Air Operations, Europe

The Allied bomber offensive continues. Among the German targets for RAF Bomber Command are Flensburg, Essen and Cologne. British and American aircraft attack targets in France by night and day, including Le Creusot and Fives-Lille. There are heavy attacks by RAF aircraft based in Britain on targets in Italy, including Genoa, Turin and Milan. The RAF drops 4,100 tons of bombs and the US 8th Air Force 300 tons.

Battle of the Atlantic

Allied shipping losses increase this month to 637,800 tons from all causes. Axis submarines account for 619,000 tons, or 94 ships, of this. (Allied Ships Lost to U-boats this month) The increase is partly because escorts have to be diverted, especially later in the month, to cover the 10 TORCH convoys on their way to Morocco and Algeria. The period of German successes off the east coast of America is coming to an end. The last good pickings for the U-boats are in the area near Trinidad.

Air Operations, Aleutians

While 7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the seaplane base at Kiska, P-39s of the 54th Fighter Group's 42nd Fighter Squadron down 4 A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bombers over Kiska about 1040 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 3 Mosquitos sent out; 2 attack a chemical works at Sluiskil and an oil depot at Ghent.
• No losses.

• 78 Lancaster of 5 Group attack Wismar; bombing is scattered.
• 2 planes are lost.
• 27 Halifaxes of 4 Group are sent to Flensburg; 12 crews claim good bombing results.
• 12 aircraft are lost.
• 25 Stirlings of 3 Group attack Lübeck; bombing here is scattered also.
• 3 planes are lost.

Air Operations, Greece

USAMEAF B-24s attack Axis ships in Pylos Bay and claim hits on a large vessel.

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force B-17s and P-40s attack Japanese Army forces at 5 locations in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Eastern Front

Army Group A, charged with the task of conquering the Caucasus with its rich oilfields, is halted by Russian resistance. The impetus of the German thrust is becoming exhausted. There is heavy fighting along the Black Sea coast between Novorossiysk and Tuapse. Inland the Germans are still battling toward Grozny. Bloody fighting continues in Stalingrad, where the German 6th Army pays dearly for every yard of ground gained. The Russians try in vain to bring help to the ruined city. There are German gains in the Orlovka sector of Stalingrad. Heavy losses in men and material, shortage of supplies, especially fuel, and the nature of the terrain are beginning to tell on the armies of the Reich.

The Germans complete the destruction of thw 2nd Shock Army encircled in the Gaitolovo pocket.

German pincers close at Orlovka, trapping a battalion of he 115th Rifle Brigade. Two other brigade battalions attempt a relief attack from the east but are pinned down by massive German artillery fire and air strikes. Under intense fire, the isolated battaion continues to hold for another week in the Orlovka gully.

In the factories district, the Germans hammer at the Soviet defenses. Heavy attacks strike the 193rd Rifle Division before the Red October factor throughout the day, the 284th Rifle and 13th Guards are also being hard pressed as the Germans try to push on to the Volga. German efforts to reach the river through the Krutoy and Dolgi gullies fail as the 13th Guards wipe out the attackers. During the night the 295th Infantry Division sends an assault force of 300 men into the Krutoy Gully and onto the banks of the Volga. Once they reach the river, the group turns south, into the rear of the 13th Guards, and then wait for dawn when they will attack from both front and rear.

As his defenses crumble, Chuikov orders the 39th Guards Division to fortify and hold the Red October workshops.

The fighting in Stalingrad cost both sides dear. Since September 13 Paulus has suffered 40,000 casualties, while the 62nd Army has lost 78,000 men. The Soviets, however, are constantly reinforced, maintaining a combat strength of around 55,000 men. Inside the city, the Soviets have 950 artillery pieces, 500 mortars and 80 tanks.

The Stavka disbands the 4th Tank Army, absorbing the remnants into the 65th Army. The XVII and XVIII Tank Corps are pulled out of the Voronezh sector and moved behind the Don Front to refit, together with the 3rd and 5th Tank Armies, which go into Stavka reserve. The IV Tank Corps, already with the Don Front, is also pulled out of the line to refit.

New Guinea

Gen MacArthur issues orders for the Allied advance on Gona and Buna. Australian forces have already begun to move forward along the Kokoda Trail. A US force is to move over the parallel Kapa Kapa Trail to join the Australians in cutting off the Japanese retreat at the Kumusi River. There are also to be landings along the north coast between Milne Bay and Cape Nelson, especially at Wanigela.

