November 2nd, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Headquarters USAAF Eighth Air Force is ordered to increase the size of the 406th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command, the night leaflet squadron, as the liberation of Europe and the conquest of Germany accelerate.
WESTERN EUROPE: In Germany, 147 USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division, with fighter escort, attack rail bridges at Mayen, Euskirchen, Bullay, Konz-Karthaus, and Trier. Fighters attack bridges, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol, and provide support for ground forces in frontline areas.
NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the 157th Brigade of the British 52d Division relieves Canadian 2d Division forces at the Walcheren causeway, where the Germans continues to resist tenaciously; to ease pressure, elements of 156th Brigade cross the Slooe Channel about 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) south of the causeway after nightfall; Flushing is cleared of the Germans. The British I Corps attacks across the Mark River late in day after a heavy artillery preparation. The 49th and U.S. 104th Infantry Divisions establish bridgeheads, the 104th in the Standdaarbuiten area and the 49th to the west. The 104th Infantry Divsion clears the village of Standdaarbuiten.
A German counterattack begins against the US 3rd Army.
In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division begins limited attacks to clear the Germans from Canal du Nord.
BELGIUM: Zeebrugge and Heyst are cleared along the Channel coast behind the main attacks. British Field Marshal Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group, orders extensive regrouping after Schelde Estuary and southwestern Holland are cleared in preparation for offensive by British Second Army to destroy the German bridgehead west of the Maas River as prerequisite for the Rhineland battle.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Commanding General 12th Army Group, while visiting Army headquarters, asks if Third Army can begin an offensive alone, since the First Army cannot attack until British release two U.S. divisions; he is told that Third Army can attack on 24-hour notice. The Third Army offensive will begin when weather conditions permit softening of enemy; in the event of poor weather conditions, XII Corps will attack on 8 November.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, elements of VI Corps begin relieving the French 2d Armored Division in the southeastern part of the XV Corps sector, but French retain positions along the Blette River for some days to come. Pushing northward northwest of St Die, the 15th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 3d Infantry Division takes Nompatelize without opposition, but the Germans still holds La Salle, to the south.
In the French First Army area, General Jean de Lattre commander of the First Army, is charged with conduct of Operation INDEPENDENCE, the French offensive toward Belfort.
GERMANY: In U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division, after an hour-long artillery preparation, begins a drive on Schmidt: the 112th Infantry Regiment, with tank support, seizes Vossenack Ridge, but the main effort by rest of regiment to drive southeast from Richelskaul toward Kommerscheidt and Schmidt is stopped at once; the 109th Infantry Regiment gets elements to the woods line overlooking Huertgen on the north flank, but 110th Infantry Regiment is unable to advance on the south flank.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 698: 1,174 bombers and 968 fighters in five forces are dispatched to hit synthetic oil installations in central Germany and rail targets at Bielefeld; an estimated 500 Luftwaffe fighters meet the bombers at Merseburg and the USAAF claims 163-40-52 Luftwaffe aircraft; 40 bombers and 16 fighters are lost: 571 bombers hit the I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Merseberg; 131 bomb the Rauxel synthetic oil refinery at Castrop; 120 attack the Schildesche railroad viaduct at Bielefeld while 31 hit the Brake railroad viaduct; 119 hit synthetic oil refinery at Sterkrade; 35 hit the industrial area at Bernburg; 23 bomb the industrial area at Halle; 20 each attack the marshalling yards at Bielefeld and Rheine; and 24 bomb targets of opportunity.
Over GERMANY: 2nd Lt. Robert E. Femoyer, the severely wounded navigator aboard a badly damaged 447th BG (H) B-17, refuses relief or even a sedative so that he can remain at his post for more than two hours in order to guide the crippled airplane home. Although the bomber lands safely at its home base, Femoyer soon dies of his wounds. He is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
VIII Fighter Command fighter pilots down a record 136 GAF fighters over Germany between 1210 and 1415 hours.
Capt. Donald S. Bryan, a 6.333 victory P-51 ace with the 328th FS/352nd FG, downs dive and damages two Bf 109s near Merseburg between 1230 and 1250 hours.
8th AF fighter losses:
20th FG: Capt. Jerome C. Serros, 55 FS, KIA P-51D KI*G 44-13838 "Okie Blokie" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out east of the Zuider Zee.
Lt. Jack W. Kennedy, 77 FS, KIA P-51D LC*M 44-13746 "Little Sister" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out off Ostend.
