24 December 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: A series of Allied announcements begins today. These will publicize the various appointments of Allied commanders for the projected invasion of Northwest Europe. Among these are General Eisenhower, Tedder, Ramsey, Mallory, and others. These announcements will spread over the next 5 days. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the British and United States Expeditionary Forces; General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater; General Sir Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief of the Allied Armies in Italy; General Bernard Montgomery, Commander in Chief of the British Group of Armies under General Eisenhower; U.S. General Carl Spaatz, Commander of United States Strategic Bombing Forces operating against Germany.

Whilst reinforcing US TG.21, HMS Hurricane (from escort group B.1) is torpedoed by U-415 and rendered dead in the water, but in no danger of sinking. Later she is scuttled on the instructions of CinC Western Approaches to avoid attracting more U-boats into the area. Location: 45 10N 22 05W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The USAAF Eighth Air Force now has 26 heavy bomber groups (104 squadrons) operational with B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators.

NETHERLANDS: No RAF Bomber Command bombing raids are carried out on Christmas Eve but 30 Halifaxes lay mines in the Frisian Islands and return without loss.

FRANCE: Throughout the past three months the construction of V-weapon launch sites in northern France has been monitored by the RAF's Photographic Reconnaissance Unit. By 19 December no fewer than 54 sites had been established as being in an advanced state of construction. Operation Crossbow was launched on 4 December, and the USAAF carried out the first attack on the sites the next day. RAF"> RAF attacks took place on 16-17 December. The RAF"> RAF's involvement means diverting from the attacks on German cities.

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 164 against 23 V-1 weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France: 478 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 192 B-24 Liberators hit the targets at 1330-1510 hours without loss. This is the largest number of aircraft carrying out attacks of any Eighth Air Force mission to date and the first of its major strikes against missile sites. The bombers are escorted by 40 P-38 Lightnings, 459 P-47 Thunderbolts and 42 USAAF Ninth Air Force P-51 Mustangs.

Over 60 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders attack NOBALL (V-1 missile sites) targets in Pas de Calais area. Over 30 B-26s abort due to bad weather.

GERMANY: Over Fassberg No. 605 Squadron RAF"> RAF shoot down their 100th enemy aircraft. They are on a night intruder mission equipped with the de Havilland Mosquito VI. (22)

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps area, the New Zealand 2nd Division, moving to outflank Orsogna, reaches the heights commanding that town on the northeast.

Over 100 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-26 Marauders dispatched to bomb the Pisa marshalling yard fail to locate the target due to overcast while 24 B-26s bomb the marshalling yard at Cecina.

VATICAN: Now with the defeat of Nazi Germany almost certain, Pope Pius XII in his Christmas message acknowledges "that a democratic form of government is considered by many today to be a natural postulate of reason itself."

SWEDEN: Secret negotiations begin in Stockholm between Marshal Antonescu's Romanian emissaries and the Soviet Embassy.

U.S.S.R.: In the Vitebsk sector, the Red Army, 1st Ukraine Front under Vatutin, overruns Gorodok in a two-pronged attack, bringing about the collapse of a whole series of defense points that depend upon it. At dawn, the Soviet forces open a new offensive; driving along the axis of the Kiev-Zhitomir highway, they breach German lines and soon recover ground lost to a German counteroffensive and more. The defending German 4th Panzer Army will be penetrated deeply due to overstretched German units and the lack of reserves. The aim is to destroy the German salient on the Dnieper and open Galicia and Romania.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: German merchantman Nicoline Maersk was intercepted by destroyer FS Le Fantasque in the Western Mediterranean and was run aground by her crew near Tortosa, Spain.

CHINA: Eighteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a Tien Ho satellite airfield. The B-24s and 18 escorting fighters claim 20 interceptors shot down. One B-24 is lost over the target.

BURMA: In the Hukawng Valley, the 1st Battalion, 114th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, after artillery preparation, attacks to relieve the beleaguered 1st Battalion of the 112th Regiment in the Yupbang Ga area and succeeds in joining it, although the Japanese retain positions west of the river blocking the crossing at Yupbang Ga.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/13th Battalion, 20th Brigade, 9th Division, enters Wandokai without opposition. The Japanese had intended to defend the town but they evacuated last night fearing an Australian landing in their rear.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Atamboea Airfield on Timor Island in the Netherlands East Indies.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Eighteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, staging through the Gilbert Islands from the Ellice Islands, bomb Wotje Atoll.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the pre-invasion bombing effort against Cape Gloucester reaches its peak as nearly 190 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs attack the area in a day-long bombardment; P-39 Airacobras hit a disabled destroyer offshore; and Japanese forces in Arawe area are hit by A-20s.

