9 December 1939

CHINA: Japanese forces from Manchukuo invade the Chinese province of Jehol as the Japanese seek to expand their influence in northern China.

ETHIOPIA: The Government invokes Article 5 of the Italo-Ethiopian treaty of friendship of 2 August 1928. (According to which the two Governments had agreed to "submit to a procedure of conciliation and arbitration any question which [might] arise between them and which it [had] not been possible to settle by the usual diplomatic means, without having recourse to force of arms."

FRANCE: The Hoare-Laval plan published in the French press. In a last ditch effort to placate Italian demands in Ethiopia, the British Foreign Minister, Sir Samuel Hoare, and the French Premier, Pierre Laval, offer a proposal to the Italians for the partition of Ethiopia. The plan calls for the transfer of territory in Ethiopia, which includes Adua and Adigrat in northern Ethiopia and a significant portion of eastern Ethiopia, as well as the establishment of a special Italian economic zone, which includes most of southern Ethiopia. In return, the Ethiopians would receive a "corridor for camels" (a small sliver of territory to the Red Sea) between Eritrea and French Somaliland. The French and British abandon these proposals after a huge outcry from the British public and Sir Samuel is forced to resign from office on 18 December.

UNITED KINGDOM: The major powers (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.) make one last attempt to reduce naval armaments by attending the League of Nations Second London Naval Conference. The French, Italians, and Japanese left the conference without agreeing to any naval reductions, while the treaty which results from the talks remains vague and full of loop holes.

GERMANY and POLAND: Polish-German negotiations about the League of Nations High Commissioner of Danzig began. (On 5 October, the League of Nations had asked Poland to seek an end of the situation in which the High Commissioner was unable to function.)

UNITED STATES: Prototype shipboard radar, designed and built by the Naval Research Laboratory, is installed on the battleship USS New York (BB-34).

Also, during the month of November, 7,455 tons of bombs were dropped on British targets by the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe estimate the British dropped 475 tons during the same month.

Kreigsmarine: Air reconnaissance by Blohm und Voss Bv 138A-1 three engine seaplnes of the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons, 406th Coastal Reconnaissance Group (2 und 3 Staffel/Kustenfliegergruppe 406 or 2 and 3.Ku.Fl.Gr. 406) has had to be cancelled until further orders on account of technical faults in the aircraft concerned. The main problem was that the aircraft structure needed strengthening.

ITALY:
Rome: The Italian High Command announced:
Despite unfavourable weather conditions the Regia Aeronautica has bombed military targets at Santa Maura [the Greek island of Levkas] and the Arta Bay. In East Africa there were enemy air raids on Gallibat and Gherille (Somaliland), resulting in several deaths and injuries.

ALBANIA: The Greeks capture Pogradec, over 40 miles (64 kilometers) inside Albanian territory.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Italian torpedo boat Calipso (679 tons) sinks near Tripoli, Libya, after hitting a mine laid by the British submarine HMS/M Rorqual (N 74).

NORTH AFRICA:
LIBYA:
Soon after dawn the 7th Armoured and 4th Indian Divisions launch a surprise attack on the Italians in Egypt. 7th Armoured cuts the coast road to the west and isolates Sidi Barrani. No. 3 RAAF's Gloster Gauntlets dive-bombed, 33 Sqn. (Gladiators) strafed and 274 Sqn (Hurricanes) shot down four CR42s. 1,000 prisoners are taken in the first thrust of Operation Compass.

Nibeiwa: At 7 a.m. British tanks storm their way into the Italian fort. The tanks and men had spent two days advancing slowly under cover of darkness with Hurricane lamps - shaded from the Italians - to guide them over the rough desert tracks. Windscreens were removed from vehicle to avoid the sun reflecting on them. By day, 30,000 men and machines lay entirely still under the burning sun.
The Italian defensive positions face the east. The defenders were preparing breakfast of coffee and rolls when the British barrage began. The attack came from the west. Two more forts surrendered later. At 1.30 pm the attack on the Tummar camps opened and by nightfall practically the whole area was in Allied hands. Italian artillery men encounter the British Matilda's for the first time and fought against them with great bravery, but with little success. An English combatant at the scene described the battle: "The Italian and Libyan dead were everywhere. The guns were piled around with empty cases where men had fired to the very last. The Italians...fought like hell in Nebiewa."

