8 December 1939

GERMANY: President Paul von Hindenburg invites Kurt von Schleicher to become chancellor and invites Gregor Strasser to be his deputy. Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring challenge the move claiming it is an attempt to create a split in the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). Strasser is one of the most important figures in the Sturm Abteilung (SA) and he developed a large following and became leader of the revolutionary wing of the NSDAP. In order to maintain party unity Strasser resigns all party positions and found work in a large chemical firm. On 30 June 1934 Strasser, is arrested by the Gestapo as part of the Nacht der langen Messer (Night of the Long Knives) operation and is taken to Gestapo Headquarters where he is shot in the back of the head.

SAAR: The League of Nations Council asks the U.K., Italy, The Netherlands, and Sweden to police the Saar plebiscite "in view of the discussion which took place at its meeting of 5 December with reference to international action for the maintenance of order in the Saar territory during the plebiscite . . ."

GERMANY: All Jews are banned from conducting research at German universities and Jewish students can no longer attend German Universities.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), signs an order regarding the need to regulate the "Gypsy question" in Germany.

UNITED STATES: The temperature at La Mesa, California, soars to 108 degrees F (42 degrees C) to set a U.S. record for the month of December.

GERMANY: Alfred Rosenberg, responsible for the spiritual and philosophical education of the NSDAP, introduces Chancellor Adolf Hitler to Vidkun Quisling, head of the Norwegian National Unity Party. Hitler is not impressed.

ITALY: Rome: The Fascist Grand Council confirms the Axis alliance, but votes to remain out of the conflict.

U.S.A.: Washington: The USA protests at the British blockade of Germany, saying it interferes with the right of neutral nations to trade freely.

The USAAF receives its first Brewster F2A-1 "Buffalo" fighter. (Craig Paffhausen)

Churchill telegrams Roosevelt with his summary of the events of 1940, the current situation and what he believes that Great Britain will need from the United States in order to survive and attain ultimate victory. Churchill requests that the US Navy extends its Neutrality Patrols much further out into the Atlantic and that the US brings pressure to bear on Eire to allow use of the western Irish ports by either US or Allied warships. In return Churchill promises to try to re-unite Ireland after the war by asking the people of Ulster to join with the South.
The main problem in 1941, explains Churchill, will be lack of merchant shipping to bring the 43 million tons of supplies that Britain needs annually and lack of escort vessels to protect them from the U-boats and long-range anti-shipping aircraft. He also requests 2,000 combat aircraft be supplied per month, the majority heavy-bombers.
Finally, Churchill points out that Britain may no longer be in a position to pay for these arms.

ALBANIA:
Greek forces capture Argyrocastro and Delvino as Italy pulls back towards Himara.

SPAIN:
Madrid: Franco refuses to co-operate with Hitler's plan to invade Gibraltar, forcing the operation to be cancelled.

NORTH AFRICA:
Operation Compass:
RAF Wellingtons based in the Egyptian Delta destroy ten Italian aircraft at Benina in Libya.
The Allied troops are told that their advance is not a desert exercise, but the "real thing."

PACIFIC OCEAN: German Auxiliary Cruiser KM Orion sinks the merchantmen Triadic and Triaster, while KM Komet sinks the Komata.

CANADA:
Ottawa: Both Houses of Parliament passed bills calling for a 25% excise tax on Canadian luxury manufactures and suspending importation from the US of practically all manufactured articles until after the war.

Bangor-class minesweepers HMCS Drummondville, Swift Current, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Vegreville, Grandmere, Gananoque and Goderich ordered.

U.S.A.:
$50 million is to be lent to Argentina to help stabilise her currency.

Both Eisenhower and Marquat write to MacArthur "> MacArthur to inform him that the US had no definite plans to bolster the Philippine defenses and that the defence of the islands are on a back burner. (Marc Small)

In professional American football, the Chicago Bears shut out the Washington Redskins big time. The final score: Chicago 73, Washington 0.

WEST INDIES: The 5,000 ton German freighter SS "Idarwald" is intercepted off Cuba by HMS Diomede (D 92), while the USN destroyer USS Sturtevant (DD-240) stands by. She is at once scuttled by her crew and sunk near the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: A special session of parliament was held today to hear the prime minister explain Britain's declaration of war against the Japanese empire. Churchill told MPs that he had intended to time Britain's declaration to follow America's, which required the approval of Congress.

But then news reached London of a Japanese landing in Malaya. The cabinet at once approved the declaration, which was delivered to the Japanese envoy at 1pm today. In his broadcast tonight, the prime minister gave a warning that the extension of the war will lead to a shortage of warplanes for the next few months.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill begins making plans to visit U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. Roosevelt suggests a meeting for mid-January but Churchill is anxious to meet quickly in order to establish at least two priorities: the importance of the naval situation and primacy of Europe in the American war effort.

POLAND: Chelmno (Kulmhof): In what could be a new stage in the much-discussed Nazi programme to annihilate the Jews, all the 700 Jews evacuated here from Kolo have been murdered.

Under the supervision of SS Major Christian Wirth, groups of 80, they were loaded into the back of a specially designed gassing van. The exhaust pipe led straight into their compartment; the fumes suffocated them all. The van reached a wood where it disgorged its grisly contents. The corpses gold teeth and fillings were extracted with pliers. Their clothes and jewellery having been removed, the dead Jews were thrown into a mass grave.

The first "death camp" is soon established at Chelmno using these mobile gassing vans. The victims' bodies are dumped into open pits some 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) away in a wooded forest. (Total victims: 360,000; survivors: 3.)

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler admits that the eastern Blitzkrieg has failed and orders his generals to prepare for a long struggle.

Hitler issues Directive #39. It begins with these words: "The severe weather which has come surprisingly early in the East, and the consequent difficulties in bringing up supplies, compel us to abandon immediately all major offensive operations and go over to the defensive."

FINLAND: The Finnish 4th Division takes defensive positions along southern part of Maaselkä Isthmus. Good defensive positions have been reached on all directions and Marshal Mannerheim and President Ryti decide not to continue attack towards White Sea, because it has become politically unwise, since it has become probable that Germans will lose the war and the US has threatened to declare war if Finns cut the supply of Lend and Lease equipment by taking Archangelsk. (Gene Hansen)

U.S.S.R.: The German Army's Group North withdraws from Tichwin, on the Leningrad-Vologda Railroad, under Soviet pressure. Army Group Center is slowly giving ground in the Moscow area.

