Air Operations, Aleutians
7 of 9 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s sent against Kiska and Attu attack their targets. 8 Japanese Navy fighters attack the bombers, but there are no losses. Japanese aircraft mount the first of many nuisance raids against the airfield on Adak.
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]Air Operations, Europe
BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
- 20 Wellingtons and 5 Stirlings lay mines off Texel and in the Frisians.
- 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington are lost.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-17s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-40s attack the Wairopi bridge and 4 occupied villages in the Owen Stanley Mountains.
[ | ]Air Operations, North Africa
Capt Hans-Joachim Marseille, Germany's top fighter 'ace' in North Africa, is killed bailing out of an Me-109 with a faulty engine. He was credited with 151 victories which included 7 over the English Channel. He was 22.
Wreckage of Bf 109G-6 Fighter |
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| ]Aleutian Islands
The Japanese carry out the first of a series of 'nuisance raids' on Adak Island.
[ | ]Diplomatic Relations
Turkey signs a trade agreement with Germany, exchanging chrome for armaments.
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Eastern Front
- SOUTHERN SECTORThe Germans launch stron attacks into the Orlovka salient, the Luftwaffe striking the 115th Brigade in Orlovka. While units tackle the Soviets in the village, others push along the Orlovka gully in the direction of the Tractor and Barrikady factories. To support the developing attacks, the Germans bring the 94th Infantry and 14th Panzer Divissions up from the south to support their attacks.
Chuikov brings more forces across the Volga to reinforce his shattered front units. The re-formed 42nd Rifle Brigade is moved into the northwestern sector of the city to re-enter the fighting in the factories, while the 92nd Brigade is sent up to relieve the XXIII Tank Corps. The 39th Guards Division is also committed, with 4,000 men, to take up positions just west of the Red October factory to support the 193rd Rifle Division.
Smoke Rising from Various Districts of Stalingrad, Russia, 30 Sep 1942 |
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The Stavka plans to form a new Southwest Front based upon the headquarters of the 1st Guards in teh Kletskaya dn Verkhnaya Maman sectors, but keeps its existence secret until the counteroffensive is due. In the Stavka reserve, and destined for the south, are the 3rd and 5th Tank Armies and the 43rd Army from the Central Sector.
During the third quarter of 1942, the Red Army and Nave lost 1,224,495 killed and missing and 1,283,062 wounded.
ASSESSMENT: THE OSTHEER AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER 1942From December 1941 to the end of September 1942, Army Group North has suffered 375,000 casualties but replaced only 270,000, while Army Group Center has lost 765,000 men and replaced 480,000.
The 'old' Army Group South, Army Groups A and B, has lost more tha 547,000 men but received only 415,000 reinforcements. Despite the fall in strength, the Ostheer committed two more divisions during September, one panzer and one mountain division, bringing their strength up to 20 panzer, 15 motorized and 135 infantry divisions. During September the Germans have lost 45,000 men killed.
[ | ]Germany, Home Front
At a Nazi Party rally at the Sportspalast in Berlin, Hitler says: 'I said that if Jewry started this war in order to overcome the Aryan people, then it would not be the Aryans but the Jews who would be exterminated. The Jews laughed at my prophecies. . . I doubt if they are laughing now.' He ridicules US-British military leaders planning a second front in western Europe: 'If I had an opponent of stature, of military stature, then I could calculate pretty closely where he would attack. But when one faces military idiots, one cannot know where they will attack. It may be the craziest sort of undertaking, and that is one unpleasant thing--the fact that in the case of these mentally sick or perpetually drunk persons one never knows what they are really up to.'
[ | ]New Zealand, Home Front
The Cabinet splits. 6 National Party members withdraw.
[] British Unit in US Built M3 Stuart Tank |
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