3 December 1939

LUXEMBOURG: Radio Luxembourg inaugurates daily English-language transmissions beginning at 1530 hours, funded by advertising and sponsorship.

CHINA: Following a labor dispute in the Chinese port of Tsingtao, Japanese naval infantry occupy the city.

CHINA: The German Ambassador to China offers to be the Japanese peace intermediary because German economic interests are threatened.

UNITED KINGDOM: The second prototype of the Short Model S.29 Stirling four-engined bomber, RAF serial number L7605 makes its first flight. The first prototype flew on 14 May 1939 but crashed and was totally destroyed. This aircraft lands safely and development work proceeds.

FINLAND: The Finnish General Headquarters transfers from Helsinki to Mikkeli, east-central Finland. Mannerheim visits the HQ of Karelian Army at Imatra, and accuses its commander, Lt. Gen. Hugo Österman of retreating too rapidly. Mannerheim thinks that the troops in the Karelian Isthmus had been too passive.

Finland appeals to the League of Nations regarding the Soviet invasion of the country.

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: The Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Renown and aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal arrive at Cape Town.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German armored ship Admiral GRAF SPEE stops British refrigerator freighter SS Tairoa (7,983 BRT); the warship then sinks the merchantman about 598 nautical miles (1 108 kilometers) southeast of St. Helena Island in position 21.30S, 03.00E. Ironically, the same day British Commodore Commanding South Atlantic Station, Commodore Henry H. Harwood, orders British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter (68), light cruiser HMS Ajax (22), and New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Achilles (70) to concentrate off the River Plate estuary in Argentina on 12 December. (Jack McKillop & NavyNews)

The government orders sixty merchant ships from the USA to replace losses in the Atlantic.

London: Churchill to First Sea Lord:
The new disaster which has overtaken the Halifax convoy requires precise examination. We heard about a week ago that as many as 13 U-boats were lying in wait. Would it not have been well to divert the convoy to the Minches?

Churchill also telegrams to C-in-C Mediterranean to outline the plan for the capture of the Italian island of Pantelleria, codename "Workshop"

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 82 Squadron Blenheim Mk. IVs bombs Essen. Weather bad. Only one aircraft attacked primary target, four aircraft lost due to accidents. Two crews killed, one crew PoW.

ALBANIA: Greek forces break through the Italian defenses and capture Porto Edda and Agyrokastron on 8 December. The Italians lose 28,000 soldiers as POWs and one-fourth of Albania's territory. In response to the Italian crisis, the Germans dispatched 50,000 troops to Albania to shore up the Italian defenses. Coupled with the Italian defeats in Africa, the debacle in Greece is a blow to Axis prestige.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At anchor in the poorly defended Suda Bay, British light cruiser HMS Glasgow (21) is hit by two torpedoes from Italian aircraft and badly damaged. She makes it back safely to Alexandria, Egypt, where temporary repairs are carried out.

ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN: The RAF bombards the Italian base at Kassala in the Sudan.

CANADA: Corvette HMS Arrowhead arrived Halifax from builder Sorel, Province of Quebec.

Patrol vessel HMCS Renard arrived Halifax for Local defence Force.

U.S.A.: Washington: Ambassador Joseph Kennedy tenders his resignation in order to devote himself to keeping the US out of the war.

Miami, Florida: President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) to inspect bases acquired from Great Britain under Destroyer-for Bases agreement. During the cruise, he will broach the lend-lease concept that he will implement upon his return to Washington. Ports of call included Kingston, Jamaica; Santa Lucia, Antigua; and the Bahamas. Roosevelt fishes and entertains British colonial officials, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, on board the cruiser. The ship returns to Charleston, South Carolina, on 16 December and Roosevelt returns to Washington, D.C. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HMCS St Laurent rescued survivors from the British tanker Conch (8,376 GRT), which had been sunk from convoy HX-90 by U-99, Kptlt. Kretschmer, Knight's Cross, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Knight's Cross with Swords, CO, in approximate position 55.40N, 019.00W. One of the greatest convoy battles of the war was fought on the nights of 02-03 December when seven U-boats attacked the Halifax to Liverpool convoy HX-90. Nine of the convoy's 35 merchant ships were sunk for a total of 52,817 tons and another two ships were damaged. Most critical was the loss of two large British tankers, each of which carried over 11,000 tons of aviation fuel and fuel oil. In addition to Conch, Kretschmer sank the British freighter Stirlingshire (6,022 GRT), and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Forfar. U-101, Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen, Knight's Cross, CO, sank three ships including the second tanker. German long-range aircraft sank the last of the nine ships during the day on 03 Dec. The convoy arrived in Liverpool on 05 Dec. The total shipping lost amounted to over 69,000 tons.

