5 December 1944

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF aircraft carrying out "Bomber" Harris's threat to wreck Germany "from end to end", last night smashed Heilbronn a city on a key north/south rail route. Virtually unopposed by the Luftwaffe, 282 Lancasters and ten Mosquitoes used their expertise to create the maximum devastation. The raid was controlled from the air by a Master Bomber who directed the dropping of markers and then sent in the Lancasters. High-explosive bombs opened up buildings as kindling for 2,000 tons of incendiaries. The city is in flames. Some 7,000 civilians are thought to have died. 12 Lancasters were lost.

During the night of 5/6 December, the USAAF's Eighth Air Force flies Mission 740: 11 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division gets patrols to the Sarre River; the 2d Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, drives to the southeast outskirts of Sarreguemines. Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, also patrols to the river line, in the region north of Sarreguemines. The 2d Cavalry Group (Mechanized), advancing along the Roselle River on the left flank of the corps, patrols across the German frontier near St. Nicolas. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, crosses the creek at Domfessel and pushes north toward Rohrbach-les-Bitche, an important communications center, but is halted with heavy losses short of Bining; Combat Command B drives to Schmittviller.

The U.S. Seventh Army begins a general attack northward toward the Maginot Line and West Wall with the reorganized XV Corps on the left and the VI Corps on the right. The XV Corps, consisting of 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions and the 12th Armored Division, pushes forward with infantry, the 44th taking Ratzwiller and the 100th overrunning Wimmenau and Wingen. The VI Corps (3d, 45th, 79th, and 103d Infantry Divisions and 14th Armored Division) drives northward with the 45th and 79th Infantry Divisions: elements of the 45th reach Mertzwiller, which the Germans are defending stubbornly. In the rear area, Fort St. Quentin, one of the three remaining German held forts around Metz, fell to a combined air and ground attack. 600 prisoners were taken. (Andy Etherington and

In the French First Army area, alteration of the inter-army boundary gives the French full responsibility for the reduction of the German bridgehead west of the Rhine River in the Colmar area; the French First Army is reinforced for the task by the U.S. 36th Infantry Division and French 2d Armored Division.

GERMANY: Saarland: The battle for the key industrial area of the Saar basin is moving towards a climax as Patton's US 3rd Army exploits the three bridge-heads established across the Saar river. Advances up to 9 miles have been made, and in the central sector of the front the Americans are within 5 miles of the capital Saarbrücken.

Fighting is taking place in Saarguemines, where the Germans are putting up stiff resistance. Saarlautern has been captured, and the first belt of the Siegfried Line defences attacked. In the rear area, Fort St. Quentin, one of the three remaining German held forts around Metz, fell to a combined air and ground attack. 600 prisoners were taken.

Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce, the wife of the Time magazine publisher, arrived at the Third Army front today with other members of the House of Representatives. She was allowed to fire a 155mm howitzer at the German lines by pulling the lanyard.

Berlin: The call went out today for all German women over 18 to volunteer for the army and air force. They are needed as auxiliaries by the Heer and Luftwaffe in order to free men for service at the front. Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, the Reich's women's leader, appealed to women to come forward because "the enemy's hatred is intent on annihilating the German people."

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division withstands a determined counterattack against Lucherberg. In the V Corps area, Task Force Boyer of Combat Command R, 5th Armored Division, renewing a drive on Bergstein, pushes three prongs into the village and clears it but is threatened from Castle Hill (Burg-Berg) to the east..

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 1st and 3d Battalions of the 379th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, continue to attack toward Saarlautern-Roden and Fraulautern, respectively, without making much headway; The 2d Battalion crosses into the bridgehead and drives through the 1st Battalion to the edge of Saarlautern-Roden, where a counterattack is repulsed; the 3d Battalion breaks into the southern part of Fraulautern; two battalions of the 378th Infantry Regiment cross the Sarre River at Lisdorf and drive to the edge of Ensdorf. On the southern flank of the corps, Lauterbach falls to the 5th Infantry Division without a fight. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

Between 0040 and 1350 hours, USAAF fighters shoot down 91 Luftwaffe aircraft over Germany.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 738: 589 bombers and 884 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on Germany; an estimated 275-300 Luftwaffe fighters attack and USAAF fighters claim 90-7-30 aircraft; 12 bombers and 17 fighters are lost. Three targets are hit in Berlin, 214 hit the gas works, 174 bomb the Tegel-Rheinmetal tank factory and 13 attack the industrial area; 12 bombers are lost. Other targets hit include the marshalling yard at Munster by 108 B-24 Liberators, while 23 other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

One hundred seventy two USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26 Marauders attack a marshalling yard, road junction, fuel storage dump, defended positions, and rail bridge at eight locations; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division aircraft, fly numerous armed reconnaissance missions, and provide cover for the U.S. 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Luchem, Bergstein, and Lucherberg areas.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command flies two missions: (1) 91 Lancasters carry out a G-H raid on Hamm through cloud without loss. The British Bombing Survey Unit estimates that 140 acres (57 hectares), 39 per cent of Hamm's built-up area, are destroyed by this attack. (2) 56 Lancasters attempt to bomb the Schwammenauel Dam on the River Roer to help the American Army, but the target is covered by cloud and only two aircraft bombed.