Italian GENERAL PIETRO MALETTI, commander of the motorized (brigade-sized) "Maletti Group," is cut down by a British tank's machinegun while himself manning a machinegun during the surprise attack on his unit's encampment at Nibeiwa, in one of the first actions of "Operation Compass," the extraordinarily successful British offensive which nearly destroyed the Italian forces in North Africa (and which is sometimes referred to as the "Wavell Offensive"). (Michael F. Yaklich)

EGYPT: Marshal of Italy Rodolfo Graziani, Chief of the Army General Staff, Governor-General of Libya, and Commander in Chief North Africa, debated whether to continue his attack into Egypt or wait for supplies. He decided to deploy his infantry divisions into strongpoints facing east and south at Sidi Barrani. He then requested some motorized transport to assist in furthering the invasion, but Italian dictator Benito Mussolini rejected this request for the planned invasion of Yugoslavia.
British General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, receives reinforcements including 31,000 motorized troops, 120 guns and 275 tanks (50 of which are Matilda's and 100 Cruisers), 60 armored cars and 150 aircraft (among them Hurricanes which outclass all Italian fighters in the region).
Wavell consolidates his forces under General Richard O'Connor and he launches the first British offensive against the Italian forces today.

Cairo: The British Middle East Air Force announced:
Reconnaissance flights have revealed that extensive damage was done during the (British) bombing of Castel Benito near Tripoli, Libya on December 7. In the hours leading to Monday morning, British planes raided the Benina airfield [East Africa].

JAPAN: Foreign Minister MATSUOKA Yosuke states that war with the United States is not inevitable stating, ". . . if both of us attend to our own business I cannot think there will be any serious clash. . . . We have no difference that cannot be surmounted if we keep our heads cool and mind our business. . . . We do not pass judgment on what the United States does in the West, and we try to confine ourselves to this part of the world."

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South West Pacific, the 6,030 ton British freighter SS Triaster is sunk by explosive charges by the crew of the German auxiliary cruiser HK Orion. (Andy Etherington)

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Trois Riviere (ex-HMCS Three Rivers) and Brockville laid down Sorel, Province of Quebec.

UNITED KINGDOM: LONDON: It is announced that the Netherlands and Soviet governments have agreed to exchange ambassadors.

GERMANY: Even though Germany and the U.S. are not at war, Chancellor Adolf Hitler orders U-Boats to attack American shipping off the East Coast.

U.S.S.R.: The Russian advance from Moscow liberates Elets. Advancing from Leningrad they liberate Tikhvin.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The 6,310 ton Italian motorship MS Sebastiano Venier is torpedoed by the British submarine HMS/M Porpoise (N 14) about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Navarino, Greece. The motorship had sailed from Benghazi, Libya, with about 2,000 British and Commonwealth POWs, including black South African troops, New Zealanders and Australians, captured in North Africa. She is not flying a POW flag. The torpedo strikes between No.1 and No.2 holds on the starboard side, the force of the explosion hurls the heavy hatchway covers to mast height, the falling timbers killing dozens of men trying to escape from the hold. Only five men in flooded No.1 hold survive. Most of the panic stricken crew abandons the ship taking all the lifeboats. The Italian hospital ship Arno appears on the scene but ploughs its way through the men struggling in the water and keeps on sailing, its priority being the rescue of the crew of a German ship sunk nearby. A total of 320 men are lost among t hem 309 British POWs, including 45 New Zealanders. Eleven Italian soldiers also died. The ship does not sink but is beached at Point Methoni near Pilos, Greece. All prisoners who manage to reach the shore are confronted by hundreds of Italian occupation troops and are taken to a makeshift camp where during the next few months many die from frostbite and disease. In May 1942, the prisoners are transferred to Campo 85 at Tuturano in Italy.

