Air Operations, Aleutians

• 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s and 343d Fighter Group P-38s mount a low-level attack against 2 ships and 3 submarines in Kiska harbor. A 343d Fighter Group P-38 downs 1 of 4 A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bombers that engage the attack force near Kiska at 1145 hours, but 2 of the P-38s are lost, as is 1 B-25. A Patrol Wing 4 PBY later reports that it has picked up several survivors, but it fails to return to its base.
• In a second attack against Kiska, 5 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 4 B-25s, and 4 B-26s, attack the ships once again, claiming direct hits on both surface vessels.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

• A 23rd Fighter Group P-40 downs a Japanese Army fighter near the airfield at Lashio at 1345 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

B-17s and B-24s bomb the Lorient U-boat base.

US 8th Air Force first uses “combat box” formation to better protect bombers from German fighters.

US 8th Air Force First Uses 'Combat Box'

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the airfield at Lae, Madang, and Wewak.
• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese Army ground forces near Duvira Creek.
• 374th Troop Carrier Group transports airlift advance elements of the newly committed US 41st Infantry Division from Port Moresby to the Dobodura and Popondetta airfields.

Air Operations, North Africa

A night raid is made on Casablanca by Focke-Wulf Condors from Bordeaux.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• In their unit's combat debut, 6 17th Medium Bomb Group B-26s, escorted by 14th Fighter Group P-38s, attack Gabes Airdrome during the afternoon. A P-38 pilot downs 1 Bf-109 near the target.
• 5 B-26s are damaged from flak and attacks by Bf-109s; 1 P-38 is lost with its pilot
• XII Bomber Command B-17s, escorted by P-38s, attack the marshalling yards and port facilities at Sfax followed by XII Bomber Command B25s attacking the marshalling yards again.
• 12th Air Force A-20s attack German Army troope condentrations, Gabes Airdrome, and a fuel dump near El Aouinet. Escorting P-40s strafe ground target of opportunity near El Guettar.

Britain, Home Front

Harold Macmillan, M.P. is made Minister Resident of North Africa.

Helping Out Of a Bomb-Damaged Building

Two members of a heavy rescue party help a casualty pick his way over rubble out of a bomb-damaged building, with a third member holding a rope as a handrail. More rescuers guide a stretchered casualty down a ladder from a second storey window, as part of a large-scale Civil Defence training exercise in Fulham. This photograph was taken on Edith Villas.

A casualty lies on a large pile of rubble in Edith Villas in Fulham, following a devastating air raid. Several other casualties can just be seen behind him, lying in the doorway of a badly-damaged house.

A Casualty in Edith Villas in Fulham

Until the last two days of the period no attacks were made upon this country. On the afternoon of the 29th bombing and cannon-fire occurred at Eastbourne, where residential property was damaged and where there was one fatal and 17 serious casualties.

On the morning of the 30th bombs did some damage in the residential area of Exeter, where 16 people were killed and 17 seriously injured. Several places in the surrounding district were machine-gunned but only slight damage was done.

Eastern Front

Badanov's II Guards Tank Corps fight its way into Kostino and along the Bystraya River toward the XXV Tank and I Guards Mechanized Corps, linking up late in the day. The 11th and 6th Panzer Divisions continue their counterattack against the 3rd Guards Army, inflicting heavy losses.

Far out on the Kalmyuk Steppe the 16th Motorized Division begins to fall back, enabling the 28th Army to retake Remotnoye.

Guadalcanal

The attack plan: the 3rd Battalion is to continue attacking south from Hill 31 while the 1st Battalion pushes against the enemy's eastern line. To secure sufficient space for maneuver, the 1st Battalion is to jump off from assembly areas east of Hill 30, advance southward, then swing southwest to attack Hill 27. The newly released 2nd Battalion, under Lt-Col George F. Ferry, is to deliver the main attack. Starting from Hill 11, they are to make a wide envelopment in a southwesterly direction. When reaching a point southeast of Hill 27, it is to turn northwest and attack up the south slopes of Hill 27. Each Battalion is to be responsible for its own flanks. H Hour is originally set for 0630, January 1, but is postponed to January 2 when 2nd Battalion's progress up Wright Road proves slow. The 2nd Battalion needs to be in position southeast of Hill 27 on the night prior to the regimental attack.

Artillery support for the offensive includes the 105-mm howitzers of the 247th Field Artillery Battalion, the 75-mm pack howitzers of the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines, and the 155-mm howitzers of the recently landed B Battery, 90th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Division.

New Guinea

Australian and American units maintain their pressure on Buna Mission and prepare to surround it by attacking from Buna Village and the Musita islet.

North Africa

The 18th Regimental Combat Team of the American 1st Div reaches the Medjez el Bab positions.

Pacific

• The US submarine Greenling (SS-213) attacks a Japanese convoy about 180 miles northeast of Manus, Admiralties, sinking the army cargo ship Hiteru Maru (5827t) and damaging the cargo ship Ryufuku Maru.
• The US submarine Thresher (SS-200) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hachian Maru (2733t) about 120 miles west of Mata Siri Island, off the southeast tip of Borneo.
• The Japanese coastal minesweeper M-2 is sunk by a mine in Surabaya Harbor.