15 December 1939

CHINA: General Chiang Kai-shek resigns as President of the Nanking Government stating "but realizing . . . that a successful safeguard against foreign invasion depends upon the cessation of civil trouble and the unification of the country, I decided temporarily to leave my duties. . . . I therefore request the Central Government to accept my resignation from my offices so as to enhance the realization of unification and accomplish the purpose of national salvation. . . ." Canton leaders plan to go to Nanking. ". . . so that a National Government might be established at an early date for the solution of the national crisis."

INTERNATIONAL: Most of the Allied governments default on their war debt obligations to the U.S. in response to the U.S. Congress' rejection of the Lausanne Conference agreement. Between 16 June and 9 July1932, representatives from the U.K., France, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Japan gathered at Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland to address the pressing issues of war debts and reparations. It was amply clear to the delegates that the deepening depression had made it impossible for Germany to resume its reparations payments. They came to an agreement on a two-point plan: (1) Not to press Germany for immediate payments and (2) to reduce German indebtedness by nearly 90 percent and require Germany to prepare for the issuance of bonds valued at 3 billion Reichsmarks to be administered by the Bank for International Settlements and issued when world economic conditions warranted. This provision was close to cancellation, reducing the German obligation from the original $33 billion to $714 million. It was informally agreed among the delegates that these provisions would be effective only in the event that the United States agreed to cancellation of war debts owed by other Allied governments. Concerned about the impact of the Depression, in early December the U.S. Congress passes a resolution that no foreign debt to the U.S. should be cancelled or reduced, which effectively kills the Lausanne Agreement. The German government does not make any payments under this plan and the National Socialists (Nazis) repudiate the reparation debt as interest slavery. Finland is the only country to repay its war debt to the U.S. in full.

UNITED STATES: The Secretary of the Navy approves acceptance of the Curtiss XO3C-1 Seagull, a single-engine biplane observation seaplane; the aircraft is subsequently converted to the XSOC-1 Seagull. Aircraft of this type are operated from battleships and cruisers from late 1935 through World War II.

GERMANY: The French Ambassador in Berlin, Robert Coulondre, reports that Germany is planning aggression in the East. He writes, "The insistence with which it has been explained to me that Germany has no claims in the direction of France would have been enough to enlighten me. But I received even more explicit information; all those with whom I held conversations, with the exception of Herr Hitler, spoke to me, in different ways, and always with intentional vagueness, of the necessity for German expansion in Eastern Europe, Herr von Ribbentrop spoke of the creation of zones of influence in the east and southeast; Field-Marshal Göring, of 'an essentially economic penetration in the south-east.' "

FRANCE: Chamberlain visits the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.

In Paris life carries on much as in peacetime. Elegant Parisiennes are trying to make war chic. The latest evening wear is a tailored suit bearing the crest of the RAF. Society hostesses help the war effort by giving balls for the Red Cross or the army. Coco Chanel has closed her Rue Cambon salon and put her seamstresses to work making gloves and knitwear for the army - all bearing her designer label. This winter has turned out to be a cold one, with coal in short supply, many families are living in single draught proof rooms to save fuel. Although there is no shortage of food or of 'Saint-Raphael', the vital warming tonic wine, patisseries are becoming hard to find as bakers turn their attentions to bread rather than cakes.

GERMANY: Hundreds of factories are said to be producing 'ersatz' [artificial] coffee from barley, figs, berries and other substitutes.

The German armored ship Deutschland returns to Wilhelmshaven from Gotenhafen (former Gdynia, Poland) and is renamed Lutzow

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Cameron (one of the 50 US leases) is severely damaged by German bombing whilst in dry dock at Portsmouth. She topples over and is considered to be beyond repair and broken up. There are no casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Destroyer HMS Ithuriel launched.

Submarine HMS P-32 launched.

GERMANY: The Germans release the papers (summaries of British CoS reports) captured by the raider Atlantis on November 11 to the Japanese. (Daniel Ross)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Free French Submarine FFL Narval mined off Tunisia.