BALTIC SEA: Finnish Submarine Vetehinen makes a surface attack on a 7-ship convoy shooting both bow and stern torpedoes. Enemy artillery fire was heavy, no hits on either side.

U.S.S.R.: Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, who was commanding the German Sixth Army, succeeds Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of Army Group South. Von Rundstedt is fired by Hitler because he demanded he should be allowed to withdraw from Rostov.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Brereton returns from his trip to Australia and is instructed by MacArthur "> MacArthur to plan on leaving on 8th December for another trip, this time a 5,733-mile journey to Djakarta, Singapore, Rangoon, and Chunking, to co-ordinate defensive measures with the Dutch, British, and Chinese, and to receive a report on Japanese air activities from Claire Chennault, commander of the American Volunteer Group.

Hart personally briefs Lieutenant John Walker Payne, Jr, Captain of the USN Yacht USS Isabel (PY-10) and assigns his ship to the “Defensive Information Patrol”. Payne sails the same day. As the threat of war grows ever larger, the small ship is sent out on orders from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to make a reconnaissance of the coast of French Indochina. Payne sails today. She is ordered back to Manila on 5 December.
(Marc Small)

The men of the 5th Air Base Group at Del Monte field, are joined by two ordnance companies and a second contingent is due on December 10th with ammunition and 110,000 US gallons (91,594 Imperial gallons or 416,395 litres) of aviation fuel.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Red Deer arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Roosevelt again meets with British Ambassador, Lord Halifax, and indicates the US would enter the war on the British side the British if they were attacked by Japan, but did not explicitly promise this. (Marc Small)

The Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C. sends the following message to Tokyo: "Judging from all indications, we feel that some joint military action between Great Britain and the United States, with or without a declaration of war, is a definite certainty in the event of an occupation of Thailand."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Unarmed 6,725 ton U.S. freighter SS Sagadahoc is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-124 in the South Atlantic about 375 nautical miles (694 kilometers) south-southwest of St. Helena Island in position 21.50S, 07.50W. One man of the 37-man crew is lost. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

UNITED KINGDOM: Whilst escorting convoy PW.257, destroyer HMS Penylan (L 89) is torpedoed and sunk by German S-boat S-115 about 5 miles South of Start Point, Devon, at 50 08N 08 39W. There are 117 survivors. The merchant ship Gatinais is also sunk. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-761, U-951 commissioned.

U-959, U-960 launched.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops break through German positions west of Rzhev. Several German divisions ordered transferred from western Europe begin arriving in the area of Army Group Don southwest of Stalingrad in preparation of Operation WINTER TEMPEST, the relief of the encircled Sixth Army

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A Royal Navy force of three cruisers and two destroyers caught an Axis convoy laden with reinforcements including tanks headed for North Africa at night. RAF aircraft dropped illumination flares, and radar-controlled gunnery proved devastating, sinking the four ships in the convoy plus its escort.

TUNISIA: The 10th Panzer Division withdraws from both Djedeida and Tebourba, Tunisia.

Tebourba: Maj. Herbert Wallace Le Patourel (1916-79), Hampshire Regt., led four men who, after silencing several guns, all became casualties. He fought on alone until his capture. (Victoria Cross)

ALGERIA: Algiers: Allied troops advancing towards Tunis came face to face with a monster new weapon today - 56-ton "Tiger" tanks mounting 88mm guns. Hitler has sent five of these giants to Tunisia as an "experiment". Two of them played a significant part in a major defeat at Terbourba today.

