Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force P-47s attack the airfield at Lashio and targets of opportunity along the Burma Road.
• 4 P-47s attack troops and supplies at Mabein.
• 6 14th Air Force B-25s and 6 fighter-bombers attack a bridge at Wan Pa-Hsa.
• Fighter-bombers attack Man Pong, Mong Long, and Wanling.

• 22 14th Air Force P-51s attack a tanker, a railroad ferry, and airfields at Nanking.
• Fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity in the Kiungshan (Hainan), Kunming, Paoching, and Yungning areas.
• P-51s of the 23rd Fighter Group’s 74th Fighter Squadron down a G4M 'Betty' bomber and 8 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters over Nanking-area airfields at 1300 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Sandakan and Jesselton airfields on Borneo.
• B-25s and FEAF and RAAF fighter-bombers attack targets on Halmahera.

Air Operations, Marianas

In what turns out to be the last attack of its kind, 25 G4M 'Betty' bombers based on Iwo Jima bomb and strafe B-29 bases on Saipan during the evening. 2 B-29s are destroyed and 1 is severely damaged. 6th Night Fighter Squadron P-61s down 3 of the 'Bettys' over the Saipan area between 2000 and 2300 hours.

Air Operations, Philippines

• As Allied preinvasion air attacks against Luzon are intensified, 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at the airfield at Angaur and escorted by V Fighter Command P-47s attack Clark Field on Luzon. FEAF B-24s attack the Mabalacat airfield on Luzon and the Sasa airfield on Mindanao. V Bomber Command B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets on Mindanao.
• 49th and 475th Fighter group P-38s down 42 Japanese fighters over Clark Field, Mabalacat, and nearby areas of Luzon between 1035 and 1125 hours. A 547th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a twin-engine airplane over Mindoro at 1945 hours.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

12 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.

Eastern Front

The Russians narrow the enemy escape route from Budapest to a mere 10 miles.

Soviet tanks reach Tatabanya and Czolnok. Forces close upon Esztergom from the south. The 2nd Ukrainian Front begins an offensive against the Pest defenses, pushing the Germans and Hungarians steadily back toward urban Budapest. Under intense pressure the 13th Panzer Division and Feldherrnhalle Panzer Grenadier Division have to give ground, losing considerable numbers of men as they fall back.

Occupied Greece

Churchill and Eden fly to Athens to mediate in the civil war.

Philippines

Organized Japanese resistance on Leyte finally crumbles, the Japanese having lost 70,000 men while the Americans suffered 15,584 casualties. On Leyte the US 6th Army, which is to carry out the invasion of Luzon, is gradually replaced by the 8th Army. Part of the US 77th Div is moved by sea from Ormoc to San Juan on the west coast of Leyte north of Palompon. There is no opposition to the landing.

Western Front

The XXX Corps, British 2nd Army, takes up positions along the west bank of the Meuse from Givet to Liège. The 51st Div is transferred from the US 9th Army to the 1st Army. Bastogne still holds out, while the German advance slows down and almost comes to a halt through lack of supplies. The Panzers are halted at Celles, 6 km east of the Meuse. They have advanced 80 km in their offensive. The Allies begin their counter-offensive against the German forces in the Ardennes. In this advance the attack of US 4th Arm Div from around Mortelange is to be designed to relieve Bastogne.

Images from December 25, 1944

The weather now cleared, enabling the Allied fighter bombers to join the Ardennes battlefield. Anti-aircraft gunners watching the aerial battle, December 25,1944

Aerial Battle over the Ardennes

The besieged troops in Bastogne received their first re-supply by air on Christmas Day

Besieged Troops Re-supply

Rifleman Corker of 1st Rifle Brigade enjoys Christmas lunch in his foxhole on the front line, Nieuwstadt, 25 December 1944

Christmas Lunch in His Foxhole

Royal Artillery cooks preparing Christmas dinner near Geilenkirchen, Germany, 25 December 1944

Cooks Preparing Christmas Dinner

25 December 1944 – Christmas in Italy – US 5th Army

The crew of a Bofors anti-aircraft gun view vapour trails in the sky high above the Dutch-German border near Brunssum, 25 December 1944

Crew of a Bofors Anti-aircraft Gun

British 13th Corps servicemen having fun during Christmas celebration. “25 Dec. 1944. 5/MM-44-32343. Fifth Army, Scarperia Area, Italy. In good Christmas spirit, Brig. D. Good, C.S.O. 13th Corps, Cotterrick, England, hooks driver William Hold, Coventry, England by the neck with his cane. (Photo by Levine. 3131 Signal Service Co.) Scarperia, Italy. 25 December 1944

Having Fun at Christmas

Lt-Gen Holland M. Smith, Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, shown as he broadcast from Pearl Harbor a Christmas message of courage and good cheer to the families of the men under his command. Said General Smith: 'It is my proudest gift that I have been selected to command such men as these. Men who are your sons, brothers and fathers-men who are my Marines. Men who will not and cannot fail-either you, their country or the Prince of Peace. A Merry Christmas and God Bless you all.'

Lt-Gen Holland M. Smith's Christmas Message