30 December 1939

JAPAN: TOJO Hideki is born in Tokyo. The son of a Japanese Army Lieutenant General. TOJO graduated from the Japanese military academy in 1905 and was appointed War Minister in 1940. He later served as the 40th Prime Minister of Japan 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944.

U.S.S.R.: In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state is the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism. Joseph Stain is the General Secretary of the Central Committee, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin is the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R. and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is the Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars.

U.S.A: The temperature reaches 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-46 degrees Centigrade) at Bloomfield, Vermont. It is the coldest reading in modern records for New England. The temperature at Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, reaches 44 degrees Fahrenheit below zero (-42 degrees Centigrade).

ITALY: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini issues orders for the full conquest of Ethiopia.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet leadership decides to re-evaluate the war-effort against Finland. All attacks are to cease for the time.

ITALY: Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister, tells Belgian Princess Marie-José to warn her brother King Leopold that German Chancellor Adolf Hitler would soon invade Belgium.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Hanoi: A breakaway group of Chinese Nationalists led by the Kuomintang's ex foreign minister, Wang Chingwei, appears to have finalised agreement with Japan to set up a rival Nationalist government under Japanese protection. The Tokyo educated Wang Chingwei, once Chiang Kai-shek's main rival for the Kuomintang leadership, fled to Hanoi a year ago to start a peace movement in response to Japan's call for a "new order in Asia". Since the loss of Wuhan he has become convinced that the war against Japan was unwinnable.

URUGUAY: The government gives German freighter SS Tacoma 24 hours to leave the port of Montevideo, deeming the ship an auxiliary war vessel since she has assisted various manoeuvres of armoured ship Admiral Graf Spee and embarked her crew when that warship was scuttled.

U.S.A.: An order for ten modified North American NA-50A fighters is received from the government of Siam. (Craig Paffhausen)

ITALY:
General Soddu steps down as the Italian C-in-C due to illness and is succeeded by General Cavallero.

GREECE:
The Greek High Command decides to continue the advance with only the central Greek force, 2nd Corps, and orders it to take Kelcyre. Bitter fighting ensues, the Italians throwing in 5 divisions, the Greeks three and a half divisions, heavy losses are reported on both sides. But the advancing Greeks, by clever tactics, capture Kelcyre and clear away the Italian salient.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: ASW trawler HMS Bandolero (FY 778) is sunk in a collision with the Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D 22) off Solum, Egypt. It takes a month to repair the damage to the destroyer. The Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager (D 31) captures a 190-ton Italian supply schooner off Solum, Egypt. An Australian boarding party finds that British POWs on board had taken control of the vessel and imprisoned more than 100 Italian crewmen and passengers. The schooner is taken to Solum. (Jack McKillop & Dave Shirlaw)

AUSTRALIA: Convoy US-8 (Australia-Middle East) consisting of the troop transports Aquitania. Awatea, Dominion Monarch, Mauretania and Queen Mary escorted by the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra (D 33), sails from Melbourne, Victoria. The troopships are carrying the Australian 2/15th Battalion and the 2/28th and 2/43rd Battalions of the 24th Brigade and New Zealand troops.

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Bayfield and Canso laid down North Vancouver, British Columbia.

U.S.A.:
Polls suggest that President Roosevelt's "Arsenal of Democracy" speech was the most successful he has ever given. 75% of the population were aware of it and more than 60% agreed with what he said.
A poll for Fortune magazine shows that where a year ago American businessmen looked unsympathetically on the predicament of Britain and France, now the majority are determined to do whatever need to be done to help Britain defeat Hitler.

In California, the Arroyo Seco Parkway, the forerunner of the Pasadena Freeway (between Los Angeles and Pasadena), is dedicated by Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron. It is the first freeway in the western U.S. and is designated as a historic engineering landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1999.

The motion picture "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" opens at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Directed by William Dieterle, this drama stars Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara and Edmond O'Brien.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Triumph is believed mined in the Aegean just off Hydra. There are no survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

LIBYA: After another costly and unsuccessful tank battle for Agedabia, during which the British 22d Armoured Brigade is rendered ineffective as a fighting force, XIII Corps of the British Eighth Army suspends their assault pending the arrival of reinforcements. German tanks have proved superior both mechanically and in gun power.

