11 December 1939

UNITED STATES: There is another ominous sign that the U.S. is sliding towards a prolonged and difficult economic slump, as New York's branch of the Bank of the United States announces that it has failed because of bad loans. Up until its downfall, the Bank held the savings of some 400,000 depositors, including a number of immigrants; its subsequent demise imperils the finances of roughly one-third of New York and stands as the nation's single worst bank failure.

JAPAN: Prime Minister WAKATSUKI Reijiro's government falls. This is a revival of a movement for a super-party cabinet. WAKATSUKI's cabinet was fatally compromised by its inveterate liberalism and no longer able to justify itself in a hostile public eye as a buffer between the League of Nations Council and the Japanese high command.

SWITZERLAND: The German claim to equality is recognized by Britain, France and Italy in a conference in Lausanne. On the basis of this declaration Germany has signified its willingness to resume its place at the disarmament conference. As a result, the German government agrees to return to the Disarmament Conference after delegates sign the Geneva Protocol, which acknowledges the equality of rights among the participants in the deliberations. In preparation for the Disarmament Conference, scheduled to begin in February 1933, the U.S. government negotiated a No Force Declaration with Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. These states promised not to resolve any present or future differences between them by force.

UNITED STATES: Very cold weather prevails along the West Coast. San Francisco, California, receives 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) of snow, and at the airport the temperature dipped to 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C). At Sacramento, California, the mercury dips to 17 degrees F (-8,3 degrees C) to establish an all-time record low for that location. Morning lows are below freezing from 9 to 15 December at Sacramento, and the high today is just 34 degrees (1,1 degrees C). The cold wave deals severe damage to truck crops and orange groves in the Sacramento Valley.

ITALY: Italy makes detailed demands for moral, financial, and strategic compensation for the Walwal, Ethiopia, incident that occurred on 5 December 1934.

UNITED STATES: In baseball, the National League votes to permit night baseball, authorizing a maximum of seven games by any team installing lights. The American League does not grant permission for night games until 1937.

The motion picture "Bright Eyes" premieres in the U.S. Directed by David Butler, this musical comedy stars Shirley Temple and Jane Darwell. The members of the American Film Institute ranked the song "On The Good Ship Lollipop" from this movie No. 69 on the list of 100 Greatest American Movie Songs Of All Time.

IRISH REPUBLIC: A Constitution bill is adopted for the Irish Free State omitting any reference to the King of England and his governor general as an end to long differences on the Irish way to independence.

UNITED KINGDOM: The Duke of York is declared George VI, the new king of the British Empire.

ITALY: Italy resigns from the League of Nations stating, "We had not forgotten, and shall not forget, the opprobrious attempt at economic strangulation of the Italian people perpetrated at Geneva (Switzerland) . . . In these circumstances our presence at the door of Geneva could not be tolerated any longer: it wounded our doctrine, our style, and our martial temperament."

LIBYA: Twenty thousand Libyan Jews are deprived of their Italian citizenship. (Tom Hickcox)

LITHUANIA: Elections in the autonomous Memel territory result in an overwhelming victory for the National Socialists, who receive over 90 percent of the vote. Given the resurgence of power in Germany, the Lithuanian government has little choice but to give the National Socialists a free hand in Memel.

The barrage balloons are manned by the men of RAF Balloon Command. Some 40,000 members of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force make up the command. Their balloons are filled with hydrogen and can be winched to the required height in just a few minutes.

The cables have been tested by Canadian fighter pilot Flight-Lieutenant John Kent who deliberately flew aircraft into cables to see what would happen. On one occasion he lost three feet of wing but still managed to land safely.

The U.S. freighter SS Azalea City, detained at London by British authorities since 27 November, is released to proceed to Antwerp, Belgium, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after certain cargo is detained for guaranties.

GERMANY: Hitler meets Vidkund Quisling, the head of the pro-Nazi Norwegian National Unity Party.

SWITZERLAND: Geneva: The League of Nations demands that Russia cease hostilities against Finland.

POLAND: A forced labour programme is instituted for all Jews in the General Government area.

GIBRALTAR: The U.S. freighter SS Steel Engineer, detained by the British yesterday, is released.

NEW ZEALAND: The first Echelon advance party of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force sails from Wellington.

ROMANIA: Bucharest: Associated Press reports that Romania has promised to deliver three million tons of oil to Germany in 1941. It is pointed out in the dispatch that the amount would be nearly twice as much as the total exported this year and twice as much as that sold to the Reich in 1936, when exports were at their peak.