NORTH AFRICA: With 40 German tanks remaining, Rommel abandons the fight around Tobruk and starts a withdrawal. Between now and the 11th he will move his units back to Gazala, closely followed by British XII and XXX, Eighth Army. This shortening of his supply lines will help.

THAILAND: Simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor, on the other side of the international dateline, Japan invades. The Thai government surrenders.

HONG KONG: Japanese aircraft destroy the five planes on the RAF Kowloon airfield.

The Royal Rifles of Canada and Winnipeg Grenadiers, under command of Brigadier J.K. Lawson are caught by the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong; have not received training as front-line troops. The first Canadian units to fight in World War II have almost no air or naval defences and at 0800 hours, Japanese aircraft destroy all six RAF planes at Kai Tak airport. Two men of the Royal Canadian Signals are wounded, the first Canadian casualties in the camp at Sham Shui Po, as the Japanese 38th Division moves across the frontier of the New Territories.

CHINA: River gunboat HMS Peterel acting as communications centre for the British Consulate in Shanghai, is boarded by Japanese Naval forces on this day and given an ultimatum. When the ultimatum expires IJN cruiser Idzumo opens fire and sinks her in the port of Shanghai. (Alex Gordon)(108)

On night duty at the Bubbling Well police station, SMP sergeant Ted Quigley received a call from the Central station at 0040. The caller reported that Japanese troops had crossed over the Garden Bridge from Hongkew and were deploying artillery pieces along the Bund. In less than an hour, the Second World War in the Pacific would begin with the Japanese attack on Kota Bahru in Malaya, followed seventy minutes later with an attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese battleship HIJMS Idzumo had been built in Great Britain in 1899. Though obsolete, it still mounted powerful guns and was a symbol of Japanese might in Shanghai. Anchored in the middle of the Whangpoo, the ship was long a part of warship row. By contrast, the HMS Peterel retained only a few Lewis machine guns, and had been relegated to a diplomatic wireless station. She was only 185 feet long and displaced 310 tons. At 0420 a launch carrying Captain Inaho Otani, head of Japanese naval intelligence in Shanghai and a small party of Japanese sailors, approached the Peterel. After boarding her, Otani informed her commander, Lieutenant Stephen Polkinghorn, that Japan had declared war on Great Britain and, in order to keep the peace in Shanghai, he should surrender his ship. He then presented a written summons to surrender. Polkinghorn roared his response: "Get off my bloody ship!" The Japanese retreated down the gangway and the launch retired. When it was about one hundred yards away a red signal light was fired from the launch. Instantly, the roar of cannons split the night as the Idzumo, along with a Japanese gunboat, destroyer, and the artillery pieces on shore all opened up at point blank range. Peterel’s two Lewis machine guns went into action. But within minutes, it was all over. Peterel, a ball of flame, sank into the Whangpoo. Six crewmembers were killed and several were wounded. The surviving crew swam to the French Bund; many were picked up by Chinese in sampans who braved the burning oil and gunfire. Three of her crew had been ashore. Two of them gave themselves up within days, but the third, Petty Officer Telegraphist James Cuming, evaded Japanese capture for the entire war and worked with a Chinese resistance ring. A Japanese delegation to USS Wake found her captain not present; the ship surrendered. Living with his family in an apartment at the Customs House on the Bund, David Nicoll was awakened by the firing and thought Chinese troops were attacking a harbor installation. Wendal Furnas, in his room at the Foreign YMCA near the racecourse, thought stores of Chinese black market gasoline had exploded. Others heard the explosions, but went back to bed, until awakened by telephone calls. Bertram Monypenny, a sales manager for Lever Brothers, was preparing to "grunt at the wrong number" when the caller, a friend, asked him if he could hear the noise and added that he thought "it has started." Edwin Easley, a manufacturer’s representative, received several calls reporting the sinking of the Peterel and the seizure of the Wake. At St. John’s University, George Laycock was awakened at 0640 by the sound of planes roaring over the campus. They were flying low over the city, scattering leaflets written in several languages. In them, the Japanese announced that a state of war existed and that lives and property would by protected. (Greg Leck, from his book "Captives of Empire")

MALAYA: The Japanese invade Malaya early in the morning, landing on the east coast near Kota Bharu after a naval bombardment of beaches, and are vigorously engaged by Lieutenant General A. E. Percival's Malaya Command. The Indian III Corps (under Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Heath), which is responsible for all Malaya north of Johore and Malacca, employs the Indian 9th Division against the Japanese in the Kota Bharu area and sends the Indian 11th Division, already poised to move into Thailand, across the border to delay the Japanese on the roads to Singora and Patani. The Indian 9th Division, whose primary mission is to protect the three airfields in Kelantan (Kota Bharu, Gong Kedah, and Machang), fights a losing battle for Kota Bharu, from which it starts withdrawing during the night of 8/9 December. One Indian 11th Division column, driving toward Singora, engages a tank-supported Japanese force 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the frontier; another, advancing toward Pata ni, is opposed only by the Thai police forces. In conjunction with ground attacks, Japanese planes strike repeatedly at airfields in northern Malaya and greatly reduce the strength of the RAF Far East Command. The RAF, after attacking Japanese shipping and troops in the Kota Bharu area, withdraws from the Kelantan airfields to Kuantan, far to the south. Singapore, the ultimate objective of the Japanese 25th Army in Malaya, is also attacked by air.

Seven Australian Hudson Mk. Is of No. 1 Squadron RAAF, attack the Japanese invasion force laying off Kota Bharu and sink one transport and damage two other transports and numerous barges. RAAF Hudson Mk. IIs of No. 8 Squadron and RAF Blenheim Mk. Is and Vildebeest Mk. IIIs also attack the invasion force damaging numerous barges.

The British Navy's Force Z under Admiral Tom Phillips gets underway in the evening to find the Japanese fleet. The force consists of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales (53), battlecruiser HMS Repulse (34) and British destroyers HMS Electra (H 27), Express (H 61) and Tenedos (H 04) and Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire (D 68).