EUROPE: Although the news is dwarfed by the dramatic entries of America and Japan into this second world war, several more countries are also now involved. This week Britain has declared war on Finland, Romania and Hungary following their failures to end actions in support of Germany. And China has formally issued a declaration of war against Japan, Germany and Italy.

INDIAN OCEAN: At midnight on the 9th of December 1941 HMS Glasgow in error sank the RIN patrol vessel HMIS Prabhavati with two lighters in tow en route for Karachi, with 6 inch shells at 6000 yards. The vessel was alongside the lighters and appeared to those in Glasgow to be a large Japanese submarine on the surface. HMS Glasgow arrived in Bombay with the survivors on 9th. HMS Glasgow had left Colombo for patrol on 6 December 1941, she returned to Colombo on the 25th.

MALAYSIA: Japanese troops land at Kota Bharu, Singora and Patani. The Japanese force the Indian 9th Division of the Indian III Corps from Kota Bharu Airfield and continue air attacks on other fields, including Kuantan. The RAF abandons Kuantan airfield for Singapore Island and Alor Star airfield, on the northwest coast, for Butterworth. RAF bomber attack on Singora airfield (Thailand) proves very costly since fighter protection is lacking. Dutch planes arrive at Singapore to augment the strength of the RAF.

Japanese aircraft attack Alor Star airfield. Of the Blenheim Mk Is of RAF No. 62 Squadron based there, only one aircraft survives; its pilot, Sqn-Ldr Arthur Stewart King Scarf (b.1913) single-handedly overcomes strong enemy defences to attack Singora airfield in the north. After returning his crew safely to Alor Star, Scarf dies from his wounds, and is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross five years later when the full facts of his heroism are established.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: The British Navy's Force Z under Admiral Tom Phillips is sighted by the north of Singapore by the Japanese. 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).

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Far East Air Force B-17s from Mindanao, Philippine Islands fly recon missions. Continuing the neutralization of U.S. airpower on Luzon, Japanese bombers strike Nichols Field, near Manila.

WAKE ISLAND: Japanese "Nell" bombers (Mitsubishi G3M, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers) of the 24th Air Flotilla based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the island at 1145 hours, destroying more of the naval air station, the hospital and much of Camp 2.. One "Nell" is shot down by antiaircraft fire and a second is shot down by two Marine F4F-3 Wildcats. This is the first Marine aerial victory of World War II again attack Wake, (Gordon Rottman & Jack McKillop)

BAKER and HOWLAND ISLANDS: These two islands in the central Pacific are shelled by Japanese submarines HIJMS RO 63, RO 64, and RO 68 in the mistaken belief that American seaplane bases exist there.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USS Swordfish makes initial US submarine attack on Japanese ship.

USN Transport USS William Ward Burrows (AP-6), en route to Wake Island, is ordered to return to Honolulu. The ship had departed Honolulu on 29 November towing a barge, PAB-7, and carrying 1,819 tons of cargo. Because of the barge and terrible weather, the ship could only make 5 knots. She crossed the International Date Line on 6 December. On 13 December, she is ordered to Johnston Island and arrives there on 15 December.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10 shells and sinks a 4,473 ton unarmed Panamanian motorship about 872 nautical miles (1 616 kilometers) south-southeast of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. There are only eight survivors of the 33-man crew; all seven passengers perish.

TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class NISHIKAICHI Shigenori, from the aircraft carrier HIJMS Hiryu, who had crash-landed his "Zeke" fighter (Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter) on Niihau Island on 7 December, is placed under guard by the islanders; attempts this day and the next to transport him to Kauai are frustrated by bad weather.

CANADA: Fear of Japanese invasion spreads on British Columbia coast; government orders blackouts; closes Japanese-Canadian newspapers, schools.

U.S.A.: Washington: The devastating blow struck by the Japanese at the US Pacific Fleet's base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, came as a complete surprise. How was it that the United States was caught so unawares?

For some months now, US code-breakers have been able to read the top-secret Japanese diplomatic cipher under the codename Magic. The first indication of the imminence of war came on 4 December, when the staff of the Japanese embassy here in Washington began to leave and Magic revealed that they had destroyed their codebooks. On the night of 6-7 December Tokyo began transmitting a long message in code to the ambassador in Washington, to be handed to the US state department. Transcription difficulties caused it to be delayed, but by 7 o'clock in the morning the US codebreakers had deciphered it anyway. They also had reports of Japanese convoys.

