On the evening of 4 December 1944, RAF bombers conduct the heaviest air raid on the city of Heilbronn, Germany, since the start of the war, destroying most of the city and killing thousands of civilians.
While Heilbronn has not been a prime target for Allied bombers in the strategic bombing campaign, air raids began on 17 December 1940, although the damage and casualties were relatively light. Between then and early 1944, the city was targeted only four times, again with minimal damage.
However, the city`s canal ports and train stations attracted the attention of the RAF and USAAF. The RAF launched an intense two-week night bombing campaign on Heilbronn in January and February this week, destroying significant portions of the city. Still, it was the bombing by some 100 USAAF heavy bombers of the Böckingen train transfer station in the city on 10 September that has been the most damaging. Some 100 rail cars were destroyed, and most of the train station infrastructure was damaged beyond repair, while the bombs also destroyed some 300 houses, killing 280 people and injuring around 400.
Throughout October, the train station and railroads leading out of Heilbronn were hit multiple times by precision bombing by RAF de Havilland Mosquitos. But the city remains a target.
Around 1630 hours today, 282 Lancaster heavy bombers and 10 Mosquito Path Finders of RAF No. 5 Group take off and head toward Germany.
Around 1920 hours, the Path Finders illuminate the entire city with flare markers, and then at 1929 hours, the Lancasters drop some 5,800 bombs (a combination of High Capacity (HC) `Blockbuster` high-explosive bombs and thousands of the small 4 lb (1.8 kg) incendiary bombs).
The bombs devastate over 60% of the city, while the incendiaries cause a firestorm that consumes even the air raid shelters in the city centre and the industrial areas.
By the end of the day, Heilbronn`s authorities report some 4,000 dead and a further 3,000 injured.
The fires will continue to burn into tomorrow, while salvage and rescue work in the city will take several weeks, with the final death toll being around 6,500 to 7,000.
Picture: Heilbronn in March 1945
Source: U.S. Army
On 3 December 1944, the British Government orders the Home Guard to stand down.
Facing increasing public pressure and the possibility of private defence forces sponsored by employers to defend their factories, inhibiting the work of the regular armed forces, the British Government hastily formulated a plan in cooperation with military leaders to form the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) force on 13 May 1940. The following day, 14 May, Anthony Eden issued a radio address calling on men between the ages of 17 and 65 years in Britain not in military service to enrol in the LDV at their local police station. 250,000 volunteers signed up in the first week and some 1,5 million by July.
The perceived role of the LDV differed greatly in the eyes of the volunteers and the British War Office. In his new role as Prime Minister, Churchill reviewed the LDV’s role and ruled for it to be renamed the Home Guard on 22 July 1940, ordering the force to be organized to resemble the armed forces more closely.
Since then, the Home Guard has taken on various responsibilities, including guarding critical infrastructure, patrolling coastlines, and preparing for potential guerrilla warfare tactics.
While initially, Home Guard members armed themselves with Great War-era officers’ Webley revolvers and hunting shotguns, they have over the last four years been issued a mix of M1917 Enfield Rifles, M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles, and Thompson submachine guns purchased by the British Government from the U.S., as well as Lewis light machine guns and more recently a small number of Sten submachine guns.
While the Home Guard hasn`t had to face a German invasion, they have proven quite effective at bringing down German aircraft and, more recently, the V-1 flying bombs while manning anti-aircraft weapons.
But with Allied armies advancing into Germany, the Home Guard`s primary defence role has disappeared. So today, the Government orders the Home Guard to stand down.
Home Guard units will be slowly dissolved and entirely disbanded by 31 December 1945.
Picture: Admiral Sir Charles Kennedy-Purvis inspects the Home Guard in London, 3 September 1943
Source: IWM A 19023
On 2 December 1944, Private Pedro Cano, C Company, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, singlehandedly destroys multiple German machine gun nests and fortifications, allowing U.S. Army units to advance through the Hurtgen Forest, Germany.
For his actions today, PVT Cano will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 18 March 2014. His citation will read:
˝Private Pedro Cano distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company C, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy in Schevenhutte, Germany on December 2 and 3, 1944. On the afternoon of the 2nd, American infantrymen launched an attack against German emplacements but were repulsed by enemy machinegun fire. Armed with a rocket launcher, Private Cano crawled through a densely mined area under heavy enemy fire and successfully reached a point within ten yards of the nearest emplacement. He quickly fired a rocket into the position, killing the two gunners and five supporting riflemen. Without hesitating, he fired into a second position, killing two more gunners, and proceeded to assault the position with hand grenades, killing several others and dispersing the rest. Then, when an adjacent company encountered heavy fire, Private Cano crossed his company front, crept to within fifteen yards of the nearest enemy emplacement and killed the two machinegunners with a rocket. With another round he killed two more gunners and destroyed a second gun. On the following day, his company renewed the attack and again encountered heavy machinegun fire. Private Cano, armed with his rocket launcher, again moved across fire-swept terrain and destroyed three enemy machineguns in succession, killing the six gunners. Private Cano’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.˝
Picture: American M1 Bazooka team prepares to fire
Source: U.S. Army
On the morning of 1 December 1944, French forces open fire on soldiers of the Senegalese Tirailleurs (Tirailleurs Sénégalais) corps accused of mutiny in the Thiaroye military camp near Dakar, Senegal.
When Nazi Germany invaded in 1940, the Tirailleurs Sénégalais, which have formed a significant element of the French military since 1857, were once again on the front lines as they had been in the Great War. As France fell, at least 1,000-1,500 of these, mainly from French North Africa and French West Africa, were executed by German troops, while 120,000 interned in Frontstalags, temporary PoW camps in France, in appalling conditions.
Tensions began to rise as the Fronstalags were liberated this summer, and French authorities decided to repatriate the tirailleurs to French West Africa, favouring fresh recruits from metropolitan France. Through disorganization and refusal, they also delayed stipulated military salaries for the years spent as PoWs to the tirailleurs awaiting repatriation in Morlaix, France, in early November. On 5 November, some 1,600 tirailleurs boarded a transport ship and arrived in Dakar on 21 November, but 300 refused and remained in France in protest.
Payments were further delayed to the tirailleurs assigned to Camp Thiaroye near Dakar. Then, an announcement that some 500 would be demobilized and sent via train to Bamako on 25 November led to a protest on 27 November. On 28 November, Brigadier General Marcel Dagnan visited the camp. Met with hostility, he declared that the tirailleurs in Thiaroye had mutinied.
This morning, under Dagnan`s orders, the 1st and 7th Regiment of Senegalese Tirailleurs, elements from local National Gendarmerie units, elements from the 6th Regiment of Colonial Artillery and one M3 Stuart light tank enter the camp to suppress the supposed mutiny.
Around 0930 hours, these units open fire on the tirailleurs and kill at least several dozen.
Dagnan`s two reports from 5 December will claim 35 and 70 tirailleurs killed. On the other hand, the survivors from the camp will claim to be fired upon without warning, leading to around 300 deaths.