Type 95 Ha Go Main Gun

Air Operations, Aleutians

11 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s and 6 P-39s attack 2 cargo ships in Kiska harbor and the seaplane ramp and drop demolition charges throughout the Japanese camp. Japanese Navy aircraft attack the US base at Adak, but there is no damage.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfields in the Rabaul area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos attack a steelworks at Liege without a loss.

• 188 aircraft are sent to Krefeld: 95 Wellingtons, 39 Halifaxes, 31 Lancasters and 23 Stirlings.
• Pathfinders run into dense haze and their marking is late; the raid is dispersed and does not cause much damage; only 3 streets in the northern part of the town are reported hit.
• 3 Halifaxes, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Lancaster and 1 Stirling are lost.

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

• The 4th Fighter Group, in Spitfires, undertakes its first combat mission escorting 6 97th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s on a diversionary bombing raid against St.-Omer/Longuenesse Airdrome. 4 FW-190s are downed around Dunkirk, Nieuport, and Calais.
• The 15th Light Bomb Squadron, in A-20s, attacks a ship in the Le Havre port at 1420 hours.
• 32 97th and 301st Heavy Bomb Group B-17s, escorted by 31 1st Fighter Group P-38s, attack Albert/Meaulte Airdrome. 9 Luftwaffe fighters are claimed to be shot down with 13 other 'probables'.
• 6 301st B-17s are damaged and 1 crash-lands upon return with 3 injured crewmen on board.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command P-40s attack Japanese Army campsites, bridges and trails in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 27 A6M Zeros with an altitude advantage attack 33 Cactus Air Force F4Fs which have been launched too late to effectively intercept. 6 F4Fs are shot down with the loss of 4 pilots while the F4Fs down 3 of the Zeros.
• 5th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Rekata Bay.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The British anti-submarine trawler Lord Stonehove (444t) is sunk by the German motor torpedo boat S-112 off Eddystone with the loss of 18 of her crew.
• U-512 is sunk off Devil's Island by a Douglas B-18A bomber from the 99th Bomb Squadron.

U-512

• The US freighter Alcoa Transport (2084t) is torpedoed and sunk b U-201 about 100 miles southeast of Trinidad with the loss of 4 crewmen. The submarine chase PC-490 rescues the survivors, 31 crewmen and 5 Armed Guard sailors.

Atlantic

The British cruiser Curaçao is sunk 20 miles off Donegal, Ireland after a collision with the 81,235-ton liner Queen Mary which is being used as a troop transport and is carrying 10,000 American troops. Like the other giant ocean liners, the Queen Mary is normally unescorted for the major part of any voyage, relying on speed of about 28 knots and a zigzag course to keep out of trouble. Only in waters close to the British Isles are escorts provided. The liner makes a turn to maintain such a course and, incredibly, does not communicate to the Curaçao. The cruiser is sliced in two, her halves separated by 100 yards after the liner's high speed maneuver. A total of 338 men aboard the cruiser are killed and 101 are saved by the British destroyers Branham and Cowdray, no thanks to the Queen Mary which feared U-boats in the area and never so much as pausing to find out what happened. Note - A court decision in 1947 held the Curaçao at fault for failing, as an escort, to stay clear of the ship overtaking it.

The Queen Mary, Known as the 'Grey Ghost'

Light Cruiser HMS Curaçao

Eastern Front

The remnants of the 2nd Shock Army in the Gaitolovo Pocket are destroyed, the Volkhov Front losing 12,000 men captured along with as many killed, and 300 artillery pieces, 500 mortars and 240 tanks lost.

At 0600 hours the 295th Infantry Division launches a frontal and surprise rear attack on the right wing of the 13th Guards Division. Ferocious fighting erupts as the Soviets fight to prevent their annihilation, instead destroying to a man the German infiltration force.

Air Operations, Aleutians

• 6 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 4 343rd Fighter Group P-38s, and 8 54th Fighter Group P-39s bomb and strafe 7 ships in Kiska harbor. The P-38s and P-39s shoot down 5 Japanese Navy twin-float fighters over Kiska.
• Japanese Navy aircraft attack the US base at Adak, but there is no damage.

Air Operations, Greece

During the night, USAMEAF B-24s attack Axis ships in Pylos Bay and down 2 Luftwaffe fighters.

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force B-25s, A-20s, P-40s and 1 B-17 attack ground targets at numerous locations in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

27 Japanese A5M Zeros attack US positions on Guadalcanal, but 7 Navy F4F Wildcat fighters manage to shoot down 9 of the attackers while anti-aircraft batteries destroy 2 more about 1250 hours. 1 F4F is downed and another destroyed in an operational accident, but neither pilot is lost. During the night, US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft bomb a Japanese convoy landing troops on Guadalcanal, but no hits are scored.

