Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Gasmata airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos carry out intruder patrols over Holland and just inside the German border. 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 133 aicraft of 5 Group and the Pathfinder Force are sent to Turin: 108 Lancaster, 9 Halifaxes, 9 Wellingtons and 7 Stirlings.
• Pathfinders light up the target well and the bombing is accurate; there is extensive damage in both residential and industrial areas; 212 people are killed and 111 injured.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 80 aircraft of 1, 3 and 4 Groups lay mines off the German and Danish coasts.
• 3 Stirlings, 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 7 Bf-109s in a morning battle over the Marble Arch Airdrome.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack ground targets at Buna Mission and Cape Endaiadere in direct support of an Allied ground attack.
• V Fighter Command P-38s attack a wrecked ship off Gona.
• 6 43d Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 1 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 intercept 8 Japanese destroyer-transports carrying Japanese Army ground reinforcements from Rabaul to Buna. Under pressure from the air, the destroyer-transports withdraw to Rabaul.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-254 is rammed by U-221 while both boats were maneuvering on the surface during operations against convoy HX-217. U-221 sustains superficial damage but U-254 sinks quickly.

U-254 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Odo Loewe Location Atlantic, SE of Greenland Cause Collision Casualties 41 Survivors 4

U-611 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Nikolaus von Jakobs Location Atlantic, SE of Cape Discord, Greenland Cause Air attack Casualties 45 Survivors None

• U-611 is sunk by Liberator 'B' of No 120 Squadron RAF during operations in support of convoy HX-217. Six depth charges are dropped and after the attack the aircrew observes wreckage and human remains on the surface.

Black Sea

The Russian submarine D-5 sinks the Turkish sailing ship Koçiboglu.

Britain, Home Front

Parliament lowers the age for conscription by 6 months, to 18.

Eastern Front

The German counterattack against the 41st Army continue, their pincers drawing closer to Belyi as the escape corridor of the VI Rifle and I Mechanized Corps becomes narrower. By the end of the day the German forces are just a mile apart.

The 6th Army is heavily attack but manages to repel the Soviet probes. Kirchner's LVII Panzer Corps has still not completed its concentration, onl the 6th and 23rd Panzer Divisions being in situ. The 17th Panzer has been waylaid by Hitler en route from Orel. It is unlikely that Operation WINTER-STORM will begin before December 12.

After regrouping during the night, the 11th Panzer Division attacks the Soviets to the rear of the 336th Infantry Division. The assault strikes the Soviets just as they are about to attack and after a bloddy battle they are virtually wiped out.

As the Soviets prepare to launch Operation SATURN a new 1st Guards Army is raised, the original 1st Guards being redesignated 3rd Guards Army Lelyushenko commands the 3rd while the new 1st is given to V. I. Kuznetsov.

Guadalcanal

Some elements of the 132nd Regimental Combat Team of the Americal Division arrive.

American motor torpedo boats attack Japanese destroyers approaching the island and prevent them from landing men and materials.

The destroyer group returns to Buin just in time for an attack by B-17s on the Shortland anchorage. 2 tankers are badly damaged but the destroyers remain intact. Tanaka is ordered to make a fourth supply attempt.

The Imperial General Staff comes up with a new idea for resupplying Guadalcanal. The submarine force will assist in this effort. A group of 2,000 ton I-boat class boats are sent to Buin. They are loaded with supplies and dispatched one by one to land at Makino Point on western end of island. The operation under the command of Rear Adm Hisao Mito at Rabaul, which is separate from Tanaka's. The first run made in early December is successful. Lt-Cmdr Yahachi Tanabe takes I-176 to Guadalcanal and unloads supplies, the first that the men on the island have seen for several days.

New Guinea

Allied aircraft intercept a formation of 6 Japanese destroyers from Rabaul bringing reinforcements and supplies to the Buna beachhead and force them to turn back. The road-block between Soputa and Sanananda is finally reached by Australian units after violent fighting. The Japanese who are trying to get to Giruwa after escaping from Gona are annihilated by the Australians. Urbana Force persists in its attack on Buna village, using flamethrowers, which prove ineffectual.

In yet another horrible engagement the Japanese positions at Gona are stormed by Australian troops from 21st Bde.

Shipwrecked survivors of HMAS Armidale clinging to a raft and waving at a Catalina flying boat. Unable to land on violent waters, the survivors were not seen again after this photograph was taken. Coast of East Timor, December 8, 1942

Last Photo of Shipwrecked Survivors

Pacific

The US submarine Halibut sinks 4 ships in Japanese home waters during the month of December.

North Africa

German forces led by Gen Alfred Gause occupy Bizerta, capturing 4 French destroyers, 9 submarines and 3 other warships.

Eisenhower agrees that Gen Kenneth Anderson should withdraw to better defensive positions in order to strengthen the line of the British 1st Army in readiness for the offensive. Rain holds up hostilities.