Picture: Tirailleurs waiting to board a train
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 30 November 1944, the Royal Navy launches its largest and fastest battleship, HMS Vanguard.
Six Lion class battleships, armed with nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns in three turrets, faster, and better armored than the 14-inch (356 mm) armed King George V class, were supposed to be the Royal Navy`s answer to new threats from the Kriegsmarine and Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
However, although the first pair, Lion and Temeraire, were ordered on 28 February 1939 and quickly laid down on 4 July and 1 June, respectively, it quickly became apparent that the slow construction of their guns and turrets would delay their completion until at least 1943.
In July 1939, preliminary design was done to modify the Lion class to accommodate four twin 15-inch (380 mm) turrets left after the Great War-era battlecruisers were converted to aircraft carriers and thus speed up construction.
Vanguard was finally ordered on 14 March 1941, after design work was halted and restarted multiple times throughout 1939 and 1940. She was then laid down on 2 October 1941 at Clydebank, Scotland, and her construction was prioritized after Japan entered the war in December 1941. Further design changes based on wartime experience have slowed construction.
Vanguard now stands at a length of 248.2 m (814 ft 4 inch) and, once completed, will displace 45.200 tons at standard load and will be capable of speeds up to 30 knots. Her 15-inch main guns will be modernized and accompanied by eight twin 5.25 in (133 mm) dual-purpose guns and 73 Bofors 40 mm AA guns on various mounts.
Today, Princess Elizabeth presides over the launch of Vanguard`s hull into the sea. The ship will now be outfitted in Clydebank`s slipways
She will undoubtedly be the Royal Navy`s most powerful capital ship once completed, but what will she do? With Tirpitz sunk, which we covered in our 12 November post, the Kriegsmarine is no longer a real threat. Over in the Pacific, it is clear that carrier-based aircraft can take down even the largest battleships, as they have done to the IJN`s Musashi. It may not be surprising if Vanguard becomes the last battleship ever completed.
Picture: HMS VANGUARD taking the water
Source: IWM A 26625
On 29 November 1944, USS Archerfish (SS-311) torpedoes and sinks the world`s largest aircraft carrier, the Yamato-class battleship-derived Shinano.
Construction of the 265.8 m (872 ft) long, 72,000 ton Shinano began in secret within a massive, roofed concrete fence in dry dock No. 6 of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 4 May 1940, as a modified third Yamato-class battleship to be launched sometime in early 1945. However, construction was paused in December 1941, and then the loss of four fleet carriers at Midway in June 1942 convinced the IJN to convert her into a carrier.
Shinano was hurriedly commissioned on 19 November to make up for this summer`s losses, and the IJN General Staff ordered Captain Toshio Abe to sail to Kure by 28 November to take on an air group. Abe requested a delay because the water tightness tests had not been completed, and the escorting destroyers, Isokaze, Yukikaze, and Hamakaze, had just returned damaged after Leyte Gulf, but was rejected.
At 1800 hours yesterday, Shinano departed Yokosuka with a full crew, 340 dockyard and civilian workers, and loaded with six Shinyo suicide boats and 50 ‘Ohka’ rocket-powered kamikaze aircraft (which you can learn about from our 19 November post).
At 2048 hours, Commander Joseph F. Enright`s Archerfish picked up Shinano on radar. With only six of her 12 boilers running, she was sailing at 20 knots. Around 2245, Shinano’s lookouts spotted Archerfish on the surface. Archerfish paralleled Shinano’s course for hours but struggled to keep up even as Shinano was slowed by its zig-zag anti-submarine movements.
But then Shinano slowed to 18 knots at 2322 hours when a propeller shaft bearing overheated.
Around 0256 today, Enright spots Shinano again. Shinano then turns east, presenting a perfect broadside, and at 0315, Archerfish fires six torpedoes before diving to avoid a depth charge attack.
Four torpedoes strike Shinano starboard amidships. By 1018 hours, all attempts to save the ship fail, and Abe orders it abandoned. At 1057, Shinano capsizes and sinks. Abe goes down with the ship, as do 1,435 sailors and civilians. The escorts rescue 1,080 survivors.
Picture: USS Archerfish
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 28 November 1944, soldiers from the 15th Canadian Infantry Brigade who began a mutiny against conscription for overseas service in Terrace, Canada, begin returning the weapons they seized.
The mutiny started by soldiers from the Les Fusiliers du St-Laurent regiment, Prince Edward Island Highlanders (PEIH), Prince Albert Volunteers (PAV), and No. 19 Cdn. Field Ambulance (RCAMC) stationed near the town of Terrace, which we covered in our 24 November post, escalated when, at 1330 hours on 25 November, some 1,500 soldiers of the Fusiliers, PEIH, and PAV converged in the center of the town, armed and in full combat dress. For two hours, the soldiers marched through the town carrying banners that read “Down With Conscription” and “Zombies Strike Back.” During the evening, the mutineers threatened some of the soldiers of the Field Ambulance regiment into joining them.
Around 1000 hours on 26 November, the Fusiliers presented their demands, which were forwarded to Canada`s Pacific Command. The other two infantry units made similar demands. A large group of mutineers invaded the Sergeant`s mess hall at 1230 and stripped all NRMA NCOs of their ranks with the message, "You`re Zombies just like us." Around 1800 hours, the mutineers broke into the Field Ambulance regiment`s ammunition stores and seized a large amount of explosives.
Early morning yesterday, however, some soldiers began resisting the mutiny. At 1000 hours, Major General George Pearkes, commander in chief of Pacific Command, replied to their demands that ammunition must be returned and units re-disciplined, prompting the mutineers to parade through the town again.
Today, the unit`s commanders urge their men to stand down, to which many agree. The Fusilier`s commander receives instructions that his unit will depart for Quebec. By 2200 hours, one of the infantry unit`s men return the seized weapons and ammunition.
By tomorrow evening, all the mutineers will return their weapons and ammunition.
Only a small number will be prosecuted, and officers will turn a blind eye to those facing charges deserting off the trains transporting them.
Picture: Soldiers on parade in Terrace
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 27 November 1944, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (RNFAA) aircraft launched from the carrier HMS Implacable sink the German-operated cargo ship MS Rigel carrying over two thousand Soviet, Polish, and Yugoslav prisoners of war near the port of Sandnessjøen, Norway.
The Germans requisitioned the Rigel from the Bergen Steamship Company shortly after they occupied Norway in 1940 and have since used it for troop and materiel transport, as well as a prisoner transport ship.
On 21 November, the Rigel set out from Bjerkvik carrying 951 PoWs and 114 guards under the command of Captain Heinrich Rhode and an entirely German crew.
The following day, 22 November, the RN Home Fleet`s Force 7 (HMS Implacable, cruiser HMS Dido, and six destroyers) and Force 8 (cruiser HMS Devonshire, escort carriers HMS Premier and Pursuer, and five destroyers) under the command of Home Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Moore sailed out for Operation Provident, to destroy enemy shipping along the coast of Norway.
Meanwhile, the Rigel stopped in Narvik and picked up another 349 PoWs, 95 German deserters, and 8 Norwegian prisoners. More PoW boarded the ship at Tømmerneset, after which the ship docked at the port of Bodø.
