Air Operations, Aleutians

9 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 1 B-17, 6 B-26s and 12 XI Fighter Command P-38s attack shipping and harbor installations at Kiska. Fire bombs are dropped on the main camp and hangars. The P-38s destroy 3 floatplanes on the water, but 1 P-38 is lost.

Air Operations, Europe

The catastrophic raid by 291 American B-17E 'Flying Fortresses' on Schweinfurt to destroy its ball-bearing factories demonstrated that daylight bombing is bedevilled with practical difficulties. The 'Flying Fortresses' are attacked by continuous waves of German fighters, and by th etime the American force returned to England, 60 bombers have been shot down and 138 suffer heavy damage. Such a loss rate cannot be sustained.

• 5 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guniea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Lae and two bridges.

Air Operations, Solomons

• A noon attack by 26 G4M 'Betty' bombers because the bombers take a long route to Guadalcanal which causes the defending fighters to land to refuel before their arrival. The attack causes heavy damage on the ground.
• 18 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 10 A6M Zeros that arrive at 1300 hours are met by every one of the Cactus Air Force's 24 serviceable F4Fs who down 9 'Bettys' and 3 Zeros. 2 F4Fs and 1 P-39 are lost in the action.
• After the discovery of a Japanese reinforcement convoy by an SBD, the Cactus Air Force goes on the offensive limited by available resources. 4 SBDs, escorted by 3 bomb-laden P-400s, attack the convoy at 1445 hours, but no hits are scored. At 1745 hours, 7 SBDs, 6 P-39s, and P-400s attack the convoy. No hits are scored, 1 P-400 is downed by antiaircraft fire, and 1 P-400 cracks up in a night landing.

Battle of the Atlantic

The Nova Scotia-Newfoundland ferry steamer Caribou is sunk by U-69 in the Cabot Strait. 137 people are killed.

Diplomatic Relations

Moscow calls for the immediate trial and punishment of Rudolf Hess and all other German leaders already in Allied custody.

Eastern Front

Hitler decides that all offensive action should be suspended except in Stalingrad and a small area of the Caucasus along the middle reaches of the Terek River. In Stalingrad the Germans launch a second 'final' offensive and the Soviet forces in and around the Tractor Factory are nearly broken by attacks from 5 German divisions which are assisted by heavy air support. A newly arrived Russian Guards Div joins the defending troops and helps defend the 'Red October' works in the city center. During this offensive this area undergoes 117 separate attacks, including 23 in 1 day. Throughout the battle the Soviets will be deliberately niggardly in giving help to 62nd Army because they want to build up reserves for a counterattack. The offensive by the Germans will end in late October.

The German offensive in Stalingrad resumes, with the 94th and 389th Infantry, 100th Jäger and 14th and 24th Panzer Divs attacking the factory districts. By the afternoon the Germans have surrounded the 112th and 37th Guards Divs and annihilated the right flank of the 308th Rifle Div. During the night the Germans reach the tractor factory and break through to the Volga. The 37th Guards Div has been all but destroyed. Chuikov ferries the 138th Rifle Div across the river during the night. In the Caucasus, Group Ruoff again fails to breach Red Army defenses to reach the Black Sea.[MORE]

English Channel

The German raider Komet is sunk in the Channel by a British force as it headed for Cherbourg. All 351 of the crew went down with the ship.

Guadalcanal

At dawn the assessment of the damages from the bombardment begins. 42 of 90 planes remain intact, but most of aviation fuel has been destroyed. 41 men have been killed, and another 100 wounded. The 150-mm howitzers begin firing in morning. At noon Japanese bombers arrive without warning and attack again. At end of raid, Geiger announces bomber airstrip out of service until further notice.

Since the Cactus Air Force has successfully patrolled area over the slot, The Japanese have quit bringing ships down during daylight. After the raid there is no such fear. 6 transports, escorted by destroyers and covered in the air by large flights of Zeros, move down The Slot unopposed. Of the 39 dive bombers operational on October 13 4 dive bombers, 3 P-400s and 4 P-39s all that are left. All the torpedo bombers have been destroyed. 29 of the 42 F4Fs, however, are still operational.

Henderson Field, 14 October 1942. Marines examine wrecked Marsden matting after a Japanese air raid. The work of laying this material was all done by the hands of the aviation engineers. (USMC Photo)

Henderson Field, 14 October 1942

The noon raid brings in 26 bombers attacking the main airstrip creating more holes. At this time the Japanese are not aware of the fighter airstrip. Thinking all the aircraft has been destroyed, the next raid comes in carelessly an hour later. The F4Fs are already in the air above them. They claim 9 bombers and 3 Zeros are brought down. The bombers do not drop their loads successfully, and this raid is a failure. Under Japanese howitzer fire, the mechanics cannibalize one plane after another to mount a raid on reported ships in The Slot. At 1445 4 bombers and 7 army planes take off. The bomb transport group, do some damage to the destroyer Samidare, but not enough to slow her down. They are ultimately driven off by an umbrella of zeros. At 1600 the mechanics make ready 9 more bombers to attack transports, but they are also driven away by large force of Zeros. 1 army plane is shot down, and another crash lands upon returning in darkness. With the Japanese landing troops and supplies and the Americans on Guadalcanal not being able to do anything about it, Gen Vandegrift sends this message: 'Urgently necessary that this force receive maximum support of air and surface units.' Adm Fitch is in process of moving more bombers in. He has 8 from the Enterprise (CV-6) and 9 others, but no pilots to fly them. The pilots of Marine Fighting 212 are ordered to ferry them over. Aviation gasoline also on the way. From barges towed to Espiritu Santo, drums of fuel are moved to Guadalcanal by transport plane.

During the night howitzers are still shelling, and the perimeter is probed by Japanese patrols looking for weak spots. At 0200 the cruisers Chokai and Kinugasa begin shelling from a few hundred yards out. 750 shells fired at airfield. Under this cover Japanese transports unload 4,000 troops, big guns, tanks and ammunition.

Jewish women in the Palestine Auxiliary Territorial Service of the British Army learn how to use gas masks, October 14, 1942. Many of them were in service on the Egyptian front.

Jewish Women in the Palestine Auxiliary Territorial Service

New Guinea

Australian and American reinforcements reach Wanigela by air: 1 regiment of US Marines and 1 Australian battalion. There is an important action on the Kokoda Trail at Templeton's Crossing as the Japanese resist the Australian attack. The battle lasts until October 16.