JAPAN: Following negotiations with the Swiss Minister, who is in charge of US affairs in Tokyo, the Japanese government approve the Swedish ship Gripsholm to be used as a neutral vessel to carry the US embassy staff to a neutral country. They proposed to leave about April 25 via Shanghai, Saigon and Singapore to pick up more repatriates. The ship could accommodate 1100 passengers. There were 500 officials leaving room for 600 nonofficial's from Japan, China, Thailand and the occupied western colonies. However, the voyage was delayed. (Ed Miller)(174)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US forces on Luzon fall back from positions at Tarlac. These are their last prepared positions before Bataan. Their need to hold this line is extreme because the forces to the south must pass through Manila to get to Bataan.

The North Luzon Force is unable to hold the Japanese on the line Cabanatuan-Tarlac and begins a withdrawal southward toward the final defence positions before Bataan. From Cabanatuan, the 91st Division [Philippine Army (PA)] withdraws along Route 5 through Gapan toward Baliuag, northeast of Calumpit. Tank battalions are ordered to the Plaridel-Baliuag area to defend the vital Calumpit bridge over the Pampanga River, across which the South Luzon Force must withdraw to reach San Fernando and the road leading into Bataan, and 71st Division (PA) is dispatched to Baliuag. In the centre, the 11th Division (PA) succeeds in delaying a Japanese column heading for Tarlac from Cabanatuan. The 21st Division (PA) falls back from Tarlac along Route 3 toward the line Bamban- Arayat. The South Luzon Force, ordered to delay the Japanese, halts at Santiago, where an ambush is arranged, but because of reverses of the North Luzon Force is directed in the evening to continue t heir withdrawal and cross the Calumpit bridge not later than 0600 hours on 1 January. The Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Regiment (â€”) and a battery of the 51st Field Artillery Regiment are dispatched to assist in the defence of the Calumpit bridge. The 2d Philippine Constabulary Regiment covers the withdrawal while the main body moves toward Bataan.

USN-commandeered tug SS Ranger lands a volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point, located on a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay approximately 8 miles (13 kilometres) southwest of Manila. The sailors bring out diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.

MALAYA: The Japanese maintain pressure against the Kampar position in western Malaya; on the east coast they threaten Kuantan from the north in greater strength. The Kuantan defence force is in the process of concentrating west of the Kuantan River, which is crossed by a single ferry. Two Japanese battalions land at Kota Bharu and begin a march down the east coast.

SINGAPORE: Troops of the 11th Indian Division defending central Malaya have surrendered Kampar and retreated from the river Perak. They are now regrouping further south on the river Slim.

Major-General Heath's hopes of making a stand against the Japanese main force as it advanced south on the coast road were crushed when a second Japanese column emerged on his eastern flank from the jungle, hitherto thought impassable, after marching from Thailand. Morale in the Indian Division is good despite the defection of a unit of pro-Indian independence troops a few weeks ago.

EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress squadrons arrive at Sinosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 torpedoes and damages a 5,695 ton unarmed U.S. freighter off the coast of California about 26 nautical miles (48 kilometres) off San Pedro. Although damaged, the freighter escapes.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-1 shells Hilo on the island of Hawaii with her 5.5-inch (14.0 centimetre) gun. The USN seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier adjacent to the pier damaged by the bombardment, is not hit.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The first aerial reinforcements for the territory, 25 P-40s of the 11th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) arrive at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage.

CANADA: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Ottawa after his talks with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt over strategy to win the war with Germany. In a speech to Parliament this evening, Churchill quips, "When I warned them (the French) that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet that in three weeks, England would have her neck wrung like a chicken - Some chicken! Some neck!"

U.S.A.: Admiral King is appointed CINCUS (Commander in Chief) - US Fleet. To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm. Inch" or Command in Chief). (Ken Friedman)

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are given the authority to search the homes of enemy aliens if there is a reason to suspect there is contraband on the premises.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Sir Neville Henderson, Britain's last envoy to Nazi Germany and the man whose name was firmly joined to the policy of appeasement, has died in London at the age of 60. He went to Berlin in May 1937 and was soon caught up in the diplomatic turmoil of Hitler's repeated territorial demands. During the Sudeten crisis of 1938 Henderson, at a private party, told the Germans there that Britain would not risk even one sailor of airman for Czechoslovakia. On his return to London after the outbreak of war he wrote an account of his work for peace and understanding; he called his book Failure of a Mission.