TURKEY: The Uruguayan registered vessel MV Salvador, carrying refugee Bulgarian Jews who are desperately attempting to reach Palestine, sailed from Constanza in Romania and miraculously reached Istanbul. The vessel is built to carry between 30-40 passengers but on this journey she is carrying 327. There are no cabins, bunks or life-jackets, the passengers packed in like sardines, standing room only. After departing Istanbul the dilapidated ship is caught in a severe storm while crossing the Sea of Marmara, the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating the Asian part of Turkey from its European part. The ship sinks taking the lives of 204 passengers including 66 children. There are 123 survivors.

NORTH AFRICA:
Imperial troops cross the frontier into Libya.
The British take in a surprise raid the Halfaya Pass on the Libyan-Egyptian border. The remnants of the Italian Tenth Army withdrew to the fortress of Bardia. The Italians now reinforce the defences of Tobruk and the El Mekili-Derna line, where they station three divisions which they have summoned from the interior.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:
Italian submarine R. Smg. 'Tarantini' is torpedoed and sunk by submarine HMS/M Thunderbolt (N 25) in the Bay of Biscay as she returns from North Atlantic patrol. Location: About 459 nautical miles (850 kilometers) north-northeast of Lagens Field, Azores, in position 45.25N, 22.00W.The T-class submarine HMS Thunderbolt is the recomissioned/renamed HMS Thetis which failed to surface from its first submerged test trial in Liverpool Bay on 1st. June 1939. (Alex Gordon)

UNITED KINGDOM: The production Short Sunderland Mk III flying boat (W 3999) makes its first flight. It mounts a power-operated dorsal gun turret and has a new type of planing bottom to the hull, the forward step being made shallower. (22)

U-922 laid down.

U-176, U-216 commissioned.

U-412 launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A British cruiser HMS GALATEA is sunk by the U-557 off Alexandria. 469 of her crew were lost.

A British supply convoy bound for Malta leaves Alexandria.

THAILAND, Bangkok: Burma has become the latest target of the Japanese onslaught in South-east Asia. The invasion began this morning with troops of the Japanese 15th Army advancing from Thailand west across the Kra isthmus and capturing the three key southern airfields, Victoria Point, Tavoy and Tennasserim.

Tokyo decided to give permission to the 15th Army's commander, General Shojiro Iida, to launch the attack, satisfied that the attack on Malaya was going according to plan and that General Yamashita's 25th Army no longer requires the 15th Army to secure its rear.

Iida's first objective is to take Rangoon and cut the main Allied supply line to Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalists. Logistics favour Iida. At his disposal he has 35,000 men, in two divisions, and 100 planes. He also has in place a "Fifth Column" of Japanese army-trained Burmese nationalists ready to help defeat the British, who are as yet ill-organized, with only a few thousand men.

MALAYA: The British lose heavily in their withdrawal towards Gurun. They succeed for the moment in keeping the Japanese out of Gurun.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Far East Air Force, receives permission to withdraw the few remaining B-17 Flying Fortresses to Bachelor Field, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The air defense of the Philippines is left to the few remaining fighters.

JOHNSTON ATOLL: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-122 surfaces and shells this U.S. possession causing slight damage to a few buildings and no casualties. One shell lands astern and another passes over her forecastle of USN transport USS William Ward Burrows (AP-6) but apparently she is unseen by the Japanese and she is not hit. The atoll consists of two small islets, Johnston and Sand Islands, located about 712 nautical miles (1 319 kilometers) west-southwest of Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: USN seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8), oiler USS Neches (AO-5), and four destroyers sail for Wake Island.

Kahului on northern Maui Island, is shelled by a Japanese submarine from the Second Submarine Squadron. Possible candidates for having carried out the shelling are HIJMS I-2, I-3, I-4, I-5, I-6, or I-7.

CANADA: In Ottawa, Ontario, the Cabinet War Committee discusses financial aid to Britain; "the billion dollar gift."

ST. PIERRE and MIQUELON: Submarine FS Surcouf arrives at St Pierre to operate with Free French forces.

The Congress passes a military appropriation bill of $10 billion for the defense of the country.

After a brief visit to Hawaii, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox tells the press, "I think the most effective Fifth Column work of the entire war was done in Hawaii with the possible exception of Norway"--this despite the complete lack of evidence of such sabotage.

