Tuesday, October 24, 1944. Leyte Gulf, day two.

It was a major day of naval maneuvering off of Leyte Gulf.

The USS Princeton was hit by kamikazes and so badly damaged that it had to be scuttled.  The Japanese destroyer Wakaba was sunk by aircraft from the USS Franklin.  The Musashi was sunk in the Sibuyan Sea by U.S. aircraft.  T he USS Shark was sunk by Japanese warships.  The USS Darter ran aground in the Palawan Strait and was scuttled.

The Japanese prison ship Arisan Maru was sunk in the South China Sea by an American submarine. Only nine of the 1,781 Allied and civilian prisoners of war survived the sinking.

The 1st Cavalry Division landed on Samar.

Martial law was lifted in Hawaii.

The Soviets prevailed in the Riga Offensive.

The British entered Lamia, Greece.

The China Burma India Theatre was divided into the India-Burma Theater and the China Theater.

Hitler announces his intent to launch an offensive in the Ardennes.

Blood plasma refrigeration unit above was mounted on wheeled machine gun mount by enlisted men serving in France with the 1st Army since D-Day. S/Sgt. Homer N. Shrimplin, of Jelloway, Ohio, and Pvt. Frank Bozoyak, of Bordentown, N.J., are hitching the unit to their truck. 24 October, 1944.

Japanese-American infantrymen attend church services outside their billet in France. 24 October, 1944. 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Last edition:

Monday, October 23, 1944. The Largest Naval Battle In History.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Australian Navy, Battle of Leyte Gulf, boats and ships, France, German Kriegsmarine, Imperial Japanese Navy, U.S. Navy, Volkssturm, World War Two