25 December 1939

Britons made the most of their traditional turkey and plum pudding Christmas dinner today. There may have been less on the plates, but most families have hoarded sufficient quantities of luxuries like sweets and sugar to ensure a normal belt-loosening feast. If rationing is introduced, Christmas Day may become a much more spartan affair.

Preparation for the wartime feeding of 45,000,000 people has been under way for several months with the Ministry of Food drawing on the last war's experience to ensure fair distribution.

There have been several snags - the decentralisation of London's meat, fish and vegetable markets due to the threat of bombing, has caused chaos; and the government has found it difficult to cope with the large number of evacuees. Some areas have enjoyed a glut of bacon, others a shortage of butter; but real hardship is no worse than in peacetime.

FRANCE: Somewhere in FRANCE: This is the day in the British Army when the officers serve Christmas dinner to the ranks. It is a peacetime tradition of a professional army of volunteers, preserved in spite of the 'phoney war'. The mood is as once relaxed and uneasy. To the big question - why hasn't the fighting really started? - nobody, it seems has the answer.

GERMANY: Hitler spends Christmas Day visiting his forces behind the Siegfried Line and joining in their celebrations.

Interesting that for all of the Nazi claptrap about abolishing Christianity and the celebration of "Julfest" a pagan yule-fest, they were after all, sentimentalists at heart. Images of Hitler with troops at Christmas. Frohe Weihnachten! (Russ Folsom)

Finland protests to Estonia for breach of neutrality because Soviet warships are using Tallinn as a base. The Estonian head of state (Riigivanem), Konstantin Päts, answers the protest by stating that Soviet Union isn't officially at war with Finland, thus echoing the official Soviet line.

UNITED KINGDOM:
London: Churchill gives King George a one-piece "siren suit" as a Christmas present.

Scotland: Two former French Martlet Is (Grumman Model G-36A) in service with the Royal Navy's No. 804 Squadron at Hatston in the Orkney Islands, shoot down a Junkers Ju 88A that was attempting to bomb the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow. The two pilots of 804 squadron were Lt. Rodney Harold Power Carver, RN (later DSC, MiD) flying Martlet I BJ562 (Code A) and S-Lt. T. R. V. Parke, RN flying Martlet I BJ561 (Code S:7L). This is the first American built fighter aircraft in British service to destroy a German aircraft in the war. (Ron Babuka, Mark Horan)

ALBANIA: The Greek army in Albania spends Christmas at the snow covered Albanian front. A few services are held for front line troops and a convoy of 100 taxis from Salonika which had left a few days earlier arrives bringing Christmas treats for the troops. Liquor and sweets are distributed to as many along the front as possible. Dimitry commented on two nice bottles of liquor which was given to him and his men. They gathered at the wooden shack in a wooded area near their positions and toasted one another. Elsewhere on the front when one of the taxis arrived with its cargo of Christmas goods, the driver (who spoke fluent Italian) offered his services to the Greek officer in command who ordered him to cross the lines with a flag of truce and offer the Italians some liquor and cigarettes. The Italians accepted the gift and the two sides in that area honored a truce on this Christmas Day. (Steven Statharos)

PALESTINE:
Bethlehem: For the first time in history, Bethlehem is celebrating a darkened Christmas. While Mussolini's air menace hangs over the city even the windows of the Church of the Nativity have been obscured by blue. At Jerusalem the Stations of the Cross are dark and silent.
Despite the blackout, members of the church are determined to make it a Christmas to remember for hundreds of Empire troops in the city. The Church of the Nativity had been lit from within by a myriad candles, and the traditional sheep are being roasted in the fields near the manger.

Five Section, of 17 Platoon had moved out before dawn and taken up our position between the Italian wire and the English Arty "o pip" we were guarding. Christmas Day, ----- but no one mentioned it. It was left to that champion hunk of humanity "Bugs" Logan to break the silence with "I wonder what they are doing at home." Everybody was probably thinking the same thing, but "Bugs" just happened to think aloud.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet winter offensives continue to gain ground. The Germans have lost significant strength at approximately 75 percent of their June strength. Guderian has less than 40 panzers available.

Russian amphibious forces land on the Kerch Peninsula. Count von Sponeck's XLII Armeekorps is charged with guarding it and initially do well against the Soviets. (Pat McTaggart)

The Japanese flag is flying over the governors' mansion. After 18 days of fighting, the last seven marked by continual air and artillery bombardment, the governor, Sir Mark Young, formally surrendered at 7.05pm local time. He had been advised that with the loss of reservoirs there was less than a day's water supplied left. A communiqué from the colonial office in London said that Sir Mark took the decision to surrender after he had been advised by his commanders that "no further effective resistance can be made."

The garrison of British, Canadian and Indian troops ceased firing in mid-afternoon following a command by radio. An isolated contingent at Stanley in the south-east is fighting on until it receives a written order to surrender.

Sir Mark is being held at the Peninsula Hotel where, in a 15-minute candle-lit ceremony, he told the Japanese C-in-C, Lt-Gen Sakai: "I am here to become a prisoner by ordering the entire British forces to cease all resistance."

British and Japanese losses are estimated at approximately 2,000 each. However, British losses are feared higher following reports of atrocities by troops of the 229th Regiment under Colonel Tanaka, who ordered his men to take no prisoners. After overrunning an anti-aircraft battery three days ago they roped together 20 survivors and bayoneted them to death. Fifteen staff and wounded were also bayoneted in similar circumstances at a medical station captured by the 229th.

The final phase of the Japanese invasion began three days ago when 40,000 infantrymen wrong-footed the British by landing on the island's north-east coast instead of the north-west. They then thrust south to Deep Water Bay, capturing all the high ground and splitting the defending force which London had expected would hold out for 90 days.

Sakai's victory has been aided by superb intelligence and planning. Spies on the island, including the Peninsula Hotel barber, who now turns out to be a Japanese army colonel, had provided the troops with accurate and up-to-date maps of every British gun emplacement.

Some 3 waves of 27 Sally Bombers with around 30 fighter escorts hit Rangoon and Mingaladon this date. No 3rd Squadron AVG losses but they lost confirmed 25 bombers and 10 fighters. Two of our 40s made belly landings after their engines had been hit

My Christmas dinner was a cold liver sandwich and a bottle of Australian beer. (Chuck Baisden)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US forces in northern Luzon are holding their second defense line.
Eight of the original 48 P-35As are left and the 34th Pursuit Sqd. is moved to Bataan.