During the night of 5/6 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft hit four cities: (1) 497 aircraft, 385 Halifaxes, 100 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos, are dispatched to Soest; 473 bomb the target with the loss of two Halifaxes. This is a successful raid, with the local report confirming that most of the bombing is in the northern part of the town where the railway installations are situated. Mosquitos are active with 52 bombing Ludwigshafen, 28 hit Nurnburg and two attack a coking plant at Hamborn.

U-4707 laid down.

U-2352, U-2531 launched.

HUNGARY: The Soviet Third Ukrainian Front progresses rapidly in the center, where forward elements reach Lake Balaton; the left flank elements driving along the north bank of the Drava River overrun Szigetvar. .

In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps, after taking Mt. Rinaldo and securing the left flank of the army, halts until V Corps can reduce the opposition on Pideura ridge. In the V Corps area, the 46th Division continues to make slow progress against Pideura ridge. In the Canadian I Corps area, the 1st Division launches an attack on San Leonardo across the Lamone River on the left flank of corps, but are driven back by a German counterattack. Mopping up is conducted east of the Lamone River for the next few days while bridging is underway.

Bad weather severely restricts USAAF Twelfth Air Force operations; medium bomber missions are cancelled except for a weather reconnaissance flight; fighters and fighter-bombers hit a few rail lines and other communications targets in the eastern Po River Valley but devote a major effort to closely support the U.S. Fifth Army in the battle area south of Bologna.

YUGOSLAVIA: Berlin reports a Soviet crossing of the Danube near Vukovar, Croatia.

GREECE: The British begin using tanks in the fighting in Athens, as they open fire on left-wing protest marchers. They also shell EAM (communist) positions in the Piraeus with naval gunfire.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: MS "T-107" (ex-FY.301) - sunk by U-boat, in Kolskii bay (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
Baltic Fleet, Ladoga Lake and Chudskoe Lake Flotillas: MS "T-377" - sunk by aviation, in Riga Gulf and MS "N82" (ex-BP "N23" - mined at Ust-Dvinsk. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

CHINA: Seven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators on sweeps over the Gulf of Tonkin, the South China Sea, and Formosa Strait bomb Ft Bayard and Hong Kong's Kowloon Docks and damage a freighter. Six B-25 Mitchells attack targets of opportunity from Liuchow to Liuchenghsien while 61 P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance hit river, road, and rail traffic and other targets of opportunity at scattered points mainly in southern China.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the Japanese send a strong Task Force toward Bhamo to assist the withdrawal of the beleaguered garrison. This force of about 3,000 starts north from Namhkam in the evening. The Chinese 30th Division continues a southward drive toward Namhkam against Japanese opposition from hill positions.

Thirty one USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Bhamo area; 25 fighter-bombers hit Hay-ti, Meza, and three other road bridges; 20+ fighter-bombers attack town areas, troop concentrations and storage facilities in or near Kawngwai, Kunmong, Settawagon, and Thitpoklwin; and eight attack targets of opportunity along the Shwebo-Wuntho rail line. Transports complete 285 sorties carrying troops to forward bases and dropping supplies to frontline forces; and ten B-25 Mitchells bomb a communications center, supplies, and personnel concentration at Mogok. The Tenth Air Force begins Operation GRUBWORM, flying the Chinese 14th and 22d Divisions from Burma to China in preparation for the Yunnan campaign to counter a probable Japanese drive toward Kunming, China.

JAPAN: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators off for a strike on Kakumabetsu in the Kurile Islands abort due to weather and B-25 Mitchells cancel a shipping sweep.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators strike Galela Airfield on Galela Island, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Morotai; and Djailolo and Hate Tabako Aerodromes on Halmahera Island. B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs lightly raid Kaoe Aerodrome and Miti Aerodrome on Miti Island off the east coast of Halmahera. B-25 Mitchells hit Langoan Airfield on Celebes Island while B-24 Liberators flying in pairs hit targets of opportunity nearby and in northern Borneo.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Australian General Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific Area and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force, and Lieutenant General Frank Berryman, Chief of Staff Advanced Headquarter Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific Area, meet with U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief Southwest Pacific Area, to discuss the forward movement of Australian troops to the Philippine Islands. The Australians receives "very little satisfaction" from the discussions, with MacArthur saying that he would probably want the Australian Imperial Force to clean up Luzon.

On Leyte, the U.S. Sixth Army begins an offensive against Ormoc. In the X Corps area the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) is still stalemated on the ridge southeast of Limon. The 32d Infantry Division prepares to drive down Highway 2. In the XXIV Corps area, the 776th Amphibious Tank Battalion, moving north by sea beyond Balogo, lands in the Tabgas area to fire on hills in front of the 7th Infantry Division; the battalion continues northward by sea to reconnoiter the Calingatngan region, then returns to their bivouac area. The 7th Infantry Division attacks with the 184th Infantry Regiment on the left and 17th Infantry Regiment on the right: the 184th secures the line from the beach some 300 yards (274 meters) south of Balogo on the left to the heights southeast of the Palanas River on the right. The 17th Infantry Regiment takes the ridge west of Hill 918. The 77th Infantry Division, at the Tarragona beach assembly area on the east coast of Leyte, begins loading supplies and equipment for a landing below Ormoc.

USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers over the central Philippines area hit Japanese positions, barges, and communications targets.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: Harmon arrives with plans for using Cruiser Division 5 and all available P-38s, B-24s and B-29s in a daylight attack on Iwo Jima. After a hurried conference with Hoover, Hansell and others, Harmon scheduled the bombardment for noon on the 7th.