Aleutians

US troops occupy the Andreanof Islands in the Aleutians.

Eastern Front

In the Caucasus German Army Group A makes some progress towards Grozny as they capture Elkhotovo only 7 miles form Drag Kokh.

The battle for Stalingrad continues, but the Russian position is gradually improving, but at immense cost.

The bitter battle for Orlovka reaches its climax as the 115th Rifle Brigade struggles to hold off the attacks of the XIV Panzer Corps. The isolated battalion in the village suffers heavy casualties under the constant German artillery fire and plan a break out through the Orlovka Gully to the factories. Around the factories, the 308th Rifle Division launches a furious counterattack and pushes the Germans back into the Silikat factory.

Germany, Home Front

The first successful launching of an A4 rocket takes place at Peenemünde. The A4 is the forerunner of the V-2.

First Missile into Outer Space

Air Operations, Aleutians

Unable to reach Kiska because of bad weather, 3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack a Japanese Navy transport at sea possibly causing some rudder damage. 1 of the B-24s is damaged in the attack.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command P-40s strafe Japanese ground troops at Myola Lake in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US tanker Robert H. Colley, in Convoy HX-209, is torpedoed by U-254 and breaks in two with the loss of 20 of her 44-man crew and well as 8 of the 17 Armed Guard sailors that were on board.

Caribbean

The US freighter Caribstar (2592t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-175 off the mouth of the Orinoco River with the loss of 6 dead and 11 wounded. 23 crewmen and the 6-man Armed Guard are picked up by the submarine chaser PC-469.

Eastern Front

Von Paulus begins a new series of attacks within Stalingrad - his 4th major effort. This will be the fiercest and longest lasting of the German offensives. They have been reinforced by combat-engineer and police units to increase their street fighting expertise. The Soviets are developing their skills also and will attempt to direct the German advances into specially prepared killing zones. The German attacks are sent against the Soviet posts in the Barrikady, Krasnye Oktyabr and Tractor Factories.

Paulus continues his attack to smash through the Soviet defenses to the river. Gains are made in the factory district as the LI Corps presses into the Tractor, Barrikady and Red October complexes. Chuikov throws in yet more reserves, 84th Tank Brigade entering the battle.

English Channel

There is a British Commando raid on Sark, one of the Channel Islands, capturing 1 German soldier.

Germany, Policy

Göring declares that the people of the occupied territories, not the Germans, will suffer from the Allied naval blockade. He says, 'The German people come before all other peoples for food.'

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17 attack airfields in the Rabaul area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1 Mosquito is sent to Frankfurt; bombs a town believed to be Siegen; returns safely.

• 257 aircraft attack Aachen: 101 Wellingtons, 74 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes and 23 Stirlings.
• Weather is bad over Germany and not much Pathfinder marking at Aachen; most of the bombs fall in other areas; reports from the ground say center of the attack was southern suburb of Burtscheid; 5 people are killed, 39 injured. Many of the bombs actually fall in the Dutch town of Lutterade, 17 miles from Aachen, which is where most of the Pathfinder markings ended up; 800 houses are seriously damaged; 83 people are killed, 22 injured and about 3,000 homeless.
• 5 Halifaxes, 2 Stirlings, 2 Wellingtons and 1 Lancaster are lost; 6 planes crash upon return to England, probably due to the weather.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield at Buna, B-25s attack a Japanese convoy off Buna and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack anti-aircraft batteries at Sanananda.

Air Operations, Solomons

13 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s are sent to bomb the airfield at Buka, but because of bad weather only 1 locates the target. Bad weather also hampers an effort by Cactus Air Force SBDs and TBFs to hit the seaplane base at Rekata Bay. 1 B-17 is lost to Japanese Navy fighters.

During the afternoon Cactus Air Force SBDs locate 7 Japanese destroyers 170 miles west of Guadalcanal. Two attack groups are sent from Henderson Field. 9 SBDs attack the destroyers at 1545 severely damaging 1 destroyer with a near miss and damaging another with 3 near misses. The second group of SBDs score no hits and neither do a mixed group of SBDs and TBFs attempting to attack by flarelight as the destroyers unload at Cape Esperance. 2 TBFs go down in the dark losing 5 of the 6 crewmen.

Aleutians

US planes in the Aleutians bomb the Japanese installations on Kiska Island.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-582 is sunk in the North Atlantic south of Iceland by Catalina 'I' of VP-73 of the US Navy.