Submarine USS Sealion is scuttled at Cavite Navy Yard at Manila. Unable to sail after damaged in an air raid 10 Dec.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine HNLMS K XVI torpedoed.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of US Pacific Fleet.

ST. PIERRE: Yesterday the 350-strong population was given a Christmas present - the vote.

Free French sailors under Admiral Muselier, the chief of the Free French navy, landed on this cold, windswept left-over from France's North American empire, and on its neighbour, Miquelon. Within an hour the Vichy governor, Baron de Bournat, and the island's only known fascist, Henri Moraze, were arrested. Shortly afterwards, the island's men were herded into the town hall to vote to remain with Vichy or join de Gaulle. The result: 98% for de Gaulle.

U.S.S.R.: Leningrad: As this year draws to a close it is the plight of the Germans encircled by the Red Army at Stalingrad that attracts world attention. Yet 1,000 miles to the north it is the Russians who are besieged in a struggle for survival every bit as desperate: Leningrad has now been under siege for 15 months.

This Christmas Day a rat would be considered a great delicacy in Leningrad. The cats and dogs were eaten a year ago. After the Germans failed to take the city by storm, they settled down to starve it to death; but the food supply, brought in by boat across Lake Ladoga in the summer and across the ice in the winter, has been stabilized, and the citizens have learnt how to cope with the intermittent bombing and shelling.

However, nothing can minimize the suffering and the bravery of the people of Leningrad. One million of them have been evacuated by the boats and lorries making the hazardous journey across Lake Ladoga, but for many there has been no escape except by death.

A schoolgirl, Tania Savich, has kept a diary. It records the death of her family from starvation: "Jenia died on 28 December 1941 at 12.30 am. Grandmother died on 25 January 1942. Lena died on 17 March 1942. Uncle Lesha died on 10 May at 4.00pm. 13 May at 7.30am darling Mama died."

"According to the calendar, at Stalingrad as in the rest of the world it was now Christmas. This was not Christmas as any civilian had ever envisaged it. By day grey skies lowered over the endless expanse of snow covered steppe; by night a thin sickle of a moon cast a faint light on the frozen scene. The cold was pitiless. Let us see what it was like, that Christmas of 1942, at 42 deg. of longitude east of Greenwich.

Six private soldiers were assembled in a mortar position on Point 137. The seventh private who spoke to them had, once upon a time, been a clergyman in Dresden. He said: 'This Stalingrad Christmas is a declaration of our Faith, made in the front line. He who lives to tell of it, or who remembers it in years to come, should with open eyes and a proud heart cast his thoughts back to the city beside the Volga, the Golgotha of the Sixth Army.'

They did not sit down to any festive board in Stalingrad. There were no bowls of apples and nuts, and only a very few, very small Christmas trees that had been included in the troops Christmas parcels. Any man lucky enough to possess a candle would let it burn for a few minutes, stuck into the neck of a bottle, or standing on a board beside his range-tables, or on his steel helmet, or in an empty crate, or on some twig that had once been part of a bush or tree. Then he would blow it out and put it carefully away. He would need that candle in the nights to come. This was no time for Christmas trees and speeches. Ammunition and bread were the finest presents that a man could hope for. But each man spared a thought for the comrade who stood beside him. There were many familiar faces missing, and those who remained moved closer together. Their tables were boards and upturned packing cases, their glasses tin mugs. A lucky man might have schnapps in his, a really lucky one wine, but few were as fortunate as that. For most of them their Christmas cheer was "German tea", or melted snow.

In these last few weeks men had learned to express themselves with brevity. They were a silent lot these days. Thus did Christmas appear, at least externally. As for what the men felt, that is far harder to say, since feelings can only be expressed during the moment of their brief existence.

However, it is certain that their emotions leaped the many thousands of miles that separated this place of purgatory and doom from the homes of those whom they loved. What they all had in common was their universal destitution, and the grey sky overhead. During those Christmas days that sky was flecked with much red, when the few remaining buildings burned, and it was hard to believe that this could be God's mantle. Nor could there be much talk of peace on earth. Why, they wondered, did the Almighty allow Christmas to succeed Christmas while His words of love were made inaudible by the din of men engaged in mutual slaughter?

The Christmas cheer had been stored at Karpovka. The bottles were all broken by now. Nine days before the encirclement was complete, a special train of forty-three wagons had arrived from Oels. Part of its contents had been brought across the Don and stored at Chir and Kalatch; three thousand seven hundred and sixty four cases of wines, champagne, liqueurs, and brandy. The champagne bottles had already burst in transit, owing to the extreme cold. Retreating soldiers had tucked some ten thousand bottles under their arms as they hurried past the warehouses. A hundred thousand more went down the throats of the Red Army, toasting their victory. There were no letters from home. Very occasionally a mail bag or two would find its way into one of the transport planes, but what was that among so many? The truth is that three hundred and eighty sacks of letters, addressed to the Stalingrad soldiers, were burned at Shiov on the first day of the Russian breakthrough, simply because the new Field Postmaster, who had just arrived from Dresden, was not up to the job. True enough, a few Russian tanks were reported six or seven miles away; but why then did it not occur to him to toss one of his mail bags onto each of the trucks that were pouring by, nose to tail, along the road to Nijni-Chirskaia?

Three hundred and eighty sacks of mail take a lot of burning. When a mere one hundred had gone up in flames, the Russians arrived. In early January the Red Army was still smoking German cigarettes. At Yassinovotaia thirty-two railway trucks, containing three and a half million Christmas parcels, stood on a siding. The trucks were needed for another purpose. The parcels were therefore taken out, stacked and covered with tarpaulins. In late January, on instructions from the Army Field Postmaster, the parcels were distributed among the hospitals, insofar as they were still worth distributing.

It was often said in the Stalingrad pocket that it was better to have a cousin in the Luftwaffe than a Father in Heaven. A few dozen had cousins in the Luftwaffe. For them there might be roast goose, tongue in aspic, Chablis and Martell. For the others there was bean soup, horse stew or turnips boiled in melted snow; iron rations or biscuit. Others again simply dined off the flesh of horses the wolves had killed, eaten raw and without salt. For most of them Christmas was a bitter day. They talked, wondered whether or not they would get their ration of one-quarter pound of bread, relied, or did not rely, on their Fuhrer's promises. Dr.Goebbels had thought up a good idea for Christmas, a great wireless hook-up between German soldiers and civilians wherever they might be. Listening to this cheery programme in Stalingrad, the soldiers cursed or laughed, depending upon each man's temperament.

