27 November 1939

1931 (FRIDAY)

CHINA: Japan refuses to accept the good offices of neutral observers to establish a zone between the Chinese and Japanese armies stating, "The policy which the Japanese Government had so far consistently pursued in the true interest of good relations between China and Japan had been not to resort, in disputes capable of direct settlement with China, to the interposition of third parties."

1937 (SATURDAY)

JAPAN: Japan rejects the idea of relinquishing South Sea island mandates stating, "Maintenance of Japan's Mandate over South Sea islands which formerly belonged to Germany is the established policy of this empire. . . ." These mandates, which had been granted to Japan in 1919, are located in the Caroline, Mariana and Marshall Islands. In 1935, the Japanese prohibited foreigners from visiting these islands.

November 27th, 1939 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Hollyhock laid down.

Destroyer HMS Kelvin commissioned.

U.S. freighter SS Effingham is detained at Ramsgate, Kent, England, by British authorities and the freighter SS Azalea City is detained at London.

GERMANY: "Aryans" are given 12 months to divorce Jewish spouses as part of a step up in the anti-Semitic measures of the Nazis. If they fail to divorce they must "face the consequences".

So what happened to these children? Russ Folsom answers:

The 'mischlinge'(a pejorative) - or the 'mixed progeny' of so-called German 'Aryans' and Jews, were, according to the Nuermberger-gesetz or racial laws of 1935, classified in a labyrinthine codification of bureaucratic officialese confusing even to the Reich lawmakers such as Secretary of State Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, who originally composed and helped to implement the statutes. These included various categories of 'half' or 'partial' Jews ranging from Germans with a Jewish grandmother, or great-grandmother; a Jewish grandfather, etc.. to those with direct maternal or paternal Jewish heirs (called 'mischlinge of the 1st degree'). Each classification had various public restrictions and forms of social ostracism applicable to those which fell beneath its criterion, with the '1st degree' (or those with a direct Jewish parent) being the most vulnerable to the fate of deportation. Amazingly enough, and perhaps an indicator as to the wholly spurious nature of these racial laws, (based upon what might be arguably called 'religious' rather than actual scientific racial criteria); it was seriously considered at Wannsee in January 1942 that mischlinge who 'looked' or 'acted' Jewish, were to be deported before those who were more 'mainstream' or 'less Jewish' (a distinction wholly dependent upon local Nazi vagaries).

Dr. Stuckart, [*1] a member of the infamous Wannsee conference, apparently animated more by ministerial territoriality than concern for the 'mischlinge' themselves, argued that certain categories should be exempt from the 'final solution' proposed by the RSHA (Heydrich) and agreed that they should perhaps be sterilized en masse.

The end result was, like many another thing in Nazi Germany, wholly inconsistent with the apparent thrust of their original doctrines or subsequent planning. Mischlinge of the 1st classification were in most cases, not sterilized, but variously deported and killed in the death-camps. Mischlinge of the second degree (Jewish grandparents) were allowed to co-exist, but with strict public or societal restrictions. Bryan Mark Rigg, in his "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers", [*2] provides landmark documentation concerning the fate of so-called 'mixed-blood' soldiers in Hitler's army. Most did not recognize their 'jewishness' nor embrace it, (even after the fact), but all suffered for it. He relates a number of cases where soldiers of the Wehrmacht, some who earned the highest military awards, had fathers, mothers, or grandparents deported to death camps while they were fighting for the Reich at the front in Russia. Other examples he provides are of soldiers were both decorated (and undecorated) 'mischlinge' drummed out of the Wehrmacht, and later sent to Auschwitz, or if they were lucky, a labour camp, which was, by most standards, more survivable.

So who was considered a "Jew" in Nazi Germany?:

Here is the Nuremberg Law that defined a "Jew", in 1935. (The First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law, dated Nov. 14, 1935.) From Raul Hilberg's THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS:

"Everyone was defined as a Jew who (1) descended from at least three Jewish grandparents (full Jews and three-quarter Jews), or, (2) descended from two Jewish grandparents (half-Jews) and (a) belonged to the Jewish religious community on September 15, 1935, or joined the community on a subsequent date, or (b) was married to a Jewish person on September 15, 1935, or (c) was the offspring of a marriage contracted with a three-quarter of full Jew after the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour had come into force (September 15, 1935), or (d) was the offspring of an extramarital relationship with a three-quarter or a full Jew, and was born out of wedlock after July 31, 1936. For the determination of the grandparents, the presumption remained that the grandparent was Jewish if he or she belonged to the Jewish religious community. "Defined *not* as a Jew but as an individual of "mixed Jewish blood" was (1) any person who descended from two Jewish grandparents (half-Jewish), but who (a) did *not* adhere (or adhered no longer) to the Jewish religion on September 15, 1935, and who did not join it at any subsequent time, and (b) was not married (or was married no longer) to a Jewish person on September 15, 1935, and who did not marry such a person at any subsequent time (such half-Jews were called Mischlinge of the first degree), and (2) any person descended from one Jewish grandparent (Mischlinge of the second degree). The designations "Mischlinge of the first degree" and "Mischlinge of the second degree" were not contained in the decree of November 14, 1935, but were added in a later ruling by the Ministry of Interior."

[*1] - Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, Secretary of State for the Reich Ministry of the Interior, and creator of the infamous Nuremberg Racial Laws was arrested by the Allies in 1945 and sentenced to four years imprisonment. He denied any knowledge of the death camps. Stuckart died in an automobile accident near Hannover in 1953 that was rumoured to have been a revenge killing.

[*2] - "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military" by Bryan Mark Rigg. (University Pr of Kansas); ISBN: 0700611789.