Bad weather and the ferocity of German dive-bombing attacks slowed down the two-pronged offensive, with American officers complaining to Lt-Gen Eisenhower during a visit to the front line about the lack of Allied air cover. "Why do we see nothing but Heinies?" asked one.

General Nehring, the German commander, had reacted quickly to the Allied advance. Small detachments, mostly paratroopers, raced to take the vital towns of Sousse, Sfax and Gabes from bewildered French garrisons.

The main Allied thrust along the hilly coastal road was checked by a German ambush at Djefna. British and American commandos landed on the coast to the east of this battle and blocked the road, but a fresh assault failed to relieve them and they were forced to withdraw.

In Tunis, Field Marshal Kesselring ordered Nehring to be more aggressive. On 1 December, 40 tanks with anti-tank weapons advanced on the town. Repulsed at first by artillery fire, Nehring called up every available unit. Although much of the Allied "Blade Force" managed to escape over mountain roads, the Germans have captured more than 1,000 prisoners and more than 50 tanks.

The Germans continue to attack Tebourba and occupy it during the night of 3/4 December. The 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, whose positions are penetrated, withdraws with heavy losses to the region north of Medjez el Bab. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, engages the Germans on the El Guessa heights, southwest of Tebourba. To the south, French and U.S. forces capture Faid Pass. .

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the docks and shipping at Bizerte harbor; radar warns the Germans of the approach of the bombers and Bf 109s jump the escorting P-38 Lightnings shooting down three with two more missing; two Bf 109s are shot down. DB-7 Bostons, with P-38s as escort, bomb the El Aouina Airfield. Spitfires and P-38s fly patrols and photographic reconnaissance over wide areas of Northwest Africa, and carry out fighter sweeps during which several ground targets, including Gabes Airfield, are attacked.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the situation of the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment roadblock on the Soputa-Sanananda trail remains precarious as the Japanese continue to attack it repeatedly from all sides and to prevent the forward movement of Allied units attempting to reach it. On the Urbana Force (two battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division) and Warren Force (based on U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) fronts, troops are being rested and regrouped in preparation for all-out attack on 5 December. U.S. Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, Commanding General I Corps, requests that the 126th Infantry Regiment headquarters be moved east of the Girua River and is promised Australian troops and tanks. The Japanese are successfully supplied by air.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs, B-25 Mitchells and P-40 Airacobras bomb and strafe Sanananda Point and the Buna areas and attack a small torpedo boat in Dyke Acland Bay. During the night of 3/4 December, B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb airfields at Lae and Salamaua.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Admiral Tanaka brings 10 Japanese destroyers to Guadalcanal in another Tokyo Express Run. 300 of 1500 drums loaded with supplies actually reach Guadalcanal.

On Guadalcanal, the movement of the Aola Force, less 2d Marine Raider Battalion, to Koli Point, where an airfield is to be constructed, is completed. The Aola Force is joined by the 18th Naval Construction Battalion and the rest of 9th Marine Defense Battalion.

On New Georgia Island, the Japanese are discovered to be constructing an airfield at Munda Point, which becomes a target for almost daily air attacks.

Eight USMC SBD Dauntlesses, seven USMC TBF Avengers and USAAF P-39 Airacobras and USMC F4F Wildcats attack the Tokyo Express in New Georgia Sound; the destroyer HIJMS Makinami is slightly damaged. The Japanese throw some 1,500 supply canisters overboard for their troops on Guadalcanal, but only 310 reach the intended recipients. In the air, ten "Pete" seaplanes (Mitsubishi F1M, Navy Type 0 Observation Seaplanes) are shot down, six by USMC F4F pilots and four by USAAF P-39 pilots at 1830 hours local. U.S. losses are one TBF, one SBD and one fighter.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomons Sea, a lone USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attacks a submarine 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

NEW GEORGIA: US bombers start intensive attacks on Munda Point to prevent Japan from building an airfield.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Japanese light cruisers HIJMS Abukuma and Kiso and destroyer HIJMS Wakaba, land 1,115 troops of the 302nd Battalion on Kiska.

