Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based on Guam attack anti-aircraft batteries at Haha Jima and shipping throughout the Bonin Islands, and strafe Iwo Jima on the return flight.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 10th Air Force B-25s attack rail yards at Kanbalu.
• More than 70 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces at various locations and attack the airfield at Kawlin, a bridge at Ho-hko, troop concentrations, supply areas, and targets of opportunity.

• 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Mangshih.
• 6 B-25s attack the rail yards at Kaifeng.
• 6 B-25s attack sampans and targets of opportunity around Yiyang.
• 10 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack targets of opportunity around Chefang and Mangshih.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers mount more than 160 effective sorties against artillery positions, river and coastal shipping, road traffic, and targets of opportunity across vast areas of southern China and northern French Indochina.
• A 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40 downs a K-43 'Oscar' fighter in an afternoon engagement near Hengyang.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-25s attack occupied villages and airfields on Halmahera and northeastern Celebes.
• V Bomber Command A-20s attack Piroe in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

8th Air Force heavy bombers and 9th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets ahead of the advancing 3rd Army. The RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force attacks rail targets in Holland.

• 256 Lancasters and 21 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to hit the Wanne-Eickel oil refinery. Cloud over the target iss found to reach 21,000 ft and the skymarkers dropped by the Oboe Mosquitos disappear as soon as they ignite so the Master Bomber orders the force to bomb any built-up area. The town of Wanne-Eickel reports only 2 buildings destroyed, with 4 civilians and 6 foreigners killed. It may be assumed that other towns in the Ruhr are hit but no details are available.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Gotha, 6 more to Pforzheim, 4 to Schwelm which do not reach the town, and 3 to Kassel, 3 Stirlings are on Resistance operations, 22 aircraft of No. 100 Group make a Window feint to draw up German fighters, and there are 8 Mosquito patrols.
• There are no losses.

• Element of the 8th and 9th Air Forces provide powerful air attacks to assist the US 3rd Army's XX Corps in undertaking Operation MADISON, the battle to pierce the formidable German Army defenses around Metz. 345 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 385 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack numerous tactical targets in and around the city of Metz. 47 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack tactical targets at Thionville.
• 4 B-17s are lost

• 41 1st Bomb Division B-17s, 15 2nd Bomb Division B-24s, and 276 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Saarbrucken.
• 28 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the city area at Koblenz.
• 34 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack the town area of Saarlautern.
• 139 VIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity around Frankfurt am Main and Lannheim.
• 5 fighter-bombers are lost

• Due to marginal weather conditions, a total of only 74 9th Bomb Division bombers, of 514 dispatched through the day, attack barracks, arsenals, artillery bases, a storage depot, and road junctions in and near the Metz battle area along the Franco-German border.
• XIX TAC P-47s mount 162 effective sorties against targets in the Metz area.
• In support of Operation MADISON, 9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers attack the marshalling yard at Duren, Germany.

• 12th Air Force medium bombers attack bridges in the Po River valley.
• Although limited by bad weather, XXII TAC P-47s complete fewer than 100 sorties against rail and road bridges near Bologna.

Air Operations, Philippines

• A Japanese convoy landing Japanese Army troops at Ormoc Bay (Leyte) is attacked by 4 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s armed with 1,000-pound bombs and 16 V Fighter Command P-38s. Later in the day, 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-40s strafe landing barges from the transports. The Japanese Army ground troops aboard the ships are landed, but owing to heavy topside damage inflicted by USAAF attackers, heavy equipment remains aboard the ships when they depart during the night.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Carolina airfield on Negros.

Burma

The British 36th Div resumes its advance after resting in the Mawlu area.

China

Chiang Kai-shek, at Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer's request, orders the 'Yunnan Force' to attack the Japanese retreating from Lung-ling to Mang-shih, now called Luxi, in western China near the Burmese border. 3 Chinese armies move up to this aread.

Eastern Front

Elements of the 3rd Ukrainian Front cross the Danube at Kiskoszeg.

Italy

Forlí is taken by the British 4th Div, V Corps, 8th Army.

Pacific

• The German submarine U-537 is sunk by the US submarine Flounder (SS-251) in the Java Sea. The Flounder had made the northwest passage through the Lombok Strait when a submarine was spotted through the periscope. 4 torpedoes are fired and 2 explosions are observed destoying the U-boat.

U-537

Class	Type IXC/40
CO	Kapitänleutnant Peter Schrewe
Location	Java Sea, E of Surabaya
Cause	Submarine attack
Casualties	58
Survivors	None

• The US submarine Barbero (SS-317) attacks a Japanese convoy about 250 miles west of Manila and sinks the merchant tanker Shimotsu Maru (2854t).
• The US submarine Haddo (SS-255) sinks the Japanese fleet tanker No.2 Hishi Maru (856t) in Mindoro Straits.
• The US submarine Queenfish (SS-393) attacks a Japanese convoy in the East China Sea and sinks the gunboat Chojusan Maru (2131t) about 50 milses west of Kyushu.

Philippines

(8th?)Further Japanese reinforcements, 2,000 men of 26th Div land at Ormoc on Leyte but due to a surprise air attack the transporting warships are forced to retire before all the supplies are ashore. Later the convoy, made up of destroyers adapted for use as fast transports, is destroyed by US aircraft.

In the northwest of the island, the US X Corps continues its slow advance toward Ormoc, but is driven back at several points by Japanese units. Torrential rain hinders the operations.

Western Front

In the Canadian 1st Army sector, while the I Corps completes the liberation of the area south of the Maas, the II Corps assumes responsibility for the Nijmegen area, the former battlefield of the British XXX Corps. It has command of the 2 American airborne divisions, the 82nd and the 101st, ther 43rd Guards Arm. Bde and the 50th Inf Div, as well as the 8th Arm Bde, which operates independently. The XII Corps of the British 2nd Army goes into the line along the Maas on the right of the VIII Corps with 3 divisions, the British 53rd and 51st and the Belgian 1st, and the 8th Bde.

In the US 3rd Army sector, XX Corps launches a very heavy attack to surround and take Metz, helped by effective air bombing in the area between Metz and Thionville. The Moselle is reached by the 90th Div in the vicinity of Malling and by the 95th at Uckange. In both cases the Americans succeed in establishing firm bridgeheads. South of Metz, the 5th Div crosses the Seille River.

On the right of the line the formations of the US XII Corps advance rapidly. The 35th Div, after reaching the village of Delme, advances toward Châtrau-Salins, about 20 miles northeast of Nancy.

Images from November 9, 1944

Takeoff Accident

Mr Thomas Talking to Mrs Norah Armitrage

Battle of Hürtgen Forest

Hürtgen Forest

Hürtgen Forest

Hürtgen Forest

US Convoy Takes a Break

Churchill ARK Bridgelaying Tanks