November 15th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)
WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 714: six B-17s and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
Weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations and limits fighters; the XIX Tactical Air Command flies armed reconnaissance in the Merzig-Trier-Saarbrucken, Germany area and supports the XX Corps in same area.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division is hit hard by counterattack that reaches Distroff, but forces the Germans to retire and the 357th attacks toward a ridge between Budling and Buding until stopped by fire from Hackenberg works. Combat Command A, 10th Armored Division takes Lemestroff. 95th Infantry Division troops east of the Moselle River are formed into Task Bacon to drive south on Metz. A battalion of the 378th Infantry Regiment captures the Illange forts, ending organized resistance in the northern part of the division zone. The 378th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, takes Fort de Fèves, at the northern end of Canrobert works, and the heights southwest of Bois de Woippy; the 377th Infantry, making their main effort, drives south of Maizières-lès-Metz to La Maxe and Woippy, seizing La Maxe and beginning an assault on Woippy. The 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, takes Augn y and reaches the edge of Frescaty Airport; the 10th Infantry finishes clearing Bois de l'Hopital and enters Marly, where bitter fighting ensues; the 2d Infantry repels German drives toward Sanry bridge from the Sorbey area and clears Mècleuves. In the XII Corps area, the 6th Armored Division, assisted by elements of the 8oth Infantry Division, drives the Germans from Landroff; an armored task force takes Cote de Suisse. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, reaches the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad but is ordered to halt since its flank is exposed and since its movement is confined to roads. The 35th Infantry Division advances through Morhange, which the Germans have abandoned, to the Metz-Sarrebourg railroad.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division continues toward Avricourt. The 79th Infantry presses northward toward the Vezouse River, clearing Halloville, northeast of Ancerviller. In the VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division penetrates German positions north of Raonl'Etape.
In the French First Army area, the II Corps, with the 3d Algerian Division on the north and the 1st Division on the south, moves forward to keep pace with friendly forces on their flanks. The 3d Algerian Division reaches Le Tholy. I Corps makes excellent progress except on the extreme right along the Swiss frontier. The 2d Moroccan Division, assisted by 5th Armored Division, drives beyond Arcey, on the road to Hericourt. The 9th Colonial Division, with the capture of Colombier-Fontame, Ecot, and Ecurcey, opensthe route to Herimoncourt.
The USAAF Ninth Air Force transfers HQ XII Tactical Air Command, along with the 71st Fighter Wing, 50th, 358th, and 371st Fighter Groups, 86th Air Depot Group, and 83d and 312th Service Groups, to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional). The First Tactical Air Force is tasked with providing tactical air support to the Sixth Army Group. At the end of the war, the First Tactical Air Force will be disbanded and all of its units will revert to the Ninth Air Force.
GERMANY: The US 3rd Army again attacks near Metz. They cut the rail line south of there, which goes to Saarebourg. From there south into the US 7th Army sector the advance gains ground consistently along the front.In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, breaks through to the encircled companies on a plateau southwest of Huertgen and withdraws them, but by now the Regiment holds only the southern edge of the plateau.
One each USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber hits Passau and the Main marshalling yard at Salzburg.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 177 Lancasters to carry out a G-H attack on the Hoesch synthetic oil plant at Dortmund; 174 hit the target. The raid, through thick cloud, is believed to have been accurate. Two Lancasters are lost.
During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit six targets: 34 bomb Berlin, six bomb the Krupp Treibstoff synthetic oil refinery at Wanne-Eikel, five bobm Gotha, four each hit the Karlsruhe and the Buer synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen and one attacks Osnabruck. One aircraft is lost.
U-985 decommissioned following Heavy damages on 23 Oct 1944 at Lister by a German mine. Returned to Kristiansand and taken out of service. Captured there and broken up.
AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack nine targets: 50 bomb the Hermann Göring benzol plant at Linz while 17 hit the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck. Individual aircraft bomb Two aircraft bomb Heiflau and individual aircraft bomb Heiflau Klagenfurt, Schwaz, Traunstein and Wolfberg.
BALTIC SEA: U-479 reported missing in the Gulf of Finland. No explanation exists for its loss. 51 dead (all hands lost).
HUNGARY: Jasberény, 30 miles east of Budapest falls to the Russians.
ITALY: Workers in Turin stage a general strike in support of the Allies and the partisans; at the same time more than 1,000 partisans elude a German operation in northern Italy.
In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, 8th Indian Division troops push into Modigliana, where contact is made with the Polish II Corps.
Bad weather cancels all USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations except for reconnaissance by four P-47 Thunderbolts and attack by two on a railroad bridge and rolling stock in the Po Valley.
