Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack troops and stores at Mongmit.
• More than 60 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack various targets at 7 locations.
• 7 P-47s attack a bridge.
• 4 P-47s support US Army ground troops near Tonkwa.
• 6 14th Air Force B-25s attack warehouses at Hsenwi.

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack an occupied town.

• 51st Fighter Group P-38s and P-51s attack Bac Ninh and rail targets at Phu Lang Thuong.

• 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a bridge near Kanchanaburi.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a bridge at Chiengmai.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-25s attack the Amahai and Haroekoe airfields on Ceram, the Liang airfield on Amboina, and the Namlea airfield on Boeroe.
• B-25s, P-47s, and P-38s attack supplies at Goeroea (Molucca Islands) and targets of opportunity while covering a downed pilot off Galela, Halmahahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 52 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group are sent to attack the German cruiser Koln berthed in Oslo Fjord but, when the bombers reach Oslo Fjord, the Koln had moved to another location. Other ships are bombed instead, but the results are not observed.
• There are no losses.

• 10 Lancasters and 9 Halifaxes lay mines in the Kattegat without a loss.

Air Operations, Japan

71 of 90 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched from the Marianas attack an aircraft-engine factory at Nagoya. 4 B-29s are lost with 44 crewmen.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-29s seriously damage the Mitsubishi works at Nagoya.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Carolina and Talisay airfields on Negros.
• B-24s and B-25s attack targets of opportunity while reconnoitering the Sulu Archipelago.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the San Roque airfield on Mindanao.
• Aircraft from US 7th Fleet escort carriers mount pre-invasion attacks against Mindoro while flights of 12 escort-based FMs and 35 Marine Air Group 12 F4Us cover the invasion fleet in rotations throughout the day.
• Japanese kamikazes based in the Visayan Islands attack the invasion fleet beginning at about 1500 hours. and a D3A 'Val' dive bomber damages the invasion convoy flagship, USS Nashville, on which several senior air, ground, and naval officers are among the 129 US personnel killed. Among those lost is Col John T. Murtha, commanding officer of the 5th Air Force’s 310th Bomb Wing.
• FMs down the bulk of Japanese aircraft involved in a second kamikaze attack that begins at about 1745 hours, but a US destroyer is severely damaged. A somewhat later—and final—kamikaze attack against a slow supply convoy is beaten down by anti-aircraft fire from escorting destroyers.
• US escort-carrier fighters down 5 bombers and 13 fighters over the central Philippines between 1445 and 1820 hours.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 1 J2M 'Jack' fighter and 1 Ki-21 'Sally' bomber over Negros between 1710 and 1745 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

15 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

Burma

While the 114th Regt of the Chinese 38th Div finally succeeds in breaking the northern defenses of Bhamo, in the Tonk-wa area the US 475th Inf repels an attack by the Japanese contingent sent to the help of the forces besieged in Bhamo.

Eastern Front

Advanced elements of the 2nd Ukraine Front are only 6 miles from Budapest to the northest and 8 miles to the east.

Leading units of the 7th Guards Army are just 6 miles north and 8 miles east of Budapest, having drawn the 6th Army north to protect the approaches to Budapest. Hitler orders Friessner to throw the Soviet armies back but Friessner refuses to counterattack, arguing that he will not attack before the heavily waterlogged ground north of Lake Balaton has frozen.

Italy

In the 5th Army sector units of British XIII Corps including the 6th Arm Div make strong attacks on Tossignano. German counterattacks are launched against the British bridgehead across the Naviglio Canal.

Pacific

The Japanese transports Nos. 12 and 104 are sunk in the South China Sea by the US submarine Pintado (SS-387).

Philippines

In the Mindanao Sea the squadrons of the US 7th Fleet en route for the landing on Mindoro are attacked by Japanese aircraft, including many piloted by kamikazes. The cruiser Nashville (CL-43) and the destroyer Haraden (DD-585), badly damaged, have to abandon the formation. Nashville (CL-43) is the flagship of the force and there are many casualties among the senior officers.

On Leyte there are Japanese counterattacks in the US X Corps sector. In the XXIV Corps sector, the 77th Div is held up in front of a strong Japanese fortified line a little north of Ormoc.

Western Front

Much of the region between the Inde and the Rur is taken by the 30th Div, XIX Corps, 9th Army, and Derichsweiller is captured by the 9th Div. The operation of the VII Corps, US 1st Army, are concluded. Meanwhile the 104th Div has reached the Rur River on a front of some 4 and one-half miles.

The 90th Div of the XX Corps, US 3rd Army, prepares for the general offensive for the capture of Dillingen. In the Saarlautern bridgehead, the 95th Div is halted on the previous day's positions. Fort Jeanne d'Arc, the last German stronghold at Metz, is captured.

Images from December 13, 1944

USS Haraden (DD-585) Hit By Japanese Kamikaze in Sulu Sea, 13 December 1944

Gen Clark Is Escorted to his Vehicle by General Keyes after his Farewell Visit at Covigliao, Italy, 13 December 1944

Passing On Ammo at Paustenbach, Germany in the Hurtgen Forest, 13 December 1944

A Dead German Soldier Lies on a Damaged German tank, France, 13 December 1944