10 December 1944

BELGIUM: Lanzerath: Lieutenant Lyle Joseph Bouck, Jr., leader of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 394th Infantry Regiment, was ordered to occupy a position on the south flank of the 394th Infantry, 99th Infantry Division. He found a position on high ground that had been previously occupied by soldiers of the 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. The position, with good fields of fire, had holes with overhead cover and overlooked the only good road in the area . The road ran through the village of Lanzerath.

The platoon had equipped itself with several BARs, two .30 calibre machine guns and a .50 calibre mounted on a jeep. (Will O'Neil)

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the main body of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, crosses the Sarre River to clear the eastern part of Sarreguemines and begins a house-to-house battle. The 134th and 320th Infantry Regiments push toward the Blies River. Gros RÃ©derching falls to the 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, the newly arrived 63d and 42d Infantry Divisions, whose regiments are organized as Task Force Harris and Task Force Linden, respectively, are assigned to the army. In the XV Corps area, Combat Command A of the 12th Armored Division takes Rohrbach-lÃ¨s-Bitche. The 44th Infantry Division secures the crossroads below Petit RÃ©derching in brisk fighting. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division seizes Reichshoffen and Gundershoffen. The 79th Infantry Division takes MarienthaI and Kaltenhouse but is still held up at Haguenau. Crossing the the Zintzel River, 103d Infantry Division troops clear the northern part of Mertzwiller.

In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division completes the capture of Thann. The 9th Colonial Division reduces the last German bridgeheads west of the Rhine River between Kembs and the Swiss border.

GERMANY: The VII Corps begins a strong attack west of Aachen, moving toward Duren.

Hitler appoints Himmler to be C-in-C Army Group Oberrhein (Upper Rhine), and moves to his western front headquarters at Bad Neuheim.

In the U.S. First Army area, VII Corps begins coordinated attack to clear the west bank of the Roer River and the city of Dueren, employing the 104th Infantryt, 3d Armored, 9th Infantry and 83d Infantry Divisions. Elements of the 414th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division, attack toward the village of Schophoven and Pier; penetrate into Pier but are forced out. In the 9th Infantry Division zone in the center, elements of the 3d Armored Division, assisted by the 60th Infantry Regiment, thrust to Obergeich and gain positions in Echtz; elements of the 39th Infantry Regiment driving southeast from Obergeich get into position for an assault on Merode and Schlicht. The 83d Infantry Division pushes into the villages of Gey and Strass, northeast of Grosshau, with the 331st and 330th Infantry Regiments; 3 the 29th Infantry Regiment advances on the left flank.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans make an all-out effort to destroy the Dillingen bridgehead, counterattacking all along the line. The 90th Infantry Division contains the onslaughts but cannot move forward. In the 95th Infantry Division's Saarlautern bridgehead, the 377th Infantry Regiment deepens their penetration into Fraulautern but the 378th and 379th Regiments are prevented by counterattacks from advancing.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 745: 534 bombers and 690 fighters are dispatched to make Pathfinder Force attacks and a fighter sweep in Germany; two fighters are lost. Two marshalling yards (M/Ys) are hit: 274 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Lutzel M/Y at Koblenz and 173 B-24 Liberators attack the M/Y at Bingen; four other aircraft hit targets of opportunity.

About 130 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb defended positions at Birkesdorf, and Huchem-Stammeln while fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, strafe and dive-bomb numerous targets in western Germany, and support the U.S. 8th, 9th, 83d, and 104th Infantry Divisions and the 3d and 5th Armored Divisions in the areas around Bergstein, Duren, and along the west bank of the Roer River.

Over 550 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators dispatched to bomb oil targets in Germany are recalled because of overcast weather.

U-2354 launched.

U-2552 laid down.

AUSTRIA: Six USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched to bomb targets in Germany, manage to bomb the marshalling yard at Klagenfurt as a target of opportunity.

HUNGARY: The Soviet Second Ukrainian Front pushes in toward Pest, the portion of Budapest east of the Danube River. The Germans are withstanding Soviet attacks southwest of Budapest and near Miskoic.

U.S.S.R.: The French and Soviet governments signed a 20-year Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Brigadier General Charles-André De Gaulle, Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, negotiated the agreement with the Soviets in Moscow.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Canadian I Corps begins an attack across the Lamone River late in day.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers bomb bridges, fills, and a tunnel in the Brenner Pass area, hit the Fidenza bridge and barracks at Bologna, and support the British Eighth Army in the Faenza area, bombing defensive positions. The XXII Tactical Air Command targets are again predominantly communications north of the US Fifth Army battle zone.

During the night of 10/11 December USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack vehicles, lights, railway lines, roads, river ferries, and pontoon bridges in the Po River Valley.

YUGOSLAVIA: In the northern part of the country, the Soviet and Yugoslav forces driving toward Vinkovci penetrate into Vukovar.

GREECE: Local political and military disturbances result in cancellation of liberty for USN sailors at Piraeus; Greek snipers wound two crewmen in tank landing ship USS LST-74.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Infantry landing ship HMCS Prince David damaged by mine off Aegina Island, Greece. She was towed to a North African port for repairs.