A good film primer on the subject is the German/Austrian production known as "Der Wannseekonferenz" (1984) - which shows Stuckart, in SS uniform, arguing for the 'special status' of the mischlinge while Heydrich argues that, despite the minister's protests, all Jews will eventually fall beneath his purview, and hence, perish. Chilling.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrive back in Wilhelmshaven after a cruise in the North Atlantic where they sank the British Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Rawalpindi. (Navy News)

NORWAY: No Nobel peace prize is to be awarded this year.

FINLAND:
Helsinki: Finland denies the Russian charges, saying the artillery fire was from the Russian side of the border.
The Finnish government response to the Soviet ultimatum: no Finnish artillery units have been close enough to the border to fire the shots [of Mainila]. Finnish reply suggests that both sides establish an investigating committee (as the Fenno-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1932 stipulates) to investigate the incident and that both countries withdraw their troops from the border. The Finnish political leadership is still divided on how the Soviet demands should be interpreted. Majority is inclined to think that the Soviets are bluffing ("they wouldn't be so stupid that they would invade in the middle of winter!") and that Finns should stay firm. Some, including Mannerheim, are afraid of the Soviet intentions and think that concessions should be made.

Today Marshal Mannerheim, the chairman of the Defence Council and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in event of war, tenders his resignation. Mannerheim is exasperated by the woeful material condition of the armed forces and what he thinks as the hard-headed policy of the government. Anti-aircraft- and anti-tank weaponry is almost non-existent; of 60 tanks half are outdated and the other half unarmed; of 15 planned divisions three are without equipment and one fourth without artillery. Without the material basis for a successful defence Mannerheim doesn't think he can continue in his present post. The situation is aggravated by the Minister of Defence Juho Niukkanen, who thinks that the Soviets are bluffing, and even if they aren't, the material situation isn't as bad as the old Marshal claims. There are people in the cabinet, Niukkanen included, who think that Mannerheim is too old and pessimistic for his job, therefore his resignation should be accepted.

Throughout the day there have been workers' demonstrations around the Soviet Union . They demand decisive measures to punish the Finnish adventurists, that "the Finnish kulak-bands armed by capitalists should be expelled from the neighbourhood of the Soviet border" and that "the repugnant robber-band has to be destroyed!". The units of Leningrad military district are instructed that "if the Finnish war-mongers repeat their provocation and fire at our troops, they have to fire back without delay until the shooters are destroyed."

BATTLE OF SUOMUSSALMI

The Soviet 47th Rifle Corps issues battle orders to its 163rd Rifle Division (kombrig Andrei Ivanovich Zelentsov), making it to attack Suomussalmi directly from east along the Raate Road, an advance of some 30 km (c. 20 miles) from the Fenno-Soviet border. Despite these orders, two days later (on the 29th) kombrig Zelentsov in his attack orders changes the main attack direction to Lonkka - Juntusranta - Palovaara - Hulkonvaara, thus opting for a longer flanking attack by north to Suomussalmi. The 47th Rifle Corps and 9th Army HQ's don't react to Zelentsov's changes and 163rd Rifle Division will go to war according to his plan.

POLAND: In the General Government area, where Jews are ordered to wear identifying armbands, typhus is reported to be sweeping the Jewish labour camp near Lublin, which houses some 45,000 deportees from Austria, Czechoslovakia and western Poland.

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Excambion, detained at Gibraltar by the British since 20 November, is released.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Sea Lion commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-48 sank SS Gustaf E Reuter.

27 November 1940

November 27th, 1940 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

The Vichy government are invited to economic discussions.

Glasgow: Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, says that Britain's average daily war expenditures have risen from £5,300,000 for the first year to £9,100,000 for the first 77 days of the second year.

Bristol: Last night German air raiders, coming over at the rate of one a minute, made their fourth attack in three days.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 105 Sqn. ( Blenheim) 8 aircraft to Cologne and a 'freshman' flight to Boulogne. Six claimed to bomb Cologne. On return one crew after getting permission to land at Swanton Morley, flew off too low towards the radio beacon and crashed. One crew got lost in dense cloud and ran out of fuel, bailing out near Manchester, 200 miles from base.

Corvette HMS Borage laid down.

Escort carrier HMS Avenger launched.

Corvette HMS Lavender launched.

Submarine HMS Uproar launched.

GERMANY: U-150 commissioned.

ROMANIA: Bucharest: Pro-Nazi Iron Guards massacre 64 former aides of the exiled king.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Battle of Cape Spartivento:

South of Sardinia, HMS Ark Royal's aircraft sight an Italian force with two battleships and seven heavy cruisers. Force H, now joined by HMS Ramillies, sails to meet them. In an hour-long exchange of gunfire HMS Renown and the cruisers are in action, during which time HMS Berwick is damaged and an Italian destroyer badly hit. The slower HMS Ramillies has not come up by the time the Italians have turned back for home. Adm Somerville pursues them but as he approaches their shores has to turn back himself. The convoys arrive safely.

Admiral Somerville is later subjected to a board of inquiry for not continuing after the Italians. He is soon exonerated. (Ric Pelvin)

EGYPT: Telegram from Wavell to Churchill:

1. Will undertake Compass in spite of risks involved.

2. Possibility of landing on coast has been considered, ... neither Navy nor myself are very hopeful of results.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The 16,710 ton New Zealand passenger liner MV Rangitane is sunk by gunfire from the German auxiliary cruiser H.K. Orion (Ship 36 also known as Raider A by the British) about 443 nautical miles (820 kilometers) east of Auckland, New Zealand, in position 37.00S, 176.00W. The ship, en route from Auckland to Liverpool, England, is the largest passenger liner to be sunk by surface raiders during WWII. Rangitane had encountered the Orion, auxiliary cruiser H.K. Komet (Ship 45 and known to the British as Raider B) and the supply ship Kulmerland at about 0320 hours. (The same ships had encountered and sunk the freighter SS Holmwood two days ago.) Rangitane is carrying 311 people, including 36 women passengers) and only 16 die. During the next three weeks the Germans sink six more ships and have over 600 prisoners. The ships head for Emirau Island in the St. Matthias Island group and releases 512 men, women and children; they are eventually rescued by the Australians. A bout 150 men are held as prisoners as returned to Germany as POWs.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-103 sank SS Glenmoor in Convoy OB-248.

