8 January 1945

BELGIUM: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 4th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and 84th Infantry Division pursue the Germans on the right of the corps to Marcourt and Cielle; other elements of the 84th Infantry Division start clearing the woods south of the main road junction southeast of Manhay, the 2d Armoured Division drives on Samre, Combat Command A moving south from Dochamps and Combat Command B pushing southeast along the Salmchteau-Samre Road. The 3d Armoured Division gains their intermediate objective line, taking Hebronval, Ottre, Joubieval, and Provedroux. In the XVIII Corps (Airborne) area, the 82d Airborne Division consolidates along the line Grand Sart-Salmchâteau-Trois Ponts and clears Comté.

In the U.S. Third Army's VIII Corps area, the Germans drive 87th Infantry Division units from Bonnerue and maintains pressure in the Tillet region. Some 17th Airborne Division elements gain and then lose high ground north of Laval and others are forced out of Flamierge. In the III Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division recovers lost ground in the Neffe-Wardin sector. Task Force Fickett occupies the zone between the 35th and 26th Infantry Divisions, along the high ground before Villers-la-Bonne-Eau and Betlange. Belgium, and Harlange, Luxembourg.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 788: A B-17 Flying Fortresses and two B-24 Liberators drop leaflets over St Hubert.

FRANCE: Strasbourg: Battle rages, with the US 7th Army fending off a strong German attack at Rimling.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the Germans enter Rimling. The 100th and 36th Infantry Divisions improve their positions in local attacks. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division makes slight progress against the western flank of the German salient; Task Force Herren becomes responsible for the eastern flank. The 79th Infantry Division withstands pressure near Aschbach and moves reinforcements to the Soultz-Rittershoffen area. The Germans check efforts to reduce the Gambshelm bridgehead. The 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, is unable to advance in Drusenheim or southeast of Rohrweiler. Combat Command B, 12th Armoured Division, attacks with the 714th Tank Battalion toward Herrlisheim.

Sergeant Russell Dunham is awarded the MOH for actions today leading a platoon in the 30th Infantry, Third Infantry Division, when the soldiers among them, including his brother Ralph, are pinned down by German fire. They are at the bottom of a hill near the village of Kaysersberg. He charges up the snow covered hill killing, wounding or capturing 18 German soldiers. (Mark W. Carver)

GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 787: 736 bombers and 269 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on communications centres, rail targets and bridges in Germany; two bombers are lost. The heaviest attack is made against the Ost marshalling yard at Frankfurt-am-Main which is hit by 137 aircraft. Sixteen other targets are also bombed.

AUSTRIA: Over 300 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb seven marshalling yards (M/Ys): 205 hit the Main M/Y at Linz, 46 bomb Klagenfurt M/Y, 42 attack the Main M/Y at Graz and 17 aircraft hit four other M/Ys.

ITALY: Bad weather sharply reduces daytime operations of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force. Of three medium bomber missions dispatched, only one reaches the target (the Chivasso railway bridge) where only six medium bombers bomb through the overcast; less than 20 XXII Tactical Air Command fighters hit scattered targets in the Po Valley.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) at Mong Wi is ordered to move forward for action.

Twenty one USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit troops and supply areas at Nampeng and Mong Long; 74 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-38 Lightnings attack troop concentrations and supply areas at Tunhunghkam, Monguy, Hpa-hpun, and Man Om; and 12 P-47s knock out a bypass bridge at Namhkai. Transports complete 470+ sorties to forward bases and frontline areas.

Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs hit targets of opportunity east of Muse and east of Wanling.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte, U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief South West Pacific Area, sends a message to Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Australian Military Force and Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces South West Pacific Area, in New Guinea and states that his communique tomorrow will "carry announcement Australian troop as requested by you" in a message on 6 January. Tomorrow's announcement states: "Australian forces have relieved United States Army elements along the Solomons axis, in New Britain and British New Guinea. Continuous actions of attrition at all points of contact have been in progress. So far 372 Japanese have been killed, 20 captured and 10 friendly nationals recovered."

Preinvasion aerial and naval bombardment of Lingayen Gulf area of Luzon continues. Mine sweeping is completed.

