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http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/10/26.htm

November 26th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: General Sir Harold Alexander, the supreme Allied commander in Italy, is promoted to field marshal. The appointment is backdated to 4 June in order to make him senior to Field Marshal Montgomery.

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 726: eight B-17 Flying Fortresses and six B-24 Liberators drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night of 26/27 November.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, the Germans surrender Verdun forts to the 5th Infantry Division. In the XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division approaches St Avold against strong rear-guard opposition. Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, drives through Foret de Puttelange but comes under such heavy fire upon emerging that it falls back through the woods; Combat Command B mops up along the Maderbach River with infantrymen but cannot get tanks through the mud. Skillful rear guards keep the 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, from Honskirch. The 4th Armored Division begins a coordinated attack with the two Task Force’s of Combat Command B east of the Saar River toward the German’s next main line of resistance along the Wolfskirchen-Eywiller- Durstel road but is slowed by the terrain, which contains a number of flooded streams; Combat Command A crosses the Saar and moves eastward across rear of Combat Command B.

In the U.S. Seventh Army area, XV Corps is still under heavy pressure from the north. VI Corps the 3d Infantry Division emerges from the Vosges Mountains onto the Alsatian Plain at many points. The 103d Infantry Division seizes Steige and Ville, important points on the Giessen River.

The French First Army continues efforts to close the pincers on the Germans by the junction of the II and I Corps at Burnhaupt, but progresses slowly. The Germans for the third time cut the communication line to the Rhine River in the I Corps zone.
GERMANY: In the US First Army area: In support of the 104th, 1st, and 8th Divisions the IX Tactical Air Command struck Weisweiler, Frenz, Lamersdorf, Inden, Langerwehe and Geich. The 104th Division captured Frenz and cleared Weisweiler. In the 1st Division area Task Force Richardson captured a strongpoint south of Frenz. In the 4th Division area the 8th Infantry cleared southward from the Schevenhtte-Dren Road, and in the 22d Infantry area soldiers moved in greater strength to the edge of the woods. The 8th Division’s 121st Infantry moved forward slightly towards Hürtgen, while the attached battalion of the 13th Infantry passed through the 12th Infantry and reached the forest edge facing Hürtgen (Robert Rush).

In the U.S. Ninth Army’s XIX Corps area, to counter German shelling, corps artillery program is doubled in spite of ammunition shortage. 29th Infantry Division troops in Bourheim, helped by reserves and aircraft, contain the most powerful attack to be made by the Germans on this objective; isolated forces of the 116h Infantry Regiment in Koslar are supplied by air. Major General Raymond McLain, Commanding General XIX Corps, orders the attack toward the Roer River continued all along line.

In the U.S. First Army’s VII Corps area: the USAAF Ninth Air Force’s IX Tactical Air Command strikes Weisweiler, Frenz, Lamersdorf, Inden, Langerwehe and Geich in support of the 104th, 1st, and 8th Infantry Divisions. The 104th Division captures Frenz and clears Weisweiler. In the 1st Division area Task Force Richardson, supported by long-range fire of armor, reach Frenzerburg Castle but cannot gain entrance to the medieval structure. In the 4th Infantry Division area the 8th Infantry Regiment clears southward from the Schevenhuette-Dren Road, and in the 22d Infantry area soldiers moved in greater strength to the edge of the woods. In the V Corps area, the 8th Infantry Division’s 121st Infantry Regiment moves forward slightly towards Huertgen, while the attached battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiment passed through the 12th Infantry and reached the forest edge facing Huertgen. (Robert Rush)

In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, Combat Command B extends the northern wing of corps eastward toward the Saar with little difficulty. The 90th and 95th Infantry Divisions continue steadily northeastward in the center and on the right flank of corps, the 95th Infantry Division penetrating Maginot Line.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 725: 1,137 bombers and 732 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on rail viaducts, marshalling yards (M/Ys) and oil installations in western Germany; all but one attack is with radar; about 550 Luftwaffe fighters intercept and 34 bombers and nine fighters are lost; the AAF claims 133-14-42 aircraft: 325 bomb Hannover with 307 attack the Misburg oil refinery and 18 attacking a M/Y with the loss of 26 aircraft; 264 bomb the M/Y at Hamm with the loss of three aircraft; 276 hit Bielefeld with 250 bombing the Schildesche railroad viaduct and 36 bombing a power plant; 113 bomb a railroad viaduct at Altenbeken with the loss of five aircraft: 37 bomb a M/Y at Gutersloh; 25 hit a M/Y at Herford, 19 bomb a M/Y at Osnabruck; and nine hit miscellaneous targets.

One hundred seventy three USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs bomb supply, storage, stores, and ordnance depots at Gaulsheim, Bergzabern, Giessen, Reichenbach, and Homburg/Saar; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over western Germany, search for a lost A-20, escort 9th Bombardment Division, and support the US 29th Infantry Division at Bourheim and the XX and XII Corps in the area of the Maginot Line and German-French border.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 75 Lancasters are sent on a trial raid to attack the railway centre at Fulda to establish whether G-H signals could reach to this distance, 160 miles (257 kilometers) from the German frontier. The distance is too great, however, and the bombs dropped by 71 aircraft are scattered over a wide area.

