Air Operations, CBI

• More than 30 10th Air Force P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Bhamo area.
• 28 P-47s attack supply dumps at 3 locations.
• 16 fighter-bombers attack a motor pool and radio station at Shwebo.
• 12 P-47s attack troops at Namti.
• 8 fighter-bombers attack rail targets at Nawnghkio and Sedaw.
• 7 P-47s attack a bypass bridge at Namhkai.
• 6 P-47s attack a ferry landng at Namun.
• 4 fighter-bombers attack an occupied village.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Japanese Army horses at Nan Tan.
• 25 14th Air Force P-51s attack Hochih and an ammunition dump, motor vehicles, troops, and warehouses in the Hochih area.
• 15 P-40s attack rail targets between Nan Tan and Liuchow.
• 14 P-51s attack aircraft on the ground at the Tai Chiao Chan airfield at Nanking.
• More than 20 fighter-bombers attack various targets of opportunity in southern China.
• P-512 from the 23rd Fighter Group’s 74th Fighter Squadron down 6 Japanese fighters over or near Nanking's Tai Chiao Chan airfield at 1330 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-25s and fighter-bombers, with RAAF aircraft, attack airfields and targets of opportunity on Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 205 Lancasters of No. 5 Group are sent to hit the Urft Dam. The bombing was affected by 9/10ths cloud and no results are seen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 163 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H raid through cloud on the railway yards at Duisburg. At the same time, 30 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attack the Meiderich oil plant near Duisburg, probably using the Oboe-leader technique.
• There are no losses.

• 1 Hudson is on a Resistance flight.

• 29 9th Bomb Division A-26s attack a rail bridge at Sinzig.
• 9th Air Force fighters support US Army ground forces.

• 4 XXII TAC P-47s on a weather-recon mission destroy 4 locomotives and an estimated 100 rail cars.

• Before dawn, small numbers of 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack rail targets around Graz, Klagenfurt, Villach, and Volkermarkt, and an oil-industry target near Vienna.

Air Operations, Philippines

• More than 60 FEAF B-24s attack the La Carlota airfield on Negros, the Lahug airfield on Cebug, and the airfield at Mandurriao.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the San Isidro area on Leyte.
• VMF-313 F4Us down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near the Alicante airfield on Negros at 1610 hours.
• US Army ground forces recapture the San Pablo airfield on Leyte, where the bodies of 124 Japanese Army paratroopers are counted.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

To stop air attacks against B-29 bases at the source, US Navy surface warships join 61 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s (of 82 dispatched) and 102 VII Bomber Command B-24s in the largest bombardment to date of all 3 airfields in Iwo Jima. Escort is provided by 28 318th Fighter Group P-38s, which open the day’s attack at 0945 hours with a sweep of the island. The bombers alone drop nearly 800 tons of bombs on the island. This brutal bombardment opens a pre-invasion bombardment effort that will continue for 74 consecutive days. Most of these attacks will be undertaken by VII Bomber Command B-24s and VMB-612 PBJs based in the Mariana Islands. A 318th Fighter Group P-47 downs an A6M Zero over Iwo Jima at 1000 hours.

CBI

In the NCAC area, the Japanese take Tonk-wa from the outnumbered Chinese.

In the British 14th Army area, the IV Corps headquarters moves from Imphal to Tamu and is placed under Lt-Gen Messervy, who succeeds Lt-Gen Sir Geoffrey Scones. The corps is to move secretly southward down the Gangaw Valley to the southern flank of the army, where it will seize a bridgehead over the Irrawaddy in the Pakokku area and thrust toward Meiktila and Thazi.

The American 475th Infantry occupies positions as the 22nd Division is redeployed to China. The 1st Tank Battalion of the 1st Provisional Tank Group supports Chinese forces from the 38th Division attacking Japanese defenses at Bhamo.

CHINA

The Japanese of the 11th Army join up with units coming up from French Indochina.

Eastern Front

In Hungary the Russians widen the breach opened north of Budapest by the 2nd Ukraine Front. South of the city, advance units of the 3rd Ukraine Front are only 10 miles from Szekesfehervar. The Germans repel enemy efforts to break through between Lake Balaton and the Drava.

The 4th Guards Army attacks the Hungarian 3rd Army north of Lake Balaton, moving to within 10 miles of Szekesfehervar. The 57th Army establishes firm positions between the lake and the Danube.

Italy

In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans abandon the rest of Monte Penzola.

In the British 8th Army area, the V Corps begins the relief of the 46th Division with the Indian 10th Division.

Pacific

The US submarines Paddle (SS-263) and Hammerhead (SS-364), attacking from opposite sides of a Japanese Singaport-to-Manila convoy, sink the merchant tanker Shoei Maru (2854t).

Philippines

In the US X Corps sector, the 1st Squadron of the 112th Cavalry begins an action to locate and sever the Japanese supply line to the ridge southeast of Limon.

In the XXIV Corps sector, the 307th Infantry of the 77th Division (reinforced by the 2nd Battalion of the 306th and supported by artillery, A Company of the 776th Amphibious Tank Battalion and A Company of the 88th Chemical Weapons Battalion) drives northward astride Highway 2 from Ipil to Camp Downes, less than a mile from Ormoc. A platoon of A Company, 776th Tank Battalion, moving by sea, reconnoiters the Camp Downes area, meeting enemy fire. The 305th Infantry protects the southern flank of the division, holding a perimeter from the Ipil area southward to the Baod River. Americans consolidate positions in the Buri airfield area. The Japanese 26th Division attacks on Buri airfield are repelled.

Elements of the 1st Cavalry Division capture Wright, the end of the Taft-Wright Highway on Samar. American troops work with Philippine guerillas to clear the entire highway.

Volcano Islands

3 American heavy cruisers and their destroyer escorts under Rear-Adm A. E. Smith bombard Iwo Jima along with B-24 and B-29 bombers. The airfields and coast defenses are the targets. This operation is repeated twice more during Dec.

Western Front

Plans are prepared for an attack by the VII Corps, US 1st Army, in the region between the Inde and Rur rivers, and on the town of Düren, the final objective of the offensive.

In the sector of Dillingen and Saarlautern, the 90th and 95th Divs have to face a heavy German counterattack.

The 35th Div of XII Corps also crosses the Saar.[WE]

Images from December 8, 1944

Third Fleet Aircraft Carriers

Re-arming Fighter-bombers

Ticonderoga Entering Ulithi Lagoon

Writing a Christmas Card

Home on the Side of a Cliff

Bringing Firewood

Loading Firewood

In the Mud and Mountains