When the Rigel departed Bodø yesterday, 2838 people were crammed onto the overcrowded ship (2,248 Soviet, Polish, and Yugoslav PoWs, 95 German deserters, 8 Norwegian prisoners, 455 German soldiers, and the ship`s crew of 29 plus three coastal pilots).
This morning, an FAA air patrol spots the Rigel and the two German patrol boats escorting her. Seeing many people on the Rigel`s deck, they report a German troop transport.
Shortly afterward, a flight of Supermarine Seafires and Fairey Firefly dive bombers take off from Implacable and attack the Rigel as it sails between the islands of Rosøya and Tjøtta south of the port of Sandnessjøen.
Suffering multiple bomb and rocket hits, the Rigel turns into a blazing inferno and begins sinking. Rhode runs the ship aground in shallow water just off Rosøya Island. The ship promptly sinks, taking 2,571 of those onboard with it. The 267 survivors swim ashore in the freezing water.
Picture: MS Rigel burning after the attack
Source: IWM
On 26 November 1944, under orders issued by SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler yesterday, the demolition of the crematoria and gas chambers at the Auschwitz concentration camp began.
The Auschwitz camp complex has become the worst example of the Nazi regime`s policies. In the camp, the exploitation and murder of Jews, Roma, Sinti, Slavs, and political prisoners have been brought up to an industrial scale based on the principles of efficiency, profitability, and, in the Nazi`s twisted view of reality, `humane solution` to the `Jewish Problem.`
While the murder of prisoners using Zyklon B gas had already begun in late 1941 in Crematorium I, and then Bunkers I and II at the Auschwitz II camp, it was not until Himmler`s visit on 17 and 18 July 1942 that commandant Rudolf Höss received orders to double the camp`s population and exterminate all those unable to work. It was Himmler`s concerns about leaving evidence of war crimes that led to the construction of the industrial-sized Crematoria II, III, IV, and V.
However, when the Nazi`s disregard for human life reached its peak this summer with the deportation of over 400,000 Hungarian Jews within just a few months, not even these facilities could handle the number of bodies, leading to Sonderkommando prisoners being forced to burn thousands of bodies in open-air pits.
Crematorium IV has been out of action since it was burned during the Sonderkommando uprising, which we covered in our 7 October post, and work has already begun on dismantling it. With the Red Army approaching, by 2 November, Himmler ordered a halt to the use of gas chambers and preparations to be made for the camp to be evacuated.
Yesterday, 25 November, Himmler issued an order for the final stage of the Nazi`s plan to begin: destroy all evidence of the camp`s operations.
Today, the SS administration of Auschwitz begins destroying unneeded records while the guards force what few Sonderkommando remain after last month`s uprising to begin dismantling the crematoria and gas chambers, as well as destroying evidence of the burn pits.
Picture: Topf & Söhne-designed crematorium for Auschwitz-Birkenau, 1943
Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
On 25 November 1944, a German V-2 ballistic missile hits a busy Woolworths retail store in New Cross, London.
Through a combination of luck, occasional missile inaccuracy, and the work of Double-Cross System relaying false targeting and hit information to the Germans, V-2 attacks have not resulted in many exceptionally high casualty incidents in London, despite the death rate per attack rising from 2.70 per V-1 to 11.06 per V-2.
This morning, the Wehrmacht Battery 444 prepares for five consecutive V-2 launches from Site 18 and 73 in The Hague, Netherlands. They launch two missiles from Site 18 at 0814 and 0920 hours; the first fails to find a target, and the second hits the town of Wanstead, east London, killing one and injuring 26.
Site 73 follows with a launch at 1029, which airbursts over Kent, causing no damage. By then, the launchers at Site 18 reload and fire again at 1112 and 1124 hours. The first impacts Warwick Court in south-eastern London, killing five and injuring 40 more; the second lands in a meadow near Great Warley, Essex.
Meanwhile, the queue at the Woolworths store in New Cross, London, builds as women, children, soldiers on leave, and workers on break line up to do their Saturday shopping. A sale on metal saucepans, a rare commodity due to wartime material needs, attracts unusually high numbers of customers.
Over in The Hague, Battery 444`s troops prepare the second launch of the day at Site 73. At 1221, the missile, the 251st V-2 launch so far, lifts off and heads over the North Sea.
At 1226 hours, the V-2 smashes through the rear of the Woolworths store roof, imploding the entire building and strewing bodies, goods, and debris as far as New Cross Station, some 800 m (0.5 miles) away.
The explosion collapses several nearby buildings and sends a bus and army truck passing by flying, with disastrous results.
It will take several days to clear the rubble and recover the bodies of the 168 killed. An additional 122 people will be admitted to hospital for severe injuries.
Picture: Civil Defence workers search through debris and rubble two hours after the attack
Source: Ministry of Information Second World War D 24337
On 24 November 1944, soldiers from the 15th Canadian Infantry Brigade stationed near Terrace, north-west British Columbia, mutiny over conscription for overseas service.
When the 3,000 soldiers of the brigade (Les Fusiliers du St-Laurent regiment, Prince Edward Island Highlanders (PEIH), Prince Albert Volunteers (PAV), and No. 19 Cdn. Field Ambulance (RCAMC)), conscripted under the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA), arrived in Terrace in 1942, along with some 3,000 construction workers, the town had fewer than 500 residents. The lack of basic amenities, isolation, and harsh weather have diminished morale and strained relations with the townspeople.
The primarily French Canadian Fusiliers have also recently received a significant number of transfers from Vernon Military Camp, where those refusing to volunteer for overseas service, known as `Zombies`, were being pressured by officers and NCOs to do so. Similar treatment has been reported in other military camps across Canada.
Yesterday, the brigade`s senior officers departed for a conference in Vancouver. Meanwhile, a `Top Secret` telegram arrived in the Terrace camp announcing the beginning of conscription for overseas service, a decision made by Prime Minister Mackenzie King which we covered in our 22 November post. Then, around 1730 hours, the same news was broadcast publicly via radio.
At 1300 hours today, the soldiers of the Fusiliers refuse to come out of their barracks for the daily assembly and parade. Around 1400 hours, officers from the three infantry regiments stage a sit-down strike against conscription.
Around 2300 hours, a group of soldiers breaks into the unit`s ammunition dump and seize 50,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, 15,000 rounds of Sten gun ammunition, and four boxes of hand grenades, handing them out to others "for their protection." Soldiers of the PEIH are ordered to guard their unit`s ammunition stores, only to realize it had already been raided.
The situation will escalate tomorrow as some 1,500 armed soldiers from the infantry regiments will stage a protest march through Terrace.
Picture: Soldiers pose holding anti-conscription banner
Source: Heritage Park Museum
On 23 November 1944, the U.S. military delivers on the promise to provide a fresh turkey dinner for Thanksgiving to every soldier in the European Theatre of Operations.
The sheer scale of the logistics behind this undertaking immediately dawned on the officers, especially those ordered to make it happen when the promise was made back in September. There were already some 1.3 million U.S. soldiers in Europe, and by now, that number has risen to nearly 2 million.
