November 25th, 1944 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: A V2 rocket lands in New Cross Road, London, killing or injuring 268 people. (Alex Gordon)
The most devastating V2 rocket so far scored a direct hit on the Woolworth's store in New Cross, in south-east London, at lunchtime today (1226) when it was crowded with Saturday shoppers. The Co-operative Stores alongside was also wrecked. No details have been made public, but 160 people were killed and 200 injured.
A young girl survivor described the scene after the explosion: "Things were still falling out of the sky, bits of things and bits of people. A horse's head was lying in the gutter. There was a pram hood all twisted and bent and there was a little baby's hand still in its woollen sleeve. Outside the pub there was a crumpled bus, still with rows of people sitting inside, all covered in dust and dead. Where Woolworth's had been, there was nothing. Just an enormous gap covered by clouds of dust. No building, just piles of rubble and bricks, and underneath it all, people screaming.
Minesweeper HMS Nerissa launched.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force's 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command, starts daily operations with B-24H and B-24J Liberators as a screening force for the bombardment divisions. It is assigned the task of protecting the Eighth's primary VHF and fighter-to-bomber communications from interception during assembly. The increase of flak batteries around German military and industrial installations soon compels the 36th to increase radar countermeasures on each mission. The 36th remains on this assignment until the end of war in Europe.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army area, XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division, with the 42d Cavalry Squadron screening its northern flank, attacks with three regiments supported by armor, overrunning the main German positions on the northern flank of the corps. The 6th Armored Division, reinforced by elements of the 134th Infantry Regiment, begins a drive toward Maderbach Creek, greatly hampered by craters, mud, mines, and enemy fire: Combat Command B, driving toward Puttelange, gets forward elements to the Maderbach River at Remering; Combat Command A, aided by an air strike, takes Valette. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, penetrates the German line and captures Vittersbourg; Company G, 101st Infantry Regiment, clears the chateau strongpoint in the Bois de Bonnefontaine, and Company K makes a futile attempt to clear the northern edge of the woods. Combat Command B of the 4th Armored Division, after checking a determined counterattack against Baerendorf, is reinforced and reorganized before continuing an attack late in afternoon.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, elements of 44th Infantry Division and 106th Cavalry Group halt a German column advancing on Schalbach after making slight withdrawals. French armor continues to clear the Strasbourg area. The 79th and 45th Infantry Divisions consolidate north and northwest of Strasbourg. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, makes contact with the 3d Infantry Division of the VI Corps near Schirmeck and is again attached to VI Corps. In the VI Corps area the 100th Infantry Division, on the northern flank, reaches Grandfontaine. The 36th Infantry Division outflanks and captures Ste Marie, gaining control of roads to Selestat and Ribeauville.
In the French First Army area, II Corps finds that the Germans have withdrawn along most of its front to avoid encirclement. I Corps makes slow progress toward Burnhaupt. In the Alps Sector, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (ETOUSA) orders the U.S. 1st Airborne Task Force to proceed to Soissons, Lyon, and Mourmelon at once.
WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 724: seven B-17s and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night of 25/26 November.
GERMANY: In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 29th Infantry Division continues to hold off the Germans at Bourheim and gets elements of the 116th Infantry Regiment into Koslar, where they become isolated.
In U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the sky is overcast in the morning the sky but clears in the afternoon, and the USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Tactical Air Command provides close air support in the 104th and 1st Infantry Division areas. The 104th Infantry Division advances to the high ground east of Poetzlohn, and the valley of the Inde River west of Weisweiler is secured. Task Force Richardson takes Wilhelmshoehe and suffers heavy losses while trying to advance across open the Roer Plain to Frenzerburg Castle. The 56th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, attempts unsuccessfully to reach the Weisweiler-Langerwehe highway; assisted by two tanks, a platoon of the 18th Infantry Regiment gets almost to the crest of Hill 203, where it clings. The 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division makes an 800 yard (732 meter) advance. The 22d Infantry Regiment attack Grosshau but is repulsed by intense anti-tank, mortar and artillery fire; the 4th Infantry Division suspends attacks for several days after this. In the V Corps area, Combat Command R of the 5th Armored Division joins the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, in an attack toward Huertgen but, halted by large crater and mines, withdraws.. (Robert Rush)
In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps opens a drive to the Saar River. In the 10th Armored Division zone on the northern flank, the 358th Infantry Regiment continues to batter at the Orscholz line: the 3d Battalion, assisted by aircraft and tanks, seizes Tettingen and relieves the isolated troops at Butzdorf, but pulls back from Butzdorf; the 1st and 2d Battalions continue to fight within and near Oberleuken, the 2d Battalion reaching the top of Hill 388; it is decided to withdraw the 358th Infantry Regiment, which by now is unfit to continue attack. The 90th Infantry Division, with the 359th Infantry Regiment on the left and the 357th on the right, drives steadily toward the Saar reaching Oberesch, within miles of the river. The 95th Infantry Division, supported by artillery of the 5th Infantry Division and of III Corps, attacks across the Nied River on the right flank of corps, the 377th Infantry Regiment on the left and the 378th on right, and pushes into the Maginot Line, where the Germans have abandoned fortifications; takes towns of Boulay, Momerstroff, Narbefontaine, and Hallering.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 723: 1,043 bombers and 965 fighters are dispatched to hit an I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant using H2X and a marshalling yard; 8 bombers and 6 fighters are lost: 671 aircraft bomb Merseburg and 252 hit the oil plant at Merseberg and 252 bomb the marshalling yard at Bingen; 12 other bombers hit targets of opportunity. .
