder. Several large and dangerous animals - leopards, panthers, jaguars, apes - escape and have to be hunted and shot in the streets. The diversionary raid on Stuttgart is carried out by 157 Halifaxes and 21 Lancasters; 162 bomb the city with the loss of six Halifaxes, 3.4 per cent of the force. The bombing is very scattered and causes little damage but part of the night-fighter force is drawn off from the Berlin operation. Three other cities are bombed: three aircraft hit Koblenz and one each attack Frankfurt-am-Main and Kassel.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army has driven the Germans out of Gomel, north of the Pripet Marshes, and is chasing them along a 100-mile front in White Russia. This powerful and well-timed blow has now cracked the Wehrmacht's winter line, and the Germans have been forced out of the deep belts of well-equipped dugouts where they had intended to spend the winter in comparative comfort.

Now they are being hounded into the marshes and forests where the snow is deep and the partisans lie in wait for the unwary. The German high command admits that the Russians are "trying to interfere with our disengaging movements."

Destroyers HMCS Huron, Haida and Iroquois departed Arkhangelsk for Loch Ewe with Convoy RA-54B.

ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs along with RAF light bombers, attack the marshalling yard and harbor at Ancona and defended positions near Fossacesia, Lanciano, and Castelfrentano; B-26 Marauders bomb Cassino. USAAF and RAF fighter-bombers hit these same positions and also attack troop concentration near Palombaro and north of Casoli.

     Thirty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the viaduct at Recco, 12 bomb the Rimini marshalling yard and bridge and 12 B-24 Liberators attack bridges in the Fano, Cesano, Senigallia, and Falconara areas, scoring hits or near misses at Fano, Falconara and Senigallia.

     Twenty four RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit a railroad bridge at Ombrone.

ALGERIA: The British transport HMT Rohna is sunk by a German guided bomb in the Mediterranean Not wanting to give the enemy any information about its success, the American and British military did not acknowledge the sinking. The secrecy prevailed even after the war About 2,200 American servicemen boarded the Rohna, which had been designed to carry 100 passengers in comfort, in Oran, Algeria.

The largest single unit was the 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, which was going to India to build runways. The Rohna left Oran and joined a convoy sailing from Great Britain. Since the departure was on Thanksgiving Day, the crew provided a holiday repast that didn't stay down long as the ship rolled through the swells. Seasickness, however, would be the least of their problems.

At 4:30 p.m. the next day, 30 German He 177 bombers based in occupied France attacked the convoy. The attack lasted for an hour, and most soldiers saw none of it. All were ordered below, in many cases levels below deck. In additional to conventional bombs, German aircraft had Henschel 293 guided bombs. The large explosive was fitted with aluminium wings, rudders and rocket propulsion, and the bombardier guided it with radio signals. At about 5:15 p.m., a guided bomb struck the Rohna near the waterline on the port side, blowing a hole through both sides of the ship. It hit near where much of the 853rd was berthed. About 300 were killed by the blast itself. It is impossible to determine how many survived but couldn't get out of the ship before it sank.

Attempts to abandon ship were disastrous. Many of the lifeboats and rafts were frozen by rust or paint to their moorings. Instead of  life vests, which would hold heads out of the water if the wearer was unconscious, soldiers had inflatable life rings. Many drowned while wearing them. Seas were rough enough to inhibit visibility, and night fell shortly after the attack. Five ships criss-crossed the water searching for survivors, who bobbed in and out of sight of the searchlights.

The 853rd had 30 officers and and93 enlisted men when the Rohna left port. Now, 495 were gone, and 14and of the survivors were injured.

As well, 134 British and Australian officers and Indian crew members died. The total death toll was 1,149. (John Nicholas, Andy Etherington and Tom Hickox)

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EGYPT: The first part of SEXTANT, the international conference between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, ends at Cairo after inconclusive discussions concerning OVERLORD, the invasion of France, and possible expansion of operations in the Mediterranean. After considering CHAMPION, the plan for the offensive in Burma, the conferees agreed that an amphibious operation will be undertaken and have received Chiang Kai-shek’s promise to commit the Yunnan Force. Upper Burma is to be cleared in the spring of 1944 to open a land route to China. Also approved is TWILIGHT, the plan to base B-29 Superfortresses in the China-Burma-India Theater. Roosevelt and Churchill with their staffs leave for Tehran, Iran, for further discussions with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.