U-582

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Werner Schulte
Location	Atlantic, S of Iceland
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	46
Survivors	None

• U-619 is sunk in an attack by Hudson 'N' of No 269 Squadron ahead of convoy ONS-136. The plane dropped four depth charges as the U-boat was diving.

U-619

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Oberleutnant zur See Kurt Makowski
Location	North Atlantic
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	44
Survivors	None

• U-175 torpedoes, shells and sinks the US freighter William A. McKenney about 50 miles east of Corocoro Island, Venezuela with the loss of 1 of her crew. 30 merchant seamen and 4 Armed Guard sailors are rescued by the US destroyer Blakely (DD-150).

Air Operations, Aleutians

8 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 1 B-17 and 18 XI Fighter Command P-38s and P-39s attack various targets at Kiska including a transport that is left sinking, a corvette and a freighter that are damaged. Several floatplanes are strafed on the water.

Air Operations, Europe

• 7 Mosquitos are sent to a diesel enging works at Hengelo, Holland and to Bremen, Essen and Trier; all aircraft bomb, not necessarily their targets, with no losses.

• 237 aircraft are sent to Osnabrück: 101 Wellingtons, 68 Lancasters, 38 Stirlings and 30 Halifaxes.
• Pathfinders succeed in marking the Dummer See, a large lake northeast of the target used for a run-in point; Osnabrü is then found and marked; bombing is well concentrated with most in the center and southern portions of the city; reports from the ground say 149 houses are destroyed, 530 seriously damaged and 2,784 lightly damaged; 6 industrial facilities are destroyed and 14 others suffer damage; 65 people are killed and 151 injured.
• 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings are lost.
• The RAF hits Osnabrück in a night raid.

Air Operations, Libya

• USAMEAF B-24s attack Benghazi harbor.
• 2 B-24s are lost to attacks by Axis fighters.

Atlantic

The commander of the Italian submarine Barbarigo reports that he has sunk an American Idaho Class battleship off west Africa. In fact, the 'battleship' was a corvette. This same commander, Enzo Grossi, had reported another 'battleship' sinking the previous May off Brazil. That was a merchant ship. The Barbarigo will be lost in June, 1943.

Eastern Front

Army Group A captures the oil-producing center of Malgobek, an important oil-producing center, near Mazdok, in the Caucasus. The advance continues toward the Terek.

The Luftwaffe is back over Stalingrad in force, bombing Soviet positions. With his bunker under heavy fire, Chuikov moves his headquarters to the Tractor factory, itself threatened by German attacks. The 10th NKVD Division is pulled out of the line, having been reduced to a handful of men.

As the struggle for Stalingrad drags on, Gen Maximilian von Weichs stresses to Paulus that the 62nd Army must be overcome as soon as possible to enable the 6th Army to transfer forces to its exposed flanks. It is just as apparent to the German High Command as it is to the Stavka that the forces of Army Group B are stretched too thin and the 6th Army is in an extremely exposed position.

Urban Combat, Stalingrad, October 1942

Air Operations, Greece

USAMEAF B-24s attack shipping and port facilities at Suda Bay and claim 7 hits on a tanker and 8 hits on a fuel installation.

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.

[ | ]


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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.

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.

Battered Railway Station in Stalingrad

Germany, Policy

Germany threatens to chain PoWs captured at Dieppe.

Air Operations, Aleutians

9 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 3 B-17s and 12 XI Fighter Command P-38s attack installations at Kiska harbor. A corvette and a freighter are damaged.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1 Mosquito goes to Saarbrücken; bombs a factory believed to be in the nearby town of Bous.

• 57 aircraft are involved in mine-laying ops.
• Areas mined include Lorient, St Nazaire, Brest, Ostend, Texel and the Frisians.
• 2 Wellingtons are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

2 B-24 squadrons from USAMEAF 98th Heavy Bomb Group are turned back by bad weather while on their way to attack Benghazi, but the Halverson Bomb Squadron (formerly HALPRO) is able to attack shipping in Benghazi harbor.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Buna and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack various targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail.

Air Operations, Solomons

Between 1655 and 1745 hours, VF-5 F4Fs down 3 Japanese Navy float fighters near Guadalcanal and a VS-71 SBD gunner downs a float fighter in the same area around 1825 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-179 is sunk by an attack from the British destroyer HMS Active using both depth charges and surface fire.

U-179

Class	Type IXD2
CO	Fregattenkapitän Ernst Sobe
Location	S Atlantic W of Cape Town
Cause	Depth charge/gunfire
Casualties	61
Survivors	None

• The US freighter John Carter Rose (7191t) is torpedoed by U-202 causing explosions and fires. 5 of the 45-man crew and 3 of the 20-man Armed Guard die in the attack. Survivors are picked up on October 13 by the US freighter West Humhaw and the Argentinean tanker Santa Cruz.

