1942 - US Army Center Of Military History

[ 18 DECEMBER 1944 ]
bridgeheads across the Senio N and S of Tebano,
but no strong effort can be made to expand them
until supply situation improves and environs of
Faenza are cleared.
CHINA—Hump Tonnage Allocation and Control
Office is established in Rear Echelon, China
Theater Hq.
MINDORO—Patrolling and work on defenses
continue.
LEYTE—U.S. Seventh Fleet Task Groups 77.3,
78.3, and 77.12 safely reach Leyte Gulf from Mindoro.
U.S. Sixth Army: In X Corps area, 32d Div progresses
slowly S of Limon. 127th Inf, to S of 126th,
remains in place while 126th attempts to come
abreast. In XXIV Corps area, 307th Inf of 77th
Div attacks at 1415, after arty and air preparation,
toward Valencia and reaches edge of the airfield.
306th stops for night 500 yards S of its objective,
Cabulihan. 305th gains positions along Tambuco–
Dolores road and clears Tambuco.
18 December
WESTERN EUROPE—21 Army Group: In Br
Second Army area, 8 Corps extends southward to
line Meeuwen–Maeseyck.
12th Army Group: In U.S. Ninth Army’s XIII
Corps area, 84th Div attacks for its last objective,
Wurm and Muellendorf, and takes both with ease.
In U.S. First Army’s VII Corps area, 83d and 9th
Divs finish clearing their respective zones. Corps
extends southward because of Ardennes breakthrough
to take over part of V Corps zone, new
boundary running from Eupen area to the Roer
near Dedenborn. With boundary change, 8th and
78th Divs and attachments pass to corps control in
current positions. Corps releases CCA of 3d Armd
Div and 9th Div, less RCT’s 47 and 60, to V Corps,
104th Div takes responsibility for 9th Div zone as
well as its own and is reinf by RCT 60. 78th Div,
reinf by 2d Ranger Bn and 102d Cav Gp, is to hold
road center N of Konzen and Paustenbach knoll. V
Corps’ mission, on its smaller front, is to stabilize
line Monschau–Butgenbach–Malmédy–Stavelot.
Corps holds firmly at Butgenbach and Elsenborn
ridge but enemy continues to move W through gap
S of Butgenbach. RCT 26 reverts to 1st Div, which
joins in action to keep enemy from Malmédy,
combing woods near Eupen and organizing perimeter
defense of Waimes. 99th Div is attached to 2d
Div. Germans now hold Honsfeld and Buellingen;
push into Stavelot. 30th Div recovers most of
Stavelot NW of the Amblève R; organizes defense
positions in Malmédy–Stavelot area; blunts enemy
spearheads at Stoumont and Habiemont. In VIII
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Corps area, 106th Div’s encircled 422d and 423d
Regts try in vain to break out toward Schonberg.
7th Armd Div is too heavily engaged at St Vith to
assist with eastward push. Germans occupy Recht
and cut St Vith–Vielsalm road at Poteau but CCA
recovers Poteau. 14th Cav Gp, which falls back to
Petit Thier, is transferred from 106th Div to 7th
Armd Div control. 28th Div is unable to stop enemy
in its zone and becomes completely disorganized.
Germans get almost to Houffalize and Bastogne,
smash through roadblocks of CCR, 9th Armd Div,
on Bastogne–St Vith road. Troops of 4th Div and
10th Armd Div remaining S of the breakthrough
are placed under Third Army command. CCB, 10th
Armd, remains with VIII Corps to help defend Bastogne;
CCA attacks N and E through 4th Div to
Berdorf and Echternach areas. 4th Div mops up
infiltrators beyond Osweiler and Dickweiler and
repels thrust from Dickweiler.
In U.S. Third Army’s XX Corps area, 90th Div,
attacking cautiously with 2 bns, clears most of Dillingen
against surprisingly light resistance. 5th Div
takes charge of Saarlautern bridgehead, and attacks
at once, gaining ground. 95th Div—less 378th Inf,
which continues to be responsible for Ensdorf area—
is withdrawn from combat. In XII Corps area, 2d
Bn of 320th Inf, 35th Div, takes Nieder Gailbach
in hard fighting. 87th Div breaks off attack upon
order.
6th Army Group: In U.S. Seventh Army’s VI
Corps area, elements of 45th Div attack across the
Lauter into Budenthal but are isolated there.
In Fr 1st Army area, 2d Corps overruns Ammerschwihr.
EASTERN EUROPE—Red Army forces reach
Hungarian-Czechoslovak border on 70-mile front
N of Miskolc and are crossing it.
CHINA—B–29’s of XX BC, hitherto employed
against industrial targets in Japan, make strong
attack in conjunction with Fourteenth Air Force on
Hankow, Japanese supply base and industrial center,
with good effect. Participating in the attacks
are 77 B–29’s and 200 planes of Fourteenth Air
Force. Thick smoke arises from incendiaries
dropped. Other attacks follow later, but on a smaller
scale.
LEYTE—U.S. Sixth Army: In X Corps area,
126th Inf of 32d Div works slowly forward S of
Limon and closes gap between it and 127th Inf.
12th Cav, 1st Cav Div, patrols and prepares to drive
on Lonoy and Kananga. In XXIV Corps area, 307th
Inf of 77th Div takes Valencia and its airstrip
without opposition. 306th overtakes 307th at
Valencia and makes patrol contact with 305th. 305th
blocks off road to Dolores. Southern part of Ormoc
Valley from Ormoc to Valencia is now clear.