Air Operations, Europe

• 3 Mosquitos sent to bomb German ports; 1 bombs approximate position of Borkum; no losses.

• 115 aircraft involved in mine-laying operations from Lorient to Danzig.
• 2 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings and 1 Wellington are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

1 V Bomber Command B-17 attacks Salamaua and 1 B-25 strafes Japanese Army pack trains crossing the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, North Africa

Canadian and British planes bomb Tobruk.

Air Operations, Solomons

During the night an RAAF Catalina based in New Guinea mounts the first flare-assisted night-bombing of its kind against Buka.

Australia, Home Front

New American reinforcements leave Brisbane bound for New Guinea.

Battle of the Atlantic

A German submarine mines the channel leading into Charleston, South Carolina. No damage is ever recorded as a result of the dozen mines sown, although only 4 are ever recovered.

Diplomatic Relations

Rumania and Turkey sign a trade agreement, with the Rumanians trading lubricating oil for Turkish cotton.

Eastern Front

At 0530 hours the 1st Guards Army launch new attacks north of Stalingrad with 5 rifle divisions supported by 1 tank corps and 3 tank brigades. Heavy German counter-fire bring he attack to an immediate halt, and the arrival of the Luftwaffe smash the Soviet units. A fierce German counterattack then throws the 1st Guards back to its start lines.

In an effort to reverse the flow of the bttle, the Soviets commit 2 tank corps but to no effect. Bitter fighting rages all day without any success.

In Stalingrad the fighting rages unabated. 10 attacks on the grain elevator fail to dislodge the 92nd Rifle Brigade. Heavy fighting also erupts on the Mamayev Kurgan and in the central railway station as the LI Corps launches repeated attacks against the 13th Guards Division. The Luftwaffe is particularly active against both these targets, blankt bombing the Soviet positions as German infantry wrestles the Soviets out of the ruins.

Toward the end of the day the 62nd Army is ordered to prepare a counterattack on its right wing to link up with the 1st Guards, 66th and 24th Armies. The attack is to strike out from the Mamayef Kurgan to the northeast.

Houses on Fire during the Fierce Street Fighting at Stalingrad

Guadalcanal

An improved Allied supply situation permits the restoration of full rations to the garrison. Task Force 65 arrives off Kukum and unloads the rest of the 1st Marine Division, 4,180 men of the 7th Marines, plus vehicles, equipment, ammunition and supplies. This is the first ammunition to arrive in response to the request made on August 22. The American strength is now about 23,000 men. 3 other vessels unload aviation gasoline. The Task Force retires to Espiritu Santo with the 1st Parachute Battalion which has suffered more casualties than any other unit, American wounded and 8 Japanese prisoners. The Marines are aggressively patrolling from their defense perimeter.

The destroyers Monssen (DD-436) and MacDonough (DD-351) move up and down along the shore of Guadalcanal shelling known enemy positions which is not good for Japanese morale. The Japanese have been reinforced but not enough supplies have come in. Food is short and morale is dropping especially after Kawaguchi's failed effort to take the airfield. Japanese destroyers come in at midnight and bombard US positions and the airfield.

Madagascar

In Operation JANE there are British landings on the east coast in the form of the British 29th East African Bde at Tamatave. There is no opposition and the force pushes inland towards Tananarive. The 22nd Bde is also marching on the capital from the west coast.

New Guinea

In response to orders from the Japanese Imperial General Staff to hold their positions as long as possible and because of the difficulty of supplying the forward troops, Gen Horii is forced to hold some positions and begins to pull some of his men back to the area around Buna and Gona.

Occupied France

116 people are executed in Paris for attacks made on German soldiers.