ARCTIC OCEAN: The Battle of the Barents Sea is set as German Admiral Kummetz sails with Lutzow, Admiral Hipper and six destroyers for convoy JW-51B. The British close escort of eleven ships is commanded by Commander H. T. Rust in the minesweeper HMS BRAMBLE with corvettes HMS HYDERABAD and HMS RHODODENDRON and trawlers HMS VIZALMA and HMS NORTHERN GEM.

The fighting destroyer escort consisted of HMS ONSLOW, HMS OBEDIENT, HMS OBDURATE, HMS ORIBI, HMS ORWELL and HMS ACHATES, commanded by Captain R. St.V. Sherbrooke. This force originally included HMS BULLDOG, but she was forced to turn back due to poor weather. (Ric Pelvin)

Their close covering force of two cruisers and two destroyers is under Admiral Burnett and Admiral Fraser with battleship Anson and other ships is distant escort.

The Germans are held at bay by the British. The ADMIRAL HIPPER is badly damaged. The only success of the operation was the sinking of the destroyer HMS Achates and minesweeper HMS Bramble, destroyers HMS Onslow, Obedient, Obdurate and Orwell were damaged in the action. Admiral Fraser with battleship Anson and other ships of the distant escort, did not take part in the battle.

MALTA: No. 23 Squadron RAF make the first night fighter sortie armed with the new de Havilland Mosquito Mk II. Over the next three months they will shoot down 17 enemy aircraft. (22)

TUNISIA: Regimental Combat Team 18, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, moves to Medjez el Bab.

Thirteen USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses with P-38 Lightning escort, attack docks and the marshalling yard at Sfax and B-25 Mitchells, escorted by P-38s, follow with an attack on the same marshalling yard. DB-7 Bostons hit a troop concentration near Gabes, this attack being followed by an A-20 Havoc raid on the airfield. During the afternoon, more DB-7s, with P-38 and P-40 escort, hit Gabes, concentrating on the airfield. A-20s hit a fuel dump at El Aouinet and on the return flight, escorting P-40s strafe near El Guettar. P-40s and F-4 Lightnings fly uneventful reconnaissance missions.

ALGERIA: Algiers: General Giraud, the new French high commissioner here since the death of Admiral Darlan, tonight announced the arrest of 12 prominent people, "to prevent further assassinations". Those arrested, he said, were plotting further assassinations, including attempts on the lives of both Giraud himself and President Roosevelt's representative, Robert Murphy.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Urbana Force (two battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division) maintains pressure against Buna Mission from the southeast and prepares to envelop it by attacking eastward from Buna Village and Musita Island. Warren Force (based on the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) regroups. Advance elements of the 163d Infantry Regiment (1st Battalion and headquarters), U.S. 41st Infantry Division, are flown to Dobodura and Popondetta from Port Moresby.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs strafe forces in the Duvira Creek area while B-24 Liberators carry out single-bomber attacks on the airfield at Lae, Madang Village, and troops and vehicles at Wewak. A B-17 Flying Fortress strafes a schooner in Jacquinot Bay.

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin complains to the press about "buggers in Australia who won't work. Coal mines are idle, and everyone is thinking about holidays just at a time when a few extra tons in our war effort would have a crucial effect. We are like people who have just got contagion out of the house, and just over the back fence. Apparently we are not worrying about how dirty the yard is."

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In preparation for renewing their attack on Hill 27 on Guadalcanal, the 2d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, begins a movement to forward positions. The 1st and 3d Battalions continue to patrol.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb shipping at Rabaul on New Britain Island and sink a merchant cargo ship.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 14 P-38 Lightnings approach Japanese-held Kiska Harbour at minimum altitude for a bombing and strafing attack. Two ships and three submarines, newly arrived, are covered by "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters). Four of the "Zekes" engage the approaching P-38s in a dogfight; two P-38s are shot down and four "Zekes" are listed as probable's. The B-25s meanwhile attack the ships with unobserved results; one B-25 is shot down off Little Kiska Island. A USN PBY Catalina picks up survivors, but fails to return to base. Kiska Harbour is then attacked once more by five B-24 Liberators, four B-25s and four B-26 Marauders. They claim hits on both vessels observing explosions on the smaller ship. A B-24 photographs Amchitka while a weather reconnaissance of Near Island is cancelled due to weather. Aerial reconnaissance observes for the first time Japanese use of a smoke screen at Kiska Harbour.

