December 2nd, 1944 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 735: seven B-17 Flying Fortresses and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, the Germans breach the dyke area on the Neder Rijn, the Dutch part of River Rhine, near Arnhem and flood the region to the southwest, forcing the corps to withdraw to the Waal River bridgehead to the rail line running west from Elst.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, 3d Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, joins the 10th Infantry Regiment in an attack through the southwestern part of Fort de la Houve. In the XII Corps area, the 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, finds the Germans in possession of Sarre-Union and is obliged to clear it once more; the 104th Infantry Regiment elements move forward to strengthen their hold on the town. The 4th Armored Division cuts roads extending eastward to Domfessel and to Voellerdingen from Sarre-Union; with air support defeats German efforts to reopen these escape routes.
Sixth Army Group commander, Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, orders the U.S. Seventh Army to regroup by December for a main assault northward. The French are to have full responsibility for reducing the Colmar Pocket. In the U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division takes Waidhambach. 45th drives into Engwiller and clears Meitesheim. In the VI Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division drive comes to a halt in the Kogenbeim- Freisenheim region and the division reverts to the French First Army. The 103d and 36th Infantry Divisions begin clearing house-to-house opposition in Sélestat.
The French First Army is reinforced by the U.S. 36th Infantry Division. General Jean-Joseph de Lattre, First Army commander, orders converging drives against the Colmar Pocket from the north and south, aimed at the Rhine at Neuf Brisach.
GERMANY: The US 3rd Army crosses the river Saar in several places and one unit reaches Saarlautern.
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIII Corps area, the 334th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division, takes Leiffarth and the high ground northeast of Beeck and Lindern. The 407th Infantry Regiment, 102d Infantry Division, makes a co-ordinated effort against Roerdorf and Flossdorf, taking the former. In the XIX Corps area, the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, continues the struggle for the two strongpoints in the Juelich area.
In the U.S. First Army’s VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division finishes clearing Inden and its entire zone west of the Inde River; at 2300 hours, the 415th and 414th Infantry Regiments, supported by fire of the 413th Infantry Regiment, start across the river at Inden, taking the Germans by surprise. The 1st Infantry Division is ordered to straighten the line by clearing Luchem and then prepare for relief; the 1st Infantry Division has gained less than 4 miles (6,4 kilometers) during 15 days of hard fighting. The 22d Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, repels a counterattack from Gey with the help of artillery. In the V Corps area, Task Force Hamberg of Combat Command R, 5th Armored Division, attacks down the Kleinhau-Brandenberg highway under fire from the Kommerscheidt-Schmidt ridge but is stopped by a mine field; interdictory fire is placed on the Germans during the night while mines are being cleared.
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 10th Armored Division, with the capture of Dreisbach before dawn, finishes clearing its zone west of the Sarre River; Combat Command B is then held in reserve while Combat Command A outposts the west bank of the river between the 3d Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and the 90th Infantry Division. During the night of 2/3 December, the 90th Infantry Division begins extending southward in preparation for an attack across the Sarre River in the Dillingen area. The 9th Infantry Division is again supported by aircraft as it fights for crossing of the Sarre River in the Saarlautern area; 2d Battalion, 379th Infantry Regiment, drives into Saarlautern and begins a house-to- house battle in the western part of town; St Barbara falls to the 377th Infantry Regiment; the 378th Infantry Regiment forces the Germans from Pikard; aan rtillery observation plane spots bridge intact leading to Saarlautern and the 79th Infantry Regiment prepares to seize it.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 734: 455 bombers and 604 fighters make GH attacks on marshalling yards (M/Ys) and fighter bomber attacks; they claim 34-3-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 bombers and four fighters are lost: 134 bomb Bingen M/Y with the loss of 11 aircraft; 125 hit Oberlahnstein M/Y; ten attack the Mosel M/Y at Koblenz; and seven others hit targets of opportunity.
