World War II in real time

Day 1859 of World War II, October 13th 1944

Eastern Front

In Latvia, elements of the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts break through the German defensive positions around Riga, the capital city. During the day, Soviet forces reach the outskirts of the city. German troops evacuate Riga and form what was to become known as the Kurland pocket.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of France

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 13th 1944



French Forces of the Interior become part of the regular French army.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of the Netherlands

The Canadian North Novas take Hoofdplatt, after two days fighting with heavy casualties. Elements of British 8th Corps (part of British 2nd Army) launch attacks toward Venlo from Nymegen. Around Aachen, US 1st Division of US 19th Corps (part of US 1st Army) enters the city from the east and is engaged in street fighting.

Photo: A column of 'Alligator' amphibious vehicles passing Terrepin amphibious vehicles on the Scheldt River near Terneuzen, October 13th, 1944



Photo: HM King George VI with the Commander of the 21st Army Group, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and the Commander of the 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey during a visit to General Dempsey's HQ, 13 October 1944



Western Front (1944) - Liberation of Belgium

The first German V1 and V2 attacks land on the port of Antwerp.

Air War over Europe

(US Ninth Air Force): 9th Bombardment Division bombers hit bridges at Saarlouis, France, Roermond and Venlo, the Netherlands, and Euskirchen and Mayen, Germany, plus several targets of opportunity. Escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance over the areas of Metz, France and extensively over W Germany, attacking railroads and other targets, and support the US First, Third, and Seventh Armies. In France, HQ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Chartres to Laon/Athies with B-26s; the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, moves from Coulommiers to Prosnes with P-61s.

(US Fifteenth Air Force):650+ fighter escorted B-17s and B-24s bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer, Germany and Vienna/Floridsdorf, Austria; motor works, locomotive shops, and marshalling yard at Vienna and Graz, Austria; Banhida, Szekesfehervar and Papa, Hungary; and Hranice and Mezirici, Czechoslovakia; some of the escorting fighters strafe railroads, roads, and an airfield in the areas of Balaton Lake, Hungary; Neusiedler Lake and Vienna, Austria; and Prostejov, Czechoslovakia; other fighters strafe roads, railroads, and Danube River traffic in the Vienna-Gyor, Hungary- Budapest, Hungary areas.

57 RAF Mosquitos to Cologne and 4 to Stuttgart. No aircraft lost. A report from Cologne shows that bombs were scattered across the city, causing mostly minor damage.

Italian campaign

To the west, forces of US 5th Army continue fighting south of Bologna. In the east, the British 46th Division, part of British 5th Corps (part of British 8th Army), captures Carpineta.

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, weather cancels all medium bomber operations except for attacks on 4 targets (bridges and supply dumps) in the battle area S of Bologna; fighter-bombers support US Fifth Army operations more successfully in the area, hitting gun emplacements, troop concentrations, supply dumps, bridges, and vehicles; the 23d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group [attached to 3d Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)] moves from Valence, France to Malignano with F-5s.

Battle of the Mediterranean

In Greece, Advance elements of a joint British-Greek force land at Piraeus. British forces occupy Athens and the island of Corfu in the Adriatic.

Soviet Union

Moscow: Stalin promises Churchill that the USSR will declare war on Japan once Germany has been defeated.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), following overhaul, on 13 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 33, Design 13D



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Lee Fox (DE-65) off New York City (USA) on 13 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D



Pacific War

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 38 P-47s strike Okkyin, Yebyangale, and Theinlon, and hit troops in the Myothit area; 8 P-47s support ground forces in the Mohnyin area, 12 attack and considerably damage Wanling bridge and 4 hit targets of opportunity in the area. Transports fly 280+ sorties hauling troops and supplies to CBI terminals.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 138 P-40s and P-51s on numerous armed reconnaissance missions throughout S China and into W Burma attack troop areas, rivercraft, town areas, bridges, trucks, and other targets of opportunity; 71 of the fighter-bombers hit targets in the Kweiping area while the others attack targets around Chuanhsien, Litou, Shepchung, Tengyun, Lungfukwan, Kingshan, Mangshih, and Chefang.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Saipan bomb Yap. From the Marshall B-24s pound Truk Atoll. Gilbert -based B-25s bomb Nauru. In Hawaii, HQ 21st Fighter Group moves from Wheeler Field to Mokuleia Field.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-25s bomb Menado on Celebes and the surrounding area. P-38s hit AA positions, enemy concentrations, and other targets in NE Celebes and Halmahera. A-20s and fighter-bombers attack Boela, oil installations and airfields at Amahai, Kairatoe on Celebes , and Namlea on Buru . In New Guinea, the 17th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), enroute from Guadalcanal to Morotai, sends a detachment to operate from Sansapor with F-5s (other detachments are at Bougainville and Noemfoor).

WESTERN PACIFIC

During Japanese aerial counterattacks in the wake of TF 38 strikes on Formosa (see 12 October), carrier Franklin (CV-13) is damaged when a kamikaze slides across her flight deck and crashes nearby, 22°55'N, 123°12'E; heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70), in TG 38.1, is damaged by aerial torpedo only 85 miles from Formosa, 22°48'N, 123°01'E. While heavy cruiser Wichita (CA-45) takes Canberra in tow, Cruiser Division 13 (three light cruisers under Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose), four destroyers from TG 38.3, and two from TG 38.1 are detached to provide cover. Fleet tug Munsee (ATF-107) relieves Wichita of towing Canberra and the group sets course for Ulithi.

Photo: U.S. Navy flight deck crews aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-18) prepare to load a Mark XIII torpedo on a Grumman TBM Avenger of Torpedo Squadron 14 (VT-14), during strikes in the Luzon-Formosa area, 13 October 1944. Note the plywood shrouds on the torpedo's fins and nose



Photo: A Japanese airfield on Formosa under attack by U.S. carrier aircraft of Carrier Air Group 8 (CVG-8), in October 1944. CVG-8 operated from the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), 13 October 1944



MARIANA AND PAULAU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Peleliu Island, in the Palau Islands, is secured.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500) in Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, on 13 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 7D. Note the Sims-class destroyer barely visible behind Ringgold in Measure 32/3D. The ship in background at left may be USS Morris (DD-417) in camouflage 32/2C



Photo: U.S. Navy ships in Humboldt Bay, New Guinea on 13 October 1944. At the distant left is the destroyer USS John Rodgers (DD-574), at center is USS Morris (DD-417), and the nearest is USS Edwards (DD-619). Only Edwards and the station service vessels would remain past that day, with almost the entire anchorage getting underway for the Philippines assault at Leyte



ADMIRALTY ISLANDS

The U. S. 7th Fleet and troop transports carrying the 7th, 24th and 96th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions sail from Hollandia, New Guinea, and the nearby Admiralty Islands. Their destination is Leyte in the central Philippines.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): On Paramushiru , 4 B-25s bomb Kurabu Airfield and bomb and strafe buildings on Tomari Cape, scoring hits on canneries, warehouses, and barracks; later, 4 B-24s photograph and bomb targets at Kashiwabara.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 152, OCTOBER 13, 1944

More complete reports of the strike made by carrier‑based aircraft of the United States Pacific Fleet on October 9 (West Longitude Date) against the Okinawa Islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago indicate that the following dam­age was inflicted upon the enemy (the following figures are a revision of those previously announced in United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas communiqué No. 146, and do not represent figures on the recent Luzon and Formosa strikes).

Sunk:

1 destroyer escort
4 small submarines
14 cargo ships
1 submarine tender
1 oiler
25 small ships
41 barges and small craft

Probably sunk:

10 small ships
1 minesweeper
9 small craft

Damaged:

8 cargo ships
1 medium landing ship
1 light minelayer
10 small ships
Numerous sampans, luggers and barges

Aircraft destroyed:

23 shot down in the air
59 destroyed on the ground

Aircraft damaged:

37 damaged on the ground

Installations destroyed or damaged:

1 ammunition dump
3 fuel dumps
3 hangars
2 lighthouses
1 factory
Many barracks, buildings, warehouses, etc.

In addition on Yama Island in the Harbor of Naha on the Island of Okinawa and also the North shore of the Harbor of Naha were devastated by explosions and fire.

United States losses:

Our own losses were relatively light: 8 planes in combat, 5 pilots and 3 aircrewmen.

In the attack on Luzon Island on October 10, more complete reports indi­cate that numerous buildings were set afire in the region of Aparri, on the Northern Coast, and that 10 to 15 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground. There was no enemy airborne opposition.

Organized resistance in the Southern Palau Islands ceased on October 12, with mopping up operations continuing on Peleliu and Angaur Islands. Small pockets of enemy resistance on both of these islands have been further reduced by United States troops.

Corsair fighters of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing continued attacks against shipping and enemy installations on Babelthuap Island, sinking or damaging 11 barges in the Ngatpang River; and sinking or damaging 17 barges, 2 small boats and 8 motor launches off the west and east coasts of the Island. In addition boathouses at Arumonogui Point and Gamilangel Bay were damaged and a locomotive near the villages of Ngardmau was strafed and bombed. One of the Corsair pilots was forced to bail out of his plane but wits rescued later.

Liberators of the Seventh Air Force bombed enemy installations on Yap Island on October 12, encountering no antiaircraft fire.

Truk was also bombed on the night of October 11, by another group of Seventh Air Force Liberators.

Enemy‑held positions in the Marshall Islands were bombed on October 11.

PACIFIC

Submarine Bergall (SS-320) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Shinshu Maru off Nha Trang, French Indochian, 11°52'N, 109°20'E.

British submarine HMS Sturdy sinks Japanese merchant coasters Kosei Maru and Hansei Maru in Gulf of Boni, south of Celebes.

Day 1861 of World War II, October 15th 1944

Eastern Front

The Red Army and Yugoslav partisans under the command of Josip Broz Tito liberate Belgrade. The Red Army forces are also in East Prussia.

Lapland War

In Finland the Soviet 14th Army occupies Petsamo in the far north. In Latvia, Soviet forces of 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts capture Riga.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of the Netherlands

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 15th 1944



Forces of Canadian 1st Army (British 21st Army Group) continue the battle for the Scheldt estuary. Around Aachen, elements of US 5th Army (part of US 12th Army Group) continue efforts to capture the city. To the south, the US 6th Corps, part of US 7th Army (part of US 12th Army Group), begins an offensive to the west of Epinal.

Photo: A Sherman command tank of 13th/18th Hussars, 8th Armoured Brigade, near the River Waal at Nijmegen, 15 October 1944



Air War over Europe

(US Eighth Air Force): Mission 679: 5 B-17s and 4 B-24s fly a night leaflet mission over the Netherlands, France and Germany without loss.

(US Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations; fighters fly rail cutting missions and support elements of the US First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth Armies in E France and W Germany.

