November 3rd, 1944 (FRIDAY)
NETHERLANDS: The Germans end their resistance in the "Breskens pocket", and the Canadians capture 12,500 for the loss of 314 dead.
In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Canadian 3d Division finishes clearing the Breskens Pocket. Some 12,500 prisoners have been taken during the operation. Substantial progress is made by the British 52d Division, reinforced by the 4th Special Service Brigade, on Walcheren Island. The assault forces from Westkapelle join with those from Flushing. Positions in eastern Walcheren are extended. In the British I Corps area, German delaying line along the Mark River collapses as the 49th Division and the U.S. 104th Infantry Division expand bridgeheads, but many strongpoints remain. The Polish 1st Armored Division establishes a bridgehead near Zevenbergen on the right flank of corps; the Canadian 4th Armoured Division, on the left flank, improves positions in Steenbergen area.
In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division continues to clear the northwest bank of Canal du Nord, overrunning the villages of Honk and Ospel.
FRANCE: Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave departed Le Havre under tow for Devonport.
In the U.S. Third Army area, XX and XII Corps issue orders for an offensive. XX Corps is to eliminate the Metz garrison, secure crossing of the Sarre River in the Saarburg area, and, upon order, continue an offensive toward the northeast. The XII Corps, attacking between 5 and 8 November, is to seize Faulquemont, secure a Rhine River bridgehead between Oppenheim and Mannheim, and, tentatively, push to the Darmstadt area. In the XX Corps zone, 3d Cavalry Group moves forward at night to eliminate a small German pocket west of the Moselle River at Berg-sur-Moselle.
In the French First Army's II Corps area, the 3d Algerian Division, in a limited attack toward Gerardmer, arouses strong opposition.
GERMANY: U-2359, U-3530 laid down.
In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division crosses the Kall River and takes Kommerscheidt and Schmidt, but the 110th and 109th Infantry Regiments make little or no progress on the flanks. Schmidt is on the main supply route of the Germans in the Lammersdorf Corridor.
Over 140 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs hit a rail overpass at Kaiserslautern, and rail bridges at Neuwied-Irlich, Bad Munster am Stein, Morscheid and Konz-Karthaus while fighters fly armed reconnaissance, ground forces cover, attack railroads, bridge, and observation posts and escort 9th Bombardment Division aircraft.
Eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers hit a marshalling yard at Munich.
During the night of 3/4 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 64 Mosquitos to hit two targets: 53 bomb Berlin and eight bomb Herford.
AUSTRIA: Forty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, in an operation adapted to bad weather and flying without escort, bomb a number of targets: 17 bomb an aircraft factory at Klagenfurt; in Vienna, 15 hit the Schonbrunn ordnance depot while two bomb the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery; two attack the Main marshalling yard at Graz; and one each bombs the railroad at Feldbach and the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck.
ITALY: Lieutenant General Sir Richard McCreery is appointed to command the British 8th Army.
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, a local attack by 4th Division brings such sharp German reaction that it is decided to attack in strength when weather conditions improve. Positions across the Ronco River are gradually strengthened during the next few days in preparation for renewing the offensive.
Heavy clouds over most of northern Italy begin to disperse. USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers are still grounded but fighter-bombers manage to fly eight sorties against gun positions in the mountains south of Bologna.
FINLAND: The Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta) volunteer defence organization is disbanded as demanded by the Soviets. In the Soviet opinion the Suojeluskunta is one of the 'hitlerite' organizations that Finland has to disband as per the Peace Treaty.
The German 20.Gebirgsarmee evacuates the mineral-rich Petsamo region in northern Finland.
CHINA: Chinese troops retake Lungling, in Yunnan province and, in north Burma, reach the Irrawaddy river at Shegwu.
BURMA: On the Salween front, Chinese Hon 1st Division recovers Lung-ling, the scene of hard fighting for some months. In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the Chinese 22d Division reaches the Irrawaddy River in the vicinity of Shwegu without opposition and prepares to cross.
Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, supported by 18 P-47 Thunderbolts, hit Nawnghkio Airfield; a single B-25 attacks targets of opportunity between Myitkyina and Lashio; 90+ fighter-bombers attack bridges, enemy forces, town areas and numerous targets of opportunity at and Hinlong, China, and Kawngmu, Namhai, Tonlon, Ho-hko, Namhsum, Hkusan, Hkawngwa, Wingkang, Namhkam, and south of Mansi.
Forty nine B-29 Superfortresses of the USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command based in the Calcutta, India area, bomb the Malagon railroad yards; almost as many others hit alternate targets.
SOUTHEAST ASIA: Sixty nine USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings, P-40s and P-51 Mustangs, on armed reconnaissance over eastern Burma, southwest and southeast China, and northern French Indochina hit targets of opportunity in the Lungling, China area, damage a railroad bridge south of Lashio, Burma, hit the town of Mangshih, China and destroy a nearby warehouse. In China, the fighter-bombers hit the town areas and docks at Takhing and Tengyun, attack troops in the Mosun area, destroy two Japanese fighters near Amoy, hit trains at Hongay, French Indochina, and bomb areas on Hainan Island.