Belgium, Home Front

German decrees are issued ordering the registration for war work of all males between the ages of 18-50 and of all unmarried women between 21-35.

Britain, Policy

Britain threatens to retaliate and place German PoWs under chains if Germany carries out its threat to chain the Dieppe prisoners.

China

Chennault submits a letter to Roosevelt asking for a significant increase in US air power in China for eventual attacks on the Japanese homeland which he claims will end the war.

Eastern Front

There is further fighting in the factories, 193rd Rifle Division suffering heavy casualties as German infantry penetrates into the Red October bathhouse. Near the Tractor factory, the XIV Panzer Corps conquers the workers' houses after a bitter struggle with the 37th Guards. The guards fall back to the sports stadium, already the scene of heavy fighting.

German 5cm Pak 38 Anti-Tank Gun

In the Caucasus, Group Ruoff (Gen Richard) grinds to a halt in the face of strong resistance from the Coastal Group.

German Raiders

The German auxiliary cruiser Komet leaves Hamburg for her second war cruise, under the command of Kapitän zur See Ulrich Brocksien.

Guadalcanal

The Marine attack across the Matanikau River is postponed because of heavy rains, but the 5th Marines and the raiders reduce the enemy bridgehead on the east bank in costly fighting. At 1800 some of the Japanese attempt to break out through the right of the line which was lightly held. They strike against the raiders' right flank in mass formation. Running abreast, the front ranks fire small arms while the rear ranks throw grenades over the heads of the first rank. In the gathering dusk sharp hand-to-hand fighting erupts between the two forces. Casualties are heavy on both sides. Some Japanese break out, but are trapped and killed against a barbed wire barricade the Marines had erected over the sand bar.

Air Operations, Aleutians

A total of 10 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 7 B-17s and 10 XI Fighter Command P-38s and P-39s mount 6 attacks on installations and shipping at Kiska harbor.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

30 V Bomber Command B-17s attack the town area of Rabaul with 54 tons of bombs, the largest mission against Rabaul to date.

Air Operations, Egypt

16 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s join RAF bombers and fighter-bombers attacks on Axis landing grounds at El Daba and Sidi Haneish. 26 Axis aircraft are destroyed or damaged on the ground.

Air Operations, Europe

100 bombers of the American Air Force carry out a daylight raid on the industrial plants at Lille. Americans and British share the bombing, the Americans taking on the daylight raids, the British those by night. RAF and US fighter protection is effective in that of the German aircraft which take off to intercept the raiders, 100 are destroyed or damaged.

• 5 Mosquitos attack scattered targets in Germany; 1 plane is lost.

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

• 108 USAAF heavy bombers, including 24 B-24s ot the newly committed 93rd Heavy Bomb Group, attack a steel plant, and engineering works, and a locomotive and freight-car factory around Lille. 72 1st and 4th Fighter Groups fail to down any Luftwaffe interceptors, bomber gunners are credited with the destruction of 25 Luftwaffe fighters plus 38 probables.
• 3 B-17s and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 each damaged beyond repair, and 46 others sustain damage. 10 crewmen are wounded and 29 are missing.

Air Operations, Libya

USAMEAF B-24s attack shipping and port facilities at Benghazi.

Air Operations, New Guinea

15 V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Lae.

Air Operations, North Africa

Allied warplanes make round-the-clock attacks on landing strips in the El Daba area of North Africa. The defending fighters are routed. 12 Allied planes are lost.

Air Operations, Solomons

3 339th Fighter Squadron P-39s, on temporary duty with the 67th Fighter Squadron, shoot down 3 Japanese Navy float biplanes over New Georgia Sound at 0700 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-171 sinks after hitting a mine outside Lorient harbor.

U-171

• The US freighter Coloradan (6557t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-159 about 214 miles southwest of Cape Town, South Africa losing 6 crewmen in the attack. There are 33 crewmen and 15 Armed Guard sailors that survive.
• The US freighter Examelia (4981t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-68 20 miles south of the Cape of Good Hope. The US freighter John Lykes the survivors, 30 of the 38 crewmen and 10 of the 13 Armed Guard.

German Raiders

The German auxiliary cruiser Thor arrives at Yokohama in Japan at the end of her second cruise.

Royal Mail Liner Oronsay

Eastern Front

An eerie lull begins to settle over Stalingrad as the Germans wear themselves out. Both armies take the opportunity to rest and recuperate their exhausted units after the furious fighting of the previous month. Fighting continues in various sectors of the city but without the ferocity of the last few days.