Two hundred ten USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26 Marauders bomb areas of Saarlautern, Ensdorf, and Fraulautern; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance over western Germany (targets hit include a marshalling yard and bridges), and support the U.S. 1st Infantry Division at Luchem, the 104th Infantry Division at Inden, and the 8th Infantry Division in the Brandenberger Forest-Tiefenbach Creek area.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers attack three cities: 293 attack Blechhammer with 164 hitting the I.G. Farben South syntheic oil refinery with the loss of five aircraft and 129 bombing the North refinery with the loss of one aircraft; 63 aircraft bomb the Deschowitz synthetic oil refinery at Odertal and two bomb Oppell, one hitting the marshalling yard and the other hitting the railroad.
During the day, 92 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters attack the Hansa benzol plant at Dortmund through thick cloud; the bombing is believed to be accurate.
During the night of 2/3 December, RAF Bomber Command sends 504 aircraft, 394 Halifaxes, 87 Lancasters and 23 Mosquitos, to attack Hagen; 465 bombed the target with the loss of a Halifax and a Lancaster. The town of Hagen is not too heavily bombed before this raid. The effect upon industrial production is serious. Many firms are recorded as having lost up to three months' production. In addition, it is found by the Allies after the war that a factory making U-boat accumulator batteries, of which large numbers are needed by the new types of U-boats, is completely destroyed in this raid. Sixty Mosquitos bomb the city of Giessen.
AUSTRIA: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers hit four targets: 111 hit two targets in Vienna, 98 bomb the Florisdorf oil refinery and 13 bombing the Stroszhof marshalling yard; and one each attack Furstenfeld and the railroad at Siebing.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Troops of the Fourth Ukrainian Front expand their Ondava River bridgehead in Czechoslovakia.
Thirteen USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers hit the marshalling yard at Sastin.
HUNGARY: Russian troops, under Malinovsky attack near Miskolc.
The Red Army continues a strong attack toward Budapest while the Second Ukrainian Front hammer at fortifications in the Miskolc area. The Third Ukrainian forces in southwestern Hungary press north and northwest on broad front between the Danube and Drava Rivers.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb a number of targets: 17 aircraft bomb the highway at Medve, six bomb the marshalling yard (M/Y) at Celldomolk while one hits the city, four attack the marshalling yard at Hegyeshalon, and eight aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: French Brigadier General Charles-André De Gaulle, Prime Minister of the Provisional Government meets Stalin for talks.
YUGOSLAVIA: During the night of 2/3 December, 11 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop supplies to partisans.
GREECE: Following growing unrest, demonstrations in Athens by the communist-based National Liberation Front (EAM) and the right wing National Popular Liberation Front (ELAS) result in British troops being forced to fire on the demonstrators. On 4 December, police stations are attacked and RAF units operating from Hassani begin flying sorties against EAM and ELAS targets in the Athens area.
ITALY: The British Eighth Army makes limited advances in preparation for a general offensive. X Corps, which is responsible for deceptive measures, takes command of the 26th Armoured Brigade, 6th Armored Division. The Canadian I Corps begins clearing the German’s switch-line positions between the Montone and the Lamone Rivers.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers hit several bridges in northern and northeastern Italy, scoring effective hits on two bridges across the Piave and Brenta Rivers and four on the Brenner line; fighters and fighter- bombers attack communications in the Po Valley and support U.S. Fifth Army forces in the battle area south of Bologna. During the night of 2/3 December, fighters fly 60 sorties against targets in the U.S. Fifth Army battle area south of Bologna and against communications in northern Italy.
CHINA: Major General Albert Wedemeyer, Commanding General U.S. China Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, presents Chiang Kai-shek a proposal, suggested by Colonel David D. Barrett of the American Observer Group in Yenan, to form three communist regiments in Yenan, to be equipped by the U.S., for use in Nationalist territory under command of a U.S. officer. The plan is rejected. Later in December, Major General Robert McClure, Chief of Staff U.S. Forces US China Theater of Operations, drafts a plan for U.S. airborne units of technicians to go into communist China and informally presents it to the nationalists and communists for approval. A Japanese column driving on Kweiyang reaches Tu-shan.
