November 6th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Carron commissioned.
WESTERN EUROPE: Weather grounds the USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division; fighters, during armed reconnaissance, attack railroads and bridges; the IX Tactical Air Command also supports ground forces in the Schmidt, Germany area.
NETHERLANDS: II Corps takes Middleburg, the largest settlement on Walcheren Island.
ETO: 8th AF fighter losses:
4th FG: Lt. John L. Childs, 334 FS, KIA P-51D QP*Z 44-14772 Hit by an Fw 190 near Rheine.
Lt. Earl C. Walsh, 334 FS, POW P-51D QP*N 44-14229 Hit by an Me 109 near Rheine.
55th FG: Lt. Paul R. Porter, 343 FS, KIA P-51D CY*K 44-13874 "Junie Bug II" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out over the English Channel.
364th FG: Lt. Stanley M. Pettengill, 383 FS, POW P-51D N2*B 44-13906 "Doc" Suffered mechanical failure and bailed out north of Amsterdam.
469th FG: Lt. Marion W. Steele, 436 FS, KIA P-51D 9B* 44-11201 Suffered mechanical failure and crashed into the North Sea.
(Skip Guidry)
NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army area, II Corps clears Middelburg, on Waicheren Island. The British I Corps continues to eliminate scattered strongpoints south of the Maas River. The Polish 1st Armored Division, assisted by elements of the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, begins an attack on Moerdijk, on the German's escape route. The main body of the 104th Infantry Division starts to Aachen, Germany.
In the British Second Army area, the 15th Division continues a limited action north of Meijel.
GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's V Corps area, the 28th Infantry Division repels further attacks against Kommerscheidt but is forced from the eastern end of Vossenack. The attack on Schmidt by Task Force R is postponed.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 704: 1,131 bombers and 802 fighters in six waves make Pathfinder Force attacks on the oil industry and marshalling yards (M/Ys) in western Germany; five bombers and five fighters are lost: 280 attack two oil refineries in Hamburg, 142 bombing the Grass-Rhen refinery and 138 the Ebano refinery; 231 bomb the M/Y at Neumunster; 209 hit an aqueduct at Minden; 134 bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Sterkrade; 87 attack the Welheim refinery at Bottrop; 65 hit the benzine refinery at Duisburg; 44 bomb the M/Y at Rheydt; 23 bomb the Bf 109 airplane repair facility at Neumunster; 12 attack the M/Y at Hamm; and ten hit targets of opportunity.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 738 bombers, 383 Halifaxes, 324 Lancasters and 31 Mosquitos, to bomb Gelsenkirchen; 693 bomb the city with the loss of three Lancasters and two Halifaxes. This large daylight raid has, as its aiming point, the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant. The attack is not well concentrated but 514 aircraft are able to bomb the approximate position of the oil plant before smoke obscures the ground; 187 aircraft then bomb the general town area of Gelsenkirchen.
During the night of 6/7 November, 235 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos of RAF Bomber Command attempt to cut the Mittelland Canal at its junction with the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Gravenhorst. The marking force experiences great difficulty in finding the target. The crew of a low-flying Mosquito find the canal and dropped their marker with such accuracy that it fell into the water and is extinguished. Only 31 aircraft bomb, before the Master Bomber orders the raid to be abandoned. Ten Lancasters are lost. Koblenz is the target assigned to 128 Lancasters making a night G-H attack; 123 bomb the target with the loss of two Lancasters lost. This is a successful raid with most of the damage being caused by a large area of fire in the centre of the town. The British Bombing Survey Unit later estimates that 303 acres (123 hectares), 58 per cent of the town's built-up area, are destroyed. Bomber Command Mosquitos are also active: 47 bomb Gelsenkirchen, 17 hit Hannover, 11 attack Rhein e and 8 bomb Herford; one aircraft is lost. Finally, 12 Lancasters lay mines off Heligoland Island.
U-2347 launched.
U-3033 laid down.
AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack industrial targets and marshalling yards (M/Ys) in Vienna and various other cities with the loss of four aircraft: 452 bombers hit three targets in Vienna, 220 bombing the Schonbrunn ordnance depot, 185 hitting the Moosbierbaum benzine refinery and 47 attack the Vosendorf oil refinery; 38 hit the Strashof marshalling yard; 31 bomb the Kapfenburg steel works; 25 attack the Main M/Y at Graz; and five others hit targets of opportunity.
FINLAND: The Finnish Advance in northwest Finland stops in front of a strong German defense line. No real attacks can be attempted since unit strengths are decreasing rapidly because of the demobilization begun on 1 November. Soon only the 1st Division is pushing the Germans to Norway. It's combat value is low and it waits until the Germans leave voluntarily.
ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 4 assumes command of the coastal sector from the 107th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. In the British XIII Corps area, the Indian 8th Division takes Mt. Monsignano without opposition.
In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps moves forward following limited German withdrawal. In the region west of Highway 67, the 3d Carpathian Division takes Mt. Chioda and Mt. Pratello. The 5th Kresowa Division, east of the highway, seizes Mt. Testa, east of Dovadola.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers strike electric transformers and converters, railway bridges and railway fills on the rail line through the Brenner Pass; fighter-bombers and fighters again hit troops and gun positions in the battlelines south of Bologna and communications targets north of the battle area.
Thirteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers bomb power stations at Bolzano and nine hit the industrial area at Salorno.
Eighty two RAF heavy bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb tactical targets at Podgorica.
YUGOSLAVIA: Tito's partisans enter Monastir. The partisans control the entire Greek border.
Twenty six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor.
EGYPT: Lord Moyne, the British Resident Minister in the Middle East, and his driver are shot and killed by two members of the Zionist Stern group in Cairo. The two killers are captured and in their defense they claim that they are carrying out orders from a Zionist terror network operating inside British Mandated Palestine. By finishing off Moyne they are sending a message directly to the highest echelons of the British Foreign Office: "Stop interfering with Jewish immigration into Palestine, or else..." The two are tried, convicted and hung.
INDIA: HQ Army Air Forces, India-Burma Sector, China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater is redesignated Army Air Forces, India-Burma Theater. Headquarters remains near Calcutta.
CHINA: The Japanese threat to Kunming, which is besieged, is by now a matter of serious concern to the U.S. Army’s China Theater headquarters.
USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts destroy and damage bridges at Hinlong.
Sixteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s attack the Mangshih and Lungling areas; and around Chefang and Kweihsien.
BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the 64th Regiment of the Chinese 22d Division crosses the Irrawaddy River and overcomes light opposition in Shwegugale.
Over 70 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts, sweep airfields at Anisakan, Onbauk, Shwebo, Kin, and Kawlin; destroy and damage a bridge at Wingkang; bomb the town of Mawtaung and marshalling yard at Kanbalu; hit boxcars at Wuntho and Meza, boats along the Irrawaddy River from Katha to Twinnge, and attack several scattered targets of opportunity. Twenty eight P-47s fly combat patrols south of Myitkyina while eight 8 B-25 Mitchells bomb the military area at Namun and supply dump at Mansi.
Fifteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighters hit buildings and other targets of opportunity at Wanling.
JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Torishima Island, score a hit on a large building, sink two nearby barges, and probably hit other shipping targets. About 20 Japanese fighters intercept, downing one B-25; the B-25s claim 3 victories.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte Island, the X Corps is ordered by Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, to drive as quickly as possible down Highway 2 to secure Ormoc. The 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, probes Breakneck Ridge in preparation for an attack southward. Forward elements of the 3d Battalion are forced back to beach near Colasian by intense Japanese fire. The 1st Battalion attempts in vain to get into position to support assault on Breakneck Ridge. In XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division clears all but isolated pockets on Bloody Ridge, despite well-prepared Japanese positions.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators strike the airfields at Lahug on Cebu Island and Fabrica on Negros Island while fighter-bombers attack Palompon on Leyte Island, a bridge north of Valencia on Mindanao Island, and barges in Ormoc Bay, Leyte Island.
