29 November 1943

Destroyer HMS Cassandra launched.

Frigate HMS Loch Killin launched.

Submarine HMS Virtue launched.

Frigate HMS Ekins commissioned.

Submarine HMS Flounder commissioned.

FRANCE: Fifty three USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Chievres Airfield but 71 B-26 Marauders sent to bomb Epinoy Airfield at Cambrai abort the mission due to bad weather.

During the night of 29/30 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 141: eight B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 1.6 million leaflets over Paris, Reims, Le Mans, Orleans, Chartres, Amiens and Rouen. .

GERMANY: U-679 commissioned.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies VIII Bomber Command Mission 140 and bomb four targets at 1429-1450 hours. Unfavorable cloud conditions and malfunction of blind bombing equipment cause 200+ B-17s to abort. One hundred thirty seven bomb the port area at Bremen with the loss of 13 B-17s and 17 others bomb the industrial area at Emmerich and Oldenburg and other cities. Thirteen B-17s, seven P-38 Lightnings and nine P-47 Thunderbolts are lost. VIII Bomber Command also flies Mission 142: one B-17 drops two 2,000 pound (907 kilogram) bombs and a photoflash on Emmerich at 2108 hours.

During the night of 29/30 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 21 Mosquitos to bomb cities: nine bomb Bochum with seven bombing the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory and two bombing the city; nine hit Dusseldorf with eight hitting the city and one hitting the Rheinmetall armaments factory; and four attack Cologne.

FINLAND: Finland leaves an offer for peace based on borders of 1939. The Soviet Union refuses to discuss the peace on these terms. (Gene Hanson)

BALTIC SEA: During training, U-921 had a collision with the German ship Christiane Sinding.

ITALY: The British 8th Army continues its attacks across the Sangro River. Mozzogrogna and Fossacesia fall.
Privates Mikio Hasemoto and Shizuya Hayashi of the US 100th Infantry Battalion display conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity beyond the call of duty at Cerasuolo. (Medal of Honor, Posthumous for Hasemoto)

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the VI Corps begins limited operations on the right flank of the army to divert the Germans from the coming main assault against Mt. Camino. The 45th Infantry Division begins clearing the region north of the Filignano-St Elia road in an effort to open the road: The 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, leads off against La Bandita (Hill 855) but cannot take it; the 157th Infantry Regiment, making diversionary thrusts, secures Hill 460. The 34th Infantry Division, to the right of the 45th Infantry Division, begins operations to clear the heights overlooking the Colli-Atina road: The 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, moves against Mt. Pantano, taking the first of four knobs; the 133d Infantry Regiment moves against the hills between Castelnuovo and Cerasuolo.

In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps breaches the Winter Line in its sector. Driving through Mozzagrogna, the 4th Armoured Brigade, with excellent air support, begins to clear the Sangro ridge.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb road and rail bridges at Giulianova. USAAF, South African Air Force (SAAF), and RAF light bombers hit enemy strongpoints at San Vito Chietino and the Castelfrentano-Lanciano-Fossacesia areas and Allied fighter-bombers bomb enemy forward positions around Fossacesia and Lanciano.

Seventy USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the airfield and marshalling yards at Grosseto while 19 B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning escort, bomb the Casale depot at Rome. Many other medium and heavy bombers are prevented from bombing targets by bad weather.

During the night of 29/30 November, two RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop leaflets over the German lines.

CHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the airfield, town area, and warehouse section at Swatow, two bomb the power station and nearby targets of opportunity at Amoy, and two attack barges in nearby coastal areas. Twenty four P-40s drop food and ammunition to Chinese troops at Changte, strafe a camp in the Hsutu Lake area, damage a vessel in Tien-hsin Lake and attack numerous small craft in channels between Hsutu and Tungting Lakes and between Tsowshih and Hofuh.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Task Group 74.2, the Australian destroyers HMAS Arunta (I 30) and Warramunga (I 44) and the USN destroyers USS Helm (DD-388) and Ralph Talbot (DD-390), shell Japanese positions at Gasmata on New Britain Island.

Thirty five USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island.

