Air Operations, CBI

• More than 80 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, supplies, and targets of opportunity at 11 locations.
• 39 P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Bhamo and Pinwe areas.
• 16 fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity along the rail line between Bawgyo and Maymyo.
• 3 14th Air Force B-25s attack warehouses at Hsenwi.
• 3 B-25s attack Wan Lai-Kam.
• 4 B-25s attack buildings in Wanling and Chefang (China).
• 1 B-25 attacks Kutkai.

• More than 60 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity across southern China and eastern Burma.

• 17 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 12 51st Fighter Group P-51s, attack Gia Lam.
• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a rail bridge at Phu Lang Thuong.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

VMF-441 F4U fighter-bombers attack Nauru Island.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers mount small attacks against numerous targets across Halmahera and Timor.
• A 418th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber (and probably downs a second) near Morotai at about 0415 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 316 aircraft including 270 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb Essen. Bomber Command documents claim further damage to industrial areas, including the Krupps works. An interesting little item in the local fire brigade report congratulates the team working in the burning headquarters of the local Gestapo for saving valuable documents.
• There are no losses.
• 145 Lancasters of No. 3 Group and 8 Lancasters of No. 1 Group carry out a mainly G-H attack on Neuss.
• There are no losses.

• 75 Mosquitos are sent to Nuremberg, and 9 to Hallendorf, and there are 3 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Nuremberg raid.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Daliao and Matina airfields on Mindanao.
• B-24s, V Bomber Command B-25s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount small attacks against numerous targets in the central Philippines.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs an A6M Zero over Ormoc Bay at 0745 hours.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter over Ormoc Bay at 1600 hours.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Ormoc Bay at 1648 hours.
• 421st Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crews down 4 A6M Zeros over Ormoc Bay at about 1735 hours.
• During the night, as US Navy PT-boats attack a Japanese supply convoy, 3 Japanese Army transport aircraft attempt to drop 45 paratroopers on the Tacloban airfield on Leyte, where the soldiers are to disrupt flight operations.
• 1 of the aircraft is downed by anti-aircraft fire with all aboard and the other 2 crash near Dulag.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

21 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

Atlantic

The first Allied Convoy, 18 ships, arrives in Antwerp.

Burma

The Chinese 38th Div puts pressure on the northern defenses of the town of Bhamo but is not able to breach them.

China

The Japanese 11th Army, acting on its own initiative and against orders, pushes northward from Nanning in the province of Kwangsi.

Eastern Front

The Soviet force on the Danube is just north of the confluence of the Drava. Mohacs is quickly taken on the west bank and the advance reaches Pécs.

Mohacs falls to the 57th Army. Pecs is attacked by other elements of the 57th and 4th Guards Armies.

Italy

The British XIII Corps, US 5th Army, reaches Casola Valsenio.

In the British 8th Army sector, bad weather hinders the operations of the V Corps. The Canadian I Corps prepares to attack along the Adriatic coast.

Pacific

• Vice-Adm Thomas C. Kinkaid issues the operational plan for the landing on Mindoro, the island in the Philippines south of Luzon. Rear-Adm Arthur D. Struble will be in charge of the amphibious part of the operations.
• The Japanese submarine I-46 is sunk by a combined effort of the US destroyers Saufley (DD-465), Waller (DD-466), Pringle (DD-477) and Renshaw (DD-499) in the Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands.
• The US submarine Scabbardfish (SS-397) sinks the Japanese submarine I-365 off Honshu, Japan.
• The Japanese submarine chaser No. 53 is sunk by US surface craft in Ormoc Bay, Philippine Islands.

Philippines

On Leyte the Japanese attack in force to recapture Kilay Ridge in the US X Corps sector. They succeed in taking some ground and in cutting off some American units. The US 12th Cav Regt advances very slowly in the area of Mount Badian, about 5 miles northeast of the town of Kananga. As expected, the Japanese also attack toward Buri and Bayug airfields, but are held by the troops of the US XXIV Corps.

Western Front

The first Allied convoy reaches Antwerp. During the time the German troops and mines have been cleared from the estuary much work has been done to put the quays and dock machinery in good order. There is still a problem, however, with transport for the stores once they have arrived. Nevertheless the opening of the port does totally alter the supply position of most of the Allied armies. There will be no more real shortages like those which limited the advance in the late summer. The German rocket attacks on the port do little to limit its capacity.

While the advance of the VII and V Corps, US 1st Army, continues in the Inden River and Hürtgen forest sectors, units of the 95th Div, 3rd Army, cross the German frontier. The 101st Div, XII Corps, is despatched to Burbach to reinforce the 4th Arm Div east of the river Saar, about to advance toward the Saar-Union sector.

The French 2nd Arm Div, VI Corps, US 7th Army, reaches the Erstein sector, about 10 miles southwest of Strasbourg, where the stubborn resistance of the German 19th Army brings it to a halt.

Images from November 28, 1944

The port of Antwerp begins to operate again after the Scheldt had been cleared of mines, 28 November 1944

Port of Antwerp

5th Army Servicemen in Mess Line near Castelluccio, Italy, 28 November 1944

German Forces Were on the Retreat on all Fronts, Including Yugoslavia

Goebbels reviews the ‘Volkssturm’, the volunteer army of old men and boys that would be the last defence line for Germany.

Goebbels Reviews the ‘Volkssturm’

Members of the 'Volkssturm' training with experienced soldiers from the Grossdeutschland Division.

Training with Experienced Soldiers

Partisans entering Tirana, November 28, 1944 - Communist partisans in Tirana, 28 November 1944. The Albanian Resistance of World War II was a movement of largely Communist persuasion directed against the occupying Italian (until 1943) and then German forces in Albania, which led to the successful liberation of the country in 1944

Partisans Entering Tirana

First Allied convoy enters Antwerp, 28 November 1944, from on board HMS Empire Duke

First Allied Convoy Enters Antwerp

Communist Partisans in Tirana, 28 November 1944