CHINA: Five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 fighters attack Kiangling Airfield, two other B-25s damage freighter in Honghai Bay and 12 P-40s attack numerous boats in the Changte-Tehshan area.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s hit railroad yards at Cam Duong.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, fighting at Pabu Hill continues as the Australian 2/43rd Battalion, 24th Brigade, 9th Division, repulses strong Japanese attacks. The 2/43rd Battalion holds Pabu, one of the outlying features near Sattelberg, against strong Japanese attacks.

     In Northeast New Guinea, almost 40 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit a barge hideouts near Sio and P-40s and P-47 Thunderbolts strafe villages and targets of opportunity around Alexishafen, Madang, and Nubia. P-39 Airacobras attack a force of about 40 Japanese fighters and bombers in the Finschhafen area, claiming four shot down.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the I Marine Amphibious Corps continues to expand the perimeter of the beachhead. The 3d Marine Division is now at the southern shore of Lake Kathleen.

     Over 40 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, 30+ B-25 Mitchells, and 30+ fighter aircraft, hit Buka Airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville and Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of Bougainville. A few New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas attack Green Island, causing heavy damage in the bivouac and supply area and sinking a barge. A single B-25 bombs Ballale Airfield on Ballale Island south of Bougainville.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Gasmata on the southern coast of New Britain Island and score hits on a cruiser near Ubili.

GILBERT ISLANDS: On Apamama Atoll, V Amphibious Corps scouts are recalled as the Apamama landing force arrives and begins organizing defenses of the atoll. On Tarawa Atoll, the 2d Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment reaches Buariki, the last relatively large island of the atoll, and prepares to attack Japanese forces believed to be there.

PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary: 

We changed Task Forces from 50.3 to 50.4. The USS Essex left us and the USS Monterey jointed us. Admiral Sherman joined us and we were Flag Ship for a while. We received and more fighters today. One glided over the wires and took the barrier, flipping upside down. Pilot was cut up some, but otherwise O.K. One of the men came up to me and said, "I got the clock!" Almost before the pilot was out of the aircraft. The aircraft. was pushed over the side as too badly damaged to repair at sea. The in-dash clocks were highly prized trophies as they were fine instruments. Never got one myself, but I wanted one. After sunset, jap plans came within 8 miles of us and dropped flares, but did not find us. Four of our planes chased a jap betty and shot it down and had to land on the Princeton as our deck was fouled and it was getting dark.

CANADA: Frigates HMCS Coaticook and Levis launched Lauzon Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Hissem launched.

Destroyer escort USS Newman commissioned.

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November 26th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: General Sir Harold Alexander, the supreme Allied commander in Italy, is promoted to field marshal. The appointment is backdated to 4 June in order to make him senior to Field Marshal Montgomery.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 726: eight B-17 Flying Fortresses and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night of 26/27 November.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans surrender Verdun forts to the 5th Infantry Division. In the XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division approaches St Avold against strong rear-guard opposition. Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, drives through Foret de Puttelange but comes under such heavy fire upon emerging that it falls back through the woods; Combat Command B mops up along the Maderbach River with infantrymen but cannot get tanks through the mud. Skillful rear guards keep the 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, from Honskirch. The 4th Armored Division begins a coordinated attack with the two Task Force's of Combat Command B east of the Saar River toward the German's next main line of resistance along the Wolfskirchen-Eywiller- Durstel road but is slowed by the terrain, which contains a number of flooded streams; Combat Command A crosses the Saar and moves eastward across rear of Combat Command B.

     In the U.S. Seventh Army area, XV Corps is still under heavy pressure from the north. VI Corps the 3d Infantry Division emerges from the Vosges Mountains onto the Alsatian Plain at many points. The 103d Infantry Division seizes Steige and Ville, important points on the Giessen River.

     The French First Army continues efforts to close the pincers on the Germans by the junction of the II and I Corps at Burnhaupt, but progresses slowly. The Germans for the third time cut the communication line to the Rhine River in the I Corps zone.

