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• According to later statement by Indian soldier Havildar Changdi Ram, who was a forced laborer for the Japanese in New Britain, the Japanese Kempeitai beheaded an Allied pilot, cut flesh from his arms, legs, hips, and buttocks, and proceed to cook the flesh. The human flesh was consumed in the evening after a speech was made by a Japanese major general. ww2dbase [New Britain | CPC]

• Cruiser USS St. Louis and destroyers USS Nicholas and USS Taylor departed Ulithi in the Caroline Islands bound for Kossol Roads, Palau. ww2dbase [Nicholas | St. Louis | Ulithi | DS]

• Jingwei Wang's death in Japan two days prior was announced in China, after commemorative events for Sun Yat-sen's birth had concluded. ww2dbase [Wang Jingwei | CPC]

• Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Allied Land Forces South East Asia (ALFSEA). ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | Delhi | AC]

• Light carrier Ryuho departed Uji, Japan and arrived at Kure, Japan later on the same day. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• USS Gabilan arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Gabilan | Saipan | CPC]

• In Operation Catechism, 31 British Lancaster bombers attacked German battleship Tirpitz with Tallboy bombs in Norway, scoring three hits and several near misses. Tirpitz capsized, killing 971 out of the about 1,700 aboard. None of the Lancaster bombers were lost. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | Tromsø, Troms og Finnmark | CPC]
• In a night action between Egersund and Lister Fjord, near Norway's southern point, a British Royal Navy sweep by HMS Kent commanded by Rear-Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor (later Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick) accompanied by HMS Bellona and four destroyers intercepted a German convoy sinking two of the four ships in the convoy and five of the six escorts, in addition to silencing a shore battery that attempted to intervene. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Preston guarded carriers while the carriers launched strikes against Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Preston (Fletcher-class) | CPC]
• USS Archerfish left submarine wolf pack Fennomonts to perform lifeguard duties. ww2dbase [Archerfish | CPC]

• The Japanese Army Banda Squadron in the Philippine Islands launched its first tokko mission against American ships in Leyte Gulf, claiming the sinking of a battleship and a transport although the actual damage done to the Americans was minimal. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Leyte Gulf | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 139 was sunk by US aircraft off of the western coast of Luzon island, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• 1,014 arrested Polish Home Army and other partisan fighters were placed on a special train at Bialystok, Poland for the NKVD-run Ostashkov Special Camp in Tver Oblast, Russia. ww2dbase [Bialystok | CPC]

• German V-2 rocket hit the Bromley Gas Works in West Ham, London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | London, England | CPC]

• USS Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Shamrock Bay, Wake Island, and a destroyer escort departed Norfolk, Virginia, United States bound for the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Wake Island | Texas | Shamrock Bay | Missouri | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]

12 Nov 1944 Interactive Map