Norman Corwin's production of "We Hold These Truths," commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and starring Orson Welles, is broadcast simultaneously on all four national US radio networks CBS, Mutual and NBC's Red and Blue Networks. It reaches an estimated audience of 63 million people, the largest ever for a dramatic production of any kind.

Admiral Ernest J. King is offered the post of Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet. He accepts.

Douglas DC-3A-191, msn 1900, registered NC16060 by the U.S. airline Western Air Lines, crashes at Fairfield, Utah, at 0122 hours local. This is Western Flight 13 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Burbank, California via Las Vegas, Nevada. All four crew and 13 of the 15 passengers are killed. The crash occurred after the aircraft performed a violent maneuver. Failure of the left, or possibly both wing tips and of the horizontal tail surfaces as a result of a sever pull-up which caused unusual and abnormally high air loads. The reason for the pull-up maneuver was not determined.

An American Federation of Labor (AFL) council adopts a no-strike policy in war industries, which include automotive plants being converted to military production (domestic automobile manufacturing stopped completely from 1941 to 1944).

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Santo Domingo breaks off diplomatic relations with Berlin. (Mike Yared)

U-127 sunk west of Gibraltar in position 36.28N, 09.12W, by depth charges from destroyer HMAS Nestor. 51 dead (all hands lost)

U-77 sank SS Empire Barracuda.

UNITED KINGDOM: The government is to launch an all-out campaign to warn people of the dangers of venereal disease, using leaflets, films and broadcasts. The House of Commons today approved a regulation which provides that if two people report a third as a source of infection, that person may be compelled to go for treatment.

The minister of health, Ernest Brown, revealed that the number of new cases of syphilis had risen by 70% since 1939. The rate was now as bad as in 1932. Public education was essential, as well as free treatment available from GPs and an increasing number of clinics. The Labour MP Dr. Edith Summerskill said the new regulation did not go far enough. Last year 70,000 cases of VD had been seen by clinics. This meant that the total number was probably 150,000 - more than the casualties of the Blitz.

MPs reported that VD in the factories was seriously affecting the war effort, and that ships were sometimes unable to sail because of it. It was no longer confined to towns. Lady Astor said: "There has been a lowering of the moral tone and the government has done nothing about it."

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that shipping will be available at the end of January 1943 to transport the Australian 9th Division with minimal equipment from North Africa to Australia. Churchill says, "the 9th Australian Division would carry with them from the African desert a splendid reputation, and the honour of having played a leading part in a memorable victory for the Empire and the common cause."

London: It was gazetted today that PO (Cook) Charles Henry Walker (b.1914) dived from his destroyer to rescue a survivor of a burning ship who was in difficulties. (Albert Medal)

Scotland: Convoy JW-51A sails from Loch Ewe for Kola Bay in the USSR, re-opening the Arctic convoy route.

FRANCE: During the night of 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off French ports on the Bay of Biscay: three lay mines off St. Nazaire and two lay mines off Lorient.

ITALY: Royal Air Force (B-24) Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group, operationally controlled by the USAAF IX Bomber Command, hit Naples harbor during the night of 15/16 December.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British destroyer HMS Petard (G 56) and the Greek destroyer RHS Vasillisa Olga (D 15) capture the Italian submarine R.Smg. Uarsciek south of Malta however she sinks while in tow.

LIBYA: While the 7th Armoured Division, British Eighth Army, engages the Axis rear guards from the east, the New Zealand 2d Division drives rapidly to the coast in the Merduma area to block Axis' escape on the west.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-40s strike at retreating troops and vehicles between El Agheila and Merduma, as the New Zealand 2nd Division drives to the coast in the Merduma area to obstruct the retreating Germans. _

TUNISIA: The British First Army is slowly building up strength. The 6th Armoured Division completes concentration in Tunisia and is followed early in February 1943 by the 46th Division. Tanks and selected personnel of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 1st Armored Regiment, are sent back to Oran, Algeria, to rejoin the 1st Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division.