(US Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 677: 754 bombers and 464 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial, oil and rail targets in the Cologne, Germany area; all but 1 force bombs by PFF methods; 7 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 454 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Geron (141), Nippes (127) and Kalk (111) marshalling yards; 11 others hit the Koblenz/Lutzel marshalling yard; 4 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 293 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 40 MIA. Escort is provided by 146 of 151 P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 385 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Eifeltor (148) and Imbert (24) marshalling yards; secondary targets are the Kalk (117) and Gereon (50) marshalling yards; other targets are Wester marshalling yard (11) and other (1); 2 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 230 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 19 WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 150 of 154 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil facilities at Monheim/Rhenania (64) and Reisholz (61) visually; secondary targets are Cologne/Gereon marshalling yard (185) and Dormigeon (13); targets of opportunity are Worringen (12), Cologne Airfield (12) and Limburg marshalling yard (6); 1 B-24 is lost and 106 damaged; 3 B-24s are lost and 106 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 131 of 141 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. Mission 678A: 2 of 9 B-17s make an APHRODITE attack on naval installations on Heligoland Island, Germany; 23 of 24 B-17s fly a cover mission to the same targets. Escort is provided by 15 of 16 P-51s and 2 P-38s without loss.

18 RAF Lancasters of No 9 Squadron to attack the dam at the Sorpe reservoir, the second most important supply of water for the Ruhr and one of the targets for the original Dams Raid by No 617 Squadron in 1943. 16 aircraft dropped Tallboys or other bombs from 15,000ft and hits were seen on the face of the earth dam but no breach was made. No aircraft lost.

506 RAF aircraft - 257 Halifaxes, 241 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - from all groups except No 5 Group on the last of 14 major Bomber Command raids on Wilhelmshaven that began in early 1941. Bomber Command claimed 'severe damage' to the business and residential areas. 44 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 6 to Saarbrücken and 2 each to Düsseldorf and Kassel, 33 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 22 Halifaxes and 15 Lancasters minelaying off Denmark, 2 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost from the minelaying operation.

Italian campaign

(US Twelfth Air Force): In Italy, B-25s bomb bridges in the W Po Valley; B-26s hit bridges in the E part of the Valley, and have excellent success bombing a railway fill at Ossenigo, trapping 300+ railway cars N of the target; fighters and fighter-bombers concentrate their efforts toward support of ground forces along a wide front in the mountains S of Bologna; HQ 63d Fighter Wing moves from Bastia, Corsica to San Pietro.

In Italy elements of US 5th Army gain ground near Livergnano and Grizzana. In the east, forces of British 8th Army also make progress. The Polish 2nd Division (part of Polish 2nd Corps) captures Gambettola.

Battle of the Atlantic

Photo: Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Gentry (DE-349) as seen from the escort carrier USS Solomons (CVE-67) on 15 October 1944. At this time, the Gentry was assigned convoy-escort voyages out of New York to Marseilles, France, and Oran, Algeria. She is wearing Camouflage Measure, Design 14D camouflage scheme



Hungary

In Budapest Admiral Horthy, the prime minister and regent, asks for an armistice with the USSR in a radio broadcast. Shortly after announcing Hungary's withdrawal from the war against the USSR, Admiral Horthy is taken prisoner by a commando unit led by SS major Otto Skorzeny. A new government under Ferenc Szalasi vows to continue the alliance with Germany.

German occupied Norway

German battleship 'Tirpitz' leaves Kaafjord, Norway, heading for a final resting place near Tromsö.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Saufley (DD-465) off San Francisco, California (USA), in 15 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 9D



Photo: The U.S. Navy amphibious force command ship USS Panamint (AGC-13) underway in the East River, New York City (USA), on 15 October 1944, one day after being placed in commission at Todd-Hoboken Yard, Hoboken, New Jersey (USA)



Pacific War

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, about 40 P-47s attack positions in the Mohnyin area and at Man Naung, supply concentrations at Kyungyi, railroad targets in the Mawhun area, ammunition stores at Manwing, and buildings near Muse; 12 B-25s hit the town of Onbauk, storage facilities at Indaw, and vicinity of Thabeikkyin. Transport operations in the CBI continue on a large scale; the 71st Liaison Squadron, Tenth Air Force [attached to 1st Liaison Group (Provisional)], moves from Ledo, India to Sahmaw with L-4s and L-5s. In India, the 5th and 6th Fighter Squadrons (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, based in Asansol, send detachments to operate from Cox's Bazar with P-47s.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 28 B-24s, 33 P-51s, and 18 P-40s pound White Cloud Airfield in Canton and shipping in the Hong Kong area; 2 B-24s bomb Amoy; 6 fighter-bombers hit targets of opportunity near Mangshih and Tajungchiang.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED PHILIPPINES ISLANDS

Various Japanese positions north of Manila are attacked with airstrikes from US TF 38.

WESTERN PACIFIC

TG 30.3 (Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose) is formed to cover the retirement of the crippled heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70) and light cruiser Houston (CL-81); an augmented TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) provides cover while TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) and TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) take up position to waylay Japanese fleet units that might try to attack the damaged ships.

TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison), meanwhile, attacks Japanese installations near Manila, drawing an enemy aerial response that damages carrier Franklin (CV-13), 16°29'N, 123°57'E.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Raymond (DE-341) approaching the escort carrier USS Sangamon (CVE-26) to refuel on 15 October 1944. The rest of Sangamon's Carrier Division 22 is following in the background



JAPAN

Tokyo Rose announces the destruction of Admiral Halsey's Task Force 38 and Emperor Hirohito declares a victory holiday. A tongue-in-cheek Halsey message says all his sunken ships have been salvaged and are retiring toward the enemy.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): 27 B-24s from Saipan strike fuel storage, AA positions, and installations at the airfield on Iwo Jima; one B-24 bombs the airfield at Pagan. 2 B-24s from the Marshalls bomb Wake during the night of 15/16.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: A-20s again pound airfields and oil storage on Ceram; P-38s carry out a shipping sweep over the Flores area n the Lesser Sunda and on Halmahera bomb the Pitoe and Kaoe areas; P-38s bomb Amahai Airfield while bombers on armed reconnaissance hit nearby targets of opportunity. In New Guinea, P-47s attack Sagan Airfield; the 33d Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Port Moresby to Hollandia with C-47s; the 70th Troop Carrier Squadron, 433d Troop Carrier Group, moves from Hollandia to Biak with C-47s. HQ 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 405th and 823d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Biak to Morotai with B-25s.

MARIANA AND PAULAU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

The battered 1st Marine Division is withdrawn from the battle for Peleliu's "Bloody Nose Ridge." The job will be finished by GIs of the 81st Infantry Division.

SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as four TDRs are launched against Matupi Bridge, as part of coordinated attack by other Green Island-based PBJs (VMB 423), F4Us (VMF 218 and VMF 222) and SBDs (VMSB 244 and VMSB 341) against Simpson Harbor Rabaul. Poor picture reception and pilot error results in none of the TDRs hitting theirtargets.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): 4 B-25s on armed reconnaissance over Paramushiru turn back when the flight drifts off course; 1 B-24 strafes a freighter off Shimushiru.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 153, OCTOBER 15, 1944

During the night of October 12‑13 (West Longitude Date) strong counter­attacks were delivered against task forces of the Pacific Fleet operating in the area of Formosa by aircraft of the Japanese Imperial Air Force. During these attacks on one of our task groups 13 enemy aircraft were shot out of the air by our own fighters and 7 by antiaircraft fire.

Beginning at dawn on October 13 carrier aircraft of the Third Fleet continued their destructive attacks against enemy forces and defense installa­tions on Formosa Island and Luzon. Little air opposition was encountered over the targets. Preliminary reports indicate 11 enemy aircraft were shot down and 30 were destroyed on the ground.

In the mid‑afternoon of October 13 our forces were attacked by numerous single and twin‑engine enemy aircraft. A combat air patrol of one of our task groups shot down 28 of these aircraft and two were destroyed by antiair­craft fire. Complete reports are not yet at hand regarding known attacks on other units of our force, but it is known that many additional enemy aircraft have been shot down. Our plane losses so far have been light.

This fight is continuing. Further details will be released as they become available.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 154, OCTOBER 15, 1944

Troops of the First Marine Division on Peleliu Island sealed off several ire caves occupied by the enemy during October 13 (West Longitude Date). Angaur, the few remaining Japanese were kept under continual pressure.

Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing One bombed and strafed two small coastal vessels and five barges off the coast of Iwo Jima on October 13. Other search planes damaged a small cargo ship and shot down an enemy torpedo bomber in the same area.

On October 12 Eleventh Air Force Liberators attacked nine small cargo vessels near Matsuwa Island in the Kuriles. The Liberators suffered slight damage from antiaircraft fire, but all returned safely. Mitchell bombers of

Eleventh Air Force on October 12 bombed buildings and installations on Shimushu and Paramushiru Islands. A single Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru Island on October 12. Two enemy aircraft made unsuccessful attempts to intercept, and antiaircraft fire was light. The Eleventh Air Force attacked Paramushiru again on October 13. Installations on the Eastern Coast were hit by Mitchell bombers. Moderate antiaircra­ft fire was encountered. Other Mitchells strafed a two‑thousand ton cargo ship and seven small cargo ships at Suribachi Bay. Liberators started several fires in the North, while other Liberators scored direct hits on docking facilities on the Southern tip of the Island. All planes returned safely.

Pagan Island was strafed and bombed by Seventh Air Force Thunderbolts on October 13. A Navy search plane of Fleet Air Wing One bombed the air­field and supply dumps at Rota Island on October 13.

Nauru Island was bombed by a single Catalina search plane of Fleet Air Wing One on the night of October 12. The airfield and other aviation installa­tions at Nauru were also hit by Mitchells of the Seventh Air Force on October 13. Antiaircraft fire was meager. Seventh Air Force Liberators met moderate aircraft fire in bombing the airfield at Marcus Island on October 13. Other Liberators in a night raid dropped explosives on Wake Island.

Neutralization of enemy‑held positions in the Marshall Islands by air attacks was continued on October 13 and 14, by the Fourth Marine Air Wing.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 584, OCTOBER 15, 1944

The United States naval forces which have been operating in the sea approaches to Formosa are units of the Third Fleet, commanded by Admiral F. Halsey, Jr., USN, with Vice Admiral W. A. Lee, Jr., USN, as second in command.

In command of the entire Fast Carrier Task Force Is Vice Admiral M. A. Mitscher, USN. Carrier units included are under the command of Vice Admiral J. S. McCain, USN; Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, USN; Rear Admiral R. E. Davison, USN; Rear Admiral G. F. Bogan, USN, and Rear Admiral H. B. Sallada, USN.