During the night before Christmas, twenty-six men died. Their names were recorded, and their comrades stood in mourning beside the holes in the snow into which their bodies were lowered. Four weeks later tens of thousands were simply left to lie where they fell. In a wooden house near Vorponovo, eleven men of the 71st Infantry Division were celebrating Christmas. At first they sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" and they sang it very well. Then they began another hymn, "O du Froehliche", and one of them played the tune on his accordion. They all knew the words of the first verse: only three men could sing the second: with the third, silence fell, save for the accordion. Suddenly a strange voice sang the third verse loud and clear, a beautiful, strong voice. It came from the adjoining compound where the prisoners of war were kept. Though he sang in German, the singer was a Russian soldier.

On Christmas Eve, three men risked their lives fetching a small pine tree from the little wood near Gumrak. They decorated it with stars cut out of silver paper, and candles, and ornaments made of black out material. That evening the illuminated tree stood upon Hill 137, its candles visible from afar. For an hour it stood there, before it was destroyed by enemy mortar fire.

Very many people have heard tell of the "Stalingrad Madonna" without perhaps knowing how she came to exist nor who drew her. It happened in the days before Christmas, in the ruins of Stalingrad on which the enemy's shells and bombs were constantly bursting. The dug-out belonging to the Senior Medical Officer, Dr.Kurt Reuber, was divided into two by a hanging blanket. On one side of it Dr.Reuber tended the wounded and the dying; on the other, where were his tiny living and sleeping quarters, he drew a picture for those poor men's celebration of Christmas, the last Christmas that most of them would ever see. He knew that words no longer meant much to them, but that their eyes could still see. An in silence this picture of the Mother, with her child swathed in a white mantle which yet seems to reveal an inner light, entered into his comrade's souls. What Kurt Reuber and his comrades underwent is described in his last letter:

'Christmas week has come and gone. It has been a week of watching and waiting, of deliberate resignation and confidence. The days were filled with the noise of battle and there were many wounded to be attended to. I wondered for a long while what I should paint, and in the end I decided on a Madonna, or mother and child. I have turned my hole in the frozen mud into a studio. The space is too small for me to be able to see the picture properly, so I climb on to a stool and look down at it from above, to get the perspective right. Everything is repeatedly knocked over, and my pencils vanish into the mud. There is nothing to lean my big picture of the Madonna against, except a sloping, home-made table past which I can just manage to squeeze. There are no proper materials and I have used a Russian map for paper. But I wish I could tell you how absorbed I have been painting my Madonna, and how much it means to me.

'The picture looks like this: the mother's head and the child's lean toward each other, and a large cloak enfolds them both. It is intended to symbolize "security" and "mother love." I remembered the words of St. .John: light, life, and love. What more can I add? I wanted to suggest these three things in the homely and common vision of a mother with her child and the security that they represent. When we opened the "Christmas Door", as we used to do on other Christmases (only now it was the wooden door of our dug-out), my comrades stood spellbound and reverend, silent before the picture that hung on the clay wall. A lamp was burning on a board stuck into the clay beneath the picture. Our celebrations in the shelter were dominated by this picture, and it was with full hearts that my comrades read the words: light, life, and love.

'I spent Christmas evening with the other doctors and the sick. The Commanding Officer had presented the doctor with his last bottle of Champagne. We raised our mugs and drank to those we love, but before we had had a chance to taste the wine we had to throw ourselves flat on the ground as a stick of bombs fell outside. I siezed my doctor's bag and ran to the scene of the explosions, where there were dead and wounded. My shelter with its lovely Christmas decorations became a dressing station. One of the dying men had been hit in the head and there was nothing more I could do for him. He had been with us at our celebration, and had only that moment left to go on duty, but before he went he had said: "I'll finish the carol with first. O du Froehliche!" A few moments later he was dead. There was plenty of hard and sad work to do in our Christmas shelter. It is late now, but it is Christmas night still. And so much sadness everywhere."

Many dead German soldiers lay about the "Red Barricade" factory. Four of them had been buried by their friends beneath a tank, which had been blown up on Christmas Eve. They had been buried there because there was no snow under the tank. For a few hours a single candle burned upon the wreckage. There are many graves, but here was the loneliest Christmas in all the world."

See also: "Paulus and Stalingrad" by Walter Goerlitz. and "Stalingrad" by Antony Beevor.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS P-48 sunk in Gulf of Tunis (37-15N, 10-30'E) by depth charges of Italian destroyer escorts Ardente, Ardito and possibly Audace, NW of Zembra Island. Attacking Italian convoy making for Tunis.

NORTH AFRICA: Axis forces evacuate their outflanked garrison at Sirte in Libya.
German forces retake Longstop Hill in Tunisia. Captured by the Allies the day before yesterday, this spot continues to be fought over by both sides, despite the supply difficulties of each.

Whilst on patrol in the approaches to Tunis, U class submarine P.48 is located by Italian destroyer Ardito and Ardente off Zembra Island and depth charged to destruction. There are no survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Air Solomons Command, flying from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, bombs Rabaul.
The raid consisted of eleven B-17s that attacked shipping and port facilities at Rabaul.

BURMA: Advance units of the British 123rd Brigade reach Rathedaung. They report the Japanese have evacuated, a Japanese relief column is in fact advancing on Rathedaung.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US motorship SS Doña Aurora is sunk by the Italian submarine ENRICO TAZZOLI. (Keith Allen)

UNITED KINGDOM: Many families are without their Christmas bird today, but resourceful housewives will have concocted some kind of traditional pudding with dried fruit saved from their rations. Turkeys and geese have been allocated on a quota system: one suburban butcher with 800 customers received only 15 birds. Another estimated that one family in ten would enjoy a traditional fowl.

GERMANY: Berlin: The main weight of the RAF's Christmas raid on Berlin last night fell on the city's south-eastern suburbs, as well as on a ball-bearing factory at Erkner, 15 miles away. The bombs killed 178 Berliners, compared with 104 aircrew killed and 16 taken prisoner. RAF PoWs were made to clear rubble after what was the month's second big raid. Nine days ago 438 Berliners and 279 slave workers (186 women, 65 men and 28 youths from eastern Europe) died during an attack on rail networks; so did 294 German airmen.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet offensive, which started yesterday, advances and cuts the Vitebsk-Polotsk rail line.