Eight USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators, opening the Ninth Air Force's offensive against Tunisian ports, hit the railroad yard, repair shop, and roundhouse at Sfax dropping seventy two 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack El Aouina Airfield while seven B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the harbor area at Tunis and 12 B-17s hit the harbor at Bizerte. F-4 Lightnings fly several photographic reconnaissance missions over coastal Tunisia covering the area from Bizerte to Gabes.

In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/7th Cavalry Regiment, 7th Division, begins arriving at Soputa. On the Urbana front, the 2d Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, employing a small force of 80-odd men immediately available, attacks and encircles Coconut Grove, the last Japanese position on the west bank of Entrance Creek. After nightfall, a Dutch freighter unloads additional Australian tanks and cargo at Oro Bay. The tanks are moved forward to Hariko and, with others already there, are organized into X Squadron of the Australian 2/6th Armoured Regiment.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit Japanese forces along the Mambare River while a B-24 Liberators bombs a wrecked ship at Gona.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: During the next 10 days Admiral Tanaka's Tokyo Express also runs supply missions to Munda airfield on New Georgia, while still making express runs to Guadalcanal.

Two radar-equipped PBY-5A Catalinas of USN Patrol Squadron Twelve (VP-12) arrive on Guadalcanal from Nandi in the Fiji Islands to begin night operations. As a result of the matte-black paint schemes and night-time bombing operations conducted by the squadron, VP-12 officially becomes known as a "Black Cat" squadron, along with VP-11, VP-91 and VP-51. The area of operations during this period is concentrated around Guadalcanal.

U.S.A.: The 101st Infantry Battalion (Separate) - personnel of Austrian ancestry is formed at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. (Nick Minecci)

U-159 sank SS Star of Suez.

U-174 sank SS Alcoa Rambler.

U-626 sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 56.46N, 27.12W, by depth charges from USCGC Ingham. 47 dead (all hands lost).

Aircraft carrier USS Bennington laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Hopping laid down.

Submarines USS Lancetfish and Lionfish laid down.

Minesweepers USS Change and Clamour launched.

Destroyers USS Guest and Stevenson commissioned.

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF Ninth Air Force comes under operational control of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF). A new directive for tactical bomber operations lists reduction of enemy fighter forces as the basic objective. A Ninth Air Force planning staff, composed of officers who have had service with the Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), is set up in London.

INTERNATIONAL: The Soviet Union, the U.S. and the U.K. break off diplomatic relations with the Yugoslav government-in-exile and recognize Marshal Josip Broz Tito's Communist Popular Liberation Committee as the government-to-be of the country.

GERMANY: During the night of 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb four targets: four aircraft bomb Bochum with three hitting the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory and one bombing the city, three bomb Leverkusen and one bombs Cologne.

AUSTRIA: Forty eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, with P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt escorts, bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck; one aircraft is lost.

ITALY: The Fifth Army attacks along the length of the Reinhard Line; the Moroccan troops secure the San Michel Pass, but the Germans put up strong resistance.

US II Corps begins an attack toward Montte Lungo and San Pietro. Hollywood director John Huston, serving as a US Army lieutenant, filmed the battle.

The U.S. Fifth Army renews their offensive against the Reinhard (Winter) Line before dawn. On the II Corps' southern flank, the 142d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, opens an attack on Mt. Lungo from the south at dusk and advances rapidly. The second battle for St. Pietro opens about noon, with the 143d Infantry Regiment ( ) attacking from the slopes of Mt. Sammucro and the 2d Battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment advancing from Mt. Rotondo area. Progress is slow and costly. The 1st Battalion of the 143d Infantry Regiment, with the 2d Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment to its right, begins an attack on western slopes of Mt. Sammucro shortly after midnight, during the night of 14/15 December. Paratroopers suffer heavy casualties during a fruitless attempt to take Hill 687; the 1st Battalion is pinned down short of Hill 730. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division, on the southern flank of the corps, begins an attack toward the heights dominating La Rava Creek on the left and toward Lagone on the right: the 157th Infantry Regiment gains positions on Hills 640 and 470, north of La Rava Creek, and makes a futile attempt to clear Fialla Hill and Hill 770, south of the creek; the 179th Infantry Regiment is stopped short of Lagone; a platoon of 45th Reconnaissance Troop fails in an attempt to clear a hill just north of Lagone, but elements of the 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, occupy La Bandita, farther north, without opposition after nightfall. On the northern flank of VI Corps, the 8th Rifle Regiment of the 2d Moroccan Division seizes Mt. Castelnuovo and St. Michele Pass. (Jack McKillop & Gene Hanson)

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs bomb roads at Pontecorvo and north of Frosinone while fighter-bombers attack gun positions along the U.S. Fifth Army front.

