Air Operations, CBI

• 65 10th Air Force P-38s and P-47s attack a Japanese Army divisional headquarters at Ongyaw and troops and supplies at 7 other locations.
• 28 P-47s strafe airfields at Aungban, Heho, Kunlon, Laihka, and Nansang.
• 4 14th Air Force B-25s attack 2 bridges and several buildings at Mong Ping.
• Fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity in eastern Burma.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack 2 freighters off Hainan Island.
• 35 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack troops, horses, rail targets, and town areas in the Hankow, Hengyang, Kweilin, Lingling, Saiping, and Siangtan areas.
• Fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity across southern China and northern French Indochina.
• A 51st Fighter Group P-51 downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter in an engagement over the Wuchang airfield at Hankow at 1300 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Ambesia airfield on Celebes, Dili on Timor, and airfields and supplies on Halmahera.
• Fighter-bombers attack shipping, airfields, anti-aircraft batteries, and targets of opportunity on Halmahera and northern Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• 155 Lancasters of No. 3 Group carry out a G-H raid on the railway yards at Vohwinkel, near Solingen. A strong wind carries much of the bombing south of the target.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.
• 12 Mosquitos of No. 627 Squadron, No. 5 Group, set out to bomb the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo. 8 aircraft actually bomb, in 2 waves, and hits are believed to have been scored.
• There are no losses.

• 149 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups are sent to attack the railway yards at Osterfeld. The only details available are Bomber Command's estimates that the railway sidings were 35 per cent damaged and the 'facilities' 20 per cent damaged.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.
• 28 Lancasters of No. 5 Group attack cruisers in Oslo Fjord, but no hits are made.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 77 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 12 to Ludwigshafen, 16 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat, and there are 33 Mosquito patrols and 33 RCM sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Lancaster is lost.
• RAF Mosquitos attack the Gestapo headquarters in Oslo.

• 492 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 254 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack numerous rail bridges, communications centers, and marshalling yards in western Germany.
• 501 3rd Bomb Division B-17 attack industrial and oil-industry at six locatins.
• 27 heavy bombers and 10 of 721 VIII Fighter Command escorts are lost.
• 8th and 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 64 Luftwaffe fighters and 1 Ar-234 jet bomber over western Germany and eastern Belgium between 1045 and 2350 hours.

• The 9th Bomb Division is grounded by bad weather, but several hundred 9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers are able to support US Army ground forces en eastern Belgium and western Germany.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a dump and several trains.
• XXII TAC P-47s attack rail bridges, rail lines, and trains.
• During the night, XXII TAC A-20s attack a marshalling yard at Milan and a motor-vehicle park at Molinella.

Air Operations - Philippines

• 494th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Clark Field, Luzon.
• FEAF B-25s and V Bomber Command B-25s attack airfields in the central Philippines, Luzon, and Mindanao.
• During the morning, 2 American cargo ships are damaged by aerial bombs and run aground off Mindoro.

Air Operations - Volcano Islands

• 19 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Iwo Jima.
• During the night, in the strongest showing of its type so far in the almost-nightly campaign, 10 VII Bomber Command B-24s harrass Iwo Jima over a 6-hour period.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-906 is sunk during a large USAAF raid on Hamburg. Several other U-boats are sunk that were in various advanced stages of construction.

U-906

CBI

In the NCAC area, the US 475th Infantry, upon relief at Tonk-wa by the Chinese 50th Division, which is now operating in the center, starts a march toward the Mong Wi area, where the 5332nd Brigade is to assemble for its first operation as a brigade. The Chinese 1st Separate Regiment, which was to be a part of the 5332nd Brigade, will be held in NCAC reserve.

In the British 14th Army's XXXIII Corps sector, the British 2nd Division takes Kabo.

Diplomatic Relations

The Provisional National Government of Hungary, set up under Soviet control in the city of Drebrecan, declares war on Germany.

Eastern Front

The Germans manage to halt the Soviet advance into Pest, though Budapest continues to be shelled incessantly.

Italy

The US 5th Army has regained most of the ground lost by the IV Corps in the Serchio Valley and the positions there now are about the same as they were at the end of October.

The British 8th Army has worked northward astride the Naviglio Canal between the Senio and Lamone Rivers in the V Corps zone to Granarole, but the Germans hold Granarole. Preparations are made for limited attacks to bring the entire army up to the Senio.

Pacific

• The headquarters of the US 5th Fleet issues operational plans for the capture of the island of Iwo Jima. The date of the landing is fixed for February 19, 1945.
• The British submarine Shakespeareattacks a Japanese convoy and sinks the merchant cargo ship Unryu Maru (2515t) east of Port Blair.

Philippines

In the X Corps area, the 1st Cavalry Division repels several counterattacks against Villaba. The 77th Division (XXIV Corps) begins the relief of the 1st Cavalry Division.

In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Division's 305th Infantry finishes clearing the Palompon road. The 3rd Battalion and the Provisional Mountain Force make contact 2 miles northeast of San Miguel. The 77th Division estimates that, during the period 21-31 December, it has killed 5,779 Japanese at a cost of 17 killed.

Elsewhere on the island the Japanese resistance is all but over. In the battle for Leyte Japanese casualties have been around 70,000, almost all killed. The American casualties have been 15,500 dead and wounded.

The Japanese continue air attacks on shipping, sinking a PT tender and badly damaging a destroyer. A platoon of F Company, 19th Infantry, lands at Bulalacao on the south coast almost 25 miles southeast of San Jose.

Poland, Politics

The Lublin-based Committee of National Liberation assumes the title of Provisional Government. The London exile government protests unavailingly.

Western Front

The British XXX Corps takes Rochefort at the western end of the Ardennes salient. Units of the 87th Div, VIII Corps, US 3rd Army, reach Remagen.[WE]

Images from December 31, 1944

Damage from Raid on Oslo

Tram Hit by Bomb

Looking Out for German Snipers

Germans Surrendering near Bastogne

US Troops Attacking Germans near Bastogne

Cleaning a 40-mm Anti-aircraft Gun

US Tanks near Sainlez

US Tanks near Sainlez