October 9th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Army Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions.
* Mission 670: 1,110 bombers and 878 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on industrial targets in southern and central Germany; 1 B-24 is lost:
- 329 B-17s hit the secondary target, ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; 1 other hit a target of opportunity. Escort is provided by 338 P-51s.
- 381 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Mainz (210) and aircraft engine plant at Gustavsburg (148). Escort is provided by 202 Ninth Air Force P-38s and P-47s.
- 360 B-24s hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Koblenz; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 271 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground. Captain Ken L. Gilbert landed the 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-24 "Missouri Sue", completing his 75th combat mission. He flew two consecutive combat tours in a six-month period, beginning his first tour on 12 April 44 and completing it on 12 July 44. This is an Eighth Air Force record that is believed to be unsurpassed in WW II.
* Mission 671: 2 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands during the night. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)
Destroyer HMS Zealous commissioned.
WESTERN EUROPE: HQ Ninth Air Force gives the Tactical Air Commands an initial attack list of 10 bridges on the US front; other lists follow. Thirty 9th Bombardment Division aircraft attack a rail bridge at Euskirchen, Germany; fighters provide escort and fly uneventful armed reconnaissance; and P-47s sent against airfields in Germany are recalled because of bad weather.
BELGIUM: Units of the Canadian 3rd Division land at Breskens, opposite Flushing, on the south bank of the Scheldt.
NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps continues clearing the Breskens Pocket. An amphibious assault force of the Canadian 3rd Division lands at the east end of the pocket, taking the Germans by surprise and establishing a bridgehead; other elements of the division expand the holdings north of the Leopold Canal in the Maldegem area. The 4th Armoured Division exerts pressure on German positions at the east end of the canal. The Germans continue a vigorous defense of the Zuid Beveland causeway, holding the 2d Division to slight gains in the Woensdrecht area.
FRANCE: Muddy ground and an ammunition shortage force US General Patton to suspend his attacks near Metz and Nancy.
In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, it is decided to break off costly action against Fort Driant. Indecisive fighting continues within Maizières-lès-Metz. In XII Corps area, Combat Command A of the 6th Armored Division, attacking through Combat Command B attempts to take the final objective of the division, a plateau west of Létricourt; elements clear the woods southwest of Létricourt but the column to right comes under heavy fire from Chenicourt and cannot reach Létricourt. The Germans retain Létricourt and from time to time mount small, ineffective counterattacks. German force breaks into Fossieux, where it is engaged by the 35th Infantry Division. Corps front is largely quiet for rest of month and early days of November. Regrouping and rotation of front-line troops is thus possible.
In the U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division makes all-out effort to clear the rest of Foret de Parroy, gaining the main road junction in center and thereby making the German positions untenable. The Germans withdraw from the forest after nightfall.
In the French 1st Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division forces the Moselotte River in the Thiéfosse-Saulxures region and takes the village of Trougemont.
GERMANY: The Red Army reaches the Baltic coast, encircling Memel, the northernmost city in Germany.
In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 119th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division drives through Bardenberg to North Wuerselen; the 120th is kept from Euchen and Beck, villages astride road to Bardenbcrg, by a German force crossing its front en route to Bardenberg; the 117th clears Schaufenberg and tries unsuccessfully to reach Mariadorf, then is authorized to go on the defensive in the Alsdorf-Schaufenberg region. At night, a German force reaches Bardenberg and routs the small holding force of the 119th Infantry, isolating the main body of that regiment in North Wuerselen; 119th Infantry Regiment reserves attempt to regain Bardenberg from the north but are stopped at the village. In VII Corps area, the 1st Infantry Division continues operations against Aachen. The 9th Infantry Division attacks to break out of Huertgen Forest; assisted by tanks, the forward battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment emerges in the Richelskaul area and two platoons of the 39th Infantry Regiment at Wittscheidt. In the V Corps area, a planned attack on West Wall is postponed until 11 October.