NORTH AFRICA: Flg Off C H Dyson of 33 Sqn. RAF, flying a Hurricane, destroys seven Italian aircraft in a single action before being shot down himself. This is a record for an Allied pilot in the war. He is uninjured and returns to base six days later.

LIBYA: Ships of the British Mediterranean fleet shell Sollum.
Sidi Barrani: At dawn today Scottish troops appeared from a ridge overlooking the town of Sidi Barrani and charged into the ruins. After an hours of fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the Italian blackshirts began to hold up white flags. The first phase of the assault was complete and 15,000 Italians have been taken prisoner, including three generals.
Wavell telegrams to Dill:
Sidi Barrani area was attacked by 4 Indian Div., and 4 Armoured Brigade.
Maktila garrison withdrew west during night 9/10 December to dig in near Sidi Barrani. Enemy still in position between Sidi Barrani and Buqbuq. Patrols 11 Hussars have been 15 miles west of Buqbuq.
Navy bombards Sollum area.
3rd Coldstream Guards capture two Libyan battalions between Maktila and Sidi Barrani.

Later 4 Armoured Brigade is directed west of Buqbuq. 7 Armoured Brigade and Support Group is moving west of Sofafi camps to cut off enemy in that area.

Corvette HMCS Dunvegan launched Sorel, Province of Quebec.

Destroyer HMCS St Clair arrived Clyde for duty with EG-4 at Greenock.

Corvettes HMCS Eyebright, Mayflower, Spikenard and Orillia arrived Halifax incomplete from builders to avoid St Lawrence River freezing.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Farenholt laid down.

The British Ambassador to the U.S., Lord Lothian, asks for more American aid stating, "Hitlerism in the end must go down unless Admiral Mahan is all wrong. By ourselves we cannot be sure of this result though we will try our best. Not only is there the situation in the North Atlantic I have described, but no one can yet tell when the constant pressure of Hitler both on the Vichy government to give him control of the French fleet and bases in the Mediterranean, and on Japan to extend the war in the Pacific, may lead to. But with your help in airplanes, munitions, in ships and on the sea, and in the field of finance now being discussed between your Treasury and ours, we are sure of victory." Sure that the gangster menace to human freedom, the greatest the world has ever seen, will go down to the oblivion it deserves. But if ramparts fall, the war will inevitably cross the oceans and roll up against your shores. If Britain and the eastern shores of the Atlantic an d the islands which lie off its shores, Iceland, the Azores, or bases like Dakar fall into the dictators' hands, or if you are unable to defend the island fortresses in the Pacific, then the jumping off grounds go against you, the oceans become a passageway and your power to strike back at an enemy disappears because you have no bases from which to do so."

Germany, Italy and Japan sign a new pact barring a separate peace with the U.S. or the U.K. The pact states:

- Article I - Italy, Germany and Japan will henceforth conduct in common and jointly a war which has been imposed on them by the United States of America and England, by all means at their disposal and until the end of hostilities.

- Article II - Italy, Germany and Japan undertake each for himself that none of the parties to the present accord will conclude either armistice or peace, be it with the United States or with England without complete and reciprocal agreement [of the three signatories to this pact].

- Article III - Italy, Germany and Japan, even after the victorious conclusion of this war, will collaborate closely in the spirit of the Tripartite Pact, concluded Sept. 21, 1940, in order to realize and establish an equitable new order in the world.

- Article IV - The present accord is effective immediately on its signature and remains in force for the duration of the Tripartite Pact, signed Sept. 21, 1940. The high contracting parties of this accord will at an opportune moment agree among themselves the means of implementing Article III above of this accord.

UNITED KINGDOM: "We have a very hard period to go through," Winston Churchill told MPs in a report in the new situation created by Japanese attacks on US and British possessions in the Far East. But within a few months the flow of munitions and aid from the US "will vastly exceed anything that could have been expected on the peacetime basis that has ruled up to the present." Then, he said, Britain, the US and the Soviet Union would teach the "gangs and cliques of wicked men" a lesson that will not be forgotten in a thousand years.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine Shch-204 of the Black Sea Fleet is mined and sunk in the Varna area off the coast of Bulgaria. (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)

Soviet forces have recaptured 400 towns and villages in less than six days, and driven the Germans back from the Moscow-Volga canal.