U-95 sank SS Irene Maria in Convoy OB-248.

U-104 sank SS Diplomat of Convoy HX-88.

U-104 damaged SS Charles F Meyer in Convoy HX-87.

Canadian Government ship Lisieux (an ex-French schooner) foundered in a gale in the North Atlantic. There were 12 survivors from her crew of 29 men.

HMC MTB grounded off Richibucto, New Brunswick.

27 November 1941

November 27th, 1941 (THURSDAY)

GERMANY:

U-598 commissioned.

U-192 laid down.

U-605, U-606 launched.

DENMARK: Copenhagen: Two days of riots follow the government's signing of the anti-Comintern pact in Berlin.

U.S.S.R.: The German 1st Panzer Group is retreating toward Taganrog as the Soviets reoccupy Rostov-on-Don.
Fighting near Kashira has been continuing for the past 3 days. Guderian's forces will not be able to continue the advance toward Moscow unless reinforced.

Moscow: The sound of the guns from the battle raging in front of Moscow can be heard clearly in the capital tonight. The Germans are only 25 miles away. They have broadened the wedge that they have driven into the Russian forces northwest of the city and are claiming to have captured the town of Klin. They are however, still being held at Tula, south of Moscow.

The seriousness of the situation is reflected in an order of the day broadcast to the Red Army today, urging the soldiers to hold on; "The enemy has advanced nearer to Moscow. The situation is increasingly difficult but we must, and can, stand the strain."

The order went on to say that Hitler is putting everything into his last thrust, which he hopes will bring him to the gates of the city, and, recalling the French at Verdun, it demanded: "You must fight to the last. The enemy shall not pass."

In their advance toward Moscow under extremely difficult wintry conditions, units of 9.Armee reach the Volga Canal 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of the Soviet capital. Some armed patrols have penetrated the western suburbs of the city and got a good look at the Kremlin.

The only unit to reach/cross the Volga Canal was the 7 Pz.Div. of LVIPz.K./3rd Pz.Armee. They cross the canal today at Yachroma, about 30 miles North of Moscow. (Jeff Chrisman)

SPAIN: U-652 received supplies from a support ship in Cadiz during the night.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-559 torpedoes and sinks the Australian sloop HMAS PARAMATTA which is escorting an ammunition ship off Tobruk at 32 20N, 24 35E, another almost simultaneous second explosion occurs and the ship rolls over and sinks within minutes, killing 138 on board and leaving 20 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

At 2203hrs U-96 reached the German tanker and support ship Vessel in the harbour of Vigo. The boat left harbour at 0400hrs. In the Mediterranean, U-557 saw an enemy submarine periscope and heard her engines, but no attacks occurred.

LEBANON: Beirut: The Free French General Georges Catroux proclaims Lebanon's independence.

LIBYA: The 4th and 7th New Zealand Brigades link up with forces from the Tobruk garrison at El Duda early today. Later the Germans and British fight an evenly matched armour to armour engagement near Sidi Rezegh. The German Afrika Division is renamed the 90th Light.

General Erwin Rommel, commander of Panzer Gruppe Africa, is ordered to turn his attention from the British Eighth Army to Tobruk.

Staff Sergeant Delmer E. Park, US Army Signal Corps ASN 6281980 142nd Armored Signal Company Killed in Action Sidi-Omar, Egypt. Possibly the first American to die with Allied ground forces. (Mark Conrad)

ETHIOPIA: Gondar: The last Italian forces in Ethiopia have surrendered. After holding out for nine months, aided by the mountains and the rains, General Nasi's battle-hardened troops were overwhelmed today. The British have taken 11,500 Italian and 12,000 native troops prisoner.

Previous British assaults on Gondar have failed. Remembering only the collapse of the Italian armies in mobile warfare in the deserts of Libya and Somalia, the British forgot the Italian infantryman's skill at positional warfare. At times, when the Italians were facing Ethiopian "Patriots" unsupported by air cover they even advanced. After whittling away at the Italian defences for six days the 12 East African Division under the redoubtable Major-General C C Fowkes, began its attack on a broad front early this morning supported by the South African Air Force.

At 7,000 feet above sea level - in bitter cold - the King's African Rifles were advancing through clouds. By midday the battle had been decided, but there was almost a massacre when Ethiopian Patriots got into Gondar before the East Africans. Fowkes had to send in armoured cars to rescue the Italian prisoners.

British and South African aircraft fly their last sorties when thirty planes drop 12,000 pounds of bombs on the Italian positions around Gondar. (Mike Yared)(284)

CHINA: U.S. passenger liner SS President Madison, chartered for the purpose, sails from Shanghai with the 2d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment embarked, bound for the Philippine Islands.