Moscow: The Red Army yesterday launched an offensive in the Ukraine along the Kiev-Zhitomir highway, aiming to prise open German ranks now defending Galicia and Romania. In the Vitebsk sector Gorodok has been captured and German defensive positions are on the brink of collapse. The year thus ends, as it began, with Russia in the ascendant: a year which started with Stalingrad, ended the Russians' long retreat and humiliating the seemingly invincible Germans.

Since then the Russians have defeated the Germans at Kursk in the greatest tank battle yet fought, recaptured Kharkov for the second time, liberated Kiev, cut off the German Seventeenth Army in the Crimea, crossed the Dnieper and broken Hitler's "Eastern Wall".

This has, however, been not only a year of victories, but also a year in which the awesome reserves of the Soviet Union have been mobilised. Millions of men have been put under arms and those arms are of excellent quality.

The improved versions of the T-34and the heavy Stalin tanks with their 122mm guns have proved a match for the Germans, who scrambled desperately to get their Tigers and Panthers onto the battlefield to cope with the T34s pouring from Russian production lines.

It is the same story in the air, with the Russians producing excellent aircraft in great numbers - no fewer than 2,900 a month during 1943, of which 2,500 were combat planes. Added to them were 16,000 heavy or medium tanks, 3,500 light tanks, 4,000 mobile guns and 130,000 guns of all calibre during the year. As well as the Russians' own strength there was also the help sent from the west: mechanized divisions go into battle in American lorries; Soviet pilots fly Airacobras and Kittyhawks; generals scan intelligence decrypts.

All this strength is now being welded together into a formidable fighting machine. Stalin plans to clear the Ukraine, destroying the Wehrmacht in a series of "cauldrons" before marching on Poland, Romania and Germany itself. The Germans are still fighting skilfully, but Russia now has the power.

NORWAY: At 1900 German Rear-Admiral Bey sails with Scharnhorst and five destroyers, Z-29, Z-30, Z-33, Z-34, and Z-38 of the 4th Flotilla (Captain Johannesson), towards convoy JW-55B. Spotted by German air and U-Boat searches, Admiral Bey is unaware of the British force which is conducting distant escort, including Duke of York.

In the interest of maintaining radio silence, Scharnhorst had not been using her radar, and although the need to do so had passed, no instruction was issued to make it operational, thus her blindness was self inflicted. By contrast the 3 British cruisers had been tracking by radar (which Scharnhorst would not have been able to detect) for some 50 minutes before HMS Belfast fired the first starshell, thus announcing the presence of enemy forces. (Alex Gordon and John Nicholas and Navy News)

Karachi: Chuck Baisden spends Christmas Day as a guest of the Indian government. He had landed in Accra, West Africa, a yellow fever zone. Upon landing at Karachi the Indian health inspectors found his yellow fever shot record not up to date so he is put into a quarantine hospital until December 30. He has plenty of company due to a torpedoed ship whose survivors are without health records. (Chuck Baisden)

CHINA: Hunan Province: The see-saw and bloody battle for northern Hunan province has swung in favour of the Chinese Nationalists, with Kuomintang troops today recapturing Kung-an. It was one of the first towns lost two months ago when 100,000 Japanese troops invaded the area in an attempt to stop Chinese troops moving from central China to southern Yunnan to support the new tripartite Allied plan to retake Burma.

The battle in Hunan, has escalated the air war in China. At Changte, the epicentre of the campaign, the USAAF's effectiveness in dropping supplies and providing air-borne artillery was met 14 days ago by a Japanese attack on Allied airfields with the loss of 40 US and Chinese planes.

Lt. Hal Braun's 30-man platoon of the Arizona National Guard manned a remote outpost so it could warn if the Japanese invaded Kiriwina Island, which had valuable airstrips.

"The Bushmasters' fourth Christmas away from loved ones was approaching," Braun said. "We knew combat was coming shortly and this Christmas might be the last for many Bushmasters. My sergeants and I planned to make it a good Christmas."

About 50 gallons of alcohol was cooked in a still. Australian friends "borrowed" a few of their generals' geese, and they brought cases of 4X beer.

"We cut four very large palm fronds and wired them in a shape looking a bit like a Christmas tree," Braun said. "A dried large starfish topped our efforts, and colorful seashells decorated the palm branches. Small, sand-filled ration cans with rope wicks soaked in gasoline were our candles."

Crayfish from an underground cave pool were trapped and cooked Cajun-style in local hot peppers and canned ketchup.

"Fire pits with rocks and seaweed were readied for the large fish we caught," Braun said. "Spits were prepared for the geese. A few band members struggled out with instruments, and we were ready for our fourth Christmas away."

The Bushmasters were a diverse group. Thirty percent were of Mexican heritage, and there were soldiers from 22 Native American tribes.

"There was a melting pot of American boys from every background," Braun said. "Silent Night was sung in English, then Spanish, Polish, and Private Meier of Milwaukee let us hear it in its original German. As he finished it was totally silent on the outpost and every man was at home with his loved ones."

Then the men heard nose flutes and small drums and natives singing Silent Night in their own language. Gift-bearing natives approached.

"Luckily for us, they loved Spam, which they called BullaMaCow, and gifts were exchanged," Braun said.

A Navajo silversmith made Braun an aluminum bracelet from a piece of a Japanese Zero. (David Madrid of Peoria)

US naval Task Group 50.2, two carriers and six destroyers, raids Kavieng with 86 aircraft. They sink one Japanese transport. Glen Boren is there.

Busy day for the Bunker Hill. Reveille at 0345, we were 190 miles out from Kavieng when we launched the attack. We sent everything that would fly. I offered to fly the "hanger queen" but was turned down. The skipper said he didn't think my piper cub training was enough.

About 0900, Wooly shot down a jap "Mavis" (4 engine seaplane) with one burst. Later Ambrosio shot down a "Betty". Several japanese aircraft were around us all afternoon. As we were landing our last flight, Pearse shot down another "Betty". At sunset, we were surrounded by about 30 "Bettys" as announced by radar control. Our ships fired at several of them but none went down in flames. Several flares were dropped but none close. They gave up at 2030 and went home. We headed back to Espirito Santo. VF 18 score now at 46. ( our losses that day was one TBF and two men.) I understand that two destroyers, one medium and one large transport along with several barges were sunk. Boggies around us all afternoon.

