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http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/9/25.htm

October 25th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Shortly after take off from a base England, the pilot of the 486th BG, USAAF, B-17 “Deepseat - Baker” was informed that a ground man, a Corporal, had stowed away on board. The pilot radioed the Air Leader for advice and was told to continue the emission as there was flight clothing aboard and an oxygen mask in the bomber. The Corporal was originally in a distressed state but appeared to settle down in the rear fuselage.

When the bomber had reached 19,000 feet on its way to the target, and while the waist gunner was looking out his window, the stowaway suddenly released the side door and jumped out. He was not wearing a parachute. (Skip Guidry)

NETHERLANDS: US troops attack the German pocket south of Maas. In the Canadian First Army’s II Corps area, the Canadian 2d Division, working slowly west along the Beveland Isthmus, reaches Rilland. In the British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division drives north with three regiments abreast toward Zundert.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army’s XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division withstands repeated counterattacks against its positions east of Forét de Parroy. The French 2d Armoured Division is ordered to attack on the right flank of the corps in support of the VI Corps before 1 November. In VI Corps area, the 36th Infantry Division attempts in vain to relieve an isolated battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment north of La Houssière.

Headquarters, USAAF First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) is established, but not yet organized, therefore Headquarters Ninth Air Force continues to administer, supply, and control all XII Tactical Air Command and assigned units until mid- November when the First Tactical Air Force assumes full control. The First Tactical Air Force (First TACAF) is assigned to the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe which has some operational control of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces and some administrative control of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Composed of both French Air Force and USAAF units, the new air force will provide tactical air support for the U.S. Seventh Army in southern France.

GERMANY: Berlin: Himmler orders the Reich Anatomical Institute’s collection of Jewish death camp victims’ skeletons to be destroyed.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 688: 1,250 bombers and 522 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in western Germany; two bombers and a fighter are lost: 718 aircraft hit the Rhenania oil refinery at Hamburg, 216 bomb the Bf 109 repair facility at Neumunster, 92 bomb the Buer and 27 hit the Nordstern synthetic oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, 100 attack the marshalling yard at Hamm, 37 bomb the marshalling yard at Munster, and six aircraft attack targets of opportunity.

Shortly after take off from their base at Subury, Suffolk, England, the pilot of the USAAF Eighth Air Force’s 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-17 Flying Fortress named “Deepseat - Baker” is informed that a ground man, a Corporal, has stowed away on board. The pilot radios the Air Leader for advice and is told to continue the mission as there is flight clothing aboard and an oxygen mask in the bomber. The Corporal is originally in a distressed state but appears to settle down in the rear fuselage. When the bomber has reached 19,000 feet (5 791 meters) on its way to the target, and while the waist gunners are looking out the windows, the stowaway suddenly releases the side door and jumps out. He is not wearing a parachute. (Skip Guidry)

USAAF Ninth Air Force’s 9th Bombardment Division’s missions are cancelled because of bad weather. Fighters fly sweeps, hit rail and military targets in the Saarbrucken area, and support the U.S. XIX Corps in western Germany.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 771 aircraft, 508 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to attack Essen; 740 aircraft bomb the city withe the loss of two Halifaxes and two Lancasters. The bombing is aimed at skymarkers, because the target area is covered by cloud. The Bomber Command report states that the attack became scattered, but the local Essen report shows that more buildings are destroyed, 1,163, than in the heavier night attack which had taken place 36 hours previously. A photographic reconnaissance flight which took place after this raid shows severe damage to the remaining industrial concerns in Essen, particularly to the Krupps steelworks. Some of the war industry has already moved to small, dispersed factories but the coal mines and steelworks of the Ruhr are still important. The Krupps steelworks are particularly hard-hit by the two raids and there are references in the firm’s archives to the “almost complete breakdown of the electrical supply network” and to “a complete paralysis.” The Borbeck pig-iron plant ceases work completely and there is no record of any further production from this important section of Krupps. Much of Essen’s surviving industrial capacity is now dispersed and the city lost its role as one of Germany’s most important centres of war production. A second target is the Meerbeck synthetic oil plant at Homberg. A total of 243 aircraft, 199 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos are dispatched to this target and 228 attack without loss. The target is covered by cloud and bombing is scattered in the early stages but later became more concentrated on the skymarkers. No aircraft are lost.

U-1306, U-2523, U-3014 launched.

U-3527 laid down.