Two USAAF Eleventh Air Force bombers and several fighters fly reconnaissance over Semichi Islands and the Japanese held Kiska and Attu Islands. There is a constant air alert for US forces on Adak.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "You Were Never Lovelier" opens at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Directed by William A. Seiter, this musical comedy stars Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Xavier Cugat and Larry Parks. The film is nominated for three music Academy Awards including Best Music for the song "Dearly Beloved."

U-183 sank SS Empire Dabchick in Convoy ONS-146.

U-508 sank SS Solon II.

U-552 sank SS Wallsend.

A note from Air Chief Marshall (USAAF General) Sir Charles F Portal, RAF Chief of the Air Staff, to the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., states that Operation POINTBLANK, the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) of the USAAF Eighth Air Force and RAF Bomber Command against the Luftwaffe and the German aircraft industry, is three months behind in relationship to the tentative date for Operation OVERLORD, the overall plan for the invasion of western Europe, which had been set for 1 May 1944. This brings more pressure on the Eighth Air Force to destroy industrial plants of importance to aircraft production.

NETHERLANDS: Twelve RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines, ten in the Frisian Islands and two off Texel Island.

FRANCE: During the night of 3/4 December, four USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 800,000 leaflets over Lille, Paris and Rouen.

GERMANY: Berlin: German defenders killed 228 Allied airmen last night, during a raid in which 36 Berliners died and 105 went "missing". Because of the prevailing high winds it was a scattered raid; one pilot missed the target by 50 miles.

The RAF dead includes two war correspondents, Captain Nordhal Grieg - a Norwegian related to the composer - of the Daily Mail and Norman Stockton of the Sydney Sun.

527 RAF bombers hit Leipzig on a blind bombing mission led by two Lancasters fitted with a redesigned H2S radar used in conjuction with Pathfinder "skymarking" of the city by flares, killing or injuring 1,000 citizens and causing extensive damage. First reports suggest improved accuracy.

During the night of 3/4 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 527 aircraft, 307 Lancasters and 220 Halifaxes, to Leipzig; 451 bomb the target while nine Mosquitos make a feint towards Berlin. Despite the loss of two newsmen on the previous night, the well-known American broadcaster, Edward R. Murrow, flies on the raid in a 619 Squadron Lancaster. He returns safely. The bomber force takes another direct route towards Berlin before turning off to bomb Leipzig. German fighters are in the bomber stream and scoring successes before the turn is made but most of them are then directed to Berlin when the Mosquito diversion opens there. There are few fighters over Leipzig and only three bombers are believed to have been lost in the target area, two of them being shot down by flak. A relatively successful raid, from the point of view of bomber casualties, is spoiled when many aircraft fly by mistake into the Frankfurt defended area on the long southern withdrawal route and more than half of the bombers shot down on this night are lost there. Twenty four aircraft, 15 Halifaxes and nine Lancasters, are lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders find and mark this distant inland target accurately and the bombing is very effective; this is the most successful raid on Leipzig during the war. A large area of housing and many industrial premises are severely damaged. One place which is hit by a large number of bombs is the former 1937 World Fair exhibition site, whose spacious buildings have been converted to become war factories, the largest buildings being taken over by the Junkers aircraft company.

Göring orders concentrated air attacks on British ports and industry "to avenge the terror attacks of the enemy."

POLAND: Warsaw: In reprisal for an act of sabotage, the SS and Gestapo execute a hundred tram workers.

U.S.S.R.: South of Gomel, Dovsk is captured by the Soviet Army. Further south they drive west of Cherkassy.

ITALY: The British X Corps, 56th Division, is almost at the summit of Monte Camino (Hill 819) and Monastery Hill (Hill 963) but is forced back from the latter.

The US II Corps, U.S./Canadian 1st Special Service Force units continuing the attack from Mt. Ia Difensa before dawn, reach Mt. Ia Remetanea. The 142d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, begins a drive on Monte Maggiore and takes it. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division is unable to make further progress against La Bandita or Hill 769. Elements of the 3d Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division attacks toward third knob of Mt. Pantano but is driven back.

The British 8th Army V Corps captures San Vito. The German 26th Panzer Division succeeds in a fierce counterattack and the New Zealand Division falls back.