The Americans now knew that Japan was bent on war, but not where it would strike first. Suspicion fell on the Philippines, because the Pearl Harbor strike force had maintained strict radio silence since leaving the Kurile Islands on 26 November. Warnings were sent to all Pacific bases, but that to Pearl Harbor was delayed through poor signal handling.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt tells British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he prefers to meet in Bermuda for security reasons. Churchill convinces Roosevelt to meet with him in Washington. Roosevelt wanted to meet in Bermuda rather than Washington, not for security against the Japanese or Germans, but security from the American press and anti-war advocates.

German SS Obergruppenfuhrer (U.S. Lieutenant General) Reinhard Heydrich, Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, is bumped from the cover of Time Magazine by late-breaking news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

USAAF fighters at Mitchel Field, Hempstead, Long Island, New York are dispatched to intercept a hostile airplane reported (falsely) to be approaching the East Coast.

Although having a 3-C draft deferment due to being the sole support of his family, Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller, last years American League leading pitcher with 27 victories, becomes the first major leaguer to enlist after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 23-year old Navy recruit has already won 107 major league games.

Destroyer HMS Bideford rammed the anchored HMCS Louisburg in Londonderry. Louisburg required five weeks of repair in Belfast.

Oiler HMCS Mastodon commissioned. Built Renfrew, Scotland, 1,233/10, 6 kts, 210x36.5x13.75ft, crew 5/37, 1-12pdr, 2-20mm. Formerly Dept of Public Works, Dredger No.306, #129529, converted Burrard Dry Dock Co, Ltd, Vancouver. Delivered oil to naval storage tanks West Coast, occasionally assisted in distribution of commercial oil products. MASTODON was one of a very few auxiliaries that, despite their generally small size and decrepit condition, did absolutely indispensable work. Post WW.II, sold, Imperial Oil South America, Peruvian flag in 1950's.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, an RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs the power station at Hengelo.

During the night of 9/10 December, two RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

FRANCE: During the day, one each RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the marshalling yard at Creil and a railroad tunnel at Vierzy.

During the night of 9/10 December, 11 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

ITALY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 227 aircraft, 115 Lancasters, 47 Halifaxes, 40 Wellingtons and 25 Stirlings to bomb Turin; 200 bomb the city with the loss of two Wellingtons and a Lancaster lost. This is a disappointing raid with the Pathfinders not able to perform as efficiently as on the previous night. Smoke from old fires partially obscures the target area. Turin records 73 more people killed and 99 injured.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Whilst escorting convoy MKS.3, Flower class corvette HMS Marigold is sunk by an aircraft torpedo off Algiers at 36 50N 03 00E. There are 40 casualties but 6 officers and 37 ratings survive.

Whilst escorting submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone from Algiers to Gibraltar, destroyer HMS Porcupine (G 93) is torpedoed by U-602 (Kapitanleutenant Philipp Schuler) 70 miles NE of Oran at 36 40N 00 04E. She is towed back to port at Arzeu, separated into two parts and sent to the UK in two halves referred to as “Porc” and “Pine”, but is not repaired, rather she is declared a total loss ans scrapped in England on 6 May, 1946. (Alex Gordon)(108)

ALGERIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-40s fly an intercept mission over Youks-les-Bains, damaging one German aircraft.

TUNISIA: Heavy rains stop most USAAF Twelfth Air Force air operations in eastern Algeria and Tunisia; a few P-38 Lightnings fly reconnaissance south of Gafsa.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep over the El Agheila region.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enables the Allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. After a preparatory bombardment from air and ground, the Australian 21st Brigade, 7th Division, launches a final assault on Gona area of Papua New Guinea and by 1630 hours overcomes resistance in hand-to-hand combat. Hundreds of Japanese dead are found. The 3d Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, completes an air movement to the Urbana Force (two battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division) front and prepares for the final assault on Buna Village..

