Chronology of World War II

November 1944

Tuesday, November 14


Air Operations, Carolines

22 11th and 30th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack a fuel dump and the airfield in the Woleai Atoll.

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Air Operations, CBI

In their ongoing all-out effort to supply forward areas in the Burma and China regions, 10th Air Force transport aircraft complete more than 300 sorties to forward areas, a high so far for a month in which 200-plus sorties per day are commonplace.

BURMA
  • 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack supply dumps at Lashio.
  • 56 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army ground troops, supplies, and targets of opportunity at Kawlin, Kutkai, Palaung, Sandaya, Tingkai, and around Kyaukmyaung and Shwebo.
  • 12 fighter-bombers support Allied ground troops near Pinwe.
  • 4 fighter-bombers attack bridges spanning the Sindaw River.
  • 8 14th Air Force B-25s attack Hsenwi and Wanling.
  • 15 14th Air Force P-38s and P-40s conducting armed reconnaissance missions over the Burma-China frontier area attack targets of opportunity around Wanling and Mangshih, China.
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Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
Minor Ops:
  • 1 Wellington flies an uneventful signals patrol.
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Air Operations, New Guinea

FEAF B-25s conduct pre-invasion attacks against Pegun Island.

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Air Operations, Philippines

  • FEAF B-24s attack the Bacolod airfield on Negros.
  • V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack shipping on Leyte near Ormoc and buildings and motor vehicles around Linao and Valencia.
  • US carrier aircraft from Task Force 38 attack Japanese warships and other vessels, bringing its two-day score to 1 light cruiser, 4 destroyers, and 7 merchant vessels sunk. Also, the carrier aircraft have destroyed an estimated 75 aircraft in the air and on the ground.
  • An 8th Fighter Group P-38 downs an A6M Zero near Tacloban, Leyte at 0740 hours. US carrier-based fighters down 10 Japanese fighters over Manila Bay and Manila between 0800 and 1145 hours.
  • 8th Fighter Group P-38s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters and 5 A6M Zeross over the Alicante airfield on Negros between 1215 and 1220 hours.
  • 2 VF-51 F6Fs down 1 B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber 45 miles from the carriers at 1351 hours.
  • A VF-20 F6F downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Clark Field on Luzon at 1430 hours.
  • 2 VF-20 F6Fs down a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane 45 miles from the carriers at 1515 hours.
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Britain, Home Front

ACM Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Allied C-in-C Southeast Asia (designate), is presumed killed in an air crash. Wreckage of his plane is discovered in the French Alps on June 4, 1945.

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Burma

The Chinese 22nd Div occupies Man-tha, blocks the road to Bhamo and advances toward Si-u. 2 regiments of the Chinese 38th Div converge on Bhamo; the one meets stiff resistance from the Japanese in the Momauk area, about 7 miles from Bhamo, the other crosses the Taping River and advances east toward Bhamo.

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Eastern Front

SOUTHERN SECTOR

The 2nd Ukrainian Front is reinforces prior to the resumption of its attack upon Budapest. The 6th Guards Tank Army is ordered to operate in conjunction with the 7th Guards Army to encircle Budapest from the north. The 46th Army makes another effort to cross the Danube south of Budapest but is again repulsed.

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Norway

The Norwegian government in exile announces that Norwegian troops under the command of Col Arne Dahl have landed in Norway. They will operate against the Germans on the Arctic front, in conjunction with Russian troops of the Karelia Front. Since October 29, the German 20th Mountain Army has been dug in on a line west of Kirkenes and west of Lake Inari.

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Pacific

  • The Japanese auxiliary ship Kurasaki is sunk by the US submarine Raton (SS-270) in the South China Sea.
  • The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 7 is sunk by the US submarine Ray (SS-271) also in the South China Sea.
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Palau Islands

Troops of the 81st Inf Div re-occupy Ngeregong. They meet no Japanese resistance which has been crushed by air and naval actions.

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Philippines

On Leyte the US 32nd Div, previously under orders to occupy the southern part of Samar Island, next to Leyte, is now sent to relieve the 24th Div, exhausted by the hard fighting on Breakneck Ridge, still not wholly in American hands.

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Western Front

In the British 2nd Army sector, the XII Corps begins attacks to eliminate the German holdings west of the Maas around Nederweert between Venlo and Roermond.

On the right of the Allied line, where the US 3rd Army is operating, units of the 90th Div, XX Corps, enter Oudrenne and Distroff, east of Thionville. East of the Moselle, in the same area, units of the 95th Div reach Haute-Yutz and open the assault on Fort d'Illange. In the XII Corps sector, the units of the 4th Arm Div and 35th Div, advancing on Morhange, capture Destry and Baronville.

On the south of the Allied front the I Corps of the French 1st Army begins the offensive, name Operation INDEPENDENCE, toward Belfort, attacking with the 2nd Moroccan Div supported on the left by the 5th Arm Div and on the right by the 9th Colonial Div.

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Yugoslavia

Bulgarian and Yugoslav troops occupy Skopje, evacuated by the Germans the previous day. The town was th main German strongpoint in Yugoslav Macedonia during the retreat from Greece.

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Images from November 14, 1944

Mustangs in flight, 14 November 1944. Photo courtesy of Anthony Chardella: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association

Mustangs in Flight


Mustangs in flight

Infantry-Tank Team of French 5th Armored Division, France, late 1944


Infantry-Tank Team

Laverton, Vic., 14 November 1944. 'G for George' on the airfield at RAAF Station Laverton (Avro Lancaster Mk 1, serial W4783)

Avro Lancaster Mk 1


Avro Lancaster Mk 1

B-25 Mitchell of the 81st BS/12th BG, November 14, 1944


B-25 Mitchell

[November 13th - November 15th]