AUSTRIA: Weather again interferes with USAAF Fifteenth Air Force operations and only seven B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb three targets: three each bomb the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck an aircraft factory at Klagenfurt while one hits the marshalling yard at St. Viet.

NORWAY: Soviet units capture Kirkenes. There is support from Soviet naval units in this far north campaign.

YUGOSLAVIA: During the night of 25/26 October, 25 bombers of RAF’s No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly supplies to the partisans.

ITALY: The British V Corps reaches the River Ronco.

In U.S. Fifth Army area, elements of the South African 6th Armoured Division wade Setta Creek and take Hill 501, below Mt. Sole. In the II Corps area, further efforts to deepen the Mt. Grande salient, during the night of 25/26 October, are costly failures. In the British XIII Corps area, the 61st Brigade of the 6th Armoured Division gets elements to Mt. Taverna, night of 25/26 October, but withdraws them because of tenuous supply situation.

In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps reaches the Ronco River from heights across from Meldola to Highway 9. The 4th Division takes Forlimpopoli without a fight. In an attack across the Ronco River during the night of 25/26 October, the Indian 10th Division establishes small bridgeheads south and north of Meldola and the 4th Division crosses two companies northwest of Selbagnone and two others at Highway 9. The Canadian I Corps continues to pursue Germans toward the Ronco River, with coastal elements reaching the Bevano River.

Weather continues to ground USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighter-bombers attack guns, vehicles, and communications in the battle area south of Bologna while fighters destroy 20+ locomotives in the Piacenza area. .

ROMANIA: Transylvania is completely cleared by Soviet advances.

CHINA: Seven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs hit the Mongyu bridges and destroy the Kawnghka bridge; four others strafe Nawnghkio Airfield; 20+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at Tengyun, Kweiping, and Ssuanghsu, and about 50 strike targets throughout the Menghsu area.

BURMA: Subadar Ram Sarup Singh (b.1919), 1st Punjab Regt., led his platoon in seizing an objective and then repelling a fierce attack. Already shot, he went on until he was fatally wounded. (Victoria Cross)

The Northern Combat Area Command’s (NCAC’s) offensive continues against light resistance. The 29th Brigade of the British 36th Division, which has progressed 23 miles (37 kilometers) from Namma against negligible opposition, skirmishes with the Japanese in the Mawpin area.

THAILAND: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and four P-38 Lightnings damage railroad tracks at Dara bridge.

JAPAN: Fifty nine USAAF XX Bomber Command B-29 Superfortresses, flying out of Chengtu, China, bomb an aircraft plant at Omura on Kyushu; several other B-29s hit alternate targets and targets of opportunity.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twenty nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Iwo Jima during the morning.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 1st Cavalry Division continues its advance in the NE of Leyte. To the south US advances are held up due to lack of supply.

In the U.S. Sixth Army’s area on Leyte, patrol contact is established between X and XXIV Corps at 1430 hours. In the X Corps area, on northern Leyte, Japanese aircraft attack Babatngon harbor. The 1st Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, during the next few days explores the coast of Carigara Bay and finds few Japanese there. In the Palo area, the 3d Battalion of 34th Infantry Regiment takes Hill C. The 2d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, gains the crest of Hill B after Japanese defenders have followed their customary practice of retiring from it for the night. The 1st Battalion, 19th, takes Hill 85. Reduction of these heights clears the entrance into the northern Leyte Valley. 3d Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, starts toward Pastrana, reaching Castilla. In the XXIV Corps area, a patrol of the 383d Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, moves north through Tanauan and makes contact with Company K of the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Company K, reinforced, attacks Tabontabon but withdraws when it finds the town too strongly held to take. The 382d Infantry Regiment seizes Aslom and Kanmonhag. After preparatory bombardment, 2d and 3d Battalions of the 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, preceded by tanks, continue their attack toward Buri airstrip. The 3d Battalion reaches the edge of the airfield but the 2d is halted by elaborate defenses at edge of woods to the north. The 17th Infantry Regiment, opposed from a ridge north of Burauen and east of the road to Dagami, makes limited advance while concentrating for another drive toward Dagami, clearing the eastern spur of the ridge and probing the road to barrio of Buri.