During the night of 9/10 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 435 aircraft, 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos, to bomb Bochum; 404 actually bomb the target with the loss of five aircraft, four Halifaxes and a Lancaster.. This raid is not successful. The target area is covered by cloud and the bombing is scattered. In a second mission, 46 Mosquitos bomb Wilhelmshaven without loss; other targets hit during the night by Mosquitos are four aircraft bombing Saarbrucken , three to Krefeld and three to Lohausen Airfield at Dusseldorf.
U-2338 commissioned.
U-2352 laid down.
U.S.S.R.: Churchill and Eden arrive in Moscow. They will discuss the political future of Eastern Europe.
Churchill said he was "not worrying very much about Romania" - that country was very much a Russian affair. As for Yugoslavia, the British prime minister suggested a 50-50 division of influence. On Greece, Churchill was firm; he said that Britain, as the leading Mediterranean power, must have the major influence.
The London based, Exiled Polish government is present for some of the discussions. They achieve no concessions. Stalin insists that Bulgaria and Romaniaare part of a Soviet sphere of influence, while Greece is in the British sphere. In Hungary and Yugoslavia influence is to be divided. This conference will last through the 20th.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander South East Asia Command, to meet him in Cairo, Egypt, to consider pre-monsoon operations.
ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army IV Corps area, Task Force 92 pushes to the top of Mt. Cauala without opposition but later in the day is forced to withdraw. The next two days are devoted to preparations for another assault. Regimental Combat Team 6 of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, pushing northward along the Serchio River, halts near Barga to avoid a possible German counterattack. In II Corps area, 34th Infantry Division continues to make slow progress against the Monterumici hill mass. The 91st Infantry Division repels a counterattack from Livergnano, mops up, and prepares for a co-ordinated effort against the formidable Livergnano escarpment: Company K of the 361st Infantry Regiment reconnoiters to the edge of Livergnano, where it is cut off from the main body; Companies E and G move to positions above Bigallo and are pinned down. The 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, now well ahead of 337th, prepares to attack Mt. delle Formiche in conjunction with attack of the 91st Infantry Division; 1st Battalion outflanks La Villa. The 337th Infantry Regiment prepares for a full-scale effort against Hill 578, the peak of Monterenzio hill mass. The 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, begins clearing ridge leading to Mt. delle Tombe; the 351st Infantry Regiment reaches the edge of Gesso. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division, reinforced, takes responsibility for Mt. Battaglia and Mt. Cappello, on the left flank of the corps; the 1st Guards Brigade, 6th Armoured Division, remains on Mt. Battaglia.
In the British Eighth Army area, X Corps, upon regrouping in connection with the arrival of 1st Armoured Division headquarters, pursues retreating Germans northward along Highway 71; reconnaissance elements find Mt. Castello and Mercato Saraceno clear. In the V Corps area, hard fighting develops at St. Paola as the Germans make an unsuccessful attempt to recover it.
Weather again grounds the heavy and medium bombers. Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers, and fighters hit roads, rail crossing, transport and other targets in the Bologna and Sabbioso areas.
GREECE: Aircraft of the RAF's No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack three airfields in the Athens area during the night of 9/10 October without loss: ten bomb Kalamaki Airfield, six hit Tatoi Airfield and three attack Eleusis Airfield.
BURMA: 50+ Tenth Air Force P-47s knock out a bridge at Manyut and thoroughly pound the town area, bomb enemy positions at Nyaunggon, Pinhe, and near Mawhun, damage a bridge near Mawlu, and hit a variety of targets in the Katha area; 9 B-25s attack road bridges southwest of Lashio, knocking out Na-lang and Nampawng bridges; and the B-25s hit several targets of opportunity in the area. Transport aircraft continue a steady supply of various points in the CBI Theater.