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the Buna area as ground forces prepare for the final assault on the village. P-40s hit the area along the Sanananda-Soputa trail. In nearby Gona, following air and artillery bombardment, Australian forces overcome resistance, taking the village in hand-to-hand combat.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: General Alexander Patch of the US Army XIV Corps, assumes command of Guadalcanal from General Vandegrift. The 1st Marine Division is relieved. Vandegrift marks the occasion with a letter that paid tribute to the sailors, airmen, soldiers "and small band of devoted allies" that fought side by side with his Marines. The reference quoted is to the Coastwatchers and is so worded for security reasons. The Marines that were expected to make the landing and then hand off the fighting to the Army have been relieved, 124 days after landing. The 5th Marines begin embarking. The 2nd Marines, attached to the 1st MarDiv in place of the 7th Marines, remain on Guadalcanal with the 2nd MarDiv.

USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the airfield at Munda, New Georgia Island. No aircraft are lost.

USN motor torpedo boat PT-59 sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-3, engaged in a resupply mission to Guadalcanal, 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) northeast of Kamimbo Bay.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The daily weather aircraft cannot return to base due to a sudden snow squall and crash-lands on Atka Island. An attempted bombing mission to Kiska Harbor by three B-26 Marauders and six P-38 Lightnings is forced back by weather.

U.S.A.: The U.S. Army is reorganized into three autonomous forces: Army Air Forces, Ground Forces and Services of Supply.

Submarine USS Apogon laid down.

Destroyer USS Clarence K Bronson laid down.

Escort carrier USS Liscombe Bay laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-161 transferred an ill crewmember to the milk cow U-461.

U-508 captured four crewmembers from SS Nigerian; a ship she had just sunk.

U-553 sank SS Charles L.D. in Convoy HX-217.

The U.S. 7,057 ton armed freighter SS Coamo is en route from Gibralter to New York when she disappears without a trace. There are 186 persons aboard, 133 crew, 37 Armed Guards and 16 Army personnel and all are lost, the greatest tragedy to befall a single crew on a US Merchant Marine ship in WWII. It is later learned that the German submarine U-604 torpedoed and sunk a single-funneled freighter off Bermuda today and the ship sunk by the submarine is probably SS Coamo.

Field Marshal Rommel and his staff continue to tour the Danish coast as they begin their inspection of the West Wall. Today, their train enters Copenhagen. Even after several years of occupation, the capital of Denmark, so unlike other captials in Europe, is well-stocked and fed. Obviously, the Danes have nto suffered nearly as heavily in this war. Most still earn a fair wage, and the country is not forced to pay the Reich any reparations.

Rommel, gazing at the people on the streets and in their shops, senses a spirit of normalcy in their lives. He watches them go about the routines they had before the war, and ignoring their occupiers for the most part.

Added to this sense of normal routine is the fact that Denmark is an unlikely location for an Allied invasion. Rommel and his staff are amazed at the lifestyle.

They stop at a nearby restaurant and are rewarded with culinary delights. Delicacies abound, even after four years of occupation.

The staff later spread out and shop for other personal items. After all, Christmas is near, and this is an excellent location to pick up a nice present. There is a small problem on purchasing, though. They are, after all, German.

That afternoon, Rommel calls on General von Hannecken, the Wermacht commander in Denmark. Later, they feast on a bountiful dinner with Reich Commissioner, Dr. Best.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps area, Rocca d'Evandro falls, concluding the action against the Monte Camino hill mass. In the U.S. II Corps area, the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 143d Infantry Regiment continue to be held up in the St. Pietro area and pull back after dark to the line of departure while an artillery concentration is placed on the Germans. The German counterattack on Mt. Sammucro is repulsed. In the U.S. VI Corps' 45th Infantry Division zone, Hill 769 is completely cleared, but the Germans retain Lagone and La Bandita.

In the British Eighth Army area, engineers build a bridge across the Moro River and the 48th Highlanders and the Royal Canadian Regiment capture San Leonardo on the north bank of the river.

U.S.S.R.: Medorovo falls to the Soviet Army. They then move on to attack Znamenka itself.