PACIFIC

Command designated Minecraft, Pacific Fleet (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) is established; Rear Admiral Sharp breaks his flag in minelayer Terror (CM-5).

Sweep Unit (Captain Robley W. Clark) arrives off Ngulu Atoll, Western Carolines. Light minelayer Montgomery (DM-17) destroys Japanese radio and weather station, and, accompanied by five motor minesweepers (YMS), enters the lagoon to begin minesweeping operations which will continue daily until 23 October.

USAAF P-38 sinks Japanese auxiliary sailing vessel No.5 Yamato Maru off Bochi archipelago, 01°10'N, 128°21'E.

Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch sinks Japanese oceanographic research vessel No.2 Kaiyo Maru off Surabaya, Java, 06°30'S, 111°35'E.

Day 1863 of World War II, October 17th 1944

Eastern Front

German forces successfully repulse heavy Soviet attacks near Debrecen.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of France

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 17th 1944



The French War Ministry and the national Council for the Resistance agree on how to integrate the French Interior Forces (Forces Francaises de l'Interieur or FFI), i.e., resistance fighters, into the regular army. Political loyalties of the various resistance groups have caused many problems with this process.

In U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division, untried in combat, closes in the Lunévile area. In the VI Corps area, the 45th and 36th Infantry Divisions are slowed by strong opposition as they continue to close in on Bruyéres. In the French First Army’s II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division and French 1st Armored Division make limited gains but at such high cost that General Jean de Lattre, Commanding General of the French First Army, calls a halt and the corps goes on the defensive. The Army commander decides to drive on Belfort in the I Corps zone.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of the Netherlands

Troops of the British 2nd Army capture Venray in attacks toward Venlo. To the south, the US 7th Army continues its offensive around Luneville and Bruyeres.

Photo: Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade lay a smokescreen during the advance on Venray, Holland, 17 October 1944



Photo: Infantry clamber aboard a Sherman tank during the assault on Venraij, 17 October 1944



Photo: Stretcher bearers and infantry of the 1st Suffolk Regiment pass Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade near Venraij, 17 October 1944



Photo: A Challenger tank of 15th/19th Hussars, 11th Armoured Division, Holland, 17 October 1944



Photo: A 6-pdr anti-tank gun set up to protect a road in Nijmegen, Holland, 17 October 1944



Air War over Europe

The USAAF Ninth Air Force clears all Rhine River rail and road bridges for attack; two days later Advance HQ prescribes bridges as having priority on the target list second only to rail lines. In Germany, 35 B-26s hit rail bridge at Euskirchen; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance in the Strasbourg-Colmar- Mulhouse area, attack railroads in the Allendorf an der Lahn-Gemunden area, and marshalling yard at Dielkirchen.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacks targets in the Vienna area: 62 bomb the industrial area, 26 bomb the Saurerwerke armament factory, 22 bomb the marshalling yard and 16 bomb the city. Other targets hit are: 25 bomb the railroad at Furstenfeld, six bomb the marshalling yard at Strauss, and individual aircraft bomb four targets. Twelve bombers are lost. Seven USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs hit two targets of opportunity with six bombing Ostrava Moravaska. One hundred fifteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack the I.G. Farben South synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer with the loss of five aircraft; two other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

During the day, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 681: 1,338 bombers and 811 fighters are dispatched on Pathfinder Force (PFF) attacks on three marshalling yards (M/Y) in the Cologne area; four B-17 Flying Fortresses and a P-51 Mustang are lost: 514 bombers hit the Kalk M/Y, 503 bomb the Gereon M/Y and 217 attack the Eifeltor M/Y. Four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attack targets in Hungary: 15 bombers hit the marshalling yard at Nagykanizsa, six bomb the marshalling yard at Szombathely, and 14 aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51s escort a B-17 carrying a photo crew to Romania to photograph Ploesti.

The USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs four targets: 17 aircraft bomb the Southwest Marshalling Yard at Maribor and 17 hit the railroad bridge in the same city; two other aircraft hit targets of opportunity. Additionally, P-51 Mustangs escort a C-47 Skytrain picking up personnel at Valjevo Airfield.

During the night of 17/18 October, 74 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the marshalling yard at Vinkovci.

Italian campaign

General Mark Clark's Fifth Army is making a last effort to take Bologna and northern Italy but the offensive is crippled by torrential rains and manpower and ammunition shortages. In the U.S. Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, a patrol of Task Force 92 reaches the crest of Mt. Cauala, during the night of 17/18 October. In II Corps area, a coordinated attack by Combat Command A, 1st Armored Division, and the 135th Infantry Regiment against the Monterumici hill mass makes little progress. The 91st Infantry Division takes Lucca and improves positions to the east. Particularly heavy German fire is directed against the Livergnano area. The 34th Infantry Division is clearing the slopes of Mt. Belmonte and takes the crest of Mt. della Vigna. In the British XIII Corps area, the 21st Brigade of the Indian 8th Division begins an assault on Mt. Pianoreno. The 1st Division's 66th Brigade attacks in the Mt. Ceco area. In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps opens an offensive toward Forli in the evening, although all its forces have not yet assembled. The 5th Kresowa Division leads off, pushing toward Galeata from St. Piero in the Bagno area, its right flank protected by the British 1st Armoured Division. V Corps is meeting strong opposition at Acquarola and Celincordia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter bombers flew limited sorties in the battle area south of Bologna, hitting roads, rail lines and bridges. A-20s bomb targets over the Po Valley area and cause explosions on the north edge of Revenna. During the night of 17/18 October, A-20s on armed reconnaissance bomb lights and vehicles east of Bologna.

Battle of the Atlantic

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Pope (DE-134) underway on 17 October 1944, as seen from the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). She is wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D modified



Battle of the Mediterranean

Rival partisans, i.e., the moderate EDES and the Communist ELAS, begin to fight each other and a bomb explodes during a victory parade.

The British Military L I a I s o n Headquarters, Greece begins arriving in Athens to distribute relief supplies.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs escort several C-47s transporting personnel to Araxos Airfield south of Araxos.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Waller (DD-466) off San Francisco, California (USA), on 17 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 7D



Photo: The U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Apollo (AS-25) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 17 October 1944. The photo was taken by U.S. Navy blimp of squadron ZP-12, based at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey (USA). Apollo is wearing Camouflage Measure 31, Design 12F



Photo: The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Vicksburg (CL-86) underway off the U.S. East Coast, 17 October 1944. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 33, Design 6d



Pacific War

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 P-47s bomb a supply area near Naba, hit Japanese HQ and a supply area near Mawhun, and blast a supply base and permanent camp at Myazedi; 8 B-25s bomb Nawnghkio airfield and 3 attack bridges near Kawlin and Thityabin; an approach to the latter bridge is damaged. Transports fly almost 300 sorties to various points in the CBI.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 15 B-25s, 12 P-40s, and 10 P-51s pound a supply depot at Tien Ho Airfield at Canton; 2 B-24s bomb a supply depot at Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong; 44 P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack rivercraft, troop concentrations, villages, and other targets of opportunity around Kweiping, Tengyun, Mangshih, Tajungchiang, Wuchou, and Dosing; a runway at Tanchuk Airfield suffers considerable damage.

(Twentieth Air Force): 10 B-29s, flying out of Chengtu, China, bomb Einansho air depot on Formosa; 14 others bomb alternate targets.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): 11 B-24s from Saipan hit shipping off Haha Jima, and the town of Okimura; later, during the night of 17/18 Oct, 1 B-24 bombs an airfield on Iwo Jima. B-25s from the Gilbert hit Nauru.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: Fighter-bombers and B-25s hit airfields, shipping and scattered targets of opportunity in the Halmahera area. In the Ceram -Ambon-Boeroe area A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers continue to pound airfields and oil facilities. HQ XIII Bomber Command moves from Wakde to Morotai . In New Guinea, HQ 433d Troop Carrier Group moves from Port Moresby to Biak ; the air echelon of the 82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, begins operating from Biak with F-6s and P-40s (squadron is based on Morotai).

WESTERN PACIFIC

Photo: The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81) under tow on 17 October 1944, after she had been torpedoed twice by Japanese aircraft during operations off Formosa. The first torpedo hit Houston amidships on 14 October. The second struck the the cruiser's starboard quarter while she was under tow on 16 October. Damage from that torpedo is visible in this view. The heavy cruiser USS Canberra (CA-70), also torpedoed off Formosa, is under tow in the distance



BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO

Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as four TDRs are launched against Japanese installations near East Rabaul. One of the four hits the objective; a second hits a target of opportunity; a third is lost due to the failure of a tube in the drone receiver; a fourth may have been shot down (light and inaccurate antaircraft fire is noted).

INDIA

British Task Force 63, including two carriers and a battlecruiser, strike the Nicobar Islands as a diversion for the upcoming US attack on Leyte Island, Philippine Islands. The Nicobar Islands, part of India, are an island group in the Bay of Bengal northwest of Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies. These islands with be shelled today and tomorrow with additional air strikes on 19 October. Despite the damage this action as a diversion fails.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch sinks Japanese minelayer Itsukushima and damages minelayer/netlayer Wakatake, off Bawean Island, N.E.I., 05°26'S, 113°48'E. Submarine chaser Ch 26 carries out determined counterattack, but Zwaardvisch escapes.

USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers and B-25s hit airfields, shipping and scattered targets of opportunity in the Halmahera Island area. In the Ceram Island Ambon Island, Boeroe Island area A-20s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers continue to attack airfields and oil facilities.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Scheduled air strikes by escort aircraft carriers are postponed because of typhoon weather in the vicinity of the ships.

TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attacks Japanese installations at Legaspi and Clark Field, Luzon

Naval force (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands army troops (6th Ranger Battalion) on Suluan and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf to destroy Japanese installations that could provide early warning of U.S. forces entering the gulf. Unfortunately, the Suluan Island unit transmits a warning, prompting Admiral Toyoda Soemu, Commander in Chief Combined Fleet, to order operation SHO-1 for defending the Philippines against American invasion and bringing about a decisive battle (see 23-25 October).

Almost 60 USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s hit oil installations, barracks, and shore targets on Ilang and northern Davao Bay areas of Mindanano Island.

Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands supplies on northwest coast of Tawi Tawi, P.I.

PALAU ISLANDS

Photo: The U.S. Navy battle damage repair ship USS Oceanus (ARB-2) on 17 October 1944. Oceanus operated from Kossol Roads, Palau Islands, at that time. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 11L. The photo was taken from the repair ship USS Prometheus (AR-3)



ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): 7 B-24s fly cover sorties for a naval task force.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 156, OCTOBER 17, 1944

Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet are continuing to attack targets on Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Further details now available concerning the results of some of the carrier aircraft attacks on Formosa on October 11, 12 and 13 show that at Tainan the airfield was hard hit and seven hangars were completely destroyed and five heavily damaged. Several buildings in the barracks area were also destroyed.