USN submarine USS Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on the east coast of Luzon.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf continues with the sinking of the USS Midway (CVE-63). (Ken Friedman)

The battleship USS Mississippi shuts down its big guns just after 4.09am, presumably the last main battery battleship to battleship round. (Stanley Sandler)

The Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as Task Group 77.2 (TG 77.2) with six battleships, four heavy cruisers (one Australian), four light cruisers and 28 destroyers (one Australian) under Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, augmented by TG 77.3 [Australian heavy cruiser, two light cruisers and 13 destroyers (one Australian)] under Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) and TG 70.1 (39 motor torpedo boats) execute the classic maneuver of “crossing the tee” of the Japanese “Southern Force” (Vice Admiral NISHIMURA Shoji and Vice Admiral SHIMA Kiyohide) in the Battle of Surigao Strait. The PT boats begin the action against the Japanese ships. PT-137 torpedoes light cruiser HIJMS Abukuma, but PT-493 is sunk by Japanese secondary battery gunfire. The destroyers then attack; USS McDermut (DD-677) sinks destroyer HIJMS Yamagumo about 53 nautical miles (98 kilometers) south-southeast of Tacloban, Leyte, and damages destroyers HIJMS Asagumo and Michisio. Subsequently, light cruiser USS Denver (CL-58) sinks HIJMS Asagumo at entrance of Surigao Strait about 73 nautical miles (136 kilometers) south-southeast of Tacloban. Destroyer Squadron 24 (DESRON 24) enters the fray and USS Hutchins (DD-476) sinks destroyer HIJMS Michisio about 54 nautical miles (101 kilometers) south-southeast of Tacloban; DESRON 56 attacks; USS Albert W. Grant (DD-649) is damaged by both friendly and Japanese gunfire at this phase of the battle. Two Australian warships take part in this fleet action, heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire (83) in TG 77.3 and destroyer HMAS Arunta I 30) in DESRON 24, that see the destruction of battleships HIJMS Fuso and Yamashiro about 53 nautical miles (98 kilometers) south-southeast of Tacloban. Heavy cruiser HIJMS Mogami and destroyer Shigure are damaged.

Meanwhile, the “Center Force” (Vice Admiral KURTIA Takeo), which includes four battleships and five heavy cruisers, having passed into the Philippine Sea during the night, surprises the Escort Carrier Group, TG 77.4 (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague), off Samar. Kurita’s force wreaks havoc on the six escort aircraft carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts of TU 77.4.3 (northernmost carrier force) (Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague). In this battle, which becomes a precipitate flight in the face of an overwhelming Japanese force, Kurita’s ships inflict severe damage but emerge bloodied by the Homeric efforts of the “small boys” (destroyers and destroyer escorts) and planes from the escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) that compel Kurita to retire, inexplicably, without destroying the CVEs and their consorts in detail. In the Battle off Samar, Japanese surface gunfire sinks destroyers USS Hoel (DD-533) about 88 nautical miles (163 kilometers) east of Tacloban, Leyte; Johnston about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometers) east of Tacloban; and destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) about 71 nautical miles (131 kilometers) east of Tacloban; and damages destroyer USS Heermann (DD-523) and destroyer escort USS Dennis (DE-405). USS Johnston damages heavy cruiser HIJMS Kumano before being sunk.

Japanese surface gunfire (either battleship HIJMS Haruna or Kongo) straddles the escort aircraft carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66), St.Lo (CVE-63), and Kitkun Bay (CVE- 71) but scores no direct hits. Heavy cruisers HIJMS Chikuma, Haguro, and Chokai; light cruiser HIJMS Noshiro; and a destroyer sink escort aircraft carrier Gambier Bay (CVE-73) about 69 nautical miles (128 kilometers) east-southeast of Tacloban; the ship capsizes and sinks at 0907 hours; nearly 800 sailors are rescued. Japanese surface gunfire also damages the escort aircraft carriers USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) and Kalinin Bay (CVE-68); the latter claims one hit on a Japanese heavy cruiser with her single 5-inch (12,7 centimeter) gun. Navy carrier-based aircraft damage battleships HIJMS Kongo (from near-misses) and Yamato and heavy cruisers HIJMS Chikuma, Chokai, and Suzuya.

Subsequently, Japanese planes attack the escort aircraft carriers of TU 77.4.1 (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague). USS Suwannee (CVE-27) is damaged by kamikazes, and Santee (CVE-29) by suicide plane and Japanese submarine HIJMS I-56. Kamikazes near-miss escort aircraft carriers USS Sangamon (CVE-26) and Petrof Bay (CVE-80) while destroyer escort USS Richard M. Rowell is damaged by strafing.