YUGOSLAVIA: The unified nation of Yugoslavia, an uneasy federation of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, is a response to the collapse of the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires at the close of World War I, both of which had previously contained parts of what became Yugoslavia. A constitutional monarchy, Yugoslavia built friendships with France and Czechoslovakia during the years between the world wars. With the outbreak of World War II, and the Anschluss ("union") between Austria and Germany, pressure is placed on Yugoslavia to more closely ally itself with Germany, despite Yugoslavia's declared neutrality. But fear of an invasion like that suffered by France pushes Yugoslavia into signing a "Friendship Treaty"--something short of a formal political alliance today.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British escort destroyer HMS Farndale (L 70) sinks the Italian submarine R. Smg. Ammiraglio Caracciolo about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off Bardia, Libya, on a supply trip. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

The British antisubmarine trawler HMS Lady Shirley is hit by one torpedo from German submarine U-374 and sinks in the Straits of Gibraltar about 11 nautical miles (19 kilometers) south-southeast of Gibraltar. All 33 hands on board are lost with the ship.

HONG KONG: Company D of the Winnipeg Grenadiers dispatched to the mainland to strengthen the Gin Drinkers' Line against the Japanese invaders, sees some action, thus becoming the first Canadian Army Unit to fight in World War II. At midday. British Major General Christopher Maltby, General Officer Commanding Hong Kong, orders the mainland troops to withdraw to the island; the Winnipeg Grenadiers cover the Royal Scots' withdrawal down the Kowloon Peninsula. (Tom Hickcox)

BURMA: Japanese aircraft bomb Tavoy Airdrome near Rangoon beginning their offensive against the country.

MALAYA: The Indian 9th Division, Indian III Corps, abandons the two remaining airfields in Kelantan (Gong Kedah and Machang) in order to protect communications. The Japanese exert strong pressure against one Indian 11th Division column on the Kroh-Patani road and force the other, on the road to Singora, back toward partially prepared positions at Jitra. The RAF, now greatly depleted in strength, adopts a policy of conducting bomber operations only at night until adequate fighter support is available and of using fighters primarily for defense of the Singapore Naval Base and for protection of convoys bringing reinforcements. Indian III Corps troops are thus denied much close air support.

Off MALAYA: HMS Repulse and HMS PRINCE OF WALES were heading for Singapore when they were attacked by Japanese aircraft. On of the Repulse's survivors describes the end: "The Prince of Wales is hardly distinguishable in smoke and flame ... I can see one plane release a torpedo ... It explodes against her bows. A couple of seconds later another explodes amidships and astern." Immediately after this the Repulse, too, was hit and the men plunged into oil-filled water. A destroyer later picked up the lucky ones: "We were stripped, bathed and left naked ... to sweat the oil out of the pores in the great heat."

Canadian National Steamships Line SS Colborne attacked and badly damaged by Japanese a/c at Penang. She was able to return to Canada.

TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: The Japanese Aparri force on Luzon continues rapidly south along Route 5 toward Tuguegarao and Laoag and its airfield fall to the Vigan force. The Japanese begin mining San Bernardino and Surigao Straits while commercial vessels withdraw from Manila Bay.

By the end of the day, all but one B-17 Flying Fortress has been dispatched from Clark Field, Luzon, to Del Monte Field on Mindanao, which is beyond the range of Japanese aircraft.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: The Dutch submarine O 19 attacks the American ! freighter Lillian Lukenbach, probably in the South China Sea. Fortunately the attack is unsuccessful. Lillian Lukenbach is a 6369 grt turbine steamer, built in 1919 by Sun Shipbuilding of Chester, Pennsylvania. (Bram M. Otto)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 torpedoes and shells a 5,645 ton, unarmed U.S. freighter about 680 nautical miles (1 259 kilometers) northeast of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. The ship sinks tomorrow. One lifeboat is launched and all but four men reach Hawaii on 20 December.

WAKE ISLAND The Japanese attempt to land a 450-man party of the Maizaru 2d Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF). The landing force at is repulsed by 450 US Marines of the Wake Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion, who also sink two Japanese destroyers and damage seven other ships with their Marine coast defence guns and the remaining fighter aircraft. HIJMS Hayate is sunk by gunfire. F4F-3 Wildcat pilots sink the destroyer HIJMS Kisaragi with bombs. This force withdraws to Kwajalein. Around 0900 hours, 17 bNellb bombers (Mitsubishi G3M2, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers) of the Chitose Kokutai (Naval Air Corps) based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the naval guns on the island; the Marine pilots shoot down two of the Nells. (Arnold Lloyd Gladson, Marine and Gordon Rottman)

USN submarine USS Triton (SS-201), patrolling south of Wake, attacks the Japanese ship she had encountered shortly before midnight; she is unsuccessful.

TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: Six Hawaiian Air Force B-18 Bolos fly a sea-search mission. Similar missions by B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-18s, and A-20 Havocs are flown each day for the remainder of the year; several submarines are sighted and some are attacked but without positive evidence of hits.