At Takao the harbor area received severe damage. Thirty large ware houses along the dock area were completely destroyed; ships were dunk it the harbor; heavy damage was inflicted in the industrial area. The airfield at Takao was heavily hit and several adjacent buildings were damaged.

The Okayama Airfield and assembly plants, many shops, administrative buildings and hangars were destroyed or damaged.

At Heito, approximately 15 miles inland from Takao, 14 buildings near the airfield were completely destroyed and eight were heavily damaged. At another airfield near Heito, five barracks were destroyed.

Most of the airstrips at the fields which were attacked have been heavily pitted by bomb blasts.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 157, OCTOBER 17, 1944

During the fighting between our carrier task forces and the enemy air forces based on shore in the Ryukyus, Formosa and Luzon Island in the Philippines from October 10 (West Longitude Date) until the time of this communiqué, there has been no damage of consequence to our battleships or carriers. However, two medium‑size ships were hit by aircraft torpedoes and are retiring from the area. Fortunately, the personnel casualties in these two ships were small.

Japanese Fleet units were sighted approaching the area in which U. S. Pacific Fleet Forces have been operating in the Western part of the Philippine Sea, but on discovering our fighting strength unimpaired have avoided action and have withdrawn toward their bases.

During October 13, 14 and 15, 191 enemy planes attacked one of our Task Groups off Formosa by day and night. Ninety‑five enemy planes were shot down by our fighters and antiaircraft fire, while we lost five planes. On Octo­ber 15, fighters from two of our carriers shot down 50 more enemy aircraft out of approximately sixty planes which attempted to attack our damaged ships. On the same day an additional fifteen enemy planes were destroyed by search and patrol flights from our carriers.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 158, OCTOBER 17, 1944

Elements of the 81st Infantry Division covered by ships of the Pacific Fleet occupied Ulithi Atoll in the Western Carolines on September 20 and 21 (West Longitude Date). On September 20, advance patrols landed on Fassaran and Mangejang Islands on either side of the main entrance into Ulithi Lagoon, and on September 21, our troops occupied Mogmog, Asor, Patangeras, and Sorlan Islands. The landings were not opposed. The possibility that the enemy may not have been immediately aware of these landings led to the withholding of this information until this time.

Pagan Island in the Marianas was bombed by our aircraft on October 14 and 15. Runways and storage areas were hit.

During the night of October 14‑15, and during daylight on October 15, Wake Island was bombed by Seventh Air Force Liberators.

On October 16, Eten Island in Truk Atoll was attacked by Seventh Air Force Liberators, and on the same day Haha Jima in the Bonin Islands was raided. In the latter attack Okdoura Town was hit, and several small ships in the harbor were bombed.

Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet are continuing to attack objectives in the Philippines.

PACIFIC

Motor minesweeper YMS-70 is sunk in storm off Leyte, 10°56'N, 125°12'E.

During the third day of sweeping operations in Ngulu Atoll, Western Carolines, light minelayer Montgomery (DM-17) is damaged by Japanese mine while anchoring, 10°56'N, 125°12'E.

Day 1865 of World War II, October 19th 1944

Eastern Front

German troops evacuate Belgrade.

Western Front (1944) - Siegfried Line campaign

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 19th 1944



American attacks on Aachen continue. Farther south, forces of the US 7th Army capture Bruyeres. Nearby, other units prepare to assault St. Die.

Air War over Europe

Stuttgart: 565 RAF Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups in 2 forces, 4½ hours apart. 6 Lancasters lost. The bombing was not concentrated but serious damage was caused to the central and eastern districts of Stuttgart and in some of the suburban towns. Among individual buildings hit were the important Bosch factory.

263 RAF Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group dispatched to Nuremburg. 2 Lancasters lost. This was only a partial success for the No 5 Group method and the knock-out blow on Nuremberg, which had eluded Bomber Command for so long, was not achieved. The target area was found to be almost completely cloud-covered. The aiming point is believed to have been the centre of the city but the local report says that the bombing fell almost entirely in the southern districts, but this was the industrial area of Nuremberg.

48 RAF Mosquitos to Wiesbaden and 6 to Düsseldorf, 49 RCM sorties, 82 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito Intruder was lost but other Mosquitos claimed 2 Ju 88s, 1 Ju 188 and 1 Me 110 destroyed and 3 other night fighters damaged, a better-than-average night's success.

Total effort for the night: 1,038 sorties, 9 aircraft (0.9 per cent) lost.

US Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. Mission 683: 1,022 bombers and 753 fighters attack targets in Germany using PFF or GH; 6 bombers and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 381 B-24s are dispatched to hit the diesel engine and armored vehicle plant at Gustavsburg (50) and the Mainz marshalling yard (280) the secondary target; 5 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 148 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA and 49 MIA. Escort is provided by 195 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 217 of 267 B-17s hit the secondary target, Mannheim; 34 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 286 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 374 B-17s are dispatched to hit an artillery tractor plant at Mannheim (25); 257 hit the secondary, Mannheim; targets of opportunity are Karlsruhe (32), Kreuznach (10), Rudesheim (9), Bad Kreuznach (8), Steyer (2) and other (21); 182 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 4 WIA. Escort is provided by 226 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. Mission 684: 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.

US Ninth Air Force: Weather prevents bomber operations; fighters attack a tank concentration E of Luneville, France, strafe targets NW of Kaiserslautern, Germany, fly reconnaissance in W Germany, and provide cover for US Third and Seventh Army forces in E France.

Italian campaign

Troops of the British 10th Indian Division, part of British 5th Corps (an element of British 8th Army) attack across the Savio River.

US Twelfth Air Force: Twelfth AF redesignates HQ XII Fighter Command as HQ XXII Tactical Air Command following a reorganization period during which the XXII Tactical Air Command was temporarily referred to as "X" Tactical Air Command and "X-Ray" Tactical Air Command, to distinguish it from HQ XII Fighter Command around which it was formed. In Italy, B-26s attack the Mantua causeway, a railway fill at Ossenigo, and bridges at Calcinato and Peschiera del Garda; a Luftwaffe fighter attack NW of Mantua accounts for 2 B-26s lost and 1 missing; at least 2 of the attacking fighters are destroyed; B-25s attack bridges in the Milan area at Lonate Pozzolo, Cameri, and Magenta; fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command hit targets in support of ground forces, concentrating on the Monte Grande area, and attack rail lines and bridges N of the battle zone. On the night of 18/19 Oct A-20s hit targets of opportunity during armed reconnaissance in the Genoa and Bologna areas.

Spain

Spain closes the frontier with France.

Germany

Hitler orders the annihilation of Warsaw.

United States

The U.S. Navy announces that black women will be allowed into the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bradford (DD-545) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 19 October 1944. She was in overhaul at Mare Island from 3 September until 23 October 1944. Bradford is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 21D



Pacific War

BURMA

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 10 P-47s blast approaches to 2 bridges in the Mawlu area and 15 support ground forces in the Mohnyin area, hitting the village of Nyaunggaing and damaging a nearby bridge and pounding the railroad station at Kadu. In India, a detachment of the 1st Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, begins operating from Hathazari, India with C-47s (squadron is based at Sylhet, India).

BURMA

British forces capture Tiddim.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 100+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over S China hit numerous targets of opportunity from the Tungting Lake area to Luichow Peninsula; the fighter-bombers concentrate on rivercraft, troop compounds, and building areas; the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF, based at Chanyi, sends a detachment to operate from Chihkiang with F-5s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

B-24s on armed reconnaissance from Saipan bomb a bridge, a pier, and the town area on Yap.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

Bombers hit shipping from Zamboanga S in the Sulu-Mindanao area, pound the airfield at Cebu, hit nearby shipping, and strafe Miti, Djailolo, and Hate Tabako. The 13th and 63d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 403d Troop Carrier Group, cease operating from Wakde with C-47s and returns to base on Biak .

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s attack Parepare, Celebes Island. Fighter-bombers hit Amboina and Boela Airfield on Ceram Island, hit nearby shipping, and strafe Miti Island Aerodrome on Miti Island, and Djailolo, and Hate Tabako on Halmahera Island.

Flying out of Truscott airfield in the remote Kimberly region of Western Australia, 18 B-24's of the 380th bomb Group successfully attack Japanese shipping centers at Pare-Pare, Malili and Palopo depriving the Japanese of much inter-island shipping.

In the Makassar Strait between east Borneo and west Celebes Island in the Netherlands East Indies, a USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 sinks a Japanese weather ship.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s and fighter-bombers attack Utarom, Sagan, and Babo Airfields.

Photo: The U.S. Navy seaplane tender USS Currituck (AV-7) at anchor in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, on 19 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 15Ax



JAPANESE OCCUPIED PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The USN's Task Group 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) continue attacks on principal Japanese airfields near Manila and shipping in the harbor. Navy carrier based planes sink an army cargo ship and four merchant cargo ships, damage an oiler and a cargo ship so severely that the ship is run aground.

TG 38.1 and TG 38.4 then proceed south to provide direct support for the landings at Leyte. Meanwhile, TG 38.2 refuels at sea. Aircraft from the escort aircraft carriers of Task Group 77.4 attack targets in the southern Philippines.

Twenty four TBMs and 48 FM Wildcats attack targets on Negros; 15 TBMs and 28 FMs attack targets on Panay. Throughout the day, a rotating force of 14 TBMs and 28 FMs patrol over the Dulag-Tacloban area on Leyte to attack ground targets as required.

On Luzon, Admiral ONISHI Takijiro, commander of the Japanese 1st Air Fleet in the Philippines, activates a "Kamikaze Corps" to fly suicide missions against U.S. ships off Leyte. Onishi resorts to suicide tactics out of desperation. Japanese air attacks on American naval forces have been cut to ribbons, and he now believes the only way Japanese pilots can sink ships is to crash-dive them. When Onishi proposes the "divine wind" mission to two squadrons, every pilot volunteers.
The Leyte assault convoy moves safely to Leyte under protection of the USN Seventh Fleet. Underwater demolition teams (UDTs) complete a reconnaissance of the assault areas and preinvasion bombardment continues.

The USN submarine USS Narwhal lands men and supplies on the southwest coast of Negros Island. USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators attack shipping from Zamboanga south in the Sulu-Mindanao Island area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific in two flights (one TDR each) conducted this date against Japanese gun positions west of Ballale. In the first, one drone misses its target during its run; in the second, the drone drops part of its ordnance (the two four-100-pound bomb clusters) on the target before it crashes.

ALASKA

A B-24 bombs Kurabu Cape on Paramushiru.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 160, OCTOBER 19, 1944

Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet on October 16, 17 and 18 (West Longitude Date) continued to attack whatever enemy aircraft and shipping could still be found in the Manila area, Luzon Island, in the Philippines.