The challenge lay in transporting the massive amount of frozen meat across the Atlantic, as the chronic lack of reefers or refrigerated ships had only begun to be addressed late last year, with a mere five now available to serve all the refrigeration needs of the entire U.S. military. Then the problem was the turkey itself, requiring 50% more storage space than beef or pork and having a high risk of spoilage, the French ports, Army Quartermaster, and Transportation Corps had their work cut out for them.
Thus, to simplify the process, everything was delivered aboard one reefer. On 15 October, the S.S. Great Republic departed New York loaded with 1,604 tons of frozen turkey, as well as tons of other foods. Combined, these were to provide over 1 million soldiers with a menu that included 0.7 kg (1.5 lbs) of turkey per man (three times the meat of a normal `A` ration), plus stuffing, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn, cranberry sauce, celery, hot rolls, and pumpkin pie.
After a stop in Liverpool, the Great Republic finally arrived at Le Havre on 16 November, where thousands of trucks blocked all other port operations as they were loaded with ice and food.
While some soldiers already received their meals yesterday, and many will belatedly receive theirs in the following days, most units today quickly set up their M-1937 field range stove, a gasoline-fueled oven capable of handling a 7.3 kg (16 lbs) turkey, and provide a small piece of the holiday spirit to the troops.
To all our followers, readers, and viewers observing the holiday: We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Picture: Sgt. Louis S. Wallace bastes a turkey being roasted in an M-1937 field range, 22 Nov 1944
Source: U.S. Army Signal Corps
On 22 November 1944, Canadian Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King announces the deployment of military conscripts for overseas combat.
An advocate of neutrality, King faced a challenge reconciling English-Canadian support for the Allied war effort with pro-autonomy and anti-war sentiments in Quebec.
He promised no conscription when declaring war in 1939, haunted by the government split and violent riots during the Conscription Crisis of 1917.
But as the situation worsened for the Allies, King`s government passed The National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) on 21 June 1940, which allowed registration for wartime jobs and conscription for home defense. Volunteers thus formed the overseas Canadian Army, creating a distinction between those going overseas (`A` class) and conscripts (`R` class or `Zombies`).
By 1942, pressure from the public, and by Defence Minister James Ralston and Navy Minister Angus MacDonald, led King to hold a referendum on 27 April 1942, with 64.5% favoring conscription nationwide but 72.9% opposing it in Quebec. King thus adopted an ambiguous stance: "Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary."
However, the Canadian Army`s calculations of wastage and reinforcement rates, based on British rates during the primarily defensive fight in North Africa, met the harsh reality of high infantry losses as the Allies went on the offensive across Italy and France.
In October 1944, with infantry losses mounting around the Scheldt Estuary, Ralston warned of a critical shortage, proposing conscripting 15,000 `Zombies` or facing withdrawing Canadian troops from Europe.
King`s attempts at political maneuvering failed until 1 November, when he accepted Ralston`s several-year-old resignation letter and appointed anti-conscription General Andrew McNaughton, who has since utterly failed at convincing the `Zombies` to `go active`.
Today, faced with Cabinet resignations and potential government collapse, King announces a one-time levy of 16,000 NRMA conscripts for overseas deployment.
Picture: King, left, casts his ballot in the April 27, 1942 Conscription Plebiscite in Ottawa
Source: Library and Archives of Canada
Early on the 21 November 1944, USS Sealion II (SS-315) torpedoes and sinks Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) destroyer Urakaze and battlecruiser Kongō.
Kongō has been around for a while, being laid down at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering all the way back on 17 January 1911, designed by British naval architect George Thurston, as the last of Japan`s capital ships built abroad. After serious modifications during the 1930s, she has been one of the IJN`s most active surface combatants as the lead of a formerly four-ship class after Kirishima and Hiei were sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 and 15 November 1942 (the fourth, Haruna is currently at Kure undergoing repair after a bomb hit during the Battle of the Philippine Sea).
Most recently, Kongō joined Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita`s `Center Force` in the naval engagements around Leyte Gulf, which we covered in detail in our 23-26 October posts.
Following Kurita`s withdrawal, the fleet docked at Brunei, where they remained until a U.S. air raid convinced them to sail back to Kure, Japan, on 16 November.
Yesterday, this fleet, consisting of Yamato, Nagato, and Kongō, the cruiser Yahagi, and the destroyers Hamakaze, Isokaze, Urakaze, Yukikaze, Kiri, and Ume, entered the Formosa Strait and headed north.
At 0020 hours today, USS Sealion II makes radar contact with the Japanese formation. Positioning herself ahead, Sealion fires a spread of six torpedos at Kongō at 0256 and three at Nagato at 0259.
At 0300 hours, three torpedos strike Kongō`s port side, flood two of her boiler rooms. Nagato dodges the torpedos, which smash into Urakaze, detonating the destroyer`s magazine and sinking her with all hands.
Kongō, while damaged, maintains a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h) for some time but, by 0500 hours, slows further and is ordered to break off and head to the port of Keelung in Formosa, escorted by Hamakaze and Isokaze. However, by 0518, the ship lists 45 degrees to port and loses all power.
At 0524, with the evacuation underway, her forward main magazine explodes, killing 1,200 of the crew.
Picture: Kongō on sea trials, off the coast of Tateyama, 14 November 1936
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 20 November 1944, Lieutenant Colonel George L. Mabry Jr., commanding the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, leads a scouting mission through the Hurtgen Forest near Schevenhutte, Germany.
For his actions LTC Mabry Jr. will be awarded the Medal of Honor in September 1945. His citation will read:
˝He was commanding the 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, in an attack through the Hurtgen Forest near Schevenhutte, Germany, on 20 November 1944. During the early phases of the assault, the leading elements of his battalion were halted by a minefield and immobilized by heavy hostile fire. Advancing alone into the mined area, Col. Mabry established a safe route of passage. He then moved ahead of the foremost scouts, personally leading the attack, until confronted by a boobytrapped double concertina obstacle. With the assistance of the scouts, he disconnected the explosives and cut a path through the wire. Upon moving through the opening, he observed 3 enemy in foxholes whom he captured at bayonet point. Driving steadily forward he paced the assault against 3 log bunkers which housed mutually supported automatic weapons. Racing up a slope ahead of his men, he found the initial bunker deserted, then pushed on to the second where he was suddenly confronted by 9 onrushing enemy. Using the butt of his rifle, he felled 1 adversary and bayoneted a second, before his scouts came to his aid and assisted him in overcoming the others in hand-to-hand combat. Accompanied by the riflemen, he charged the third bunker under pointblank small arms fire and led the way into the fortification from which he prodded 6 enemy at bayonet point. Following the consolidation of this area, he led his battalion across 300 yards of fire-swept terrain to seize elevated ground upon which he established a defensive position which menaced the enemy on both flanks, and provided his regiment a firm foothold on the approach to the Cologne Plain.˝
Picture: PFC Benny Barron (Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division) gives a helping hand to a buddy in the Hurtgen Forest, southwest of Duren, Germany, 18 November, 1944.