U.S.A.: The second prototype Boeing XB-29 heavy bomber, s/n 41-003, makes its first flight today.

Frank Sinatra opens at New York's Paramount Theatre for what is scheduled to be a four-week engagement (his shows turns out to be so popular that he is booked for an additional four weeks). An estimated 400 policemen are called out to help curb the excitement of the teenage girls (bobbysoxers) attending the show. It is said that some of the teenage girls are hired to scream, but many more screamed for free. Sinatra is dubbed "The Sultan of Swoon," "The Voice that Thrills Millions," and just "The Voice." Whatever he was, it is at this Paramount Theatre engagement that modern pop hysteria is born.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2138 on 29 Dec 1942, U-225 missed HMS Fidelity (special service vessel, previously the French "Rhin"), which was straggling from Far East convoy ONS-154 station #54. U-615 missed the same ship with five torpedoes between 2200 and 2300 hours on the same day. Fidelity suffers an engine failure and is awaiting a tug to take her to Gibraltar when she is spotted by U-435 (Kapitanleutnant Siegfried Strelow). At 1638 hours today, the vessel was finally hit by two torpedoes from U-435 and sank immediately. The landing craft HMS LCV-752 and LCV-754 on board were lost with the ship. Fidelity had a crew of 284 men and was transporting 51 Royal Marines for Indochina. The day before, she picked up 44 survivors from Empire Shackleton, which had been sunk the day before by U-225, U-123 and U-435. One of the seaplanes carrying two men and the MTB with eight men floated free from the fast sinking ship and carried the only survivors. The men on the aircraft were picked up by destroyer HMCS St Laurent and the others by corvette HMCS Woodstock. Fidelity had the appearance of a tramp steamer but was designed for special operations and equipped with a concealed aircraft catapult and two landing craft. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

At 0819, the unescorted Paderewski was torpedoed by U-214 about 40 miles off Trinidad. The ship was hit by a coup de grâce at 0919 and was sunk by gunfire (23 rounds from the deck gun of which 13 were hits and the 2cm Anti-Aircraft gun). Three crewmembers were lost, Wlodzimierz Szewczuk, Dmitro Romanciw and Marian Rojek. The survivors were picked up by a fishing boat and two American patrol boats and landed at Trinidad in the evening.

UNITED KINGDOM: : The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 170: five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 1 million leaflets on Antwerp, Ghent and Lens, Belgium and Cambrai, France at 2319-2340 hours.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Gorregan launched.

Aircraft carrier HMS Venerable launched.

Destroyer HMS Wrangler launched.

Submarine HMS Vox commissioned.

FRANCE: About 100 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Saint-Omer Airfield and V-1 weapon sites on the north coast. About 100 others abort missions because of bad weather.

During the night of 30/31 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches ten Lancasters and six Pathfinder Mosquitos to destroy the Domart-en-Ponthieu V1 site at Flixecourt which had been missed on an earlier raid, 12 aircraft attack but the markers are 200 yards (183 meters) from the target and, with the Lancasters' bombs well grouped around these, the site is again undamaged; two other aircraft bomb the V1 site at Bristillerie and one bombs a site at La Glacerie. Bombers also mine Biscay Bay ports: nine mine off Gironde, four off St. Nazaire, three off Lorient, two off Le Havre and one each off Cherbourg and La Glacerie. Eleven bombers drop leaflets over northern France.

GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 169: 653 B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, and 11 PFF aircraft attack the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Ludwigshafen at 1156-1300 hours; they claim 12-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft. Fourteen B-17s and nine B-24s are lost. The mission is escorted by 79 P-38 Lightnings, 463 P-47 Thunderbolts and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs; they claim 8-3-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 P-47s and two P-51s are lost. Five other aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.

During the night of 30/31 December, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb three cities: nine hit Cologne, seven bomb Duisburg (five hit the city and two bomb the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory) and two bomb Bochum (one each bombs the Bochemer Verein industrial area and the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory). Eleven bombers lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, the arm of the North Sea extending south and east of the island of Helgoland, Germany.