The US First Special Service Force last night took the strongly held German position at Monte La Difensa and Monte La Rementanea. Several previous assaults had failed so instead the Force's 2nd Regiment scaled the 200-foot cliff on the rear of Monte La Difensa during the night. This took the defenders by surprise. They then took Monte La Rementanea. This first action by the force cost it more than 500 casualties. (Mike Yared)

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers, along with RAF Desert Air Force airplanes, hit tanks and trucks in the Guardiagrele-Lanciano areas and vehicles and trains north of Rome. Anzio and Nettuno are also bombed.

Thirty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, with fighter escort, bomb Casale Airfield in Rome; B-26 Marauders and escorting P-38 Lightnings are recalled due to weather.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the harbor and marshalling yard and fighter-bombers attack a vessel, all at Sibenik. .

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings escort a supply mission to Yugoslavia.

EGYPT: The Second Cairo Conference begins, attended by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill and Roosevelt tried without success to persuade President İsmet İnönü of Turkey to bring his country into the war on the side of the Allied Powers. The two agree to cancel the plan for the amphibious assault in the Bay of Bengal, a tentative timetable is set up for a Pacific offensive, and the establishment of a unified Command in the Mediterranean effective 10 December. The conference ends on 7 December.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Canadian-built, British-registered freighter SS Fort Camosun (7,126 GRT), was damaged by torpedoes from the Japanese Type B-1 submarine I-27, LCdr. Fukumura Toshiaki, CO, off the coast of Somalia, in position 11.2N, 046.03E. On the few occasions that the submarine force was released to attack merchant shipping, mainly in the Indian Ocean and off the North Australian coast in 1942, they did extremely well. LCdr. Fukumura and I-27 were a good example; in less than one year, I-27 sank 11 ships for 61,971 tons and damaged three ships for a 21,099 further tons. This score compared favourably with many German U-boat commanders, ranking LCdr. Fukumura in the top 65 Axis submarine ‘aces’. Japanese submarine doctrine was to employ their boats as extensions of the battle fleet for scouting and attritional attacks against enemy battle formations. They were large, fast, long-range boats that were heavily armed with outstanding torpedoes and guns. Their crews were trained to the same extremely high standards as all other IJN servicemen. Because of their size, the I-type Japanese fleet submarine was slow to dive and was relatively unmanoeuvrable while submerged. Once located by a proficient ASW hunting group, which was often cued by intelligence, the good acoustic conditions in the Pacific Ocean favored the attacking force. Very few Japanese submarines survived the war. I-27 was sunk on 12 Feb 44 by the British P-class destroyers Paladin and Petard off Addu Atoll, in the Indian Ocean.

CHINA: Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack barracks and other buildings at Wanling.

EAST INDIES: Over 20 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Waingapoe on Sumba Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Netherlands East Indies.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack villages around Finschhafen. P-47 Thunderbolts shoot down five Japanese aircraft in the Wewak area between 1100 and 1115 hours local.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The US submarine USS SALTFISH sinks the Japanese carrier CHUYO off Honshu.

From Glen Boren's diary: Nothing during the day. About 9:30 in the evening, Radar reported 130 bombers, in 3 groups, 117 miles out. 2 groups searched the area we were in all day. Glad we had moved after dark.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The dates for the invasion of New Britain Island at Arawe and Cape Gloucester are finally set for 15 and 26 December, respectively.

Over 60 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells bomb Cape Gloucester Airfield on New Britain Island; one B-24 sinks several barges in Johann Albrecht Harbor while another bombs a large transport near New Hanover Island.

During the night of 3/4 December, 32 Australian Beauforts attack Lakunai Aerodrome at Rabaul on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, 23 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Kieta Harbor and nearby supply and bivouac areas and six others hit Aitara Mission while 21 B-24 Liberators bomb Bonis. Fighter aircraft, USAAF and USN on patrol, hit targets of opportunity in areas from Numa Numa to Koromira, at Mosiga and Chabai, and west of Rlutupina Point. B-24s on armed reconnaissance hit a variety of targets, including Kieta, Green Island, Greenwich Island, and Korovo.

