December 14th, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Greater London Plan is published, advocating the creation of a "green belt" around the capital and the transfer of a million people to ten new towns.
FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, elements of the 100th Infantry Division attacking Fort Schiesseck, near Bitche, are pinned down by German fire. In the VI Corps area, Lembach falls to the 45th Infantry Division. The 103d Infantry Division encounters strong rear-guard opposition at Climbach while the 79th Infantry Division column drives to the outskirts of Lauterbourg.
GERMANY:
In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, the 30th Infantry Division troops finish clearing the region between the Inde and Roer Rivers.
In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, a factory between Mariaweiler and Dueren is cleared of German troops. The V Corps continues their offensive but makes little headway.
In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 90th Infantry Division continues attack preparations. Vehicular ferry is put out of action by German fire. The 95th Infantry Division makes little progress in expanding the Saarlautern bridgehead. In the XII Corps area, the 35th Infantry Division continues the battle for Habkirchen, crossing the 2d Bn and Company K of the 134th Infantry Regiment over the river to join in the attack. A Bailey bridge is put across the river to the the village, during the night of 14/15 December. The 87th Infantry Division, which has been moving toward Rimling, takes that village, but resistance is stiffening.
Bad weather grounds the USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers but fighters fly armed reconnaissance, hit rail targets and bridges, and support the U.S. 2d and 99th Infantry Divisions in the Monschau Forest, the 8th Infantry Division in the Bergstein area, the 78th Infantry Division in the Simmerath-Resternich area, and the XII and XX Corps around Habkirchen and Saarlautern.
ITALY: The British 8th Army mounts attacks to widen their bridgehead over the Lamone River.
In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division loses contact with elements within Tossignano and fighting for this objective ceases after futile efforts to take it.
In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps renews their offensive, during the night of 14/15 December, pushing forward to the left of the Corps and in conjunction with it. The Corps, after regrouping, jumps off, during the night of 14/15 December, with the Indian 10th Division on the left and the New Zealand 2d Division on the right, the Indian 10th Division attacking toward Pergola ridge and the New Zealand 2d Division in the Colic area, west of Faenza. In the Canadian I Corps area, the 5th Armoured Division forces the Naviglio Canal to the right of the 1st Division and establishes a bridgehead.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers score effective hits on railroad bridges at Parma and Chivasso. Fighters and fighter-bombers attack rail lines north of the immediate battle area and in the Po River Valley and hit guns and occupied areas on the U.S. Fifth Army front south of Bologna.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer
HMS Aldenham (L 22) bombard a German-held island off Fiume, Yugoslavia, is mined in the Adriatic 45 miles SE of the port of Pola (now Pula)
at 44 30N 14 50E. The 63 survivors are rescued by HMS Atherstone. (Alex Gordon)(108)
BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the Japanese garrison of Bhamo prepares to withdraw. The U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) repels another Japanese attack on Tonk-wa, after which their activity subsides to patrolling; makes patrol contact with the British 36th Division at Katha.
Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells again bomb the supply and personnel area at Mongmit. The Bodegon railroad bridge is severely damaged by four P-47 Thunderbolts while 48 P-47s hit troop concentrations, supplies, and areas of active enemy movement at Panghkam, Hohai, Dobin, Kyaukpyintha, and Ho-naw and Nawngkyaung and Kunlong, China. Four others support ground forces near Tonkwa.
Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Loi Mwe.
THAILAND: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command flies Mission 20: 48 B-29 Superfortresses, flying out of the Calcutta, India area, are dispatched to bomb a railroad bridge at Bangkok; 33 hit the primary and 14 others hit targets of opportunity and alternate targets. They claim 0-1-0 Japanese aircraft; four B-29s are lost.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES : A series of air strikes against airfields on Luzon begins today. Lasting through the 16th, these strikes are from TF 38 under Admiral McCain. They will mount 1670 sorties, of which 250 are fighters. Losses: US 65 aircraft; Japanese 170 aircraft.
