Air Operations, Bismarcks

More than 20 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Gasmata. This concludes a 5-day bombing offensive amounting to 133 B-24 sorties and 63 B-25 sorties.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 16 14th Air Force P-40s attack Hanshow while 2 B-25s attack Amoy.

Air Operations, Europe

US bombers sink 4 ex-French warships at Toulon.

• 6 Mosquitos bomb Berlin through a cloud cover and 9 OTU Wellingtons make leaflet flights to France.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• IX Bomber Command B-26s attack the Berck-sur-Mer and St.-Omer/Longuenesse Airdromes.

• 15th Air Force B-24s, escorted by P-38s, attack a marshalling yard at Sofia. However, due to poor weather, only 17 B-24s are able to drop their bombs. An estimated dozen Axis fighters attack the bombers, and 82ns Fighter Group P-38s down 2 Bf-109s.
• 2 B-24s are lost along with 1 P-38

• 103 15th Air Force B-17s attack the Vichy French fleet and the Toulon submarine pens and drydocks with 315 tons of bombs. Several vessels including a cruiser are claimed as sunk. 15 B-17s that are unable to locate Toulon attack the viaduct at Antheor. Luftwaffe fighter mount sustained attacks on the bombers for about 30 minutes, but no B-17s are lost or seriously damaged. 1 Luftwaffe fighter is claimed.

Air Operations, Gilberts

• A Japanese submarine sinks the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay off Makin Atoll at 0513 hours. 644r men are killed, including many airmen from VC-39 and Rear-Adm Henry M. Mullinnix, the Carrier Division 24 commander.
• VF-16 F6Fs down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 10 A6M Zeros near Makin Atoll at 1230 hours.
• Work is begun to rehabilitate and improve the former Japanese Navy airfields on Betio and Butaritari islands, both of which will be needed to support the projected advance to the Marshall Islands.

Air Operations, Marshalls

• 20 VII Bomber Command B-24s based at Nanomea attack land targets and shipping in the Maloelap Atoll.
• Task Group 50.1 carrier aircraft continue their attack on the Mille Atoll.

Air Operations, New Guinea

More than 30 V Bomber Command B-25s, B-26s, and A-20s attack Kalasa as 15 B-25s and A-20s attack Finschhafen.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 25 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Buka and Chabai.
• 20 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville. 6 B-25s attack a possible radio station at Mutupina Point.

Bougainville

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 3rd Marines, advance on the East-West Trail behind the heaviest artillery bombardment of the Pacific war. A 20-minute artillery preparation fires over 5,600 rounds on Japanese bunkers, foxholes, and trenches lying in the low swampy ground amidst heavy jungle. The advance is measured in yards. Even in the midst of battle, the frontline troops receive a real turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, an amazing logistical feat in itself. The men sit wherever convenient to eat their meal, completely ignoring the blood and carnage around them. The marines succeed in capturing the high ground beyond the trail but, during the course of the battle, suffer 115 casualties. Japanese losses are estimated at over 1,000.

Work on the construction of a runway is almost finished, and an aircraft manages to make an emergency landing there.

Caribbean

The US freighter Melville E. Stone is torpedoed and sunk by U-516 about 100 miles northwest of Cristobal, Panama, losing 12 of her 42-man crew, 2 of the 23 Armed Guard sailors and 1 of the 23 passengers in the attack. Submarine chasers SC-662 and SC-1023 rescue the survivors.

Eastern Front

The German attacks around Korosten now have increased strength and the Soviets are forced back.

Germany, Home Front

Goebbels issues a proclamation to the citizens of Berlin: 'Our will to win is unshakable.' He exhorts Berliners to defy RAF 'terror attacks'.

Gilbert Islands

The Japanese submarine I-175 torpedoes and sinks the American escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56) off Makin Atoll. The ship sinks in 23 minutes after being hit, taking the lives of 644 men, including Rear-Adm Henry A. Mullinix. The number of dead must be added to the price paid for the capture of Tarawa and Makin.

Italy

The headquarters of the US 5th Army draws up the final plan of attack, the first phase of which is to be launched December 2. This phase is to consist of the capture of the Monte Camino-Monte la Difensa-Monte Maggioure sector, preceded on December 1 by the capture of Calabritto. The second and third phase comprise the taking of Monte Sammucro and an attack on the Liri valley.

The 8th Army crosses the lower Sangro River on a 8-km front.

New Britain

During the night near Cape St George, 5 Japanese destroyers en route for Buka Island with reinforcements and materials are intercepted by 5 Allied destroyers. In the course of the battle the Japanese lose 3 destroyers; the Allies suffer no damage. This is the last of the night battles that have characterized the Solomons campaign.

Solomons

The Japanese mount a small attack on the American positions on Bougainville which the Marines easily drive off.

United States, Production

2 new modern aircraft carriers are commissioned in the US, the USS Wasp (CV-18) and the USS Hornet (CV-12), both named after US vessels sunk at earlier actions in the war. In 1943 alone, the US commissioned 9 new aircraft carriers; the Japanese, suffering severe industrial shortages, commissioned only 2, these being conversions from existing vessels.

Scenes from November 24, 1943

Gun Crew Bailing Out Water

Sattelberg, New Guinea Captured by Australians

Eating in the Field

Removing the Mud