Air Operations, Europe
There are very heavy day and night raids on the marshalling yards in western Germany. Freiburg is severely damaged in a night raid.
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 169 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carries out a G-H raid on the Kalk Nord railway yards at Cologne. Good results are observed.
- 1 Lancaster is lost.
- 341 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to Freiburg. Freiburg is not an industrial town and has not been bombed before by the RAF. It is attacked on this night because it is a minor railway center and because many German troops are believed to be present in the town; American and French units are advancing in the Vosges, only 35 miles to the west. The marking of the medium-sized town is based on Oboe directed from caravans situated in France. Flak defences are light and 1,900 tons of bombs are dropped on Freiburg in 25 minutes. Photographs show that the railway targets are not hit but that the main town area is severely damaged.
- 1 Lancaster is lost.
- 290 aircraft including 173 Halifaxes, 102 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Neuss. The central and eastern districts of Neuss are heavily bombed and many fires are started.
- 1 Mosquito is lost.
- 67 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 7 each to Hallendorf and Ludwigshafen, and 5 to Nuremberg, 18 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters lay mines off the Danish and Norwegian coasts, and there are 61 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
- There are no losses.
GERMANY:
- 181 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 144 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Offenburg.
- 148 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Bingen.
- 3 of 268 VIII Fighter Command escores are lost.
- 460 VIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack four oil-industry targets in northern and central Germany.
- 12 fighter-bombers are lost.
GERMANY:
- 9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers attack several bridges and support US Army ground forces in western Germany.
- USAAF fighter pilots down 94 Luftwaffe fighters and 1 He-111 bomber over German between 0240 and 1430 hours.
MTO:
- The 12th and 15th Air Forces are grounded by bad weather.
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]Air Operations, Pacific
The second B-29 raid on the Musashi plant in Tokyo is carried out. The Japanese make a retaliatory strike against the Saipan base. Kamikazes attack US battleships in Leyte Gulf.
[ | ]Atlantic
The prison ship Rigel, carrying 2,248 Russians, is sunk by British carrier planes off Norway. There are 415 survivors.
[ | ]Britain, Home Front
4,000 tons of bombs explode in an underground dump at Hanbury, Burton-on-Trent, killing 70 people and hundreds of cattle.
[ | ]China
Chiang Kai-shek refuses to permit US munitions to be shipped to Chinese Communist forces, as proposed by Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer.
[ | ]Italy
US 5th ArmyThe British XIII Corps is ordered to go on the offensive as soon as weather conditions permit. The Indian 8th Division loses contact with the enemy.
British 8th ArmyThe British 8th Army issues orders for a major winter offensive in early December.
In the Polish II Corps area, enemy resistance east of the Lamone in the region south of Faenza is virtually at an end.
In the V Corps area, the New Zealand 2nd Division replaces the 4th Division in line.
The Canadians of the I Corps relieve the right flank elements of the Indian 10th Division north of Casa Bettini so that the latter can make a concentrated effort to take the bridge at Casa Bettini, badly needed for the deployment of the Canadian I Corps in the Adriatic coastal sector
In the X Corps area, the Cremona Group arrives between the 27 November and the 3 December.
Gen Harold Alexander is promoted to Field Marshal and appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean.
[ |
Pacific
Two US submarines, the Escolar (SS-294) and the Shark (SS-314), are reported as presumed lost in the Pacific Ocean area.
[ | ]Palau Islands
After nearly a month of fighting in the Umurbrogol Pocket, with the 322nd and 323rd Infantry Regiments using tactics more akin to ancient siege warfare than modern warfare, the Umurbrogol Pocket is eliminated. The Japanese defeat is marked by a few soldiers making an attempt to break through American positions in a night attack. The 81st Infantry Division has lost 542 killed and 2,736 wounded in clearing the pocket.
After months of warfare and guerilla war, hostilities finally end on Peleliu. Some 13,600 Japanese have lost their lives defending the islands - Peleliu, Anguar and the surrounding islets. The Americans of the 81st Division and the 1st Marines have lost 1,792 killed and over 8,000 wounded.
[ | ]Philippines
LEYTEUS 6th Army
In the X Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry, 24th Division, on Kilay Ridge, learns from a patrol that help is coming but they undergo a strong counterattack from the east and its supply line to Consuegra is temporarily cut.
In the XXIV Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry moves from Caridad to Damulaan to help the 32nd Infantry, 7th Division in an attack toward Albuera, clearing the enemy from the bamboo thicket within the 32nd Infantry's zone. 109 enemy dead are counted. The 32nd Infantry and the 1st Battalion, 184th, establish defense perimeters and repel light infiltration attempts during the night. The Japanese begin an operation to regain the airfields in the Burauen area. The corps has learned of these enemy plans and begins taking countermeasures.
The battleship Colorado (BB-45) and 2 light cruisers, the St Louis (CL-49) and the Montpelier (CL-57), are damaged in suicide attacks in Leyte Gulf. The US submarine chaser SC-744 is sunk by a suicide plane in the Leyte Gulf area.
[ | ]United States, Politics
Cordell Hull resigns his post as Secretary of State because of ill health. Edward Stettinius is appointed as his successor.
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Western Front
Units of the 2nd Arm Div, XIX Corps, 9th Army, complete mopping up in the Merzenhausen sector, while the 29th Div completes the same operation toward the Rur River
Mopping up operations also in the Weiseweiler-Frenz area, which the 104th Div of the VII Corps, 1st Army, reached the previous day.
In the US 3rd Army sector, the 10th Arm Div breaks off its action in the direction of Saarburg, in order to dislodge the German forces that had filtered into Tettingen. The 90th Div halts in the vicinity of the Saar and gets ready for the assault to force the passage of the river. The 95th Div makes rapid progress and patrols from the 377th Regt come within a mile or two of the German frontier. The 80th Div, XII Corps, enters St Avold on the Metz-Saarbrücken road.
Gen Eisenhower orders Gen Patch's 7th Army to turn north to support Patton's 3rd Army in the capture of the Saar basin. While the 100th Div, XV Corps, arrives in the Saarburg sector, the 3rd Div, VI Corps, replaces the French 2nd Arm Div at Strasbourg.[WE]
[ | ]Images from November 27, 1944
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