Air Operations, Carolines

• 8 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Yap Atoll.
• 8 of 18 73d Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched attack the Truk Atoll submarine base.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges across northern Burma.
• More than 50 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces at Naba and Pinwe, attack Japanese Army troops at Mansi and Manyut, and attack bridges and rail lines across northern Burma.

• 13 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mine Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor.
• A 311th Fighter Group P-51 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near the airfield at Huhsien during the noon hour.

• 14th Air Force P-40s attack Phu Lang Thuong and coastal shipping.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack port facilities at Makassar.
• P-38s attack Piroe and Sandakan.
• P-40s attack targets of opportunity in northeastern Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• 102 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group successfully attack gun batteries on Walcheren. This is the last Bomber Command raid in support of the Walcheren campaign and the opening of the Scheldt River. The attack by ground troops on Walcheren commences on October 31 and the island falls after a week of fighting by Canadian and Scottish troops, including Commandos who sailed their landing craft through the breaches in the sea walls made earlier by Bomber Command. It requires a further 3 weeks before the 40 mile river entrance to Antwerp is cleared of mines and the first convoy does not arrive in the port until November 28.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.
• 102 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H raid on the oil refinery at Wesseling. No results are seen because of the cloud but the bombing is believed to be accurate.
• There are no losses.

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation and there are 7 RCM sorties without a loss.

• In another major effort against Cologne, 905 aircraft including 438 Halifaxes, 435 Lancasters and 32 Mosquitos, are sent. This is an Oboe-marked raid through cloud, and Bomber Command estimates that only 'scattered and light' damage is caused in the western parts of the city. More than 6,300 tons of bombs are dropped. The local report, however, shows that enormous damage is caused in the suburbs of Braunsfeld, Lindenthal, Klettenberg and Sülz, which are 'regelrecht umgepflügt' ('thoroughly ploughed up') by the huge tonnage of high explosive dropped (3,431 tons of high explosive and 610 tons of incendiaries are dropped). A vast amount of property, mostly civilian housing, is destroyed, but railways and public utilities are also hit. There is very little industry in the area which is bombed.
• There are no losses.

• 62 Mosquitos are sent to Berlina, and 3 each to Heilbronn and Oberhausen, and there are 57 Mosquito patrols and 42 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid and 1 on an Intruder patrol.

• In what was to have been a major strike by more than 1,300 heavy bombers against German oil and oil-products productions, bad weather forces the entire 3rd Bomb Division and many other 8th Air Force heavy bombers to abort, and most of nearly 650 other heavy bombers to divert to numerous secondary targets and targets of opportunity.
• 139 2nd Bomb Division B-24s managed to attack their primarty targets, a pair of oil refineries at Hamburg.
• 2 B-24s and 5 of 906 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
• 26 3rd Bomb Division B-17s and 2 APHRODITE B-17 flying bombs attack the naval installation at Heligoland Island.

• Most of 12th Air Force is grounded by bad weather, but XXII TAC is able to mount 51 P-47 sorties against various targets in the Po River valley.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack the airfield at Urarom.

Air Operations, Philippines

The AAF SWPA issues instructions for air support of the Mindoro operation by Gen Kenney's US Far East Air Force, comprising the 5th and 13th Air Forces. The 5th Air Force is to be the 'assault air force' but the 13th Air Force, RAAF, carrier-bases planes of the US 3rd and 7th Fleets, and land-based planes of the 7th Fleet are also to assist as are the B-29s of the US 20th Air Force.

