Air Operations, CBI

• 50 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, stores, motor vehicles, and targets of opportunity at 7 locations.
• 12 fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity along the rail line between Kyaukme and Nampyao.
• 8 P-47s support Allied ground force near Namhkam.
• 8 P-47s attack rail targets of opportunity along the Irrawaddy River.
• 4 P-47s attack river traffic near Tagaung.
• 5 14th Air Force B-25s attack road traffic at Wan Pa-Hsa.
• 12 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack a rail bridge at Wan Pa-Hsa.

• 9 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Camranh Bay area.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s and fighter-bombers attack the Jesselton airfield on Borneo and the Laha airfield on Ceram.
• 35th Fighter Group P-47s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Tarakan airfield on Borneo at 1220 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 523 aircraft including 418 Halifaxes, 81 Lancasters and 24 Mosquitos of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Duisburg. The city suffers major damage agains.
• 8 Halifaxes are lost.
• 317 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb Ulm. This is Bomber Command's first and only raid on Ulm, an old city but also the home of 2 large truck factories - Magirius-Deutz and Kässbohrer - several other important industries and some military barracks and depots. 1,449 tons of bombs are dropped during the 25-minute raid, starting in the center and then creeping back to the west, across the industrial and railway areas and out into the country. The Gallwitz Barracks and several military hospitals are among 14 Wehrmacht establishments destroyed.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.
• 280 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5. Group are sent to bomb Munich. Bomber Command claims 'severe and widespread damage' in the old center of Munich and at railway targets.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• 44 Mosquitos are sent to Hamm on a 'spoof' raid, 26 to Münster and 5 to Hallendorf, and there are 50 Mosquito patrols and 44 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• IX and XIX TAC fighters and fighter-bombers mount 647 effective sorties, but few of them are over the weathered-in Ardennes battle area.

• While completing a total of 647 sorties throughout the day--as against an estimated 650 Luftwaffe combat sorties--9th Air Force fighter pilots down 80 Luftwaffe aircraft between 0900 and 1555 hours. 9th Air Force fighters also account for several hundred German Army motor vehicles damaged or destroyes.
• 16 9th Air Force fighters are lost.

• XXII TAC P-47s attack a marshalling yard at Trento and communications targets in the Po River valley.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack marshalling yards at Saak, Salzburg, Villach, and Wels.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack a marshalling yard at Moravska-Ostrava.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack oil-industry targets at Blechhammer and Odertal and a marshalling yard in southeastern Germany.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack several oil refineries at Blechhammer.
• In the most active day for 15th Air Force fighters during the entire month, 23 Luftwaffe fighters are downed on both sides of the German-Polish frontier between 1145 and 1230 by pilots of the 14th, 31st, and 52nd Fighter Groups.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Bacolod airfield on Negros.
• B-24s and V Fighter Command P-47s attack the Zettlefield airfield on Jolo.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Silay airfield on Negros and the Likanan airfield on Mindanao.
• V Fighter Command P-40s and USMC F4Us attack the Cananga area.
• 15 V Fighter Command P-40 fighter-bombers directly support US Army ground troops with an attack against Japanese Army defensive positions near Valencia.
• A VC-75 FM downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber near Bohol at 0715 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

24 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 26 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-400 is sunk in a depth-charge attack by the British frigate Nyasaland of EG18.

U-400

Eastern Front

In Hungary, Rodion Malinovsky's troops are only 5 miles from Budapest.

The 2nd Ukrainian Front comes within 5 miles of Budapest.

Indian Ocean

The oil and harbor installations at Belawan-Deli in northern Sumatra are attacked by planes from the British carriers Indomitable and Illustrious. Adm Philip Vian is in command.

Italy

On the Senio, the 5th (Kresowa) Div, Polish II Corps, 8th Army, relieves units of the 3rd (Carpathian) Div. Near Faenza, north and south of Tebano, 10th Indian Div manages to capture crossings over the Senio River.

Philippines

The squadrons of the 7th Fleet that escorted the invasion force to Mindoro return to the Gulf of Leyte after more attacks by Japanese aircraft.

On Leyte, the 32nd Div, US X Corps, advances slowly south of Limon. The 307th Inf, XXIV Corps, supported by artillery and aircraft, attacks Valencia airfied and reaches the edge of the runway.

On Mindoro the US forces take San Jose Airfield.

Western Front

The Germans capture 9,000 Americans at Echternach, on the extreme left flank of the 'Bulge'. The SS murders at least 71(90?) captured American soldiers in what becomes known as the 'Malmedy Massacre'.

The US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divs, XVIII Corps, Allied 1st Airborne Army, are sent to reinforce the Allied troops in the Ardennes although these paratroops are officially resting after the Arnhem operation. Various other armored and infantry units from several of the Allied armies are being rushed to the threatened sectors.

In the 3rd Army sector, the 5th Div continues relieving units of the 95th Div, XX Corps, in the Saarlautern bridgehead.

Units of the US 7th Army, XV and VI Corps, are almost completely halted in front of the outer defenses of the Siegfried Line. Kientzheim in Alsace, near Colmar, is taken by the French 1st Army.

Images from December 17, 1944

Approach Road to Quartermaster Service Center

7th Cavalry Motor Pool

Easy Company, 501st PIR

German Prisoner with US Soldier

German Soldiers on a Tank

On Deck of a Carrier during a Typhoon

Joachim Peiper's SS Troops

Malmedy Massacre

US Troops Moving Up Near Büllingen

Kampfgruppe Peiper in the Belgian Town of Honsfel

Serviceman Saluting Lt-Gen Mark Clark

1st Infantry Division Troops Arrive