November 26th, 1943 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyers HMCS Huron, Haida and Iroquois departed Arkhangelsk for Loch Ewe with Convoy RA-54B.
FRANCE: Paris: Paul Claudel's play Le Soulier de Satin opens. It is a lavish costume drama about Catholic dogma. Due to the length of the play and the imposition of the curfew, the curtain must rise at 1:15 p.m.The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 138: 128 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to Paris but they abort the mission on arrival over the target because of complete cloud cover which totally obscures the objective. Four B-17s are lost.
Almost 140 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack Epinoy Airfield near Cambrai and Amy Airfield at Roye and military construction in the town of Audinghen.
NETHERLANDS: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 19 Stirlings and 14 Wellingtons to lay mines off the coast: 18 lay mines in the Frisian Islands and 13 lay mines off Texel Island.
GERMANY: A large Allied air raid targets Bremen in bad weather. It achieves modest results. (Glenn Stenberg)
Chancellor Adolf Hitler watches a demonstration flight of the Me-262 V6 Schwalbe (Swallow), the sixth prototype of this jet fighter, fly at Insterburg. He declares that it is just the thing for carrying a 500 kilogram (1,102 pound) bomb load to England but this will require an extensive modification program. As a result of his decision, the first production Me-262A-0 is not delivered until the summer of 1944 and the first unit, Kommando Nowotny, becomes operational on 3 October 1944.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 138 to Bremen: 350 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 77 B-24 Liberators attack the port area at 1145-1228 hours; 22 B-17s and three B-24s are lost. Eighteen aircraft hit miscellaneous targets.
During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 443 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos to Berlin and a diversion to Stuttgart. Both forces fly a common route over Northern France and on nearly to Frankfurt before diverging. The German controllers think that Frankfurt is the main target until a late stage and several bombers are shot down as they flew past Frankfurt. Only a few fighters appear over Berlin, where flak is the main danger, but the scattered condition of the bomber stream at Berlin means that bombers are caught by fighters off track on the return flight and the casualties mounted; 407 aircraft hit Berlin with the loss of 28 Lancasters, 6.2 per cent of the force, and 14 more Lancasters crash in England. The weather is clear over Berlin but, after their long approach flight from the south, the Pathfinders marked an area 6-7 miles (9,6 to 11,3 kilometers) northwest of the city centre and most aircraft bomb there. Because of Berlin's size, however, most of the bombing still falls within the city boundaries and particularly on the semi-industrial suburb of Reinickendorf; smaller amounts of bombing fall in the centre and in the Siemensstadt (with many electrical factories) and Tegel districts. The Berlin Zoo is heavily bombed on this night. Many of the animals have been evacuated to zoos in other parts of Germany but the bombing kills most of the remainder. Several large and dangerous animals - leopards, panthers, jaguars, apes - escape and have to be hunted and shot in the streets. The diversionary raid on Stuttgart is carried out by 157 Halifaxes and 21 Lancasters; 162 bomb the city with the loss of six Halifaxes, 3.4 per cent of the force. The bombing is very scattered and causes little damage but part of the night-fighter force is drawn off from the Berlin operation. Three other cities are bombed: three aircraft hit Koblenz and one each attack Frankfurt-am-Main and Kassel.
U.S.S.R.: The Red Army has driven the Germans out of
Gomel, north of the Pripet Marshes, and is chasing them along a 100-mile front
in White Russia. This powerful and well-timed blow has now cracked the
Wehrmacht's winter line, and the Germans have been forced out of the deep belts
of well-equipped dugouts where they had intended to spend the winter in
comparative comfort.
Now they are being hounded into the marshes and forests where the snow is deep and the partisans lie in wait for the unwary. The German high command admits that the Russians are "trying to interfere with our disengaging movements."
Destroyers HMCS Huron, Haida and Iroquois departed Arkhangelsk for Loch Ewe with Convoy RA-54B.
ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs along with RAF light bombers, attack the marshalling yard and harbor at Ancona and defended positions near Fossacesia, Lanciano, and Castelfrentano; B-26 Marauders bomb Cassino. USAAF and RAF fighter-bombers hit these same positions and also attack troop concentration near Palombaro and north of Casoli.
Thirty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the viaduct at Recco, 12 bomb the Rimini marshalling yard and bridge and 12 B-24 Liberators attack bridges in the Fano, Cesano, Senigallia, and Falconara areas, scoring hits or near misses at Fano, Falconara and Senigallia.
Twenty four RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit a railroad bridge at Ombrone.
ALGERIA: The British transport HMT Rohna is sunk by a German guided bomb in the Mediterranean Not wanting to give the enemy any information about its success, the American and British military did not acknowledge the sinking. The secrecy prevailed even after the war About 2,200 American servicemen boarded the Rohna, which had been designed to carry 100 passengers in comfort, in Oran, Algeria.
