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.

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.

Burma

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the British 2nd Div 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

In the Serchio valley the American 5th Army has regained the positions held at the end of October.

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.

Philippines

On Leyte, there are vicious Japanese counterattacks in several parts of the northwest of the island, but the American forces beat them off with heavy losses. The headquarters of the 77th Div calculates that in the last 10 days the Japanese have lost at least 5,779 men killed in action against them, while American losses have been only 17.

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 US 6th Army which has fought the battle is now being prepared to move on Luzon and the 8th Army is taking its place on Leyte.

On Mindoro more attacks by Japanese suicide aircraft against American supply ships.

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.

Images from December 31, 1944

Damage in the centre of Oslo after the raid on 31 December 1944 in which 78 Norwegians died

Damage from Raid on Oslo

Tram 115 in Oslo after the New Years Eve raid, which took place at midday. 44 people were killed on the tram when a bombed bounced off the ground and hit it.

Tram Hit by Bomb

On the lookout for German snipers, a squad of Third Army Infantrymen move cautiously through the streets of Moircy, Belgium, 31 December 1944

Looking Out for German Snipers

Germans who surrendered when the tanks of an American armored division came into view, are searched for weapons, on the outskirts of Bastogne, 6th Armored Division, 31 december 1944.

Germans Surrendering near Bastogne

Members of an armored infantry, supported by tanks of an armored division, move in to attack German troops surrounding Bastogne. 44th Armd Inf., and 6th Armored Division, 31 december 1944

US Troops Attacking Germans near Bastogne

Pvt Paul Romanick of Battery B, 103rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, US 1st Infantry Division cleaning 40mm anti-aircraft gun, Sourbrodt, 31 december 1944; note 6 swastika symbols his 6 kills.

Cleaning a 40mm Anti-aircraft Gun

Tanks of the 4th Armored Division deploy in a clearing near Sainlez, on the road to Bastogne. 35th Tank Bn., 4th ARMD DIV. 31 december 1944.

US Tanks near Sainlez

A dug-in tank of the 52nd Division near Gengelt, 31 December 1944 - The tank is a Sherman Firefly which was fitted with a powerful 17-pounder anti-tank gun capable of knocking out any German tank. Gangelt was located on the Dutch-German border.

Sherman Firefly Tank