Source: Signal Corps Archives SC 270663
On 19 November 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) carries out the first powered test flight of the Yokosuka MXY-7 rocket-powered human-guided kamikaze aircraft.
Other than using existing aircraft as human-guided bombs, the origins of which we described in our 5 November post, concepts for purpose-built kamikaze aircraft seem to have been floating around in Japan since at least 1943.
One such design was developed by Ensign Shoichi Ohta of the 405th Air Wing (Kōkūtai). He presented the finalized design in early August for a super-high-speed, small, manned, high-explosive, glide-bomb-type Tokko aircraft intended to be carried under the G4M2E Type 1 `Betty` bomber and then released to fly into an enemy ship.
The Imperial Naval Air Headquarters ordered the project, codenamed Maru Dai, to commence on 16 August. Engineers Lieutenant Commander Tadanao Miki and Commander Masao Yamana of the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal (`Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho`, in short Kugisho), despite their misgivings about the idea, designed a prototype designated MXY7, while the Naval Air Headquarters issued a secret recruitment call for volunteer pilots.
By mid-September, based on a specification issued on 28 August, Miki and Yamana`s team produced a prototype of the MXY-7 Model 11, which featured a 1,200-kilogram (2,600 lb) bomb with wooden wings powered by three Type 4 Model 1 Mark 20 solid-fuel rocket motors capable of a range of around 37 km (23 mi). They also produced an unpowered K-1 trainer model, which used water ballasts to simulate the payload.
On 23 October, the Kugisho team carried out the aircraft`s first unmanned, unladen, and unpowered drop test, now named Ohka (Ōka, "cherry blossom"). This was quickly followed by a successful manned test flight of the K-1 model by Chief Petty Officer Kazutoshi Nagano.
Today, unmanned testing continues with the rocket engines and payload installed. The test aircraft reach a speed of 463 km/h (287 mph) in glide and 648 km/h (402 mph) with the rockets engaged. When diving, the two aircraft reach a maximum speed of 1,000 km/h (620 mph) before slamming into the ocean.
Picture: Ohka Model 11 number I-13
Source: U.S. Navy
On 18 November 1944, William J. Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), sends a memorandum to President Roosevelt proposing the creation of a `central intelligence service` in the post-war period under the President`s direct control.
`Wild Bill` Donovan has been running the OSS under the supervision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since the agency was created on 13 June 1942. The OSS`s work ranges from the most secretive and dangerous operations to the downright outrageous, as was described by Astrid in Episode 8 of our Spies & Ties series, which you can check out on YouTube by following the link in our bio.
Today, Donovan proposes the creation of a new intelligence agency in a secret memorandum to Roosevelt:
˝Pursuant to your note of 31 October 1944, I have given consideration to the organization of an intelligence service for the post-war period.
In the early days of the war, when the demands upon intelligence services were mainly in and for military operations, the OSS was placed under the direction of the JCS.
Once our enemies are defeated the demand will be equally pressing for information that will aid us in solving the problems of peace.
This will require two things:
1. That intelligence control be returned to the supervision of the President.
2. The establishment of a central authority reporting directly to you, with responsibility to frame intelligence objectives and to collect and coordinate the intelligence material required by the Executive Branch in planning and carrying out national policy and strategy.
I attach in the form of a draft directive the means by which I think this could be realized without difficulty or loss of time. You will note that coordination and centralization are placed at the policy level but operational intelligence (that pertaining primarily to Department action) remains within the existing agencies concerned...
Though in the midst of war, we are also in a period of transition which, before we are aware, will take us into the tumult of rehabilitation. An adequate and orderly intelligence system will contribute to informed decisions.˝
Picture: Major General William J. Donovan
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 17 November 1944, U.S. submarines continue their attack on Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Convoy Hi-81, sinking the landing craft depot ship Mayasan Maru and escort carrier Shin`yō, inflicting huge losses on the Imperial Japanese Army`s (IJA) 23rd Infantry Division.
Two days ago, on 15 November, we covered how the USS Queenfish successfully attacked Hi-81 and sank the hybrid landing craft depot ship/escort carrier Akitsu Maru, killing much of the IJA`s 64th Infantry Regiment. As you`ll remember from that post, Rear Admiral Sato, in command of Hi-81, ordered the convoy to shelter around Strange Island yesterday.
However, as he sets off at 0800 hours today for the Shushan Islands off Shanghai, he is entirely unaware of the second U.S. submarine `wolfpack`, consisting of USS Picuda, Spadefish, and Barb, waiting for him.
To make matters worse, at around 1215 hours, a USAAF B-29 spots Hi-81 and drops several bombs. While none of the bombs find their targets, the bomber reports the convoy`s location to the U.S. submarines.
At 1815 hours, USS Picuda`s torpedos hit the Mayasan Maru, which is carrying 4,387 soldiers of the 23rd Infantry Division and several smaller IJA units. The ship sinks in around two and a half minutes, taking 3,536 soldiers and sailors with her.
The seemingly doomed Convoy Hi-81 carries on, and at 2040 hours, one of the escorts claims to destroy an enemy submarine. However, this is a false report, and the U.S. wolfpack continues the hunt.
At 2309 hours, Lt. Cdr. Gordon W. Underwood’s USS Spadefish hits the escort carrier Shin`yō with at least four torpedos. The carrier`s fuel tanks explode, and she sinks stern-first within minutes. Only 70 of her crew of 1,200 are rescued by the escorts.
Within just a few days, the U.S. submarine attacks have cost the IJA and IJN almost 7,000 soldiers and sailors, along with a massive amount of supplies and equipment that were supposed to reinforce the Japanese efforts to hold back U.S. advances on the Philippines.
How much longer can Japan sustain such losses?
Picture: Spadefish (SS-411), stern view, off Mare Island Navy Yard, 11 May 1944
Source: US Navy Bureau of Ships #2833-44
On 16 November 1944, the non-stop stream of U.S. Army truck convoys, codenamed the Red Ball Express, winds down after 83 days of operation.
As we covered on 1 September, Major General Patton 3rd Army tanks as he ran out of fuel, a symptom of the broader logistical nightmare facing the Allied armies.
Already in late August, Allied commanders concluded during a 36-hour emergency meeting that the only way to move the 750 tons of supplies per division daily was by truck.
Colonel Loren A. Ayers, chief of MTB (Motor Transport Brigade), immediately put to work gathering as many 2.5-ton GMC CCKW trucks, affectionally known as the `Jimmy`, and 1.5-ton Dodge WC `Beeps`, as he could find. Ayers requested all units to turn over any soldier not employed in a critical role to the existing Quartermaster units. By 25 August, 67 truck companies began moving supplies between Cherbourg and the forward logistics base at Chartres.
By the end of August, the Red Ball Express had ballooned into 132 companies with 23,000 drivers and mechanics, of whom nearly two-thirds are black soldiers whom the U.S. military still, unfortunately, treats as second-class troops incapable of front-line duties.