Carrier-based aircraft of USN Task Force 38 resumes strikes against Luzon; Task Group 38.3 planes sink a Japanese transport in Silanguin Bay while aircraft from aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), in TG 38.3, sink a tanker previously damaged by submarine USS Flier (SS-250) on 13 June 1944, in Mariveles harbor. In two days of attacks, TF 38 aircraft have destroyed an estimated 400 Japanese aircraft, mostly on the ground, with the loss of 25 USN aircraft.
EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Malili on Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies.
Australian (B-25) Mitchells sink a Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser off Soemba Island, Netherlands East Indies.
USN submarine USS Gurnard (SS-254) lays mines off western Borneo.
BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan in the Mariana Islands bomb shipping at Okimura and Higashi-minato and hit Ani Jima Island. During the night of 6/7 November a snooper mission is flown over Iwo Jima airfields and the dispersal areas and runways are bombed.
The blockading of the Nanpo Shoto region, which includes the Bonin and Volcano Islands, by mining begins as Project MIKE commences. USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24s, fly from Guam and stage through Isely Field, Saipan, where the mines are loaded and fuel tanks topped off. The B-24s lay 10 mines off Chichi Jima. Continuing through 24 December 1944, B-24s on Saipan fly 24 missions to lay 170 mines in several anchorages throughout the Bonin Islands.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Twenty three Australian Beauforts attack Japanese positions in the Wide Bay area on New Britain Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: US Navy Special Task Air Group One makes last attack in month long demonstration of TDR drone missile against Japanese shipping and islands in the Pacific. Of 46 missiles fired, 29 reached their target areas. (Robert Wear)
CANADA:
Frigate HMCS Penetang departed builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec for Halifax.
Corvette HMCS Beauharnois departed Halifax for workups in Bermuda.
Frigate HMCS Cape Breton arrived Shelburne NS for refit.
U.S.A.: Franklin Roosevelt is elected to a 4th term as President. Presidents have commonly picked their own choices for Vice-President. These have varied according to the notion of the Presidential nominee -- a "Veep" who would actually be qualified in the unlikely event of filling the top slot has always been the campaign story, but rare in fact. As a rule, they have been picked for purely political reasons -- to "balance" a ticket by putting on it someone from another region; to help garner votes from a particular voting segment; to remove someone likely to be a problem from the political arena (it was one of FDR's early Veep choices, John Nance Garner, who was famously quoted as saying that as a job, the Vice-Presidency "wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit"; or simply to put in somebody who was so apparently inconsequential that he simply filled a required hole into which he would be left for the next four years. Or some combination thereof. A fourth term was truly unique; no other President has ever served more than two, and after FDR a Constitutional Amendment was passed prohibiting more than two. After three others, the last one Henry Wallace, a populist and rather pink "fellow-traveller", this time Roosevelt went the first and fourth routes -- a Southerner who was also an apparent inconsequential. He picked a former WWI Army artillery captain, failed haberdasher, and Kansas City wardheeler who proved to be one of the toughest-minded individuals ever to hold the office of President, and very arguably one of the best -- Harry S Truman.
- In the Presidential race, the Democratic Party candidates, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, defeat the Republican candidates, Governor Thomas E. Dewey and John W. Bricker. Dewey carries 12 states, Roosevelt carries the other 36. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented fourth term with 53.5 percent of the popular vote and 81.4 percent of the Electoral College vote (432 versus 99).
- In the Senate contests, no seats change hands. The Democrats still control the Senate with 57 of 96 seats.
- In the House of Representatives contests, the Democrats gain 21 seats, the Republicans lose 19 and the independents lose two. The Democrats control the House with 243 of 435 seats.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-275 was commissioned at New York. LT H. L. Sutcliffe, USCGR, became her first commanding officer. She departed New York on 3 December 1944, for the Southwest Pacific, where she operated during the war.
Patrol Escort Vessel USS CASPER returns from her two month weather patrol to San Francisco. From here she will operate as a plane guard and weather patrol between California and Pearl Harbor. (Henry Sirotin)
A secret OSS report originating in Stockholm stated that four U-boats armed with V-1s would shortly sail on a patrol against New York; this was the third such report in 10 days.
Submarine USS Tirante commissioned.