The first word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is received on Luzon by commercial radio at about 0330 hours local. Within 30 minutes radar at Iba Field, Luzon, plots a formation of airplanes 75 miles (121 kilometers) offshore, heading for Corregidor Island. P-40s are sent out to intercept but make no contact. Shortly before 0930 hours, after Japanese aircraft are detected over Lingayen Gulf heading toward Manila, B-17 Flying Fortresses at Clark Field, Luzon, are ordered airborne to prevent being caught on the ground. Fighters from Clark and Nichols Fields are sent to intercept the Japanese but do not make contact. The Japanese airplanes swing east and bomb military installations at Baguio, Tarlac, Tuguegarao, and an airfield at Cabantuan. By 1130 hours, the B-17 Flying Fortresses and fighters sent into the air earlier have landed at Clark and Iba Fields for refueling, and radar has disclosed another flight of Japanese aircraft 70 miles (113 kilomete

rs) west of Lingayen Gulf, headed south. Fighters from Iba Field make a fruitless search over the South China Sea. Fighters from Nichols Field are dispatched to patrol over Bataan and Manila. Around 1145 hours a formation is reported headed south over Lingayen Gulf. Fighters are ordered from Del Carmen Field to cover Clark Field but fail to arrive before the Japanese hit Clark shortly after 1200 hours. B-17 Flying Fortresses and many fighters at Clark Field are caught on the ground, but a few P-40s manage to get airborne. Second Lieutenant Randall B Keator of the 20th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), shoots down the first Japanese aircraft over the Philippines. The P-40s earlier sent on patrol of the South China Sea return to Iba Field with fuel running low at the beginning of a Japanese attack on that airfield. The P-40s fail to prevent bombing but manage to prevent low-level strafing of the sort which proved so destructive at Clark Field. A

t the end of the day's action it is apparent that the Japanese have won a major victory. The effective striking power of Far East Air Force has been destroyed, the fighter strength has been seriously reduced, most B-17 maintenance facilities have been demolished, and about 90 men have been killed.

3:00 AM: Fort Santiago picks up US commercial wire service report on Pearl Harbor attack which contained no details.

3:05 AM: Clement arrives at Hart's quarters and gives him the message stating Pearl Harbor had been attacked.

3:10 AM: Hart despatches fleet message (text) and calls Purnell. (Weintraub states Hart advised Sutherland but does not cite a source; all other sources insist Asiatic Fleet did not directly notify USAFFE.)

3:30 AM: Naval Intercept Section at Fort Mills picks up "two messages" indicating attack on Pearl Harbor. The duty officer, Lieutenant Rudie Fabian, calls Captain Bob Brown, Moore's ADC, who notifies Lt Col William C Braly, duty officer at the Harbor defence Command Post, who puts all harbor defenses on alert.

3:40 AM: (2:40 pm, 7 December, Washington time) Gerow telephones MacArthur and confirms that Pearl Harbor has been attacked. Gerow may have indicated that there was extensive destruction at Pearl Harbor, though this is uncertain and MacArthur later denied that he was so informed. In any event, there certainly was no direction to commence hostilities against Japan.

3:50 AM: MacArthur arrives at USAFFE Headquarters. Hart and Sayre are already present and confer with MacArthur until after 5:00 AM.

4:00 AM: Brereton alerted by telephone call from Sutherland, alerts his Air Force to remain at the ready.

4:00 AM: False report of air raid causes anti-aircraft fire to break out in Manila.

4:05 AM: Vargas calls PA HQ (Fort Santiago?) and is advised war has broken out; message is confirmed in second call to USAFFE HQ. Vargas notifies Quezon by telephone.

4:30 AM: (3:30 PM, 7 December, Washington time) War Department sends message to USAFFE advising hostilities have commenced. Message receipt delayed until 7:30 Manila time for unexplained reasons.

5:00 AM: Brereton goes to USAFFE headquarters and attempts to meet with MacArthur. Sutherland intervenes, instructs Brereton to wait for MacArthur's specific instructions. Brereton suggests an air strike on Takao in Formosa, a Japanese staging area; Sutherland suggests aerial reconnaisance first. The contents and sequence of this discussion are both highly disputed in the Postwar memoirs of both.

5:15 AM: Quezon, at Baguio (about 130 miles north-west of Manila), alerted by telephone that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He returns to Manila.

6:15 AM: Malag, in the Davao Gulf, is hit by Japanese carrier aircraft. USS William Preston, a seaplane tender, avoids damage, but two PBY Catalina flying boats are destroyed and Ensign Robert Tillis was killed, the first American to die in the Philippines.

6:20 AM: Japanese Zero fighters from Formosa attack and strafe the radio station at Aparri in northern Luzon.

P-35As of the USAAF 34th Pursuit Sqdn sortie against the 1st Japanese raid against Luzon. Returning pilots claim 3 Japanese aircraft shotdown.

6:30 AM: Supposition that MacArthur was advised of Malag and Aparri attacks. There is no record of this occurring and no participant has recorded that MacArthur was ever so advised.

7:00 AM: Quezon hands out a press release stating that the Philippines would not "fail" the United States.

7:10 AM: Brereton, at Neilson, receives telephone call from Arnold instructing him to ensure the safety of his aircraft and recommending that they be dispersed. Brereton informs him that he will have his aircraft in the air so that they will not be destroyed on the ground.

7:15 AM: Brereton goes to USAFFE headquarters a second time and again requests permission to attack Takao. Sutherland goes into MacArthur's office and comes out to say that MacArthur had denied permission as the US was not to make the first 'overt' act. Sutherland instructs Brereton to return to his office.

? AM: Quezon calls MacArthur repeatedly to urge that no offensive action be taken against Japan. This is disputed: neither MacArthur nor Quezon have left direct comment. Eisenhower later claimed that, in 1942, Quezon had told him that MacArthur had wanted to keep the Philippines neutral. On the other hand, Bulkeley states that Quezon "put the clamp on things" by insisting that no military actions be conducted beyond the three-mile limit.

7:30 AM: MacArthur receives War Department message advising him that a state of war exists (text). (I have not found an explanation for the delay in the receipt of this message, which was sent at 4:30 AM, Manila time.)

7:55 AM: MacArthur receives telephone call from Gerow requesting "indications of an attack". MacArthur informs Gerow of radar contact of air attack and says that "our tails are up in the air" (some sources time call at 7:35).