In the main strikes during the day on Luzon Island, USAAF Far East Air Forces P-51 Mustangs and P-40s strafe airfields in the Lingayen Gulf area; A-20 Havocs hit railroad yards at Cabanatuan, motor convoys between Cabanatuan and Bongalion and between Bongabon and Mojon, Rosales and San Quintin rail installations, bridges at Cuyapo, Paniqui, and near Santa Rosa; P-47 Thunderbolts hit rail yards and a truck convoy in the San Jose area; and B-24 Liberators and A-20s attack Nichols Field and Nielson, Lipa, and Calingatan Airfields. B-25 Mitchells with P-47 cover, bomb Fabrica Airfield on Negros Island, while B-24 Liberators bomb Likanan Airfield and oil storage at Matina on Mindanano Island.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty six USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb airfields on Iwo Jima, while, during the night of 8/9 January, ten more B-24s subject the island to individual snooper strikes over a 6-hour period.

PACIFIC OCEAN: During continuing Japanese aerial onslaught on the Lingayen Gulf invasion force in the South China Sea, kamikazes damage escort aircraft carriers USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) about 63 nautical miles (117 kilometres) west-southwest of Lingayen, Luzon in position 15.48N, 119.09E, and Kadashan Bay (CVE-76), about 87 nautical miles (161 kilometres) southwest of Lingayen, Luzon in position 15.10N, 119.08E. A suicide also crashes close aboard Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia (D 84), ending her support operations this day.

The USN coordinated submarine attack group, Task Group 17.21 (Commander Charles E. Loughlin) attacks a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea about 52 nautical miles (97 kilometres) west-southwest of Taihoku, Formosa. USS Barb (SS-220) sinks two merchant cargo ships (the second explodes violently, forcing Barb deep and tearing off deck gratings); and a merchant tanker and damages an army cargo ship; USS Picuda (SS-382) damages a cargo ship and USS Queenfish (SS-393) damages a tanker. In the confusion generated by TG 17.21's attack, a merchant tanker runs aground in Tungshiao Bay.

U.S.A.: Admiral Jonas H. Ingram, Commander-in-Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet, says that it is possible and probable that New York City or Washington will be hit by buzz bombs within the next 30 to 60 days. The Admiral states that he will take charge of coastal defences of New York and Washington, and that he has moved 'plenty of forces' to take every possible precaution against the attack. He predicts that the bombs might come in one of three ways: 1) surface ships; 2:) submarines; 3) long-range planes.

He believes that the bombs will be smaller that the V-1 or V-2s launched against Great Britain -- and that the greatest danger to expect was from fires -- and that the bombs were not expected to seriously damage any large buildings. He warns against panic, which would increase the damage... 'I don't think there is anything to worry about too much,' he says, 'they might try to hit the Empire State Building to cause panic...they might kill a few people and cause some damage...but they won't be able to launch more than 10 or 12 robot bombs."

"He adds, 'the next alert will be the real McCoy, the danger area would be in a 300 mile arc from which either New York, Washington, or Boston will be hit.' He declares that 'The Germans had 300 submarines at least in the Atlantic, and that the Navy was prepared to keep them from coming close enough to fire, or to stop them before they fired very many bombs." (Neal D. O'Brien)

In California, the packing shed of the Doi family is burned and dynamited and shots are fired into their home. The family had been the first to return to California from the Amache Relocation Camp for Ethnic Japanese located 1.5 miles (2,4 kilometres) west of Granada, Colorado, and the first to return to Placer County, having arrived three days earlier. (Placer County is located northeast of Sacramento.) Although several men are arrested and confess to the acts, all would be acquitted. Some 30 similar incidents would greet other Japanese Americans returning to the West Coast between January and June.

Light cruiser USS Amsterdam (CL-101) commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Cross commissioned.

BRITISH WEST INDIES: Martin Model 130 Flying Boat, msn 558, registered NC14716 and named "China Clipper" by the U.S. airline Pan American Airways, crashes at Port of Spain, Trinidad, at 2116 hours local. This is Pan Am Flight 161 from Miami, Florida, to Leopoldville, Belgian Congo. The aircraft crashes 1.25 miles (2 012 kilometres) short of the intended landing area in a nose-down attitude at too great a speed and breaks up in the water. The crash is blamed on the first officer's failure to realize his proximity to the water and to correct his attitude for a normal landing and the lack of adequate supervision by the captain during the landing, resulting in the inadvertent flight into the water in excess of normal landing speed and in a nose-down attitude. Twenty three of the 30 people aboard the aircraft are killed. The is the last Martin 130 in service.