Posted on 11/22/2014 4:45:08 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
On 22 November, with artillery support (particularly from the 120th FA Battalion), the [128th Infantry] regiment attacked at 0800 with its 3d and 2d Battalions abreast, leaving its first to contain the enemy on Corkscrew Ridge. Again the 3d Battalion met little opposition. The 2d had harder fighting but nevertheless was able, along with Company K, to push through Limon. But enemy counterattacks and streams flooded by the heavy rains soon stopped the advance.
The occupation of Limon might be regarded as an end of the battle of Breakneck Ridge although all of the enemy’s pockets of resistance were not eliminated until mid-December. The term is an unofficial one, maps of the area are of doubtful accuracy, reports are inadequate, and a complete and accurate reconstruction of the fighting from Carigara Bay to Limon would be very difficult.
Major General H.W. Blakeley, USA, Ret., 32d Infantry Division in World War II
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/nov44/22nov44.htm#
Americans capture Metz
Wednesday, November 22, 1944 www.onwar.com
The fortress at Metz after its capture by US troops [photo at link]
On the Western Front... Operations of the US 9th Army and the US 1st Army secure Eschweiler. Forces of the US 3rd Army capture Metz. US 7th Army forces take St. Die as others approach Saverne. The French 1st Army occupies Mulhouse, after defeating a counterattack by German forces.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/10/22.htm
November 22nd, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
In London, Canadian Minister of Defence Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton is told by the Army Council that only conscription will provide enough reinforcements; the members threaten to resign if he doesn’t agree. Eventually 13,000 conscript ‘zombies’ will be sent overseas.
The USAAF Eighth Air Force’s 2d and 4th Combat Bombardment Wings (Heavy) of the 3d Bombardment Division are combined to form the Administrative Bombardment Wing (Provisional); this type of unit is expected to be highly suitable for conditions in the Pacific theater where bomb division HQ might be located far from its wing HQ; under this new plan, the administrative wing can absorb many functions of the division HQ; this experiment will be judged acceptable during February 1945.
HMCS Joliette, a River-class frigate, arrived at Londonderry after convoy escort duty from Halifax and ran aground in Lough Foyle, causing extensive damage to her hull. She was taken under repair in Belfast until Apr 45 and, although she did complete a work-up, did not resume operations. Joliette returned to Canada in Jun 45 and was paid off.
Frigates HMCS Monnow, Stormont, Port Colborne, Saint John, Nene, Monnow and Loch Alvie arrived Scapa Flow carrying 50 tons stores for Norwegian underground.
Frigate HMS Porlock Bay laid down.
Destroyer HMS Cavalier commissioned.
WESTERN EUROPE: USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations are cancelled due to bad weather; fighter operations are limited. Sixteen aircraft from the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands patrol over the V and VII Corps area (southeast of Aachen, Germany), the Bonn-Cologne area, and fly reconnaissance around Saarbrucken, Homburg/Saar, Neukirchen and Kaiserslautern, Germany, and Sarrebourg, France.
NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army’s VIII Corps area, the 15th Division occupies Sevenum and Horst, northwest of Venlo. In the XII Corps area, the 53d Division reaches the Maas River across from Roermond. The 49th and 5Ist Divisions are converging on Venlo.
FRANCE: Mulhouse falls to French forces on the Western front. To the left of the French the US 7th Army advances, taking St. Die and moving toward Saverne. In the French First Army’s II Corps area, the 1st Division takes Giromagny, piercing the German line along the Savoureuse River. I Corps recovers lost ground and drives into Mulhouse.
The US 3rd Army completes the capture of Metz. The last two pockets of resistance succumbed to a sustained Allied attack today to end a bitter two-month battle for this ancient fortress, in Alsace-Lorraine. Tonight a French general is military governor of the city after over four years of German occupation; but the military triumph is American. The 5th Infantry Division pushed from the south as the 95th Infantry Division attacked from the north.
