Air Operations, Asia

77 B-29 Superfortress bombers and 200 other aircraft of the US 14th Air Force carry out a heavy raid on Hankow, an industrial town and Japanese supply base.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack a rail bridge at Saye and 2 rail bridges at Wetlet.
• 17 10th Air Force P-47s attack bypass bridges at Hinlong (China) and Wingkang.
• 17 P-47s attack troops and supplies at Hseing-hkai and Man Ton.
• 23 P-47s attack airfields at Anisakan, Hsumhsai, and Nawnghkio.
• 9 fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces at Namhkam.

• 84of 94 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched from Chengtu attack the Hankow port area with 511 tons of incendiary bombs (the first B-29 fire raid of the war).
• 33 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack barracks and headquarters buildings at Hankow.
• 23 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Wuchang.
• 7 B-25s attack the airfield at Siaokan and a nearby bridge.
• 6 B-25s, followed by 20 napalm-armed P-38s and P-51s, attack stores at Kunlong.
• 28 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack various targets of opportunity in Burma, southwestern China, northern French Indochina.
• 14th Air Force fighters mount a total of 149 bomber-escort sorties to Hankow, Siaokan, and Wuchang.
• P-40s and P-51s of the 5th CACW, 23rd, and 311th Fighter groups, and the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron down 24 Japanese fighters and 1 Ki-48 'Lily' bomber in a melee over the Hankow area lasting from 1215 to 1330 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF fighter-bombers attack the Tarakan airfield on Borneo and nearby targets of opportunity, the Haroekoe airfield on Ceram, and a seaplane base at Sanga Sanga Island in the Tawi Tawi Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 236 Lancasters of No. 5 Group attack the distant port of Gdynia (Gotenhafen) on the Baltic coast and cause damage to shipping, installations and housing in the port area. The bombers sink the Schleswig-Holstein and 8 other ships at Gdynia.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• 40 Mosquitos are sent to Nuremberg and 16 to Münster, 14 Lancasters of No. 5 Group lay mines in Danzig Bay and there are 11 Mosquito patrols and 34 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito Intruder is lost.

• 32 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Cologne (primary).
• 102 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack targets at Koblenz (secondary).
• 74 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack Kaiserlautern (secondary).
• 11 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack Bonn (target of last resort).
• 198 1st Bomb Division B-17s abort due to bad weather.
• 157 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Mainz (primary).
• 13 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack targets of opportunity.
• There are no heavy bomber losses, but 2 of 392 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
• 255 VIII Fighter Command fighters sweep western Germany.

• Despite total cloud cover and an extremely low ceiling, 2 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group F-6 pilots locate a key German Army combat column on a road near Stavelot, with the result that four-plane flights from the IX TAC's 365th and 368th Fighter Groups continuously attack the German column until it is too dark to continue. In the course of seven four-plane missions flown between high hills and through heavy gunfire and flak, it is estimated that 32 of 60 tanks are destroyed along with at least 56 of 200 trucks.

• 165 9th Bomb Division bombers attack five defended towns in western Germany.
• 9th Air force fighters and fighter-bomers complete approximately 500 sorties in support of US Army ground forces in the Ardennes region straddling the German-Belgian frontier.
• In the face of a Luftwaffe aerial offensive amounting to more than 500 effective sorties, 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 40 Luftwaffe fighters and VIII Fighter Command fighter pilots down 10 Luftwaffe fighters over western Germany between 0930 and 1530 hours.

• XXII TAC P-47s support the US 5th Army south of Bologna and attack lines of communication in the Po River valley.

• 15th Air Force B-17s attakc the Graz Airdrome, an oil refinery near Vienna, a marshalling yard, and an industrial area.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack an oil refinery at Moravska-Ostrava.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack oil-industry targets at Blechhammer.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack oil-industry targets at Odertal.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack a marshalling yard at Sopron.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack oil-industry targets at Oswiecim (Auschwitz).