U.S.A.: Ella Mae Morse's record of "Shoo-Shoo Baby" from the movie "Three Cheers For The Boys" released. This is the first of her records to make the charts and it stays there for 15 weeks and rises to Number 4.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: ASW trawler HMS Kingston Beryl mined north off Skerryvore, Ireland.

BELGIUM: The U.S. 2nd Armored Division counterattacks the 2nd Panzer Division at Celles, in one of the crucial moments in the Ardennes battle. (Keith Allen)

General der Infanterie Heinz Kokott, Commanding General 26 Volks Grenadier Division:

"At the designated time - as far as I can recollect, towards 0500 hours - in the moonlit early morning hour, the attack- and assault troops began the attack on the entire circle surrounding Bastogne (with the exception of the northern sector).

"Already before that, the assault troops had sneaked up as closely as possible to the enemy and had even penetrated his front between some individual enemy pockets. Preparatory fire by the artillery had been abstained from purposefully. A very strong and concentrated fire barrage of all calibres hit the enemy like a blow at the moment of the attack, destroyed his known pockets of resistance and sealed off in depth. With tremendous force the Grenadiers and Panzer Grenadiers drove towards the enemy and fought their way forward from pocket to pocket. After having recovered from the initial shock, the enemy forces got hold of themselves and along the entire front there began a wild, furious struggle.

"Grenadier Regiment 77 had entered the village of Champs towards 0600 hours, elements fought their way forward between Champs and Longchanps.

"The Longchamps - Champs road was being crossed. A furious battle developed inside Champs. Several enemy counterthrusts - supported by powerful- artillery- mortar- and tank fire - forced the elements of Grenadier Regiment 77 out of Champs. To the northwest thereof, the German elements were holding out and repelled the enemy thrusts.

'Grenadier Regiment 77 started out for another attack on Champs. Tremendous enemy fire was directed into the area around Champs. Powerful German fire prepared for the new thrust by Regiment 77.

"While attack and counterattack were alternating in the Champs area, the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division - supported by devastating German fire - had penetrated deeply into the enemy formations east of 'Fond de Laval' and. Between 0800 and 0900 hours, had split open the enemy front there.

"At about that time, the armored groups of the Panzer Grenadier Division - supported by rolling fire of the concentrated artillery - drove through the opening.

"Reconnaissance Battalion 26, adjoining to the right, was pushing forward on both sides of the highway to the west in fierce battle.

"The enemy put up a desperate defence, carried out counterthrust upon counterthrust, again and again brought tanks and destroyers into the battle and consumed quantities of ammunition as had previously not been experienced there,

"Nevertheless the German units, supported by the very strongest own fire, were advancing and made their way deeper and deeper into the enemy defence belt.

"After 0900 hours enemy fighter-bombers were fully in command of the air and participated in the furious ground fighting with bombs and aircraft armament.

"Grenadier Regiment 77 had broken into Champs for a second time and some of its elements were pushing to the south thereof.

"Rifle Regiment 39, fighting against fanatical enemy resistance, advanced on both sides of the Neufchateau railroad line and road, as they had been ordered.

"Panzer Grenadier Regiment 901 with assault detachments drove from the southeast towards the Bastogne - Bras road. There- just as at Grenadier Regiment 78 - enemy resistance and the enemy fire were very strong. With an eye on their objectives, however, the assault forces there drove forward and gained ground.

"At around 1000 hours the battle seemed to reach its peak and success seemed very close.

"Grenadier Regiment 77 reported: 'Heavy fighting around Champs, to the south, penetration into the wooded sections west of Rolle. Fierce enemy counteraction.'

"15th Panzer Grenadier Division: 'Armored attack gains ground against strong enemy defence, come up close to Champs - Hemroulle road. Hemroulle and wooded sections to the north thereof held by the enemy. High losses on own side.'

"Reconnaissance Battalion 26: 'Enemy counterthrusts repelled. Reconnaissance Battalion 26 continues atack in direction of Isle-laHesse.'

"Rifle Regiment 39: 'Despite strong enemy defence and heavy losses, attack in direction of Isle-le-Bre - Halte makes slow progress.'

"Panzer Grenadier Regiment 901: 'Own assault troops approaching - advancing west of Marvie - Bastogne road. Strong enemy defence, heavy losses on our own side, final reserves committed.'

Grenadier Regiment 78: "Own assault troops - advancing on both sides of Bastogne - Bourcy railroad line - approaching forest exit (1400 meters) northeast of Lucery [Luzery]. Strong enemy fire.

A personal note: The railroad was the boundary of the 501st Parachute Infantry to the east and the 506th Parachute Infantry to the west. In a house just off the railroad the boundary was secured by a rifle squad from each regiment. Apparently the German attack impressed the local commanders of the 506th. At the time of the attack our FO team was with one of the other 506th units but we were sent to the house. Perhaps the Germans knew that this was the boundary and felt that it would be a weak point. Wrong. Those two regiments were tied in tight. When we got there a few dead Germans were lying on the ground just a few meters from the house. They must have pushed that attack. I don't think that we would have been sent there if this had not been the boundary because the observation was limited due to the forest. However, we fired several concentrations on approaches to the position and would have made it difficult for an enemy to approach the area.

"The battle continued to boil without pause. One had the impression that enemy resistance would have to break down now. The regiments had thrown their reserves into the fighting, their staffs had been stripped clerks, messengers and other personnel had been assigned to the firing line. The 14th company (tank destroyer) of each regiment had for a long time been fighting as rifle companies in the forward lines; the heavy infantry weapons were manned only by a few, vitally necessary crews, everyone else was fighting in the forward most line."

"Now that everything was at stake, the 26th Division moved up its reserves in order to exploit the growing success of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division and to feed the attack."

"Reconnaissance Battalion 26 around this time was engaged in bitter - tough apparently successful - fighting in front of Isle-la-Hesse. Grenadier Regiment 77 reported that the battle inside Champs was hopeless in view of the losses and the fact that it was impossible to bring in reserves. The regiment asked permission to give up Champs to be in a position of making an all-out effort - while holding on to the heights immediately northeast of Champs - to carry the attack forward under more favorable conditions. South of Champs (via Grandes Fanges).

"The division approved this request: the objective was not Champs, but Bastogne.

