October 12th, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions:
* Mission 674: 552 bombers and 514 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; they claim 18-3-1 aircraft; 3 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:
- Weather prevents the 290 B-24s dispatched to hit the primaries at Vechta, Achmer, Rheine and Varrelbusch; PFF means were used to hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (267); 5 others hit Diepholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 210 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air.
- 262 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industries at Bremen (267) bombing visually; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost.
Escort is provided by 273 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 17-2-1 aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost. Five of the Luftwaffe aircraft, Bf 109s, are shot down by 1st Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Yeager near Assen, the Netherlands, at about 1100 hours. In 1947, Yeager is the first pilot to crack the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.
* Mission 675: 8 aircraft are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; 2 B-24s are lost.
Frigate HMCS Chebogue refloated and towed to reserve at Port Talbot.
WESTERN EUROPE: The Ninth Air Force sends almost 250 B-26s and A-20s to bomb Camp-de-Bitche, France, military camp; rail bridges at Grevenbroich and Ahrweiler, Germany; city areas of Langerwehe and Aldenhoven, Germany, and Venraij, the Netherlands; and various targets of opportunity. Escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance and rail cutting in the Dusseldorf and Aachen, Germany, and Belfort, France, areas, and support the VIII, XII, XV, and XX Corps in eastern France and western Germany.
NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the 3d Division attacks southward against the Peel Marshes salient, clearing Overloon. The U.S. 7th Armored Division provides a diversionary demonstration along the Deurne-Venray road.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 86 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos to attack the Fort Frederick Hendrik gun battery near Breskens; 92 aircraft attack the target and destroy two of the four gun positions. No aircraft are lost.
During the night of 12/13 October, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 675: eight B-24 Liberators are dispatched to drop leaflets over the country; two aircraft are lost.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the last elements of the 5th Infantry Division withdraw from Fort Driant, during the night of 12/13 October.
GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division with an objective of taking Wuerselen and closing the Aachen gap, is prevented from doing this by series of German counterattacks aimed at widening the Aachen corridor and forcing the corps back to the line Bardenberg-Euchen. The Germans are thrown back at Birk, southeast of Bardenberg, and at the northern Wuerselen with the aid of aircraft and artillery, but new panzer units are identified, indicating a major reinforcement of the region. Corps regroups to meet this threat. In the VII Corps area, in preparation for main assault on Aachen, the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, clears the factory district between Aachen and Haaren. Air and artillery bombardment of Aachen continues. In the Huertgen Forest, a German counterattack severs the main supply route of the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, on the east-west trail leading into Germeter.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 111 Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters to attack the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil plant at Wanne-Eickel; 130 bomb the target. A direct hit on a storage tank early in the raid produces dense cloud and smoke which hinder later bombing. A German report says that the refinery itself is not seriously damaged but that the GAVEG chemical factory is destroyed; it is possible that the bombers are aiming at the wrong target.
During the night of 12/13 October, RAF Bomber Command sends Mosquitos to bomb seven targets: 46 hit Hamburg, five attack a chemical plant at Wiesbaden, four each bomb Koblenz and the Lohausen airfield at Dusseldorf, two hit Schweinfurt, and one each bomb Dusseldorf and, Essen.
U-2513 commissioned.
U-3025 laid down.
ITALY: In the U.S Fifth Army’s IV Corps area, Task Force 92 pushes to the crest of Mt. Cauala but is again forced to retire. Efforts to take Mt. Cauala are suspended for the next few days. In the II Corps area, the 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, extends eastward as it continues, in conjunction with Combat Command A of the 1st Armored Division, to attack the Monterumici hill mass. The 91st Infantry Division gets additional elements up the Livergnano escarpment but is unable to clear it. A battalion of the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, attacks north on the crest of Mt. delle Formiche; the Germans defend Hill 578 against attacks of the 337th Infantry Regiment. The 88th Infantry Division continues to attack Mt. delle Tombe and clears the Gesso ridge.
The British Eighth Army is ordered to release the Indian 4th Division and the Greek 3d Mountain Brigade for service outside Italy. In the V Corps area, corps presses from the Rubicone River toward the Savio and Cesena Rivers. The Indian 10th Division advances its left flank to Mt. de Erta, east of the Savio River; elements crossing the Rubicone River to the north are held up in Sorrivoli. Attacking across the Rubicone River on right flank of the corps, the 46th Division takes Casale.