Chuikov redeploys his battered divisions to face what he expects will be the next phase of German attacks. The 95th Rifle Division, with 3,000 men, is moved from the Mamayev Kurgan northwest into the factories, taking up positions between the 37th Guards and the 308th Rifle Divisions in the Red October. The 42nd Rifle Brigade, down to 900 men, is subordinated to the 95th Rifle Division. Chuikov also moves the 112th Rifle Division, with 2,300 men, into the Tractor factory.

Order No. 307 restores unitary authority to the Red Army. This in effect abolishes the position of communist political commissar in favor of a single military commander in each unit. Party representatives remain part of divisional and army staffs for the rest of the war but are used to extol the party line than directly command military operations.

Yet again Paulus had failed to smash the 62nd Army. Despite massive losses in men, material and crucially territory, the Soviet defenders refused to give in to the German juggernaut. Chuikov's task now was now to hold German attention while the Stavka assembled its forces in secret against the exposed flanks of the Stalingrad salient.

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, Egypt

USAMEAF B-24s attack Axis landing grounds behing the El Alamein front.

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, Libya

USAMEAF B-24s attack shipping and port facilities in Benghazi harbor.

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.

Eastern Front

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

Moving Through Stalingrad

The lull in Stalingrad continues, Paulus massing his forces for another hammer blow. New, fresh 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.

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.

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.

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 re-capture operaton. The last of 2nd Division 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 destroyers 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 recorded 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 ships 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 (DD-485) and the cruiser Boise (CL-47) which is sent to Philadelphia for repair. Salt Lake City (CA-25), also damaged in the battle, goes to Pearl Harbor for repair.

Air Operations, Aleutians

10 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the main camp and harbor at Kiska in two separate missions.

Air Operations, Europe

• 8 Mosquitos attack Sluiskil, Saarbrücken and Hannover; 1 plane is lost.

• 80 aircraft are sent to lay mines in several locations.
• 2 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling are lost.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• Axis air forces launch a final major air offensive against Malta. Defending Spitfires, however, inflict heavy losses. From October 16 Ju-88 bombers will be restricted to night operations. All daylight bomber raids are abandoned on October 17. (see November 8, 1942.)
• USAMEAF B-24s attack an Axis convoy at sea.

Air Operations, Solomons

39 Cactus Air Force F4Fs and 12 P-39s and P-400s intercept a two-part Japanese Navy air attack at 1230 hours. Preceded by 17 A6M Zeros which are not intercepted, a force of 18 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 30 A6M Zeros is force to low altitude by low clouds. The F4Fs with an altitude advantage shoot down 9 'Bettys' and 2 Zeros. Also in the action are 2 339th Fighter Squadron P-39s which down 2 more 'Bettys'. 1 F4F and 1 P-39 are lost.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Steel Scientist, en route to Paramaribo, British Guiana, is torpedoed and sunk by U-514 losing 1 crewman in the attack. The survivors, 37 merchant seamen and the 9-man Armed Guard, take to a gig and 3 lifeboats.

Churchill, Sir Stafford Cripps and Adm Sir John Tovey

Eastern Front

For the first time in almost two months, 51 days, there is a complete lull in the Stalingrad sector.

German Soldiers in a Trench

Both sides mount supply operations to the forces on Guadalcanal. During the night and continuing throughout the next day, the covering squadrons of cruisers and destroyers meet off Cape Esperance and a confused night action ensues.

The American force consists of 4 cruisers, the San Francisco (CA-38), the Salt Lake City (CA-25), the Boise (CL-47) and the Helena (CL-50), and 4 destroyers led by Rear-Adm Norman Scott. The Japanese squadron, commanded by Rear-Adm Aritomo Goto, has 3 cruisers, the Aoba, the Kinugasa and the Furutaka, and 2 destroyers. Although the Americans have the crucial advantage of radar, communications between their ships are poor and their actions are not well led and they fail to make best use of their superior torpedo equipment. At various stages in the battle both sides fire on their own ships. The Americans lose 1 destroyer, the Duncan (DD-485), and 2 cruisers, the Salt Lake City (CA-25) and the Boise (CL-47), and another destroyer, the Farenholt (DD-491), are seriously damaged.

The Japanese come off worse, losing a cruiser, the Frutaka and 1 destroyer and having the other 2 cruisers damaged. Their remaining 2 destroyers are sunk by air attack by planes from Henderson Field during the daylight of October 12th. With these additional losses the Japanese will be hard pressed to block further reinforcement of US forces on Guadalcanal.