FRENCH WEST AFRICA: Following the Teheran and Cairo conferences, U.S. President Frankline D. Roosevelt re-embarks in battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) at Dakar for the return voyage to the U.S.

CHINA: Changteh: After two weeks of some of the most intensive fighting seen on the Chinese mainland, Changteh, the central Chinese city twice occupied by the Japanese, has been recaptured by Chinese Nationalist troops after a massive cross-country supply operation by an army of coolies.

Changteh, a city of 160,000 south of the Yangtze and at the heart of a major rice-producing district, has been destroyed in the battle that saw bitter hand-to-hand fighting in the streets and the use of poison gas by the Japanese. The Chinese commander, General Hsueh Yueh, admitted that his losses had been heavier than Japan's, but said that it was felt that Changteh had to be retaken whatever the costs.

Replying to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's message of 7 December, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek asks for financial assistance and increased air strength.

Fifteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Wuchang and Hankow, and three bomb Chang-te. P-40s strafe sampans above Nanhsien and attack targets of opportunity in the Salween River area, including road traffic south of Hsia Chai, barracks at Tachai, and the town of San Tsun.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The US airfield at Cape Torokina on the western coast of Bougainville on the shores of Empress Augusta Bay 200 miles from Rabaul in New Britain reaches operational status today.
The 3d Marine Division begins a struggle for the hills around the beachhead that is to last until late in the month.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nineteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Ellice Islands bomb Mili Atoll. The B-24s claim five Japanese fighters destroyed.

PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary: Two days in one. At 1000 hours, we crossed the International Date Line and went from the 9th to the 10th of December. Just found out we are headed for Espirito Santo. (New Hebrides Islands)

Minesweeper HMS Jewel commissioned.

Submarine HMS Scotsman commissioned.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 744: Four B-17 Flying Fortresses and seven B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night without loss.

BELGIUM: At 1137 hours, a German A4 (V-2) rocket is fired and impacts the Antwerp area; 43 are killed, 94 injured and 43 houses are destroyed. At 1504 hours, a second A4 lands in Antwerp on Meir-Kathelynevest (Building of Agence Maritime); 25 are killed, 45 injured and 14 houses are destroyed.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area; the 1st Battalion of the 137th Infantry Regiment is sent to Sarreguemines to mop up in the western part of city, since the 134th Infantry Regiment can make little headway until this is done; the 320th Infantry Regiment moves forward more rapidly because of the 26th Infantry Division's action to the right. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, completes the capture of Fort Witiring by dawn and after daylight finds that the Germans have abandoned Fort Grand Bois; the 104th Infantry Regiment is pushing steadily toward Gros Röderching.

In the Sixth Army Group's U.S. XV Corps area, Combat Command A of the 12th Armored Division, driving northeast on the left flank of corps, takes Singling. Enchenberg falls to the 44th Infantry Division and Lemberg to the 100th Infantry Division. In the U.S. VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division clears Niederbronn. The 79th Infantry Division overruns Bischwiller and pushes to the edge of Haguenau.

In the French First Army area, II Corps is still strongly opposed but clears Mittelwihr. In the I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division continues clearing Thann. The 4th Mountain Division is meeting vigorous opposition at Lutterbach.

GERMANY: The US 3rd Army continues action around the bridgehead over the river Saar. The US 7th Army and the French 1st Army continue to advance.

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division is ordered to secure region between Inde and Roer Rivers within its zone.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division commits its full strength to the Dillingen bridgehead battle: The 359th Infantry Regiment begins clearing mutually supporting fortifications between the 357th and 358th Infantry Regiments, easing pressure on the right flank of the 357th; the 357th holds its weak perimeter on the northern flank of the bridgehead against repeated counterattacks that are debilitating to both sides; the supply situation of the 358th, fighting indecisively along the railroad tracks in Dillingen, improves as rafting operations are begun in the afternoon and the first tank crosses by treadway ferry in the evening, but the 359th and 357th Regiments must still rely on assault boats, carrying parties, and aircraft for reinforcement and supply. The 95th Infantry Division continues their almost futile efforts to expand the Saarlautern bridgehead; the supply problem is intensified by the rapidly rising Sarre River. With the relief of the 10th Infantry Regiment on the southern flank of the corps by the 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized), the 5th Infantry Division is able to assemble in preparation for the attack on the West Wall. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division's bridgeheads across the Sarre River continue to receive heavy German fire, but two Class 40 bridges are completed by midnight.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 743: 413 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to hit four targets in Stuttgart: 257 bomb the Unterturkheim Marshalling Yard with the loss of one B-17, 62 hit Echterdingen Airfield and 57 attack Bobblingen Airfield; 17 other aircraft hit targets of opportunity at Balingen, Schorndorf, Tubingen and other points in Germany. Escorting are 247 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss.