8:00 AM: Radar contact with large force of planes approaching Manila. Brereton orders 36 fighters to intercept but formation veers off before contact. MacArthur reports this as having occurred at 9:30; other sources say that it occurred two hours earlier or at 7:30. Gibbs orders 16 of 17 B-17's remaining at Clark to take off and to fly around to avoid being destroyed on ground.

8:05 AM: Camp John Hay bombed. Quezon reports attack to Vargas who reports it to MacArthur.

8:50 AM: Brereton telephones USAFFE and is connected with Sutherland. Brereton again requests permission to attack but, when asked about his targets, is not specific, stating that, at the least, there would be shipping to attack. Sutherland, who may have consulted MacArthur, orders Brereton to “[H]old off for the present".

8:55 AM: Sutherland calls Wainwright and advises him of attack on Camp John Hay. Sutherland orders Wainwright "to take every precaution against a possible Jap paratroop landing at Clark Field."

9:00 AM: Brereton calls Sutherland and requests permission to arm bombers. FEAF Command log shows a 9:00 AM entry restating Sutherland's orders that planes not be loaded with bombs.

9:10 AM: Japanese Army bombers from Formosa attack Baguio and Tueguegarao (the latter being about 50 miles inland in northern Luzon).

9:25 AM: Brereton is advised of attacks on northern Luzon bases. Calls Sutherland to request permission to bomb Formosa. Sutherland refuses.

9:30 AM: Brereton receives call from USAFFE headquarters (caller not identified) instructing him to prepare for offensive action. He instructs staff to prepare bomb mission, target unspecified.

10:00 AM: Sutherland calls Brereton to emphasize that defensive measures only were authorized and that all aircraft were to "remain in reserve".

10:05 AM: Sutherland calls Brereton to order that he conduct photo reconnaissance of Formosa.

10:10 AM: Eubank flies from Neilson to Clark to prepare for reconnaissance mission.

10:14 AM: MacArthur calls Brereton to order a bombing attack on Formosa once the reconnaissance pictures were processed. MacArthur later denied saying this.

10:15 AM: Japanese Navy airplanes from the 11^th Air Fleet are despatched from Formosa. 53 bombers and fighters are directed to hit Iba; 54 bombers and 36 fighters are sent to Clark Field.

10:30 AM: Station Cast intercepts, decodes and disseminates Japanese declaration of war. Message not further relayed for some hours due to Navy security restrictions.

10:45 AM: Brereton orders bombers readied for late-afternoon attack by the airplanes from the 19^th B.G. based at Clark and a dawn attack on December 9 by those from Mindanao, which were to be staged overnight through Clark .

11:00 AM: Sutherland calls Brereton to check on status of photo recon mission; he is advised that the bombing missions are now approved and so advises his own staff.

11:05 AM: Postmaster at Aparri reports incoming aircraft by telephone to Fort Stotsenburg.

11:05 AM: Brereton instructs B-17's to return to Clark and all fighter cover to return to refuel and for the pilots to have chow.

11:27 AM: Radar station at Iba picks up an incoming strike and relays message to Far East Air Force Air Warning at Nielson Field.

11:40 AM: Report of incoming strike received at Neilson. 18 fighters -- two squadrons of the 24^th P.G. at Nichols -- were scrambled and sent to patrol Manila Bay and Bataan. The third squadron was held back, possibly in reserve.

11:45 AM: Campbell sends teletype to Clark advising of incoming strike. Message not received. Campbell then attempts direct radio contact with Clark and fails. Campbell calls Clark on the telephone and speaks with a junior officer (name no longer known) who takes message and states he will pass it along.

11:55 AM: Sutherland calls Brereton to check on status; advised by Brereton that "a bombing mission would be sent out in the afternoon".

12:00 AM: Japanese air strike on Iba Field. 53 Mitsubishi bombers and 53 Zeros strafe the field, destroying all 16 P40's stationed there and the Philippine's lone radar station. (Some accounts list 18 P-40's as being destroyed.) Total of 86 aircraft destroyed?

Japanese air strike on Clark. 54 Mitsubishi bombers and 36 Zeros destroy the 17 B-17's and other aircraft remaining at the field.

12:20 PM: Lieutenant Howard W Brown, a Signal Corps Officer from Fort Santiago, brought distribution copy of Japanese declaration of War to USAFFE HQ. Brown taken in to see MacArthur.

12:30 PM: MacArthur called by Brady with report of destruction at Clark and Iba. MacArthur, upon learning that his orders to remove B-17's to Del Monte had not been followed, chewed out Brady.

MARIANA ISLANDS: On Guam, Japanese aircraft bomb the island at 0827 and 1700 hours local. After getting underway and being attacked by Japanese aircraft, the USN minesweeper USS Penguin (AM-33), is scuttled in 200 fathoms (1,200 feet or 366 meters) of water about 1.5 miles (2,4 kilometers) off Guam to prevent capture.

OCEANIA: Japanese aircraft bomb phosphate rich Ocean Island and Nauru Island in the South Pacific Ocean Island is a 1,500 acre (607 hectare) island about 242 nautical miles (448 kilometers) west-southwest of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island about 380 nautical miles (703 kilometers) west-southwest of Tarawa Atoll.

WAKE ISLAND: At 1158 hours local, 34 "Nell" bombers (Mitsubishi G3M2 Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers) of the Chitose Kokutai (Naval Air Corps, 24th Air Flotilla) based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, 620 miles to the south, attack the island at an altitude of 13,000 feet (3 962 meters) destroying seven of the eight F4F-3 Wildcats on the ground. The island is defended by 449 Marines of the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion, Wake Island, 69 Navy personnel and five USAAF communicators. The five Air Force enlisted airmen form a detachment of the 407th Signal Company, Aviation, based at Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and had been sent to Wake in early November 1941 to establish a radio station to guide B-17 Flying Fortresses on flights from the U.S. to the Philippine Islands. Casualties among Marine aviators are especially high. (Gordon Rottman & Jack McKillop)

GILBERT ISLANDS: A company of the Japanese Army's 51st Guard Force occupies Makin Atoll.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Starting today, Air Force, Alaska Defense Command B-18 Bolos fly armored reconnaissance each morning from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, to Kodiak Island in the Aleutian Islands.