On New Britain Island, 18 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Vunakanau Airfield at Rabaul; six others hit Lakunai; fighter cover for the strike fights a fierce air action with interceptors, claiming 25 shot down; seven Allied fighters are lost.

USN F6F Hellcat, USAAF P-38 Lighting and New Zealand (P-40) Kittyhawk fighter pilots shoot down 27 Japanese "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) over Rabaul, New Britain Island, during the day; seven Allied fighters, including five New Zealand Kittyhawks, are lost.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A US naval Task Force bombards Japanese positions on Buka Island and Buin. Their primary purpose is a diversion from the upcoming landings on New Britain.

The Japanese received an unexpected Christmas present today when an American task force of three cruisers, USS Cleveland (CL-53), Columbia (CL-56) and St. Louis (CL-49), and four destroyers bombarded airfields and shore bases on the northern tip of Bougainville and the neighbouring island of Buka. The powerful force included cruisers and destroyers. The flagship fired the first salvo at 12.30am, unleashing a storm of shells onto air installations at Bonis, on Bouganville, and Buka, where they caused a huge fire - probably from a fuel of ammunition dump. Barge and patrol-boat bases in the islands and reefs off Buka were also hit. Japanese shore batteries could only offer a weak and ineffective, response to the sea and air bombardment.

With the elimination of Japanese troops on the heights about the beachhead perimeter on Bougainville, the airfields are secure. Twenty four USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack seaplane anchorage at Bonis on Bougainville. New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas on armed reconnaissance bomb barges and troops on northern Bougainville and claim two fighters shot down east of Cape Saint George.

GILBERT ISLANDS: 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) with B-25's moved from Hawaii to Tarawa and then to Makin on 20 and 27 Apr 44.

PACIFIC OCEAN: During a five hour attack, the USN destroyer escort USS Griswold (DE-7) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-39 about 6 nautical miles (12 kilometers) east-northeast of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, in position 09.23S, 160.09E. All crewmen on the submarine are lost.

U.S.A.: Washington: In a Christmas Eve broadcast to the American people today, President Roosevelt"> Roosevelt announced that General Dwight ("Ike") Eisenhower has been appointed supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force preparing for the cross-Channel invasion of France.

A decision on Eisenhower's deputy will be announced shortly, but General Sir Bernard Montgomery will command all Allied land forces until Eisenhower sets up his headquarters in France. Naval and air chiefs will be involved.

These appointments had been discussed at the recent Tehran conference with Stalin, when "every point concerning the impending east-west-south attack on Germany was decided." Roosevelt described as "brilliant" Eisenhower's performances in the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Eisenhower's command in the Mediterranean is being taken over by General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, who made his reputation in early North African campaigns before moving to the Middle East.

Roosevelt promised Wilson that America's forces "will stand by your side until every objective in he bitter Mediterranean theatre is attained."

The German submarine U-645 is sunk about 462 nautical miles (856 kilometers) north-northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, in position 45.20N, 21.40W, by depth charges from the USN destroyer USS Schenck (DD-159); all 55 crewmen are lost.

The USN hunter-killer Task Group 21.14, formed around the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11), is spotted by a German reconnaissance aircraft and the wolfpack Borkum is ordered to attack. The carrier has a narrow escape when three G7 T5 "Gnat" FAT torpedoes fired by U-415 misses her. The same U-boat also misses the destroyer USS Decatur (DD 341) with a "Gnat". Several hours later, U-275 fires a "Gnat" at the destroyer USS Leary (DD 158) and hits her on the starboard side in the after engine room. A second "Gnat" fired by U-382 misses the already sinking destroyer. She sinks about 467 nautical miles (865 kilometers) north-northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Island in position 45.15N, 21.40W, after a huge internal explosion within one minute; 97 of the 149 crewmen are lost.

British destroyer HMS Hurricane (H 06) is struck by a G7s T5 Zaunkoning ("Gnat") torpedo fired by German submarine U-415 and sinks about 444 nautical miles (823 kilometers) north-northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands. The destroyer is serving with the 1st Escort Group escorting the combined convoy OS-62/KMS-36 (U.K. to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Gibraltar and Alexandria, Egypt) and supporting the task force of the American escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11).

At 2030 hrs, the HMS Dumana (Master Archibald Richard George Drummond), escorted by the British armed trawlers HMS Arran and Southern Pride, was torpedoed and sunk by U-515 west of Sassandra, Ivory Coast. The vessel sank in a short time, dragging some of the lifeboats down with her before they could be released. Three officers, seven crewmembers, 20 lascars, two gunners and seven RAF personnel were lost. The master, 107 crewmembers, seven gunners and 15 RAF personnel were picked up by the escorts and landed at Takoradi on 25 December.