CHINA: Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs T. V. Soong presents to the U.S. Ambassador to China, Major General Patrick Hurley, an aide memoire (position paper) from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek denouncing Allied strategy in southeast Asia. General Joseph Stilwell, Commander-in-Chief US China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek, Commander-in-Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command, is blamed for the loss of eastern China but the criticism falls indirectly upon U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The Fourteenth Air Force dispatches 2 B-25s to bomb the area north of Mangshih; 3 B-24s hit shipping along the lower Yangtze River; 29 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack river traffic, troops, bridges, and other targets of opportunity in areas around Tanchuk, Tengyun, Anking, and Amoy; and the airstrip at Tanchuk is temporarily put out of commission.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: US forces enter the Lingayen Gulf.
MARCUS ISLAND: The USN's Task Group 30.2 consisting of three heavy cruisers and six destroyers conducts a diversionary bombardment of Japanese installations on Marcus Island. Japanese return fire is intense and accurate at the outset, with Japanese gunners repeatedly straddling U.S. ships. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.
PACIFIC OCEAN: U.S. submarines sink two merchant tankers and a merchant cargo ship.
NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s hit Manokwari, and B-25 Mitchells bomb Samate Airfield..
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The USN's Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) continues operations from Stirling Island in the Treasury Islands. Four Interstate TDR-1 target drones controlled from converted TBM-1C Avengers are launched against Matupi Bridge, Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, on New Britain Island. Antiaircraft fire, however, downs three of the TDRs; one is lost en route to the target.
CENTRAL PACIFIC: 18 Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima and 25 B-25s from the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.
Saipan-based USN Navy PB4Ys, on interdiction patrols in the path of Task Force 58 as it approaches the Ryukyu Islands, damage Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser HIJMS Sankyo Maru off Okinawa.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu in the Palau Islands, the 5th Marine Regiment renews their attack on the Umurbrogol Pocket but makes little headway.
Twenty five USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells from the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC: Far East Air Forces B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack Boela on Ceram Island, Namlea and Kairatoe on Celebes Island, and Liang on Ambon Island, concentrating on oil tanks and airfields. On Halmahera Island, B-25s and fighter-bombers hit Lolobata and Hate Tabako Airfields and nearby barges, supplies, and other targets of opportunity. In New Guinea, A-20s and fighter-bombers strike Faan and Langgoer Airfields, P-40s hit Manokwari, and B-25s bomb Samate.
HAWAII: In a Warning Order for invasion of Iwo Jima, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Area (CINCPOA), designates the Fifth Fleet Commander, Admiral Raymond Spruance, as commander of the operation (Commander, Task Force 50); Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Commander Amphibious Forces, Pacific, to command the Joint Expeditionary Force (Task Force 51); Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, USMC, Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, as commander of the Expeditionary Troops (Task Force 56). The invasion date is tentaviely set for 20 January 1945. Expeditionary troops are to be mounted in Hawaiian area and in the Mariana Islands.
U.S.A.: Baseball!Washington: Details of the conference to decide the structure of the post-war United Nations Organization, which was held at Dumbarton Oaks, a colonial mansion in Georgetown, an elegant Washington suburb, were announced here today. The conference broke up without fully resolving deep divisions of opinion between the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain. Mr. Roosevelt has succeeded in getting China counted as one of the four great powers. The Soviet Union has successfully demanded a veto for the great powers. It also demanded a vote for each of its 16 republics, as several British Dominions have votes; a compromise was eventually reached by giving votes to three of its component republics.
Admiral Nimitz orders Iwo Jima to be invaded on 20 January 1945.
Aircraft carrier USS Randolph commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS French commissioned.
Frigate USS Charlotte commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-636 set a reconnaissance party ashore on Hope Island to look for a landing place for a weather report aircraft.
U-978 carried out the longest Schnorchel patrol of the war, 68 days from Bergen, Norway on 9 Oct 1944 to Bergen again on 16 Dec 1944. This even surpassed the much more famous 66-day submerged run U-977 undertook while en route to Argentina to surrender there in August 1945.