CANADA: Canada Gazette notice (written on behalf of the King) "Whereas by and with the advice of our Privy Council for Canada we have signified our approval of the issue of a proclamation in the Canada Gazette declaring that a state of war with Japan exists and has existed in Canada as and from the 7th day of December, 1941.

Now, therefore, we do hereby declare and proclaim that a state of war with Japan exists and has existed as and from the seventh day of December, 1941.

Of all which our loving subjects and all others whom these presents may concern are hereby required to take notice and to govern themselves accordingly." (Dave Hornford)

1,200 Japanese Canadian fishing boats are impounded. Japanese language newspapers and schools close.

Corvette HMCS Fredericton commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Chambly arrived Halifax for refit.

In just eight minutes President Roosevelt today called on the Congress of the United States to declare war on Japan. It took a further 20 minutes for congressmen to vote America into the world conflict.

The senate passed the war resolution without debate by 82 votes. In the House of Representatives it passed by 388 votes to one. The sole dissenter was Jeanette Rankin of Montana, who also voted against the declaration of war in 1917. The resolution was then signed by Vice-President Henry Wallace as presiding officer of the Senate, and by Sam Rayburn, the speaker of the House, and taken by them to the White House, where the president signed it at 5.10pm Washington time.

The United States as a whole has learnt above all from the radio of the coming of war. Stations kept open all night, and recorded dance music was punctuated with appeals for Red Cross workers to report to headquarters, or for volunteers to contact air-raid wardens. After two years of remote but often angry debate about the possibility of the United States is united as never before by the prospect of war. Diplomats and members of Congress agree that the Japanese, by attacking the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, have taken the one action, out of many alternatives to them, that was certain to bring the United States into the war. Isolationism, the dominant philosophy here since 1919, is dead.

The isolationist Republican Congressman Hamilton Fish said today that he would volunteer for service, as he did in 1917. Herbert Hoover former president, also an isolationist, said: "We must fight with everything we have got." Only the arch-isolationist Senator Gerald Nye of North Dakota continued to say: "The Japanese attack is just what Britain planned for us."

But the isolationist Chicago Tribune said that its readers must "strike with all our might to protect and preserve American freedom."

The city of San Francisco experiences a false air-raid alert with rumours of an enemy aircraft carrier 100 miles off the coast. More...

The US is joined by Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Free French, Yugoslavia and some South American countries in the declaration of war against Japan.

Colombia broke diplomatic relations with Japan.

Costa Rica declared war on Japan.

Panama, Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic declared war on Japan.

Union of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Free France declared war on Japan.

Declaration of war by The Netherlands and The Netherlands East Indies against Japan.

3:20 AM: (2:20 PM December 7, Washington time) Japanese emissaries deliver declaration of war to Hull.

The Commanding General 1st Air Force orders the I Bomber Command to begin overwater reconnaissance with all available aircraft to locate and attack any hostile surface forces which might approach the east coast. Similar reconnaissance is ordered off the west coast.

The Southeast Pacific Area is established with Rear Admiral Abel T. Bidwell in command.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Caribbean Sea, all USAAF Caribbean Air Force units begin flying antisubmarine patrols.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British Parliament lowers the conscription age, by 6 months, to 18. The manpower shortage in Britain is becoming severe.

Messages exchanged between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, pledging their two nations to complete defeat of Japan.

A USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Bomber Command study of air attacks on submarine pens in France indicates that available U.S. bombs are incapable of penetrating roofs of the pens from any bombing level low enough to maintain accuracy.

NORTH SEA: During the night of 8/9 December, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

NETHERLANDS: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off three areas: 19 lay mines in the Frisian Islands with the loss of one; and five each lay mines in the Cadet Channel, with the loss of one, and The Sound.

DENMARK: During the night of 8/9 December, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines off Copenhagen while four lay mines in the Great Belt, the strait between Sjaelland and Fyn Island.

GERMANY: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command lay mines off four areas: four aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight off Heligoland Island, two each lay mines in the River Elbe Estuary and Kiel Harbor, and one lays mines in the Fehmarn Channel in the western Baltic.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Shipping loss. SKR-14 (ex-RT-86 "Indiga") - wrecked close to vill. Rosta (later raised)
Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. Floating Base "Kahanovich" - wrecked, in Leningrad. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

SPAIN: Madrid: General Franco says that the world has a choice between communism and fascism, and he chooses the latter.

ITALY: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 133 aircraft, 108 Lancasters, nine Halifaxes, nine Wellingtons and seven Stirlings, to bomb Turin; 119 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. The Pathfinders illuminate the target well and bombing is very accurate. Residential and industrial areas are both extensively damaged. Turin reports 212 dead and 111 injured. Fires from this raid are still burning the following night.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Three Italian midget submarines attempt to attack British shipping in Gibraltar harbour, but fail.

TUNISIA: U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, gives British Lieutenant General K. A. N. Anderson permission to withdraw the British First Army from areas west of Tebourba and east of Medjez el Bab to more favorable positions slightly to the west from which to prepare for the move on Tunis.

General Gause leads German forces in capturing Bizerta. They capture four French destroyers, nine submarines and three other warships.

ALGERIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol in the Oran-La Senia-Tafaraoui area. Weather prevents operations of all bomber and fighter units in eastern Algeria.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly fighter-bomber missions in the battle area east of El Agheila; the American claim seven enemy aircraft shot down.

CHINA: Taihu: Kuomintang forces shoot down a plane carrying top Japanese officers to Wuhan.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 39th Battalion, 7th Division, supported by artillery and mortars, attacks Gona and by nightfall, half of the Japanese perimeter defenses and the center of the garrison area have been taken. During the night of 8/9 December, the Japanese try to withdraw from Gona to Giruwa and about 100 of them are killed. An Allied supply party reaches the roadblock on the Soputa- Sanananda trail against bitter opposition. Urbana Force (two battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division), continuing the battle for Buna Village, concentrates on a bunker position on the southern edge. Newly arrived flame throwers proves so ineffective that the weapon is not used again during the campaign. The Japanese fail in an attempt to reinforce the garrison of the village with troops from the mission. On the Warren Force (based on U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) front, preparations are made to move guns closer to the Japanese bunkers as two more 25-pounder (88 mm) guns arrive by sea. The Navy agrees to provide corvettes for movement of fresh troops to Warren front.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells pound antiaircraft positions at Buna and the area around Buna Mission and Cape Endaiadere as ground forces attack bunker positions on the southern end of Buna. P-38 Lightnings hit a wrecked vessel off Gona. Six Japanese destroyers carrying troops to reinforce the Buna-Gona beachhead are bombed by B-17 Flying Fortresses and a lone B-24 Liberator and turn back to Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The US 132nd Infantry Regiment lands on Guadalcanal. This brings the Americal Division to full strength there.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the airfield at Gasmata on the southern coast of New Britain Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: An attempted bombing mission of Attu and Kiska Islands by six Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators and six B-26 Marauders, escorted by eight P-38 Lightnings, is forced back by weather. An uneventful reconnaissance is flown by a B-24 and a B-26 over Attu, Agattu, Amchitka, Kiska and the Semichis Islands.

