Air Operations, Bismarcks

• As the Allied pre-invasion bombing campaign against Cape Gloucester reaches its peak, V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s mount 280 effective sorties against the area throughout the day. Also, 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese Army ground positions at Arawe. V Fighter Command P-39s attack a Japanese destroyer off Cape Gloucester.
• 24 XIII Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by 32 AirSols F4Us, 16 P-38s, and 24 RNZAF P-40s, attack the Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul while 6 B-24s attack the Lakunai airfield also at Rabaul.
• VF-33 F6Fs down 6 A6M Zeros over Rabaul between 1135 and 1205 hours. 18th Fighter Group P-38s down 9 Zeros over Rabaul at 1330 hours. RNZAF Kittyhawk pilots down 12 fighters over Rabaul. 7 AirSols fighters are lost, including 5 RNZAF Kittyhawks.

Air Operations, CBI

• During the night, 19 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack dock areas and rail yards in Rangoon.

• 18 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Tienho airfield at Canton. 1 B-24 is downed by a Japanese fighter. 23rd Fighter Group P-40s, and P-40s from the 3rd CACW Fighter Group’s 28th CACW Fighter Squadron down 4 Japanese fighters over the Tienho airfield.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Atamboea, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

US bombers launch a major effort to knock out German secret weapons sites with attacks involving more the 1,300 planes. 672 B-17s drop 1,400 tons of bombs on 24 V-1 launching sites. A record number of about 3,000 Allied planes are involved in missions against cities and military targets in Europe including an RAF raid which drops 1,120 tons on Berlin.

• 478 B-17s and 192 B-24s attack V-weapons sites around Pas-de-Calais with 1745 tons of bombs.
• There are no losses

• Approximately 60 IX Bomber Command B-26s attack V-weapons sites around Pas-de-Calais, but 30 other B-26s abort in the face of bad weather.

• Of more than 100 15th Air Force B-26s dispatched to attack a marshalling yard at Pisa, all fail to locate the target, but 24 attack a marshalling yard at Cecina.

Air Operations, Gilberts

A P-39 with the 318th Fighter Group’s 72d Fighter Squadron downs 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers near Makin at 0100 hours.

Air Operations, Marshalls

18 VII Bomber Command B-24s based in the Ellice Islands pass through Hawkins Field on Betio to attack the Wotje Atoll.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack coastal targets in northeastern New Guinea.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 24 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the seaplane anchorage at Bonis. US Navy PVs attack barges and Japanese Army ground troops in northern Bougainville.
• A US Navy surface battle force bombards the Bonis and Buka airfields on Bougainville.

Allied Command

A series of announcements in London and Washington makes known the leaders for the coming British and American campaigns. Gen Eisenhower is to be Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion of Europe, with Air Marshal Tedder as his deputy. Adm Ramsay and Air Marshal Leigh-Mallory will lead the naval and air forces. Gen Montgomery will lead the 21st Army Group in the operation. Gen Henry M. Wilson becomes Supreme Commander for the Mediterranean with Gen Jacob Devers as his deputy. Gen Sir Harold Alexander commands in Italy. Gen Ira Eaker commands the Mediterranean Air Forces. Gen Sir Oliver Leese, commanding the British XIII Corps, takes over 8th Army. Gen Carl Spaatz is appointed to command all the US Strategic Bomber Forces against Germany and Gen Jimmy Doolittle will lead 8th Air Force. Gen Sir Bernard Paget becomes Supreme Commander in the Middle East.

Atlantic

In Operation BERNAU 6 German destroyers and 6 torpedo boats and Ju-88s escort the blockade-runner Osorno into the Gironde Estuary and repel Allied air attacks, but the ship hits a wreck and has to be beached.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The US destroyer Leary (DD-158) is sunk by the German submarine U-275 in the North Atlantic area.
• The US destroyer Schenck (DD-159) sinks the German submarine U-645 in the North Atlantic area.

