Air Operations, Aleutians

10 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 7 B-17s, and 4 XI Fighter Command P-38s are sent on 4 separate missions to Kiska. All but 3 (which had to abort) attack the main encampment, shipping and gun emplacements.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

21 V Bomber Command B-17s attack Rabaul and the Lakunai airfield there.

Air Operations, Europe

• 47 aircraft are involved in mine-laying operations off the Biscay ports and in the Frisians; there are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail and V Fighter Command P-40s attack villages around Asisi and Sanananda occupied by the Japanese Army.

Air Operations, Solomons

USMC F4Fs shoot down 10 Japanese Navy floatplanes over New Georgia Sound and Rekata Bay at 0640 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

The British submarine Unique is last contacted on this date. She will be presumed lost after no contact is made after this date. She left Holy Loch on the 9th for Biscay patrol and was due in Gibraltar on the 22nd. The crew of 34 are lost with the submarine.

Diplomatic Relations

Argentina and Chile protest about 'offensive' remarks about Axis espionage operations in their respective countries. The remarks were made by US Secretary of State Sumner Welles.

Eastern Front

The Sinyavino battle, raging since August 19, costs the Soviet armies around Leningrad 40,085 killed and missing and 73,509 wounded.

The lull in Stalingrad continues, Paulus massing his forces for another hammer blow. New, frech divisions are released from the left flank of the 6th Army as the 3rd Rumanian Army takes over the positions of the VIII Corps, allowing Paulus to use these units as the spearhead for his attack. In exchange many of the burnt out divisions that suffered badly in the recent battles in the city are sent to the flanks to rest. By moving his fresh units into Stalingrad, Paulus succeeds in bleeding dry the remaining strong divisions in the army.

A German gun crew make their way through the devastated city, October 1942.

Moving Through Stalingrad

The Stalingrad Front receives the IV Cavalry Corps as reinforcement, VII Rifle Corps as front reserve and 93rd, 96th and 97th Rifle Brigades, which deploy at Dubrovka.

Guadalcanal

In anticipation of the enemy counteroffensive, the Marines strengthen their defensive positions and patrol aggressively. 3 battalions of the 1st and 7th Marines plus elements of the Special Weapons Company take responsibility for the east bank of the Matanikau, where permanent positions are established at the river mouth. By this time 12 P-39s of the 67th Fighter Squadron are at Henderson Field. There are also occasional B-17 flights staging at the airfield.

Adm Kukuta's task force leaves Truk with 3 carriers to support the Guadalcanal recapture operaton. The last of 2nd Div troops land during the night. The total numbers of troops on the island are now almost equal.

At 0515 16 bombers escorted by F4Fs and P-39s fly off looking for any Japanese ships left in the area. North of the Russell Islands, they find the Shirayuki and Murakumo which had stayed behind to rescue survivors. The bombers attack and damage the Murakumo with a near miss. At 0800 there is another attack by American planes and 3 more near misses are recorde on Murakumo and a torpedo hit which may have damaged boilers as she comes to an abrupt stop. She begins to list and by early afternoon sinks. As this attack is going on the Shiayuki speeds away joined by the Natsugumo. American planes find these 2 ship about 1700. The Natsugumo is hit by a bomb that hits either the magazine or the boiler, because she blows up and rolls over. The Shiayuki escapes.

The naval battle results: the Japanese have lost their oldest cruiser, the Furutaka and one of their oldest destroyers, the Fubuki. Aoba has to go to Japan for repairs. US losses include the modern destroyer Duncan and the cruiser Boise which is sent to Philadelphia for repair. Salt Lake City, also damaged in the battle, goes to Pearl Harbor for repair.

The battle is considered a tactical victory for Americans, however strategically it was a standoff. The Americans had not stopped the landing of a major portion of Japanese 2nd Army Div and its heavy equipment. The Japanese cruiser force had not stopped the American reinforcement of Guadalcanal.

India

Mass strikes and demonstrations mark Gandhi's birthday.

A soldier of 50th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, shaving besides his Valentine tank, 10 October 1942. A photograph of his wife and new baby is propped up alongside.

Shaving in the Field

A jeep and Sherman tanks of HQ 2nd Armoured Brigade, 10 October 1942. “The white line on the tank was being used as a guideline by the Camouflage Unit who were called away before completing the painting of the Brigade’s tanks.”

Sherman Tanks of 2nd Armoured Brigade

Soviet Union, Policy

(9th?)The Soviet Presidium abolishes the political commissar system in the Red Army. Henceforth military commanders are to be freed from the sometimes repressive measures of the commissars which adversely affected combat operations.

United States, Policy

Attorney General Francis Biddle announces that 600,000 Italian citizens living in the US will no longer be regarded as enemy aliens. Biddle says the action is the result of 'the splendid showing the Italians in America have made in meeting the test of loyalty.'