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.

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.

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.

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 Inf occupies Valencia and its airfield. The south part of the Ormoc Valley, from Ormoc to Valencia, is now firmly in American hands.

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

Men from 1st SS Panzer Division in a Schwimmwagen at Kaiserbaracke crossroads, between St. Vith and Malmedy, 18 December 1944.

1st SS Panzer Division Troops

German Troops in a Schutzenpanzerwagen during the Ardenne offensive

USS Langley (CVL-27) Rolling Heavily during Typhoon Cobra, 18 December 1944

Panzergrenadiers from Kampfgruppe Hansen (one of the three large kampfgruppe of the Leibstandarte Division) take a cigarette break. Such a state was the norm during combat operations. This photograph was taken after the action on the Poteau and Recht road, in early hours of 18 December 1944

Panzergrenadiers from Kampfgruppe Hansen

A paratrooper from 5th (Scots) Parachute Battalion, 2nd Parachute Brigade, takes cover on a street corner in Athens during operations against members of ELAS, 18 December 1944.

Paratrooper from 5th (Scots) Parachute Battalion

A rifleman acts as 'tail-end Charlie', guarding the commander of a Sherman tank from snipers during operations against ELAS in Athens, 18 December 1944.

Guarding the Commander of a Sherman Tank from Snipers

German forces from the German battle group Kampfgruppe Hansen are moving up on the Ardennes offensive, 18 December 1944. In the background: a destroyed american halftrack.

Germans from Kampfgruppe Hansen

The first of Peiper’s King Tigers to be lost was this one (No.105), commanded by the SS-Obersturmführer Jürgen Wessel, which was abandoned after it got stuck in debris on Rue St. Emilion in Stavelot, 18 December 1944

Out of Action King Tiger