Lt. Richard L. Van Woert, 77 FS, KIA P-51D LC*U 44-13840 "Van's Can" Hit by e/a near Merseburg.
55th FG: Lt. Fred L. Sturgess, 38 FS, POW P-51D CG*I 44-13747 "Six-Gun Pete" Hit by e/a near Leipzig.
352nd FG: Lt. Glenn R. Clark, 328 FS, POW P-51D PE*D 44-11153 "Mom and Dad" Hit by e/a near Halberstadt.
Capt. Henry J. Miklajcyk, 486 FS, KIA P-51D PZ*K 44-13690 "The Syracusan 3rd" Hit by enemy fighters near Halle.
353rd FG: Lt. Lester M. Grainger, 350 FS, ASR P-51D LH*G Ran out of fuel and bailed out over the English Channel.
355th FG: Lt. Albert A. Zimmerman, 354 FS, KIA P-51D WR*M 44-13630 Suffered mechanical failure and bellied in near Voorthoszen.
Capt. Joseph C. Englebreit, 357 FS, POW P-51D OS*C 44-14203 "Spook III" Hit by flak while strafing near Wernigerode.
357th FG: Maj. Lawrence P. Giarizzo, 362 FS, KIA P-51D G4*H 44-13745 Lost a wing while chasing e/a near Naumberg.
361st FG: Lt. Charles E. Moore, 375 FS, KIA P-51B E2* 42-106900 Hit by e/a near Roedgen.
364th FG: Lt. William T. Housholder, 385 FS, KIA P-51D 5E*H 44-14006 Hit by an Me-109 near Merseburg. (Skip Guidry)
1st Lt. James J. Pascoe, a P-51 pilot with the 385th FS/354th FG, achieves ace status when he downs two Bf 109s near Hale at 1235 hours.
The 487nd FS/352nd FG becomes the only 8th AF squadron to be awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The squadron downed 38 GAF aircraft in one day, the second highest squadron tally in the theater. (Skip Guidry)
During the day, 183 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters carry out a G-H attack on the Meerbeck oil plant at Homberg. Large fires and a thick column of smoke are seen. Four Lancasters are lost.
During the night of 2/3 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 699: Three B-17 Flying Fortresses and five B-24 Liberators drop leaflets over Germany.
During the night of 2/3 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 992 aircraft, 561 Lancasters, 400 Halifaxes and 31 Mosquitos, to attack Düsseldorf; 946 bomb the target with the loss of 11 Halifaxes and eight Lancasters. This heavy attack falls mainly on the northern half of Düsseldorf. More than 5,000 houses are destroyed or badly damaged, seven industrial premises are destroyed and 18 are seriously damaged, including some important steel firms. This was the last major Bomber Command raid of the war on Düsseldorf. In other attacks by Mosquitos, 41 aircraft hit Osnabrück, six bomb Hallendorf , two each attack Brunswick and Duisburg, and one hits Hannover.
U-3016 launched.
AUSTRIA: Bad weather curtails operations of the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force but six aircraft bomb the Moosbierbaum synthetic oil refinery in Vienna and one bombs Klagenfurt.
HUNGARY: The Soviet Army enters the southeastern suburbs of Budapest.
POLAND: The order issued by Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer-SS and Head of the German Police, on 26 October arrives at Auschwitz concentration camp: "I forbid any further annihilation of Jews." Upon his further orders, all but one of the crematoriums are dismantled, the burning pits covered up and planted over with grass, and the gas pipes and other equipment shipped to concentration camps in Germany. The single remaining crematorium is for the disposal of those who die of natural causes and the gassing of about 200 surviving members of the Sonderkommando. The final solution is formally over. Yet tens of thousands of Jews will continue to die of brutality and neglect. (Apparatus)
U.S.S.R.: Zadar is liberated by Soviet Partisians.
ITALY: Casseta falls to the Allied advance.
The U.S. Fifth Army issues instructions, confirming verbal orders of 30 October, for future operations during the current winter lull, calling for the consolidation of the Bologna salient and limited action on its flanks. .
In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps remains in place because of tenuous communication lines.
Clouds over the Po Valley prevent USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bomber operations; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft are also grounded due to unserviceable fields and bad weather over Italian battle areas.
YUGOSLAVIA: Tito's partisans capture the Dalmatian port of Zadar.
