Air Operations, Aleutians

3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack a Japanese Navy transport at sea, but do not score any hits.

Air Operations, Europe

• A school is bombed at Petworth, Sussex. 31 children and 2 teachers are killed and 28 children are injured.
• Americans of the 3 Eagle Squadrons of the RAF are transferred to US command.

• 14 Lancasters lay mine in the Baltic off Bornholm, Sassnitz and Swinemünde.
• 1 plane is lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield at Salamaua and Buna. 1 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20 attacks Menari.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 10 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack transports and a Japanese Navy warship in the Shortland Islands. 1 B-17 is lost.
• During the afternoon a fighter sweep by 26 A6M Zeros based at Rabaul and Kavieng is challenged by 33 Cactus Air Force F4Fs, but only 14 are in position to intercept. 1 Zero is shot down to the loss of 1 F4F and its pilot.

China

Chinese troops inflict heavy losses on Japanese units attacking from Kinhwa.

Eastern Front

Fighting at Stalingrad spreads to the Orlovka salient. The 5-mile long and 2-mile wide salient is held by the remnants of the 112th Rifle Division and the 115th Rifle Brigade. This small force is struck by the 16th Panzer, 60th Motorized and 389th and 100th Infantry Divisions from the north and south.

39th Guards Rifle Division Deployed West of the Red October Steel Factory

On September 29, 1942, the 39th Guards Rifle Division was deployed west of the Red October Steel Factory and tasked with defending the Volga Corridor, a key supply line for the city. At Stalingrad the 39th consisted of the following regiments: 112th Guard Infantry Regiment 117th Guard Infantry Regiment 120th Guard Infantry Regiment 87th Guard Artillery Regiment

Furious battles develop as the Soviets put up a stiff defense. Two battalions of the 115th are hit from the north and south and fall back, one battalion retreating into Orlovka itself. The penetrating German attacks threaten to isolate the Soviet units.

Farther south, the fighting on the Mamayev Kurgan continues, while the 193rd Rifle Division is forced back into the western edge of the Red October factory. During the afternoon a large air attack hits the Tractor factory, setting the factory buildings on fire.

Even farther south, the 57th and 51st Armies gain ground around the Sarpa lakes as the Rumanian VI Corps falls back.

Once again Paulus made the same mistake, herding the defenders of Orlovka back towards the river rather that prising them away from it.

Guadalcanal

American forces on the island now number more than 19,000(?), with another 3,260 manning Tulagi. The Seabees (construction battalions) are turning Henderson Field into a fully operational airport, though the runway is often broken up by Japanese bombs.

Madagascar

British forces sailing from Diego Suarez land at Tulearon(Tuléar?), in the southwest of the island. They occupy the harbor, airfield and seaplane base, which enables them to reconnoiter the Mozambique Channel. British troops advancing south from Tananarive take Fianarantsoa.

Secret War

Richard Sorge, Soviet master spy, is sentenced to death by a Tokyo Criminal Court.

A British soldier inspects the grave of a German tank crewman, killed when his PzKpfw III tank was knocked out in the Western Desert, 29 September 1942.

British Soldier Inspects German Grave