Air Operations, CBI

• 6 10th Air Force B-25s attack attack the ferry and stores at Meza.
• 4 B-25s attack bridge approaches at Hsenwi and Namhkai.
• 50 10th Air Force P-47s attack troops and supplies at seven locations.
• 32 P-47s support Allied ground forces around Bhamo and Pinwe.
• 10 P-47s attack the airfield at Lashio.
• 8 P-47s attack bridges at Hsenwi, Meza, and Namhkai.
• 14th Air Force B-25s attack Lashio, Wan Lai-Kam, and Wanling.

• 21 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack port facilities and warehouses at Hankow.
• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Siangtan, Wuchang, and targets of opportunity in the Hankow area.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers mount more than 120 effective sorties against supplies, road and rail traffic, and numerous targets of opportunity in southeastern and southwestern China and eastern Burma.
• 23rd Fighter Group P-51s down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers over the airfield at Anking at 1345 hours.

• 3e 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Haiphong.

Air Operations, East Indies

8th Fighter Group P-38s down a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane and a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter near Morotai between 2046 and 2052 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance flight and 1 Wellington makes an RCM sortie.

• 58 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 6 to Gottingen, and 13 Halifaxes lay mines off Denmark.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

Of 111 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched on the XXI Bomber Command’s maiden attack against targets in Japan, 24 attack the primary target, an aircraft plant in Tokyo, 59 attack port facilities and city areas in Tokyo, 4 attack targets of last resort, 17 abort on their way to the target, and 6 are unable to release their bombs owing to a variety of mechanical problems. Several 3rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron F-13s support the attack by confusing Japanese radars. 1 B-29 crashes into the sea off Honshu after being rammed by a Japanese fighter, and another ditches after running out of fuel. Also, 8 B-29s are damaged by ground fire and 3 others are damaged by fire from other B-29s. Personnel losses are 1 killed, 11 missing, and 4 wounded.

Air Operations, Marianas

A 318th Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter near Saipan at 0930 hours.

Air Operations, Pacific

111 B-29 Superfortresses from bases in the Marianas raid Tokyo, the start of a long series of raids. The attack is led by 'Dauntless Dotty' attacks the Musashi aero-engine works. The bombers fly from northeastern India via forward bases at Chengtu in China. Only 24 bombers, however, managed to drop their bombs on target.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 26 Japanese bombers attack the Tacloban airfield on Leyte and nearby shipping. 1 cargo ship is sunk, 3 aircraft are destroyed on the ground, and 6 aircraft are damaged.
• FEAF B-24s attack facilities and anti-aircraft batteries at the Matina airfield on Mindanao, and anti-aircraft batteries and targets of opportunity at Camp Downes and Panalisan Point.
• 11 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-40s attack a troop convoy at Port Cataingan, killing an estimated 1,500 Japanese Army troops.
• 49th and 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 23 Japanese fighters over Leyte between 0745 and 0810 hours.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Cebu at 0900 hours.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 2 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bombers over Leyte between 1115 and 1120 hours.
• 35th Fighter Group P-47s down 8 Japanese fighters over the Alicante airfield on Negros between 1210 and 1215 hours.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs an A6M Zero over Cancabato Bay at 1430 hours.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s and 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 6 J2M 'Jack' fighters over the Camotes Islands between 1500 and 1515 hours.
• 475th and 49th Fighter group P-38s down 1 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber and 2 fighters over the Leyte area between 1640 and 1820 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

The RCN corvette Shawinigan is sunk by U-1228 in Cabot Strait between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. 91 people are killed. There are no survivors.

China

In south China the Japanese take Nanning. From there it will be easy for them to link up their forces manning French Indo-China.

Eastern Front

The Russians expel the last German troops from Saaremo Island in the Gulf of Riga. The remaining heavy units of the German Navy, Lutzow, Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen, have covered the evacuation of the 5,000 German troops that were on the island and given gunfire support to the land battles nearby in the past few days.

Yezel Island falls to the Soviet 8th Army, clearing remaining Germans from the Moonzund Isles. Since the middle of September the Leningrad Front has lost 6,000 killed and 22,500 wounded, the 1st Baltic 24,000 killed and 79,000 wounded, the 2nd Baltic 15,000 killed and 58,000 wounded and the 3rd Baltic 11,800 killed and 43,000 wounded.

Pacific

US Army aircraft sink the Japanese submarine chaser No. 46 and transports Nos. 111, 141 and 160 in the Cataingan Bay area of the Philippine Islands.

Philippines

On Leyte in the north, in the US X Corps sector, a Japanese counterattack on Kilay Ridge is repulsed. The Japanese also mount night counterattacks in the east and south, in the XXIV Corps sector, notably south of Ormoc.

Western Front

Eisenhower issues orders to clear areas west of the Rhine, before attempting to cross it.

In the US 3rd Army sector, units of the 90th Div, XX Corps, continue their assault on the Orscholz line, while further south units of the 35th Div, XII Corps, supported by tanks and by an intensive air bombardment, capture Hilsprich. Units of the 4th Arm Div cross the Saar River in the XV Corps sector near Romelfing and Gosselming and then turn northeast. The I and II Corps, French 1st Army, are ordered to converge on Burnhaupt as quickly as possible to force the German troops in the region to withdraw into Alsace.

Images from November 24, 1944

B-24 Liberators In Formation 'Somewhere Over Europe', 24 November 1944

A Formation of the 392nd Bomb Group ‘Somewhere Over Germany’, 24 November 1944

The unshakable confidence in victory of the German people cannot be better characterized than by the incessant flow of volunteers, even in the 6th year of the war. Trained by experienced instructors, with the latest and best weapons, they will soon stand at the front. November 1944

Incessant Flow of Volunteers

A Sherman Tank Crewman Finds the Mud Heavy Going in Germany, 24 November 1944

Sappers of 225 Field Company Royal Engineers remove a shell placed by the Germans to destroy a crossroads on Route 9 to Faenza, 24 November 1944. British troops reached the area before the charges could be detonated

Sappers of 225 Field Company Royal Engineers

Severe damage to German equipment and railroad cars at an Italian railyard after bombings by Allied forces in Lagaro, Italy on 24 November 1944

Bomb Damage at Lagaro, Italy

South African 6th Armored Division use captured German half track to recover disabled vehicles in Italy on 24 November 1944

Recovering Disabled Vehicles

River Crossing