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-636 supplied provisions to a weather team on Spitzbergen.

CHINA: U.S. Lieutenant General Albert, Chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Commanding General, U.S. forces in China urges, Chiang Kai-shek to order troops of the Yunnan Force (Y-Force) on the Saiween front to take Wanting, at the northeast exit of the Shweli Valley where the Ledo Road is to meet the old Burma Road. The Chinese halted their offensive operations with the fall of Che-fang on 1 December. The Japanese in southern China link up with the Japanese French Indochina Garrison Army, thus opening the route for the movement of two divisions in small groups into French Indochina. This, plus their push into Kweichow, which ended on 3 December, marks a high tide of the Japanese invasion of continent of Asia.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit targets of opportunity in the Liuchow area while 25 B-24 Liberators bomb the city of Hankow and three others bomb Samah Bay docks on Hainan Island. One hundred eighteen P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance over wide areas of China attack numerous targets of opportunity, concentrating on rail, river, and road traffic, especially in the Hochih, Changsha, and Yuncheng areas.

BURMA: Allied engineers complete a 1,154 foot long Bailey bridge, the world's largest across the Chindwin river.

In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the British 36th Division completes its part of Phase I, Operation CAPITAL (the attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay), ahead of schedule as patrols enter Indaw and Katha. Later in the month, the division crosses the Irrawaddy River at Katha and drives toward Kyaukme. Japanese forces working toward Bhamo to assist the withdrawal of the garrison penetrate positions of the Chinese 30th Division south of Bhamo; a vigorous counterattack forces the Japanese to go on the defensive. The U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special), less the 1st Battalion in the Shwegu area, is concentrated in the Mo-hlaing--Tonk-wa area, where it will conduct a holding action while the Chinese 22d Division flies to China.

Twenty USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts fly close support strikes in the Bhamo area; eight others attack approaches to the Hay-ti road bridge while over 50 P-47s hit warehouses and other storage areas, troop concentrations, and positions at Daungbin, Myebalin, Kyaunghkam, Pongon, Thinbaung, Kawnghkang, Pangteng, and Hsipaw Twelve B-25 Mitchells hit storage areas at Meza, Namun, and Kungmong.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Japanese troops from Operation Ichi-Go link up with compatriots from the French Indochina Garrison Army, gaining control of the vital Indochina to China rail link.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 32d Infantry Division continues to press southward as does the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Special) to the east. The 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division, prepares to attack to reduce a strongpoint in Mt Cabungaan area. In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Infantry Division, supported by artillery and naval vessels, takes Ormoc. Company A of the 776th Amphibious Tank Battalion moves into the city at 0900 hours, before the infantry assault begins, and starts shelling buildings there. The 307th and 306th Regiments, the former driving along a highway and latter to the east, attack northward and clear the city. The 7th Infantry Division continues forward toward the 77th Infantry Division. The 11th Airborne Division defeats a dispirited counterattack in the Burauen area by a Japanese battalion that has made its way over mountains from Ormoc Bay. The 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Infant ry Division, attacks and clears the Buri Airfield area. In a final major effort against the Burauen airfields, beginning at 1930 hours, the Japanese force USAAF Fifth Air Force personnel to fall back, but positions are restored in a counterattack.

USAAF Far East Air Force P-38 Lightnings hit Port Misamis on Mindanao Island and fighter- bombers attack storage facilities and targets of opportunity in the central Philippines.

Off Leyte, USN destroyer USS Hughes (DD-410) is damaged by kamikaze; south of Dulag, a suicide plane crashes the previously damaged freighter SS Marcus Daly, which is discharging cargo to tank landing craft LCT-1075 alongside. LCT-1075 is hit by part of the kamikaze and sunk; SS Marcus Daly suffers no fatalities among the embarked complement (38 merchant sailors, 26-man Armed Guard, 60 stevedores and 124 troops) although eight men are wounded. Nearby freighter SS William S. Ladd is hit by a kamikaze and gutted by fire despite the efforts of four infantry landing craft (LCI) that come alongside; there are no fatalities among the 41-man merchant complement, the 29-man Armed Guard and the 50 stevedores on board to work cargo, although six men are injured. Motor torpedo boat PT-323, damaged by suicide plane is beached and abandoned.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators hit the Pamoesian tank farm and nearby alternates of Lingkas tank farm, Labuan Islands docks, and Lutong refinery all in British North Borneo, while in the Netherlands East Indies, B-25 Mitchells hit Sidate Airfield on Celebes Island and bomb airfields on Boeroe Island west of Ceram Island and Ambon Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 10/11 December, three USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan Island and one from Guam Island fly harassment strikes against Iwo Jima.

AUSTRALIA: Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser, Commander-in-Chief British Pacific Fleet (BPF), flies to Sydney, New South Wales, the planned main base for the BPF. (Andy Etherington)

The British battleship HMS Howe, flagship of the British Pacific Fleet, arrives at Fremantle, Western Australian.

U.S.A.: New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia frightened the citizens by discussing the possibility of rocket attacks launched by U-boats against his city.