World war II chronology - November 1944

1 November 1944	In Holland, Operation Infatuate begins, with Canadian and Scottish forces launching an amphibious assault to take Flushing on Walcheren Island. The Canadian group advances along the causeway, establishing a small group on island, as a diversion to the British Royal Marine commandos landing elsewhere. The Canadian forces suffer 17 killed, 46 wounded. American air forces begin incendiary air raids on major Japanese cities. British Bomber Command launches 228 aircraft against Homberg, Germany, targeting the Meebeck oil plant. In Canada, at a meeting of the Cabinet War Committee, Prime Minister William King announces that army General Andrew McNaughton was prepared to assume the Defence portfolio, and make one final appeal for voluntary overseas duty. Defence Minister James Ralston leaves the room, and hands in his resignation. Japanese begin launching large balloons with bombs destined for the west coast of North America. The balloons maintain a range of altitude by releasing sandbags or hydrogen automatically during their flight. The bombs are set to be released when all sandbags have been dropped. (Over 5 months, 9300 such balloons are launched, with only about 300 reaching North America. Due to tight control on North Americam media reporting, the Japanese believe the balloons are ineffective and stop sending them.)
2 November 1944	A 12,000-round Allied artillery barrage begins in the Hürtgen Forest prior to a renewed assault by the US 28th Division to take the area. German Major-General Knut Eberding surrenders Breskins (Fortress South Scheldt) to Canadian forces. British Bomber Command launches more aircraft against Homberg, Germany, targeting the Meebeck oil plant. Five bombers are shot down, but large fires are started. 992 British bombers attack Düsseldorf, Germany.
3 November 1944	The south shore of the Scheldt River is freed of German forces. Operation Switchback is completed. British bombers attack Düsseldorf, Germany. A special group of 38 bombers equipped with GH radar navigation attack a tubular steel factory. They score several hits, and use of this technology is considered encouraging.
4 November 1944	A rubberized silk balloon is recovered from the Pacific Ocean near the California coast. (Similar silk or paper balloons of inflated diameter 33 feet are subsequently found along the coast from Mexico to Alaska, up to April 1945. 9000 in total were launched from Japan, resulting in six deaths in Oregon, and two small grass fires. The rough cost to Japan is US$18 million.) British Bomber Command makes an air raid on Solingen, Germany. Four bombers are shot down. Soviet lead tanks reach the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. 749 British bombers attack Bochum, Germany. 174 British aircraft attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal, breaching it.
5 November 1944	British Bomber Command makes a second air raid on Solingen, Germany. 1300 houses and 16 industrial buildings are destroyed; 1600 buildings are damaged; 1882 are killed. In Canada, newly appointed Minister of  Defence Andrew McNaughton makes his first public speech, favoring voluntary enlistment over forced conscription. His audience is unimpressed with his stand.
6 November 1944	Middelburg, capital of Walcheren island, is freed from German occupation. 731 British bombers attack the Nordstern oil plant near Gelsenkirchen, Germany, causing great damage. Five bombers are shot down.
7 November 1944	In Japan, Richard Sorge and Hotzumi Ozaki are executed. Sorge was head of a Soviet spy ring in Tokyo, and Ozaki was part of the ring, delivering secret Japanese documents to Sorge. In the Hürtgen Forest, a casual truce in German-American fighting allows extraction of wounded.
8 November 1944	Allied forces secure the entire island of Walcheren. British Bomber Command launches a third raid on Homberg. In Canada, Prime Minister William King makes a national appeal on radio to soldiers to volunteer for overseas duty. Public reaction is negative.
10 November 1944	British Prime Minster Winston Churchill first publicly admits to the V-2 rocket threat in England.
12 November 1944	The Japanese army Kamikaze unit Banda attacks and damages the repair ships Egeria and Achilles near Leyte. Twelve British Lancaster bombers from Lossiemouth, Scotland, carrying special 12,000-pound bombs, attack German battleship Tirpitz. They score three hits, causing a great explosion, sinking the ship near Tromsö, Norway, off Hakey Island.   Adolf Hitler authorizes the formation of the first jet-fighter wing.
16 November 1944	4000 planes of the British RAF and US 8th Air Force drop 10,000 tons of bombs on the German Siegfried defences.
20 November 1944	British Bomber Command launches a fourth raid on Homberg oil targets.
21 November 1944	160 British bombers attack Homberg-Meerbeck, Germany. 273 British bombers attack oil plants at Castrop Rauxel, Germany.
22 November 1944	In Canada, the Army High Command threatens to resign if the government does not impose conscription to send soldiers into overseas battle. In Canada, at a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister King announces that the request for volunteers for overseas duty had failed. With a risk of District Officers Commanding threatening to resign, the only option left was mandatory conscription. The cabinet agrees to set a limit of 16,000 troops. In Canada, Defence Minister Andrew McNaughton recommends to Cabinet that 16,000 conscripted soldiers be sent to fight in Europe.
23 November 1944	French troops capture Strasbourg. British Bomber Command makes an air raid on the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen, Germany, using G-H to aid in targeting. To date, about 200 V-2 rockets have landed in England, about 100 in the London Region, killing about 500. In Canada, an Order-in-council approved by the governor-general is read in the House of Commons, imposing conscription of 16,000 soldiers for overseas duty.
24 November 1944	In the Cabot Strait, Canada, German submarine U-1228 torpedoes and sinks Canadian corvette HMCS Shawnigan. All 90 on board die. 110 B-29 bombers from the Mariana islands attack Nakajima aircraft factory near Tokyo, Japan.
25 November 1944	A German V-2 rocket strikes the crowded Woolworths store on New Cross Road, in Deptford, central London, England, killing 160, seriously injuring 77, and injuring 122 others.
28 November 1944	The first Allied convoy enters the port of Antwerp since its liberation in September. With the opening of Antwerp port, the Mulberry artificial harbor in Normandy is closed.