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.

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.

Burma

The Japanese contingent on its way to Bhamo takes Tonk-wa, defended by part of the Chinese 22nd Div. To the west, the British IV Corps prepares to advance to the Irrawaddy in the area of Pokokku, with the intention of crossing to the east of the great river and advancing on Meiktila and Thazi.

China

The Japanese of the 11th Army join up with units coming up from Indo-China.

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

8th Army troops cross the Lamone River south of Faenza.

Philippines

On Leyte in the north, in the US X Corps sector, the Americans try to cut the Japanese supply lines beyond the hills southeast of Limon. In the XXIV Corps sector, a regiment of the 77th Div, with a battalion of tanks and a flamethrower unit, comes within less than a mile of Ormoc. The Japanese 26th Div attacks on Buri airfield are repelled.

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.

Images from December 8, 1944

Third Fleet aircraft carriers at anchor in Ulithi Atoll, 8 December 1944, during a break from operations in the Philippines area

Third Fleet Aircraft Carriers

Two armorers of No 440 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, trudge through the mud of an airfield near Eindhoven to re-arm a Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber.

Re-arming Fighter-bombers

Two armorers of No 440 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, trudge through the mud of an airfield near Eindhoven to re-arm a Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber.

Re-arming Fighter-bombers

A Bofors Gunner Writing a Christmas Card for Home, Holland, 8 December 1944

Fifth Army, Lagaro Area, Italy. Using the face of a sand-stone cliff, bales of hay and sand bags, gunner Aen. Christionsen, Cpl. G.H. Christian and bombardier H.B. Reid have built a rather snug little billet near their gun positions south of Bologna. They are members of the 6th South African Armored Division, and hail from Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Baker. 3131 Signal Service Co.)

Home on the Side of a Cliff

Fifth Army, Legaro Area, Italy. A three ton truck of the 6th South African Armored Division makes it way along a road which is little more than a wide ditch to bring firewood to add to the few comforts enjoyed at the front, south of Bologna. (Photo by Baker. 3131 Signal Service Co.)

Bringing Firewood

Fifth Army, Lagaro Area, Italy. Keeping warm and dry is a major problem of the 6th South African Armored Division troops in mountains south of Bologna. Here a detail of men have driven a three ton truck into the hills and are loading it with wood which will add a little comfort to the dugouts where they have been living for weeks. (Photo by Baker. 3131 Signal Service Co)

Loading Firewood

Fifth Army, Lagaro Area, Italy. 'Dug in' in the mud and mountains south of Bologna, members of the South African Armored Division have constructed this cook shack so they can still have hot meals and 'tiffin' despite the weather, lack of billets and heavy German shelling. (Photo by Baker. 3131 Signal Service Co.)

In the Mud and Mountains