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin tells British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he favors the establishment of "a supreme authority for the higher direction and coordinated control of Allied strategy" in the Far East.

The U.S. Congress votes to declare war on Germany and Italy. With only one short speech, the Senate voted 88-to-0 for war against Germany, 90-to-0 for war with Italy. There was one abstention, Republican Pacifist Jeannette Rankin called out 'Present' - a refusal to vote. The House of Representatives voted war with Germany, 393-to-0. After the vote is taken the chamber is filled with the noise of stamping feet from the galleries as the public stomped out. It seems that the war with Italy vote (399-to-0) wasn't worth waiting around for. The resolution states, "Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the government to carry on war against the Government of Germany; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States." The Congress also votes to use U.S. forces anywhere in the world. The term of those enlisted under the Selective Service Act is extended for the duration plus six months. (John Nicholas and Bill Howard)

The U.S. Army's Western Defense Command is established with Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt as commander. One of the units assigned is the 4th Air Force at Hamilton Field, San Rafael, California, which is reassigned from the Air Force Combat Command to the new unit. The West Coast is declared a theater of war.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detains 1,370 Japanese Americans classified as "dangerous enemy aliens."

The Buick Division of the General Motors Corporation lowers its car prices to reflect the absence of spare tires or inner tubes from its new cars. Widespread shortages have led to many quotas and laws designed to conserve America's resources. One of these laws prohibits spare tires on new cars. Rubber, produced overseas, has become almost impossible to get. People did not mind the spare-tire law too much, though. They are too busy dealing with quotas for gasoline, meat, butter, shoes, and other essentials.

Colonel Charles W. Bundy, the senior officer responsible for Pacific operations in the War Plans Division, is killed in an airplane crash. He is replaced by Dwight Eisenhower. (Jay Stone)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Patrol vessel HMS Lady Shirley was hit by one torpedo from U-374, exploded and sank at 0421 with all hands. HMS Rosabelle tried to find the U-boat, but was also torpedoed 0442 hours and sank.

U.S.S.R.: Vinnitsa: Hitler refuses to allow the Sixth Army to pull out of Stalingrad.

The Soviet Army retains the initiative, making progress in the Stalingrad sector and in the Caucasus Mountains; sharp thrusts are continued against the Germans on the central and northern fronts without materially changing the situation. The German Sixth Army, isolated between the Don and Volga Rivers on the Stalingrad front, is under strong pressure. German Army Group A withdraws their main line of resistance in the vicinity of the Terek River in the Caucasus.

BLACK SEA: The Soviet submarine SC-212 is lost after 11 Dec near Fiodonisi Island due to a Romanian minefield. All 44 crewmen are lost.

ITALY: Eighteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the harbor and surrounding areas at Naples with good results; one B-24 is lost.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 82 aircraft and the Pathfinders, 48 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, eight Stirlings and six Wellingtons, to bomb Turin but more than half of the force turns back before attempting to cross the Alps, because of severe icing conditions; 28 crews claim to have bombed Turin but the city reports only three high-explosive bombs and a few incendiaries, with no casualties. Three Halifaxes and a Stirling are lost.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Whilst escorting fast convoy MKF.4 (U.K. to Gibraltar to Alexandria, Egypt), destroyer HMS Blean (L 47) is attacked and sunk by U-443 (Oberleutnant zur See Konstantin von Puttkamer), 60 miles West of Oran at 35 55N 01 50E. 94 survivors are rescued by HMS Wishart. (Alex Gordon)(108)

LIBYA: British General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, issues orders for an attack on El Agheila on 14 December. Air action is stepped up in preparation for the offensive.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly several fighter-bomber missions and sweeps over the battle area in preparation for the ground assault on El Agheila.

TUNISIA: Another German attack on Medjez el Bab from the north and east is repulsed. The British 6th Armoured Division begins arriving in the forward area. Combat Command B, U.S.1st Armored Division, is relieved in the Bedja area by the 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, and is placed in V Corps reserve.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells with fighter escort, attack the rail bridge at La Hencha while P-38 Lightnings fly sea patrol off the north coast and over the Gulf of Tunis and reconnaissance over the Sousse region. USAAF Spitfires sweep over Medjez el Bab and Bone.

ANDAMAN ISLANDS: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators of the India Air Task Force attack shipping at Port Blair, with negative results.

