Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command bombers attack scattered targets near Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack the airfield at Ichang while 3 B-25s also attack an oil dump there.
• 3 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack ships in Hong Kong harbor.
• 4 449th Fighter Group P-38 dive-bombers attack a warehouse at Sinti and rail yards at Yoyang. 1 P-38 is lost to ground fire.

• 7 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Gia Lam airfield at Hanoi/Gia Lam Airdrome. 22 23rd Fighter Group P-40s and 2 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack dikes at Co Bi. On the return flight, pilots are forced to bail out of 6 of the P-40s, which run out of fuel. 1 of these pilots is lost. 2 other P-40s crash-land, and 2 of these airplanes is destroyed.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command bombers lightly attack various targets over a wide area.

Air Operations, Europe

• A large force of 613 British four-engined bombers makes a severe night attack on Berlin. Included in the bomber force are 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings and 9 Oboe Mosquitoes as Route Markers.
• This raid is not successful. There are clouds in the target area and this, together with difficulties with H₂S equipment and probably the ferocity of the German defences, all combine to cause the Pathfinder markers to be dropped well south of the center of the target area with the Main Force bombing to be even further away. The main bombing area eventually extends 30 miles back along the bombers' approach route. 86 aircraft or 14% of the force abort for various reasons. The time on target is between 23:38 and 00:01 with 1,396 tons of bombs dropped - 749 tons of high explosive and 647 tons of incendiaries.
• A new tactic is used by the Germans. Bright flares are dropped over the target area to supplement the various illuminations being used by the Wild Boar and 'cat's eye' pilots. The Aiming Point of this raid is in the same area as the previous raid of August 23. The Blind Markers miss the Aiming Point as they fly south of the planned route and fail to make correction to their course. It is estimated that only 10 planes actually bomb in the built-up area of Berlin. The rest fall up to 30 miles south of the city. 68 people were killed in Berlin and 19 more in the country areas. The raid is classified as ineffective.
• After this raid, Gauleiter Goebbels ordered the evacuation from Berlin of all children and all adults not engaged in war work to country areas or to towns in Eastern Germany where air raids are not expected.
• 20 Halifaxes, 17 Stirlings and 10 Lancasters are lost or 7.7% of those dispatched. Casualties among the aircrew include 225 killed, 107 POWs and 1 evader.

• 30 OTU Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitos and 5 Halifaxes of the Pathfinders bomb an ammunition dump in the Forêt de Hesdin and 6 Mosquitos are sent to Brauweiler without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 9 A-20s of the 3rd Light Bomb Group’s 89th Light Bomb Squadron mount a low-level strafing attack against the Malahang airfield at Lae.
• A USAAF ground detachment occupies the New Garoka airstrip, near Bena Bena, to provide a haven for V Fighter Command fighters that cannot make it back to their own bases.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 22 AirSols B-25s and more than 50 light bombers attack a radio station and gun emplacements at Vila while P-40s attack barges.
• P-40s with the 18th Fighter Group’s 44th Fighter Squadron down 5 D3A 'Val' dive bombers over Vella Lavella at 0910 hours.

Atlantic

The Japanese submarine I-8 reaches Lorient after a marathon voyage from Singapore. It returns by November 28.

Central Pacific

US carriers attack Marcus Island. The carriers Independence (CVL-22), Essex (CV-9) and Yorktown (CV-10) are involved. Losses on both sides are slight. The carriers are from the newly formed Fast Carrier Task Force. At last the new American ships are beginning to come into action in large numbers.

Diplomatic Relations

Gen Castellano flies to Termini Imerese, Sicily, and is taken from there to Cassibile, near Syracuse. The talks begin. The Italians ask for guarantees against German reactions as soon as the armistice is signed. The Allies stick to the basic point in their demands: the armistice must be proclaimed at the same time the Allies make their principal landing on the Italian mainland. In the evening Castellano returns to Rome and reports: 'If the Italian Government insists on refusing to announce the cease-fire on the same day that the Allies land, contrary to what | ]

Eastern Front

Advancing south of Sevsk the Soviets move 40 miles and capture Glukhov and Rylsk. 4 days of fighting in this region have brought the re-capture of some 200 villages.

The Soviet 60th Army has now penetrated 50 miles into the German rear.

The German 1st Panzer and 6th Armies prepare to fall back to the Dnieper, Manstein having finally convinced Hitler of the need for a mobile defense. However, this will only buy time for the Wehrmacht in the Ukraine; it will not stave off defeate. August has been a disastrous month for the Germans in the East, the army having lost a total of 218,000 troops (133,000 from Army Group South). There are only 2,555 armored vehicles along the whole front, of which a third are operational. Facing them are 6,200 Red Army tanks alone. Army Groups Center and South can must 1.4 million troops, but the Soviet Central, Voronezh, Steppe, Southwestern and Southern Fronts can muster 2,630,000 troops and 2,400 tanks.[MORE]

Mediterranean

The British battleships Nelson and Rodney shell the Italian coast near Reggio di Calabria.