Twelfth Air Force medium bombers, supporting the US Fifth Army, attack communications, supply dumps, and bivouac and barracks areas south of Bologna; fighter-bombers and XII Fighter Command fighters, mainly in support of the US Fifth Army, blast supply dumps, gun positions, troop concentrations, and communications in the high country south of Bologna while the RAF Desert Air Force gives similar support to the British Eighth Army in the Rimini area.
Six hundred ninety eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, with fighter support, bomb ammunition and fuel dumps and depots, bivouac area, barracks, vehicle repair shop, munitions factory and targets of opportunity in the Bologna area (Operation PANCAKE) supporting the U.S. Fifth Army offensive in that sector; four aircraft are lost. One other aircraft bombs an airfield as a target of opportunity.
During the night of 12/13 October, 62 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit the marshalling yard at Bronzolo.
HUNGARY: Troops of Soviet Second Ukrainian Front take Oradea in Transylvania and continue the battle for Debrecen.
One hundred sixty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs strafe the mainline railroad and Danube River traffic in the Vienna, Austria-Gyor, Hungary-Budapest, Hungary, areas and strafe Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary, disrupting traffic and destroying many Axis airplanes.
YUGOSLAVIA: A joint force of Tito's partisans and Russian soldiers captures Subotica, cutting the Belgrade to Budapest railway line.
GREECE: Athens is declared an open city by the retreating Germans as British paratroopers take Athens airport. The declaration preserves the city and its monuments from the devastation of combat. Meanwhile, the Germans evacuate Piraeus southwest of Athens and British troops land on Corfu, an island in the Ionian Islands off the coast of Albania and Greece. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
Advance detachment of British 4th Parachute Battalion and Royal Engineers is dropped in Megara area to secure and repair airfield. Piraeus and Kalamata are found to be clear of the Germans.
ALBANIA: A British commando force from Land Forces, Adriatic, lands in the Sarande area of southern Albania.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Around 700 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, with fighter support, bomb ammunition and fuel dumps and depots, bivouac area, barracks, vehicle repair shop, munitions factory and targets of opportunity in the Bologna, Italy, area (Operation PANCAKE) supporting the US Fifth Army offensive in that sector. 160 P-51s strafe the mainline railroad and Danube River traffic in the Vienna, Austria-Gyor, Hungary-Budapest, Hungary, areas and strafe Seregelyes Airfield, Hungary, disrupting traffic and destroying many enemy airplanes.
Destroyer HMS Loyal (G 15) runs over an acoustic mine in the Tyrrhenian Sea and suffers immense shock damage. All machinery and armament on board is affected by the blast and she is paid paid off until finally being broken up in 1948. (Alex Gordon)(108)
BURMA: 18 Tenth Air Force P-47s bomb railroad targets in the Naba-Mawlu rail corridor damaging a bridge approach, and strike troops and stores near Nayakaung; 12 other P-47s hit various targets at Pintha and Nyaunggon; and 4 B-25s knock out a bridge just north of Lashio and 3 others knock out a bridge at Kawlin and damage tracks near the Man Pwe bridge.
CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s and 12 P-40s attack the Chefang storage area and a bridge and general targets of opportunity in the Mangshih area; 40+ P-40s and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance covering wide areas of southern China and extending into western Burma attack troop concentrations, river traffic, storage areas, and buildings in areas around Taochuan, Kweiping, Hsinganhsien, Yuncheng, Tanchuk, and Hsenwi.
JAPAN: Eleventh Air Force B-24s attack the airfield and shipping targets in the Matsuwa Island-Onnekotan Island area in the Kurile Islands.
NEW GUINEA: From his headquarters at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, issues orders for the invasion of Luzon, Philippine Islands, to be undertaken by the U.S. Sixth Army’s I Corps (6th and 43d Infantry Divisions, reinforced) and XIV Corps (37th and 40th Infantry Divisions, reinforced). The 25th Infantry and 11th Airborne Divisions, Regimental Combat Team 158, the 6th Ranger Battalion, and the 13th Armored Group constitute the reserve and follow-up forces. Various service units are assigned as army and corps troops.