NEW GUINEA: Brigadier George Wootten, General Officer Commanding Australian 18th Brigade, 7th Division, inspects the Warren Force (based on U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) front, where positions are virtually static. The first of a number of freighters to bring supplies and personnel to Oro Bay arrives during the night of 11/12 December and unloads four light tanks of the Australian 2/6th Armoured Regiment and supplies.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the airfield and targets of opportunity in the Buna area while B-25 Mitchells and B-26s attack Lae Airfield.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: Tonight another "Tokyo Express" run with 11 destroyers is lead by Admiral Tanaka. One destroyer is sunk by the US PT Boats. Only 300 of the 1200 drums of supplies reach Japanese forces.

USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island with no losses

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: USAAF Eleventh Air Force aircraft fly an uneventful reconnaissance covers Attu, Agattu, Amchitka, Kiska and the Semichis Islands. Three B-26 Marauders and four P-38 Lightnings bomb and strafe a previously bombed cargo vessel in Kiska Harbor, scouting two more direct hits. The P-38 Lightnings also strafe and bomb the Kiska Harbor submarine base and seaplane hangars, camp area and nearby gun emplacements.

UNITED KINGDOM: A remarkably simple piece of equipment, a "drop-tank" made out of corrugated paper, has started to arrive at US fighter bases in England and has already revolutionized the air war over Europe. Fighters fitted with these British-produced tanks, which carry 75 gallons of fuel, can now escort the American heavy bombers on their daylight missions far into Germany. It is no exaggeration to say that because of these tanks the US 8th Army Air Force has seized the initiative from the Luftwaffe. The newly-introduced Mustang fighters equipped with two of these tanks each can fly 600 miles from their bases and still take on the German fighters at over 400mph.

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 152: Four B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 800,000 leaflets on Laval, Rennes, Le Mans and Nantes at 2026-2039 hours.

GERMANY: The USAAF raids the U-boat yard at Emden, losing 20 planes but claiming to have shot down 138 German fighters.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 151: 437 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 86 B-24 Liberators hit the industrial area of Emden, Germany at 1220-1312 hours; they claim 86-22-23 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s and two B-24s are lost. This mission is escorted by 31 P-38 Lightnings, 313 P-47 Thunderbolts and 44 USAAF Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; they claim 21-0-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-47 Thunderbolts and 1 P-51 are lost.

During the night of 11/12 December, 12 RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Duisburg.

Field Marshal Rommel and his staff conclude their tour the Danish coast, their special train ending up in the Silkeborg railroad station.

They have been at it for a week and a half now. The staff begins their report for the Fuehrer.

Coastal positions are unimpressive. If this is an indication of the mighty Atlantic Wall, there are serious problems.

First of all, command structures are weak. They are disorganized and de-centralized.

And local defenses have been set up by the local commanders as they see fit, although they at least mostly got along.

If a unit transfers, the next one coming to the area has to take over that defensive plan. Usually, it's just a matter of "Hold on for dear life, and pray the reinforcements come soon."

A vain prayer. There is no real mobile reserve in Denmark, and most of the units, Rommel writes, have little transportation or nearly enough equipment.

Many are close to capacity, but the men are usually too green, or too old. A lack of combat experience is in most of the units.

Although the vital, strategic major ports each have a well-rounded defence plan, a good deal of the defensive positions are either incomplete or not even started. And a port is what the Allies will need as soon as possible, if the landing is to have any hope of success.

We're now back from the capital. A few days' written work and then the job will continue.

You can still buy everything you want here in Denmark. of course the Danes will only sell to their own compatriots. I've bought a few things for Christmas, so far as the money went."

ITALY : Allied momentum wanes as their attacks in the US 5th Army sector continue with no significant gains.

As American soldiers battle to seize a small Italian town called San Pietro their efforts are being filmed by a crew led by the Hollywood director Major John Huston. Both the US and Britain have sent their film-makers to war - with great popular success.

Desert Victory, the film of the Eighth Army's advance from El Alamein to Tripoli, Libya, is acknowledged as the outstanding documentary of the war. Since its release in March of this year it has attracted huge audiences at home and abroad. It was filmed at the front by 26 cameramen of the Army Film and Photographic Unit, under Major David MacDonald, who once worked in Hollywood. Seven of his camermen were killed or missing and four more taken prisoner. The awesome artillery barrage that begins El Alamein stuns audiences. Miles of film were edited by Captain Roy Boulting. Mr Churchill sent the film to President Roosevelt and Marshal Stalin, who ordered it to be shown to the Red Army.

The Crown Film Unit showed a documentary of a day and night in the life of a dockland fire station at the height of the Blitz, laconically titled Fires Were Started. All roles are taken by real firemen and the direction by Humphrey Jennings is truthful and tragic. This year also saw two dramatized documentaries: The Gentle Sex, Leslie Howard's last film, about a mixed bag of girls joining the ATS, and a story of women directed to an aero engine factory, Millions Like Us, by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat.