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Alder Lake, Beech Lake, Ash Lake, Birch Lake, Cedar Lake, Cherry Lake, Elm Lake, Fir Lake, Hickory Lake, Larch Lake, Maple Lake, Oak Lake, Pine Lake, Poplar Lake, Spruce Lake, Willow Lake ordered.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: King George takes the salute from the Home Guard and orders it to stand down.

Home Guard contingents from all over Britain held their last parade in the centre of London. They marched three miles from Hyde Park where the King took the salute accompanied by the Queen, the Princesses and service ministers. Cheering crowds lined the route.

The march past was led by men of the London District and anti-aircraft gunners who defended London against the Flying bombs. There were 29 sections including the American Home Guard made up of US citizens in London.

In a broadcast tonight King George said "I believe it is the voluntary spirit which has always made the Home Guard so powerful a comradeship .... You have found how men from all kinds of homes and occupations can work together in a great cause. I am very proud of what the Home Guard has done and I give my heartfelt thanks."

USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly defensive patrols and armed reconnaissance, hitting rails and bridges and dive-bomb targets in western Germany including the marshalling yard at Grevenbroich. The U.S. 104th Infantry Division is supported as it extends the Inde River, Germany, bridgehead beyond Lucherberg, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division as it seizes Luchem, the U.S. 8th Infantry Division in the Brandenberger Forest-Tiefenbach Creek area, and units of the US XII Corps at Sarre-Union, France, as it checks a counterattack.

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, with the XII Corps capture of Bierick, across from Venlo, the Second Army finishes clearing west Bank of the Maas River.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, a counterattacking German force from Oermingen drives into Sarre-Union before being checked by the 26th Infantry Division defenders of the town.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division is delayed by the Germans at Ratzwilier but the 45th Infantry Division takes Zinswilier. The 100th Infantry Division begins a drive on Bitche, passing the 398th Infantry Regiment through the 44th Infantry Division. The VI Corps continues to clear Sélestat.

In the U.S. Ninth Army area, XIII Corps reaches the Roer River. Flossdorf falls to the 407th Infantry Regiment, 102d Infantry Division. In the XIX Corps area, the commander of 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, is replaced as futile efforts to reduce the Juelich strongpoints continue.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, 104th Infantry Division extends the Inde River bridgehead eastward beyond Lucherberg. The Germans, having recovered from the surprise of a night crossing, are countering strongly. The 16th Infantry Regiment (--), 1st Infantry Division, assisted by tanks and tank destroyers, seizes Luchem. In the V Corps area, the 8th Infantry Division continues to clear the flanks of main assault in Brandenberger Wald and the Tiefen Creek area, while Task Force Hamberg of the 5th Armored Division, with effective air support, renews the drive down the Kleinhau-Brandenberg highway and seizes Brandenberg. The usually inactive German Air Force appears in strength in the afternoon, about 6o Bf 109s attacking without causing serious damage and at a cost of at least 19 shot down. With the Germans on commanding the ground near Brandenberg, the Americans are precariously situated but no reinforcement is possible since Task Force Boyer of Combat Command R , 5th Armored Division, is temporarily attached to the 28th Infantry Regiment of 8th Infantry Division, and is clearing enemy strongpoint in Vossenack.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 1st Battalion, 379th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, seizes the bridge leading to the Saarlautern--Saarlautern-Roden road, but the bridge cannot be used immediately because of German efforts to destroy it with fire; the 2d and 3d Battalions clear most of Saarlautern; other elements of the 95th Infantry Division move forward to the river line. the 10th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, clears Creutzwald in a hard battle; the 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and the 2d Ranger Battalion repel counterattacks west of Lauterbach.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 183 Lancasters and four Mosquitos to bomb the small town of Heimbach in the Eifel region. probably in support of an American ground attack in this area. The Master Bomber and the Pathfinders could not identify the target and the Lancasters are ordered to abandon the raid. The Mosquitos hit tactical targets.

During the night of 3/4 December, 11 Mosquitos bombed the Hermann Göring steelworks at Hallendorf without loss.