JAPAN: Combined Fleet sailed for Pearl Harbor strike. (Marc Small)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 8:00 pm Unidentified aircraft spotted at high altitude over central Luzon by Iba radar. All FEAF units placed on alert.
Ickes and LaGuardia (US Civil Service Co-Ordinator) opined that all civil defence in the Philippines was the responsibility of the High Commissioner and that the Commonwealth government had no role to play in this.
Hart authorizes reconnaissance flights over Japanese troop convoys.(Marc Small)

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: USN Communication Intelligence Summary, 27 November: "General.-Traffic volume a little below normal due to poor signals on the frequencies above 7000 kcs. Tokyo-Takao (Formosa) circuit unreadable on mid-watch. Some tactical traffic intercepted from carriers. Bako, Sama, and Saigon active as originators, addressing traffic to each other and to the Chiefs of Staff of Second, Third Fleets and Combined Air Force. Bako addressed the Chief of Staff Third Fleet information Destroyer Squadrons Four and Five and Chief of Staff Second Fleet. The main Tokyo originator today was the Intelligence activity who sent five dispatches to the major commanders. The Direction Finder activity was very high with all stations sending in bearings including the Marshall Islands Stations which has been silent for the past four days.

- COMBINED FLEET.-No further information as to whether or not Destroyer Squadron Three is in Hainan area but is believed to be still with Cruiser Division Seven in that area. There is still no evidence of any further movement from the Kure-Sasebo area. The Chief of Staff Combined Fleet originated several messages of general address. He has been fairly inactive as an originator lately. CinC. Second Fleet originated many messages to Third Fleet, Combined Air Force and Bako.

- THIRD FLEET.-Still holding extensive communication with Baka, Sama South China Fleet and French Indo China Force. The use of WE addresses is increasing, those occurring today were: "DAIHATIFUTABUTAISANBOTEU" (in Taihoku) "KOROKUKITISIKI" "KIZUKEYAMASITABUTAI" (in care of RYUJO) "HEIZEUKAIGUNDAIGONREUSEU" There is nothing to indicate any movement of the Third Fleet as yet.

- FOURTH FLEET.-CinC. Fourth Fleet frequently addressed dispatches to the defense forces in the Mandates. Jaluit addressed messages to the Commander Submarine Force and several submarine units. The Saipan Air Corps held communication with Jaluit and CinC. Fourth Fleet. The Civil Engineering Units at IMIEJI and ENIWETOK were heard from after being silent for weeks. Chitose Air Corps is in Saipan and Air Squadron Twenty-four is still operating in the Marshalls. No further information on the presence of Carrier Division Five in the Mandates.

- AIR.-An air unit in the Takao area addressed a dispatch to the KORYU and SHOKAKU. Carriers are still located in home waters. No information of further movement of any Combined Air Force units to Hainan. SUBMARINES.-Commander Submarine Force still in Chichijima Area."

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull decide to present a stiff note of final terms to the Japanese. It requires recognition of the Nationalist Chinese Government, the withdrawal of Japanese troops from China and Indonesia. The US promises to negotiate new trade and raw materials (oil and scrap metal) agreements.
US military authorities issue a war warning to their overseas commanders.

The USN Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark, sends the following message to the commanders of the Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Thomas C. Hart, and Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel: "This dispatch is to be considered a war warning. Negotiations with Japan looking toward stabilization of conditions in the Pacific have ceased and an aggressive move by Japan is expected within the next few days. The number and equipment of Japanese troops and the organization of naval task forces indicates an amphibious expedition against either the Philippines, Thai or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo. Execute an appropriate defensive deployment preparatory to carrying out the tasks assigned in WPL46. Inform District and Army authorities. A similar warning is being sent by War Department. Spenavo inform British. Continental districts, Guam, Samoa directed take appropriate measures against sabotage."

In baseball, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio is named American League Most Valuable Player. His 56-game hitting streak edges out Ted Williams and his .406 batting average for the award (291 for DiMaggio and 254 for Williams).

Destroyers USS Jenkins and La Vallette laid down.

Escort carrier USS Nassau laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USN destroyer USS Babbitt (DD-128), with Task Unit 4.1.5, escorting convoy HX-160 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact.

27 November 1942

November 27th, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: French Brigadier General Charles-André de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, broadcasts from London a message to the French people stating that the Toulon fleet had scuttled itself to be spared "the supreme shame of seeing French ships become the ships of the enemy." "Patriotic instincts" had swayed the spirits of the crews and their commanders.

Minesweepers HMS Combatant and Cynthia launched.

FRANCE: Toulon: French sailors opened the seacocks today to scuttle the mighty French fleet and save it from German hands. Two battleships, a battle cruiser, seven cruisers, 29 destroyers and two submarines sank to the bottom of Toulon harbour as frustrated Germans watched.

Admiral Darlan had "advised" that the fleet should join the Allies in North Africa, but its commander, Admiral de Laborde, hesitated as he awaited confirmation from Petain. An emissary from Darlan carrying firm orders was captured by the Germans. A bewildered de Labonte remained unconvinced that the Germans were preparing to seize his ships - the Wehrmacht and the SS had shrewdly left the Toulon base unoccupied when they marched into Vichy France, although they had prepared a plan for capturing the fleet intact. The Germans put their plan into effect last night. The harbour was mined and E-boats were poised to land troops on the ships. When the sun rose this morning, some 70 craft would fight for neither side.

In London, Winston Churchill had hoped fervently for the fleet to come over. "If I could meet Darlan, much as I hate him, I would crawl on my hands and knees for a mile if I could get him to bring that fleet of his into the circle of Allied forces", he said.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command (A-20) Bostons bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden. During the night of 27/28 November, five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Texel Island.

VICHY FRANCE is occupied by the German II SS Panzer Corps.

