November 27th, 1944 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Burton-on-Trent: 68 people are killed when an underground bomb dump containing enough bombs for hundreds of major raids exploded. Two craters were formed, one 300 feet deep and half a mile across. Bombs were hurled into the air, causing devastation over a three mile area. Buildings were destroyed and hundreds of animals were killed. The blast was heard 60 miles away. In Coventry 30 miles distant doors were blown open and the windows rattled.
In 1974 it was officially revealed that the explosion was caused by bombs being taken out of store - primed for use and replaced unused, with the detonators still installed.
More on the Fauld Disaster by the Mines Rescue.
NORTH SEA: During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.
NORWAY: During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off two ports: ten drop mines off Oslo and four lay mines off Frederikstad.
BELGIUM: An A4 Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V2) rocket lands on Teniers Square in Antwerp as an Allied military convoy is passing through. The explosion kills 157 persons including 29 Allied soldiers.
NETHERLANDS: The U.S. 101st Airborne Division is relieved in the Canadian II Corps sector.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 95th Infantry Division advances rapidly, the 377th Infantry Regiment reaching positions within a mile (1,6 kilometers) of the German border and the 378th reaching Falck and Dalem. A coordinated drive by the 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions is ordered for 29 November. In the XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division enters St Avold, from which the Germans have withdrawn, and regains contact near Seingbouse. The division's attack has forced a general German withdrawal across the Maderbach River, so the 6th Armored Division remains in place. The 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, occupies Honskirch and 101st Infantry Regiment moves into Ahwiller without a fight. Combat Command B and Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, attack east of the Saar River, overrunning Wolfskirchen, Eywiller, and Gungwiller; Combat Command A tries unsuccessfully to break into Durstel.
In the U.S. Seventh Army area, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, orders the Seventh Army to attack north to help the Third Army gain Saar River Basin. In the XV Corps area, the German threat to the corps from the north subsides, but positions are still vulnerable on this wing. In the VI Corps area, elements of 3d Infantry Division relieve the French 2d Armored Division at Strasbourg. The French prepare to drive south along the Rhine River. Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, advances southeast through Obernai toward Barr and Erstein to block exits from the Vosges Mountains and help the southward drive of French armor. The 103d Infantry Division presses toward the Barr-Selestat road, elements taking Le Hohwald. From Ste Marie, the 36th Infantry Division is driving east on Selestat.
GERMANY: In the US First Army Area: In the 104th Division area heavy mortar and artillery fire prevented the 413 Infantry's daylight attack. After dark the regiment attacked and gained its line of departure. The 47th Regimental Combat Team relieved Task Force Richardson in the 1st Division area and captured Gut Meberich and Hill 203. The 1st Division's 18th In-fantry entered Langerwehe and one battalion of the 26th Infantry entered Jungersdorf; well beyond the edge of the forest. Very little progress was made in the 4th Division's area. The 12th Infantry, after being pinched out by elements of the 8th Division, assemble in assembly areas for redeployment. Elements of the 8th Divisions 121st Infantry entered Hürtgen and had fought up to the church. (Robert Rush)
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command A of the 2d Armored Division finishes clearing Merzenhausen and the hills near there. The 29th Infantry Division clears to the Roer River except for two strongpoints in Juelich: Kirchberg falls to the 115th Infantry Regiment, which attacks from Pattern, taking the Germans by surprise; elements of the 116th Infantry Regiment make contact with isolated forces in Koslar. The 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, attacks with an attached battalion of the 119th Infantry Regiment toward Altkirch but is halted short of objective.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 727: 530 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators and 770 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on marshalling yards (M/Ys) in Germany and fighter-bomber strikes on four oil centers in northern and central Germany; they claim 102-4-12 aircraft; 15 fighters are lost: 324 bomber hit the M/Y at Offenburg; 151 attack the M/Y at Bingen; and 9 aircraft hit targets of opportunity.
USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters patrol over western Germany, dive-bomb a bridge at Rurdorf, and support the U.S. 104th, 8th, and 1st Infantry Divisions near Hurtgen and in the Weisweiler-Franz area, and the XIX Corps (mainly the 2d Armored Division) at Merzenhausen. Bombers are grounded because of the weather.
During the day, 169 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters carry out a G-H raid on the Kalk Nord railway yards at Cologne with the loss of one aircraft. Good results are observed.