U.S.A.: The Joint Chiefs of Staff present to President Franklin D. Roosevelt a proposal for the recapture of all Burma, Operation ANAKIM. The President agrees that Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General U.S. China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, and Commander in Chief Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC), must be provided means for his part of the operation in northern Burma, Operation RAVENOUS.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-254 (Type VIIC), Kptlt Hans Gilardone, CO, was rammed and sunk by U-221, Kptlt. Hans-Hartwig Trojer, Knights Cross, CO, while both boats were manoeuvring on the surface in preparation for attacks on the 26-ship New York City to Liverpool convoy HX-217. U-254 sank southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland in position 58.20N, 033.25W with the loss of 41 of her crewmembers. Four men, including the CO, survived. The convoy was attacked and two of its 26 merchant ships were sunk, including the large tanker, Empire Spencer (8,194 GRT), carrying 10,000 tons of benzene.

U-611 (Type VIIC) Sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, at position 57.25N, 35.19W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/B). 45 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

UNITED KINGDOM: Colossus, the first programmable computer, is delivered to Bletchley Park (Station X), Buckinghamshire, England, 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of London, Britain's ultra-secret cryptanalysis headquarters. Built by a team headed by Tommy Flowers at the Post Office Research Centre at Dollis Hill, north London, it incorporates 1,500 valves (vacuum tubes).

Field Marshal Rommel and his staff continue to tour the Danish coast as they begin their inspection of the West Wall. Today, as the weather stays dreary, they follow the coast by train, making notes occasionally.

The train that evening finally pulls in for the night, and the staff sets up a makeshift command center, since they at this time are strictly a mobile command center. They are scheduled to get a permanent headquarters location around December 20th.

Rommel's assignment came to him on November 5th when he visited the Fuehrer at the Wolf's Lair in Bavaria. Hitler has a great idea. Citing von Rundstedt's troubling summary of October 25th, stating that the Atlantic Wall was anything but formidable, Hitler tells him of his plan: Rommel is to inspect the Western coast and a) Verify or disavow von Rundstedt's troubling report, and b) provide suggestions for improvement.

Rommel is to take his displaced army group staff (designated "Heeresgruppe Bz.b.v."-- Army Group B-For Special Purposes) and tour the coast.

The idea was originally Gen. Jodl's. Some- one had to go and check out von Rundstedt's report, and he figured it would end up being him. This way, Jodl wouldn't have to go, and Rommel would be "gainfully employed" again. Besides, who knew more about fighting the Western Allies (including the Americans) than Rommel? (Except maybe for Kesselring, but he was tied up in Italy)

So now the tireless Desert Fox is once more on the move, inspecting and formulating ideas for better defenses.

We're off again to-day up to the northernmost point. The round trip will be over in a couple of days and then paper work will begin. Hard fighting still in the east and south. I need not tell you with what feelings I look on from a distance. I hear that the call-up is going to be extended to the 14-year olds. The lads will be sent to labor service or defence according to their size and physique..."

GREECE: Three airfields in the Athens area are bombed by USAAF Fifteenth Air Force aircraft: 102 B-17 Flying Fortresses attack Eleusis Airfield with the loss of two and 46 bomb Kalamaki Airfield. Thirty six B-24 Liberators bomb Tatoi Airfield.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army, continuing their offensive southwest of Kremenchug, cuts the Znamenka-Krivoi Rog and Znamenka-Nikolayev railroads.

ITALY: The French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division joins the Allied line. Allied units are being moved. Rather than fighting in Italy, they are transported to Britain for use in Overlord. Canadian units begin an attack over the Moro River in Italy.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, II Corps continues the battle for positions about St. Pietro. The Italian 1st Motorized Group begins an attack on Mt. Lungo but makes little headway against determined resistance. The 143d Infantry Regiment (--) of the 36th Infantry Division attacks toward St. Pietro and is soon pinned down by German fire; 1st Battalion of the 143d withstands a strong counterattack on Mt. Sammucro. On the eft flank of II Corps, the 1st Special Service Force finishes clearing Mt. Ia Remetanea (907). In the VI Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division, first of the French Expeditionary Force units to arrive in Italy, begins the relief of the 34th Infantry Division.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb bridges, industrial targets, a marshalling yard, and the town areas of Pescara, Ancona, and Aquila; A-20 Havocs hit gun emplacements and a bivouac area near Sant' Elia Fiumerapido; other A-20 Havocs, operating with RAF and SAAF aircraft attack a troop concentration and gun positions near Miplinnico; fighter-bombers of the USAAF, RAF, RAAF, and SAAF bomb targets in support of ground troops near Orsogna; A-36 Apaches and P-40s hit communications targets (roads, railroads, bridges) at Avezzano, Frosinone, Viticuso, Gaeta, and Sant' Elia Fiumerapido.

Thirteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses Bomb railroad bridges near Orbetello Lake and 21 bomb the town of Porto Santo Stefano while B-26 Marauders hit the Spoleto viaduct, Orte marshalling yard, and Civitavecchia harbor; other B-26 Marauders abort the mission because of weather.

INDIA: 18 Japanese bombers and 50 fighters attack the airfield at Tinsukia in Assam.

CHINA: Nine USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, escorted by 16 P-40s, attack Chang-te; nine other B-25s bomb Hofuh and the 16 escorting P-40s bomb two villages to the north.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the Penfoei area on Dutch Timor and the Koepang area on Portugese Timor.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Wareo falls to the Australian 9th Division, clearing the way for a drive on Sio.

