Air Operations, Bonin Islands

17 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the town area at Okimura and shipping off Chichi Jima and Haha Jima.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges at Tangon, Tantabin, and Thegyaung.
• More than 50 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces around Bhamo and Pinwe.
• 21 P-51s attack rail facilities at Kanbalu and sweep roads around Ye-U.
• 16 P-47s attack the airfields at Anisakan and Nawnghkio and targets of opportunity.
• 3 P-47s attack an ammunition dump at Man Naung.
• 12 14th Air Force B-25s attack stores near Lashio.
• 8 B-25s attack Kutkai and Wanling.

• 2 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the port area at Kowloon.
• 32 14th Air Force fighter-bombers support Chinese Army ground forces near Chefang.
• Fighter-bombers mount more than 120 effective sorties against targets of opportunity in southeastern and southwestern China.

Air Operations, Europe

• 168 Lancasters of No 3. Group carry out a G-H raid through cloud on the Nordstern oil plant at Gelsenkirchen. The bombing appears to be accurate.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance operation and 4 Mosquitos are on Ranger patrols in the Heligoland area.
• There are no losses.

• 61 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover, 9 to Eisenach, and 6 each to Gottingen and Hagen, and 43 aircraft of No. 100 Group are on Mosquito patrols and RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Hannover raid.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Matina airfield on Mindanao.
• A 35th Fighter Group P-47 downs an A6M Zero over Negros at noon.
• An 18th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance over Negros at 1300 hours.

Canada, Home Front

Canada's Parliament, in special session, approve sending 15,000 draftees overseas to fill the depleted ranks of the Canadian army. Until now, only volunteers are abroad, and the French Canadians particularly oppose being drafted for combat service.

Eastern Front

In Hungary the railway center of Csap is finally captured by the Russians after several weeks of exceptionally bitter fighting. In the northern sector, the forces of the Leningrad Front crush the last German resistance on Saaremaa Island, so gaining control of the access to the Gulf of Riga. Macedonia in Greece is evacuated by the Germans.

The Soviet attacks around and toward Budapest are becoming bogged down as forward units outrun their supplies. North of the city there is heavy fighting in the Matra hills.

Italy

British 8th Army units cross the Cosina River. [ | ]

Pacific

The British Eastern Fleet is abolished. The older ships plus escort carriers will form the British East Indies Fleet. The modern ships are detached for service as the British Pacific Fleet.

Philippines

On Leyte the Americans consolidate their positions south of Limon.

Western Front

Gen Kurt Student, commanding Army Group H on the right of the German front, withdraws Gen Gustav-Adolf von Zangen's 15th Army toward central Holland in view of the rapid Allied advance.

The advance of the 2nd Arm Div, XIX Corps, 9th Army, toward Merzenhausen and Bournheim by the 29th Div provokes instant reaction by the divisions of the German 7th Army, whose counterattack continues for 3 days.

In the US 3rd Army sector, both the 90th Div, XX Corps, and the 6th Arm Div, XII Corps, are preparing to advance against the Saar.

The armor of the French 2nd Arm Div, XV Corps, US 7th Army, enters Strasbourg. The 3rd Div of the VI Corps reaches Saulxures and Saales and, supported by the 100th Div, attacks St Blaise. With the Rhine now occupied this far in the north and the French in control from Mulhouse to the Swiss border, a large area known as the Colmar pocket of Alsace is the only area in this part of France still held by the Germans.

Images from November 23, 1944

First Tanks of the French 2nd Armored Division Enter Strasbourg, 23 November 1944

Admiral Halsey (center, top) eats Thanksgiving dinner with the crew of the USS New Jersey (BB-62), 30 November 1944 (U.S. Navy Photo, National Archives No. 80-G-291498).

Thanksgiving Aboard the New Jersey

PFC William Curtis (left), of San Diego, CA, and Donald Stratton (right), of Colville, WA, enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner in the window of a shell-torn building in Waurichen, Germany, 23 November 1944. Both men are members of the HQ Company, 2nd Battalion, 406th Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division. Photo reprinted courtesy 102nd Infantry Division Web Site

Thanksgiving in Waurichen, Germany

102nd Division infantryman Pvt. Charles Broderich, of Reading, PA, enjoys his Thanksgiving dinner in Waurichen, Germany, 23 November 1944. Photo reprinted courtesy 102nd Infantry Division Web Site

Thanksgiving in Waurichen, Germany

Goodwood Road and New Cross Road, south east London, in the aftermath of an air raid, 23 November 1944

Air Raid in London

Liberation of Strasbourg, 23 November 1944

Liberation of Strasbourg, 23 November 1944

A US light tank passing through Strasbourg, France, after the city’s liberation in November 1944

Passing Through Strasbourg