AUSTRIA: Fifty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the Vienna Southeast freight depot with the loss of one aircraft. Other targets hit are: 11 bomb the South marshalling yard (M/Y) at Villach; nine bomb the industrial area at Linz; six hit the Main M/Y at Innsbruck; four bomb the M/Y at Klagenfurt; three other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs escort the bombers and fly reconnaissance and reconnaissance escort.

HUNGARY: Soviet forces of the Second Ukrainian Front overrun Miskoic, a key point in the Germans defense line northeast of Budapest and important centre of war industries.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb two targets: 31 hit a highway at Podgorica and six attack a highway bridge at Bioce.

During the night of 3/4 December, 19 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop supplies to partisans.

ITALY: The British Eighth Army opens an offensive toward Bologna with three corps abreast. The Polish II Corps, which is to secure the left flank of the army by clearing the foothills to the left of V Corps, jumps off at 2300 hours. V Corps attacks along Highway 9 toward the Santerno River. The Canadian I Corps, in the Adriatic coastal sector, continues toward Ravenna and the Santerno River with the Canadian 1st Division on the left and the Canadian 5th Armoured Division on the right, The Canadian 1st Division enveloping and taking Russi and the Canadian 5th Armoured Division seizing Godo, on the Russi-Ravenna road, during the night of 3/4 December.

Weather hampers USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations and many missions are aborted; medium bombers score effective hits only on a bridge east of Mantua; A-20 Havocs bomb lights throughout the Po Valley. During the night of 3/4 December, A-20 Havocs again bomb targets of opportunity in the Po River Valley.

GREECE: Today, a civil war breaks out in Athens as communist guerrillas battle democratic forces for control of a liberated Greece. During the German occupation, various Greek resistance forces gave battle, but two stood out as particularly important: a communist-backed resistance movement called the National Popular Liberation Army (ELAS), and a liberal, democratic movement called the Greek Democratic National Army (EDES). While both of these factions operated from different ideological frameworks, they nevertheless occasionally cooperated in fighting the common German enemy. By early 1944 though, the communist-backed ELAS had taken to the hills to create a provisional government, rejecting the legitimacy of both the Greek king and his government-in-exile. It also disregarded the one remaining rival for ultimate political supremacy in Greece, the EDES. When the Germans were forced to withdraw in October 1944, victorious British forces brought together the communist and democratic factions in order to establish a coalition government. But this government collapses after the communist ELAS refuses to disband its guerrilla forces. So war breaks out between the communists and the democrats-with the ELAS taking control of most of Greece, with the exception of Athens and Salonika. The British fight against the communists with the EDES, which begins to move more and more to the right politically as it struggles for survival and support. By February 1945, the ELAS is forced to surrender and disband its guerrilla army. In March 1945, a general election is held, and the democrats, now also royalists, win control of the government. The communists refrain from voting altogether, preferring to bide their time. When a plebiscite elects the Greek king back to his throne in September 1945, the communists emerge from underground-and civil war breaks out again. By this time, Britain, fed up and exhausted, leaves the negotiation for peace to the United States, which employs the Truman Doctrine of giving massive amounts of foreign aid to governments pledged to democracy in order to keep them out of the communist/Soviet orbit. It takes time, but eventually the rejuvenated--and well-funded--Greek democrats are victorious.

CEYLON: Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Theatre, agrees to permit the Chinese 22d and 38th Divisions to move from Burma to China to defend Kunming.

CHINA: The Japanese 11th Army halts its unauthorized drive into Kweichow Province toward Kweiyang as its supplies run out.

Five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators place delayed action bombs near the Pengpu bridge; four B-25 Mitchells and ten P-51 Mustangs bomb a storage area at Sintsiang. Fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance blast trucks, railroad targets, warehouses, shipping and other targets of opportunity at Loyang, Yuncheng, Hei-Shih Kuan, Wuhu, and particularly in areas around Shihhweiyao and from Hengyang to Siangtan and Lingling.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the East African 11th Division establishes a bridgehead across the Chindwin River at Kalewa, where bridging is undertaken under fire. The Indian 20th Division secures a bridgehead across the river to the north in the Mawlaik area, crossing a brigade and uses Kalewa site for crossing the rest of the division.

