Chronology of World War II

November 1944

Wednesday, November 29

Air Operations, CBI

BURMA

More than 60 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack bridges at 7 locations.
More than 50 fighter-bombers support Allied ground troops in the Bhamo and Pinwe areas.
8 P-47s attack troops, supplies, and ammunition at Tigyaing.
8 14th Air Force B-25s attack Lashio.
3 B-25s attack Hsenwi.
14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Hsenwi, Kawnghka, and Namhkai.

CHINA

20 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity in the Chefang area.
Fighter-bombers attack lines of communication at Hochih and Nanning.

FRENCH INDOCHINA

8 341st Medium Bombardment Group B-25s attack Ninh Binh.
51st Fighter Group fighter-bombers attack Quang Yen.

[

]

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-24s attack the Kendari airfield on Celebes.
B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers mount light attacks against airfields on Halmahera, and shipping and targets of opportunity in the Molucca Islands, northern Borneo, and northern Celebes.

[

]

Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:

294 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to attack Dortmund. Bad weather causes the marking and resultant bombing to be scattered but fresh damage is caused in Dortmund.

6 Lancasters are lost.

30 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attempt to bomb a tar and benzol plant in the Meiderich district of Duisburg. The raid uses the Oboe-leader method for the first time on a German target, but 2 of the 3 formations of Mosquitos fail to link up with their Oboe leaders and bombed on timed runs from the docks south of Duisburg. Most of the bombs are believed to have fallen beyond the target.

There are no losses.

Minor Ops:

1 Hudson makes a Resistance flight.

Evening Ops:
Minor Ops:

67 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover and 4 to Bielefeld, 19 aircraft are on Resistance operations, 6 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group are sent to lay mines in the Weser River but are unable to because of complete cloud cover over the target area, and there are 38 Mosquito patrols and 27 RCM sorties.

There are no losses.

[

]

Air Operations, Japan

3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kashiwabara.
During the night, 24 of 29 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-24s dispatched from the Marianas attack port areas and industrial targets in Tokyo with the aid of radar while 2 B-29s attack targets of last resort in Namazu and Yokohama. Results are negligible.

1 B-29 is lost.

[

]

Air Operations, Pacific

35 B-29 bombers raid Tokyo by night.
US B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell bombers continue the softening up of Iwo Jima, concentrating their attacks against airfields.

[

]

Air Operations, Philippines

FEAF B-24s attack the Matina airfield on Mindanao and the Puerto Princess airfield on Palawan.
V Bomber Command A-20s and P-47s attack the airfield at Pangsagan.
B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers mount light attacks against shipping and targets of opportunity in the central and southern Philippines.
348th Fighter Group P-47s and 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-40s repeatedly attack a small Japanese resupply convoy off Leyte. 2 transports and a submarine chaser are sunk.
A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs an A6M Zero over Ormoc Bay at 0720 hours.
A 348th Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter near Cebu at 0925 hours.
18th Fighter Group P-38s down 4 A6M Zeros over the Sasa airfield on Mindanao at 1045 hours.
110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-40s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Talong Island at 1100 hours.

[

]

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

18 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

[

]

Balkans

Albania is completely liberated as the last Germans leave Scutari.

[

]

Eastern Front

In Hungary, the 2nd and 3rd Ukraine Fronts, supported by Yugoslav units, advance southwest of Budapest, north of the Drava, driving the Germans and Hungarians out ot Pécs. Mohacs(?) is also taken.

In Albania the last German forces leave Scutari. The troops moved from this area are eventually able to link up with the German Army Group E, under Alexander Löhr, which is fighting to hold open a withdrawal route along the Drina and then the Drava.

Following the evacuation from Albania and Serbia, and later Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Germans dig in on a line from Mostar to Visegrad to the Drina River. As the Russians penetrate into Hungary, this line has to be extended along the Drava. After a retreat lasting four and a half months, during which the Army Group covers 1,000 miles without suffering catastrophic losses despite the fierce battles fought with the partisans, the southern front is again stabilized, albeit temporarily, on Jan 13, 1945.

Northern Finland is secured by the Russians.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

Pecs falls to the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

[

]

Italy

While the XIII Corps, US 5th Army, reaches Fontanelice in the eastern sector of the front the 7th Arm Div leaves Recanati to join the V Corps in readiness for the coming offensive.

[

]

Pacific

The US submarine Archerfish (SS-311) sinks the carrier Shinano in waters off Honshu. Shinano was originally designed as a sister vessel of the giant battleships Yamato and Musashi.
Japanese aircraft flown by kamikazes again attack American shipping in the Gulf of Leyte, seriously damaging the battleship Maryland (BB-46) and the destroyers Saufley (DD-465) and Aulick (DD-569).
The Japanese submarine chaser No. 45 is sunk by US Army aircraft in the Leyte Gulf area of the Philippine Islands.
US surface craft sink the Japanese patrol boat No. 10 in Ormoc Bay, Philippine Islands.

[

]

Philippines

On Leyte Japanese attacks continue on Kilay Ridge, but the Americans repulse them and free the units cut off the previous day.

[

]

Western Front

The advance of the XIII Corps of the US 9th Army in the direction of the Rur begins in the Lindern sector and, on the south flank of the corps, along the Lindern-Linnich road, northwest of Jülich. No change in the VII Corps, US 1st Army, sector, with the 104th Div engaged in the Inden-Lammersdorf sector and the 4th in the Hürtgen forest area.

In the US 3rd Army sector the 90th Div and 95th Divs, XX Corps, launch a joint offensive against the Saar River. But while some patrols from the 90th Div succeed in reaching the river, the 95th Div runs into fierce resistance in the hills in front of Saarlautern. The French 2nd Div, VI Corps, US 7th Army, takes Erstein, 10 miles southwest of Strasbourg.

[

]