Two hundred fifty four USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26 Marauders bomb defended villages, storage depots, barracks area, and marshalling yard in western Germany. Fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division aircraft, sweep the Landau and Saarbrucken areas, attack Zulpich and a bridge at Euskirchen, and support the U.S. XII and XX Corps in the Sarreguemines, France, and Saar River area and around Dillingen.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack three targets: 79 bomb the Winterhafen oil refinery and oil storage facilities at Regensburg with the loss of three aircraft; two hit the locomotive works at Rosenheim and one attack the city of Regen. Fighters escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions.

During the night of 9/10 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit three cities: 56 bomb Berlin with the loss of one, seven bomb Koblenz and 4 attack a benzine oil plant at Meiderich.

U-3025 launched.

U-2528, U-3514 commissioned.

AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack four targets: 56 bomb the industrial area at Linz, 15 hit the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Villach and one each attack the M/Y at Klagenfurt and the city of Spittal. P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Sixteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack the Skoda armament works at Plzen. Fighters escort the heavy bombers and fly reconnaissance missions.

HUNGARY: Moscow confirms German reports of the Soviet breakthrough northeast of Budapest, announcing that forces of the Second Ukrainian Front have reached the Danube River bend at Vac. Other troops of this front, having crossed to the western bank of the Danube from Csepel Island., south of Budapest, gain contact with troops of the Third Ukrainian Front at Lake Velencei, between the Danube and Lake Balaton. Budapest is thus about two-thirds encircled.

ITALY: Capt. Henry Cound Brunt (b.1922), Sherwood Foresters, saved a difficult position by his inspired, aggressive leadership, eventually forcing the Germans to withdraw. He died next day. (Victoria Cross)

In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division extends eastward to Mt. dell'Acqua Saluta-M. del Verro area as the 6th Armoured Division prepares to continue the offensive.

In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps contains determined counterattacks but in so doing is too weakened to exploit this success and suspends the offensive.

Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers. Fighters and fighter-bombers attack communications in the central and northeast Po River Valley.

YUGOSLAVIA: Sofia, Bulgaria, announces that Bulgar and Yugoslav Armies, assisted by Soviet aircraft, have completed the expulsion of Germans from Serbia and Macedonia during the last few days.

CHINA: The failure of two Chinese armies (the 5th and 53d) to concentrate for the defense of Kunming endangers the success of the ALPHA plan (the plan to defend Kunming and Chungking) and brings a protest from U.S. Lieutenant General Albert Wedemeyer, Chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Commanding General, U.S. forces in China, to Chiang Kai-shek, who replies that he is keeping the 5th back to defend Kunming.

Twelve USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Lipo, Tuhshan, and Hochih; a B-25 attacks a truck convoy in the Siang-Chiang Valley while a B-24 Liberator claims a cargo ship sunk in the South China Sea; 19 P-40s and P-51 Mustangs hit river, road, and rail shipping and other targets of opportunity from Kweiyi to Siangtan; 65 P-51s and P-40s hit similar targets of opportunity around Kweilin, Liuchow, Lingling, Hengyang, Tuhshan, and Chuchou; 50 more fighter-bombers hit targets of opportunity at several other locations scattered throughout southern China.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, Japanese forces from Tonk-wa reach Mo-hlaing, where the Chinese 22d Division command post is located. the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special), which is arriving in this area, joins the Chinese in a counterattack that restores the positions. The 113th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, has been unable to penetrate into Bhamo; the 114th Regiment adopts an American suggestion of taking full advantage of supporting artillery and aircraft and is working forward methodically in the northern defenses. South of Bhamo, elements of the Chinese 90th Regiment, 30th Division, becomes isolated during a Japanese counterattack.

Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts knock out a bridge at Mongmit, damage another and blast approach to the Namyao bridge. Villages and building areas, supply dumps, and targets of opportunity are attacked at Man Mao, Etgyi, Namhsim, Tawma and other points in northern Burma.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 9/10 December, two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan Island fly harassment strikes against Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The Japanese land reinforcements near Palompon, Leyte. This is on the west coast.

In the U.S. Sixth Armyâ€™s X Corps area on Leyte, the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) continues their efforts to dislodge the Japanese from the ridge southeast of Limon and to cut the Japanese supply line. In the XXIV Corps area, convoy arrives with supplies and rest of the 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division. The 307th Infantry Regiment continues toward Camp Downes and takes it. The 305th Infantry Regiment secures the region northeast of Camp Downes and protects the northeastern flank of the division. The 2d Battalion of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division, joins the 3d Battalion at Mahonag, from which patrols are being sent out. The 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, drives north across Buri airstrip but is forced back to the southern edge by Japanese fire. The 1st Battalion, 382d Infantry Regiment, probes to locate the Japanese and contains a night counterattack against its perimeter.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb the Lingkas tank farm, Dondang River bridge and Sanga Sanga oil installations on Borneo and three airfields in the Ambon Island-Ceram Island area. P-38 Lightnings hit Namlea Airfield on Boeroe Island west of Ceram. B-25 Mitchells attack the Wasile Bay area of Galela Island located 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Morotai. Ninety one Australian (P-40) Kittyhawks attack Galela Airfield on Galela Island and Miti and Hate Tabako Airfields on Halmahara Island while 14 Beaufighters attack Jolo Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Australian 9th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, moves forward on Bawabu Ridge toward Pearl Ridge which dominates the area north of Torokina. It becomes evident that the Japanese lines of communications lay along the latter ridge.

AUSTRALIA: U-862 had a gun duel with the Greek steam merchant Ilissos (4724 tons) off Tasmania in 37°11S/139°35E (grid VC 8275). The U-boat fired three shots that missed, but choppy seas and the fairly accurate defensive gunfire by the vessel forced the U-boat to dive and leave the area.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Corvette HMCS Beauharnois departed St John's escort for convoy HX-324.

U.S.A.: "I'm Making Believe" by the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 4 November 1944, was charted for 17 weeks, was Number 1 for 2 weeks and was ranked Number 16 for the year 1944.

GERMANY: Heidelberg: General George S. Patton's staff car is in collision with a US Army truck.
Patton and General Hobart Gay were backseat passengers in a military staff sedan speeding along the autobahn at 11.45AM en route to a pheasant hunt. The truck travelling in the opposite direction suddenly crossed their lane, creating the conditions for a head-on collision. Both drivers swerved to avoid a direct collision, but the side-swiping impact threw the general forward, striking his head on the sedan’s interior dome light, and then whiplashing him back. Although both the driver and General Gay were uninjured, Patton suffered crushed vertebrae in his upper spinal column, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and mortally wounded.
The driver of the truck T/5 Robert L. Thompson was drunk.

Patton told his driver Horace Woodring and Gay to "(W)ork my fingers for me. Take and rub my arms and shoulders and rub them hard." It was immediately evident patton had no feeling below the neck. As they waited for help, he said, "This is a helluva way to die." (75)

GERMANY: An American military tribunal in Nuremberg opens criminal proceedings against 23 leading German physicians and administrators for participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity. During what is called the "Doctors Trial" the defendants are accused of planning and enacting the "Euthanasia" Program, the systematic killing of those they deemed "unworthy of life." The victims included the mentally retarded, the institutionalized mentally ill, and the physically impaired. Sixteen of the doctors are found guilty and seven are sentenced to death. Of the other nine found guilty, they ended up serving from less than 10- to 20-years. Seven are found not guilty. (Tom Hickcox)