November 17th, 1944 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Spur launched.
WESTERN EUROPE: Thirty USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers of the 9th Bombardment Division hit Haguenau, France; weather prevents over 100 bombers from attacking targets; fighters escort bombers, fly patrol and armed reconnaissance over a wide area of western Germany, and support the US 104th and 4th Infantry Divisions and 2d Armored Division, east of Aachen and near Hurtgen, Germany.
BELGIUM: Allied representatives meet with Belgian ministers over their differences with the resistance.FRANCE: The French offensive near Belfort reaches Montbeliad. Both the US 3rd and 7th Armies advance in the wake of German withdrawals.
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division fans out to pursue the Germans toward the Sarre River, closely supported by aircraft. The 357th Infantry Regiment, 90oth Infantry Division, cleans out the Hackenberg fortifications, which are found leveled by direct fire, and takes Klang; the 358th Infantry seizes Metzeresche. The Germans begin withdrawing in front of the division after nightfall. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, gets almost to Metz, stopping for the night within sight of Fort St Julien. West of the Moselle River, the 95th Infantry Division continues toward Metz, the 377th Infantry Regiment reaching the suburb of Sansonnet. Against weakened resistance, the 5th Infantry Division continues northward toward Metz: the 11th Infantry Regiment clears most of Frescaty Airfield, but is stopped on the right by fire from Fort St Privat; the 10th Infantry is halted at Fort Queuleu but gets patrols to the city limits; the 2d Infantry withdr
aws elements east of the Nied Française River in order to strengthen the drive on the right flank of the division and pushes northward beyond Frontigny.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, Avricourt falls to the 44th Infantry Division. The 79th Infantry Division reaches the Vezouse River line in the Blmont-Cirey area and begins crossing. Combat Command B, French 2d Armored Division, seizes Badonviller, near the junction of XV and VI Corps front, and pushes on to Bremenil. In the VI Corps area, the 100th Infantry Division prepares for a full-scale attack on Raon from the north, the 398th Infantry Regiment crossing the Meurthe River at Baccarat. The 103d Infantry Division finishes clearing the heights southwest of St Die; during the night of 17/18 November, patrols into St Die, from which the Germans are withdrawing. 36th Infantry Division patrols enter Corcieux, where the Germans have already applied the torch.
In the French First Army's Western French Forces area, General René-Marie de Larminat, commander of Detachément Altantique, organizes Forces Francaises de l'Ouest (FFO) to safeguard the coast of Bay of Biscay from Isle de Re and La Rochelle on the north to Royan and Pointe de Grave on the south. The command post has recently moved from Paris to Cognac. The I Corps breaks through the outer defenses of Belfort along the line of the Lisaine and Gland Rivers. Among towns taken are Héricourt, Montbéliard, and Hérimoncourt.
NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army area, XII Corps gets forward elements to the Maas River across from Roermond and takes Wessem.
GERMANY: The US 1st and 9th Armies gain ground near Aachen.
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division, renewing their effort to advance its right wing with a heavy volume of fire support, is still firmly opposed from the Donnerberg and makes slow progress, although Birkengang is largely cleared. Task Force Mills of Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, gains a weak hold on the southern part of Hastenrath and Scherpenseel, but since its flank is exposed by the failure of 104th Infantry Division to advance, is precariously situated; German fire from the Eschweilcr Woods and the Donnerberg takes heavy toll of Combat Command B's armor, which by nightfall is at half its original strength. In the1st Infantry Division sector, the 47th Infantry Regiment eliminates German rear-guard opposition from Gressenich; the 16th Infantry Regiment, with tank support, advances almost to Hamich while the 26th Infantry gains a few hundred yards to the right. The Germans continue to contain the efforts of the 4th Infantry
Division to advance through the Huertgen Forest.
In the U.S. Ninth Army’s XIX Corps area, Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, withstands determined counterattacks against Immendorf and Puffendorf but loses a hill northeast of the latter; another attempt to take Apweiler fails; Combat Command A commits Task Force A to drive through Puffendorf toward Ederen but cannot get beyond Puffendorf. The 29th Infantry Division employs a battalion of the 116th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 115th Infantry Regiment, against Setterich, on the main highway and needed to support tanks of 2d Armored Division, but is unable to take it; nor do assault forces to the south succeed in clearing either Siersdorf or Bettendorf. The 30th Infantry Division makes progress in the heavily built up area on the southern flank of the corps, taking the village of Heengen on north and on the south clearing the rest of Wuerselen and overrunning Broichweiden.
One hundred seventeen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer with the loss of one aircraft.
U-1307 commissioned.