FRANCE: The port of Toulon is occupied by the German 7th Panzer Division, supported by the SS Battalion Langemarck (from the "Das Reich" division) and the 10th Panzer Division. Forewarned, Admiral Jean de Laborde, commander of the high seas fleet, orders his fleet scuttled and three battleships, seven cruisers 16 submarines and 50 other craft lie on the bottom of the harbor. He ensures that all ships scuttled will rest on even keels in the hope that some day they can be salvaged to sail for France again. It is not the French, but Italian engineers who are the first to salvage the ships. In nine months, Italian engineers are able to salvage 30 ships. They then confiscated the 30 vessels along with everything that is salvageable above the waterline. Some items confiscated are the aircraft catapult and turret armor of the Battle Cruiser Strasbourg, and the interior fittings of the battleship Dunkerque. Seven French destroyers and a submarine are either towed or sail on their own power to ports in Italy.

During the night of 27/28 November, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines in the River Gironde Estuary.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Lancasters and Stirlings to bomb Stettin but they are recalled and jettison their bombs in the North Sea.

DODECANESE ISLANDS: Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Portolago Bay, Leros Island, hitting two vessels.

TUNISIA: An allied column approaches Bizerta.

Tebourba, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Tunis, falls to the 11h Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. A German counterattack on the town, supported by tanks and dive bombers, is thrown back. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British First Army. Today also marks the first use of Tiger tanks in North Africa when the first arriving parts of s.Pz.Abt. 501 attack the British positions. .

HONG KONG: Ten B-25 Mitchells and 20+ P-40s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force, the largest CATF effort in China to date, hit shipping and harbor installations at Hong Kong, firing warehouses and claiming two freighters and numerous barges sunk; a large force of fighters intercept during the return trip but are driven off by the escort; the Americans claim several airplanes shot down.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Japanese reinforcements reach Buna losing one destroyer during the night.

A three-day lull begins as preparations are made for renewing the attack.

Thirteen Japanese "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) bomb and strafe an Australian medical dressing station and a U.S. casualty clearing station at Soputa. Twenty two Australians and six Americans are killed.

USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders pound the Buna area, hitting buildings, the airfield, and other targets, as Allied ground forces prepare to renew attacks in the Buna-Gona area.

AUSTRALIA: In the early hours of the morning, a flight of heavy Japanese bombers drop a large number of bombs on RAAF Coomalie Creek Airfield in the Northern Territory. Most of them land in the bush adjacent to the airfield. Only two or three bombs hit the runway, but the holes are easily filled in after the raid.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS The Pas arrived Liverpool , Nova Scotia for refit.

Escort carrier HMCS Patroller laid down.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: USAAF Eleventh Air Force photo reconnaissance covers Kiska, Amchitka and Attu Islands. A ship attacked in Holtz Bay on Attu Island yesterday is observed lower in the water and still burning.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Bebas, Carlson, Donnell, Griswold, Steele laid down.

Corvette USS Pert launched.

VENEZUELA: Diplomatic relations with Vichy France are severed.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-608 ran out of fuel when a storm delayed a scheduled refuelling rendezvous. The boat drifted until receiving enough fuel from U-521 to cover the distance to the tanker U-460.

U-176 sank SS Polydorus.

U-178 sank SS Jeremiah Wadsworth.

U-508 sank SS Clan Macfayden.

27 November 1943

November 27th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Aircraft carrier HMS Glory launched.

Corvette HMS Amberly Castle launched.

Minesweepers HMS Liberty, Jewel and Hare laid down.

Aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure (ex-HMS Powerful) laid down Belfast.

Frigates HMS Narborough and Torrington launched.

FRANCE: Paris: Dr. Julius Ritter, who had been in charge of the Paris office of the Sauckel Organisation, running the Relève [a scheme whereby anybody volunteering for work in Germany ensures the release of three prisoners of war] is killed on the corner of the rue des Reservoirs by three FTP men. Shortly afterwards, files of men about to be drafted to Germany as forced labour are burnt.

GERMANY: Berlin: RAF"> RAF Lancaster bombers supported by Mosquitoes made their fourth big raid within a week against the city of Berlin last night. First German estimates are putting the number of dead from the raids at over 4,000, with 400,000 homeless.

Sir Arthur Harris, the chief of Bomber Command, says that the RAF will bomb the city until the heart of Nazi Germany stops beating. The capital is probably the most intensively bombed city anywhere, hit this year by 12,000 tons of explosive, of which 5,000 have been dropped in the past few days.

Much of administrative Berlin has been hit, including the Air Ministry, Admiralty, Hitler's Chancellery and his train. The Führer was not in town, but dispatched fire engines to his capital from Brandenburg and Potsdam. Despite this, and the efforts of the army to create fire-breaks by blowing up buildings, fires spread rapidly.

Among several armaments factories hit was the Allkett tank factory. The greatest loss of life occurred when a bomber crashed onto a building, killing 92 people in the air-raid shelter. A Swede told journalists: "The Berlin we know has ceased to exist." The toll on the RAF"> RAF is high, however, with 42 aircraft lost from the 450 planes involved in the raid, including 14 which crashed in Britain.

U-321 launched.

ITALY: A British tank brigade crosses the Sangro River to offer further support to British forces north of the river.

In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps prepares to attack in the Adriatic coastal sector, weather conditions at last permitting close air support. Tanks of the 4th Armoured Brigade and transport are brought across the Sangro River.

During the day and night, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters, light and medium bombers and aircraft of the associated RAF units of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force attack enemy positions, gun emplacements, roads, vehicles, railroad facilities, and targets of opportunity in the Lanciano-Fossacesia-Castelfrentano-Casoli area. B-25 Mitchells also bomb Porto Civitanova.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning escort, bomb three targets: 51 bomb the marshalling yard at Rimini with the loss of two aircraft; 39 bomb the marshalling yard at Grizzano; and 16 bomb a railroad bridge over the Reno River 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Bologna.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Sibenik.