The Hollywood director John Ford is shooting movies of the US Navy in action in the Pacific. He was wounded while filming The Battle of Midway (and awarded a Purple Heart). And Captain Clark Gable has been in England making a documentary which follows a bomber crew.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-40s and A-36 Apaches attack Anzio, Nettuno, Viticuso, San Vittore del Lazio, Pontecorvo, Acquafondata, the railway siding at Arce, tracks and junction north of Ostia, and railway between Ostia and Lido di Roma. Weather causes abandonment of B-25 Mitchell operations.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Frigate HMS Cuckmere is torpedoed by a Gnat from U-223 while escorting convoy KMS-34 and has to be towed to Algiers, where she is found to be beyond repair. Location: off Algiers at 36 56N 03 01E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

INDIA: New Delhi: Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, issues a directive ordering the integration of the USAAF Tenth Air Force and RAF Bengal Command into the Eastern Air Command (EAC). All Allied air forces in southeast Asia are under command of Air Chief Marshal (USAAF General) Sir Richard Peirse as Allied Air Commander-in-Chief.

CHINA: Fourteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and ten P-40s attack Shihshow and Ansiang and three B-24 Liberators bomb Hankow airfield. Nine P-40s intercept about 30 Japanese airplanes over Nanchang shortly after the Japanese force bombs Suichwan; the P-40s claim ten aircraft shot down.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's IV Corps area, advance elements of the 268th Brigade reach Indaw.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Makassar on Celebes Island and Balikpapan, Borneo.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force , B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders hit bivouacs and other installations near Fortification Point and in the Finschhafen area. .

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe the Borgen Bay area on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, 16 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, in two waves, attack Kahili and several other B-25 Mitchells hit Arigua Plantation. Over 20 B-24 Liberators bomb the village and wharf area at Tsirogei and eight P-39 Airacobras bomb Tonolai. Several aircraft on armed reconnaissance, operating individually or in small flights, attack targets of opportunity scattered throughout Bougainville and the Shortland Island area. Allied night fighters carry out a strike on a Japanese bivouac along the Jaba River; others hit Buka and Bonis.

U.S.A.: The (Nat) King Cole's Trio's record of "All For You" makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is their first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 10.

Frigate HMCS Monnow attacked by A JU88 torpedo bomber that had suddenly appeared out of the overcast skies. Within seconds Monnow opened fire with bridge Oerlikons and registered a hit. Later, returning to station, Monnow sighted flares and upon investigating picked up 4 German airmen from a raft. They were the crew of the JU88. Picked up and eventually turned over to authorities in Greenock. Monnow later proceeded to Londonderry.

During the night of 11/12 December, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 747: three B-17 Flying Fortresses and eight B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany; one B-24 is lost.

FRANCE: French women dance for joy as they are freed from a German prison in the Alsatian town of Hagenau during its liberation today.

In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division finishes clearing Sarreguemines, except for a few snipers, and blocks at Frauenberg; the main body of the division continues toward the Blies River; at night, the division prepares to attack across the Blies on 12 December. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26 Infantry Division, continues toward the German frontier.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the elements of the 44th Infantry Division take Petit RC)derching; others reach Siersthal. In the VI Corps area, Haguenau falls to the 79th Infantry Division.

GERMANY: Bad Neuheim: At his Adlerhorst headquarters near Bad Nauheim about 16 miles (26 kilometers) north-northeast of Frankfurt, German western front commanders note Chancellor Adolf Hitler's uncontrollable trembling and pale, puffy appearance as he orders Operation AUTUMN MIST, a major offensive through the Ardennes towards Antwerp.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the Germans continue a successful defense of Pier and Schophoven, but elements of the 415th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division, take Merken and Vilvenich. The 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and armor of the 3d Armored Division overrun Geich. Combat Command R of the 3d Armored Division, reinforced by a battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment, makes a futile and costly effort to take Hoven. The 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, seizes Merode and Schlicht. In the VIII Corps area, the 106th Infantry Division, with the 14th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) attached, takes over positions in the Schnee Eifel formerly held by the 2d Infantry Division.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 746: The largest number of bombers so far dispatched, 1,586, and 841 fighters are sent to hit rail targets and bridges in western Germany using Pathfinder Force means; five bombers and two fighters are lost: 365 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Giessen, 320 hit the M/Y at Frankfurt-am-Main and 135 attack the Mosel M/Y at Koblenz while 304 B-24 Liberators attack the M/Y at Hanau with the loss of four B-24s. B-17 crews also bomb a railroad bridge at Mannehim by 182 aircraft with the loss of one aircraft while 158 B-24s bomb a railroad bridge at Maximiliansau. Fourteen other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