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, to counter German shelling, corps artillery program is doubled in spite of ammunition shortage. 29th Infantry Division troops in Bourheim, helped by reserves and aircraft, contain the most powerful attack to be made by the Germans on this objective; isolated forces of the 116h Infantry Regiment in Koslar are supplied by air. Major General Raymond McLain, Commanding General XIX Corps, orders the attack toward the Roer River continued all along line.

     In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area: the USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Tactical Air Command strikes Weisweiler, Frenz, Lamersdorf, Inden, Langerwehe and Geich in support of the 104th, 1st, and 8th Infantry Divisions. The 104th Division captures Frenz and clears Weisweiler. In the 1st Division area Task Force Richardson, supported by long-range fire of armor, reach Frenzerburg Castle but cannot gain entrance to the medieval structure. In the 4th Infantry Division area the 8th Infantry Regiment clears southward from the Schevenhuette-Dren Road, and in the 22d Infantry area soldiers moved in greater strength to the edge of the woods. In the V Corps area, the 8th Infantry Division's 121st Infantry Regiment moves forward slightly towards Huertgen, while the attached battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiment passed through the 12th Infantry and reached the forest edge facing Huertgen. (Robert Rush)

     In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, Combat Command B extends the northern wing of corps eastward toward the Saar with little difficulty. The 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions continue steadily northeastward in the center and on the right flank of corps, the 95th Infantry Division penetrating Maginot Line.

     The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 725: 1,137 bombers and 732 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on rail viaducts, marshalling yards (M/Ys) and oil installations in western Germany; all but one attack is with radar; about 550 Luftwaffe fighters intercept and 34 bombers and nine fighters are lost; the AAF claims 133-14-42 aircraft: 325 bomb Hannover with 307 attack the Misburg oil refinery and 18 attacking a M/Y with the loss of 26 aircraft; 264 bomb the M/Y at Hamm with the loss of three aircraft; 276 hit Bielefeld with 250 bombing the Schildesche railroad viaduct and 36 bombing a power plant; 113 bomb a railroad viaduct at Altenbeken with the loss of five aircraft: 37 bomb a M/Y at Gutersloh; 25 hit a M/Y at Herford, 19 bomb a M/Y at Osnabruck; and nine hit miscellaneous targets.

     One hundred seventy three USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb supply, storage, stores, and ordnance depots at Gaulsheim, Bergzabern, Giessen, Reichenbach, and Homburg/Saar; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over western Germany, search for a lost A-20, escort 9th Bombardment Division, and support the US 29th Infantry Division at Bourheim and the XX and XII Corps in the area of the Maginot Line and German-French border.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 75 Lancasters are sent on a trial raid to attack the railway centre at Fulda to establish whether G-H signals could reach to this distance, 160 miles (257 kilometers) from the German frontier. The distance is too great, however, and the bombs dropped by 71 aircraft are scattered over a wide area.

     During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 270 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos,to bomb Munich; 257 aircraft attack with the loss of one Lancaster which crashes in France. Bomber Command claims this as an accurate raid in good visibility with much fresh damage, particularly to railway targets. In other raids, seven Mosquitos bomb Erfurt and six bomb Karlsruhe.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: The last 204 Sonderkommandos, privileged prisoners with the task of burying or cremating their gassed comrades, are murdered.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Michaloyce falls to the Soviets in eastern Slovakia.

HUNGARY: Soviet troops take Hatvan and threaten Budapest.

     Thirty nine USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings fly an offensive sweep over Seregelyes Airfield and strafe nearby road and rail traffic; other fighters fly reconnaissance and escort.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 46th Division succeeds in reaching the Lamone River on the southern flank of the corps, but the Germans are holding on firmly to switch line positions between the Lamone and Montone Rivers on the northern flank of the corps. Heavy rains bring a lull in offensive.

     A slight improvement in the weather permits USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers to increase operations; P-47 Thunderbolts closely support ground forces in the U.S. Fifth Army battle area in the Apennines south of Bologna and cut rail lines in over 30 places north of the immediate battle zone.

YUGOSLAVIA: Marshal Josip Broz Tito, Commander in Chief Yugoslav Liberation Army, agrees to let British naval and air force personnel use certain ports and airfields temporarily.

CHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-51 Mustangs blast railway cars, station, and track, hit several trucks, and hit town area at Hochih while over 90 P-40s, P-51s and P-38 Lightnings hit river, rail, and road traffic and other targets of opportunity over wide southern China areas, 40 of them concentrating on targets between Kweiyi and Changsha and around Liuchow.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the British 36th Division, replacing the 72nd Brigade with the 29th Brigade, patrols actively in the Pinwe area.

     Sixteen USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts continue close support strikes; about 60 fighter-bombers hit concentrations, supply and ammunition dumps, and rail targets at Panghkai, Kunmong, Mabein, Lashio, Panku, and around Meza; seven others on a railroad sweep hit targets of opportunity between Maymyo and Man Pyen.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-51 Mustangs blast railway cars, station, and track, hit several trucks, and hit town areas of Phu Lang Thuong.

THAILAND: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells damage a bridge at Kengluang.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 26/27 November, a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on a snooper mission from Guam bombs Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES:

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24 Infantry Division, relieves Company A with Company C on Kilay Ridge. The battalionn is highly vulnerable to Japanese attack from different directions and is maintaining positons with the use of artillery. In the XXIV Corps area, the Japanese make another night attack, on the night of 26/27 November, on Shoestring Ridge, about 200 Japanese troops gaining positions in the bamboo thicket within the American lines, but 400 Japanese dead are counted at the conclusion of the action.

     Over 40 USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, some with fighter support, bomb La Carlota and Talisay Airfields on Negros and Cebu Islands respectively; fighter-bombers hit an airfield and various targets of opportunity throughout the area. B-24 Liberators bomb an airfield near Davao, Mindanano Island. Other bombers and fighters fly light strikes and armed reconnaissance missions against a variety of targets in southern Luzon and Mindanao.

Particularly west of Burauen and generally elsewhere on Leyte night attacks are made by the Japanese.

Three days of sea warfare involving 282 ships - more than in any previous naval engagement - have ended with a crushing victory for the US Navy. Thirty-four warships have been sunk, of which 28 were Japanese, including their last four aircraft carriers.

The fighting was focussed on the landlocked seas of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, but in fact occurred in four separate areas: the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait and off Samar Island and Cape Engano. On 24 October Admiral Halsey had despatched his carriers to meet Ozawa's carrier force off Cape Engano. As the US carriers sped north, a force under Admiral Nishimura entered the Surigao Strait to rendezvous with Kurita in Leyte Gulf. A US task force, under Rear-Admiral Oldendorf, attacked in one of the rare direct confrontations between battleships; Nishimura was the clear loser, going down in his own flagship, YAMASHIRO, one of the two Japanese battleships to be lost.

But while Oldendorf was tangling with Nishimura, Kurita's force had passed through the San Bernardino Strait unobserved and off Samar attacked Admiral T. L. Sprague's Seventh Fleet task force supporting the Leyte landings. Five US warships were sunk before Kurita surprisingly withdrew, fearing attack from carrier-based planes.

In fact, the US carriers were 300 miles further north, engaging the Japanese carrier force. By this morning all four Japanese carriers had been sunk, along with two destroyers. Their loss capped a disastrous operation for Japan. US air and naval power has finished the Imperial Japanese Navy as a fighting force. Yet there was one worrying portent for the Americans. Yesterday, at the height of the battle, Japan unleashed suicidal Kamikaze pilots who deliberately crashed their bomb-laden planes onto enemy targets. And they have claimed their first victim: the US escort carrier, USS ST. LO.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells pound airfields in the Ambon-Ceram Islands area. Other bombers and fighters fly light strikes and armed reconnaissance missions against a variety of targets on northern Celebes, northern Borneo and the Halmahera Islands.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island bomb Arakabesan Island.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard commissioned. The USN now has eighteen fleet carriers in service.

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November 26th, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Alconbury is returned to the RAF from the USAAF.

In London the Protocols for the Regulation of whaling are signed, the first post-war international fishing treaty.

CANADA:

U.S.A.: Charlie Parker and Miles Davis record "Coco", the first BeeBop jazz single.

The USS Lake Champlain (CV 39) sets a speed record for a trans-Atlantic crossing when she arrives at Hampton Roads, Virginia 4 days, 8 hours and 51 minutes after leaving Cape Spartel, Africa.

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