EGYPT: At a meeting of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) delegation to the Cairo Conference, U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief, U.S. China-Burma-India Theater of Operations (CBI); Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek; Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC); and Deputy Commander in Chief SEAC, reveals that Chiang Kai-Shek is unwilling to fulfill his commitments agreed to at Cairo and wants Stilwell to hold out for an airborne assault on Mandalay, Burma, (Operation TOREADOR) and 10,000 tons (9 072 metric tonnes) a month over the Hump.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning escort, and B-25 Mitchells, covered by P-51 Mustangs, strike the locomotive repair shops at Insein; Japanese interceptors attack fiercely, shooting down six fighters and the B-24s; U.S. airplanes claim 19 Japanese fighters downed.

During the night of 27/28 November, seven RAF"> RAF (B-24) Liberators bomb the port area t Rangoon.

CHINA: Four USAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on sea sweeps attack docks and warehouses at the port of Swatow and hit a convoy of nine vessels heading south toward Amoy sinking a transport and damaging a torpedo boat.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force medium bombers bomb the airfield at Boram Aerodrome and the town and harbor at Wewak, claiming 15 airplanes and 12 barges destroyed. Medium bombers also bomb the town of Finschhafen.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, five USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with fighter escort, bomb Queen Carola Harbor and 19 B-24 Liberators bomb Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of the island. A few B-25s and RNZAF (PV-1) Venturas attack the areas at the mouth of the Mobiai River and Mutupina Point while 20+ B-24s, with fighter support, attack the airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville.

GILBERT ISLANDS: On Tarawa Atoll, the 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, clears the Japanese from Buariki Island. The small islet of Naa, at the northern tip, remains to be explored.

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

PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary:

Our four planes returned this A.M. It rained most of the afternoon and we landed our last 8 planes in the rain. Just after landing out last aircraft, a betty flew over and dropped a flare, but it was raining too much for him to see us. The fleet fired at him by radar but who knows? Torpedo defence sounded as a flight of 40 bombers were reported by Radar, 90 miles away. They never came closer than Tarawa, 74 miles away.

CANADA:

Frigates HMCS Kokanee and Runnymede launched at Esquimalt, British Columbia and Montreal, Province of Quebec respectively.

Frigates HMCS Stormont and Outremont commissioned.

U.S.A.:

The USN places an order for two prototype Grumman (Model G-58) XF8F-1 Bearcats.

The one and only Martin (Model 170) XPB2M-1R Mars flying boat transport is delivered to the USN's Transport Squadron Eight (VR-8) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. On 30 November, this aircraft carries a 13,000 pound (5 897 kilogram) cargo load on a 4,375 mile (7 041 kilometer) nonstop flight from NAS Patuxent River to Natal, Brazil.

Destroyer escorts USS Gary and Merrill commissioned.

Destroyer USS Callaghan commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) commissioned at Astoria, Oregon.

The USN now has 32 escort aircraft carriers in commission.

Destroyer escort USS Eugene E Elmore laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Chaffee, Holder and William T Powell launched.

Frigate USS Grand Forks launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-238 rescued two pilots from a Wellington aircraft (172 Sqn RAF), which was shot down by U-764.

27 November 1944

November 27th, 1944 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Burton-on-Trent: 68 people are killed when an underground bomb dump containing enough bombs for hundreds of major raids exploded. Two craters were formed, one 300 feet deep and half a mile across. Bombs were hurled into the air, causing devastation over a three mile area. Buildings were destroyed and hundreds of animals were killed. The blast was heard 60 miles away. In Coventry 30 miles distant doors were blown open and the windows rattled.

In 1974 it was officially revealed that the explosion was caused by bombs being taken out of store - primed for use and replaced unused, with the detonators still installed.

More on the Fauld Disaster by the Mines Rescue.

The story

NORTH SEA: During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

NORWAY: During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off two ports: ten drop mines off Oslo and four lay mines off Frederikstad.

BELGIUM: An A4 Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V2) rocket lands on Teniers Square in Antwerp as an Allied military convoy is passing through. The explosion kills 157 persons including 29 Allied soldiers.

NETHERLANDS: The U.S. 101st Airborne Division is relieved in the Canadian II Corps sector.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 95th Infantry Division advances rapidly, the 377th Infantry Regiment reaching positions within a mile (1,6 kilometers) of the German border and the 378th reaching Falck and Dalem. A coordinated drive by the 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions is ordered for 29 November. In the XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division enters St Avold, from which the Germans have withdrawn, and regains contact near Seingbouse. The division's attack has forced a general German withdrawal across the Maderbach River, so the 6th Armored Division remains in place. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, occupies Honskirch and 101st Infantry Regiment moves into Ahwiller without a fight. Combat Command B and Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, attack east of the Saar River, overrunning Wolfskirchen, Eywiller, and Gungwiller; Combat Command A tries unsuccessfully to break into Durstel.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, orders the Seventh Army to attack north to help the Third Army gain Saar River Basin. In the XV Corps area, the German threat to the corps from the north subsides, but positions are still vulnerable on this wing. In the VI Corps area, elements of 3d Infantry Division relieve the French 2d Armored Division at Strasbourg. The French prepare to drive south along the Rhine River. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, advances southeast through Obernai toward Barr and Erstein to block exits from the Vosges Mountains and help the southward drive of French armor. The 103d Infantry Division presses toward the Barr-Selestat road, elements taking Le Hohwald. From Ste Marie, the 36th Infantry Division is driving east on Selestat.