JAPAN: The first Japanese Fugo Balloon Bombs are launched against the United States. The balloons measure about 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and 70 feet (21 meters) from the top of the balloon to the payload at the bottom. The payload consists of 36 sand-filled paper bags for use as ballast, four incendiary bombs and one 33-pound (15 kilogram) anti-personnel bomb. The balloons begin their three to five day journey from Japan at an altitude of about 35,000 feet (10 668 meters), usually traveling at speeds between 80 and 120 miles per hour (129 and 193 kilometers per hour). As gas slowly leaks from the balloon, they descend in altitude. When they fall to about 25,000 feet (7 620 meters), a barometric pressure switch causes one of the ballast sandbags to be dropped, and the balloons will rise again to 35,000 feet (10 668 meters). This up and down pattern continues as the balloons cross the Pacific Ocean. When the balloons reaches the West Coast of North America, they are desi gned to have exhausted their supply of ballast sandbags and the bombs will then be used as ballast, with one bomb being dropped with each descent to 25,000 feet (7 620 meters) as they travel across land. After the final bomb is dropped, a fuse is ignited and the balloon will destroy itself in a bright orange fireball. It is estimated that about 9,000 of the balloons are launched by the Japanese between November 1944 and April 1945, but it is believed that less than 500 of them actually reach North America, with most of the rest self-destructing over, or falling into the sea. Of those that did reach land, some are seen exploding in the air and others are found on the ground in remote areas, usually with the bomb loads missing but occasionally with some bombs still attached. The balloons reach Alaska, Canada, Mexico and 16 U.S. states, traveling as far east as Michigan and Texas. Most of the balloons are sighted or found in western provinces and states, i.e., British Columbia,
Washington, Oregon, California, and Montana. Several minor forest fires, in California and Oregon, are possibly caused by the balloons, but this is never completely verified.
VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan continue armed reconnaissance and snooper missions over Iwo Jima.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte, Japanese reinforcements moving up the Ormoc Valley are hit with good effect by aircraft. The U.S. Sixth Army: Issues an order for a converging drive on Ormoc by the X and XXIV Corps. In the X Corps area, 34th Infantry Regiment of 24th Infantry Division takes Capoocan with ease and continues toward Pinamopoan until held up by a Japanese strongpoint. In the XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, attacks west of Dagami toward ridge, later called Bloody Ridge, moving through a rice paddy, but is so heavily opposed that it withdraws after nightfall. One battalion column advances to Patok and another moves up to reinforce the 1st Battalion. The 1st Battalion withstands a strong counterattack, during the night of 3/4 November.
USAAF Far East Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Alicante Airfield on Negros Island and P-40s hit a highway and oil dump north of Ormoc on Leyte Island. During the night of 3/4 Nov harassing strikes are flown at airfields in the central Philippine Islands.
Japanese aircraft raid U.S. shipping and airfield facilities at Tacloban, Leyte Island; U.S. freighter SS Matthew P. Deady is crashed by a kamikaze that is engaged with intense antiaircraft fire from the Armed Guard; the explosion of the crashing suicide plane starts a fire in the cargo that threatens the ship. Although firefighting efforts are successful, two Armed Guard sailors (of the 27-man detachment) and 26 troops (of the 300 on board) perish in the attack.
USN Submarine USS Cero (SS-225) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon.
EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies during the night of 3/4 November, harassing strikes are flown by USAAF Far East Air Forces aircraft to airfields on the northeast peninsula of Celebes Island, and on Halmahera Island.
NEW GUINEA: A group of American and Australian WACs arrive at Ora Bay on the southern coast of the island. They have been trained in cryptography, Hepburn Kana (an English syllabery to convert Japanese characters (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) into western phonetics), Japanese grammatical structure and Japanese vocabulary for military and shipping terms. They include Mary Blakemore of Virginia.
USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells bomb Babo Airfield in Dutch New Guinea. Meanwhile in Northeast New Guinea, nine Australian Beauforts bomb targets of opportunity between Niap and Wewak.
MARIANAS ISLANDS: Japanese planes raid USAAF airbases on Saipan and Tinian, as part of a series of strikes on this area from which B-29 Superfortress missions against the Japanese home islands are launched.
BONIN ISLANDS: Fourteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam bomb shipping at Chichi Jima and Haha Jima.
MARCUS ISLAND: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan continue armed reconnaissance and snooper missions over Marcus. 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 USS Pintado (SS-387) attacks a small detachment of Japanese warships and sinks destroyer HIJMS Akikaze about 243 nautical miles (449 kilometers) northwest of Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands, in position 16.50N, 117.29E.
CANADA: Tug HMCS Glenevis commissioned.
U.S.A.: Frigate USS Hingham commissioned.
A secret OSS report originating in Stockholm stated that U-boats armed with V-1s would shortly sail on a patrol against New York; this was the second such report in a week.