NEW GUINEA: As the Australians advance from Finschhafen they capture Gusika and Bonga. Farther north Allied warships shell Sio.

Destroyer USS Perkins sunk collision with troopship HMAS Duntroon off Cape Vogel, New Guinea. 9 crew were lost.

In Dutch New Guinea, six USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a barracks at Manokwari.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 1st Marine Parachute Battalion is landed before dawn about 6 miles (10 kilometers) east of Cape Torokina from LCVPs and LCMs, covered by two LCI(G) and a motor torpedo boat; heavy Japanese opposition at daybreak, however, compels the evacuation of the marines. Destroyer USS Fullam (DD-474) aided by F4U Corsairs, silences enemy artillery, mortar and sniper fire, and thus allows the successful extraction of the beleaguered marines.

On Bougainville Island, 18 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with fighter cover, attack Tinputs Harbor and targets of opportunity in the area from Numa Numa to Kieta; 21 B-24 Liberators pound Kieta; P-39 Airacobras join USN dive bombers in a strike on the Mosigetta warehouse area; and a fighter patrol attacks Gazelle Harbor and gun positions S of Torokina Plantation.

On Bougainville, work is begun on an airstrip, called Piva Uncle, near the Piva River.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomon Sea, the USN destroyer USS Perkins (DD-377) is sunk shortly before 0200 hours by the Australian troopship HMAT Duntroon which rams Perkins on the portside, amidships. Splitting in two, Perkins goes down 1.7 nautical miles (3,2 kilometers) off the coast of Papua New Guinea about 171 nautical miles (317 kilometers) east of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Four crewmen are lost.

USN submarine USS Bonefish (SS-223) sinks the 4,625 ton Surabaya-bound Japanese army cargo ship SS Suez Maru in the Java Sea off Kangean Island, north of Bali, about 177 nautical miles (327 kilometers) east of Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies, in position 6.57S, 115.42E. There are 916 men aboard the ship: in two holds, 422 sick British (including 221 RAF servicemen) and 127 sick Dutch prisoners, including up to 20 stretcher cases, are accommodated; 205 Japanese patients fill the other two holds. After being hit by the torpedo, the ship starts to list as water pours into the holds drowning hundreds. Hundreds more, Allied and Japanese, manage to escape the holds and are struggling in the water. The Japanese escort mine sweeper W-12, starts to pick up Japanese survivors leaving the Allied captives behind. Between 200 and 250 men are floating in the sea. The minesweeper then makes several slow circles around the survivors and minutes later machine-gun and rifle fire are directed towards the defenseless swimmers. Empty rafts and lifeboats are then rammed and sunk. The minesweeper then picks up speed and speeds off towards Batavia. They had rescued 93 Japanese soldiers and crewmen and 205 Japanese sick patients; 69 Japanese had died during the attack. Back at the site of the sinking only floating wreckage and an oil spill was all that was left of the Suez Maru. Of the 546 British and Dutch prisoners, there is only one survivor, a British soldier who is picked up 24-hours later by the Australian minesweeper HMAS Ballarat (J 184).

U.S.A.: 412th Fighter Group is activated at Muroc Army Air Base, California. It is to operate the Bell P-59 Airacomet jet to (1) conduct tests and engage in experimental work with the two American jets and (2) as an operational training unit (OTU) to train pilots and other personnel for duty with jet aircraft.

Escort carrier USS Gilbert Islands laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Jack Miller and Stafford laid down.

Destroyer escort USS William C Cole launched.

Destroyer escort USS Haverfield commissioned.

Aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12) commissioned.

HMCS Mayflower, a Flower-class corvette, commenced a refit at Norfolk, Virginia. Many Canadian and British warships were repaired and refitted in the US, and at Norfolk in particular. British and Canadian shipyards were overloaded with repair work, to the detriment of many new construction programs. Chronic shortages of new technology items in Canada also dictated that much upgrading work had to be done in the US or in the U.K. At a time when the US was producing modern destroyer-escorts at the rate of one every 20 days and with manning shortages for newly constructed Canadian warships reaching crisis proportions, putting such effort into refitting a ship of marginal value was, to say the least, questionable.