Overview

In Europe, the RAF attacked German battleship TIRPITZ in Norway, and we see the effects of the Battle of the Bulge (aka the German Ardennes Offensive). Most naval activity is between the US and Imperial Japanese Navies for the Philippines. In China, Burma and India, the US bombed Japan for the first time using B-29s staged throughout China, and the Japanese responded by advancing deeper into China to capture the US airfields. Allied forces drove into Burma, and the Japanese moved troops and resources out of Burma for the defense of Japan. In the Pacific, the Japanese initiated Operation SHO GO, leading to the land battle for Leyte plus the Sea Battles of Palawan Passage, Sibuyan Sea, the Sulu Sea, Surigao Strait, Sumar, and Cape Engaño. The US landing on Mindoro Island forced the Japanese into their last warship sortie in the Philippine Islands and an epic battle with US PT-boats. Japanese kamikaze inflicted losses on the US Seventh Fleet in Lingayen Gulf to begin the epic battle for Luzon.