Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack Magyidon.
• 16 10th Air Force P-47s attack targets along the Irrawaddy River.
• 12 P-47s attack troops at Onbauk and a bridge at Na-lang.
• 8 P-47s attack 2 bridges at Kinu and a bypass bridge at Namhkai.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Wanling.

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Yungning.
• 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern China.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge at Song Hoa.
• 51st Fighter Group fighter-bombers attack the Gia Lam airfield at Hanoi.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s and B-25s, and FEAF and RAAF fighter-bombers attack the Goeroea area in the Molucca Islands and Hate Tobako airfield and the Lolobata airfield on Halmahera.
• Fighter-bombers attack Wasile Bay in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 166 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos, mostly from No. 1 Group but with some Pathfinders are sent to Koblenz. The aiming point is the Mosel railway yards. There is some cloud in the target area and the local report says that the main weight of the attack falls in farming areas between 2 and 4 kilometres to the west where the villages of Güls and Rübenach are badly hit. The fringes of the bombing, however, do fall on the railway yards, several main lines and 2 important road bridges.
• There are no losses.
• 106 aircraft including 90 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group and 14 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group are sent to Bingen. The railway yards are again the objective of the raid. The attack is extremely accurate and all the bombs fall into the yards or into the nearby Rhine, where 2 barges are sunk. All movement of supplies by rail through Bingen to the Ardennes battle front stops.
• 2 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 44 aircraft of No. 100 Group fly Mosquito patrols and RCM sorties without a loss.

Air Operations, Japan

48 of 78 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s dispatched from the Marianas attack an aircraft factory at Nagoya through heavy clouds with incendiary bombs while 14 B-29s attack other targets. 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 23 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at the Angaur airfield and escorted by V Fighter Command P-47s Clark Field on Luzon.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Carolina airfield on Negros and troops and stores on Mindanao.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command P-47s attack the Fabrica airfield on Negros.
• B-25s attack port facilities at Zamboanga, Mindanao.
• P-40s attack the Lipa airfield on Luzon.
• Fighter-bombers sweep large areas of Mindanao.
• Numerous Japanese aircraft mount continuous attacks against a re-supply convoy bound for Mindoro. Despite a spirited defense 2 LSTs are sunk.
• 8th Fighter Group P-38s down 10 fighters over Mindoro between 0830 and 0920 hours.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 9 fighters over Clark Field on Luzon between 1025 and 1100 hours.

Burma

The British 36th Div, advancing from the north along the valley of the Irrawaddy, reaches Tigyaing, which the Japanese have evacuated, and prepares to attack Mongmit.

Eastern Front

Under intense pressure the German line between Erd and Lake Velencze begins to crack, enabling the 3rd Ukrainian Front to push its units forward. Elements of the 4th Guards Army strikes Szekesfehervar and becomes involved in bitter fighting.

Hungary

(when?) A Provisional Hungarian Government is established in Soviet-held territory.

Indochina

The Vietnamese Liberation Army under Vo Nguyen Giap is formed.

Italy

Expecting a German offensive in the western sector of the front, US 5th Army, the 92nd Div, operating in the area of Lucca, is reinforced by units from the 8th Indian Div and 85th Div, and with tanks and guns.

Pacific

• The Japanese torpedo boat Chidori is sunk by the US submarine Tilefish (SS-307) off Honshu, Japan.
• The US destroyer Bryant (DD-511) is damaged by a suicide plane in the Mindoro area of the Philippines.

Philippines

On Leyte the Americans capture several villages. The problem now is to wipe out the remaining Japanese forces concentrated west of Palompon in 2 big pockets, and this will be the main American obective for the next few days.

United States, Home Front

Harry Langdon, silent screen movie star, dies at the age of 60.

Western Front

German forces launch their final drive to reach the Meuse River. The American forces in Bastogne contemptuously reject a German demand that they surrender. It is said that Gen Anthony McAuliffe's reply to the demand consists of the single word 'Nuts!'. The weather is beginning to change and all the German generals involved in the attack, von Rundstedt, Model and Guderian, the Army Chief of Staff, recommend that the offensive be brought to an end because of the delays that have been imposed by the Allied resistance and the imminent arrival of the mass of the Allied reserves. To the generals it is clear that there is no question of reaching the grand objective of Antwerp. Although St Vith is taken late in the day this does not come close to curing the problems of delay that have been created. The US 3rd Army is now beginning to attack the Germans in the Ardennes salient from the south, having shifted from an offensive across the Saar, a brilliant maneuver by Patton.

Images from December 22, 1944

US troops Setting up a .50 Machine Gun in Malmedy, Belgium, 22 December 1944

US POWs, 22 December 1944

Refugees evacuate the Belgian town of Bastogne while American troops hold the town against the German assaults.

Refugees Leaving Bastogne

The Center of Bastogne in the Aftermath of German Shelling

On Dec. 22, 1944 the 2nd Bn, 504 Parachute Infantry Reg. is crossing the village of Rahier as to relieve the 1st Bn in Cheneux after the battle.

Parachute Infantry in Rahier

A dead G.I., 22 December 1944

Soviet artillerymen of the 2nd Ukrainian Front at the approaches to Budapest, 22 December 1944

Soviet Artillery near Budapest

Paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment on the march towards Cheneux, 22 December 1944

Paratroopers Near Cheneux