Both sides' transports get through. On the 11th the Japanese land various supplies including artillery and tanks, and on the 13th the Americans land 3,000 more men from the Americal Div.

Air Operations, Europe

• 59 Lancasters of 5 Group are sent to Wismar.
• Bad weather conditions are met but crews claim to have started a large fire at the target.
• 2 aircraft are lost.

No 44 Squadron Lancaster

Air Operations, Libya

USAMEAF B-24s attack the harbor at Tobruk.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Buna and several targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains. 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack a village and trails in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

• At 0515 hours, in the wake of the night’s US surface victory off Guadalcanal, 16 Cactus Air Force SBDs, escorted by 16 F4Fs and eight P-39s, take off from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in search of crippled Japanese ships. Following large oil slicks, the attack force locates 4 destroyers north of the Russell Islands. One SBD scores a damaging near miss on a rescue destroyer. At 0800 hours, 14 VMF-121 and VMF-224 F4Fs strafe 2 destroyers, then 6 SBDs immediately follow up with an attack that scores 3 near misses on the previously damaged destroyer, and then 1 of 6 VT-8 TBFs scores a direct torpedo hit that causes the survivor-laden destroyer to sink within minutes.
• 10 Cactus Air Force SBDs attack 1 of 1 survivor-laden Japanese rescue destroyers at 1645 hours and score one direct hit and two near misses that sink the ship within moments. 8 339th Fighter Squadron P-39s strafe the other destroyer.
• V Bomber Command B-17s attack Japanese Navy installations on Buka Island.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-597 is sunk in the Atlantic by a British Liberator bomber. This is the first success scored by the single RAF Coastal Command squadron of these invaluable long-range aircraft. Despite the obvious utility of these planes a second squadron is not established until March 1943, largely because the aircraft are claimed for the strategic bomber forces.

U-597

Air Operations, Bismarcks

In an effort to keep Japanese bombers grounded while reinforcements are landed on Guadalcanal, 15 V Bomber Command B-17s the Lakunai and Vunakanau airfields at Rabaul.

Air Operations, Egypt

57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots are credited with downing 2 Bf-109s in action about 10 miles south of El Alamein.

Air Operations, Europe

• 288 aircraft are sent to bomb Kiel: 100 Wellingtons, 82 Lancasters, 78 Halifaxes and 28 Stirlings.
• Half the bombing force is drawn to a decoy fire site in the open countryside, but the rest attack Kiel and the area near the city; 41 people are killed and 100 injured. Some of the bombers drop their loads on Hamburg, either as an alternate target or in error; 2 large fires are started; 8 people are killed and 43 injured.
• 5 Wellingtons, 1 Lancaster, 1 Halifax and 1 Stirling are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

1 V Bomber Command B-17 attacks Buna.

Air Operations, Solomons

• At 1202, while reinforcements are being put ashore on Guadalcanal, a force of 27 Rabaul-based G4M 'Betty' bombers and 18 A6M Zero escorts attack Henderson Field. The runway is cratered and 5,000 gallons of aviation fuel are destroyed. 42 Navy and Marine Corps F4Fs and 13 P-39s and P-400s are launched, but only 1 'Betty' and 1 Zero are shot down with the loss of 1 F4F.
• A second attack by 18 'Bettys' and 18 Zeros at 1350 hours is virtually uncontested, because Cactus Air Force fighters are being refueled. The runway at Henderson Field is damaged yet again. 12 Marine Corps F4Fs are launched and 1 Zero is shot down.
• 6 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s temporarily based at Henderson Field attack Japanese Navy installations on Buka Island and at Tonolei harbor.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Susana (5929t), in Convoy SC-104 and bound for Cardiff, Wales, is torpedoed and sunk by U-221 with the loss of 27 crewmen and 10 Armed Guard sailors. The survivors, 15 crewmen and 6 Armed Guard sailors, are rescued by the British ship Gothland.

Eastern Front

In the southern part of Stalingrad XLVIII Panzer Corps of 4th Panzer Army has reached the Volga, but to the north many of the large factory buildings are still stubbornly held. There are Soviet counterattacks in the factory areas.

Fighting flares in Stalingrad as the Germans being the power station, still producing electricity for the factories to the north, under heavy artillery and air attack.

The Red Army continues its preparations for the counteroffensive from the Don and Sarpa lakes. The Southwest Front, still not publicly in existence, receives the I and XXVI Tanks Corps and the 8th Cavalry Corps plus as tank brigade, 3 rifle divisions and 16 artillery regiments. The Stalingrad Front has received the XIII Tank, IV Mechanized and IV Cavalry Corps, 2 rifle divisions, 6 rifle and 3 tank brigades, 6 anti-aircraft and 2 anti-tank artillery regiments, while the Don Front has taken in 3 new rifle divisions.