On October 16 aircraft from one group of carriers encountered up to 40 aggressive enemy planes over Clark Field, destroying 20 of them in the air. Another 30 or 40 planes on the ground were probably destroyed or damaged.

Incomplete reports show that on October 17 over Manila our fighters shot down 17 enemy planes which, although airborne, did not prove aggressive. An additional 13 enemy planes were shot down in the air and 15 were de­stroyed on the ground at Clark and Nichols Fields. Barracks, fuel dumps, hangars and ground installations at the two airfields were also heavily bombed.

On the same day in the south harbor of Manila Bay, an oil tanker, four medium cargo ships and a floating drydock were destroyed. In addition six large or medium cargo ships were damaged in Manila Bay while a large oiler was damaged in Mariveles Harbor.

Preliminary reports show that our own losses for the action on October 17 were four planes, two pilots and two aircrewmen.

On October 18 carrier‑based planes in a strike against enemy shipping in the south harbor of Manila Bay sank an oil tanker and damaged two large cargo ships, two large transports, six medium cargo ships, four small cargo ships and two medium oil tankers. Four enemy aircraft were destroyed over the target while one was probably shot down and one was damaged on the ground.

Seventh Air Force Mitchells bombed runways and installations on Nauru Island on October 17. One Mitchell sustained minor damage. Heavy to moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.

Corsairs of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing on the same day bombed and strafed runways and storage areas at Ponape Island. Fires were started. Antiaircraft fire was moderate.

Corsairs and Dauntless dive bombers continued bombing and strafing attacks on enemy‑held positions in the Marshall Islands on October 17 and 18. Two planes were slightly damaged by antiaircraft fire at Jaluit on Octo­ber 17, while one plane was shot down and another damaged at Jaluit on October 18. There were no personnel losses.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 591, OCTOBER 19, 1944

Admiral C. W. Nimitz, U. S. Navy, Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, has received from Admiral W. F. Halsey, Jr., U. S. Navy, Commander, Third Fleet, the comforting assurance that he is now retiring toward the enemy following the salvage of all the Third Fleet ships recently reported sunk by Radio Tokyo.

PACIFIC

USN destroyer escort USS Gilligan bombards Mille Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Seventh Fleet aircraft sink Japanese ships Kosei Maru, Kafuku Maru, Koei Maru, No.8 Kanekichi Maru, No.11 Akita Maru, and No.18 Taigyo Maru at Cebu.

Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands men and supplies on southwest coast of Negros, P.I.

USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese weather ship Shonan Maru in northern waters of Makassar Strait.

Day 1867 of World War II, October 21st 1944

YouTube (SS Commando Coup in Hungary)



Western Front (1944) - Siegfried Line campaign

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 21st 1944



Aachen finally surrenders to US forces. The extended battle by elite German formations including paratroopers, and ten day siege leaves much of it in ruins. The city was taken only after close-quarter battles fought from house to house. Five brave attempts to break the siege line were made last night, all broken by American fire-power. This morning the garrison commander, Col. Gerhardt Wilck, sent two US captives as messengers to negotiate surrender. With about 400 men he marched to the headquarters of Lt-Col. John Cortez to insist upon proper treatment for his defeated soldiers. From the back of a US Jeep he told his men: "I believe further fighting is useless. I have acted against my orders, to fight to the last man. The American commander says I cannot give you 'Sieg Heil' or 'Heil Hitler', but we say it in our hearts." The garrison, totaling 1,626 men, had run out of food, ammunition and water. Most of the town's ancient streets had become impassable because of debris. In the centre only the mediaeval cathedral was still basically intact. The civilian population demanded a surrender ten days ago.

Italian campaign

The British V and Canadian I Corps continue crossing the Savio River. Pte. Ernest Alvia Smith (b.1914), Canadian Army, destroyed two tanks and two self-propelled guns and routed a number of German troops.

Destroyer Eberle (DD-430) bombards targets near San Remo, Italy.

German occupied Greece

Map: German dispositions in Greece 21 Oktober 1944



United Kingdom

Photo: Royal Navy officers aboard the destroyer HMS Garth with a captured German E-boat ensign at Sheerness, 21 October 1944



United States

Major General Clayton L. Bissell becomes Assistant Chief/Air Staff, Intelligence (A-2) in Washington, DC. He was formerly CG of the US 10th Air Force.

Photo: USS Astoria (CL-90). Plan view amidships, looking forward, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 October 1944. Note life rafts stowed between the ship's smokestacks, and antennas for SK-1 and SG radars atop her foremast. A tractor-trailer "bus" is passing by ashore, to the left of Astoria's pilothouse



Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Baron (DE-166) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 21 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D. In the right background is an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer painted in Design 11A



Photo: The U.S. Navy internal combustion engine repair ship USS Mona Island (ARG-9) at Baltimore, Maryland (USA), on 21 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 6Ax



Pacific War

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 P-47s damage at least 3 bridges throughout the railroad corridor in N Burma; 15 other P-47s support ground forces in the Mohnyin area, hitting gun positions and defensive works at Ywathit; 12 others attack positions and occupied areas around Bhamo and Muse, 6 knock out the Paungni River bridge, and 4 attack the town of Mawhun; about 270 sorties are flown by Tenth AF transports in the CBI. The detachments of the 5th and 6th Fighter Squadrons (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, operating from Cox's Bazar, India with P-47s, return to base at Asansol, India.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-25s and 130+ P-40s and P-51s attack shipping, gun positions, troop areas, bridges, town areas, road traffic, and other targets of opportunity around Yuma, Takhing, Dosing, Konghow, Shawan, Kuanyang, Kweiping, Tungpingchi, Tingka, Muse, Wan Lai-Kam, Shekpo, Menghsu, and Amoy; the 530th Fighter Squadron, 311th Fighter Group, moves from Dinjan, India to Kwanghan with P-51s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): 28 B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima. 2 B-24s, in the first US air strike from Guam hit Yap. The 26th, 98th and 431st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive on Guam from Kwajalein Atoll with B-24s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: B-24s bomb Cagayan in the Philippines and Parepare on Celebes . B-25s and fighter- bombers hit Misami, New Guinea and blast a truck convoy near Kibawe on Mindanao . Other fighter-bombers hit Kaoe Bay supply areas; fighter-bombers hit Boela Airfield and the Amboina town area on Ambon. Mongosah and Sagan Airfields are also bombed. Ditched are: P-47D "Santa Maria" 43-25642, P-47D 42-25417, P-47D "Tot's Terror" 42-23235, P-47 43-25636, P-47D 42-75935, P-47D 42-75893, P-47D piloted by Taylor.

The ground echelon of the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, begins a movement from Biak to Leyte (air echelon operations from Biak with B-25s until Dec 44); the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d Troop Carrier Group, based on Biak ceases operating from Wakde with C-47s.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1944)

Elements of US 24th Corps capture Dulag Airfield; Tacloban village is taken by forces of US 10th Corps. American forces are unable to link the two beachheads. Ships of the US 7th Fleet and one group of US Task Force 38 (part of US 3rd Fleet) provide naval and air support to the land battles.

Photo: Members of F Troop, 7th Regt., 1st Cav. Div., are pinned down after getting 50 feet inland from White Beach, Leyte Island, P.I., while heading for San Jose. 21 October, 1944



Photo: Sgt. Howard Preuss, Bronx, N.Y., one of the engineers, leads Filipinos who are being evacuated to Dulag, Leyte Island, P.I. 21 October, 1944



Photo: Leyte Invasion, 21 October 1944: General Douglas MacArthur's flagship, the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Nashville (CL-43), anchored off Leyte during the landings, circa 21 October 1944. Nashville wears camouflage Measure 33, Design 21d



TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) attacks Japanese shipping and installations near Panay, Cebu, Negros, and Masbate, Navy carrier-based planes sinking auxiliary minesweeper Wa.8, 11°30'N, 123°20'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 15, 12°55'N, 121°35'E; and army tanker Doko Maru, 12°35'N, 122°16'E.

MARIANA AND PAULAU ISLANDS CAMPAIGN

Organized Japanese on Angaur ends. A total of 1300 Japanese are killed and 45 are captured. American forces have suffered 265 dead and 1335 wounded. US heavy bombers are operating from the airfield. The Japanese garrisons on the remaining isldands in the group are left isolated.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 162, OCTOBER 21, 1944

Carrier aircraft of the, Pacific Fleet on October 20 (West Longitude Date) continued to attack enemy aircraft and shipping targets 3n the Philippines. At Coron Bay, southwest of Mindoro Strait, a cargo ship, previously dam­aged, a small coastal cargo ship and a small escort vessel were sunk. Four enemy PT boats, three at Batangas Bay and one at Cebu Harbor, were also sunk. Several ammunition barges were destroyed in Masbate Harbor, while two medium cargo ships and two luggers were damaged. At Bulan, ground installations and a hangar near the airfield were bombed.

During the day, 13 enemy planes were shot down and 37 destroyed on the ground, some of which previously had been reported damaged. Our losses were three planes, one pilot and one aircrewman.

In the month‑long operations against the Philippines, Ryukyus and For­mosa which commenced on September 21, and have continued until the pres­ent, the carrier aircraft employed have consisted of Hellcat fighters, Avenger torpedo planes and Helldiver dive bombers.

PACIFIC

British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese merchant cargo ships No.2 Chokyu Maru, No.3 Takasago Maru, and Otori Maru in Makassar Strait.

Day 1869 of World War II, October 23rd 1944

Eastern Front

Russian units clear the area around Petsamo.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of France

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 23rd 1944



General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, in a personal letter to Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, Commanding General 6th Army Group, order the Group to protect the southern flank of 12th Army Group in a coming offensive toward the Rhine River.

In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division is meeting stronger resistance as it approaches Les Rouges Eaux, on the road to St Die. To the corps' left, the180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, succeeds in establishing a bridgehead across the Mortagne River east of Fremifontaine, from which they will push northeast toward Raon-l'Etape. On the right flank, the 36th Infantry Division extends positions east of Bruyres to Biffontaine; a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment, attempting to secure the heights north of La Houssière, becomes isolated in Forêt Domaniale de Champ.

Western Front (1944) - Liberation of the Netherlands

In the Canadian First Army's British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, inexperienced in combat, begins moving into line along the Antwerp-Breda highway between the 49th Division and the Polish 1st Armored Division. On the left flank of the corps, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division swings west from Esschen toward Bergen-op-Zoom to seal off the Beveland Isthmus, along which the Canadian 2d Division of II Corps is preparing to drive.