"Towards noon - when everything had been committed and the artillery, while already running short of ammunition, was still directing its fire concentration with flexibility and full impact into the respective main areas (forest northeast of Grandes Fanges, Hemroulle and wooded sections to the north thereof) - the situation turned more and more to the worse.

"The 15th Panzer Grenadier Division reported "that it had barely a single combat-fit tank at its disposal. The committed tank battalion had been wiped out and annihilated in the area around Hemroulle and nothing was being heard of the 'Kommandegruppe' (commander group) which had possibly made a breakthrough in the Bastogne direction..

"Grenadier Regiment 77 was engaged in furious, fluctuating battles in the area between Hemroulle and Champs. The losses were almost no longer bearable. In order to exploit the initial success, all the forces, including the division reserve had been committed there. At the time, the regiment, despite extremely heavy losses, put up a stubborn battle between Hemroulle and Grandes Fanges. The battered units were exposed to the most powerful enemy fire coming from the forest north of Hemroulle.

"Disregarding all losses, the Grenadiers - driven forward either by their own impulse or led by their officers and older comrades - had tried again and again to climb up the slope to Hemroulle. Every time, however, the assault groups had been stopped by the fire blockade of enemy machine guns, anti-tank guns, tank guns and rapid fire weapons, or else they were, after the initial breakthrough, too depleted to exploit the successes or to expand.

"The support by artillery and heavy weapons could have hardly been better and the fighting skill as well as the attack morale and death braving fortitude of the Grenadiers could not have been surpassed. But the forces committed were too weak and became weaker all the time.

"Against the powerful, repelling effectiveness of the tough, stubborn, skilfully dug-in and strong defending forces, the could not make any headway.

"At Reconnaissance Battalion 26 in the area facing Isle-la-Hesse the situation remained unchanged. With an unrelenting effort, the battalion tried to get forward and had committed all its personnel into the battle.

"Rifle Regiment 39 was located outside Isle-le-Pre, a bulwark of the enemy defence. Well directed, powerful German fire was being placed on the enemy. The remnants of the rifle regiment made repeated desperate efforts to advance towards the village and tried to encircle it. But all the attack waves were shattered by the wild defensive fire (especially also from tank guns) which they encountered despite visible losses on the enemy side. Panzer Grenadier Regiment 901 reported that 'an assault group (about one company of around 20 to 30 men strong) had gotten up as far as the road fork at the southeastern entrance to Bastogne. There it had apparently been cut off and annihilated. The regiment had not had a sufficient amount of forces to reinforce this assault group. The few reinforcements had been halted by the heavy flanking fire and had, more or less, been wiped out.'

"Grenadier regiment 78, forced by enemy pressure, had to give up some of the terrain on both sides of the Bourcy - Bastogne railroad line which had been gained by the assault group, but at the time some of its assault detachments were fighting successfully southeast of Mont.

"By early afternoon on 25 December, the division command - on the basis of personal impressions and reports received - had come to the conclusion that the first large-scale attack had failed. This was due to insufficient means at the disposal of the attacker; the supply of both personnel and material had been too limited from the start, despite all the concentration and despite space restrictions in the attack area.

"The 26th Division, in committing the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division, had utilized all its available resources. The division could not give more than it had at its disposal. Nothing had been sufficient.

"Whenever since the encirclement of Bastogne, it was on 25 December that the battle had hung in the balance.

"It was evident that the enemy had suffered heavily; no doubt his combat strength had been hit severely.

"Some of his tanks had been destroyed, his units had been split up, torn, smashed and he had lost weapons, equipment and prisoners. But he still had sufficient strength - regards morale, personnel and equipment - to be able , possibly in the last minute, to bring the exhausted attacking forces to a 'halt.'

"In the afternoon, the division - recognizing the situation and in order to cut down the losses - ordered the attacks to be discontinued and some of the forward combat groups to be taken back to more favorable terrain. This affected particularly Regiment 78 and remnants of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division. Reconnaissance Battalion 26 and Rifle Regiment 39 stuck to their positions. The enemy reacted with very powerful and effective fire concentrations. Pursuits of the remaining German forces did not take place. Much later only some infantry forces, with tank protection, felt their way cautiously and occupied some advanced positions without opposition.

"The enemy at first continued his counterattacks against the front of Reconnaissance Battalion 26 near Isle-le-Hesse and the Isle-la-Ore area, but with the fall of dusk these attacks also ceased and there remained only the heavy, rolling concentrated fire attacks which poured onto the German positions surrounding Bastogne.

"Reports coming in from the 5th Parachute Infantry Division and the occasional orientation through higher headquarters gave no clear picture about the developments in the rear of the 26th division.

"Only one thing was certain: the 5th Parachute Infantry Division, along its entire front between the Bastogne - Neufchateau road and the highway to the south, was engaged in a defensive battle against the enemy attacking from the southwest. By afternoon, however, the troops had cleared all enemy attacks along a line extending about as follows: road fork 2 kilometres north of Nives - Remoiville - Hollange.

"The division planned for another thrust on Bastogne during the evening hours. From the salient near Isle-la-Hesse a combat group - made up of concentrated elements of Grenadier Regiment 77 and elements of Reconnaissance Battalion 26 together with about 10 tank destroyers ('Jagdpanzer') - was to stage a surprise attack to the northeast in the direction of Hemroulle, was to push through the wooded sections north of Isle-la-Hesse and then to make the drive onto Bastogne via the area south of Savy. After penetrations of the wooded section north of Isle-le-Hesse, all the forces located between Grand Fanges and the highway to the west, while screening off to the north and by-passing Hemroulle in the south, should follow through to the east (towards Bastogne) in a wedge formation. 'This was a desperate attempt to turn once more - with a final and concentrated effort - the fate of the day. It failed.

"During the assembly in the darkness, a powerful fire concentration - even for wartime conditions it was exceptionally effective - smashed the assembled troops of Grenadier regiment 78 in such a way that there remained of a single battalion, for instance, only about 30 to 40 men which, together with their battalion commander, could be committed for the attack. All others had been either killed, wounded or dispersed.

"In spite of that, however, the attack is being opened at the ordered hour - towards 2000 hours - by the tank destroyers ('Jagdpanzer') of Reconnaissance Battalion 26 with accompanying infantry, followed by small groups of Grenadier Regiment 78, under cover of a dense fire curtain by German artillery and heavy infantry weapons.