Thirty nine USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightning on armed reconnaissance attack troops, horses, trucks, railroad yards, shipping, storage facilities, and road machinery between Yungfengshih and Paoching, and at Kichang.
BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the 11th East African Division reached the Chindwin at Kalewa.
Forty USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers fly close support strikes in the Bhamo battle sector; supply areas, ammunition dumps, personnel and tank concentrations, and strongholds at Mayathein, Kwingyi, Nanthe, Hsai-hkao, Hsenwi, Man Hkam, Wuntho, Tedaw, and Old Lashio are hit by over 60 fighter-bombers; 16 others hit rolling stock on the rail line between Hsipaw and Lashio and strafe a supply train in Pangkyawng; ten B-25 Mitchells attack several North Burma bridges, knocking out road bridges at Tonglau and Nam Nung and two railroad bridges at Tangon.
Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells damage several buildings at Hsenwi. 39 P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightning on armed reconnaissance attack troops, horses, trucks, railroad yards, shipping, storage facilities, and road machinery north of Wanling, from Wanling to Lashio and in the Lashio area.
VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty three USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam bomb Iwo Jima. During the night of 2/3 December, three B-24s on snooper missions from the Mariana Islands bomb an airfield on Iwo Jima.
EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells attack Baoebaoe Airfield and Kendari on Celebes Island. B-25 Mitchells bomb Namlea Airfield on Boeroe Island and attack shipping off Ceram Island.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: During the night of 2/3 December there is a USN anti-shipping sweep designed to disrupt Japanese supplies destined for Ormoc Bay prior to the landing of the US Armies 77th Division on December 6th south of Ormoc city. USN destroyer USS Cooper (DD-695), accompanied by destroyers USS Allen M. SUMNER (DD-692) and Moale (DD-693), engage two Japanese destroyers, HIJMS Kuwa and Take. USS Cooper (DD-695) is struck by a torpedo possibly from HIJMS Kuwa causing an explosion on her starboard side and breaking the ship in two about 9 nautical miles (17 kilometers) south of Ormoc in position 10.54N, 124.36E. Before being hit, USS Cooper and the other two destroyers sink HIJMS Kuwa and damages her sistership HIJMS Take. Cooper sinks within minutes taking the lives of 191 crewmen. "Black Cat" PBY-5A Catalinas pick up 168 survivors that night and the next day. One PBY carries 56 in addition to its eight-man crew. USS Allen M. Sumner is damaged by horizontal bomber, and USS Moale is damaged (possibly by Kuwa) in Ormoc Bay. This is the only naval engagement of the Pacific War in which US ships are fired upon simultaneously from the air, sea and from shore batteries in one short desperate four hour battle. (Ron Babuka)
Additionally 15 Japanese aircraft claimed downed. USS Allen M. Sumner suffered 16 WIAs and USS Moale suffered 2 KIA and 22 WIA. (Ron Babuka)
Australian B-24 Liberators attack a small Japanese convoy in the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies. The aircraft sink a small freighter and damage a freighter and a fuel barge.
In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, Companies E and F, 128 Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, extend southward on Kilay Ridge against firm resistance. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, is ordered by the 128th Infantry Regiment commander to remain on the ridge until further notice. The 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) continues efforts to clear the ridge southeast of Limon and sends Troop A toward Highway 2 to make contact with the 32d Infantry Division.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators hit Dumaguete Airfield on Negros Island and Matina and Cagayan Airfields on Mindanao Island. Fighter-bombers in the central Philippines and Mindanao Island support ground forces and hit supplies, communications, and a variety of targets of opportunity.
USN submarine USS Gunnel (SS-253) lands supplies and evacuates Allied aviators from Palawan.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Australian Lieutenant General William Bridgeford, General Officer Commanding 3rd Australian Division, informs his senior officers that the first phase of operations in the southern sector of Bougainville will be the capture of Mosigetta and Mawaraka which are about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Torokina.
U.S.A.: "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" by the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 4 November 1944, was charted for 18 weeks, was Number 1 for 2 weeks and was ranked Number 15 for the year 1944.