Chronology of World War II

November 1944

Sunday, November 26


Air Operations, Europe

The 8th Air Force attacks the Misburg oil plant in Hanover, the Hamm marshalling yards and the Bielefeld raiway viaduct. They claim 138 fighters destroyed for the loss of 36 bombers and 7 fighters. Spitfire fighter-bombers attack 2 suspected V-2 sites in Holland.

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
  • 75 Lancasters of No. 3 Group are sent on a trial raid to attack the railway center at Fulda to establish whether G-H signals can reach to that distance, 160 miles from the German frontier. The distance is too great, however, and the bombs are scattered over a wide area.
    • There are no losses.
Minor Ops:
  • 1 Hudson flies a Resistance operation.
Evening Ops:
  • 270 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group are sent to Munich. Bomber Command claims this as an accurate raid in good visibility with much fresh damage, particularly to railway targets. It has not been possible to obtain a local report.
    • 1 Lancaster crashes in France.
Minor Ops:
  • 7 Mosquitos are sent to Erfurt and 6 to Karlsruhe on a 'spoof' raid, 31 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 20 Mosquito patrols and 20 RCM sorties.
    • 1 Intruder Mosquito is lost and 1 Hudson on a Resistance flight crashes behind Allied lines in Belgium.
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Eastern Front

Troops of the 2nd Ukraine Front take Hatvan, in Hungary, northeast of the capital. Budapest is already threatened from the south. Russian troops take Michaloyce in eastern Slovakia.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

The 6th Guards Tank Army captures Hatvan after a brief struggle. The Stavka has been steadily shifting forces from the 2nd to 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to resume the attack upon Budapest from the southeast. Malinovsky's attack north of the city will form the northern pincer to Tolbukhin's southern one south of the city.

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Germany, Policy

Himmler orders the destruction of the crematoria at Auschwitz.

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Italy

Persistent rain seriously delays operations in the Lamone sector.

Gen Harold Alexander is promoted to Field Marshal and appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean.

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Pacific

  • US Army aircraft sink the Japanese transport No. 161 in the Andaman Sea.
  • The Japanese minesweeper No. 18 is sunk by US Army aircraft in the South China Sea.
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Philippines

On Leyte the Japanese launch violent night attacks on various sectors of the front, contained by the Americans largely by the employment of artillery. Over 400 Japanese bodies are counted next morning on a ridge west of Burauen, where the Japanese 26th Div is deployed.

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Western Front

The port of Antwerp is opened. V-bomb attacks are intensified, falling at a rate of one every 12-1/2 minutes at the height of the raids. Despite the V-weapons, the Allies are able to move 25,000 tons through Antwerp daily.

In the US 1st Army sector the 104th Div, VII Corps, passes through Weiseweiler, about 6 miles north of Aachen, and takes Frenz. The 4th Div consolidates its positions in the Hürtgen forest.

In the southern sector, US 3rd Army, the units of the XX Corps continue to advance northeast; on the right flank the 95th Div penetrates into the Maginot Line.

The 3rd Div of the American VI Corps, 7th Army, crosses the Vosges and emerges into flat country in Alsace.

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Yugoslavia

In an agreement reached with Tito the Royal Navy and the RAF should have temporary use of certain Yugoslav ports and airfields.

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Images from November 26, 1944

Troops of the 1st Norfolk Regiment during the Advance on Wanssum, Holland, 26 November 1944


during the Advance

Burial at sea for the victims of a Japanese bombing attack on Intrepid during operations in the Philippines, 26 November 1944

Burial At Sea


Burial at sea

A PIAT Gunner of the 1st Norfolk Regiment during the Advance on Wanssum, 26 November


Burial at sea

Fireflies Warming-up in Preparation for an Attack on Norwegian Targets, 26 November 1944


Fireflies warming-up

Daimler Armored Cars and a Jeep Negotiate a Flooded Road in Holland, 26 November 1944


Daimler armoured cars

During an air raid on two buildings of the Sicherheitsdienst and Sicherheitspolizei carried out by the Royal Air Force, thirty private homes were also hit, 26 November 1944.

Secret Police Buildings Hit


Secret Police Buildings Hit

This recce picture was taken on 26 November and clearly shows the breached banks of the Mitteland Canal

Mitteland Canal Breached Banks


Mitteland Canal Breached Banks

B-17 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron Hamburg Bomb Run Photo, 26 November 1944


B-17 381st Bomb Group

[November 25th - November 27th]