GERMANY: In the US First Army Area: In the 104th Division area heavy mortar and artillery fire prevented the 413 Infantry's daylight attack. After dark the regiment attacked and gained its line of departure. The 47th Regimental Combat Team relieved Task Force Richardson in the 1st Division area and captured Gut Meberich and Hill 203. The 1st Division's 18th In-fantry entered Langerwehe and one battalion of the 26th Infantry entered Jungersdorf; well beyond the edge of the forest. Very little progress was made in the 4th Division's area. The 12th Infantry, after being pinched out by elements of the 8th Division, assemble in assembly areas for redeployment. Elements of the 8th Divisions 121st Infantry entered Hürtgen and had fought up to the church. (Robert Rush)

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command A of the 2d Armored Division finishes clearing Merzenhausen and the hills near there. The 29th Infantry Division clears to the Roer River except for two strongpoints in Juelich: Kirchberg falls to the 115th Infantry Regiment, which attacks from Pattern, taking the Germans by surprise; elements of the 116th Infantry Regiment make contact with isolated forces in Koslar. The 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, attacks with an attached battalion of the 119th Infantry Regiment toward Altkirch but is halted short of objective.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division breaks off action toward Saarburg after laboriously clearing German infiltrators from Tettingen and repelling a counterattack against Borg. The Germans retain Oberleuken and Nennig. The 90th Infantry Division, now well ahead of the flanking forces, halts near the Saar Reiver and prepares for the final drive to the river.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 727: 530 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators and 770 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on marshalling yards (M/Ys) in Germany and fighter-bomber strikes on four oil centers in northern and central Germany; they claim 102-4-12 aircraft; 15 fighters are lost: 324 bomber hit the M/Y at Offenburg; 151 attack the M/Y at Bingen; and 9 aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters patrol over western Germany, dive-bomb a bridge at Rurdorf, and support the U.S. 104th, 8th, and 1st Infantry Divisions near Hurtgen and in the Weisweiler-Franz area, and the XIX Corps (mainly the 2d Armored Division) at Merzenhausen. Bombers are grounded because of the weather.

During the day, 169 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters carry out a G-H raid on the Kalk Nord railway yards at Cologne with the loss of one aircraft. Good results are observed.

During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 341 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos to Freiburg; 345 bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. Freiburg is not an industrial town and has not been bombed before by the RAF. It is attacked on this night because it is a minor railway centre and because many German troops are believed to be present in the town; American and French units are advancing in the Vosges Mountains, only 35 miles (56 kilometers) to the west. The marking of the medium-sized town is based on Oboe directed from caravans situated in France. Flak defences are light and 1,900 tons (1 724 metric tonnes) of bombs are dropped on Freiburg in 25 minutes. Photographs show that the railway targets are not hit but that the main town area is severely damaged. In a second mission, 290 aircraft, 173 Halifaxes, 102 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos, are sent to Neuss; 277 bomb the city with the loss of one Mosquito. The central and eastern districts of Neuss are heavily bombed and many fires are started. Mosquitos also bomb six cities: 60 bomb Berlin; seven hit Ludwigshafen; five attack Nurnburg; five bomb Hallendorf with four hitting the Hermann Göring steel works; three bomb Osnabruck and two hit Hannover.

U-3021 launched.

U-2364 laid down.

U-3512 commissioned.

BALTIC SEA: The 3,828 ton Norwegian troop transport MS Rigel, now under German control and part of southbound Convoy 410, is carrying military equipment, 450 Wehrmacht troops and 2,248 Soviet POWs on their way to a POW camp in Germany. The ship, manned by Norwegian sailors, is attacked by 16 Fleet Air Arm Barracuda Mk. IIs from the British aircraft carrier HMS Implacable (86). Hit by five bombs from the British planes, there is little time to launch the lifeboats before sinking near Tjotta, Helgeland, Norway . A total of 2,306 lives are lost; there are only 415 survivors. Of the ten Norwegian crew on board only one survived. The pilots had no way of knowing that the ship they sank carried their Russian allies.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: 600 camp guards are awarded the Iron Cross for putting down the revolt on 7th October.

HUNGARY: The Red Army breaks through the German-Hungarian defensive lines and captures Mohacs.

U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: MS "T-387" - by U-boat, at Tallin area. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps is ordered to go on the offensive as soon as weather conditions permit. The Indian 8th Division loses contact with the Germans.

In the British Eighth Army area, the army issues orders for a major winter offensive in early December. In the Polish II Corps area, German resistance east of the Lamone River in the region south of Faenza is virtually at an end. In the V Corps area, the New Zealand 2d Division replaces the 4th Division in the line. Canadians of I Corps relieve the right flank elements of the Indian 10th Division north of Casa Bettini so that the latter can make a concentrated effort to take the bridge at Casa Bettini, badly needed for deployment of the Canadian I Corps in the Adriatic coastal sector. In the X Corps area, the Italian Cremona Battle Group arrives between 27 November and 3 December.

CHINA: U.S. Major General Albert Wedemeyer, Commanding General, U.S. China Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, presents a plan to Chiang Kai-shek to furnish munitions to Chinese Communists. The proposal is rejected.

Seventeen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the Hochih, area while P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack town areas, railroad targets, bridges and other targets of opportunity around Pachai, Ishan, and Chefang.

BURMA: Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts fly close support strikes in the Pinwe area; 21 fighter-bombers destroy bridges at Inailong and Thegyaung and damage bridges at Ho-hko and Kawnghka; and 60+ fighter-bombers attack personnel and supply areas at Kutkai, Kyungon, Kodaungbo, Mongmit, Datwin, Man Namsawk, Old Lashio, and Ugingyi.

Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb warehouses at Lashio and fighter-bombers attack various targets at Wanling, Hsenwi, and Kawnghka.