U-645

Bougainville

The Japanese abandon a small hill named 600A after a three-day fight. This is the final piece of key terrain that secures the American perimeter.

Burma

In the Hukawng valley units of the Chinese 38th Div succeed in rescuing a battalion of the 112th Regt surrounded by the Japanese in the Yupbang Ga area. The enemy holds its position west of the river.

Eastern Front

The Soviets have prepared a major effort to retake the ground recently lost west of Kiev. Vatutin leads the reinforced armies of the 1st Ukraine Front in a massive assault. From their big bridgehead over the Dniepr Vatutin throws in 6 armies and 3 assault groups against von Manstein's Army Group South along a center line between Kiev and Zhitomir. The lines of the defending 4th Pzr Army are stretched too thin to hold this off, largely because their small reserve has been dissipated in the recent attacks. Once the Soviets succeed in breaking the front there will be little that the German commanders can do to prevent a deep penetration into their rear areas. In the Vitebsk sector the Russians take Gorodok causing the collapse of a whole line of German strongpoints hinged on that position.

The Stavka launches its next offensive in the Ukraine against Army Group South. All four Ukrainian fronts are earmarked to take part, a combined total of 2,365,000 troops, 2,000 tanks, 29,000 artillery pieces and 2,360 aircraft. Against this force Army Group South can muster 1,760,000 troops, 2,200 tanks and assault guns (but only 50 percent are operational), 16,000 artillery pieces and 1,400 aircraft (only 30 percent are operational). The 1st Ukrainian Front attacks after a heavy preliminary artillery and aerial barrage, the 1s Guards and 18th Armies hitting XIII Corps in front of Zhitomir; the 13th and 60th Armies assaulting LIX Corps to the north; and the 27th, 38th anr 40th Armies striking VII and XXIV Panzer Corps in the south. The German line quickly collapses, and soon the 1st Tank and 3rd Guards Tank Armies are advancing toward Vinnitsa and Zhitomir, respectively.

The Ukraine erupts into fire once again as the 1st Ukrainian Front begins its offensive. Massive arty bombardments, together with overwhelming aerial support, the likes of which the Germans have not seen before, purverize the German forward positions. The 1st Guards and 18th Armies attack the XIII Corps before Zhitomir while the 13th and 60th Armies attack the LIX Corps to the north and the 38th, 40th and 27th Armies hit the VII and XXIV Panzer Corps to the south. Under massive pressure the German front collapses, being engulfed in a sea of fire. With resistance broken the 3rd Guards Tank and 1st Tank Armies rush through the advancing infantry of the 18th and 38th Armies to plunge into the German rear. The 3rd Guards Tank pushes toward Zhitomir while the 1st Tank advances in the direction of Vinnitsa. With his front line in tatters, Manstein is forced to rush the XLVIII Panzer Corps into action.

Italy

The New Zealand 2nd Div, by-passing Orsogna, captures the hills that overlook the town from the northeast.

New Britain

Large American bomber formations carry out at least 280 missions against airfields and other military installations of the Japanese in New Britain.

Pacific

• The US submarine Gurnard (SS-254) sinks the Japanese transport Seizan Maru (1898t) and the auxiliary minesweeper Naruo Maru east of Tategasaki, Japan.
• The US submarine Raton (SS-270) torpedoes the Japanese transport Heiwa Maru (5578t) in Kaoe Bay, Halmahera.

Solomons

A Task Force of US cruisers and destroyers bombards Buka Island and the Japanese base at Buin on Bougainville, principally to divert attention from the imminent landings on New Britain.

Images from December 24, 1943

Italian Soldiers Play a Card Game

Decorating a Mess Hall

Invasion of Cape Gloucester, New Britain

New Zealand Artillery Personnel

Soldiers of an Italian Motorized Regiment

Coast Guard Manned LST

Lt Frank R. Jackson’s Crew Aboard B-17G

Canadians in Hand-To-Hand Combat in Ortona