During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 270 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos,to bomb Munich; 257 aircraft attack with the loss of one Lancaster which crashes in France. Bomber Command claims this as an accurate raid in good visibility with much fresh damage, particularly to railway targets. In other raids, seven Mosquitos bomb Erfurt and six bomb Karlsruhe.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: The last 204 Sonderkommandos, privileged prisoners with the task of burying or cremating their gassed comrades, are murdered.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Michaloyce falls to the Soviets in eastern Slovakia.

HUNGARY: Soviet troops take Hatvan and threaten Budapest.

Thirty nine USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings fly an offensive sweep over Seregelyes Airfield and strafe nearby road and rail traffic; other fighters fly reconnaissance and escort.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army’s V Corps area, the 46th Division succeeds in reaching the Lamone River on the southern flank of the corps, but the Germans are holding on firmly to switch line positions between the Lamone and Montone Rivers on the northern flank of the corps. Heavy rains bring a lull in offensive.

A slight improvement in the weather permits USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers to increase operations; P-47 Thunderbolts closely support ground forces in the U.S. Fifth Army battle area in the Apennines south of Bologna and cut rail lines in over 30 places north of the immediate battle zone.

YUGOSLAVIA: Marshal Josip Broz Tito, Commander in Chief Yugoslav Liberation Army, agrees to let British naval and air force personnel use certain ports and airfields temporarily.

CHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-51 Mustangs blast railway cars, station, and track, hit several trucks, and hit town area at Hochih while over 90 P-40s, P-51s and P-38 Lightnings hit river, rail, and road traffic and other targets of opportunity over wide southern China areas, 40 of them concentrating on targets between Kweiyi and Changsha and around Liuchow.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the British 36th Division, replacing the 72nd Brigade with the 29th Brigade, patrols actively in the Pinwe area.

Sixteen USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts continue close support strikes; about 60 fighter-bombers hit concentrations, supply and ammunition dumps, and rail targets at Panghkai, Kunmong, Mabein, Lashio, Panku, and around Meza; seven others on a railroad sweep hit targets of opportunity between Maymyo and Man Pyen.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and P-51 Mustangs blast railway cars, station, and track, hit several trucks, and hit town areas of Phu Lang Thuong.

THAILAND: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells damage a bridge at Kengluang.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 26/27 November, a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on a snooper mission from Guam bombs Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES:

In the U.S. Sixth Army’s X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24 Infantry Division, relieves Company A with Company C on Kilay Ridge. The battalionn is highly vulnerable to Japanese attack from different directions and is maintaining positons with the use of artillery. In the XXIV Corps area, the Japanese make another night attack, on the night of 26/27 November, on Shoestring Ridge, about 200 Japanese troops gaining positions in the bamboo thicket within the American lines, but 400 Japanese dead are counted at the conclusion of the action.

Over 40 USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, some with fighter support, bomb La Carlota and Talisay Airfields on Negros and Cebu Islands respectively; fighter-bombers hit an airfield and various targets of opportunity throughout the area. B-24 Liberators bomb an airfield near Davao, Mindanano Island. Other bombers and fighters fly light strikes and armed reconnaissance missions against a variety of targets in southern Luzon and Mindanao.

Particularly west of Burauen and generally elsewhere on Leyte night attacks are made by the Japanese.

Three days of sea warfare involving 282 ships - more than in any previous naval engagement - have ended with a crushing victory for the US Navy. Thirty-four warships have been sunk, of which 28 were Japanese, including their last four aircraft carriers.

The fighting was focussed on the landlocked seas of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, but in fact occurred in four separate areas: the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait and off Samar Island and Cape Engano. On 24 October Admiral Halsey had despatched his carriers to meet Ozawa’s carrier force off Cape Engano. As the US carriers sped north, a force under Admiral Nishimura entered the Surigao Strait to rendezvous with Kurita in Leyte Gulf. A US task force, under Rear-Admiral Oldendorf, attacked in one of the rare direct confrontations between battleships; Nishimura was the clear loser, going down in his own flagship, YAMASHIRO, one of the two Japanese battleships to be lost.

But while Oldendorf was tangling with Nishimura, Kurita’s force had passed through the San Bernardino Strait unobserved and off Samar attacked Admiral T. L. Sprague’s Seventh Fleet task force supporting the Leyte landings. Five US warships were sunk before Kurita surprisingly withdrew, fearing attack from carrier-based planes.

In fact, the US carriers were 300 miles further north, engaging the Japanese carrier force. By this morning all four Japanese carriers had been sunk, along with two destroyers. Their loss capped a disastrous operation for Japan. US air and naval power has finished the Imperial Japanese Navy as a fighting force. Yet there was one worrying portent for the Americans. Yesterday, at the height of the battle, Japan unleashed suicidal Kamikaze pilots who deliberately crashed their bomb-laden planes onto enemy targets. And they have claimed their first victim: the US escort carrier, USS ST. LO.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells pound airfields in the Ambon-Ceram Islands area. Other bombers and fighters fly light strikes and armed reconnaissance missions against a variety of targets on northern Celebes, northern Borneo and the Halmahera Islands.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Angaur Island bomb Arakabesan Island.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard commissioned. The USN now has eighteen fleet carriers in service.