YUGOSLAVIA: Four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb troop concentrations in the Novi Pazar area.
BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment begins a march from Camp Landis to help the Chinese 22d Division in the Si-u area. The Chinese 38th Division has blocked the main routes from Bhamo.
In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the British role in Phase I of Operation CAPITAL (the attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay) is nearly completed with the unopposed capture of Kalemyo.
SOUTHEAST ASIA: In Burma, 12 USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the airfield at Kawlin; 42 P-47 Thunderbolts hit supplies, troop and vehicle concentrations, and targets of opportunity at Mansak, Gyogon, Banmauk, Namtao, and Wuntho; 20 support ground forces in the Pinwe area while 16 attack bypass bridges at Kawnghka and Namhkai, knocking out the latter; eight P-47 Thunderbolts bomb Kyaikthin rail sidings and junction, eight strafe Anisakan Airfield, and 12 hit targets of opportunity during north Burma road sweeps.
Nineteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 16 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s over southwestern China, western Burma, and northern French Indochina hit railroad targets, villages, town areas, and general targets of opportunity at or near man Pwe and Wanling, Burma; Mangshih and Tingka, China; Quang Yen, Nam Dinh, and Thanh Hoa, French Indochina.
JAPAN: Eight USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells weather-abort an armed photo reconnaissance over Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, is to attack south through 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, toward Ormoc. Forward elements of 21st Infantry Regiment are about 5,500 yards (5 029 meters) north of Limon.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, with P-38 Lightning support, bomb La Carlota Airfield on Negros Island while B-25 Mitchells hit Lahug on Cebu Island; B-25s and fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity on Cebu Island and shipping off the west coast of Leyte Island; on Mindanao Island B-24s bomb three airfields while P-38s hit shipping and other targets of opportunity.
NEW GUINEA: U.S. Army Private Avelino Fernandez is executed at Oro Bay, Papua New Guinea. Fernandez had been convicted of the savage murder of Doris Roberts, a part-aboriginal, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, earlier in the year. In an effort to avoid any negative public opinion, the sentence was carried out in New Guinea. (Denis Peck)
The U.S. Eighth Army, in its first offensive, begins amphibious assault to clear Mapia Islands, 160 nautical miles (296 kilometers) northeast of Sansapor, Dutch New Guinea. The amphibious lands are supported by USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers. Little opposition is met by the assault force, elements of 31st Infantry Division. British Captain Lord Ashbourne heads the naval forces during this and subsequent operations against Asia Islands.
BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on a shipping strike to the Bonin Islands, attack vessels at Haha Jima Island and near Chichi Jima Island. During the night of 15/16 November, one B-24 on a snooper mission, bombs Iwo Jima after failing to find shipping targets in the Bonin Islands.
EAST CHINA SEA: The Japanese Army aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru is sunk about 50 miles northwest of Shimokushiki Jima, between Korea and Japan. The ship was a converted merchant vessel that operated the Kayaba Ka-1 autogyro in an anti-submarine role.
EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Tanamon on northeast Celebes Island while other B-24, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers hit scattered targets of opportunity on Celebes and Halmahera Islands.
NEW GUINEA: A regiment of the US 31st Division occupies Mapia Island, 160 miles north of the west end of New Guinea.
Private Avelino Fernandez is executed at Oro Bay, New Guinea. Private Fernandez was executed for the savage murder of Doris Roberts, a part- aboriginal, in Brisbane earlier in the year. In an effort to avoid any negative public opinion, the sentence was carried out in New Guinea. (Denis Peck)
AUSTRALIA: The War Cabinet approves the assignment of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) for service in Northeast New Guinea, to replace men for service in forward areas. Each woman must be a volunteer, between the age of 21 and 35 (40 for officers) and the total number assigned cannot be more than 500. Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) are already serving in New Guinea.
CANADA: Submarine HMS L-27 arrived Digby, Nova Scotia for ASW training.
NEWFOUNDLAND: Frigate HMCS Royalmount arrived St John's for EGC-11944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-528 was commissioned at Chicago with LT W. E. Ehrman, USCG, as first commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. On 25 November 1945 Captain Bjorn Krogaeth assumed command of FS-528 as her Coast Guard crew was removed.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" premieres at the Capitol Theater in New York City. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this war drama about the Doolittle Raid on Japan in April 1942 stars Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, Phyllis Thaxter, Robert Mitchum, Don DeFore and Stephen McNally. Admission today is the purchase of a War Bond. On stage are Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra and comedian Henny Youngman.
During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "Soldiers Guide to the Japanese Army" (William L. Howard)
Minesweeper USS Execute commissioned.
Frigate USS Orlando commissioned.