Air Operations, Aleutians

11th Air Force aircraft attack a Japanese destroyer and freighter at sea.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack airfields and shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

In support of ground operations, 4 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a Japanese-held village on the western bank of the Salween River in southwestern China.

Air Operations, Europe

• 28 Halifaxes of 4 Group sent to hit Flensburg.
• The raid is recalled, but 1 plane continues and bombs the target area.
• 1 plane is lost.
• 52 Wellingtons and 19 Stirlings lay mines in the Frisians and off Denmark.
• 1 Wellington is lost.
• An RAF high-altitude fighter sweep over France has to be abandoned due to severe icing.
• 11 aircraft are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

In support of Australian Army ground operations, 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s bomb and strafe Japanese troops in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

8 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack shipping in Tonolei harbor.

Battle of the Atlantic

The British destroyer Veteran, escorting Convoy RB-1, is sent to rescue survivors from 2 steamers. She rescues 48 from Boston and 30 from New York and is returning to the convoy when she is sunk by U-404 west of Ireland. All 235 members of the crew are lost along with those picked up from the steamers.

Britian, Home Front

Prebendary Carlile, founder of the Church Army and known as the 'Archbishop of the Gutter', dies at age 95.

Diplomatic Relations

Wendell Willkie (or Stalin?), speaking in Moscow, calls for the launching of a 'Second Front' without delay. 'Next year may be too late.'

Eastern Front

The Germans reach the right bank of the Volga in the center of Stalingrad.

On the corner of Krasnopiterskaya and Komsomolskaya Streets, the remnants of the 13th Guards Rifle's battalion fall back after a harrowing 5-day struggle. Of the 40 men who began the battle only 6 survive to fall back to the Volga. To the south, the forlorn men of the 92nd Rifle Brigade collapse under the attack of the 94th Infantry and 24th Panzer Divisions.

Stalin orders the planning of the Rzhev and Stalingrad offensive operations. Zhukov is to coordinate the central thrust while Vasilevsky leads the Stalingrad offensive. The Rzhev offensive is codenames Operation MARS, while the Stalingrad operation takes the name URANUS. MARS is due to begin in mid-October and Uranus in early to mid-November.

Mountain Hunters from the Romanian 2nd Mountain Division. Caucasus 26 September 1942

Guadalcanal

The 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, and elements of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, reach the upper Matanikau and push north along the east bank, encountering enemy fire from the vicinity of Matanikau village. Artillery and aircraft are used against the enemy positions. The 1st Raider Battalion passes through the 5th Regiment sector to join in the attack. The Japanese are waiting for the Raiders on a hill near the bridge that the marines were to use to cross. The Japanese ambush the force which suffers heavy casualties including Lt-Col S.B. Griffith, commanding the 1st Raiders, who is wounded and Maj Kenneth Bailey who is killed. The Raiders retreat to the mouth of the Matanikau.

Madagascar

Gen Platt, commanding the British forces, moves his headquarters from Majunga to Tananarive.