Following its ordeal off Samar, TU 77.4.3 (Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague) comes under Japanese air attack. Kamikazes sink the escort aircraft carrier USS St.Lo (CVE-63) about 69 nautical miles (128 kilometers) east-southeast of Tacloban; one plane crashed through her flight deck at 1051 hours, and explodes her torpedo and bomb magazine, setting the ship on fire and she sinks about 30 minutes later. USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) and Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) are also damaged by Kamikazes.

In the Battle off Cape Engano, Luzon, carrier aircraft from the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike the Japanese “Northern Force” (Vice Admiral OZAWA Jisaburo). Planes from aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and Lexington (CV-16) sink Japanese carriers HIJMS Zuikaku Chitose about 218 nautical miles (404 kilometers) east-northeast of Aparri on northern Luzon, Philippine Islands; aircraft carrier HIJMS Chiyoda, damaged by planes from aircraft carriers USS Lexington (CV-16) and Franklin (CV-13) and small aircraft carrier Langley (CVL-27), is sunk by heavy cruisers USS New Orleans (CA-32) and Wichita (CA-45) and light cruisers USS Santa Fe (CL-60) and Mobile (CL-63) about 292 nautical miles (540 kilometers) east of Aparri. The aircraft carrier HIJMS Zuiho is sunk by planes from Essex (CV-9), Franklin (CV-13), Lexington (CV-16), Enterprise (CV-6), and small aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) about 247 nautical miles (457 kilometers) east-northeast of Aparri.

U.S. aircraft, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, damage Japanese battleships HIJMS Yamato and Nagato and heavy cruiser HIJMS Myoko in San Jose Strait; battleship HIJMS Haruna, east of Samar; light cruiser HIJMS Yahagi off Leyte; destroyer HIJMS Kiyoshimo off Leyte. Heavy cruiser HIJMS Chikuma, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer HIJMS Nowaki about 72 nautical miles (133 kilometers) east of Tacloban, Leyte; heavy cruiser HIJMS Suzuya, damaged by carrier- based aircraft off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Okinami about 88 nautical miles (162 kilometers) east-northeast of Tacloban; heavy cruiser HIJMS Chokai, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Fujinami about 71 nautical miles (132 kilometers) east of Tacloban; heavy cruiser HIJMS Mogami, damaged by heavy cruisers USS Minneapolis (CA-36), Portland (CA-33), Louisville (CA-28), light cruisers USS Columbia (CL-56) and Denver (CL-58), and collision with Japanese heavy cruiser HIJMS Nachi, south of Bohol Island, is scuttled by destroyer HIJMS Akebono about 60 nautical miles (112 kilometers) northwest of Butuan, Mindanao; light cruiser HIJMS Tama is sunk by aircraft from USS Essex (CV-9) and Lexington (CV-16) and submarine USS Jallao (SS-368) about 166 nautical miles (308 kilometers) northeast of Aparri, Luzon; destroyer HIJMS Hatsuzuki is sunk by the gunfire of four heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers about 85 nautical miles (158 kilometers) northeast of Aparri; and submarine USS Halibut (SS-232) sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Akizuki about 99 nautical miles (184 kilometers) northeast of Aparri. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)

Japanese air attacks continue against shipping off Leyte: U.S. freighter SS Adoniram Judson is attacked by Japanese planes off Tacloban; Armed Guard gunners claim splashing six aircraft. One bomb explodes close aboard, causing fragmentation damage and wounding two of the embarked stevedores. There are no casualties to the ship’s company, 43 merchant seamen and 28 Armed Guards. Freighter SS John W. Foster, anchored in San Pedro Bay, is strafed; seven of the 27-man Armed Guard, three of 170 embarked troops, and an officer, are wounded.