In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Manokwari and Utarom Airfields and A-20 Havocs bomb pillboxes in the Sarmi area.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island
in the Palau Islands, Lieutenant General Roy Geiger opens the III Amphibious
Corps Command Post ashore and declares the assault and occupation phase at an
end. The 1st Marine Division is now responsible only for the Umurbrogol Pocket.
The Army’s 321st Infantry Regiment takes responsibility for the eastern arm of
the island and begins relieving Marine units. Island Garrison Force takes over
the region south of the Umurbrogol Pocket. Fighting continues it will be
declared completely occupied on September 30 by Admiral Fort.
EAST CHINA SEA: US naval TF 38 begins a series of attacks on FORMOSA. Between today and the
14th 2,350 sorties will be flown. US losses are 71 aircraft, damage to the carrier Franklin cruiser Houston and cruiser HMAS
Canberra which was torpedoed.( This happened on the 13th, local time.)
Task Force 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) launches 1,000+ aircraft from 17 aircraft carriers against Japanese shipping, airfields, and industrial plants on Formosa, regarded as the strongest and best-developed base south of the homeland proper, and on northern Luzon, Philippine Islands. The aircraft fly 1,378 sorties today and they sink 4 transports, a cargo ship, 4 IJA cargo ships, 5 merchant cargo ships and 8 merchant tankers and damage several other ships. Opposition is unexpectedly strong and 48USNaircraft are lost. USN fighters destroy 211 Japanese aircraft, mostly fighters, between 0700 and 1442 hours. Late in the day, based on reports from inexperienced pilots, the Japanese order hundreds of carrier aircraft to reinforce Formosa to fight an all-out battle.
Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan bomb AA positions on Marcus Island in the North Pacific, and the airfield area on Pagan Island in the Marianas. P-47s hit the Pagan Island Airfield area with bombs and rockets and B-24s from Kwajalein Atoll bomb Wake Island during the night of 12/13 October.
In the Mariana Islands, the first Twentieth Air Force B-29, JOLTIN' JOSIE, THE PACIFIC PIONEER, arrives on Saipan, piloted by Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell, Jr, Commanding General XXI Bomber Command, for whom temporary HQ are set up on the island.
JOLTIN' JOSIE was a B-29-40-BW, USAAF s/n 42-24614, msn 4275, assigned to the 498th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy), XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force and coded T Square 5. She was lost on the night of 1/2 April 1945 on XXI Bomber Command Mission 51 against the Tokyo industrial area.
Two USN and a RN submarine sink a Japanese transport, destroyer and cargo ship. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
BONIN ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan bomb the harbor and shipping at Chichi Jima and shipping south of Haha Jima.
EAST INDIES: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Ambesia, Langoan, Mapanget, and Sidate Airfields on Celebes Island. B-25s, A-20s, and P-47s again attack airfields at Liang and Laha on Ambon Island, Namlea on Buru Island, Kairatoe on Celebes Island and Haroekoe on Haroekoe Island, and the town of Boela on Ceram Island. P-38s hit numerous targets of opportunity on Halmahera Island. In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Manokwari and Urarom and A-20s bomb pillboxes in the Sarmi area.
U.S.A.: The "Columbus Day Riot" occurs in New York City as 25,000 swooning teenagers, mostly young girls, stop traffic in Times Square in front of the Paramount Theatre where Frank Sinatra is making his first appearance since December 1942. The bobbysoxers block the streets, screaming and swooning for Frankie driving the police crazy.
The motion picture "Mrs. Parkington" premieres in New York City today. Based on the Louis Bromfield novel, this drama is directed by Tay Garnett and stars Greer Garson, Walter Pidegeon, Edward Arnold, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kelloway, Peter Lawford, Dan Duryea, Hugh Marlowe and Hans Conried with Donna Reed appearing in an uncredited role. This soap opera has hotel maid Garson marrying rich Pidgeon and moving to New York City where she recounts the rise and fall of the family fortunes in flashbacks. The film is nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Actress (Garson) and Best Supporting Actress (Moorehead).
Destroyer USS Putnam commissioned.
The top songs on the pop record charts today are: "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore; "Is You is or is You Ain't My Baby" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters; "Together" by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes; and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: During a Schnorchel failure the crew of U-483 suffered a CO2 poisoning where 1 man died. [Funkmaat Gustav Hoffmann].