On Palawan Island, 150 American POWs are incarcerated in a
POW enclosure situated on top of the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Puerto Princesa. While working on the construction of an airfield they are made to dig
three trenches 150-feet (46 meters) long and 4.5-feet (1,4 meters) deep within
the camp. They are told that the trenches are air-raid shelters and practice
drills are carried out. The shelters are small and cramped, the prisoners
sitting bunched up with their knees under their chins.
When a USN convoy is sighted heading for Mindoro Island, an air-raid alarm is
sounded. The Japanese guards, thinking the island is about to be invaded, herd
the prisoners into the covered trenches and then proceed to pour buckets of
gasoline (petrol) into the entrances followed by a match to ignite the fuel. As
the prisoners storm the exits, their clothes on fire, they are mowed down by
light machine-gun fire or bayoneted, shot or clubbed. Dozens manage to get
through the barbed wire and tumble down the 50-foot (15 meter) high cliff to the
waters edge only to be shot at by a Japanese manned landing barge which is
patrolling the shore. Only five survive by swimming across the bay and reaching
the safety of a Filipino guerrilla camp. One prisoner, who tries to swim the
bay, is recaptured and brought back to the beach. There, he suffers the agony of
having gasoline poured on his foot and set alight. His screams delight the
guards who then deliberately set fire to his other foot while at the same time
prodding and stabbing his body with bayonets until he collapses. His body is
then doused with gasoline and cremated. His remains, and the bodies of the other
dead on the beach, are then buried in the sand. U.S. Forces capture Puerto
Princesa on
25 February 1945, and weeks later discover 79 skeletons within the enclosure and
they are given a proper burial. In all, 145 Americans are killed.
The orders to kill the prisoners came from the Japanese High Command. (Jack McKillop and Peter Kilduff)
In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 126th and 127th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division, pressing slowly southward down Highway 2, come up against the Japanese main line of resistance on a series of ridges commanding the highway and for the next few days can make only minor gains. The 2d Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division, succeeds in dislodging the Japanese from the ridge southeast of Limon. The 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), which has been patrolling in the Mt Cabungaan area, is ordered west to block Highway 2 south of the 32d Infantry Division and then attack north toward that division. In the XXIV Corps area, the 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, reduces the opposition in the Cogon area, Task Force Freeman taking the blockhouse and road junction north of Ormoc to sever the Japanese line of communication. The 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, is advancing steadily over precipitous terrain toward 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb airfields on Negros Island and B-25 Mitchells hit Zettlefield airdrome on Jolo Island. Other planes carry out sweeps, armed reconnaissance, and light raids against various targets in the central Philippine Islands, Luzon, Mindanao and Palawan Islands.
Aircraft of the USN's Third Fleet's fast carrier groups begin attacks on Japanese airfields on Luzon. The Japanese continue air attacks on the Mindoro-bound task groups of USN Seventh Fleet.
Twenty four Australian (PBY) Catalinas of Nos. 11 and 43 Squadrons, begin operations from Leyte conducting a minelaying mission in Manila Bay, Luzon.
EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells bomb Namlea on Buru Island. Other planes carry out sweeps, armed reconnaissance, and light raids against various targets one Halmahera Island, northern Borneo, and the Sulu Archipelago.
AUSTRALIA: Frigate HMAS Shoalhaven launched.
CANADA:
Corvette HMCS New Westminster departed Londonderry for refit Saint John, New Brunswick.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "National Velvet" premieres at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Directed by Clarence Brown, this family drama stars Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp, Angela Lansbury and Reginald Owens.
The temporary grade of "General of the Army" and "Fleet Admiral" (five-star) is approved by Public Law 482, 78th Congress.
In baseball, major-league baseball representatives, who are meeting in New York City, decide to allow ball clubs to play night games any day except Sundays and holidays, providing the visiting team agrees. They also agree to prohibit the scheduling of any football games before the home team's baseball season ends.
Aircraft carrier USS Boxer launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: During the night of 14/15 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 30 Lancasters and nine Halifaxes on minelaying missions. Nineteen aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark, and 18 lay mines in the Laeso Rende Strait between the Danish mainline and Laeso Island.