Air Operations, Solomons

2 Cactus Air Force SBDs, on patrol over New Georgia Sound, spot a Japanese seaplane tender and 6 destroyers bound for Guadalcanal. Both pilots and a gunner are wounded by A6M Zero escorts, but a sighting report is sent. A mixed force of SBDs and TBFs are sent to attack, but no hits are scored.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Over the next five weeks(?Oct 7-Nov 3), a group of 4 U-boats called 'wolf pack' Eisbär ('Polar Bear') operating off the South African coast, sinks 170,000 tons of shipping. This is a very clear illustration of the wide scope and effect of submarine operations and of the difficulty of protecting shipping in distant waters. U-179 is sunk by the British destroyer Active.
• Convoy FN-32 is attacked by 2 flotillas of German motor torpedo boats about 12 miles northeast of Cromer. The British rescue tug Caroline Moller is sunk by S-80 with the loss of 3 crewmen. Freighters lost in the attack include the Jessie Maersk (1973t) to S-117, the Ilse (2874t) to S-105, the Sheafwater (2730t) to S-46 and S-63, and ML-339 to S-62.
• The German minesweepers R-77, R-78, R-82 and R-86 are lost in the English channel escorting the German raider Komet from Germany to Le Havre.

Eastern Front

In Stalingrad there are particularly fierce fights near the Tractor Factory.

The fighting in the Orlovka sector ends as the survivors of the isolated battalion breaks out through the Orlovka gully and rejoins the northern wing of the 62nd Army, linking up with the 112th Rifle Division.

Battered Railway Station, Stalingrad, Russia, Oct 1942

A heavy attack with 2 infantry divisions strikes the Tractor Factory. The 37th Guards is hard pressed and struggles to hold the Germans in the workers' houses. Other German thrusts penetrate into the sports stadium, while the 193rd Rifle Division fights a day-long battle in the Red October bathhouse.

Germany, Policy

Germany threatens to chain PoWs captured at Dieppe.

Guadalcanal

The 1st Marine Division, with air and artillery support, opens an offensive to extend the perimeter westward beyond artillery range of Henderson Field. They move in 3 columns forward toward the Matanikau River from the Kokum area. While the 5th Marines, less 1 battalion, moves along the coast to conduct a holding action at the mouth of the Matanikau, the 7th Marines, less 1 battalion, followed by the Whaling Group, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marines and the divisional scout-sniper detachment under Col William J. Whaling, advances southwest with the mission of crossing the river and enveloping Point Cruz. The 5th Marines column soon meets opposition and drives the enemy back almost to the Matanikau River mouth. The other 2 columns reach Hill 65, overlooking the Matanikau River, with little difficulty and dig in for the night. After nightfall, attack preparations are simulated at the river mouth and the 5th Marines is reinforced by a company of the 1st Raider Battalion.[MORE]

New Guinea

Allied troop movements in readiness for the counteroffensive which is to lead to the complete destruction of the enemy.

War Crimes

Britain and the United States announce that a United Nations Commission is to be established to investigate Axis war crimes. Roosevelt pledges there will be no mass reprisals against former enemies after the war but 'ringleaders responsible for the organized murder of thousands of innocent persons and the commission of atrocities which have violated every tenet of Christian faith' will receive just punishment. It is to be a condition of any armistice that war criminals are to be handed over to be tried.