Despite orders to have trucks travel only in convoys, with each convoy having no fewer than five trucks each and a speed limit of 56 km/h (35 mph), many trucks have been leaving Cherbourg alone as soon as they are loaded with mechanics making sure that they can reach speeds of over 90 km/h (56 mph) by removing the engine governors.
Through the heroic work of the drivers, battling sleep deprivation, mud, and enemy ambushes, the mechanics and engineers keeping the trucks running, and the 793rd Military Police Battalion keeping traffic in check, the Red Ball Express has since delivered some 400,000 tons of supplies to the front lines at a rate of 12,500 tons per day.
However, with the Scheldt Estuary clear and ships beginning to move into the port of Antwerp, the Red Ball Express is ordered to halt operations as of today.
Picture: Corporal Charles H. Johnson of the 783rd MP Battalion waves on a "Red Ball Express" convoy near Alenon, France, 5 Sep 1944
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 15 November 1944, the submarine USS Queenfish attacks Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Convoy Hi-81 and sinks the hybrid landing craft depot ship/escort carrier Akitsu Maru, killing much of the Imperial Japanese Army`s (IJA) 64th Infantry Regiment.
Rear Admiral Tsutomu Sato was ordered on 9 November to assemble Hi-81 to transport the IJA`s 23rd Infantry Division and their equipment to the Philippines before continuing on to Singapore. The convoy departed Imari Bay, Japan, yesterday, 14 November, with the hybrid Akitsu Maru, equipped for carrying out amphibious landings using the 27 Daihatsu-class landing craft, and escort carrier Shin`yō carrying most of the troops and equipment. Shin`yō would provide air cover for the convoy with its fourteen B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. They were joined by 7 small escort ships, 3 landing ships, 1 destroyer, 1 seaplane tender, and 5 oilers.
However, Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. Navy`s Pacific submarine fleet, dispatched two submarines `wolfpacks` (USS Spadefish, Peto, and Sunfish, under Commander Gordon W. Underwood, and Queenfish, Picuda, and Barb, under Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Loughlin) to the Yellow Sea after learning through Ultra intercepts of the convoy heading to the Philippines.
At 1052 hours this morning, Queenfish, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Loughlin, spots the convoy but is spotted in return by land-based aircraft arriving to cover it. The planes drop smoke markers on Queenfish`s position, but the submarine lets off four torpedos at 1152 before diving away.
At 1158, two torpedos strike Akitsu Maru in the stern and amidships, causing a magazine explosion. Then, as the rushing water hits the boilers, she explodes again. By 1201, she sinks, taking 2,046 of the 64th Regiment`s soldiers and 207 crew down with her.
The Kate torpedo bombers scramble, equipped with anti-submarine ordnance, but Queenfish evades their attack.
Tomorrow, Sato will take the convoy into the sheltered waters around Strange Island.
But this will not be the end of Hi-81`s troubles.
Picture: (Bottom) Akitsu Maru; (Top) USS Queenfish (SS-393, 29 April 1944
Source: Wikimedia Commons; U.S. National Archives
On 14 November 1944, representatives of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union meet in London to sign the ˝Agreement on Control Machinery in the occupation zones of defeated Germany˝.
The issue of how to administer German territory after its defeat has been a much-discussed topic in high-level meetings between the Allies for much of this year. The agreement, which the Allies signed today, follows the protocol of 12 September 1944, in which they agreed to limit Germany’s territory to its 1937 borders, that is, to its borders before the annexation of Austria and the Sudeten region. The protocol also called for establishing three occupation zones, which were to be administered separately. These zones were to follow existing administrative boundaries (except in the case of Prussia, which was to be split up) and to take population size into account.
The ˝Agreement on Control Machinery˝ makes alterations in the boundaries between the North Western and South Western zones, assigning the North Western zone in Germany, as well as the North Western part of Berlin, to the United Kingdom, and the South Western zone, as well as the Southern part of Berlin, to the United States.
In addition to this, the Agreement`s first three articles add to the plan of organize occupation of Germany:
˝Article 1
Supreme authority in Germany will be exercised, on instructions from their respective Governments, by the Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, each in his own zone of occupation, and also jointly, in matters affecting Germany as a whole, in their capacity as members of the supreme organ of control constituted under the present Agreement.
Article 2
Each Commander-in-Chief in his zone of occupation will have attached to him military, naval and air representatives of the other two Commanders-in-chief for liaison duties.
Article 3
(a) The three Commanders-in-Chief, acting together as a body, will constitute a supreme organ of control called the Control Council.˝
Picture: U.S. Army distributing German-language newspapers
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 13 November 1944, Staff Sergeant Junior James Spurrier, Company G, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, nearly singlehandedly captures the village of Achain, France.
SSGT Spurrier served in the U.S. Army in New Guinea, but after being sent back to the USA for medical treatment in late 1943, he was transferred to the European Theatre of Operations at his request in June this year. Quickly promoted to staff sergeant of Company G, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross for manning a tank destroyer-mounted .50 caliber machine gun and neutralizing several dozen German troops near Lay-Saint-Christophe, France, on 16 September 1944.
For his actions today SSGT Spurrier will be awarded the Medal of Honor on 6 March 1945. His citation will read:
˝For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy at Achain, France, on 13 November 1944. At 2 p.m., Company G attacked the village of Achain from the east. S/Sgt. Spurrier armed with a BAR passed around the village and advanced alone. Attacking from the west, he immediately killed 3 Germans. From this time until dark, S/Sgt. Spurrier, using at different times his BAR and M1 rifle, American and German rocket launchers, a German automatic pistol, and hand grenades, continued his solitary attack against the enemy regardless of all types of small-arms and automatic-weapons fire. As a result of his heroic actions he killed an officer and 24 enlisted men and captured 2 officers and 2 enlisted men. His valor has shed fresh honor on the U.S. Armed Forces.˝
Picture: Four U.S. infantrymen of the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, walk past a wrecked building in Puttelange, France, shortly after the capture of the town
Source: U.S. National Archives
On 12 November 1944, RAF Lancaster heavy bombers finally sink the German battleship Tirpitz after hitting it with two `Tallboy` bombs.
We`ve most recently covered the long series of attempts by the British to remove Tirpitz as a potential threat on 24 August. However, none of these proved capable of sinking the ship or causing irreparable damage.
All of this led to the decision to attempt destroying the ship with the 5,443 kg (12,000lb) `Tallboy` bomb.
And it worked, as during Operation Paravane on 15 September had Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons` Lancasters hit Tirpitz`s bow with a `Tallboy`. They caused enough damage to convince Kriegsmarine commander, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, to deploy the ship as a floating artillery battery in Tromsø.
However, with intelligence on the damage inconclusive, the RAF carried out Operation Obviate on 29 October. Low clouds hampered bombing accuracy, and a near miss only caused minor damage to the ship.
No. 9 and No. 617 Squadrons continued preparations. With a favorable weather forecast, they were ordered to relocate to RAF Kinloss, RAF Lossiemouth, and RAF Milltown in Scotland and prepare on 10 November.