U-1205, U-1206 launched

U-320, U-925, U-1005 commissioned.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's II Corps area, the 34th Infantry Division relieves battle-worn 36th Infantry Division. In the VI Corps area, the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, attempts to clear the hills astride the St. Elia road in the region east of Acquafondata and succeeds in getting elements on one, Mt. Rotondo.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit Atina. P-40s and A-36 Apaches support ground forces, hitting targets in the Chieti-Miglianico area while railway sidings near Frosinone, gun positions near Arce and west of Minturno, and the town areas of Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, Ferentino, and Atina are bombed.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb two marshalling yards (M/Ys): 29 bomb the M/Y at Padua and 25 hit the M/Y at Rimini. Thirty four other aircraft bomb the industrial area at Ravenna. The B-17s and escorting P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts claim the destruction of nine German fighters during air battles in the Padua-Vicenza area, off the coast east of Ravenna, and south of Aquila. B-26 Marauders hit the Borgo San Lorenzo marshalling yard and viaduct, the marshalling yard at Viareggio, and a road junction near Roccasecca.

During the night of 30/31 December, 19 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the airfield at Treviso.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Zara hitting a junction, railway station, repair shops, warehouse, and harbour. Fighter-bombers attack vessels are hit at Crkvice

CHINA: Eight Japanese fighters strafe Suichaan Airfield while 12 others provide cover; two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force airplanes are destroyed on the ground while eight P-40s intercept the formation after the attack and shoot down three aircraft.

BURMA: Twenty USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Monywa hitting railway facilities and the area in general.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/7th Commando Squadron, 2/6th Commando Regiment, occupies Walum village. Walum is about 45 miles (72 kilometres) southeast of Aitape.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force aircraft flying from bases in the Gilbert Islands attack a number of targets: 17 B-24 Liberators, flying from Tarawa Atoll, bomb Kwajalein Atoll and nine B-25 Mitchells from Tarawa hit the town of Jabor on Jaluit Atoll. A-24 Dauntlesses from Makin Island, escorted by 24 P-39 Airacobras, dive-bomb gun positions on Mili Atoll.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Cape Gloucester Airfield (Tuluvu), located on the western tip of New Britain Island's northern coast, is declared secure; it has been taken by the Marines at very light cost. Heavy rains delay its improvements, and American aircraft do not start operating from the strip until February 1944.

On New Britain Island, 19 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, with 25 fighters covering, attack shipping at Rabaul and also hit Tobera airfield. The escorts encounter aggressive fighter opposition and claim 12 shot down. The aircraft sink a Japanese guard boat

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Piva South (Piva Uncle) airstrip is completed; the field is located just inland from Torokina, on the coast of Emperess Augusta Bay. The Fiji patrol, composed of Fijians, having advanced along the Numa Numa trail, establishes outposts near the coast at Ibu village, where it can observe Japanese movements. An airstrip for use of Piper Cubs is cleared there. After aircraft attack Japanese positions on Pearl Ridge for 40-minutes, the Australian 25th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, begins an advance at 0800 hours local behind artillery and machine gun fire. Companies A and D meet heavy resistance and dig in by 1600 hours but Companies B and C reach their objectives. During the night, the Japanese mount strong counterattacks but are driven off.

On Bougainville, 16 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators and 35 B-25 Mitchells bomb Kahili and the bivouac and supply areas in the vicinity and six B-25s bomb the Korovo area.

U.S.A.: The 1st US Marine Parachute Regiment (1-3rd Battalions) and the 4th Parachute Battalion are ordered to disband. (Gordon Angus Mackinlay)(167)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-618 saved 21 survivors from the sunken German destroyer Z-27. After the war these men became honorary members of the crew and took part in their annual meetings.

U-545 fired four torpedoes at the convoy ON-217 in grid AL 1228 (60°30N/24°35W) and heard four detonations. Mannesmann thought that he had hit four ships, but the only ship hit was Empire Housman. U-545 observed one ship sinking on 1 January. On 30 December, U-744 attacked also the convoy ON-217 in grid AL 1215 and reported one ship damaged, it is possible that the already damaged Empire Housman was hit. On 3 Jan 1944, the Empire Housman (Master David John Lewis), now straggling from the convoy, was again torpedoed by U-744 and foundered two days later. One crewmember was lost. The master, 37 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up by the British armed trawler HMS Elm and rescue tug HMS Earner. Landed at Reykjavik.