BURMA: The Hurricane IICs of No. 11 Squadron RAF are the first Allied aircraft to operate from Burma since 1942. (22)
In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the Indian 5th Division reduces the Japanese strongpoint, known as Vital Corner, below Tiddim, with assistance of air and artillery bombardment.
Headquarters USAAF Tenth Air Force moves from New Delhi, India to Myitkyina.
Over 80 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit a variety of targets; the fighter-bombers bomb a bridge at Ho-hko, support ground forces at Myothit, bomb supply dumps at Namdaungmawn, personnel and supply areas at Naungletgyi and Mawtaung, knock out a bridge at Meza, hit nearby railroad cars, attack airfields at Nawnghkio and Sinlanzu and strike boats and boxcars south of Katha. Eight B-25 Mitchells knock out two bridges at Tangon and Tantabin while a single B-25 bombs Indaw.
JAPAN: A USAAF Twentieth Air Force XXI Bomber Command F-13 Superfortress (photographic reconnaissance version of the B-29) is the first U.S. aircraft to fly over the Japanese home islands since the Doolittle Raid of April 1942.
In the Kurile Islands, four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Suribachi on Paramushiru Island and Onnekotan Island while four B-25 Mitchells on a photo and offensive sweep bomb targets at Torishima Island and Hayakegawa setting fire to 15 buildings, including a cannery.
SOUTHEAST ASIA: Over 100 USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance over southwest and southeast China and northern French Indochina attack targets of opportunity in the Lungling and Mangshih, China, area, knock out bridge at Dara, Thailand, and hit Nantingshun and Pinglo, China. The fighter-bombers also damage four factories at Kweilin China, hit tanks and troop concentrations north of town, attack targets of opportunity near Pinglo, Tahsu and east of Yungfu, and the airfield, barracks, town area, and trains at Gia Lam, French Indochina.
EAST INDIES: During the night of 2/3 November, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Makassar on Celebes Island, concentrating on the wharf area.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: With the clearance of the entire Leyte Valle, the U.S. Sixth Army completes the second phase of the battle for Leyte Island. In the X Corps area, the 1st Cavalry and 24th Infantry Divisions forces converge on undefended Cangara, near the northern entrance to Ormoc Valley, and make contact. In the XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division relieves the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, in the vicinity of Dagami and engages the Japanese west of Dagami. The 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, reaches Baybay, on the coast, at 2200 hours.
USAAF Far East Air Force B-24 Liberators over Ormoc Bay, Leyte Island, attack a Japanese convoy, sinking an army cargo ships; P-38 Lightnings hit smaller shipping in Ormoc Bay, strafe vehicles from Ormoc to Valencia on Mindanao Island, and bomb San Enrique; on Mindanao Island. B-25 Mitchells attack Matina, Libby, Davao and Likanan Airfields.
BONIN ISLANDS: Eleven USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Saipan bomb Chichi Jima.
PALAU ISLANDS: US forces renew their efforts to crush Japanese positions on Mount Umurbrogol, but meet strong resistance.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: As weather conditions improve in the Palau Islands, the 323d Infantry Regiment of the 81st Infantry Division opens an attack to complete the reduction of the Umurbrogol Pocket on Peleliu Island but makes little headway.
Seventeen B-29 Superfortresses of the USAAF Twentieth Air Force’s XXI Bomber Command in the Mariana Islands, bomb the submarine pens on Dublon Island, Truk Atoll.
MARCUS ISLAND: Three USAAF B-24 Liberators from Guam, on armed reconnaissance, hit Marcus Island. 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: USN Submarine Operations:
1100: USS BARBERO (SS-317) sinks an army cargo ship at 04-30 S, 118-20E in Makassar Strait. (Skip Guidry)
Nine Japanese twin-engine aircraft swoop down for a low-level attack on Isley and Kohler Fields on Saipan. The intruders do little damage and three are destroyed.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Buckingham commissioned.
Tug HMCS Martinville assigned to Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Defence Minister J.L. Ralston resigns as Minister of National Defence over the issue of conscription (drafting) for overseas service. Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton replaces him with a specific mandate to solve the conscription issue but he will prove unable to find a solution.
U.S.A.:
Destroyer USS William W Wood laid down.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-548 was commissioned with LTJG N. R. Samuelson, USCGR, as first commanding officer. He was succeeded on 11 September 1945 by LTJG James E. Warren, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific and Western Pacific areas, including Leyte, etc.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-181 sank SS Fort Lee.
U-295 sank HMS Mounsey in Convoy RA-61.