Air Operations, CBI

• The 10th Air Force continues to mount an all-out effort in support of Allied ground offensives in northern and central Burma.

• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack the airfields at Changsha and Siangtan and troops, river and rail traffic, Japanese Army positions, and occupied towns across a wide area.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 5 Ki-48 'Lily' light bombers and 11 Japanese fighters in a late-afternoon engagement over the Kingman airfield.
• Japanese Army ground forces mount Operation ICHIGO, a renewal of the effort to capture 14th Air Force bases between Hengyang and Canton.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-24s attack two towns on Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, ex-commander of the elite close-support force, Fliegerkorps VIII in France, the Balkans and Russia, and cousin of the 'Red Baron', is forced to retire from the command of Luftflotte 2 in Italy following brain surgery.

• 60 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 21 others in small number to 6 other German targets.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Philippines

• Task Force 38 carrier aircraft cover the Leyte beachhead.
• Task Group 77.4 carrier aircraft sink a Japanese destroyer as it rescues survivors of Japanses vessels sunk off Leyte.
• More than 40 V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack shipping off Cebu.
• A VF(N)-41 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 0230 hours.
• US carrier-based fighters down 28 Japanese aircraft at sea and over the central and northern Philippines between 0730 and 1700 hours.
• V Fighter Command and 49th Fighter Group P-38s down 3 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Tacloban, Leyte between 1700 and 1745 hours.
• The slightly damaged escort carrier USS Santee retires to Manus Island to replenish, and the badly damaged USS Suwanee retires to the United States for repairs.
• During the evening, 12 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters and D3A 'Val' dive bombers attack aircraft dispersal areas at the Tacloban airfield on Leyte with 100-pound bombs, and throughout the night, from midnight until dawn, individual bombers harass the base.

China

The Japanese step up their offensive for the capture of the American air bases in eastern China. Several divisions advance on Kweilin and Liuchow.

Eastern Front

The 4th Ukraine Front takes Uzhgorod in northeast Hungary. In the northern sector there is a new Soviet drive in Latvia.

The 83rd Rifle Div (XXXI Rifle Corps) drives German defenders from Nautsi.

The fighting in East Prussia dies down as the 3rd Belorussian Front abandons its attacks.

Germany, Home Front

Goebbels makes a radio broadcast to the German people: 'Hell would yawn before us if we laid down our arms and surrendered to the mercy of our enemies. Germany is firmly determined to hold out to a successful finish.'

Italy

The 26th Arm Bde, British XII Corps, US 5th Army, takes Rocco San Casciano, on Highway 67. In the British 8th Army sector, units of the Polish 5th (Kresowa) Div, II Corps, retake Predappio Nuovo after losing it the previous day to a German counterattack. Other troops, from the 10th Indian Div, succeed in crossing the Ronco River during the night.

The Allied advance is gradually becoming bogged down as the winter weather sets in.

Pacific

• Aircraft from 2 squadrons of aircraft carriers under command of Rear-Adms Sherman and Davision attack enemy ships and coastal installations in the waters of the central Philippines and on Luzon Island, sinking 2 destroyers. The battleship California (BB-44) is attacked and damaged by Japanese aircraft.
• The Japanese destroyers Fujinami and Shiranui are sunk by US carrier-based aircraft in the Luzon, Philippine Islands area.
• The US submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks the Japanese transport No. 138 in the Volcano Islands area.

Philippines

On Leyte, in the US X Corps sector, units of the 24th Inf Div, after a night-long artillery barrage capture the village of Pastrana and begin mopping up. In the XXIV Corps sector, the 96th Div attacks Tabontabon again; one battalion penetrates into the town, but is then cut off by a sudden Japanese counterattack. The 7th Div occupies Buri airfield against slight resistance. The 17th Inf Regt continues its advance toward Dagami, getting to within a mile and a quarter of it, to the south.

Tacloban airstrip on Leyte becomes operational. The 9th Fighter Sqn flies the first mission by Philippines-based US fighters since 1942.

Spain

The Army launches a campaign against a Republican invasion force in the Pyrenees.

Western Front

The Canadian drive against Beveland goes on. The Canadian 52nd Div?, II Corps, 1st Army, widens the bridgehead it has established on the south coast of South Beveland, near Baarland, in the direction of Oudelande. The Canadian 2nd Div reaches the Beveland Cnaal. Further east, in the British I Corps sector, the Canadian 4th Arm Div enters Bergen-op-Zoom.

On the right of the front, where the Canadian 1st Army is operating, units of the 104th Div, supported by British tanks, take Zundert by storm.

West of Venlo, paratroopers of the German 1st Army launch a sudden violent attack towards Asten in the sector held by the American 7th Arm Div, VIII Corps, British 2nd Army, re-taking the positions captured by the division on the Deurne and Nord Canals. The Germans reach Meijel and also break through the Allied positions at Heitrak, on the road between Deurne and Meijel, and near Nederweert, where the 7th Arm Div immediately closes the breach.

Gen Jean De Lattre de Tassigny, commanding the French 1st Army, submits his plans for Operation INDEPENDENCE to his immediate superior, the American Gen Jacob Devers, Commander of the 6th Army Group. Devers agrees to them. The French action against Belfort will be carried out in co-operation with the general Allied offensive early in November.

Images from October 27, 1944

A Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXE of No. 412 Squadron RCAF, armed with a 250-lb GP bomb under each wing, taxies out for a sortie at B80/Volkel, Holland. A member of the ground crew is seated on the starboard wing to help the pilot to negotiate potholes, flooding and other obstructions on the airfield, 27 October 1944

A Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXE Taxies Out

US M7 howitzer fires on Japanese positions at Catmon Hill, Leyte, 27 October 1944

Firing On Japanese Positions

Infantry and carriers of 8th Royal Scots pause during the attack by 15th (Scottish) Division on Tilburg, 27 October 1944

Scottish Soldiers Near Tilburg

Challenger tank (A30) crossing a Bailey bridge near Esch, Luxembourg, 27 October 1944

Challenger Tank Crossing a Bridge

Corporal C. Robichaud of Le Régiment de Maisonneuve examining a disabled German Sturmhaubitz 42 105mm. self-propelled gun, Woensdrecht, Netherlands, 27 October 1944

Disabled German Self-propelled Gun

Army engineers work fast to get Tacloban's steel matting laid before arrival of Fifth Air Force P-38's to take over air support over Leyte, 27 October 1944

Preparing an Airfield

Anti-aircraft Gun In Action at Tacloban Airstrip, 27 October 1944

Concealed German Anti-tank Gun Position on Beveland Causway, Netherlands, 27 October 1944