In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders attack Japanese supply dumps on the Huon Peninsula near Finschhafen; P-39 Airacobras strafe barges from Saidor to Fortification Point.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force fighter patrols and aircraft on armed reconnaissance bomb and strafe several targets of opportunity near Kieta, southeast of Cape Torokina, at Baniu Plantation, and along the northeast coast.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: US Vice-Admiral Willis "Ching" Lee commands 5 battleships and 12 destroyers to bombard Kwajalein. Air cover is provided by 2 carriers. One Japanese destroyer is damaged.
The bombardment of 8 December 1943 was actually conducted against Nauru, not Kwajalein. It was thought that Japanese aircraft might threaten U.S. forces from Nauru, although in reality there were only a few planes there. The battleships involved were WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, MASSACHUSETTS, INDIANA, and SOUTH DAKOTA; this was the first shore bombardment mission of the war for the new fast battleships. (Keith Allen)

Six USN battleships and two aircraft carriers attack Nauru Island. Nauru is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific about 380 nautical miles (703 kilometers) west-southwest of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942. Before dawn, aircraft are launched by the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) with Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17) and small aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26) with Light Carrier Air Group Thirty (CVLG-30). The bombardment force under Rear Admiral Willis "Ching" Lee, Commander, Battleships Pacific Fleet, has six battleships and 12 destroyers. The six battleships of Task Group 50.8, USS Alabama (BB-60), Indiana (BB-58), Massachusetts (BB-59), North Carolina (BB-55), South Dakota (BB-57) and Washington (BB-56) fire 135 rounds of 16-inch (40,6 centimeter) shells at the island. The destroyer USS Boyd (DD-544) is damaged, while on a rescue mission, by a Japanese shore battery with 27 sailors killed. No Japanese ships are present. (John Nicholas and Denis Peck)

Glen Boren though was there and says: The raid on Nauru started before daylight on the 8th of Dec. 1943. Not a gun was manned when the raid started. 11 or 12 planes were destroyed on the ground and one in the air. We lost one fighter and one dive bomber. A destroyer was sent in to pick up the crew of the dive bomber and was shelled by the japs and 27 men were killed. They did not find the plane crew. Sorry, I did not log which destroyer it was. The Battleships took over and shelled the island for over an hour and caused a lot of damage.

We left the next day for Espirito Santo ( Dec. 9th and 10th as we crossed the date line at 1000 hours that day ) That raid cost us 30 people total, that I know of. I have no knowledge of jap losses.

OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes of Observation Squadrons Six and 9 (VO-6 and VO-9) from the battleships strafe and photograph the barracks area upon completion of ships' bombardment.

Twenty two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nanumea Island in the Ellice Islands, bomb Jaluit Atoll, and 11 from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands hit Mili Atoll.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian advance captures Wareo and continues toward Wandokai and the Japanese stronghold of Sio.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Three USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators fly armed reconnaissance. During the night of 8/9 December, another B-24 off on a photographic mission over Kasatochi Island, about 45 nautical miles (84 kilometers) northeast of Adak, turns back because of mechanical trouble.

UNITED STATES: General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, notifies Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General Twelfth Air Force in North Africa, that he is to command the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE). USSAFE will coordinate the operations of the USAAF Eighth Air Force in the U.K. and the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. Headquarters of USSAFE will be established in the U.K.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, after receiving the surrender of Fort Driant, the 2d Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, turns over the Metz sector, where Fort Jeanne dbArc is still holding out, to the 87th Infantry Division of the III Corps. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division attacks across the Sarre River, the 134th Infantry Regiment crossing by a bridge south of Sarreguemines and the 320th Infantry Regiment by boats in the region to the east; the 134th clears Sarreinsming and pushes northeast under heavy fire from Sarreguemines; the 320th, whose 3d Battalion is unable to cross until the night of 8/9 December, establishes a bridgehead and with the aid of artillery and fighter-bombers halts a counterattack as it is forming. The 26th Infantry Division attacks the Maginot Line within its sector after artillery and air preparation: the 328th Infantry Regiment begins an assault on Fort Wittring and Grand Bois, fighting through the night of

8/9 December; the 104th Infantry Regiment, to the right, easily takes four mutually supporting forts in the Achen area.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division pushes into Encherberg and the 100th Infantry Division into Lemberg, but the Germans are defending both towns. The VI Corps is conducting a deception program to lead the Germans to expect a Rhine River crossing in the Strasbourg area or an attack in the vicinity of Bischwiller. The 45th Infantry Division begins an attack on Niederbronn. In the 79th Infantry Division zone, the 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron clears Gambsheim.

In the French First Army area, the French II Corps is still undergoing lively counterattacks. The U.S. 36th Infantry Division troops are driving on Kayserberg. I Corps gains a foothold in Thann.

GERMANY: US troops advance past Saarlautern to breach the Siegfried Line; Fort Driant near Metz, falls.

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 29th Infantry Divisionbs 115th Infantry Regiment reduces Hasenfeld Gut and sportplatz strongpoints in the Juelich area with help of assault guns and smoke.

In the U.S. First Army area, the VII Corps is ordered to attack on 10 December to clear the region between the Inde and Roer Rivers and the approaches to Dueren, the corps' objective. In the V Corps area, a battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiment relieves the 2d Ranger Battalion on Castle Hill. In their 2-day stay there, the Rangers have lost more than 25-percent of their original strength.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 357th Infantry Regiment is again subjected to major counterattacks in the 90th Infantry Division's Dillingen bridgehead, but forces the Germans back in hand-to-hand fighting; local German counterattacks keep the 358th Infantry Regiment largely on the defensive, although elements push across the railroad tracks to take Dillingen station; the reserve regiment, the 359th Infantry Regiment, crosses into the bridgehead, during the night of 8/9 December. The 95th Infantry Division is very slowly expanding its Saarlautern bridgehead, fighting from house to house and from pillbox to pillbox; the 2d Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, joins the parent regiment in Ensdorf after crossing the river in assault boats. The 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) takes over the sector on the southern flank of the corps from elements of the 5th Infantry Division.