"Moving forward on both sides of the country road leading from Isle-la-Hesse to Hemroulle, they fought their way up to about 1000 meters distance of Hemroulle, at times by means of furious close combat. There - after again having had to overcome fanatical enemy resistance - they came across an anti-tank switch line which proved an unpassable obstacle to the 'Jadgpanzer' (pursuit tanks) which, in the darkness, were functioning poorly anyhow.

"More than half of the tank destroyers were destroyed or put out of action from a very close distance (including also the company commander with his car).

"Under heavy enemy fire - covered by a smokescreen - the remaining fragments of the last combat group made a withdrawal to their original positions.

'During that and the following night, all the incapacitated pursuit tanks with the exception of two, were towed back into our lines with prime movers and under the protection of volunteer security troops. Despite several attempts it was impossible to reach the car of the company commander.

"In the late evening, the division reported to the corps that, after exhaustion of all possibilities and despite the splendid fortitude and fighting spirits of all attacking units and their leaders, the large-scale offensive had failed; to continue the attacks on Bastogne with the now decimated division would be irresponsible and unfeasible. The remaining forces of the division were weakened to such and extent that it was questionable whether they would be able to withstand at all an energetic thrust by the enemy.

"The corps took cognizance of this report, abstained from further attacks for the moment and ordered the positions to be held.

"It was 'hoped' that the division would hold out long enough for the 'Fuehrer Begleit Brigade' (Fuehrer Escort Brigade) a combat unit which, although only recently activated, was particularly well equipped - to arrive in the combat area. This unit was expected to arrive in the evening of 26 December or during 27 December.

"Even though the overall situation both at Sixth SS Panzer Army and the Fifth Panzer Army at that time left no doubt that the Ardennes offensive had been a failure, the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht did not draw and radical conclusions and decisions.

"Corps orders to the division for 26 December were to keep up, while holding on to the terrain gained, the encirclement of Bastogne and to prevent any possible breakouts on the part of the forces occupying Bastogne or their attempts to join up with the forces pushing up from the south."

"This order was passed on by the division to its regiments. To create - so far as possible - some protection against the suspected attack from the south and southwest, Panzer Grenadier Regiment 901 and Rifle Regiment 39 were ordered to strengthen their positions on both sides of the north-south highway and on both sides of the Neufchateau road and railroad line as much as possible. To accomplish this the sector of Regiment 901 was reduced when some of its elements were relieved through Grenadier Regiment 78 which expanded to the south via the Bastogne - Bras road as far as Marvie (exclusive). The only possible source of reinforcements for Rifle Regiment 39 were the security guards, which were brought up from their previous locations in the Hubermont and Brut - Lavasselle areas."

"As its defensive responsibility, the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division was assigned the sector extending from the highway to the west (inclusive) to the wooded sections 800 meters west of Grandes Fanges.

"Adjoining to the right as far as the Bastogne - Senonchamps road was Reconnaissance Battaion 26; to the left, immediately west of Grandes Fanges as far as Longchamps was Grenaduer Regiment 77."

"Despite commitment of all means, despite exploitation of all possibilities and despite an incomparable spirit of sacrifice of all units committed for attack and battle, the day had not brought the success aimed for.

"The accomplishments of both the troops and leaders can only be valued by those who have actually lived through the battle. It would be a deliberate, malicious distortion of the truth, should anyone blame the attitude of the troops for the failure!

"It was the insufficient ratio of strength of those units which had been committed by higher headquarters, it was the non-arrival of the promised air support, it was an estimate of the enemy which ignored the actual facts; all these factors had a decisive effect on the day's happenings and they could neither be balanced nor replaced by combat skill, toughness and spirit of sacrifice on the part of the troops."

"The 15th Panzer Grenadier Division was practically wiped out; the 26th Division counted more than 800 killed, wounded and missing. Grenadier Regiment 77 had barely 300 men left in the front; one battalion had about 80 men, the other possibly 200 men. Reconnaissance Battalion 26, the same as Rifle Regiment 39, had been reduced to a fragment of its original strength. The companies in the front had, at best, 20 to 25 men left. Supply formations, staffs and other rear echelon units were thoroughly combed out. The Replacement Training Battalion - having transferred in the meantime some formations to Panzer Grenadier Regiment 901 as well as Rifle Regiment 39 and Grenadier Regiment 77 - had about 200 men left.

The losses of old, experienced subordinate commanders and men, the high losses of officers and trained specialists at the artillery and heavy infantry weapons, were of great importance.

"A considerable amount of heavy weapons equipment had been destroyed by enemy fire and could not be replaced immediately.

"Due to lack of ammunition, some of the heavy mortars had been withdrawn from the front and assembled in a division depot. The crews, same as the 14th (tank destroyer) companies, had become assigned to the firing line as assault troops.

"Certainly the enemy was severely hit by his losses as well. In addition to considerable losses of weapons and prisoners, the concentrated German fire and the bitterly conducted assault and hand-to-hand battles must have caused him heavy losses. As was proven by his attitude when we abandoned some of our positions, he also was exhausted and at the end of his strength.

"It ought to be emphasized , however, at this point: The attacking German forces had for a long time been certain that they were facing a picked unit of the American Army. The fighting on 25 December had only served to underline this conclusion.

"Defender and attacker were imbued with the same fighting morale, the same combat fitness, toughness and determination.

US fighter ace George Preddy is killed when his P-51 is shot down by friendly fire. He was credited with 27 kills.

George Preddy's Mustangs had the mission of wiping out any German fighters who were able to penetrate to the battle zone. Ground control vectored the P-51s to the hot spots. Presently, the 328th Squadron received orders to intercept a group of bandits spotted near Koblenz, Germany that were on their way to intercept U.S. bombers. Preddy's Mustangs arrived in the vicinity at 24,000 feet and soon spotted the enemy in two gaggles. Capt. Bill Stangel dove on one of the groups and quickly shot down two Me 109s. Blue Flight was frustrated to lose the enemy in the clouds near Koblenz, although they did fight four Fw 190s near Maastricht no the way back to Asch. Capt. Charles Cesky quickly shot down three of the aircraft with his wingman, Lt. Al Cheeser, knocking out the fourth. Preddy's group also did well; the commander destroyed his 26th and 27th German planes over Koblenz. Lt. James Lambright and Ray Mitchell, also managed to shoot down others of thir won. With these victories, the daily total claims of the 328th Fighter Squadron stood at eleven German aircraft.