In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, mopping up in the Metz ends. Forts holding out about the city (Verdun, St Privat, St Quentin, Plappeville, Driant, and Jeanne d’Arc) are isolated and do not present a serious threat. Corps orders broad offensive toward the Saar River, beginning on 25 November, with the 10th Armored Division on the left, 90th Infantry Division in the center, and 95th Infantry Division on the right. 95th making main effort, is to secure crossings of the river between Saarlautern and Pachten. In the XII Corps area, Combat Command B, 6th Armored Division, and the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, seize Leyviler and St Jean-Rohrbach. Grening falls to the 320th Infantry Regiment of 35th Infantry Division. The 104th Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division attempts to envelop Albestroff, from which the Germans withdraws, during the night of 22/23 November; the 328th Infantry Regiment, having moved by truck from Dieuze to reinforce the under-strength 101st Infantry Regiment in a sector nearly impassable because of flooding, mines, and other obstacles, seizes Munster. From Loudrefing, a Combat Command B column of the 4th Armored Division drives east through Mittersheim.
In the U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, columns of the French 2d Armored Division driving south from Bouxwiller and north from Birkenwald converge on Saverne. The VI Corps pursues the retreating Germans, the mobile Task Force’s spearheading. The 100th Infantry Division takes Senones and advances toward St Blaise. St Die falls to the 409th Infantry Regiment, 103d Infantry Division, without opposition; the 411th Infantry Regiment establishes a bridgehead near Saulcy. Strong German opposition to the 36th Infantry Division’s bridgehead on the southern flank of the corps forces the 141st Infantry Regiment to pull back west of the river, but the 143d Infantry remains east of the river.
GERMANY:
In the British Second Army’s XXX Corps area, the U.S. 84th Infantry Division’s 334th Infantry Regiment takes the high ground northeast of Prummern (Mahogany Hill) in a surprise assault; the 333d Infantry, after an underpass in Sueggerath is cleared permitting tanks to assist, advances to within 500 yards (457 meters) of Muellendorf, the advance platoon reaching the village, where it is wiped out. The 405th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 102d Infantry Division, attacks toward Beeck but makes little progress.
In the U.S. Ninth Army’s XIX Corps area, the Germans, instead of falling back behind the Roer River as expected, have committed fresh forces to stiffen their line. Combat Command A, 2d Armored Division, pushes into Merzenhausen but is forced back to the southwestern edge. In the center of the corps front, the Germans drive elements of the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, from Bourheim before daylight and block efforts to re-enter; the 116th Infantry Regiment fights unsuccessfully for Koslar. The 30th Infantry Division runs into stiff opposition, but the 120th Infantry Regiment takes the village of Erberich; elements drive into Lohn but are forced to withdraw.
In the US 1st Army operations, the 104th Division mops up Helrath and Rohe and continues to advance. House to house fighting erupts in outskirts southwest of Eschweiler, Bergrath, and Bohl. Northern point of Hill 245 near Merode is seized by elements of the 1st Division’s 26th Infantry, while the 16th and 18th Infantry Regiments advance 800 yards north of Heistern. The attached 47th Regimental combat team battles for Hill 188. In the 4th Division zone there is little progress except a slight advance by the 22d Infantry. The 9th Air Force bombs Bergstein in the V Corps area and the 121st Infantry passes through the 12th Infantry Regiment but makes no material gain.
In the U.S. First Army’s VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division seizes Eschweiler during the morning after a night attack, overruns Nothberg, finishes clearing Duerwiss, and drives toward Puetzlohn. This success earns the division the task of continuing the drive to the Roer River instead of stopping at the Inde River as planned. In the 1st Infantry Division zone, the 47th Infantry Regiment finishes clearing Hamich Ridge without opposition; the 18th Infantry Regiment is still held up in the valley of Wehe Creek by the Germans on Hills 207 and 203; the 26th Infantry Regiment is ordered to confine its action to limited attacks to assist the 18th Infantry. Renewing the attack in Huertgen Forest, the 4th Infantry Division’s 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments feint eastward while slipping elements around the Germans; forward elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment reach the heights at Gut Schwarzcnbroich, the first objective, while the advance force of 22d Infantry reaches pos itions 700 yards (640 meters) west of Grosshau. In the V Corps area, the 121st Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division continues their almost futile efforts to advance southwest of Huertgen.