The USAAF Ninth Air Force's 9th Bombardment Division hits an ordnance arsenal at Landau, road junctions, and an ammunition dump at Neustadt and Kaiserslautern; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth Air Force, fly armed reconnaissance and support ground forces east of Aachen and between Merzig and Sarreguemines, France.
During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit six targets: 63 bomb Nurnburg with the loss of one; ten attack Hagen; eight each hit Erfurt and Stuttgart; and one each bomb Dortmund and Ludwigshafen.
Berlin: Hitler orders any military commander contemplating surrender to hand over command to the next most senior officer willing to carry on the fight, and fall in behind him.
Stuka pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel is awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords to the Iron Cross. He also receives the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds back-dated to the time of his escape across the Dnjester of 29 March, 1944.
Rudel landed behind Soviet lines to retrieve a downed German aircrew. Snow and mud bogged down the airplane, making it impossible to take off. Approaching Soviet troops forced everyone to flee on foot, but barring their escape was the 900 foot wide river Dnjestr. The Germans stripped to their longjohns, and swam across the ice-clogged river. Rudel's close friend and crewman, Erwin Henstchel, drowned a few feet from the far shore. They had flown 1490 missions together at the time of Hentschel's death. His body was never recovered. Rudel was pursued by hundreds of Soviet troops who were intent on collecting the 100,000 ruble bounty, and he was shot in the shoulder while they chased him with dogs and on horseback. Through incredible ingenuity, audacity, and raw determination, Rudel escaped and made his way, alone and unarmed, back home, despite being more than 30 miles behind Soviet lines when he began his 24 hour trek. He was barefoot and almost naked in the sub-freezing winter weather, without food, compass, or medical attention.
POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: Demolition of the gas chambers and crematoria begins, with the dismantling of heavy plant for transport to other concentration camps further west.
HUNGARY: Red Army troops are clearing Csepel Island., in the Danube River just south of Budapest.
ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps gets advance elements across the Marzeno River west of Marzeno village. In the V Corps area, the 4th Division reaches the Lamone in the St. Barnaba-Scaldino area east of Faenza. This advance permits the Indian 10th Division to cross elements over the Montone River at Highway 9 and push northward toward the German's switch line that extends generally from Casa Bettini on the Montone River to the region north of Scaldino on the Lamone River. The 46th Division maintains a bridgehead across the Marzeno River but is unable to break out. The U.S. Porter Force, in the Adriatic coastal sector, is placed under command of the Canadian I Corps.
Three USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter groups fly only 53 sorties against railway targets and targets of opportunity north of the U.S. Fifth Army battle area, cutting lines at 14 places and destroying several vehicles.
YUGOSLAVIA: During the day, 69 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop supplies to partisans.
CHINA: Nanning: The Japanese authorities today claimed that their forces had taken Nanning, the former capital of Kwangsi province, 100 miles from the Indochina border. Japanese forces have been driving south for the past week, and the capture of Nanning would effectively split China in two. Allied sources would not confirm the cities fall, but feared it was likely.
USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack targets in southern China and Paoching, Ankang, Ishan, and Hochih. .
BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the Japanese in the Pinwe region of the railroad corridor who have been holding up the British 36th Division are ordered to fall back toward central Burma.
Twenty four USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Bhamo area; 24 bomb an airfield at Kawlin while eight more strafe Tabingaung Airfield and town area; 12 attack the Meza railroad station and boxcars in nearby bridge area, storage and personnel areas in the Lashio area and at Nawngyang, Ashang, and Man Mao; and eight P-47 Thunderbolts strafe targets of opportunity along the Wuntho-Shwebo rail line.
Twelve USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit warehouses, village and town areas at Lashio and Wanling. P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack targets around Namsang, and Mongyu.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack rail targets, trucks, and buildings at Phu Lang Thuong while fighter-bombers hit targets of opportunity in northern French Indochina including Phu Lang Thuong.
THAILAND: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity in Thailand including areas around Bhre and Lampang. .
JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, a USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator aborts an armed photo mission over Matsuwa Island due to weather and instead radar bombs Kurabu Airfield on Paramushiru Island; B-25 Mitchells cancel a shipping sweep due to weather.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US advance is held up in most sectors of Leyte due to difficult terrain.On Leyte, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, halts work on airfields. In the X Corps area, Company A, the most advanced unit of the 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, on Kilay Ridge, repels a heavy Japanese counterattack, during the night of 25/26 November. In the XXIV Corps area, the 32d Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division contains another Japanese counterattack, which is made in less strength after nightfall. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division, starts s difficult westward trek over the mountains from Burauen toward Mahonag, 10 miles (16 kilometers) distant, to ease pressure on the corps units driving on Ormoc.
Seven US carriers of TG 38.2 and TG 38.3 again strike Luzon. The Japanese cruisers Kumano and Yasoshima are sunk. Four of the carriers sustain damage from Kamikaze attacks.
USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers range over wide areas of Masbate, Cebu, and Leyte Islands, and surrounding waters, attacking shipping, airfields, bivouacs, and a variety of targets.
Carrier-based aircraft of USN Task Groups 38.3 and 38.4 bomb Japanese shipping off central Luzon. Planes from carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) sink heavy cruiser Kumano in Dasol Bay on west central Luzon. F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers and TBM Avengers from carriers USS Ticonderoga and Essex (CV-9), along with F6Fs and TBMs from small carrier USS Langley (CVL-27) attack a convoy about 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) southwest of Santa Cruz, on the west coast of Luzon, and sink a coast defense ship and three landing ships. Planes from carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) sink two fast transports and damage a fast transport and ah escort destroyer in Balanacan Harbor on Marinduque Island. Planes from USS Essex and Langley sink an army cargo ship and damage a cargo ship in San Fernando harbor.
Kamikazes breach the fleet's fighter defenses, however, and press home determined attacks, damaging carriers USS Essex, Intrepid and Hancock (CV-19) and small carrier USS Cabot. Small carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) is damaged by crash of own aircraft into island structure.
EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers hit airfields on Ceram and Boeroe (Buroe) Islands and B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance over northern Borneo hit shipping and other targets of opportunity. During the night of 25/26 November, B-25 Mitchells hit airfields in northeastern Celebes and Halmahera Islands.
BONIN ISLANDS: Seven USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based on Guam, escorting a photo aircraft, bomb Chichi Jima, Muko Jima, and Haha Jima.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Australian 9th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, relieves the 2d Battalion, U.S. 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Shimotsuki about 220 nautical miles (408 kilometers) east-northeast of Singapore, Malaya.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (CINCPOA) issues Operation Plan 11-44 for the invasion of Iwo Jima. The USN Fifth Fleet commander is to seize Iwo and develop air bases there. The invasion date is tentatively set for 3 February 1945.
U.S.A.: Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis died at age 78. As a Judge, Landis presided over several (in)famous cases, including an anti-trust case against Standard Oil and one involving trade unionist charged with violation of the alien and sedition laws during WWI. He was appointed the first commissioner of baseball in 1921.(Tony Morano)
Minesweepers USS Surfbird and Toucan commissioned.
Destroyer USS Hugh W Hadley commissioned.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-278 was commissioned at New York with LTJG Beverly L. Higgins, USCGR, as first commanding officer.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-716 struck bottom off Horten (Norway) and damaged the depth rudder.
U-322 sunk in the North Atlantic west of the Shetlands, in position 60.18N, 04.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Ascension. 52 dead (all hands lost). The sub had been damaged yesterday by depth charges from an RAF Sunderland Mk. III, of No. 330 (Norwegian) Squadron based at Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands, Scotland.
Corvette HMCS Shawinigan sunk by U-1228. The serious vulnerability of surface escorts in one-on-one engagements against submarines was highlighted, yet again, by the loss of Shawinigan. In a case where an element of surprise is involved in the setting of the engagement, the unit that fires effectively first has an almost insurmountable advantage. The additional advantage of precision weaponry made the outcome a virtual certainty. That Canadian operational commanders persisted in employing their escorts in this highly dangerous and wasteful manner until so late in the war calls their competence into question. The lack of durability in the corvette design caused them to perform poorly when they suffered battle damage. Although renowned in popular and academic histories as seaworthy vessels, in fact, while they were generally able to survive adverse weather, their atrocious seakeeping qualities meant they had no seakindliness whatsoever and they were death traps once hit. Shawinigan was one of three Canadian warships during the Second World War lost with all hands. The others were the auxiliary patrol vessels Brad D’Or – on 19 Oct 40, and HMCS Raccoon – on 06 Sep 42. The auxiliary vessels suffered all of the corvettes's shortcoming but lacked their seaworthiness, making them even more dangerous ships in which to serve. Brad D'Or foundered in bad weather and Racoon suffered the same fate as Shawinigan.