Thirty two USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts continue close support of ground forces attacking Bhamo; 18 others damage road bridges at Hay-ti and Tonbo and six attack several railroad bridges in northern Burma; and four drop delay-fuse bombs on the Myitson ferry landing. Over 30 fighter-bombers hit troop and equipment concentrations, fuel and other supplies, artillery, ammunition dumps, and general town areas in or near Hopaw, Loipao, Man Kat, Namhpai, and Indaw and nine strafe targets of opportunity along the Shwebo-Wuntho rail line. During the night of 3/4 December, four B-25 Mitchells destroy a train on the Tangon railroad bridge and attack several other targets of opportunity.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at Wanling.

JAPAN: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 10: 86 Mariana Island-based B-29 Superfortresses are dispatched to attack the Musashino aircraft plant and docks and urban areas in Tokyo; 60 B-29s bomb the primary target and 15 hit alternate targets; they claim 10-11-18 Japanese aircraft; five B-29s are lost.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, major USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberator strikes include raids against Malimpoeng and Mandai on Celebes Island while B-25 Mitchells attack four airfields on Halmahera Island.

NEW GUINEA: USAAF Far East Air Forces A-20 Havocs attack Point Noejew, Dutch New Guinea.

BONIN, KAZAN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: Seventeen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands; seven others, escorting a photographic aircraft over the Bonin and Kazan Islands, bomb Haha Jima and Iwo Jima. During the night of 3/4 December, B-24 Liberators on snooper missions continue to bomb Iwo Jima.

TERRITORY OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area, Troop G of the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) tries unsuccessfully to scale the steep slopes of a ridge southeast of Limon. Troop A makes contact with the 126th Infantry Regiment west of Hill 1525 without incident. In the XXIV Corps area, at a commandersâ€™ conference, Major General Archibald V. Arnold, Commanding General 7th Infantry Division, orders the division to clear the region south of the Talisayan River, including Hills 918. 380, and 606, beginning on 5 December.

USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers hit a storage area at Palompon on Leyte Island and airfields near Masbate Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, a platoon of the Australian 9th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division attacks the village of Sisivie, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Torokina but is forced to withdraw.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN hospital ship USS Hope (AH-7), fully illuminated in accordance with the dictates of the Geneva Convention, is followed by a Japanese submarine during the morning and is then attacked by Japanese torpedo planes but not damaged, 125 nautical miles (231 kilometers) east of Mindanao, Philippine Islands.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Admiral Nimitz orders Vice-Admiral John H. Hoover, ComForwardArea (Saipan)to give the highest priority to the installation of an MEW (Microwave Early Warning) radar set on Saipan to combat Japanese intruder raids.

Frigate HMCS Inch Arran departed builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec for Halifax via Dalhousie, New Brunswick.

Frigate HMCS Victoriaville arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Light cruiser USS Atlanta (CL-104) commissioned. The USN now has 39 light cruisers in commission.

SS Cornwallis (5,458 GRT) Canadian merchantman torpedoed and sunk in Gulf of Maine in position 43.59N, 068.20W, by U-1230, Kptlt. Hans Hilbig, CO. There were 5 survivors from her crew of 48 men. Cornwallis had been proceeding independently while enroute from Barbados to Saint John, New Brunswick. U-1230 was a long-range Type IXC submarine built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 26 Jan 44. U-1230 conducted one patrol and compiled a record of one ship sunk for a total of 5,458 tons.

UNITED KINGDOM: A de-Havilland Sea Vampire 1 (LZ551) , used for deck landing trials aboard HMS Ocean, was the first jet fighter to operate from the deck of an aircraft carrier, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Brown.

FRANCE: Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) flies a Lockheed Model 049 Constellation on a special flight with invited guests from New York to Paris. This will be followed by scheduled flights on 5 February 1946.

U.S.A.: Less than a week before leaving government service, Bern, Switzerland, station chief for the Office of Strategic Services, gives a frank and unvarnished update on the situation in Germany to an off-the-record meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Peter Kilduff)