Air Operations, Carolines

8 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 10th Air Force B-25s attack rail facilities and a motor pool at Kyaukme.
• 2 B-25s attack a motor pool at Namhsim.
• 1 B-25 attacks a rail line at Nawngpeng.
• 20 10th Air Force P-47s attack Japanese Army troops at Kyungyi and Nanhlaing.
• 16 P-47s support Allied ground forces around Henu and Mawlu.
• 7 P-47s attack a bridge at Panghkam.
• 4 P-47s attack a bivouac at Indaw.

• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 11 14th Air Force P-51s attack Mengshu.
• 3 B-25s attack a bridge at Lohochai.
• More than 50 P-51s and P-40s attack occupied towns in the Mengshu area.
• More than 40 P-51s and P-40s attack various targets in east-central and southern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s and P-38s attack shipping around Makassar, Celebes.
• B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack the town area at Amboina Town, oil stores at Boela, Ceram, and two airfields and targets of opportunity on Amboina, Boroe, and Ceram.
• Fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army bivouacs across Halmahera.
• 347th Fighter Group P-38s down 6 Japanese Army fighters near the Boeloedowang airfield on Celbes between 1010 and 1040 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 112 Lancasters of No. 5 Group attack the Flushing battery positions, but visibility is poor and the bombing is scattered.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• There are 6 Ranger patrols and 4 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• 1,055 aircraft including 561 Lancasters, 463 Halifaxes,and 31 Mosquitos, are sent to Essen. This is the heaviest raid on this target so far in the war and the number of aircraft sent is also the greatest number to any target to this point. These new records are achieved without the Lancasters of No. 5 Group being included. 4,538 tons of bombs are dropped. More than 90 per cent of this tonnage is high explosive including 509 4,000-pounders because it is now considered that most of the burnable buildings in Essen have been destroyed in earlier raids.
  The greater proportion of high explosive, against all the trends in earlier area-bombing raids, is now quite common in attacks on targets which have suffered major fire damage in 1943. However, incendiaries start fires in vast slag heaps, which are still smouldering in the late 1940s.
• 5 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes are lost.

• 38 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 10 to Wiesbaden and 2 to Aschaffenburg, 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation, and there are 50 Mosquito patrols and 41 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• Some XXII TAC P-47s are able to attack many locomotives, rail cars, motor vehicle, and vessels around Genoa, Padua, Savona, and Turin.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s attack targets of opportunity in the Po River valley.

• 15th Air Force B-17s attack the Skoda arms complex at Pilsen.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack an arms factory at Plauen, and a marshalling yard and oil-industry targets at Regensburg.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack a mashalling yard at Rosenheim.

• 15th Air Force attack rail lines around Brenner Pass and throughout northern Italy.

Air Operations, Japan

In the Kurile Islands, 5 28th Composite Group B-25s attack the Asahi Bay area, 3 B-24s attack Kashiwabara, and 3 B-24s attack Otomari.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command A-20s support Allied ground forces along the Orai and Sawar rivers.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Sagan.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-25s attack shipping in the Sulu Archipelago.
• Task Group 77.4 carrier aircraft support US 6th Army ground forces on Leyte.
• 2 VF-35 F6Fs down a D3A 'Val' dive bomer near Leyte at 0605 hours.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Kurita's Center Force is sighted off Palawan in the early hours by 2 US submarines. 2 heavy cruisers, the Atago and the Maya, are sunk in the subsequent attacks by US submarines Dace (SS-247) and Darter (SS-227), and one more is damaged and forced to retire. One of the submarines is lost but because of their reports the 3 remaining groups of TF 38 east of the Philippines prepare to attack when the Japanese squadron is in range.

Diplomatic Relations

(22?) Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union recognize de Gaulle's administration as the Provisional Government of France.

Eastern Front

In the far north the Russians complete the clearance of the Petsamo region. The Russians now hold a 137-km front in East Prussia.

The III Panzer Corps is redeployed into Hungary and commits to protect the rear of the 8th Army. The XVII and XXIX Corps are fighting west to avoid encirclement east of Nyireghaza.

Germany, Home Front

The German news bureau reports vast numbers of volunteers flocking to joint he Volkssturm territorial army, including boys and men younger and older than the specified age groups.

Italy

The South African 6th Armored Division, attacking in force toward Monte Salvaro, drives to the summit while elements to the right begin an assault on Monte Termine.

In the IV Corps area, TF 92, after an unsuccessful attempt to push northeastward from Monte Cauala, goes on the defensive in the coastal sector.