The largest single unit was the 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, which was going to India to build runways. The Rohna left Oran and joined a convoy sailing from Great Britain. Since the departure was on Thanksgiving Day, the crew provided a holiday repast that didn't stay down long as the ship rolled through the swells. Seasickness, however, would be the least of their problems.
At 4:30 p.m. the next day, 30 German He 177 bombers based in occupied France attacked the convoy. The attack lasted for an hour, and most soldiers saw none of it. All were ordered below, in many cases levels below deck. In additional to conventional bombs, German aircraft had Henschel 293 guided bombs. The large explosive was fitted with aluminium wings, rudders and rocket propulsion, and the bombardier guided it with radio signals. At about 5:15 p.m., a guided bomb struck the Rohna near the waterline on the port side, blowing a hole through both sides of the ship. It hit near where much of the 853rd was berthed. About 300 were killed by the blast itself. It is impossible to determine how many survived but couldn't get out of the ship before it sank.
Attempts to abandon ship were disastrous. Many of the lifeboats and rafts were frozen by rust or paint to their moorings. Instead of life vests, which would hold heads out of the water if the wearer was unconscious, soldiers had inflatable life rings. Many drowned while wearing them. Seas were rough enough to inhibit visibility, and night fell shortly after the attack. Five ships criss-crossed the water searching for survivors, who bobbed in and out of sight of the searchlights.
The 853rd had 30 officers and and93 enlisted men when the Rohna left port. Now, 495 were gone, and 14and of the survivors were injured.
As well, 134 British and Australian officers and Indian crew members died. The total death toll was 1,149. (John Nicholas, Andy Etherington and Tom Hickox)
EGYPT: The first part of SEXTANT, the international conference between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, ends at Cairo after inconclusive discussions concerning OVERLORD, the invasion of France, and possible expansion of operations in the Mediterranean. After considering CHAMPION, the plan for the offensive in Burma, the conferees agreed that an amphibious operation will be undertaken and have received Chiang Kai-shek’s promise to commit the Yunnan Force. Upper Burma is to be cleared in the spring of 1944 to open a land route to China. Also approved is TWILIGHT, the plan to base B-29 Superfortresses in the China-Burma-India Theater. Roosevelt and Churchill with their staffs leave for Tehran, Iran, for further discussions with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.
CHINA: Five USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 fighters attack Kiangling Airfield, two other B-25s damage freighter in Honghai Bay and 12 P-40s attack numerous boats in the Changte-Tehshan area.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s hit railroad yards at Cam Duong.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, fighting at Pabu Hill continues as the Australian 2/43rd Battalion, 24th Brigade, 9th Division, repulses strong Japanese attacks. The 2/43rd Battalion holds Pabu, one of the outlying features near Sattelberg, against strong Japanese attacks.
In Northeast New Guinea, almost 40 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit a barge hideouts near Sio and P-40s and P-47 Thunderbolts strafe villages and targets of opportunity around Alexishafen, Madang, and Nubia. P-39 Airacobras attack a force of about 40 Japanese fighters and bombers in the Finschhafen area, claiming four shot down.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the I Marine Amphibious Corps continues to expand the perimeter of the beachhead. The 3d Marine Division is now at the southern shore of Lake Kathleen.
Over 40 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, 30+ B-25 Mitchells, and 30+ fighter aircraft, hit Buka Airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville and Bonis Airfield on the northern tip of Bougainville. A few New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas attack Green Island, causing heavy damage in the bivouac and supply area and sinking a barge. A single B-25 bombs Ballale Airfield on Ballale Island south of Bougainville.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Gasmata on the southern coast of New Britain Island and score hits on a cruiser near Ubili.
GILBERT ISLANDS: On Apamama Atoll, V Amphibious Corps scouts are recalled as the Apamama landing force arrives and begins organizing defenses of the atoll. On Tarawa Atoll, the 2d Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment reaches Buariki, the last relatively large island of the atoll, and prepares to attack Japanese forces believed to be there.
PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary:
We changed Task Forces from 50.3 to 50.4. The USS Essex left us and the USS Monterey jointed us. Admiral Sherman joined us and we were Flag Ship for a while. We received and more fighters today. One glided over the wires and took the barrier, flipping upside down. Pilot was cut up some, but otherwise O.K. One of the men came up to me and said, "I got the clock!" Almost before the pilot was out of the aircraft. The aircraft. was pushed over the side as too badly damaged to repair at sea. The in-dash clocks were highly prized trophies as they were fine instruments. Never got one myself, but I wanted one. After sunset, jap plans came within 8 miles of us and dropped flares, but did not find us. Four of our planes chased a jap betty and shot it down and had to land on the Princeton as our deck was fouled and it was getting dark.
CANADA: Frigates HMCS Coaticook and Levis launched Lauzon Province of Quebec.
U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Hissem launched.
Destroyer escort USS Newman commissioned.