Fifty two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses. with P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt escorts, bomb a marshalling yard at Bolzano while 45 B-24 Liberators, with P-38 escort, attack a railroad bridge and a viaduct at Avisio. All targets suffer considerable damage.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the airfield at Mostar and A-36 Apache and P-40 fighter-bombers attack vessels, vehicles, and parked aircraft north and east of the Peljesac Peninsula, near Mostar, and at the Zemonico landing ground.

EUROPE: Allied bombers raid Piraeus harbour and Greek airfield, and attack Innsbruck and Bolzano in the Tyrol.

INDIA: Eastern Air Command (EAC), a combined US-British air command, is formed under Lieutenant General George E Stratemeyer (USAAF), with Air Vice Marshall Thomas M Williams (RAF) as Assistant Commander. HQ, at New Delhi, will control all operational air units in Assam and Burma which presently make up the USAAF Tenth Air Force and RAF Bengal Air Command. Major components of EAC are to be the Third Tactical Air Force under Air Marshall Sir John E Baldwin (RAF), Strategic Air Force under Brigadier General Howard C Davidson (USAAF), Troop Carrier Command under Brigadier General William D Old (USAAF), and Photo Reconnaissance Force under Group Captain Stewart G Wise (RAF). The Strategic Air Force and Troop Carrier Command are activated on this date, the former having headquarters at Belvedere Palace, Calcutta and the latter at Comilla.

CHINA: Twenty five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe parked aircraft, trucks, and several buildings at Pailochi destroying at least three Japanese airplanes. Sixteen P-40s on armed reconnaissance strafe the towns of Owchihkow and Shihshow while six others attack the town of Luchiangpa and villages in the area.

BURMA: In the north, the 1st Battalion, of 114th Infantry Regiment, Chinese 38th Infantry Division, tries unsuccessfully to relieve the isolated 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment. After the attack, the Japanese return to their previous positions, which they proceed to strengthen.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 112th Cavalry Regiment lands on Arawe Island near New Britain. This is a diversionary move for the landings on New Britain later this month. Admiral Barbey with US naval TF 76 provides naval support.

Army Major General Oscar Griswold, Commanding General XIV Corps, relieves Marine Major General Roy Geiger, Commanding General I Amphibious Corps, of responsibility for the Bougainville beachhead, where the final defensive perimeter is virtually secure, although the 21st Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, is still clearing the heights near the beachhead.

Twenty one USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators strike Sohano Island. On Bougainville, six B-25 Mitchells hit installations in the Numa Numa-Arigua area; 23 B-25 Mitchells and 16 fighters attack Buka Island, causing heavy damage in the Chinatown area; and P-40s destroy a bridge at Runai. Numerous targets of opportunity are attacked by USAAF aircraft, operating individually and in small flights, on armed reconnaissance over Bougainville and other northern Solomons areas.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Operation DEXTERITY opens when, as a preliminary to the main invasion of New Britain Island, USN Task Force 76 (Rear Adm Daniel E. Barbey) lands Task Force DIRECTOR, the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) reinforced under command of Brigadier General Julian W. Cunningham, USA, on the coast of Arawe Peninsula about 0700 hours local, after naval gunfire and aerial bombardment. Scattered opposition on the peninsula is overcome without difficulty. Before the main landing, cavalrymen try in vain to make surprise landings at Umtingalu, on the mainland east of the peninsula, and on Pilelo islet. Despite alerted Japanese forces, Troop B succeeds in landing on Pilelo and quickly clears it. Japanese planes are active against troops and shipping, attacking at frequent intervals during this and the next few days. Plans to use Arawe as a base for light naval forces never materialize, nor is the site used as an air base. The plan for the Cape Gloucester landing is amend ed to increase the size of initial assault force and limit the objective of the secondary landing.

USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells pound villages in the Arawe area; B-24 Liberators bomb Cape Gloucester while P-39 Airacobras strafe barges at Reiss Point.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Twenty USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Nanumea Island in the Ellice Islands, hit Maloelap Atoll; one aircraft is lost. Ten B-24s, staging from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands through Baker Island, bomb Wotje Atoll.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, Lakona, 15 miles north of Finschhafen, is captured by Australian forces. The road from Lae to Nadzab is completed.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Gulf of Tonkin off French Indochina, two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sea sweep claim an ocean-going tug sunk.

U.S.A.: During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Winter Warfare." (William L. Howard)

Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter on non-discrimination in Navy V-12 program.

Heavy cruiser USS Quincy (CA-71) commissioned.

Light fleet carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Cates and J Douglas Blackwood commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Thomas F Nickel laid down.

Destroyer USS Allen M Sumner launched.

Destroyer HMS Volage launched.

Destroyer escort USS Holton launched.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The disagreement between the Allies over the future of Poland emerged strongly from Winston Churchill's speech in the House of Commons today. Official sources later emphasised the urgency of the prime minister's plea for a settlement. It is hoped that his speech, in which he deplored the lack of a clear American pronouncement on the Russo-Polish issue, may have an effect in Washington. It is felt that the danger of a rift between the Allies is too great to be left for attention at some time in the indefinite future.

Major Alton Glenn Miller, s/n 0505273, Director of the USAAF band, aboard a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman aircraft disappears. Major Miller was enroute from England to Paris to arrange a Christmas show for the troops in France.

It was raining and the temperature was 34F (1.1C) when the aircraft took off with three people aboard, the pilot, Warrant Officer Morgan, Miller and Lieutenant Colonel Norman F. Baesell who was flying to Paris in General Goodrich's private plane so that Baesell could pick up some champagne for the holidays.

The UC-64A, a single engine, high-wing monoplane that could carry nine people, did not have deicing equipment. There have been a lot of theories and stories over the years but I still believe the aircraft iced up and went down into the Channel.

Although overage, and therefore draft exempt, Glenn Miller joined the Army in late 1942, was transferred to the US Army Air Forces, and went on to lead one of the greatest bands of the swing era.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 751: Two B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflets in France and Germany during the night.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 Lancasters to attack the E-boat pens at Ijmuiden with 12,000 pound (5 443 kilogram) "Tallboy" bombs but a smoke-screen hinders the bombing and no results are seen.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Red Army troops cross the Ipely (Ipel) River north of Budapest, Hungary, and establishes a bridgehead on Czech soil at Sahy.

POLAND: During the night of 15/16 December, 13 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters lay mines in the Baltic Sea off Gdynia; one aircraft is lost.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps pushes forward on l the eft flank of the army across the Sintria River toward the Senio River. In the British V Corps area, the Germans struggle to prevent the encirclement of Faenza, exerting strong pressure on New Zealand forces in the Colic area and bringing the Indian 10th Division to a halt short of Pergola during the day but withdrawing, during the night of 15/16 December. The Canadian I Corps joins and consolidates bridgeheads across the Naviglio Canal north of Faenza and spends the next few days improving the bridgehead.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, attack ammunition dumps at Cremona, Bologna, and Pavia, a fuel dump at Castellar Guidobono, and severely damage railway bridges south of Asti and at Voghera. Fighters and fighter-bombers again hit targets in the U.S. Fifth Army battle area south of Bologna and communications in the central Po River Valley and make numerous rail cuts throughout the area (especially on the vital Brenner Line) destroying many vehicles and train cars. Several bridges are hit, three being left impassable.

GREECE: Athens: Tonight the city is once more wracked by artillery and machine-gun fire after a short and brittle pause in which British and Greek politicians strove for a solution to this bloody civil war. British paratroopers are besieged in the Acropolis, moving only at night to avoid snipers. British headquarters have come under fire from 75mm guns As more British tanks move into the city, ELAS strongpoints have come under cannon fire from RAF Spitfires.

CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a storage building at Kunlong. .

THAILAND: Five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs hit and damage a bridge and a building south of Huizan.

BURMA: Havildar Umrao Singh (b.1920), Royal Indian Artillery, beat off heavy Japanese attacks on his gun, and caused many casualties in at times hand-to-hand fighting. (Victoria Cross)

In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the Japanese garrison of Bhamo escapes through Chinese lines early in morning and the relief force south of the town begins to disengage. The Chinese 38th Division moves into Bhamo. The Chinese Army in India (CAI) and Yunnan Force (Y-Force) are only 50 air miles (80 kilometers) apart. The 112th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, which was recently withdrawn from the Bhamo battle, is driving on Namhkam. Elements of the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) move from the Mo-hlaing to the Tonk-wa area.

In the British Fourteenth Army area, XV Corps makes rapid strides on the Arakan front. The West African 82d Division takes Buthidaung and establishes a bridgehead across the Kalapanzin River.

Ten USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells destroy the Hsipaw railroad bridge and a bypass bridge at Namhkai and damage other bridges at Namhkai, four P-47 Thunderbolts severely damage two bridges at Ho-hko, seven P-47s fly close support strikes along the Namh-Kam-Bhamo road and 13 P-47s attack Lashio Airfield. The town areas, troop concentrations, and supply areas are attacked at Panglong, Nanponpon, Panghkam, Kinu, Man Hpai, and Namhkam.

Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings knock out a bridge at Hawng Luk.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Thirteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam bomb Iwo Jima. During the night of 15/16 December, a B-24 on a snooper raid from Guam hits Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The Western Visayan Task Force invades Mindoro Island at 0735 hours local after a preparatory bombardment. The 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, lands between Caminawit Point and San Augustin; the reinforced 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment, less Company C, on the beach fronting San Agustin; Company, 503d, across the river mouth from San Augustin. From San Augustin, the 3d Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment drives inland about 8 miles (13 kilometers) to final the beachhead line, securing the airstrip, sugar plant, and village of San Jose without opposition. The 19th Infantry Regiment also drives inland to the final beachhead line, the only contact with the Japanese being made at Caminawit Point. The Western Visayan Task Force suffers no casualties. Rear Admiral Arthur Struble, commander of Task Group 78.3, turns over command ashore to Brigadier General William Dunckel, Chief of Planning Division Southwest Pacific Area. Airdrome construction is begun at once and a new site, about 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) northwest of White Beach, is selected. Although there is no ground opposition, Kamikazes are active: two tank landing ships damaged off the southern tip of Mindoro, are scuttled by destroyer USS Hall (DD-583). Elsewhere off Mindoro, Japanese Kamikazes damage the escort aircraft carrier USS Marcus Island (CVE-77); destroyers USS Paul Hamilton (DD-590) and Howorth (DD-592); and motor torpedo boat PT-223.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 1st Squadron ( ) of 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry) starts west toward Highway 2, reaching previously a selected drop area, a banana plantation about 1,800 yards (1 646 meters) east of Lonoy; the rest of the regiment joins the 1st Squadron there by 17 December. In the XXIV Corps area, with the port of Ormoc sealed off, the 77th Infantry Division pauses to consolidate. The 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, makes contact with the 11th Airborne Division's 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Company G of which enters its lines. Company G has been isolated for four days. It is decided to withdraw the 1st and 3d Battalions of the 32d Infantry Regiment to clear pockets in the Ormoc area and let the 2d Battalion continue eastward to establish contact with the rest of 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment force.

In major strikes of the day, USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers hit a fuel dump at San Fernando on Negros Island; B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells bomb Sasa and San Roque Airfields on Mindanao Island; and B-24 Liberators bomb Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island.

Marjor Richard I. "Dick" Bong shoots down a Japanese "Oscar" fighter (Nakajima Ki-43, Army Type 1 Fighter Hayabusa). This is his 39th victory.