Twenty nine USAAF Ninth Air Force A-26 Invaders hit the Sinzig rail bridge. Fighters escort the RAF, bomb gun positions, bridges, and city areas, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the U.S. V and VII Corps W of Schmidt and Duren, and XX Corps and XII Corps in the Dillingen and Sarreguemines, France areas.

- 205 Lancasters are dispatched to attack the Urft Dam at Heimbach; 129 bomb the target with the loss of one aircraft. Bombing is affected by 9/10ths cloud and no results are seen.

- 163 Lancasters are dispatched to bomb the marshalling yards at Duisburg; 159 bomb the target.

- 30 Mosquitos are sent to attack the Meiderich benzine refinery near Duisburg; 28 bomb the target.

AUSTRIA: Again hitting communications targets in a predawn attack, 27 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb eight targets: seven aircraft hit the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Klagenfurt, six attack the Main M/Y at Graz; five each bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery at Vienna and the M/Y at Villach; and one each targets of opportunity at Gleisdorf and Volkermarkt and the cities of Ybbs and St. Polten. Later in the day P-38 Lightnings fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions. P-51 Mustangs escort the photo reconnaissance flights over the Vienna area.

HUNGARY: Soviet forces, Berlin admits, "widen their breach" north of Budapest. Troops of the Third Ukrainian Front clearing the region between Lake Balaton and the Danube River are roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Szekesfehervar. The Germans are warding off breakthrough attempts between Lake Balaton and the Drava River.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the Germans abandon the rest of Mt. Penzola.

Weather again greatly curtails operations. Four USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts on weather reconnaissance of the western Po River Valley attack trains, claiming the destruction of four locomotives and damage of almost 100 train cars.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the Japanese take Tonkwa from the outnumbered Chinese.

In the British Fourteenth Army area, IV Corps headquarters moves from Imphal, India, to Tamu and is placed under Lieutenant General Frank Messervy, who succeeds Lieutenant General Sir Geoffrey Scoones. The corps is to move secretly southward down the Gangaw Valley to the southern flank of the army, where it will seize a bridgehead over the Irrawaddy River in the Pakokku area and thrust toward Meiktila and Thazi.

Over 30 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces in the Bhamo area, 28 hit supply areas at Kyingyi, Loi-lun, and Hke-hkun; 12 bomb troop concentrations at Namti and four hit village on the Nawnghkem River. Sixteen fighter-bombers attack a Shwebo motor pool and radio station while six others hit the Namun ferry landing; seven aircraft knock out a bypass bridge at Namhkai and eight fighter-bombers hit railroad targets of opportunity between Sedaw and Nawnghkio.

CHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the Nan Tan area, killing many horses and 14 P-51 Mustangs hit the airfield and other targets at Nanking, claiming 24 airplanes, a freighter, and two locomotives destroyed. Fifteen P-40s attack railroad targets and buildings from the Nan Tan area to Liuchow; 25 P-51 Mustangs hit Hochih and troops, warehouses, trucks and ammunition dump in the area; and 20+ other fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance hit various targets of opportunity around the Lipo, Shihhweiyao, Tuhshan, Santon, Paoching, Hengyang, Taiyuan, and Linfen areas.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, over 60 USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers, along with Australian aircraft, hit airfield and various other targets on Halmahera Island. FEAF aircraft fly armed reconnaissance and light raids over northern Borneo, northern Celebes, Flores Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Wewak, New Guinea area.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 77th Division is now within 1 mile of Ormoc, Leyte.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Squadron of the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) begins an action to locate and sever the Japanese supply line to the ridge southeast of Limon. In the XXIV Corps area, the 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division (reinforced by the 2d Battalion, 3o6th Infantry Regiment and supported by artillery, Company A of the 776th Amphibious Tank Battalion and Company A of the 88th Chemical Weapons Battalion) drives north astride Highway 2 from Ipil toward Camp Downes, less than 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) from Ormoc. A platoon of Company A, 776th Amphibious Tank Battalion, moving by sea, reconnoiters the Camp Downes area, meeting Japanese fire. The 305th Infantry Regiment protects the southern flank of the division, holding the perimeter from Ipil area south to the Baod River. The Americans consolidate their positions in Buri airfield area. .

Over 60 USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Mandurriao, Lahug and La Carlota Airfields on Cebu and Negros Island while fighter-bombers hit the San Isidro area.

BONIN ISLANDS, IWO JIMA: Following Harmon's plans drawn up on the 5th the attacks take place today. They have been postponed one day due to inclement weather.

The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 11: 82 B-29 Superfortresses from the Mariana Islands join USAAF Seventh Air Force P-38 Lightnings, 89 B-24 Liberators and Navy cruisers in a strike against airfields on Iwo Jima Island from which Japanese strikes against U.S. airfields in the Mariana Islands are being launched; 61 B-29s bomb the airfields and four bomb other targets without loss. The USN bombardment force is Task Group 94.9 (Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith) consisting of the heavy cruisers USS Chester (CA-27), Pensacola (CA-24) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) and eight destroyers. Japanese aircraft strike the Mariana Island airfields on 2, 7, and 27 November, 7 and 25 December (the largest attack-25 aircraft), and from 25 December 1944 to 2 January 1945 in very minor degrees; altogether about 80 Japanese aircraft attack, and nearly 40 are downed. Because of these strikes, 11 B-29s are destroyed and 43 damaged on the ground. At 0945 hours 28 P-38s swept over the island, followed at 1100 hours by the B-29s and at noon by the Liberators. Hoovers cruisers began 70-minutes of shelling at 1347 hours. The bomb load carried by the planes forcefully illustrated the difference in performance between the B-24 and B-29 bombers at 745 miles (1,199 km) tactical radius: the 62 B-29s dropped 620 tons, 102 B-24s only 194 tons. All told, enough metal was thrown to produce a good concentration on Iwo's eight square miles, but because the bombers had been forced to loose by radar, results, so far as they could be judged from photography-handicapped, like the bombing, by adverse weather-were much less decisive than had been expected.

US Admiral Smith commands 3 cruisers and the escorting destroyers to bombard Iwo Jima.

The top songs of the pop record charts are: "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by The Harry James Orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen; "That's for Me" by Dick Haymes; "It Might as Well Be Spring" by The Sammy Kaye Orchestra with vocal by Billy Williams; and "It's Been So Long Darling" by Ernest Tubb.