November 30th, 1943 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Frigate HMS Redmill commissioned.
Submarine HMS Visigoth launched.
Frigate HMS Braid launched.
WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 144: six B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 1.4075 million leaflets over Paris, Rouen and Tours, France; and Krefeld and Opladen, Germany during the evening.
FRANCE: Twenty nine RAF Bomber Command Stirlings and 15 Wellingtons are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: 11 lay mines off Gironde, eight off La Pallice, six each off Bayonne and Lorient, five off Brest, and two each off Cherbourg, Le Havre and St. Nazaire. Four other aircraft drop leaflets over Northern France.
GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 143. 349 B-17 Flying Fortresses, 29 B-24 Liberators and three Pathfinder Force B-17s are dispatched to the industrial area at Solingen; 270 B-17s, the B-24s and 2 PFF B-17s abort the mission due to cloud formations which cause assembly difficulties and require flying at altitudes not feasible for the B-24s. Seventy nine B-17s and a PFF B-17 use blind-bombing equipment to bomb Solingen plus one aircraft drops on Wermelskirchen; three B-17s are lost. This mission is escorted by 20 P-38 Lightnings and 327 P-47s Thunderbolts; they claim 0-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 and fiveP-47s are lost.
During the night of 30 November/1 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Mosquitos to bomb Essen: two bomb the city and two hit a Krupps armaments factory.
ITALY: The British 8th Army has cleared the ridge north of the Sangro River. The US 5th Army begins diversionary attacks on the lower Garigliano River to assist the 8th Army. These will precede an assault on Monte Camino.
In preparation for Operation RAINCOAT, the U.S. Fifth Army’s first phase of the assault against the Winter Line aimed at capture of the Camino hill mass, diversions are begun to deceive the Germans. The 3d Ranger Battalion feints toward St. Pietro and the 23d Armoured Brigade feints on the lower Garigliano River. In the VI Corps’ 45th Infantry Division sector, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment continues fruitless attempts to clear La Bandita. On Mt. Pantano, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, retains positions against strong counterattacks and tries unsuccessfully to gain the second knob; patrols of 1st Battalion, 133d Infantry Regiment, move into Castelnuovo while the 3d Battalion advances to Mt. Ia Rocca and elements of the Nisei 100th Battalion move onto Croce Hill. (John Nicholas)
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps finishes clearing the ridge above the Sangro River. The 4th Armored Brigade and 78th Division push toward the coast, taking Fossacesia. The Indian 8th Division, moving northwest along the coast ridge, reaches the coast heights overlooking Castelfrentano. To the west, New Zealanders, having crossed the Sangro River with difficulty, join their bridgehead with that of corps. (John Nicholas)
USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs, operating in conjunction with light bombers of the RAF and South African Air Force attack ground installations and defended areas around Lanciano, Fossacesia, Orsogna, Castelfrentano, and Guardiagrele. Australian, British, South African and U.S. fighter-bombers hit pre-arranged targets in the battle area, and by hitting targets of opportunity on roads between Lanciano to Mozzagrogna aid in defeating a counterattack against the U.S. 34th Infantry Division on Monte Pantano.
Twenty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning escort, bomb Fiume through an overcast. B-26 Marauders attack the Monte Molino railroad bridge, Montalto di Castro, and areas around Bastia and Torgiano but accuracy is severely hampered by overcast.
U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army suffers a 2nd significant setback in this offensive as they withdraw from Korosten.
IRAN: The EUREKA Conference at Tehran between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, ends. Acceding to Soviet desires to make Operation OVERLORD (Normandy invasion) the main effort, Operations OVERLORD and ANVIL (southern France) have been given priority over all other operations. Stalin has agrees to commit Soviet forces against Japan after Germany is defeated. From Tehran, British and U.S. delegates go back to Cairo, where the SEXTANT Conference talks will be renewed.
INDIA: Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek again agrees to Operation CHAMPION (plan for the offensive in Burma) while inspecting Chinese troops at Ramgarh.
CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s bomb a fuel and ammunition dump at Luchiangpa and eight others strafe several boats on a lake southeast of Ansiang. Supplies are dropped to Chinese troops in Changte.
BURMA: During the night of November 30/1 December, RAF Wellingtons bomb Rangoon.
NEW GUINEA: Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General U.S. Sixth Army, forms Task Force DIRECTOR, under Brigadier General Julian W. Cunningham, for the invasion of Arawe Island off the south coast of New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, on 15 December, called "Z" Day to distinguish it from main "D" Day invasion at Cape Gloucester later. The task force is based on the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special).
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe villages along the coast from Borgen Bay to Riebeck Bay and B-24 Liberators hit Alexishafen. B-25s and A-20 Havocs attack Kalasa and hit trucks in the Waroe area.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Cape Gloucester Airfield on the western tip of New Britain's northern coast.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Seventeen USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchellss bomb Malai on Shortland Island. USAAF and USN fighter aircraft attack barges and antiaircraft guns at Tonolai on southern Bougainville Island; Ballale, a small island south of Bougainville; the NW tip of Choiseul Island southeast of Bougainville; Amun above Cape Moltke, Numa Numa, and Chabai on Bougainville. Other fighters cover SBD Dauntlesses attacking the the Jakohina Mission area, gun positions at Kangu and Malabita Hill, and in the Mosigetta area of Bougainville and a few New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas hit the Mawareka area.
U.S. destroyers bombard Japanese positions on Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville.
MARSHALL ISLANDS: Ten USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Phoenix Islands bomb Maloelap Atoll. Twenty other B-24s, sent against the same target from the Ellice Islands, run into bad weather; two attack a a cargo ship and other vessels near Maloelap Atoll, the remaining 18 return to base without attacking.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Gilbert Islands: From Glen Boren's diary: Enemy sub reported on the surface being strafed. No further word on it. Day quiet otherwise. Ship radar had a boggie 8 miles out, but it never came in.
Marine 2d Tank Battalion scouts reconnoiter Abaiang and Marakei Atolls, north of Tarawa Atoll, finding but five Japanese, on the former.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Carlplace laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.
Corvette HMCS Arrowhead rejoined Western Local Escort Force, Halifax.
U.S.A.: General AA Vandegrift, USMC is appointed as commandant of the US Marine Corps, effective January 1, 1944. General Vandegrift commanded the 1st Marine Division during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
Destroyer escorts USS Borum, Brister, Henry R Kenyon and Waterman commissioned.
Frigate USS Manitowoc launched.
Submarine USS Queenfish launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Nineteen (VC-19) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) damage German submarine U-238 about 432 nautical miles (800 kilometers) east-northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, in position 41.21N, 18.19W. Two U-boat crewmen are killed and five wounded.