THAILAND: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command flies Mission 18: 60 B-29 Superfortresses operating from the Calcutta, India area, are dispatched to bomb the Bangsue railroad yards at Bangkok; 55 bomb the target and three others hit individual targets. One aircraft is lost.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Seventeen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Gia Lam while six B-25 Mitchells bomb Phu Lang Thuong. Fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance over northern French Indochina, attack town areas, railroad targets, bridges and other targets of opportunity around Phu Binh.

JAPAN: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 8: 81 B-29 Superfortreses based in the Mariana Islands, fly against Tokyo; none of the B-29 Superfortreses bomb the primary targets, the Musashino and Nakajima plants, but 59 hit the secondary, the urban area and docks and seven bomb Hamamatsu, a target of opportunity.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty four USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan, escorted by 12 P-38 Lightnings, bomb Iwo Jima Island; 29 more B-24 Liberators, from Guam, fly a second strike against the island.

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

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte, a battalion of 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, leaves for operation against Mindoro. In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, on Kilay Ridge, learns from a patrol that help is coming however they undergo a strong Japanese counterattack from the east and its supply line to Consuegra is temporarily cut. In the XXIV Corps area, the 1st Battalion (-) of the 84th Infantry Regiment moves from Caridad to Damulaan to help the 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division; attacks toward Albuera, clearing the Japanese from the bamboo thicket within the 32d Infantry Regiment's zone; 109 Japanese dead are counted. The 32d Infantry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, establish defense perimeters and repel light infiltration attempts during the night. The Japanese begin operations to regain airfields. Corps has learned of a Japanese plan to capture airfield s in the Burauen area and is taking countermeasures.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Malogo and Bacalod Airfields on Negros Island and Degos Aerodromes on Mindanao Island.

Twenty five USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island bomb Del Monte Airfield on Mindanano Island.

USN destroyers bombard Japanese positions at Ormoc Bay, Leyte; firing continues on 28 November.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells blast Namlea Airfield on Boeroe Island and Liang and Laha Dromes on Ambon Island. A variety of FEAF aircraft attack airfields, shipping, and targets of opportunity on Celebes Island, North Borneo, and in the Halmahera and the Ceram Islands areas.

FAR EAST: USAAF B-29s raid Tokyo and Bangkok.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: Early in the morning two Japanese "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) twin-engined bombers come in low over the islands' airfields catching the B-29s bombing up for the second Tokyo mission, and destroy one and damage eleven. The Japanese surprise is so complete that construction lights at Isley airfield are still on as the planes strike.

At 1210 hours, 17 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters), staging through Iwo Jima, strafed Isley Field, while the 73d's formations were over Tokyo. They slip through the radar screen for a low-level sweep over Isley and Kohler airfields in which they destroy three B-29s and badly damage two others. USAAF fighters shoot down four of the raiders; AA gunners shoot down six others but also destroyed a P-47 under circumstances officially described as "inexcusable."

CAROLINE ISLANDS: PALAU ISLANDS: Fighting comes to an end on Peleliu, with approximately 13,600 Japanese soldiers killed and 400 captured for 1,792 US dead and 8,000 wounded.

The US 81st Infantry Division and attached units have suffered over 3,275 casualties, including 542 killed. The reinforced 1st Marine Division's casualties total about 5,250 killed and 5,275 wounded.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Giffard departed Halifax for refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: The Boeing XF8B-1 makes its maiden flight.

Washington: The U.S. Senate confirms Edward Stettinius, Jr. as Secretary of State. He succeeds Cordell Hull, who is resigning effective 1 December because of poor health. President Franklin D. Roosevelt says upon Hull's departure that he is "the one person in all the world who has done this most to make this great plan for peace [the United Nations] an effective fact." Hull is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 in recognition of his efforts for peace and understanding in the Western Hemisphere, his many international trade agreements, and his work to establish the United Nations. Hull served as Secretary of State for 11 years, nine months, the longest term in that position than any other American, before or since.

The USN commissions the escort aircraft carrier USS Commencement Bay (CVE-105) in Tacoma, Washington. The USN now has 66 escort aircraft carriers in commission.

Time Magazine, November 27, 1944:

AND DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE

The Mare Island mutineers heard their sentences last week. The 50 Negro sailors who refused to load explosives on a Pacific-bound munitions ship were reduced to the lowest rank (apprentice seaman), given stiff prison terms. Ten of them got 15 years. Because of "youth, previous clear records and short periods of service," 24 of them got modified terms of twelve years; eleven got ten years; five got eight years.
Good behavior can cut their terms down to one-third. The Secretary of the Navy may soften the punishment after the Judge Advocate General reviews their unprecedented case. Likely to be the heaviest burden for some of them to bear (unless there is clemency) is the fact that when they get out of prison all will be dishonorably discharged.

Postscript: The NAACP's Thurgood Marshall appealed their cases in 1945. They were released in 1946 under an amnesty, but their convictions were upheld and they received no veteran's benefits.

Escort carrier USS Commencement Bay commissioned.

Minesweepers USS Hilarity and Pochard commissioned.

27 November 1945

November 27th, 1945 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HDMS Niels Ebbesen (ex-HMS/HMCS Annan) commissioned.

PALESTINE: Eight British soldiers are killed in a bomb attack on a police station in Jerusalem. The Jewish terrorist organization, Irgun, claim to have carried out the attack.

CANADA: Frigates HMCS Saint John and Toronto paid off at Halifax and Shelburne , Nova Scotia respectively.

Light cruiser HMCS Ontario arrived Esquimalt for refit.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Operation Deadlight: Former Kriegsmarine U-boats, U-2321, U-2322, U-2324, U-2328, U-2345 and U-2361 sunk by the British navy.

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