Air Operations, Europe

• There are massive 8th Air Force raids on the Leuna oil plant and the Bingen marshalling yards.
• A V-2 hits a crowded Woolworth department store in Deptford, East London, killing 160(164?) people.

• 68 Mosquitos are sent to Nuremberg, 10 to Hagen and 9 each to Erfurt and Stuttgart, and there are 38 Mosquito patrols and 36 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Nuremberg raid.

• 356 1st Bomb Division and 315 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack the Leuna synthetic-oil plant at Merseburg through intense flak.
• 254 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Bingen.
• 8 B-17s and 6 of 873 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
• The 8th Air Force's 36th Heavy Bombardment Squadron mounts its first operational mission. The new unit is equipped to screen the bomber forces against German electronic countermeasures designed to jam or other wise thwart communications, radar, and other guidance systems. The newly committed unit is also able to jam German radars, especially those upon which flak defenses are dependent. Elements of the 36th will take part in screening most 8th Air Force bombing missions to the end of the war.

• 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 12 Luftwaffe fighters over the Franco-German border area between 1530 and 1615 hours.

• 9th Bomb Division bombers attack an ammo dump at Neustadt and an arsenal and road junctions at Landau.
• 9th Air Force fighter-bombers support US Army ground forces on both sides of the Franco-German frontier.

• 12th Air Force medium bombers are grounded by bad weather, but XXII TAC P-47s from three groups are able to mount 53 effective sorties against rail targets and targets of opportunity.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-1228 sinks the Canadian corvette Shawinigan in the Cabot Strait while she is on independent anti-submarine patrol. All 91 on board are lost.
• U-322 is en route for the Atlantic when she is attacked and damaged by Sunderland 'G' of No 330 Squadron RAF on November 24. The aircraft directs the British frigate Ascension to the area. After a short search an asdic contact is attained and the U-boat is destroyed in a Hedgehog attack.

U-322

Britain, Command

Alexander is promoted to Field Marshal.

Burma

Gen Hyotaro Kimura, commander of the Japanese armed forces in Burma, orders the units that have been pinning down the British 36th Div in the Pinwe area, along the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway, to withdraw towards central Burma.

CBI

In China, Maj-Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer develops a concept that will lead to planning for Operation ALPHA, the defense of Kunming in Yunnan Province. Kunming is the terminal for the Hump airlift. Without the airlift, Chinese forces will be unable to stop the Japanese. The plan calls for redeploying Chinese units from the Y Force and Burma to southeastern China. Additional supplies from the Hump airlifts will refit the poor-quality divisions currently defending the area near Kunming, and US advisers will train the units. Wedemeyer's intent is to refit and train 36 Chinese divisions, serving under a single Chinese commander and supported by a Chinese-American staff.

China

Nanning in Kwangsi province is captured by the Japanese.

Eastern Front

The Germans and Hungarians repel Russian attempts to take Csepel Island, an island between two branches of the Danube just south of Budapest.

Italy

The 8th Army crosses the Cosina River.

Pacific

• The US torpedo boat PT-363 is sunk by coastal gunfire in the Netherlands East Indies.
• West of Borneo the US submarine Cavalla (SS-244) sinks the Japanese destroyer Shimotsuki.
• The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 38 is sunk by the US submarine Hardhead (SS-365) west of Luzon in the Philippine Islands area.
• The US submarine Atule (SS-403) sinks the Japanese patrol boat No. 38 in the Luzon strait, Philippine Islands. Atule also sinks the merchant cargo ship Santos Maru (7266t) off Sabtang Island, Luzon.
• The US submarine Hardhead (SS-365) attacks a Japanese convoy about 60 miles west of Manila and sinks Coast Defense Vessel No.38 off Bataan Peninsula.
• The US submarine Mingo (SS-261) attacks a Japanese convoy about 90 miles northwest of Miri, Sarawak and sinks the army transport Manila Maru (9485t).
• The US submarine Pomfret (SS-391) sinks the Japanese transport Shoho Maru (1356t) in Luzon Strait.

Philippines

On Leyte in the US X Corps sector north of Ormoc, the Japanese renew their counterattacks on Kilay Ridge. They also counterattack east of Ormoc, in the central mountains, in the US XXIV Corps sector. The American troops contain their thrust. The US 511th Parachute Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division starts on a difficult mountain march west from Burauen, toward Ormoc; their immediate objective is Mahonag, 10 miles from Burauen. They hope to link up with the 7th Infantry Division on the west coast of Leyte. The 96th Infantry Division, advancing west, encounters entrenched enemy forces.

2 squadrons of aircraft carriers TG 38.2 commanded by Rear-Adm Gerald S. Bogan and TG 38.3 commanded by Rear-Adm Frederick Sherman again attack Luzon and the waters nearby. 7 American cruisers are involved and they sink the cruisers Kumano and Yasoshima. Two Japanese transports are also sunk in the attacks, Nos. 6 and 10. In return kamikaze attacks damage 4 of the carriers, the Essex (CV-9), the Hancock (CV-19), the Intrepid (CV-11) and the Cabot (CVL-28).

After the naval defeat suffered in the Gulf of Leyte, it seems that the task of completing Operation SHO-GO has been taken over by the Japanese air force in the absence of the navy. Every aircraft still available is sent against the Americans; many of them are flown by kamikaze in daytime attacks on the US ships off Luzon. Damage is caused to the aircraft carriers Essex, Intrepid and Hancock and the light carrier Cabot. Another light carrier, the Independence (CVL-22), is damaged when an American aircraft explodes as it is coming in to land.

V-Weapons

A V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in New Cross, London killing 160 lunchtime shoppers.

Western Front

To the southeast of Aachen US forces from 1st Army advance beyond Hurtgen.

Images from November 25, 1944

US Carrier Hit by Kamikaze

The Essex Hit by Kamikaze

V-2 Rocket Damage

V-2 Rocket Begins Its Flight

Japanese Ship Under Attack

US Carrier Intrepid Hit by Kamikaze

Cleaning a Truck

South Lancashire Regiment in Holland

Crossing a Bailey Bridge

Japanese Kamikaze Moments before Striking the Essex

Closer View of the Japanese Kamikaze

The Intrepid Burns Furiously