During the night of 27/28 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 341 Lancasters and ten Mosquitos to Freiburg; 345 bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. Freiburg is not an industrial town and has not been bombed before by the RAF. It is attacked on this night because it is a minor railway centre and because many German troops are believed to be present in the town; American and French units are advancing in the Vosges Mountains, only 35 miles (56 kilometers) to the west. The marking of the medium-sized town is based on Oboe directed from caravans situated in France. Flak defences are light and 1,900 tons (1 724 metric tonnes) of bombs are dropped on Freiburg in 25 minutes. Photographs show that the railway targets are not hit but that the main town area is severely damaged. In a second mission, 290 aircraft, 173 Halifaxes, 102 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos, are sent to Neuss; 277 bomb the city with the loss of one Mosquito. The central and eastern districts of Neuss are heavily bombed and many fires are started. Mosquitos also bomb six cities: 60 bomb Berlin; seven hit Ludwigshafen; five attack Nurnburg; five bomb Hallendorf with four hitting the Hermann Göring steel works; three bomb Osnabruck and two hit Hannover.
U-3021 launched.U-2364 laid down.
U-3512 commissioned.
BALTIC SEA: The 3,828 ton Norwegian troop transport MS Rigel, now under German control and part of southbound Convoy 410, is carrying military equipment, 450 Wehrmacht troops and 2,248 Soviet POWs on their way to a POW camp in Germany. The ship, manned by Norwegian sailors, is attacked by 16 Fleet Air Arm Barracuda Mk. IIs from the British aircraft carrier HMS Implacable (86). Hit by five bombs from the British planes, there is little time to launch the lifeboats before sinking near Tjotta, Helgeland, Norway . A total of 2,306 lives are lost; there are only 415 survivors. Of the ten Norwegian crew on board only one survived. The pilots had no way of knowing that the ship they sank carried their Russian allies.
POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: 600 camp guards are awarded the Iron Cross for putting down the revolt on 7th October.
HUNGARY: The Red Army breaks through the German-Hungarian defensive lines and captures Mohacs.
U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: MS "T-387" - by U-boat, at Tallin area. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps is ordered to go on the offensive as soon as weather conditions permit. The Indian 8th Division loses contact with the Germans.
In the British Eighth Army area, the army issues orders for a major winter offensive in early December. In the Polish II Corps area, German resistance east of the Lamone River in the region south of Faenza is virtually at an end. In the V Corps area, the New Zealand 2d Division replaces the 4th Division in the line. Canadians of I Corps relieve the right flank elements of the Indian 10th Division north of Casa Bettini so that the latter can make a concentrated effort to take the bridge at Casa Bettini, badly needed for deployment of the Canadian I Corps in the Adriatic coastal sector. In the X Corps area, the Italian Cremona Battle Group arrives between 27 November and 3 December.
CHINA: U.S. Major General Albert Wedemeyer, Commanding General, U.S. China Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, presents a plan to Chiang Kai-shek to furnish munitions to Chinese Communists. The proposal is rejected.
Seventeen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack the Hochih, area while P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance attack town areas, railroad targets, bridges and other targets of opportunity around Pachai, Ishan, and Chefang.
BURMA: Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts fly close support strikes in the Pinwe area; 21 fighter-bombers destroy bridges at Inailong and Thegyaung and damage bridges at Ho-hko and Kawnghka; and 60+ fighter-bombers attack personnel and supply areas at Kutkai, Kyungon, Kodaungbo, Mongmit, Datwin, Man Namsawk, Old Lashio, and Ugingyi.
Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25s bomb warehouses at Lashio and fighter-bombers attack various targets at Wanling, Hsenwi, and Kawnghka.
THAILAND: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command flies Mission 18: 60 B-29 Superfortresses operating from the Calcutta, India area, are dispatched to bomb the Bangsue railroad yards at Bangkok; 55 bomb the target and three others hit individual targets. One aircraft is lost.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Seventeen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Gia Lam while six B-25 Mitchells bomb Phu Lang Thuong. Fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance over northern French Indochina, attack town areas, railroad targets, bridges and other targets of opportunity around Phu Binh.
JAPAN: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 8: 81 B-29 Superfortreses based in the Mariana Islands, fly against Tokyo; none of the B-29 Superfortreses bomb the primary targets, the Musashino and Nakajima plants, but 59 hit the secondary, the urban area and docks and seven bomb Hamamatsu, a target of opportunity.
VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty four USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan, escorted by 12 P-38 Lightnings, bomb Iwo Jima Island; 29 more B-24 Liberators, from Guam, fly a second strike against the island.
USN heavy cruisers USS Chester (CA-27), Pensacola (CA-24) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) bombard Iwo Jima.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte, a battalion of 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, leaves for operation against Mindoro. In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, on Kilay Ridge, learns from a patrol that help is coming however they undergo a strong Japanese counterattack from the east and its supply line to Consuegra is temporarily cut. In the XXIV Corps area, the 1st Battalion (-) of the 84th Infantry Regiment moves from Caridad to Damulaan to help the 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division; attacks toward Albuera, clearing the Japanese from the bamboo thicket within the 32d Infantry Regiment's zone; 109 Japanese dead are counted. The 32d Infantry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, establish defense perimeters and repel light infiltration attempts during the night. The Japanese begin operations to regain airfields. Corps has learned of a Japanese plan to capture airfield s in the Burauen area and is taking countermeasures.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Malogo and Bacalod Airfields on Negros Island and Degos Aerodromes on Mindanao Island.
Twenty five USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island bomb Del Monte Airfield on Mindanano Island.
USN destroyers bombard Japanese positions at Ormoc Bay, Leyte; firing continues on 28 November.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells blast Namlea Airfield on Boeroe Island and Liang and Laha Dromes on Ambon Island. A variety of FEAF aircraft attack airfields, shipping, and targets of opportunity on Celebes Island, North Borneo, and in the Halmahera and the Ceram Islands areas.
FAR EAST: USAAF B-29s raid Tokyo and Bangkok.
MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: Early in the morning two Japanese "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) twin-engined bombers come in low over the islands' airfields catching the B-29s bombing up for the second Tokyo mission, and destroy one and damage eleven. The Japanese surprise is so complete that construction lights at Isley airfield are still on as the planes strike.
At 1210 hours, 17 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters), staging through Iwo Jima, strafed Isley Field
, while the 73d's formations were over Tokyo. They slip through the radar screen for a low-level sweep over Isley and Kohler airfields in which they destroy three B-29s and badly damage two others. USAAF fighters shoot down four of the raiders; AA gunners shoot down six others but also destroyed a P-47 under circumstances officially described as "inexcusable."CAROLINE ISLANDS:
PALAU ISLANDS: Fighting comes to an end on Peleliu, with approximately 13,600 Japanese soldiers killed and 400 captured for 1,792 US dead and 8,000 wounded.The US 81st Infantry Division and attached units have suffered over 3,275 casualties, including 542 killed. The reinforced 1st Marine Division's casualties total about 5,250 killed and 5,275 wounded.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Giffard departed Halifax for refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.
U.S.A.: The Boeing XF8B-1 makes its maiden flight.
Washington: The U.S. Senate confirms Edward Stettinius, Jr. as Secretary of State. He succeeds Cordell Hull, who is resigning effective 1 December because of poor health. President Franklin D. Roosevelt says upon Hull's departure that he is "the one person in all the world who has done this most to make this great plan for peace [the United Nations] an effective fact." Hull is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 in recognition of his efforts for peace and understanding in the Western Hemisphere, his many international trade agreements, and his work to establish the United Nations. Hull served as Secretary of State for 11 years, nine months, the longest term in that position than any other American, before or since.
The USN commissions the escort aircraft carrier USS Commencement Bay (CVE-105) in Tacoma, Washington. The USN now has 66 escort aircraft carriers in commission.
Time Magazine, November 27, 1944:
AND DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE
The Mare Island mutineers heard their sentences last week. The 50 Negro sailors
who refused to load explosives on a Pacific-bound munitions ship were reduced to
the lowest rank (apprentice seaman), given stiff prison terms. Ten of them got
15 years. Because of "youth, previous clear records and short periods of
service," 24 of them got modified terms of twelve years; eleven got ten years;
five got eight years.
Good behavior can cut their terms down to one-third. The Secretary of the Navy
may soften the punishment after the Judge Advocate General reviews their
unprecedented case. Likely to be the heaviest burden for some of them to bear
(unless there is clemency) is the fact that when they get out of prison all will
be dishonorably discharged.
Postscript: The NAACP's Thurgood Marshall appealed their cases in 1945. They
were released in 1946 under an amnesty, but their convictions were upheld and
they received no veteran's benefits.
Minesweepers USS Hilarity and Pochard commissioned.