Allied aircraft and submarines are active:

- At 0900 hours in the Sea of Okhotsk, USS Seal (SS-183) sinks a Japanese transport about 163 nautical miles (303 kilometers) west-northwest of Onnekotan Island in the Kurile Islands in position 50.18N, 150.50E. (Skip Guidry)

- At 044 hours, USS Sterlet (SS-392) sinks a Japanese merchant tanker about 91 nautical miles (168 kilometers) south-southwest of Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan, in position 30.15N, 129.45E. (Skip Guidry)

- Around 0230 in waters in the northwest corner of the Formosa Straits, USS TANG fires her last torpedo at a transport and the crew watches in horror as the torpedo makes a circular run and striking the ship portside aft near the maneuvering room. The stern sinks immediately and rests on the bottom with the bow sticking out of the water like a buoy. Motor Machinist Mate Second Class Clayton O. Decker opens the forward ballast tanks and Tang rests upright on the bottom in 180 feet (55 meters) of water. This leads the way for the only instance in WWII where submariners escape from the bottom using the Momsen Lung. A total of 13 make the attempt from the forward torpedo room with only five surviving the ascent and swimming through the night. One man escapes from the flooded conning tower and three others including the captain, Commander Dick O’Kane, survive by being thrown into the water from the bridge. (Sheldon Levy)

- A Japanese fleet tanker Matsumoto Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by submarine USS Tang (SS-306) in Formosa Strait the day before about 62 nautical miles (115 kilometers) south-southeast of Fuzhou, China, in position 25.07N, 119.45E.

- British submarine HMS/M Tantivy (P 319) sinks a Japanese motor sail ship in the Flores Sea in the East Indies north of Timor. (Jack McKillop_.

- USN F4U Corsairs sink a Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser north of the Palau Islands in the Caroline Islands.

- 50+ USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, supported by P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts, attack naval forces in the Mindanao Sea of the Philippine Islands, firing small vessels and claiming a light cruiser damaged. They actually sink a merchant tankers in the South China Sea about 328 nautical miles (608 kilometers) north-northwest of Jesselton, British North Borneo in position 11.18N, 114.50E.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators attack shipping in the Makassar-Kendari area. In the Halmahera Islands, fighter-bombers hit barges and villages in areas of Dodinga and Dodinga. B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, and fighter-bombers hit Piroe and Saparoea in the Moluccas Islands, Boela Aerodrome and Halong and Amboina on Ceram, Haroekoe on Haroekoe Island, and northern Ceram coastal targets.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack supply and fuel dumps in the Sarmi area.

AUSTRALIA: 10 Group (RAAF) is renamed as the First Tactical Air Force, RAAF. Headquarters of this new unit, which controls eight RAAF squadrons, is established on Morotai Island. (Daniel Ross)

CAROLINE ISLANDS: During the day four USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, on an armed reconnaissance missions, bomb Yap Island. .

PACIFIC OCEAN: Around 0230 in waters in the northwest corner of the Formosa Straits, USS TANG fires her last torpedo and the crew watches in horror as it makes a circular run and striking the ship portside aft near the manoeuvring room. The stern sinks immediately and rests on the bottom with the bow sticking out of the water like a buoy.

MM2 Clayton O. Decker opens the forward ballast tanks and TANG rests upright on the bottom in 180 feet of water. This leads the way for the only instance in WWII where submariners escape from the bottom using the Momsen Lung. A total of 13 make the attempt from the forward torpedo room with only five surviving the assent and swimming through the night. One man escapes from the flooded conning tower and three others including Cdr Dick O’Kane survive from being thrown into the water from the bridge. (Sheldon)

0400 hours: USS Sterlet (SS-392) sinks and a cargo ship at 30-15 N, 129-45 E.

0900 hours: USS Seal (SS-183) sinks an armed transport at 50-21 N, 150-20 E.

1900 hours: USS Halibut (SS-232) sinks a destroyer (Akitzuki) at 20-29 N, 126-30 E.

2200 hours: USS Jallao (SS-368) sinks a light cruiser (Tama) at 21-33 N, 127-19 E east of Luzon Strait. (Skip Guidry)

U.S.A.: Authorization is given for US forces to fire proximity fuzed shells over land for Anti-Aircraft and antipersonnel uses. (Will O’Neil)(218 pp.277 et seq)

Minesweeper USS Quest commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Thaddeus Parker commissioned.

Submarine USS Tigrone commissioned.

Destroyer USS Zellars commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyer HMCS Skeena anchored at Reykjavik dragged her anchor and is driven ashore on Videy Island. Bad weather prevented salvage, and she was written off as a total loss in December. (Alex Gordon)(108)

An escort attacked U-246 with depth charges and damaged her so seriously that she had return to base.

ICELAND: Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena (D 59) anchored at Reykjavik dragged her anchor and is driven ashore on Videy Island. Bad weather prevents salvage, and she is written off as a total loss in December. Fifteen ratings (enlisted men) are lost. (Alex Gordon)