Between 0259 and 0335 hours today, 32 Lancasters, 18 from No. 617, 13 from No. 9, and a film aircraft from No. 463 Squadron RAAF, take off and fly over the Norwegian Sea.
Despite multiple observation stations spotting the RAF bombers, communication delays mean the Luftwaffe fighters are still too far when at 0941, the first Lancasters drop their bombs.
One `Tallboy` penetrates Tirpitz`s deck port of `Bruno` (super-firing forward) turret but fails to explode. A second one penetrates the port side deck amidships and explodes near the boiler room. All Lancasters drop their bombs by 0949, with several near misses exploding on Tirpitz`s port side, causing the ship to list heavily.
Tirpitz`s crew desperately attempts counterflooding, but at 0950, with a 30-40 degree list, the magazine of `Ceasar` (rear super-firing) turret explodes. At 0952, Tirpitz capsizes, trapping hundreds of sailors in a watery grave.
Picture: German sailors standing by the damaged port propeller shaft
Source: IWM
On 11 November 1944, the Brazilian 1st Fighter Aviation Group (1º Grupo de Aviação de Caça or 1st GAvCa) begins independent operations from its base in Tarquinia, Italy.
Similar to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB), the `Smoking Snakes`, whose story we covered in our 2 and 16 July posts, the 1st Fighter Aviation Group (1st GAvCa) has its origins in Brazil`s preparations to enter the war on the Allied side between 1941 and 1943.
The aviators had a headstart as lawyer and politician Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho, Major Nero Moura, military engineer José Vicente Faria Lima, and several others organized the Ministry of Aeronautics and National Air Force on 20 January 1941.
The formation of an air combat unit was finalized when Decree No. 6123 created the 1st GAvCa on 18 December 1943. Major Moura was appointed Commander, Nélson Freire Lavanère-Wanderley as Lieutenant Colonel, and Faria Lima as Symbolic Commander.
Moura then secured an agreement with the U.S. Government allowing Brazilian pilots to train on USAAF aircraft and standards in Orlando, Florida. He also found 32 suitable candidates who began a 60-hour training program on USAAF Curtiss P-40 Warhawks in January 1944. In March, the group was transferred to Agadulce, Panama, for an additional 110-hour flight training. Then, on 11 May, began air defense flights as part of the Panama Canal Zone Air Defense System.
With plans for the FEB to join the Allied armies in Italy, the 1st GAvCa was upgraded to Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and began training on the new aircraft at Suffolk County Army Air Field in New York in June.
The 1st GAvCa arrived at the Port of Livorno, Italy, on 6 October and began flying combat missions on 31 October, attached to the USAAF`s 350th Fighter Group, 62nd Fighter Wing, XXII Tactical Air Command of the 12th Air Force.
Today, Brazilian Air Force stars replace the white U.S. star roundel on the 1st GAvCa`s P-47s, and they head out on their first mission independently of the USAAF under the callsign `Jambock 1`.
Picture: 1st GAvCa pilots sitting on a P-47
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 10 November 1944, ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) explodes while at port in Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, Admiralty Islands.
Mount Hood had arrived at Seeadler Harbor loaded with ammunition on 22 September to dispense her cargo to the U.S. ships preparing for the invasion of Leyte.
This morning, Mount Hood sits at Berth 380 in the middle of the harbor to allow for more convenient munitions loading onto other ships. All five of her holds are open so the crew can quickly unload the wide variety of machine and cannon rounds, rockets, artillery shells, powder charges, and other assorted explosives totaling 3,800 tons. Despite the dangerous cargo, Mount Hood is surrounded by around 200 smaller ships and watercraft as the crews fulfill their harbor duties.
Around 0830 hours, the ship`s communications officer, Lt. Lester Wallace, and 17 enlisted men depart Mount Hood in a boat and land on a beach some 4,200 m (4,600 yards) away to pick up mail, visit the chaplain and for two of the men to be court-martialed.
At 0855 hours, the entire party is knocked off their feet as a massive explosion devastates Mount Hood. The remaining 350 crew aboard the ship perish immediately, while fragments heavily damage all ships in a 1,800 m (2,000 yd) radius. The repair ship USS Mindanao (ARG-3) bears the brunt of the damage and loses 82 crew.
As a 2,100 m (7,000 ft) tall mushroom cloud rises over Seeadler Harbor, dozens of boats and small ships rush to help the 371 wounded sailors and attempt to save the dozens of sinking ships nearest to where Mount Hood was.
Later in the day, at 1800 hours, the Base Intelligence Office picks up a Japanese broadcast from Tokyo that claims: “An American battleship was blown up in Manus Harbor this morning!” The broadcast lists all the other ships sunk or damaged accurately, indicating that the Japanese still have radio intercept equipment nearby.
However, a board of investigations will conclude the following month that the explosion was caused by improper handling of munitions and not by enemy action.
Picture: The explosion of the USS Mount Hood (AE-11) in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands
Source: U.S. Navy NH 65605
On 9 November 1944, First Lieutenant Donald J. Gott and Second Lieutenant William E. Metzger Jr., pilot and copilot of a B-17 `Flying Fortress` from the 729th Bomb Squadron, 452nd Bombardment Group, sacrifice themselves to save the rest of their crew over Saarbrücken, Germany.
Both 1LT Gott and 2LT Metzger Jr. will receive a Medal of Honor for their actions on 16 May 1945. 1LT Gott`s citation will read:
˝On a bombing run upon the marshaling yards at Saarbrücken a B-17 aircraft piloted by 1st. Lt. Gott was seriously damaged by antiaircraft fire... Flares in the cockpit were ignited and a fire raged therein, which was further increased by free-flowing fluid from damaged hydraulic lines. The interphone system was rendered useless. In addition to these serious mechanical difficulties the engineer was wounded in the leg and the radio operator`s arm was severed below the elbow. Suffering from intense pain, despite the application of a tourniquet, the radio operator fell unconscious. Faced with the imminent explosion of his aircraft, and death to his entire crew, mere seconds before bombs away on the target, 1st. Lt. Gott and his copilot conferred. Something had to be done immediately to save the life of the wounded radio operator. The lack of a static line and the thought that his unconscious body striking the ground in unknown territory would not bring immediate medical attention forced a quick decision. 1st. Lt. Gott and his copilot decided to fly the flaming aircraft to friendly territory and then attempt to crash land. Bombs were released on the target and the crippled aircraft proceeded alone to Allied-controlled territory. When that had been reached, 1st. Lt. Gott had the copilot personally inform all crewmembers to bail out. The copilot chose to remain with 1st. Lt. Gott in order to assist in landing the bomber. With only one normally functioning engine, and with the danger of explosion much greater, the aircraft banked into an open field, and when it was at an altitude of 100 feet it exploded, crashed, exploded again and then disintegrated. All 3 crewmembers were instantly killed.˝
Picture: B-17 flying fortress hit by AAA over Nis yards, Serbia
Source: USAAF
On 8 November 1944, Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels announces that Germany has been targetting Britain with the V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2 or Vengeance Weapon 2).