Over 200 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers dispatched to bomb defended villages and storage areas are recalled because of weather; one bomber manages to bomb a stores depot at Reichenbach. Fighters escort the RAF, divebomb targets in cities, and support the U.S. 3d Armored Division in the Echtz-Geich area, the 104th Infantry Division at Merken, the 9th Infantry Division at Merode and Derichsweiler, and the 83d Infantry Division at Strass.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack three cities: (1) 233 Lancasters and five Mosquitos are dispatched to the Urft Dam at Heimbach; 180 aircraft bomb the target. Hits are scored but no breach is made; one Lancaster is lost. (2) Two targets in Bottrop are bombed by 148 Lancasters through cloud on the marshalling yards (96 aircraft) and on the benzol plant (52 aircraft). The bombing appears to be accurate; one Lancaster is lost. (3) Duisburg is attacked by 80 Mosquitos on Oboe-leader raids to the Bruckhausen coking plant (49 aircraft) and to the Meiderich benzol plant (31 aircraft). Most of the bombing on the benzol plant and approximately half on the coking plant appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos attack six cities: 38 bomb Hannover, 25 hit Hamburg, eight each attack Bielefeld and Schwerte and one each bomb Dortmund and Oberhausen. One Mosquito is lost.

U-2367 laid down.

U-2534 launched.

U-2349 commissioned.

AUSTRIA: Four hundred thirty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, with fighter escorts, are dispatched to attack numerous targets: In Vienna, 205 bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery with the loss of eight aircraft, 98 hit the Matzleinsdorf railroad station with the loss of five aircraft and 59 attack the South ordnance depot with the loss of three aircraft; 48 bomb the Main marshalling yard at Graz with the loss of one aircraft; and 31 bombers attack targets of opportunity.

HUNGARY: One each USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb the railroad at Kenyeri, the city of Szombathely and an airfield.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division is ordered to attack for Tossignano during the night of 12/13 December.

In the British Eighth Army's Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division and 5th Armoured Division gain bridgeheads across the Lamone River and push to the Fosso Vecchio Canal. Tanks are unable to cross into the bridgehead. The Porter Force is dissolved, but elements continue to assist the 5th Armored Division.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit the Motta di Livenza bridge; fighters and fighter-bombers hit occupied areas, houses, guns, and defensive positions south of Bologna and attack railroad targets in the central Po River Valley.

YUGOSLAVIA: Thirty eight RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly a supply mission to partisans.

CHINA: U.S. Lieutenant General Albert Wedemeyer, Commanding General U.S. China Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the National Government, drafts directives for Operation ALPHA (the plan to defend Kunming and Chungking) that Chiang Kai-shek later approves. Chinese General Ying-chin Ho, Commander-in-Chief Chinese Army General Headquarters, is to command ALPHA forces, but U.S. Major General Claire Chennault, Commanding General USAAF Fourteenth Air Force, will command air forces in the area. ALPHA forces are to complete concentration in the Kweiyang area, protect Kunming and Kweiyang, and train reserves.

Sixteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack Tien Ho Airfield at Canton and the Kengtung barracks.

BURMA: Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the stores area at Hpaklon. Sixteen P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces in the Bhamo area while 21 P-47s knock out and damage bridges at Mongmit, Man Aitau, Ho-hko, and Pa-mao. Seven fighter-bombers severely damage the Hsipaw ferry; supply and personnel concentrations and town areas are hit at Lawa, Myitson, Pemnegon, Nam Pan, Hsenwi, and Nawngpeng.

Twelve USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb and fighter-bombers attack Lashio, and Wan Lai-Kam.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators and six B-25 Mitchells, supported by eight P-51 Mustangs, bomb the Hai Duong area.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Bohol Sea, Japanese planes attack a resupply convoy of 13 USN medium landing ships (LSMs) and landing craft, infantry (LCIs), bound for Ormoc Bay, Leyte, Philippine Islands; escorting destroyer USS REID (DD-369) shoots down seven aircraft but is sunk by two kamikazes off the southern coast of Leyte about 75 nautical miles (140 kilometers) south-southeast of Ormoc in position 09.50N, 124.55E; 52 of her crew are lost. Her 150 survivors are picked up by landing craft in her convoy. Reid receives seven battle stars for World War II service. (Ron Babuka & Jack McKillop)