However, after these victories, Preddy's White Flight was sent to Liege, Belgium where they were to bounce some low flying German aircraft reported in the area. Flying along with Preddy, was Lt. James T. Cartee, his wingman, and Lt. Bouchier, who had joined up after having gotten separated from the 479th FG. As the three Mustangs flew over the dense forests at the northeastern reaches of the Ardennes, Preddy spotted a Fw190 flying at very low level. He gave chase at treetop level. Flying after the plane at low altitude, Bouchier saw Preddy's Mustang suddenly pull up trailing an ugly plume of coolant. Bouchier realized that they were under anti-aircraft fire when his craft shuddered from the blast of a 40mm shell. Damn! Jst then he saw the lead Mustang crash into a field, but there was little time to look. He was in big trouble, his cockpit quickly filling with smoke. Although only 1,000 feet in the air over the hilly Hurtgen Forest, Bouchier thought fast and flipped his P-51 over. Shedding the plexiglass canopy, he dropped out of his stricken machine. His parachute blossomed with a sudde jolt5, barely having time to break his fall. He landed very hard on the frozen ground, rising to release his chute and lucky to be in one piece. Above, Lt. Cartee was also hit by the ground fire, but managed to get away in one piece.

"As went over the woods, I was hit by ground fire. Maj. Preddy apparently noticed the intense ground fire and light flak and broke off the attack with a chandelle to the left. About halfway through the maneuver and about 700 feet altitude his canopy came off and he nosed down, still in his turn. I saw no chute and watched his ship hit."

GREECE: Churchill and Eden arrive in for talks with Greek Leaders. The British are very much in control and the fighting wanes.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The cream of the Japanese troops on Luzon are transferred to Cebu and Mindanao, after Yamashita says that he can no longer guarantee getting supplied through to them.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: In a combined high-low attack Japanese intruders destroy one B-29, damage three beyond repair and inflict minor damage on eleven.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Frigate HMS Dakins is mined in the English Channel 14 miles NW of Ostend at 51 25N 02 44E.Although a lot of water was taken into the forward compartment, good damage control enables her to return to the UK under her own power. However, she is not considered worth repairing.

Frigate HMS Capel is torpedoed and sunk by U-486 (Oberleutnant der Reserve Gerhard Meyer) at 1237. The torpedo explosion blew the bridge structure aft until it rested on her funnel. Capel sank very slowly and capsized at 1602. There are 7 casualties. Location: 49 48N 01 43W.

Whilst searching for Capel’s assailant, frigate HMS Affleck takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-486. The explosion blew off 60 feet of AFFLECKs stern but she reaches Cherbourg under her own power and is later towed to Portsmouth, but never repaired. Location: 49 48N 01 41W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

"For six years past I have spoken at Christmas to an Empire at war. During all those years of sorrow and danger, of weariness and strife, you and I have been upheld by a vision of a world at peace. And now that vision has become a reality. By gigantic efforts and sacrifices a great work has been done, a great evil has been cast from the earth. No peoples have done more to cast it out than you to whom I speak. With my whole heart I pray to God by whose grace victory has been won, that this Christmas may bring to my peoples all the world over every joy they have dreamed of in the dark days that are gone.

This Christmas is a real homecoming to us all, a return to a world in which the homely and friendly things of life can again be ours. To win victory, much that was of great price has been given up, much has been ravaged or destroyed by the hand of war. But the things that have been saved are beyond price.

In these homelands of the British people which we have saved from destruction, we still possess the things that make life precious; and we shall find them strengthened and deepened by the fires of battle. Faith in these things held us in brotherhood through all our trials, and has carried us to victory. Perhaps a better understanding of that brotherhood is the most precious of all the gains that remain with us after these hard years. Together all our peoples round the globe have met every danger and triumphed over it; and we are together still. Most of all we are together, as one world-wide family, in the joy of Christmas.

I think of men and women of every race within the Empire returning from their long service to their own families, to their own homes, and to the ways of peace. I think of the children, freed from unnatural fears and a blacked-out world, celebrating this Christmas in the light and happiness of the family circle once more reunited.

There will be vacant places of those who will never return, brave souls who gave their all to win peace for us. We remember them with pride and with unfading love, praying that a greater peace than ours may now be theirs. There are those of you, still to be numbered in millions, who are spending Christmas far from your homes, engaged in East and West in the long and difficult task or restoring to shattered countries the means and the manners of civilised life. But many anxieties have been lifted from you and from your folk at home; and the coming of peace brings you nearer to your heart's desire.

There is not yet for us the abundance of peace. We all have to make a little go a long way. But Christmas comes with its message of hope and fellowship to all men of goodwill, and warms our hearts to kindliness and comradeship.

We cannot, on this day, forget how much is still to be done before the blessings of peace are brought to all the world. In the liberated countries millions will spend this Christmas under terribly hard conditions, with only the bare necessities of life. The nations of the world are not yet a united family, so let our sympathy for others move us to humble gratitude that God has given to our Commonwealth and Empire a wonderful spirit of unity and understanding.

You have grown up in a world at war, in which your fine spirit of service has been devoted to a single purpose - the overthrow and destruction of our enemies. You have known the world only as a world of strife and fear. Bring now all that fine spirit to make it one of joyous adventure, a home where men and women can live in mutual trust and walk together as friends. Do not judge life by what you have seen of it in the grimness and waste of war, nor yet by the confusion of the first years of peace. Have faith in life at its best and bring to it your courage, your hopes and your sense of humour. For merriment is the birthright of the young. But we can all keep it in our hearts as life goes on, if we hold fast by the spirit that refuses to admit defeat; by the faith that never falters; by the hope that cannot be quenched. Let us have no fear of the future but think of it as opportunity and adventure. The same dauntless resolve, which you have shown so abundantly in the years of danger, that the power of darkness shall not prevail, must now be turned to a happier purpose, to making the light shine more brightly everywhere. The light of joy can be most surely kindled by the fireside, where most of you are listening.

Home life, as we all remember at Christmas, is life at its best. There, in the trust and love of parents and children, brothers and sisters, we learn how men and nations too may live together in unity and peace. So to every one of you who are gathered now in your homes or holding the thought of home in your hearts, I say - a merry Christmas and God bless you all."

CHINA: The Nationalist government declares the constitution of the Republic of China.