In the II Corps area, the Germans counterattack and recover Hill 459 from the 85th Division. Elsewhere on the right flank of the corps, counterattacks are repulsed and bypassed pockets are cleared. At night, the 2nd Battalion of the 351st Infantry, 88th Division, attacks toward Vedriano and G Company takes Vedriano by dawn of the 24th. The 133rd Infantry, 34th Division, seizes Monte Belmonte.

In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division, renewing its assault on Monte Spadura with the 11th and 38th Brigades, clears this feature. The 1st Division takes Monte Cornazzano without opposition and gains ground north of Monte Ceco. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, seizes Monte Giro and pushes on toward Monte Colombo. The 17th Brigade takes Monte Casalino.

In the V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division reaches the crest of the Monte Cavallo ridge, which extends northward to Bertinoro, commanding Highway 9. The Germans begin to pull back. The Savio River is subsiding and reinforcements are crossed into the 4th Division's bridgehead.

In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division maintains its bridgehead across the Savio but is unable to strengthen it. The 11th Brigade, Canadian 5th Armored Division, reaches the Savio to the right.

Pacific

• The US submarine Croaker (SS-246) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakuran Maru (887t) in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korea.
• The US submarine Sawfish (SS-276) sinks the Japanese seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru (6863t) west of Luzon.
• The US submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks Japanese cargo ships Toun Maru (1915t) and Tatsuju Maru (1944t) (1944t) and transport Wakatake Maru (1920t) and merchant cargo ship Kori Go in Formosa Strait.

Philippines

The battles on Leyte continue. In a solemn ceremony at Tacloban, MacArthur re-installs the legitimate government of the Philippines under the presidency of Sergio Osmena.

In the X Corps area, the 8th Cavalry of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, charged with the task of securing control of the San Juanico Strait between Layte and Samar and cutting off Japanese movement, begins operations toward this end. A reconnaissance party moves by LCI from Tacloban through the San Juanico Strait to Babatngon, on the north coast, and on return reconnoiters the ferry termini that connect Leyte and Samar, the Leyte terminus being at Guintiguian and the Samar terminus at La Paz, without incident. Other elements of the regiment move to the Diit River and secure a bridge in preparation for the drive on Santa Cruz, on Carigara Bay. A Japanese party raids Palo at night, using Filipinos to deceive the Americans, but is dispersed and leave behind 60 dead. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry, begins an attack on Hill C, blocking passage into Leyte Valley on the north side of Highway 2 at the western edge of Palo, a strongly defended feature. The 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry, reaches what it believes to be the crest of Hill B, which also blocks the entrance into Leyte Valley. The 2nd Squadron of the 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, relieves the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry, on Hill 522. The 1st Battalion of the 19th Infantry is ordered to attack hill 85, south of Palo.

In the XXIV Corps area, the 96th Division is facing an acute supply shortage, which limits forward movement. The 383rd Infantry, less the 1st Battalion, attacking at noon, crosses the Guinarona River and reaches positions west of Pikas. The 382nd is largely engaged in patrolling. Tanks of the 767th Tank Battalion act as a spearhead for the 7th Division as it continues to drive on Burauen in an effort to take the San Pablo airfield. The 17th Infantry reinforced by the 2nd Battalion of the 184th, leads troops, attacking through the 32nd and 184th Regiments, which then follow. Tanks arrive at Burauen and scatter the enemy forces. Infantrymen drive through Julita and San Pablo and seize the San Pablo airfielod.

Western Front

On the left flank of the British I Corps, the 4th Arm Div moves off westward toward Bergen-op-Zoom, to close off the isthmus of South Beveland, along which the Canadian 2nd Div is preparing to advance.

The advance toward St Dié by the 3rd Div, VI Corps, is effectively opposed by units of Friedrich von Wiese's German 19th Army. On the right flank of the VI Corps, the US 36th Div is advancing east of Bruyéres toward Biffantoaine.[WE]

Images from October 23, 1944

Moving Toward Nuland

British Infantry Outside Heike

Partisans in Belgrade

Yugoslav Partisans near Újvidék

Cleaning His Rifle

Churchill Tanks Moving Up To Attack

Moving Up Toward Hertogenbosch

Allied Truck Convoy

'Ram' Kangaroo Armored Personnel Carriers

Firing Some Farms

Staff Car of Lt-Gen Neumann

Japanese Cruiser Under Attack