The British special service vessel HMS Fidelity (D 57) is torpedoed and sunk about 277 nautical miles (513 kilometres) north of Lagens Field, Azores Islands in position 43.23N, 27.07W, by a torpedo fired by the German submarine U-435. This 2,455 ton ship, formerly the French merchant ship Le Rhin is armed with 4-inch (10,2 centimetre) guns, torpedoes and depth charges and also carried two seaplanes, a motor torpedo boat and two small landing craft. The vessel, believed by some of the crew to be totally unseaworthy, carried out operations of an extremely hazardous nature, i.e., landing of secret agents on enemy territory. Due to the secret nature of the ship, the crew are volunteers, the non British members sailing under assumed names and the French and other crew members received anglicized names. Her captain was an ex-French spy Claude Peri, who assumed the name Jacques Langlais and to the amazement of the crew took his mistress, Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) officer Madeleine Barclay, onboard with him. After operations in the Mediterranean, Fidelity is assigned to the Far East Fleet and sails from Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, to Colombo, Ceylon, via the Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa, part of the way with slow convoy ONS-154 (U.K. to North America). In an area of the Atlantic known as the Black Pit, an area beyond the protection aircraft, the convoy, escorted by a Canadian destroyer and five corvettes, is attacked by the ten U-boat of Wolfpack Spitz and over the next four days 14 of the 45 ships are sunk with 510 lives lost. The Fidelity, lagging behind with engine failure, is torpedoed today. She goes to the bottom with almost all her complement of 280 crew, 51 Royal Marine Commandos and the WRNS officer plus four civilians. About fifty survivors rescued earlier from the British freighter SS Empire Shackleton are also on board. There are only ten men who survive the sinking of the Fidelity.

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyers HMCS Sioux and Algonquin departed Loch Ewe with Convoy JW-63 for Kola Inlet.

King George II of Greece proclaimed a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 771: eight B-24 Liberators and three B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflet in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany during the night. Weather forces the recall and cancellation of the USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division and IX Tactical Air Command missions; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) flies armed reconnaissance over the battle area and around Wallersheim, Germany and the XIX Tactical Air Command covers large areas of France, Belgium, and Germany hitting numerous ground targets and supports the U.S. III, VIII, and XII Corps in the Saint-Hubert and Bastogne, Belgium and the Diekirch, Luxembourg areas.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-772 sunk south of Weymouth, in position 50.05N, 02.31W, about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometres) southwest of Southampton, by depth charges from an 407 Sqn RCAF Wellington Mk. XIV, based at Chivenor, Devon. 48 dead (all hands lost).

BELGIUM/LUXEMBOURG: The VIII Corps, from the US 3rd Army, begins an attack north toward Houffalize from near Bastogne.

In Antwerp at 1045 hours, a German A4 (V-2) rocket crashes in Mortsel near the Castle of Cantecroy causing five injuries and one house destroyed. At 1321 hours, another A4 lands at Borgerhout in Wynegemstraat-Florastraat resulting in 44 deaths, 125 injuries and 110 houses destroyed.

In U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the corps turns over the region southwest of the line Marche-Namur to the British. The Germans abandon Rochefort.

In the U.S. Third Army area, VIII Corps opens a drive on Houffalize. The 11th Armored Division progresses slowly and at heavy cost. The 87th Infantry Division takes Moircy but loses it in a counterattack later in day. In the III Corps area, Germans again attempt to cut the Arlon-Bastogne highway and isolate Bastogne, reaching Lutrebois and surrounding two companies of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, in Villers-la-Bonne-Eau.

During the night of 30/31 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 154 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos to attack a German supply bottleneck in a narrow valley at Houffalize; 97 aircraft attack the target. The results of the raid are not known. One Lancaster crashed in France.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 13 Lancasters to bomb the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden but the raid was abandoned because of bad weather.

FRANCE: Alsace. The U.S. 6th Army Group located South of the Ardennes, including 7th Army, VI Corps was preparing to give ground if the German's mounted a major attack to avoid being cut off like U.S. forces in the Ardennes.

Ike had ordered General Devers to retreat to the Vosges Mountains, if necessary, to prevent a break through. General De Gaulle was insisting that Strasburg not be allowed to fall into German control since Strasburg was as important to the French people as Paris. Ike was also having problems with British General Montgomery over who should be the overall ground commander in Northern Europe, and fighting was still furious in the Ardennes.