Photo: Infantry of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 53rd Division, in forward positions outside Heike on the road to Hertogenbosch in Holland, 23 October 1944



Photo: Churchill Crocodile tanks move into position during the attack towards Hertogenbosch, 23 October 1944



Photo: Churchill tanks and infantry move forward during the attack towards Hertogenbosch, 23 October 1944



Air War over Europe

Weather prevents all USAAF Ninth Air Force commands, including the 9th Bombardment Division, from flight operations.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 112 Lancasters to attack the Flushing battery positions; 92 bomb but visibility is poor and the bombing is scattered. Four Lancasters are lost.

During the night of 23/24 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 686: three B-17s and six B-24s drop leaflets over the country.

One hundred twenty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s bomb the Skoda armament factory at Pilsen. Two aircraft are lost.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit five targets: 79 bomb the M.A.N. diesel engine factory at Augsburg; 67 bomb the BMW aircraft engine factory at Munich; 63 attack the Winterhafen oil storage facility at Regensburg; 34 bomb the industrial area at Plauen; and 32 bomb the marshalling yard at Rosenheim.

During the night of 23/24 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 1,055 aircraft, 561 Lancasters, 463 Halifaxes and 31 Mosquitos, to bomb to Essen; 955 bomb the city. This is the heaviest raid on this target so far in the war and the number of aircraft dispatched is also the greatest number to any target so far; five Lancasters and three Halifaxes are lost. The aircraft drop 4,538 tons (4 117 metric tonnes) of bombs. More than 90 per cent of this tonnage is high explosive and includes five hundred nine 4,000-pound bombs because it is now considered that most of the burnable buildings in Essen have been destroyed in earlier raids. The greater proportion of high explosive, against all the trends in earlier area-bombing raids, is now quite common in attacks on targets which has suffered major fire damage in 1943. Mosquitos are also sent to various targets: 32 hit Berlin, ten bomb Wiesbaden and two bomb Aschaffenburg

Italian campaign

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Division, attacking in force toward Mt. Salvaro, drives to the summit; elements to the right begin assault on Mt. Termine. In the II Corps area, the Germans counterattack and recover Hill 459 from the 85th Infantry Division. Elsewhere on the right flank of corps, counterattacks are repulsed and bypassed pockets cleared. At night, the 2d Battalion of the 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, attacks toward Vedriano and takes Vedriano by dawn of 24 October. The 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, seizes Mt. Belmonte. In British XIII Corps area, 78th Division, renewing their assault on Mt. Spadura with the 11th and 38th Brigades, clears this feature. The 1st Division takes Mt. Cornazzano without opposition and gains ground north of Mt. Ceco. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, seizes Mt. Giro and pushes on toward Mt. Colombo; the 17th Brigade takes Mt. Casalino.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division reaches the crest of Mt. Cavallo ridge, which extends northward to Bertinoro, commanding Highway 9; the Germans begin to pull back. The Savio River is subsiding and reinforcements are crossed into the 4th Division’s bridgehead. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division maintains a bridgehead across the Savio River but is unable to strengthen it. The 11th Brigade, Canadian 5th Armoured Division, reaches the Savio River.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit various targets: 27 bomb the railroad in the Brenner Pass; 19 hit the industrial area of Trieste; 12 attack a railroad bridge at Casarsa; two hit the railroad bridge at Latisana; one attacks the railroad at Treviso; and 28 bomb targets of opportunity.

During the night of 23/24 October, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20s attack targets of opportunity in the Po Valley. Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighters and fighter-bombers, although cancelling many operations, cause much damage to transportation, destroying or damaging numerous locomotives, railroad cars, and motor transport, and damaging vessels in the Savona, Turin, Padua, and Genoa areas.

Battle of the Mediterranean

U.S. motor torpedo boats attack German southbound convoy in Ligurian Sea south of Sestri Levanti with no success; a subsequent attack, however, results in the sinking of one F-lighter.

Destroyer Woolsey (DD-437) shells German targets in San Remo area; she repeats bombardment mission the next day.

German occupied Netherlands

Sicherheitsdienst (S.D. or security service of the SS) officer Herbert Oelschagel is murdered by the Dutch resistance in Amsterdam and the German reprisal is swift and severe. The next day, 29 civilians are arrested and pedestrians on the Apolloaan are forced at gunpoint to witness their execution. At the same time, several buildings are deliberately set on fire.

Sweden

An international Jewish conference held at Stockholm thanks the Finnish government and people for their attitude towards the Jews during the war.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy gasoline tanker USS Wabash (AOG-4) on 23 October 1944. Between August 1944 and March 1945, she operated in the Marianas. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 2AO



Pacific War

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA

(Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 20 P-47s hit Japanese concentrations at Nanhlaing and Kyungyi; 16 support ground forces at Mawlu and Henu and in nearby areas; a bivouac area S of Indaw is pounded by 4 fighter-bombers while 7 knock out a bypass bridge at Panghkam; 3 B-25s blast train cars and sidings at Kyaukme, 3 hit a nearby motor pool, 2 hit a motor pool at Namhsim, and 1 blasts a rail line at Nawngpeng. Transports fly 270+ sorties in the CBI.

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 3 B-25s knock out a bridge at Lobochai while 7 P-40s hit trucks and locomotives nearby; 6 B-25s and 11 P-51s pound the town area of Menghsu; 50+ P-40s and P-51s hit small towns and other targets of opportunity in the Menghsu area; 40+ others attack shipping, bridges, and general targets of opportunity around Anfu, Kweiping, Shepchung, Kuanyang, Ssuwangshu, Mangshih, Chefang, Panghkam, Takhing, Tanchuk, Dosing, Wuchou, and Tengyun and Wanling, Burma.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): 8 B-24s from Guam bomb Yap, 2 from Saipan hit Pagan and, during the night of 23/24 Oct, 1 bombs Iwo Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]:In the Philippines, vehicles and small vessels in the Mindanao area are attacked by fighter-bombers while B-25s attack small shipping in the Sulu Archipelago. Fighter-bombers over Halmahera hit scattered bivouacs. In New Guinea, the detachment of the 17th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), ceases operating from Noemfoor with F-5s (the ground echelon is enroute from Guadalcanal, Solomons to Morotai and other detachments are operating from Bougainville, Solomon and Sansapor. The 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, moves from Owi to Morotai with P-47s.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in two missions (three TDRs each) flown against beached Japanese ships in Moisuru Bay and off the south end of the Kahili airstrip. In the first mission, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru"; in the second, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru" while another hits a beached merchantman in Moisuru Bay.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s and P-38s maintain shipping sweeps in the Makassar area on the southwestern tip of Celebes Island. B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit oil storage at Boela and Amboina town on Ceram Island and two airfields and other targets in the Ceram Island area. Fighter-bombers over Halmahera Island hit scattered bivouacs.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Sagan while A-20 Havocs support ground forces further east in the Sawar Rive-Orai River area.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1944)

On Leyte, at a ceremony in Tacloban, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, restores Philippine Civil Government under President Sergio Osmena. In the X Corps area, the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, charged with the task of securing control of San Juanico Strait between Leyte and Samar and cutting off Japanese movement, begins operations toward this end. Elements of the regiment move to the Diit River and secure a bridge in preparation for drive on Santa Cruz, on Carigara Bay. A Japanese party raids Palo at night, using Filipinos to deceive the Americans, but is dispersed and leave behind 60 dead. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, begins an attack on Hill C, blocking the passage into the Leyte Valley on north side of Highway 2 at western edge of Palo, a strongly defended feature. In the XXIV Corps area, the 96th Infantry Division is facing an acute supply shortage, which limits forward movement. The 383d Infantry Regiment, less the 1st Battalion, attacks at noon, crosses the Guinarona River and reaches positions west of Pikas. Tanks of 767th Tank Battaion act as a spearhead for the 7th Infantry Division as it continues a drive on Burauen in an effort to take San Pablo Airfield. The tanks arrive at Burauen and scatter the Japanese forces. Infantrymen drive through Julita and San Pablo and seize San Pablo airfield.

Photo: Disabled U.S. M4 Sherman tank at Dulag-Burauen road, Leyte, 23 October 1944



USAAF Far East Air Force aircraft attack vehicles and small vessels in the Mindanao area while B-25 Mitchells attack small shipping in the Sulu Archipelago.

Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon; she will repeat the operation on 24 and 25 October 1944.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1944) - BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF

(a succession of distinct fleet engagements) opens. While Darter (SS-227) continues to trail Japanese ships detected the previous day, submarine Bream (SS-243) torpedoes heavy cruiser Aoba off Manila Bay, 14°06'N, 119°37'E. Subsequently, Darter and Dace (SS-247) attack what proves to be the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo), one of the three main bodies of the Japanese fleet moving toward Leyte in a major effort to drive U.S. forces from the Philippines. Dace sinks heavy cruiser Maya, 09°28'N, 117°20'E, while Darter sinks heavy cruiser Atago and damages her sistership Takao, 09°24'N, 117°11'E.

ALASKA

(Eleventh Air Force): In the Kurile , 3 B-24s hit Kashiwabara targets on Paramushiru ; 3 more B-24s bomb Otomari and fly a photo mission over Onnekotan ; and 5 B-25s bomb the Asahi Bay area.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, N. D. COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 549, OCTOBER 23, 1944

1. The submarines USS Herring and USS Golet are overdue from patrol and presumed lost.

2. Next of kin of casualties have been notified.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 163, OCTOBER 23, 1944

Mopping up operations on Angaur and Peleliu Islands in the Palau group continued on October d and 21 (West Longitude Date). Corsair fighters of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing, in support of ground operations, dropped incendiary bombs on the holed‑up enemy. Corsairs also bombed a lighthouse and gun emplacements on Babelthuap Island on October 20.

Seventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed Yap Island on October 20 and 21. A single Navy Ventura search plane attacked the island also on October 21. Antiaircraft fire was meager.

Liberators of the Seventh Air Force loosed 49 tons of bombs on the airfield and installations at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands on October 20. Eight intercepting enemy planes were encountered; three were shot down, one was probably destroyed and one damaged. One of our Liberators was lost.

A Navy search Liberator on October 21 bombed and strafed a small cargo ship west of Iwo Jima.

Corsairs and Dauntless dive bombers of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing continued neutralization raids in the Marshall Islands on October 20 and 21. One of the Corsairs was shot down but the pilot was rescued.

PACIFIC

Destroyer escort Gilligan (DE-508) bombards Emidj Island, Jaluit Atoll.

Submarine Croaker (SS-246) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakuran Maru in Yellow Sea, off west coast of Korea, 35°29'N, 126°05'E.

Submarine Sawfish (SS-276) sinks Japanese seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru west of Luzon, 18°58'N, 118°31'E.

Submarine Snook (SS-279) damages Japanese merchant tanker Kikusui Maru in South China Sea, west of Luzon Strait, 19°44'N, 118°25'E.

Submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks Japanese cargo ships Toun Maru and Tatsuju Maru and transport Wakatake Maru, 24°49'N, 120°26'E, and merchant cargo ship Kori Go, 24°42'N, 120°21'E, in Formosa Strait.

Day 1871 of World War II, October 25th 1944

Eastern Front

Transylvania is completely cleared by Soviet advances.

Military operations, Norway (1944)

Soviet Army units enter Norway, and capture Kirkenes. There is support from Soviet naval units in this far north campaign.

Map: Soviet Planning for the Operation



Western Front (1944) - Liberation of France

Map: HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map, October 25th 1944



In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division withstands repeated counterattacks against its positions east of Forét de Parroy. The French 2d Armoured Division is ordered to attack on the right flank of the corps in support of the VI Corps before 1 November. In VI Corps area, the 36th Infantry Division attempts in vain to relieve an isolated battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment north of La Houssière.

Photo: Under shelling by German units, these American medics carry American wounded to an aid station through the streets of Brouvelieures, France, 25 October, 1944



Western Front (1944) - Liberation of the Netherlands

In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Canadian 2d Division, working slowly west along the Beveland Isthmus, reaches Rilland. In the British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division drives north with three regiments abreast toward Zundert.

Photo: Loyd carrier and 6-pdr anti-tank gun of 71st Anti-Tank Regiment, 53rd Division, drives along a railway line outside Hertogenbosch, 25 October 1944



Air War over Europe

Weather again interferes with USAAF Fifteenth Air Force operations and only seven B-17s bomb three targets: three each bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck an aircraft factory at Klagenfurt while one hits the marshalling yard at St. Viet.

Headquarters, USAAF First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) is established, but not yet organized, therefore Headquarters Ninth Air Force continues to administer, supply, and control all XII Tactical Air Command and assigned units until mid- November when the First Tactical Air Force assumes full control. The First Tactical Air Force (First TACAF) is assigned to the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe which has some operational control of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces and some administrative control of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Composed of both French Air Force and USAAF units, the new air force will provide tactical air support for the U.S. Seventh Army in southern France.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 688: 1,250 bombers and 522 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in western Germany; two bombers and a fighter are lost: 718 aircraft hit the Rhenania oil refinery at Hamburg, 216 bomb the Bf 109 repair facility at Neumunster, 92 bomb the Buer and 27 hit the Nordstern synthetic oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, 100 attack the marshalling yard at Hamm, 37 bomb the marshalling yard at Munster, and six aircraft attack targets of opportunity.

9th AF: USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division's missions are cancelled because of bad weather. Fighters fly sweeps, hit rail and military targets in the Saarbrucken area, and support the U.S. XIX Corps in western Germany.

RAF: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 771 aircraft, 508 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to attack Essen; 740 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of two Halifaxes and two Lancasters. The bombing is aimed at skymarkers, because the target area is covered by cloud.
The Bomber Command report states that the attack became scattered, but the local Essen report shows that more buildings are destroyed, 1,163, than in the heavier night attack which had taken place 36 hours previously.

A photographic reconnaissance flight which took place after this raid shows severe damage to the remaining industrial concerns in Essen, particularly to the Krupps steelworks. Some of the war industry has already moved to small, dispersed factories but the coal mines and steelworks of the Ruhr are still important. The Krupps steelworks are particularly hard-hit by the two raids and there are references in the firm's archives to the "almost complete breakdown of the electrical supply network" and to "a complete paralysis."

The Borbeck pig-iron plant ceases work completely and there is no record of any further production from this important section of Krupps. Much of Essen's surviving industrial capacity is now dispersed and the city lost its role as one of Germany's most important centres of war production.

A second target is the Meerbeck synthetic oil plant at Homberg. A total of 243 aircraft, 199 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos are dispatched to this target and 228 attack without loss. The target is covered by cloud and bombing is scattered in the early stages but later became more concentrated on the skymarkers. No aircraft are lost.

Italian campaign

In U.S. Fifth Army area, elements of the South African 6th Armoured Division wade Setta Creek and take Hill 501, below Mt. Sole. In the II Corps area, further efforts to deepen the Mt. Grande salient, during the night of 25/26 October, are costly failures.

In the British XIII Corps area, the 61st Brigade of the 6th Armoured Division gets elements to Mt. Taverna, night of 25/26 October, but withdraws them because of tenuous supply situation.

Photo: Priest 105mm self-propelled guns of 78th Division, 25 October 1944



In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps reaches the Ronco River from heights across from Meldola to Highway 9. The 4th Division takes Forlimpopoli without a fight. In an attack across the Ronco River during the night of 25/26 October, the Indian 10th Division establishes small bridgeheads south and north of Meldola and the 4th Division crosses two companies northwest of Selbagnone and two others at Highway 9. The Canadian I Corps continues to pursue Germans toward the Ronco River, with coastal elements reaching the Bevano River.

12th AF: Weather continues to ground USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighter-bombers attack guns, vehicles, and communications in the battle area south of Bologna while fighters destroy 20+ locomotives in the Piacenza area.

Battle of the Atlantic

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Formoe (DE-509) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 25 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D. The photo was taken by an aircraft from Naval Air Station New York



Battle of the Mediterranean

During the night of 25/26 October, 25 bombers of RAF's No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly supplies to the partisans.

United States

Photo: The U.S. Navy large cruiser USS Guam (CB-2) off the Philadeplphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania (USA), on 25 October 1944



Pacific War

CHINA

(Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 P-38s and P-51s hit the Mongyu bridges and destroy the Kawnghka bridge; 4 others strafe Nawnghkio Airfield; 20+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at Tengyun, Kweiping, and Ssuanghsu, and about 50 strike targets throughout the Menghsu area.

(Twentieth Air Force): 59 B-29s, flying out of Chengtu, China, bomb an aircraft plant at Omura, Kyushu , Japan; several other B-29s hit alternate targets and targets of opportunity.

THAILAND

Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25s and four P-38s damage railroad tracks at Dara bridge.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA

(Seventh Air Force): 29 Saipan based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima during the morning. Later during the day 4 B-24s from Saipan and Guam, on armed reconnaissance missions, bomb Yap . 8 P-47s from Saipan bomb Pagan. HQ 11th BG moves from Kwajalein Atoll to Guam.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

[Far East Air Force]: 50+ B-24s, supported by P-38s and P-47s, attack naval forces in the Mindanao Sea firing small vessels and claiming a light cruiser damaged. On Celebes , B-24s bomb Ambesia Airfield and attack shipping in the Makassar-Kendari area. In the Moluccas, fighter-bombers hit barges and villages in areas of Dodinga and Wasile Bays. B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Piroe and Saparoea in the Moluccas , Boela, Halong on Celebes , Amboina on Ambon , Haroekoe on Haroekoe , and N Ceram coastal targets. A-20s pound supply and fuel dumps in the Sarmi area. The 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group moves from Biak to Tacloban with P-38s; and the 421st Night Fighter Squadron, V Fighter Command, moves from Owi to Tacloban, Leyte with P-38s and P-61s.

JAPANESE OCCUPIED NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES:

The Australian No. 10 Group is redesignated the First Tactical Air Force RAAF. Headquarters of this new unit, which controls eight RAAF squadrons, is established on Morotai Island.

Far East Air Forces B-24s attack shipping in the Makassar-Kendari area. In the Halmahera Islands, fighter-bombers hit barges and villages in areas of Dodinga and Dodinga. B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Piroe and Saparoea in the Moluccas Islands, Boela Aerodrome and Halong and Amboina on Ceram, Haroekoe on Haroekoe Island, and northern Ceram coastal targets.

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s attack supply and fuel dumps in the Sarmi area.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1944)

In the U.S. Sixth Army’s area on Leyte, patrol contact is established between X and XXIV Corps at 1430 hours. In the X Corps area, on northern Leyte, Japanese aircraft attack Babatngon harbor. The 1st Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, during the next few days explores the coast of Carigara Bay and finds few Japanese there. In the Palo area, the 3d Battalion of 34th Infantry Regiment takes Hill C. The 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, gains the crest of Hill B after Japanese defenders have followed their customary practice of retiring from it for the night. The 1st Battalion, 19th, takes Hill 85. Reduction of these heights clears the entrance into the northern Leyte Valley. 3d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, starts toward Pastrana, reaching Castilla. In the XXIV Corps area, a patrol of the 383d Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, moves north through Tanauan and makes contact with Company K of the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Company K, reinforced, attacks Tabontabon but withdraws when it finds the town too strongly held to take. The 382d Infantry Regiment seizes Aslom and Kanmonhag. After preparatory bombardment, 2d and 3d Battalions of the 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, preceded by tanks, continue their attack toward Buri airstrip. The 3d Battalion reaches the edge of the airfield but the 2d is halted by elaborate defenses at edge of woods to the north. The 17th Infantry Regiment, opposed from a ridge north of Burauen and east of the road to Dagami, makes limited advance while concentrating for another drive toward Dagami, clearing the eastern spur of the ridge and probing the road to barrio of Buri.

Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon.

PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN (1944) - BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF

YouTube (Battle of the Philippine Sea - The US Navy Knocks Out The Japanese Carriers - 2/2)



Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as TG 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), augmented by TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) and TG 70.1 (39 motor torpedo boats) execute the classic maneuver of "crossing the tee" of the Japanese "Southern Force" (Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide) in the Battle of Surigao Strait. TG 70.1 begins the action against the Japanese ships. PT-137 torpedoes light cruiser Abukuma, but PT-493 is sunk by enemy secondary battery gunfire, 10°15'N, 125°23'E. DESRON 54 (Captain Jesse G.Coward) then attacks; McDermut (DD-677) sinks destroyer Yamagumo, 10°25'N, 125°20'E, and damages destroyers Asagumo and Michisio. Subsequently, light cruiser Denver (CL-58) sinks Asagumo at entrance of Surigao Strait, 10°04'N, 125°21'E. DESRON 24 (Captain Kenmore M. McManes) enters the fray and Hutchins (DD-476) (McManes's flagship) sinks Michisio, 10°25'N, 123°25'E; DESRON 56 (Captain Roland M. Smoot) attacks; Albert W. Grant (DD-649) is damaged by both friendly and Japanese gunfire at this phase of the battle, 10°27'N, 125°25'E. Two Australian warships take part in this fleet action--heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire (in TG 77.3) and destroyer HMAS Arunta (in DESRON 24)--that see the destruction of battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, 10°25'N, 125°20'E. Heavy cruiser Mogami and destroyer Shigure are damaged.