Air Operations, Japan

63 of 89 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched from the Marianas attack a cloud-obscured aircraft factory in Nagoya with the aid of radar. 10 of B-29s attack various targets of opportunity and last resort. 4 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-29s bomb the Misubishi aircraft assembly works at Nagoya.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the San Roque airfield on Mindanao.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack a bridge on Leyte, the airfield at Calatagan, and the airfield and port area at Tanao.
• A VMF-115 F4U downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over San Jose, Mindoro, at 0920 hours.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47ss down 1 Ki-21 'Sally' bomber, 1 D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber, and an A6M Zero in the Mindoro area between 1115 and 1230 hours.
• 475th Fighter Group P-38s down 5 Japanese fighters over Mindoro between 1310 and 1315 hours.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Mindoro at 1450 hours.

Atlantic

The US freighter Steel Traveller (7056t) is mined and sunk in the Schelde River. There are no casualties among the 45-man crew or the 26-man Armed Guard. Survivors are rescued by the French destroyer La Combattante.

CBI

In Burma, after nearly a week of fighting units of the 475th Infantry Regiment around Tonkwa, the Japanese withdraw to reinforce the defense of Mandalay against Gen Slim's British XIV Corps. During the fighting the 475th has lost 15 killed and 56 wounded. Japanese casualties are estimated at 210.

China

Hangkow, China, a Japanese major supply base, is attacked by US 14th Air Force planes, including 77 B-29s. Previously Superfortresses were directed against targets in Japan, but the deteriorating ground situation in China demanded an interruption of the Japanese logistical lines.

Eastern Front

North of Miskolc, in Hungary, the Red Army reaches the Czechoslovakian frontier on a front of more than 60 miles.

English Channel

U-1209 is hunted by Escort Group 26 off Land's End. Several promising attacks are delivered by the British frigates Ribble and Montreal. These are later determined to be wrecks and not the U-boat. Shortly afterward the group rescues the survivors of U-1209 who explained the ship had grounded and suffered enough damage to warrant her being abandoned.

U-1209

Philippine Sea

TF 38, retiring to refuel and replenish after the recent attacks on Luzon, is caught in a violent typhoon along with the units of the fleet train. 3 destroyers are sunk; the Hull (DD-350), the Monaghan (DD-354) and the Spence (DD-512). Ships damaged in the storm include 4 light carriers: the Cowpens (CVL-25), the Monterey (CVL-26), the Cabot (CVL-28) and the San Jacinto (CVL-30); 4 escort carriers: the Altamaha (CVE-18), the Nehenta Bay, the Cape Esperance (CVE-88) and the Kwajalein (CVE-98); the light cruiser Miami (CL-89); 7 destroyers: the Dewey (DD-349), the Aylwin (DD-355), the Buchanan (DD-484), the Dyson (DD-572, the Hickox (DD-672), the Maddox (DD-731) and the Benham (DD-796); 3 destroyer escorts: the Melvin R. Nawman (DE-416), the Tabberer (DE-418) and the Waterman (DE-740); the oiler Nantahala (AO-60); and the fleet tug Jicarilla (ATF-104). 769 lives are lost and nearly 150 planes are lost off carrier decks or damaged beyond repair. Nature thus inflicts greater losses on the US Navy than they are to suffer in any single battle in the Pacific war. The weather forces the Americans to cancel a planned operation for the bombing of Luzon.

Philippines

On Leyte the US 307th Infantry occupies Valencia and its airfield. The south part of the Ormoc Valley, from Ormoc to Valencia, is now firmly in American hands. The 77th Infantry Division moves rapidly north toward a linkup with X Corps.

The 1st Cavalry Division takes up the attack for the 32nd Division in the X Corps area. Supported by heavy artillery fire, the 12th Cavalry attacks and clears Highway 2.

Western Front

In the US 9th Army sector, the 84th Div reaches its final objectives, Wurm and Müllendorf.

In the Ardennes, the US 1st Army is still being attacked by the Germans. 2 regiments of the US 106th Div near Schönberg fail to break out of their trapped positions. The 7th Arm Div is heavily engaged at St Vith. The 28th Div is badly mauled. German units advance to points outside Bastogne and Houffalize.

In the Saarlautern bridgehead sector the 5th Div has completed the relief of the US 95th Div.

Images from December 18, 1944

1st SS Panzer Division Troops

German Troops in a Schutzenpanzerwagen

Langley in Typhoon Cobra

Panzergrenadiers from Kampfgruppe Hansen

Paratrooper from 5th (Scots) Parachute Battalion

Guarding the Commander of a Sherman Tank from Snipers

Germans from Kampfgruppe Hansen

Out of Action King Tiger