In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, helped by tanks and intense preparatory shelling, takes Hilsprich. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, continues an attack against the German rear-guard line Vittersbourg-Altwiller; the 101st Infantry Regiment makes a vain and costly attempt to take the chateau strongpoint in the center of the Bois de Bonnefontaine.

The 6th Army Group penetrates the German line along the Vosges River. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, beginning a tour of inspection of the 6th Army Group front, attends a conference of commanders, where it is decided to clear the region west of the Rhine River before attempting an assault across it. The U.S. Seventh Army is to drive north to help the U.S. Third Army. The French First Army is to reduce the Colmar Pocket, the German's bridgehead west of the Rhine.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, French armor in Strasbourg will be seriously threatened unless it can be bolstered by infantrymen. The Germans continue pressure from the north in the region north of Sarrebourg. In the VI Corps area, forward elements of the 3d Infantry Division reach Rothau. The 103d Infantry Division continues an outflanking movement against Steige, clearing Lubine, to the southwest. The 142d Infantry Regiment spearheads an eastward drive of 36th Infantry Division, reaching Ban-de-Laveline and La Croix-aux-Mines.

In the French First Army area, the II and I Corps are ordered to converge on Burnhaupt as quickly as possible to pocket enemy forces in Alsace. The II Corps clears Grosmagny and Petit-Magny, on the road to Rougemont-le-Chateau. The It Corps withstands heavy pressure in the Muihouse area and is largely concerned with keeping routes to the Rhine River open.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division continues an assault on the Orscholz line: the 3d Battalion, attacking toward Tettingen and Butzdorf after halting a German counterattack, gets elements into Butzdorf, where they are isolated; the 2d Battalion, reinforced during the day by the 1st Battalion, breaks into Oberleuken, but cannot oust the Germans. Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, crosses the Saar River in the XV Corps zone at Romelfing and Gosselming and turns northeast: the northern column takes up blocking positions on the high ground west of Postroff; the southern column brushes aside resistance at Kirrberg and clears Baerendorf in house-to-house fighting.

Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issues orders to close the remaining crematorium at Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of Oswiecim, Poland, and gives instruction to destroy any remaining evidence.

Weather cancels allUSAAF"> USAAF Ninth Air Force operations except for three XIX Tactical Air Command fighters which fly a night intruder mission in Saarbrucken, Zweibrucken, and Homburg/Saar areas.

During the night of 24/25 November,USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit the West marshalling yard at Munich.

During the night of 24/25 November,RAF"> RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb two targets: 57 hit Berlin and six bomb Gottingen.

AUSTRIA: During the night of 24/25 November, over 40USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24 Liberators bomb the Linz benzol plant, Klagenfurt, and Innsbruck and two unidentified targets of opportunity; during the day P-38 Lightnings fly photo and weather reconnaissance missions.

BALTIC SEA: The 7,000 ton Swedish passenger ship SS Hansa is torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine L-21 about 77 nautical miles (143 kilometers) south of Stockholm, Sweden. The torpedo struck at 0557 hours destroying the bridge and blowing off the forepart of the vessel. Hansa is sailing from the Swedish island of Gotland to the Swedish mainland and the flag of neutral Sweden is painted and lit up on both sides of the ship. Only two of the 86 person on board survive. After this disaster, all Swedish passenger vessels to Gotland are escorted by a minesweeper and a destroyer.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's IV Corps area, Task Force 45 captures Mt. Belvedere but Germans later regain it.

In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps presses toward the Marzeno River on a broad front against disorganized resistance. In the V Corps area, the 4th Division drives toward the Lamone River in the region just north of Highway 9. The 46th Division crosses the Marzeno River on the southern flank of corps.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, in support of the British Eighth Army, bomb defences in the Faenza area. Bad weather restricts fighter-bombers to two missions which damage a road bridge and cut rail line south of Modena.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 73RAF"> RAF No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group aircraft fly supples to partisans.

BURMA: Thirty twoUSAAF"> USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts fly close support strikes in the Pinwe and Bhamo sectors; 50 P-47s attack troops and supply areas at Panma, Hpa-Hpen, Nawng-Sang, Kawlin, Wahkyet, Kawngai, and in the Pintha area, eight damage bridges at Meza, Namhkai, and Hsenwi while ten others hit Lashio Airfield. Six B-25 Mitchells attack the storage and ferry area at Meza and four damage approaches to the Namhkai and Hsenwi road bridges.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a storage area near Lashio the towns of Wanling and Wan.

CHINA: Japanese forces in southern China, attempting to gain contact with their forces garrisoning French Indochina, take Nanning.

Twenty oneUSAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the warehouse area and docks at Hankow while B-25 Mitchells hit targets of opportunity in the Hankow, area and Siangtan, and Wuchang, China. Over 120 P-40 s, P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance attack many targets of opportunity in eastern Burma and southwest and southeast China, concentrating on river and rail traffic and supplies at Chefang, Hengshan, and the Sinshih-Changsha area.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: ThreeUSAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Haiphong area.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, repels a minor counterattack against Kilay Ridge. In the XXIV Corps area, the 32d Infantry Regiment recovers some ground previously lost on Shoestring Ridge and holds the perimeter--about 2,000 yards (1 829 meters) long and less than 1,500 yards (1 372 meters) deep--against a vigorous counterattack during the night of 24/25 November.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb antiaircraft positions and targets of opportunity at Camp Downes and Panalisan Point and fighters attack and destroy several aircraft over Carigara Bay and the Leyte Island area. B-24s hit antiaircraft positions and other targets at Matina Aerodrome on Mindanao Island. P-40 s and P-47 Thunderbolts attack one of the groups of ships involved in the 5th phase of the TA Operation, sinking a submarine chaser and three landing ships in Cataingan Bay, Masbate Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN heavy cruisers USS Chester (CA-27), Pensacola (CA-24) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) bombard Iwo Jima.

BONIN ISLANDS: TwoUSAAF"> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan on a shipping reconnaissance attack vessels at Haha Jima and Chichi Jima.

MARCUS ISLAND: ThreeUSAAF"> USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam on armed reconnaissance bomb 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 refuelling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.