With the 24th is an RAAF airfield construction unit - the first Australian troops in the Philippine campaign. MacArthur plans more airstrips on Mindoro to extend US are cover as far north as Lingayen Gulf and Manila Bay, 150 miles away, and make these areas untenable for Japanese shipping. To stop Japanese aircraft from Luzon attacking the Mindoro invasion force, Third Fleet carrier-based planes bombed airfields near Manila three days ago, damaging or destroying 242 enemy planes.

US losses have been greatest at sea. Ships supporting the landings after the 350-mile voyage from Leyte were hit yesterday by fierce tropical storms with 75-foot waves that sank three destroyers drowning 719 men.

Leyte: Allied war correspondents are being banned from reporting Kamikaze suicide attempts by Japanese pilots who have so far crippled a carrier and two destroyers supporting the invasion of Mindoro. The news blackout has been ordered by MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz. They fear that reports of the deck of US warships being dive-bombed will cause panic in the US. They justify the ban on the grounds that it prevents the Japanese from discovering how much damage their pilots inflict.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells hit airfields on Ceram and Ambon Islands. Miscellaneous armed reconnaissance and light raids by fighters and bombers are flown against airfields on Boeroe and Halmahera Islands. Shipping and other targets of opportunity are attacked at several points throughout the Netherlands East Indies.

AUSTRALIA: Sir Frederick Geoffrey Shedden, Australian Secretary of the Department of Defence, writes to U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, asking why Australian troops are not being used in the Philippines and claiming that "Australian opinion considered it a point of honour for their troops to be used in such operations."

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Hawkbill (SS-366) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Momo west of Luzon about 167 nautical miles (309 kilometers) west of Baguio, Philippine Islands, in position 16.40N, 117.42E.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The USN's Battleships Pacific Fleet command is divided into two battleship squadrons. Battleship Squadron ONE is commanded by Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf and Battleship Squadron TWO Vice Admiral Willis A. "Ching" Lee.

Submarine HMS L-26 arrives Halifax, Nova Scotia for ASW training.

Ordered, Floating Drydock, steel, to be fabricated in Montreal, by Dominion Bridge Ltd. and to be erected, neither started cancelled 15 Aug 45. a. Dominion Bridge Ltd. Montreal and Vancouver, (1) HMS A.F.D. 92, to be erected by Dominion Bridge Ltd. Vancouver, (2) HMS A.F.D. 93, to be erected by Western Bridge Co. Vancouver.

U.S.A.: Washington: USN Admiral William D. Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), is promoted to the (five star) rank of Fleet Admiral.

The USAAF activates Headquarters, Continental Air Force (CAF) at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., to coordinate the work of the four domestic air forces (First, Second, Third and Fourth) and the I Troop Carrier Command but will not assume jurisdiction until 8 May 1945. On 21 March 1946, CAF is redesignated Strategic Air Command (SAC).

Top songs on the pop charts today are: "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby; "The Trolley Song" by The Pied Pipers, "I'm Making Believe" by Ella Fitzgerald and The Ink Spots and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Kattegat (the arm of the North Sea between Denmark and Sweden) during the night of 15/16 December, six RAF Bomber Command Halifaxes lay mines in the Laeso Rende Strait between the Dannish mainland and the island of Laeso.

JAPAN: U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, in his capacity as Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in the Pacific, brings an end to Shintoism as Japan's established religion. The Shinto system included the belief that the emperor, in this case Hirohito, was divine. Allied powers believed that serious democratic reforms, and a constitutional form of government, could not be put into place as long as the Japanese people looked to an emperor as their ultimate authority. Hirohito is forced to renounce his divine status, and his powers are severely limited--he was reduced to little more than a figurehead. And not merely religion, but even compulsory courses on ethics--the power to influence the Japanese population's traditional religious and moral duties are wrenched from state control as part of a larger decentralization of all power.

U.S.A.: It is announced that the permanent headquarters for the United Nations will be located in New York City.

A record December snowstorm buries Buffalo, New York, under 36.6 inches (93 centimeters) of snow, with unofficial totals south of the city ranging up to 70 inches (1,8 meters). Travel is brought to a halt by the storm.