In the U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, continuing efforts to break through stubborn German positions of the Orscholz Switch Line, Task Force Standish of Combat Command A, 10th Armored Division, advances to Nennig on the left and Tettingen on the right but is forced back from both. Task Force Chamberlain makes a limited penetration through the dragon’s teeth to the right.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs hit their primary targets in Munich: 107 bomb the East marshalling yard, 107 hit the West marshalling yard and one bombs the railroad. Other targets hit are: 76 bomb the Main marshalling yard in Salzburg, 34 hit the marshalling yard in Regensburg, eight attack the railroad at Rosenheim, four bomb the marshalling yard at Kufstein and two others bomb miscellaneous targets. Six aircraft are lost.
During the night of 22/23 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 17 Lancasters to lay mines off Heligoland Island and in the mouth of the River Elbe without loss.
U-1308, U-2350 launched.
U-2362, U-2363, U-2546 laid down.
U-2522, U-3013 commissioned.
AUSTRIA: Targets of opportunity bombed by USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers are: 30 bomb the marshalling yard at Villach and three hit the railroad; in Lienz, ten attack the marshalling yard and one bombs the railroad; and 15 aircraft hit other targets. One aircraft is lost.
HUNGARY: During the night of 22/23 November, 47 RAF Bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack the marshalling yard at Szombathely with the loss of six aircraft.
NORWAY: RAF Bomber Command sends 171 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos to attack the U-boat pens at Trondheim but the target is covered by a smoke-screen and the Master Bomber orders the raid to be abandoned after the illuminating and marking force has been unable to find the target. Two Lancasters and a Mosquito are lost.
FINLAND: The first batch of 1256 Finnish POWs are returned from the Soviet Union. In all 1931 POWs return home after the Continuation War, but some unlucky individuals have to wait until the mid-1950s before coming back home. Of some 3,400 Finns who became POWs during the Continuation War, 1387 died in captivity.
Finnish forces, complying with the armistice terms by following up the German withdrawal, reach the Norwegian border.
LITHUANIA: The German armored ship Lützow, escorted by the destroyers Z28 and Z35 and the torpedo boats T13 , T20 and T21 , supports the retreating German army with short bombardments at the Memel coast.
ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, the Polish II Corps continues northward along the ridge toward Mt. Ricci. V Corps establishes bridgeheads across the Cosina River in the zones of the 4th and 46th Divisions, during the night of 22/23 November.
USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells again attack defenses in the Faenza area as British Eighth Army forces push into that area from the southeast; fighter-bombers and fighters fly nearly 350 sorties against rail lines in the Po Valley and very successfully hit guns, vehicles, troops and other targets in the US Fifth Army battle area south of Bologna, and supply dumps and pipelines north of the battle area.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb a number of targets: 83 hit a railroad bridge at Ferrara with the loss of three aircraft, six bomb the railroad at Corrola and five others bomb miscellaneous transportation points.
INDIAN OCEAN: S class submarine HMS Strategem is depth charged in the Malacca Strait by IJN destroyer and the pressure hull damaged. A few of the crew isolated in the fore end are able to escape, and are picked up by the destroyer. There are 41 casualties, and 8 survivors, 5 of whom died during the 9 month captivity. (Alex Gordon)(108)
CHINA: Twenty two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force 22 B-24 Liberators bomb Hankow and 11 B-25 Mitchells hit Ishan and Liuchenghsien. Ninety five P-51 Mustangs, P-40s, and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance over wide expanses of southern China attack town areas, supplies, and road and rail traffic, hitting the Chefang area especially hard.
BURMA: Sepoy Bhandari Ram (b.1919), 10th Baluch Regt., crawled, despite wounds, up to a machine-gun and hurled a grenade, enabling the post to fall. (Victoria Cross)
Fifteen USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces at Bhamo while 37 others fly close support in the Pinwe area. Supply and personnel areas at Nawngchio, Kutkai, Ingon, Selong, Man Mao, and in the vicinity of Kanbalu are pounded by more than 40 P-47s and 12 others attack the airfield at Kawlin
Eight USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb storage facilities at Wanling and Kutkai.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the U.S. Sixth Army’s X Corps area on Leyte, the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, attack south astride Highway 2 and take Limon, virtually completing the battle of Breakneck Ridge. Bypassed Japanese pockets are eliminated by mid-December. Forward elements of the 128th Infantry Regiment cross the tributary of the Leyte River south of Limon. The 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, under heavy Japanese attack on Kilay Ridge, is forced to compress its defense perimeter to avoid encirclement. In the XXIV Corps area, the 7th Infantry Division is ordered to assemble in the Baybay area as quickly as possible. The 11th Airborne Division, although not originally intended to operate on Leyte, is ordered to relieve the 7th Infantry Division, less the 17th Infantry Regiment, so the 7th can clear the eastern shore of Ormoc Bay.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers pound Bacalod Airstrip and Ipil on Negros Island, and Ormoc, Leyte Island area bridges, barges, and targets of opportunity. B-24 Liberators also bomb Sasa Airfield on Mindanao Island.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: On Celebes Island in the Netherlands East Indies, fighter-bombers hit targets of opportunity in the Makassar area while B-24 Liberators bomb the nickel mine and targets of opportunity in the Kendari area and hit airfields in northeastern Celebes. Other B-24 Liberators hit small shipping during a sweep over Brunei Bay, British Brunei, Borneo.