In the Visayan Sea, USMC F4U Corsairs repeat a mast-head attack on a Japanese convoy about 31 nautical miles (57 kilometers) northwest of Ormoc, Leyte, in position 11.20N, 124.10E.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division, reduces the strongpoint north of its perimeter in the Mt. Cabungaan area after intense preparatory fire. Patrols of the 2d Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), probe both sides of the ridge southeast of Limon before the general frontal and flanking attack is begun behind artillery bombardment; the advance stops for the night at the base of the hill. The 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, begins patrolling the Limon area. The XXIV Corps gains firm control of Ormoc Bay as advance elements of the 7th Infantry Division overtake the 77th Infantry Division troops at Ipil. Japanese forces on Leyte are thus divided. The 77th Infantry Division attacks from Ormoc with the 307th and 306th Infantry Regiments but makes little progress. Japanese attempts to land reinforcements at Ormoc Bay, during the night of 11/12 December, are frust rated. A few Japanese succeed in landing but are unable to take an active part in the battle for the Ormoc corridor.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Mandurriao Airfield on Cebu Island. B-25 Mitchells, with P-47 Thunderbolt support, hit Padada Aerodrome on Mindanao Island and Fifth Air Force fighters join U.S. Marine Corps aircraft in attacks on a 13-ship convoy off northwestern Leyte Island. Leyte-based planes begin missions in support of the coming invasion of Mindoro.

USN submarine USS Gar (SS-206) lands supplies on the west coast of Luzon, and picks up intelligence documents.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, and fighter-bombers attack Japanese supply and troop concentrations on the southern shore of Wasile Bay on Galela Island off Morotai and along the shores of north Halmahera, sinking a freighter. Other FEAF planes make small raids on oil and shipping targets around northern Borneo.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty eight USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam bomb the airfield and ammunition storage area on Iwo Jima; night harassment continues as individual B-24 Liberators from Guam and Saipan fly three snooper strikes against the island during the night of 11/12 December.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USN Task Force 38 (TF 38) sails from Ulithi Atoll to participate in the invasions of Mindoro and Luzon Islands, Philippine Islands. TF 38 consists of six aircraft carriers (CVs) and six small aircraft carriers (CVLs) with six carrier air groups (CVGs), five light carrier air groups (CVLGs) and one night light carrier air group [CVLG(N)] .

- Task Group (TG) 38.1: USS Cowpens (CVL-25) with CVLG-22, USS Monterey (CVL-26) with CVLG-28), USS Wasp (CV-18) with CVG-81 and USS Yorktown (CV-10) with CVG-3.

- TG 38.2: USS Cabot (CVL-28) with CVLG-29, USS Hancock (CV-19) with CVG-11, USS Independence (CVL-22) with CVLG(N)-41 and USS Lexington (CV-16) with CVG-20

- TG 38.3: USS Essex (CV-9) with CVG-4, USS Langley (CVL-27) with CVLG-44), USS San Jacinto (CV-30) with CVLG-45) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) with CVG-80).

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Australian 11th Brigade, 3rd Division, relieves the U.S. 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division.

Corvette HMCS North Bay arrived Sydney, Nova Scotia for refit.

Tug HMCS Gleneagle launched Kingston, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The remains of a paper Japanese Fu Go paper balloon including envelope, rigging and some apparatus, is recovered at Kalispell, Montana. It is believed that the balloon landed between 11 and 25 November. Kalispell is located about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Great Falls.

Destroyer USS Frank Knox commissioned.

Frigate USS Moberly commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On 10 Dec, 1944, U-365 fired a Gnat at the convoy RA-62 in grid AC 8860 and heard a detonation after 10 minutes 58 seconds, probably at the end of its run. A Gnat struck destroyer HMS Cassandra from U-365, when she searched for the U-boat north of Varde, Norway to prevent a further attack on the convoy. The whole bow section was blown off. Frigate HMS Bahamas took her in tow stern first and passed later the tow over to a Soviet tug, which towed her to Kola Inlet for. In July 1945 the destroyer sailed to Gibraltar for complete repairs, which took over a year to complete and then went into reserve in 1946.

In the Caribbean Sea, the steady decline in U-boat activity in the Caribbean during the year permits a reduction of non-rigid airship (blimp) operations over the southern approaches, and Fleet Airship Wing Five at Trinidad is disestablished.

UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster announces that Newfoundland will elect members of a National Convention in 1946. The Convention will discuss the country's economic and political situation.

U.S.A.: A USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress crosses the US in a record time of 5hrs 27 mins.

NEWFOUNDLAND: The Confederation agreement for Newfoundland to enter the Confederation as Canada's tenth province is signed in St. John's. (Tom Hickcox)