AUSTRIA: Two hundred two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Floridsdorf oil refinery in Vienna. Other targets hit in Austria are: 14 bomb the industrial area at Leoben, 11 each hit the railroad at St. Johann and the marshalling yard at Villach, four attack Vocklmarkt, and nine aircraft bomb other targets. A second raid by 117 B-17 Flying Fortresses hit the Main marshalling yard at Salzburg with the loss of one aircraft.
HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb two targets: 66 hit the marshalling yard at Gyor with the loss of two B-24s and one bombs Varoslod.
ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's Polish II Corps area, hard fighting develops on Mt. Fortino, north of Converselle, which the Germans lose and then regain in a counterattack.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit rail bridges and viaducts in the northeast, concentrating on the Brenner Pass where ground haze and smoke screen at the Avisio viaduct hamper the attacks; fighter-bombers of the XXII Tactical Air Command cut rail lines, hit larger concentrations of railroad cars, and blast several ammunition and fuel dumps north of the battleline below Bologna; fighter-bombers closely supporting ground forces also hit guns and other military targets in battle area.
During the night of 17/18 November, RAF aircraft of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb two airfields: 35 bomb Vicenza Airfield and 34 bomb the Main airfield at Udine.
ALBANIA: German resistance ends in the capital Tiranë.
YUGOSLAVIA: For the first time in several months, USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers attack targets in Yugoslavia, hitting bridges along the Brod-Zagreb-Maribor railroad.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack two targets: 30 bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor with the loss of one aircraft and one bombs the railroad at Dravograde.
During the night of 17/18 November, 13 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb a highway choke point at Novi Pasar.
CHINA: From the Kweilin-Liuchow area, the Japanese begin a drive on Kweiyang, possession of which would open way to Kunming, the Hump terminus, and Chungking, the capital.
Fifteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, in flights of two or three each, attack gun positions, storage areas, and village and town areas north of Chuchou, west of Nanyo, and at Chefang and Nanyo and south of Hpalen, Burma; also a bridge at Tingka is knocked out. Over 100+ P-40s and P-51 Mustangs hit targets of opportunity throughout southeast and southwest China, concentrating on the Mangshih and Changsha areas.
HONG KONG: Three USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Kowloon Docks.
BURMA: Thirty three USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit troop and vehicle concentrations and supply areas at Manlu, Loi-Lum, Nawngmoloi, and Kyaukme; ten P-47s support ground forces in the northern Burma railroad corridor near Meza; 16 others sweep the rail line from Hsipaw to Sedaw hitting rolling stock, gun positions and other targets of opportunity while three bomb the Meza railroad station; and 16 others strafe airfields at Nawnghkio, Anisakan, and Onbauk. Nine B-25 Mitchells bomb bridges at Lashio, knocking out a bypass bridge and damaging others; several machinegun positions are silenced in the bridge area.
CHINA SEA: The IJN carrier Junyo is sunk by the US submarine Spadefish.
JAPAN: Four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Suribachi Airfield on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands. Two fighters intercept and damage a B-24 which force-lands on Kamchatka, USSR.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, a battalion of the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, gets to within 500 yards (457 meters) of Limon, but the 1st Battalion is still held up by the Japanese on the slopes of Corkscrew Ridge.
USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-24 Liberators bomb Sanbon Field at Legaspi on the southeastern tip of Luzon Island; on Mindanao Island, B-24 Liberators bomb Sasa and Likanan Airfields; other B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells fly heckling missions over the central Philippine Islands and Mindanao Island. .
EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells fly heckling missions over northeastern Celebes Island.
NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells continue to support ground forces on Mapia Island.
BONIN ISLANDS: Fifteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, flying a shipping strike out of Saipan Island, attack vessels southwest of Muko Jima Island and the attack harbor and town of Okimura.
Project MIKE continues as USAAF B-24s lay eight mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Philippine Sea, a USN TBM Avenger of Composite Squadron Eight Two (VC 82) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) and destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) sink Japanese submarine HIJMS I-26 about 345 nautical miles (638 kilometers) east-northeast of Tacloban, Leyte, Philippine Islands, in position 12.44N, 130.42E.
In the East China Sea, USN Submarine USS Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese escort aircraft carrier HIJMS Shinyo about 153 nautical miles (283 kilometers) northeast of Shanghai, China, in position 33.02N, 123.33E.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Glace Bay and corvette HMCS Parry Sound departed St. John's, for Londonderry, escorting sub chasers.
U.S.A.: The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve the proposal of Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command (SEAC), made in late October to clear the Arakan, Burma area along the northeast coast of the Bay of Bengal; reject the Kra Isthmus operation in the north central section of southwestern Thailand; and ask for a plan to develop the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean as a staging base.
Submarine USS Lamprey commissioned.
Destroyer USS John R Craig laid down.