• FEAF B-24s attack the Bacolod airfield on Negros.
• B-25s and fighter-bombers attack the San Roque airfield on Mindanao and barges at Zamboanga, Mindanao.
• Aircraft from Task Group 38.2 and Task Group 38.4 cover the Leyte area.
• A VF-29 F6F downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber at sea at 0705 hours.
• A VF-18 F6F downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber 25 miles from Task Force 38 at 1245 hours.
• VF-51 F6Fs down 4 A6M Zeros 20 miles from the carriers at 1445 hours.
• The USS Franklin and USS Belleau Wood are struck by kamikazes. Total casualties are 198 killed and 64 seriously injured, plus 45 aircraft destroyed. Both carriers are detached for emergency repairs at the advance fleet anchorge at the Ulithi Atoll, but both will eventually be withdrawn to the United States.
• Task Group 38.4 withdraws to the Ulithi Atoll to replenish supplies and, in some cases, take on new air groups. All remaining Task Group 77.4 escort carriers depart in two ad hoc groups to Manus Island, also to replenish. Due to bad weather that prevents the planned displacement of V Bomber Command units to Leyte, this leaves the defense of the Leyte beachhead and invasion fleet in the hands of several V Fighter Command P-38 groups, one P-61 squadron, and the one fleet- and two light-carrier air groups of Task Group 38.2.
• Though headquartered on Bougainville, the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Air Group 25 assumes control of USMC transport aircraft in the Philippine Islands.

Italy

The German begin a series of counterattacks toward Palazzo that last for several days, but CCB of the South African 6th Armored Division holds firm.

In the IV Corps area, the 6th RCT of the BEF seizes the Lama hill mass, north of Barga. During October the corps has conducted a training program for inexperienced 1st Division, BEF, and 92nd Division troops as the units arrived.

In the Polish II Corps area, the Germans withdraw from the Caminata region.

In the V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division takes Meldola, from which the enemy has withdrawn, but runs into strong opposition as it pushes on toward the Rabbi River. The 4th Division tries in vain to get patrols across the Ronco on the northern flank of the corps.

Occupied Greece

The Government-in-Exile bans the ELAS National Militia.

Pacific

• The Allied command decides on another massive air attack against the Philippines in preparation for a landing on Mindoro. The US 5th Air Force and Australian 13th Air Force are to take part, together with the carrier-borne aircraft of the US 3rd and 7th Fleets and the B-29 Superfortresses of the US 20th Air Force.
• In the waters around Leyte the US aircraft carrier Franklin (CV-13) and the light carrier Belleau Wood (CVL-24) are damaged in Japanese suicide attacks.

Philippines

In the US 6th Army's X Corps area, the 3rd Battalion of the 34th Infantry, 24th Division, starts toward Carigara along the road from Jaro but is halted almost at once by the Japanese. The 2nd and 1st Battalions are given supporting roles as the 3rd Battalion renews its efforts to advance up the road without getting beyond the outskirts of Jaro. K Company, 19th Infantry, makes contact with elements of the XXIV Corps at Lopdak. C Company skirmishes with the enemy at Rizal. Gen Krueger orders the relief of the 21st Infantry, 24th Division, in the quiet Panaon Strait area by a battalion of the 32nd Infantry.

In the XXIV Corps area, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 383rd Infantry, 96th Division, attack San Vicente from the Guinarona River and find the barrio and the hill of the same name undefended. The 17th Infantry, 7th Division, completes the capture of Dagami in the morning and spends the rest of the day mopping up. The main Japanese forces are now concentrated in the hills in the central northern part of the island. Contact is made with X Corps units across the Binahaan River north of Dagami by means of message dropped by air and with the 96th Division on the east by patrols, concluding the current mission of the 17th Infantry. The 7th Division, on its beachhead line, is ordered to move elements from Abuyog to Baybay and be prepared to move to the west coast.

Western Front

In the southeastern sector of the front, where the US 7th Army is operating, units of the 45th Div takes St Benoit, on the Rambervillers-Raon-l'Etape road. The Canadian forces succeed in fighting their way across south Beveland to reach the Walcheren Channel.[WE]

Images from October 30, 1944

Churchill Tanks in Roosendaal

Dutch Civilians on a Churchill Tank

The Phoenix Screening Escort Carriers

The Belleau Wood After a Kamikaze Attack

US Ships On Fire

Aircraft Aboard the Enterprise

Franklin's Starboard Side Afire

View Taken from Franklin's Flight Deck