Photo: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Heermann (DD-532) and the destroyer escort USS John C. Butler (DE-339) lay a smoke screen to protect their escort carrier group from attacking Japanese surface ships during the Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. Heermann is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 24D, John C. Butler wears Camouflage Measure 31, Design 11D. The photo was taken from the escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66)



Photo: A U.S. Navy Grumman TBM Avenger of Torpedo Squadron 51 (VT-51) is armed with a Mark XIII torpedo aboard the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30), during the Battle off Cape Engaño on 25 October 1944. The photo was probably taken before the squadron's planes attacked the Japanese carrier force. The torpedo is fitted with a wooden stabilizer around its tail and drag ring around its nose



Meanwhile, the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo), which includes four battleships and five heavy cruisers, having passed into the Philippine Sea during the night, surprises TG 77.4 (Rear Admiral Thomas L.Sprague) off Samar. Kurita's force wreaks havoc on the six escort carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts of TU 77.4.3 (northernmost carrier force) (Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague). In this battle, which becomes a precipitate flight in the face of an overwhelming enemy force, Kurita's ships inflict severe damage but emerge bloodied by the Homeric efforts of the "small boys" (destroyers and destroyer escorts) and planes from the escort carriers that compel Kurita to retire, inexplicably, without destroying the CVEs and their consorts in detail. In the Battle off Samar, Japanese surface gunfire sinks destroyers Hoel, 11°46'N, 126°33'E; Johnston, 11°46'N, 126°09'E; and destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), 11°40'N, 126°20'E; and damages destroyer Heermann (DD-523), 11°40'N, 126°15'E; and destroyer escort Dennis (DE-405), 11°40'N, 126°20'E. Johnston damages heavy cruiser Kumano.

Japanese surface gunfire (either battleship Haruna or Kongo) straddles escort carrier White Plains (CVE-66), 11°40'N, 126°20'E, St.Lo (CVE-63), and Kitkun Bay (CVE- 71) but scores no direct hits. Heavy cruisers Chikuma, Haguro, and Chokai; light cruiser Noshiro; and a destroyer sink escort carrier Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 11°31'N, 126°12'E. Japanse surface gunfire also damages Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) and Kalinin Bay (CVE-68), 11°40'N, 126°20'E; the latter claims one hit on a Japanese heavy cruiser with her single 5-inch gun. Navy carrier-based aircraft damage battleships Kongo (from near-misses) and Yamato and heavy cruisers Chikuma, Chokai, and Suzuya.

Photo: USS St. Lo (CV 63), explosion after being hit by a kamikaze, October 25, 1944



Photo: Just after 0700 hrs the sea around the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66) erupts as she is straddled and near missed by 14 inch gunfire from Japanese battleships which have surprised the escort carrier Task Group 77.4.3. In the foreground is the flight deck of her sister ship, USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) with two Grumman TBF Avenger aircraft, October 25, 1944



Photo:  USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73) and another escort carrier, and two destroyer escorts making smoke. Photographed from USS Kalanin Bay (CVE 68) by Phil Willard Nieth, October 25, 1944



Photo: The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) making smoke while shells from Japanese surface forces splash down beside her in the Battle off Samar. An unknown Japanese warship can be seen in the background (most likely the heavy cruiser Chikuma, as the shape does not match the battleships Yamato and Kongo, the two other warships attacking Gambier Bay); this is one of the few photos showing both American and Japanese ships in the same image, 25 October 1944



Subsequently, Japanese planes attack escort carriers of TU 77.4.1 (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague). Suwannee (CVE-27) is damaged by kamikazes, 09°45'N, 126°42'E, and Santee (CVE-29) by suicide plane and Japanese submarine I-56, 09°45'N, 126°20'E. Kamikazes near-miss Sangamon, 09°45'N, 126°42'E, and Petrof Bay (CVE-80). Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell is damaged by strafing, 10°05'N, 127°10'E.

Photo: A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M kamikaze suicide plane hits the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Suwannee (CVE-27) on 25 October 1944. Note the Grumman F6F Hellcat completing pullout after chasing the kamikaze plane. The photo was taken from USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80)



Photo: View of the attack of a Japanese A6M5 kamikaze suicide plane aboard the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Suwannee (CVE-27) off the Philippines on 25 October 1944: the kamikaze's 250 kilogram bomb has just exploded between flight and hangar decks and fire billows out



Photo: View of the flight deck of the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Suwannee (CVE-27), 90 minutes after a Japanese suicide plane's bomb had ripped a hole in it. The hole is patched and the ship is ready to land aircraft. Note that only four wires, instead of eight, are being used. All landings were made without mishap



Following its ordeal off Samar, TU 77.4.3 (Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague) comes under Japanese air attack. Kamikazes sink St.Lo, 11°13'N, 126°05'E, and damage Kalinin Bay and Kitkun Bay, 11°10'N, 126°20'E. At the same time, in the Battle off Cape Engano, carrier aircraft from the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike the Japanese "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo). Planes from carriers Essex and Lexington sink carrier Zuikaku 220 nautical miles east-northeast of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°51'E, and carrier Chitose 235 nautical miles east of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°20'E; carrier Chiyoda, damaged by planes from carriers Lexington and Franklin and small carrier Langley, is sunk by heavy cruisers New Orleans and Wichita and light cruisers Santa Fe and Mobile (CL-63) 260 nautical miles southeast of Cape Engano, 18°37'N, 126°45'E. Carrier Zuiho is sunk by planes from Essex, Franklin, Lexington, Enterprise, and small carrier San Jacinto east-northeast of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°51'E.

Photo: The Japanese fleet off Samar, 25 October 1944. The photo was taken by a plane from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12)



Photo: The U.S. Navy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45) fires on Japanese ships during the Battle off Cape Engaño, 25 October 1944. The heavy cruisers Wichita and USS New Orleans (CA-32), together with the light cruisers USS Santa Fe (CL-60) and USS Mobile (CL-63), sank the light carrier Chiyoda (around 1700 hrs) and the destroyer Hatsuzuki (2059 hrs). New Orleans is visible behind Wichita



Photo: The Japanese light carrier Chiyoda sinks during the Battle off Cape Engaño, 25 October 1944. The U.S. Navy heavy cruisers USS Wichita (CA-45) and USS New Orleans (CA-32), together with the light cruisers USS Santa Fe (CL-60) and USS Mobile (CL-63), sank Chiyoda (around 1700 hrs) and the destroyer Hatsuzuki (2059 hrs)



Photo: Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku under attack at about 1400 hrs. on 25 October, approximately at the end of the day's third attack on the Japanese force. Zuikaku appears to be listing, but is still under way. Photographed from a USS Enterprise (CV-6) plane



U.S. aircraft, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, damage Japanese battleships Yamato and Nagato and heavy cruiser Myoko in San Jose Strait; battleship Haruna, east of Samar; light cruiser Yahagi off Leyte; destroyer Kiyoshimo off Leyte. Heavy cruiser Chikuma, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Nowaki, 11°22'N, 126°16'E; heavy cruiser Suzuya, damaged by carrier- based aircraft off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Okinami, 11°50'N, 126°25'E; heavy cruiser Chokai, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Fujinami, 11°26'N, 126°15'E; heavy cruiser Mogami, damaged by heavy cruisers Minneapolis, Portland (CA-33), Louisville (CA-28), light cruisers Columbia (CL-56) and Denver, and collision with heavy cruiser Nachi, south of Bohol Island, P.I., is scuttled by destroyer Akebono, 09°40'N, 124°50'E; light cruiser Tama is sunk by aircraft from Essex and Lexington and submarine Jallao (SS-368), east of Luzon Strait, 21°23'N, 127°19'E; destroyer Hatsuzuki is sunk by the gunfire of four heavy cruisers and twelve destroyers east north-east of Cape Engano, 20°24'N, 126°20'E.

Photo: The Japanese battleship Yamato under attack on 25 October 1944 during the Battle off Samar. Here, a Grumman TBF Avenger from Composite Squadron 20 (VC-20), embarked in the escort carrier USS Kadashan Bay (CVE-76), approaches the battleship off Samar at an altitude of 450 metres



Photo: The U.S. cruisers USS Columbia (CL-56) and USS Denver (CL-58) turning before firing on the crippled Japanese destroyer Asagumo after the Battle of Surigao Strait, 25 October 1944



Japanese air attacks continue against shipping off Leyte: U.S. freighter Adoniram Judson is attacked by Japanese planes off Tacloban; Armed Guard gunners claim splashing six. One bomb explodes close aboard, causing fragmentation damage and wounding two of the embarked stevedores. There are no casualties to the ship's company: 43 merchant seamen and 28 Armed Guards. Freighter John W. Foster, anchored in San Pedro Bay, is strafed; 7 of the 27-man Armed Guard, 3 of 170 embarked troops, and 1 officer, are wounded.

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT COMMUNIQUES, CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 165, OCTOBER 25, 1944

October 23 (West Longitude Date) searches from carriers of the Third Fleet located two enemy forces headed eastward through the Philippine Archipelago. The first force which consisted of three or four battleships, ten cruisers and about 13 destroyers was sighted south of Mindoro and later moved eastward through the Sibuyan Sea. It was attacked repeatedly by carrier aircraft and incomplete reports indicate that all battleships were damaged by bombs, at least one was hit by a torpedo, and one cruiser was torpedoed too. A second enemy force was sighted in the Sulu Sea southwest of Negros Island which consisted of two battleships, one cruiser and four destroyers. Both battleships were damaged by bombs and the light units were severely strafed.

In the late afternoon of October 23, a third enemy force was located southeast of Formosa approaching from Japanese home waters.

During the action an October 23, a strong force of shore based aircraft attacked one of our Task Groups and succeeded in seriously damaging the USS Princeton, a light carrier. Subsequently the Princeton's magazines ex­ploded and the ship, badly crippled, was sunk.

Her Captain and 133 other officers and 1,227 enlisted men were saved.

Casualties among her personnel were light. Approximately 150 enemy aircraft were shot down during this attack.

On October 24, the enemy forces were brought to action. Reports which are as yet incomplete indicate that severe damage has been inflicted on the enemy, that at least one of his large carriers has been sunk and that two others have been severely damaged. General action is continuing.

PACIFIC

Submarine Halibut (SS-232) sinks Japanese destroyer Akizuki east-northeast of Cape Engaño, 20°29'N, 126°36'E.

Submarine Seal (SS-183) sinks Japanese transport Hakuyo Maru, north of Urup, Kurils, 50°18'N, 150°50'E.

Submarine Sterlet (SS-392) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Jinei Maru south of Yaku Jima, 30°15'N, 129°45'E.

Fleet tanker Matsumoto Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by submarine Tang (SS-306) in Formosa Strait the day before, 25°07'N, 119°45'E.

British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese motor sail ship No.47 Tachibana Maru in Flores Sea.

Navy F4Us sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 62 north of Palaus.

Other Japanese casualties include auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 52 sunk at Palau, 07°30'N, 134°40'E; and merchant tanker Shoho Maru sunk by USAAF aircraft in South China Sea, 11°18'N, 114°50'E.