Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 82 V Bomber Command B-25s sent to attack Rabaul abort in the face of bad weather.
• During the night, 3 RAAF Catalinas commence a regular schedule of night harrassment missions against Kavieng.

Air Operations, CBI

• As Japanese fighters based in Burma take a rising toll in Allied transports flying the Hump ferry route, Maj-Gen Claire L. Chennault orders the transports to fly a more northerly route, out of range of the fighters. Then 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s are sent along the southern route. When the Japanese pilots mistake the heavily armed B-24s for look-alike C-87s, many of the fighters are downed.

• A total of 8 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s based at Nanning mount 3 separate missions against the harbor at Kungshan and a concentration of Japanese shipping in the nearby Hainan Strait. 1 B-25 is downed by a Japanese fighter during the third attack, and another B-25 crash lands due to damage inflicted by a Japanese fighter over the target.

• 13 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s and 15 P-40s attack rail facilities at Haiphong.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount a light attack against Pombelaa, where fighters down 2 of the B-24s.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack Tanimbar Island in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 30 AirSols SBDs, 18 TBFs, and 42 fighters attack buildings, the runway, and antiaircraft batteries at the Kara airfield on Bougainville. 7 Navy PB4Ys attack the runway at the Kahile airfield on Bougainville. 15 XIII Fighter Command P-38 strafers kill an estimated 200 laborers filling craters on the runway at the Kahili airfield. 22 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, 49 AirSols SBDs, 36 TBFs, and 69 AirSols fighters attack the runway and antiaircraft batteries at the Kahili airfield. 8 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack aircraft parked at the airfield at Buka destroying 6 of them. Following is another attack on Buka by B-25s and 15 P-38s the control tower and parked aircraft are targeted with 5 more planes destroyed on the ground. 1 Allied plane is lost.
• 5 Navy PVs attack Mono Island in the Treasury group.

Eastern Front

Kleist orders the 17th Army to evacuate the Crimea to prevent its isolation in the peninsula. However, Hitler immediately countermands the order, instructing the 17th to stand fast.

India, Home Front

Wavell visits famine-stricken areas in Bengal. Relief camps are to be established.

New Guinea

The Japanese outposts around Finschafen begin to withdraw toward Sattelberg.

Pacific

The Treasury Islands assault group, part of Rear-Adm Wilkinson's Task Force 31, sails for its objective.

Scenes from October 26, 1943

On October 26, 1943, the SS deported 2,709 persons from the Kaunas, Lithuania ghetto. Those deemed fit for work were sent to harsh labor camps in northern Estonia, while children and the elderly were deported to Auschwitz. Few survived. (Credit: George Kadish)

SS Deportations from Kaunas, Lithuania

A Sherman tank of "A" Squadron, 11th Canadian Army Tank Regiment (The Ontario Regiment) crosses a stream near Colle d'Anchise on 26 October 26, 1943.

Sherman Tank Crossing a Stream

The metal works in Dniepropetrovsk is demolished by the fleeing Nazis.

Metal Works in Dniepropetrovsk is Destroyed

The railway bridge across the Dnieper also in Dniepropetrovsk was demolished by the Germans.

Railway Bridge across the Dnieper Destroyed

Soviet partisans skulk in the woods looking for an opportunity to disrupt German supply lines.

Soviet Partisans Seeking Opportunities

USS New Jersey (BB-62) silhouetted against the sea and clouds, as seen from a minesweeper, 26 October 1943. She was then engaged in training in the western Atlantic and Caribbean area. (U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 45486)

USS New Jersey (BB-62)

US Army In Naples October 1943 American soldiers working on amphibious vehicle in front of bombed-out buildings, during cleanup of damage done by evacuating German demolition teams. (Photo by Margaret Bourke-White courtesy of Life Magazine)

US Army In Naples

Russian partisans prepare to execute a former partisan, who switched to an informant and traitor, by firing squad. Kursk Oblast, Russia, Soviet Union. ca. October 1943.

Russian Partisans Prepare Execution