VI Corps, 7TH U.S. Army had received information the day before (Dec 29th) that a hostile attack against the flank might force giving up ground. Everyone was nervous from reports of German paratroops landing in the rear plus German infiltrators dressed in U.S. uniforms, driving U.S. jeeps and speaking fluent English. Security check points and guards were posted at all road intersections and unit local security posts were increased. The day before (Dec 29th). At unit levels, verbal signs and countersigns were changed frequently.

Scattered firing occurred among the new replacements and new inexperienced units who were seeing Germans behind every tree. No one seemed to know who was firing at whom.

Hitler's direction for "Operation Nordwind" included destruction of American and French man power and equipment, and for the German Nineteenth Army (about 100,000 men) that had been cut off to the South in the Colmar Pocket to break out and join the attacks from the North. (Joe Brott)

De Guingand arrives at SHAEF after a hair raising, bad weather flight from Brussels. He meets with Eisenhower, Tedder and Smith and asks that Eisenhower's letter to the Combined Chiefs about the situation with Montgomery be held for 24 hours. He feels that Montgomery does not understand the resentment that his letter of the previous day to Eisenhower has caused. He feels that if he has time to explain the situation to his master that Montgomery will back down. Eisenhower and Tedder feel that the damage had already been done but Smith takes sides with de Guingand. Ike relents and agrees to hold the letter for 24 hours. Back in Smith's office de Guingand sends a message to Montgomery that he wants to meet with him in Zonhoven, Monty's advance CP, so as to discuss an important matter with him on the next day.

The USAAF (Eighth Air Force flies Mission 770: 1,315 bombers and 572 fighters are sent to attack rail and communications targets in western Germany; four bombers and two fighters are lost. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):

- Marshalling yards at: Kassel (319-1), Mannheim (189-2), Kaiserslautern (145-0), Mechernich (87-0), Mainz (45-0) and Bischofheim (34-1).

- Railroad bridges at: Euskirchen (92-0), Kaiserslautern(72-0), Bullay (71-0), Altenahr (61-0), Neuweid (58-0), Remagen (Ludendorf Bridge) (29-0) and Stadtkyll (28-0).

356 Halifaxes, 93 Lancasters and 21 Mosquitos, to attack the area in which the Kalk-Nord railway yards are situated in Cologne; 457 aircraft attack with the loss of a Halifax and a Lancaster. The presence of cloud causes difficulties for the Pathfinders and the outcome of the raid could not be observed but the local report shows that the Kalk-Nord yards, as well as the two passenger stations near by, are severely damaged. At least two ammunition trains blow up and nearby Autobahns are also badly damaged, all adding to the effect upon the German transportation system. In other raids, Mosquitos attack four cities: 68 hit Hannover, nine bomb Bochum (five hit the Gelsenkirchener coal mine, three attack the Carolinengluck coking plant and one bombs the city); eight attack Duisburg and one bombs Bonn.

HUNGARY: Russian units of the 2nd and 3rd Ukraine Fronts are involved in the ongoing fighting in and around Budapest.

FINLAND: An Allied Supervision Commission, headed by the Russians, informs Finnish Air Force HQ that formations of up to ten US Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports will be flying several missions from Kallax in northern Sweden across Lapland to Kirkenes and back. The Finns are expected to provide safe transit across Finland. (Gordon Angus Mackinlay)(153)

ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers concentrate a major effort on rail line running north to the Brenner Pass, hitting a fill at Dolce and bridges at Calliano, Ala, and Santa Margherita d'Adige, and ammunition dump at Bologna. Fighter-bombers blast road bridges, support the U.S. Fifth Army southeast of La Spezia, and hit bridges in the Mantua and Modena areas. During the night of 30/31 December, A-20 Havocs again fly intruder missions, bombing a variety of targets, including motor transport, bridges, and railroads in the Po Valley.

GREECE: On 25 December, an agreement was reached which led to the establishment of a regency government under Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou, the archbishop of Athens. Greek King George II, living in exile in the U.K., appointed the archbishop as the head of the caretaker government, and Archbishop Damaskinos is sworn in as regent today and appoints himself Prime Minister. He relinquishes his position after the civil war begins to die down and recalls the king formally on 28 September 1946.

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-956 sank Soviet Liberty Ship Tibilisi II (ex-American John Langdon) 69.56N, 32.29E - Grid AC 8812.