Two months since the first V-2s hit Paris and London, which we covered in our 8 September post, and the usual predictions of Allied morale collapsing in the face of Germany`s superior weapons have been absent from Goebbels` addresses until today. The V-1 flying bomb campaigns` failure to break British morale has somewhat tempered the Nazi leadership`s excitement over the V-2. In fact, since 13 October, which we covered in a post, most V-2s have been aimed at Antwerp under Hitler`s orders to deny the use of the port to the Allies.
But as Goebbels informs Germans that this new weapon will surely bring victory, despite all evidence to the contrary, the British Government maintains strict censorship on any information regarding the attacks. Despite the attacks causing hundreds of casualties, the British Government`s official explanation has resulted in much talk among the population of `flying gas mains` exploding with astonishing frequency.
Nevertheless, Churchill will finally reveal the truth about the explosions in an address to Parliament on 10 November:
˝For the last few weeks the enemy has been using his new weapon, the long-range rocket... In all, the casualties and damage have so far not been heavy... The reason for this silence was that any announcement might have given information useful to the enemy, and we were confirmed in this course by the fact that, until two days ago, the enemy had made no mention of this weapon in his communiques.
The use of this weapon is another attempt by the enemy to attack the morale of our civil population in the vain hope that he may somehow by this means stave off the defeat which faces him in the field. Doubtless the enemy has hoped by his announcement to induce us to give him information which he has failed to get otherwise. I am sure that this House, the Press and the public will refuse to oblige him in this respect.˝
Picture: Police officer examines remains of a V2 missile that hit London, England, on 17 September 1944
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 7 November 1944, USAAF and Soviet fighters clash over Niš, Yugoslavia.
Last week, Lieutenant General Grigory Kotov`s 6th Guards Rifle Corps was transferred from the 37th to the 57th Army and ordered to move onto the offensive as part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front`s thrust into the south of Hungary.
Today, Kotov and his 6th Guards Rifle Corps depart Niš and move in a long vehicle column toward Belgrade.
In the skies above them, USAAF P-38 Lightnings from the 95th, 96th, and 97th Fighter Squadrons (82nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force) are patrolling in search of German motorized columns after a Soviet request for close air support. Under the overall command of Colonel Clarence T. "Curly" Edwinson, the P-38s destroy a German train and then search for more targets.
At 1000 hours, the P-38s spot Lt. Gen. Kotov`s column some 80 km (50 mi) inside Soviet-held territory and begin strafing the vehicles, destroying several vehicles, killing 31 Soviet soldiers, including Kotov, and wounding 37.
Believing that the Luftwaffe is attacking them, 17th Air Army commander General Vladimir Sudets orders nine Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters from the 866th Fighter Aviation Regiment to scramble from Niš. However, the P-38s attack the Soviet fighters taking off.
With the P-38s now in a defensive circle around 500 m (1,600 ft) over Niš, more Soviet Yaks join the fight.
For about 15 minutes, 9-12 P-38s and around 10 Yak-9s from the 866th IAP dogfight over Niš. The Yaks down two P-38s (No. 44-24035 of Lt. Brewer and No. 43-28662 of Lt. Coulson). The P-38s destroy two Yak-9s while another one goes down to friendly anti-aircraft fire.
Eventually, the U.S. pilots likely recognize the red star roundels on the Yak-9s and disengage.
Upon returning to Fogga, Italy, Col. Edwinson fails to include the incident in his combat report.
On 10 November, Red Army deputy chief of the General Staff General Aleksey Antonov will deliver an embellished report of the incident to Major General John R. Deane, chief of the American military mission in Moscow, causing quite a diplomatic stir.
Picture: P-38L & J Lightnings of the 15th Air Force in formation over Yugoslavia
Source: U.S. Air Force
On 6 November 1944, during a speech in front of Moscow`s Soviet deputies for the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution, Stalin recounts the `ten blows` on Germany.
Stalin first offers a lengthy review of the Red Army`s great victories won this year through the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive, Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, Odessa Offensive, Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, Operation Bagration, Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Baltic Offensive, East Carpathian Offensive, Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive, and most recently the Budapest and Belgrade offensives. After acknowledging the role of the Western Allies in opening a second front in France, he moves to the issues of the post-war world:
˝The past year has been a year of triumph of the common cause of the anti-German coalition for the sake of which the peoples of the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States of America have united in fighting alliance.
That is why I think that the decisions of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference are to be regarded as a striking indication of the solidity of the front of the anti-German Coalition.
A still more striking indication of the consolidation of the front of the United Nations are the recent talks in Moscow with Mr. Churchill...
After her defeat Germany will, of course, be disarmed, both in the economic and in the military political sense... What means are there to preclude fresh aggression on Germany’s part, and if war should start nevertheless, to nip it in the bud and give it no opportunity to develop into a big war?...
Accordingly it is not to be denied that in the future the peace-loving nations may once more find themselves caught off their guard by aggression unless, of course, they work out special measures right now which can avert it... There is only one means to this end, apart from the complete disarmament of the aggressor nations: that is to establish a special organization made up of representatives of the peace-loving nations for the defence of peace and safeguarding of security...˝
Picture: Stalin making his report at the celebration of the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On 5 November 1944, a Japanese kamikaze plane hits destroys much of USS Lexington (CV-16).
The recent appearance of organized kamikaze (translated as `divine wind`) or, more specifically, `special attack units` (tokubetsu kōgekitai (特別攻撃隊)), using their aircraft as human-guided bombs seems to indicate a new level of fanaticism and, perhaps, desperation, in the Japanese military.
It is unclear when the idea first appeared among Japanese officers. However, Allied reports of Japanese aircraft deliberately crashing into ships have increased this summer. Still, an official order for these `special attacks` did not appear until U.S. forces approached Leyte Gulf on 17 October. Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) 1st Air Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi, ordered the formation of a `Special Attack Unit` on 19 October, faced with defending Leyte Island with only a few dozen aircraft.
Lieutenant Yukio Seki took command over 23 student pilots, and the Special Attack Force`s four subunits, Unit Shikishima, Unit Yamato, Unit Asahi, and Unit Yamazakura, were formed.
Already on the 21 October, an IJN Aichi D3A `Val` dive bomber intentionally crashed into HMAS Australia, attached to the Leyte invasion force. However, the attack was likely the pilot`s independent decision as he was not part of Seki`s unit.
But on 25 October, as Taffy 3 was fighting Admiral Kurita`s `Center Force` off Samar, which we covered in detail in our 25 October post, Lieutenant Seki led five A6M Zeros against the U.S. escort carriers. Four were shot down. Seki, however, crashed his plane directly into USS St. Lo`s deck, causing a magazine explosion that sank the ship and killed some 143 of her crew. On 26 October, 55 kamikaze attacked and damaged 7 carriers and 40 other ships.
Today, four aircraft from the `Special Attack Force` approach the carrier. Anti-aircraft crews destroy three, but a fourth hit the aft portion of the island superstructure, killing 50 crew and injuring 132, and causing multiple fires. Lexington`s crew contain the fires within just 20 minutes and resume flight operations.
Picture: Lexington under attack from a Japanese kamikaze
Source: U.S. National Archives NS021664