Nine Japanese aircraft raid Pitu and Wama Airfields on Morotai Island, Netherlands East Indies, destroying 15 RAAF and USAAF aircraft on the ground and damaging 29.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: Twenty two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Saipan escorted by 22 P-38 Lightnings (the first long-range P-38 escort of Seventh Air Force bombers), bomb airfields on Moen and Param Islands in Truk Atoll.
Aircraft from a USN Task Group 38.4 bomb Japanese air facilities on Yap using napalm, the first time this weapon had been used by carrier-based aircraft.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The British submarine HMS/M Stratagem (P 234) is sunk by a Japanese patrol craft approximately 3 nautical miles (5,6 kilometers) southwest of Malacca, Malaya, in the shallow Strait of Malacca. The bow strikes the bottom and the sub begins flooding. Unable to shut the watertight doors, the crew scuttles the boat. Ten men escape from the stricken boat, though only eight manage to make it to the surface alive and are taken prisoner by the Japanese. Three of the eight are taken to Japan and survived the war; the fate of the other five is unknown.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells abort an air coverage mission due to weather.
CANADA: As a result of the crisis in the manpower needs of the Canadian forces in Northern Europe, Canada’s Army High Command threatens to resign unless conscription is brought in. (Dave Hornford)
U.S.A.: The motion picture Meet Me in St. Louis opens in St. Louis, Missouri. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this musical stars Judy Garland, Margaret OBrien, Mary Astor, Marjorie Main and June Lockhart.
Frigates USS Bangor and Key West commissioned. Manned by USCG.
Touching account of brave and honorable women in the war. Nurses, not competing with and resenting men, but helping, admiring, and honoring our brave soldiers. (Page 5 NYT).
We need more of those women of honor today.
Cute pic on page 7 of Eisenhower autographing a soldier’s cast.
The brass decided that we needed to occupy the ridge to the west of the Limon road to protect the flank of our advancing troops. The battalion had been fighting for 21 days and strength was reduced to 560 men. On November 10 at 0100, that's right 1:00 am, they were alerted to conducted an amphibious landing at 0700. They ditched some of their heavy weapons but took every available man and landed in Carigara Bay, moving up to the Ridge with minimal rations.
Supplies had to be hauled up the Ridge by Filipino laborers and some supplies were air dropped. Some of their meals were donated by the local Filipinos, bananas, rice, potatoes and what chicken they could spare. Still the men at times were without rations.
Fighting has been heavy and today Clifford had to pull back and consolidate positions. Fortunately, the Japanese will give him a breather for the next few days, but then they will launch their heaviest assault.
Clifford has been ordered to hold at all costs to protect the 128th Infantry entering Limon.
The Hill was named for Henry Kilay, a Filipino soldier and guide who had given good service to the Battalion. Clifford was an amazing leader, fighting isolated from other American units under extremely challenging supply conditions against Japanese forces of superior strength.
The Battalion will be awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and Clifford the Distinguished Service Cross.
The Germans are literally stripping Holland bare to get infantry for other sectors. It seems to me that the German line is barely holding together under the Allied onslaught. I count five infantry divisions on the move to the east and other sectors. The 5th Parachute division is in reserve, and it will go to the Ardennes soon.
The Germans must be concerned about this:
They are not so concerned about this:
But they are definitely concerned about this. Devers' forces have achieved a clean breakthrough in the Vosges.
I need to learn more about Devers. From what little I’ve read it sounds like he got the short end of the stick.
That is my opinion. More on him later, I’m done for the day.
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