JAPAN: The first I-400 aircraft carrying submarine is completed. (Phil Jacobsen)

CHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators damage a bridge west of Kengtung. P-51 Mustangs and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at several points including areas around Ka-chun, Shanhsien, Ichang, and Shayang.

Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts knock out and damage bridges at Man Pwe, Ho-hko (two bridges), and Inailong; 17 B-25 Mitchells blast a troop and supply area at Kyatpyin; and 28 P-47s and P-38 Lightnings hit troops, supplies, and areas of enemy activity at Myethin, Manna, Nanponpon, Lawa, Sabenago, Hmattawmu, and Hosi. Four B-25s continue a single-plane offensive reconnaissance over communications lines during the night of 30/31 December.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at several points including areas around Mong Nawng, Man Pong, and Mong Long.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Fourteen USAAF Seventh Air Force Saipan-based B-24 Liberators bomb Iwo Jima which is hit again over an almost 7-hour period during the night of 30/31 December by nine B-24 Liberators singly operating from Guam.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators damage a bridge, railroad tracks, and 40+ boxcars northeast of Thanh Moi.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Coast Guard-manned FS-367 takes on survivors from USS Mariposa at San Jose, Mindoro.

Aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and Independence left Ulithi anchorage to fight with Japanese night bombers in the Philippines area. Both carriers had aircraft equipped with radars (night versions of F6F Hellcat fighters and TBM torpedo bombers).

In the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 1st Cavalry Division makes contact with the 32d Infantry Division northeast of Villaba. In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Infantry Division begins two-pronged attacks to open the Palompon road. While the 3d Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, continues west to a point some 1,000 yards (914 meters) southwest of Tipolo, the Provisional Mountain Force attacks east until stopped about 4 miles (6,4 kilometres) east of Palompon. The Japanese withdraw their main forces, during the night of 30/31 December. Company C, 305th Infantry Regiment, moves by water to Abiao, north of Palompon, and burns the town; continuing north, they gain radio contact with 1st Cavalry Division in the Villaba area.

On Mindoro Island, the second resupply convoy arrives. Under Japanese air attack while en route, the convoy loses three merchant ships, two destroyers, three tank landing ships (LSTs), and a landing craft, mechanized (LCM) at or near the island. Most of the 3d Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, arrives.

In the principal action of the day, USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers attack airfields in the central Philippines. Smaller strikes by B-25 Mitchells, B-24 Liberators, and fighter-bombers are flown against shipping, and targets of opportunity throughout the Philippine Islands.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers attack airfields on northern Borneo and northern and south-western Celebes Island while B-25 Mitchells hit a barge anchorage and supplies at Haroekoe Island. Smaller strikes by B-25 Mitchells, B-24 Liberators, and fighter-bombers are flown against shipping, oil targets, airfields, and targets of opportunity throughout the Netherlands East Indies.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Australians of the 25th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, occupy Pearl Ridge. The capture of the heavily defended Japanese position on the Pearl Ridge give the Australians possession of this important vantage point that provided views over both sides of the island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese air attacks continue on Mindoro, Philippine Islands-bound convoy; kamikazes damage destroyers USS Pringle (DD-477) and Gansevoort (DD-608); motor torpedo boat tender USS Orestes (AGP-10); and auxiliary USS Porcupine (IX-126). USS Porcupine is ultimately scuttled by USS Gansevoort. A merchant freighter is sunk by bombs off Mindoro Island and a merchant freighter is damaged when a kamikaze is shot down by a U.S. fighter and explodes over the ship.

CANADA: HMC MTB 797 commissioned. Log - 65th Flotilla, "D" Type, 102 tons, 115x21.25x5.25ft, 29kts, crew 4/28, 2-6pdrs, 2-20mm(1xII), 2-18in TT.

U.S.A.: Los Alamos, New MEXICO: Nuclear scientists working on the Manhattan Project estimate that the first atomic bombs will be ready by the end of July 1945.

Destroyer USS John R Pierce commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Inaugural commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Block Island commissioned (CVE-106).

Submarines USS Cabezon, Dentuda and Lizardfish commissioned.

The USN alters its aircraft paint schemes for landplane patrol aircraft. The upper and lower surfaces of the wings and the horizontal tail surfaces will be painted in semi-gloss sea blue and the fuselage and vertical surfaces will be painted flat sea blue.