Movement of reinforcements is carried out at night and elaborate measures are taken to hide the build up from the Germans. During the day, the new forces are skilfully hidden and radio traffic forbidden so as not to alert the enemy. Even so, hiding a force of half a million men is a difficult task.

German Raiders

During the night and under heavy escort, the German disguised raider Komet attempts to break out into the Atlantic from Le Havre. In a confused action in which Komet fires on her own escorts, the 3rd Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, she is sunk with all hands by the British MTB-326. German sources, however, say she exploded after gunfire started a fire on board.

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 the time 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, Libya

USAMEAF B-17s attack shipping in Tobruk harbor and claim hits on a large ship and destruction of a small ship moored alongside.

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 anti-aircraft 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 Division 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 Divisions attacking the factory districts. By the afternoon the Germans have surrounded the 112th and 37th Guards Divisions and annihilated the right flank of the 308th Rifle Division. During the night the Germans reach the tractor factory and break through to the Volga. The 37th Guards Division has been all but destroyed. Chuikov ferries the 138th Rifle Division across the river during the night. In the Caucasus, Group Ruoff (Gen Richard) again fails to breach Red Army defenses to reach the Black Sea.[MORE]

Jewish Women in the Palestine Auxiliary Territorial Service

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, October 14, 1942

Air Operations, Aleutians

3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-26s attack Kiska. 1 cargo ship receives a direct hit, but 1 B-26 is lost.

Air Operations, Europe

• 23 Bostons with fighter escort are sent to bomb a large German merchant ship at Le Havre.
• The intended target had moved, but the force bombs a 5,000 ton ship in the area badly damaging it.
• There are no losses.
• 4 Mosquitos bomb a factory at Hengelo and 1 bombs the docks at Den Helder with no losses.

• 289 aircraft are sent to bomb Cologne: 109 Wellingtons, 74 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters and 44 Stirlings.
• The raid is not successful; winds forecast are different from what is encountered and Pathfinders have difficulty in establishing position and marking the target area well enough to lure the main force away from a large decoy fire site which receives most of the bombs; reports from the ground indicate only 1 4,000lb bomb (out of 71 carried), only 3 high-explosive bombs (out of 231) and only 210 incendiaries (out of 68,590) actually hit in the city; 226 houses are damaged and 4 people injured.
• 6 Wellingtons, 5 Halifaxes, 5 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings are lost.

The 14th Fighter group, in P-38s, completes its first combat mission by escorting RAF light bombers to France.

Air Operations, Far East

American planes bomb Lashio, Burma.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command P-40s attack Popondetta and provide support for Australian forces engaged in battle at Templeton's Crossing. Meanwhile, B-25s attack Salamaua and various targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Beginning at 0600 hours with a strafing attack by 6 F4Fs, and despite the merciless pounding, reconstructed Cactus Air Force SBDs and P-39s using fuel drained from wrecked airplanes deliver piecemeal but effective attacks against the ships and freshly landed supplies and troops of yet another reinforcement convoy. 11 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s based at Espiritu Santo score 3 direct hits on the transports. 1 transport is sunk and 2 others set afire and beached. Several Japanese Navy aircraft are shot down during the day.
• 27 G4M 'Bettys' escorted by 9 A6M Zeros attack Henderson Field at 1245 against virtually no opposition. 1 VF-5 F4F, in the unit's last operation, downs 1 of the Zeros.

Atlantic

The Norwegian submarine Uredd sinks the German transport Libau (3,663t) in the Norwegian Sea.

Dive Bomber Takes Off From Ranger

Air Operations, Aleutians

Following a sighting by a Patrol Wing 4 PBY, 1 28th Composite Bomb Group B-17, 6 B-26s and 4 P-38s attack Kiska and mount a low-level bombing attack against 2 Japanese destroyers. 1 destroyer, the Oboro, is sunk and the other, Hatsuharu, severely damaged. 1 B-26 is lost.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfields in the Rabaul area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos bomb a factory at Hengelo; 6 Bostons are sent to Le Havre, but turn back because of the weather; there are no losses.

• 23 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings lay mines off the Biscay ports; there are 5 OTU sorties.
• 2 Wellingtons and 2 Stirlings are lost in the mine-laying operations.

Air Operations, Libya

Although many USAMEAF B-17s and B-24s sent to attack Benghazi harbor must abort because of bad westher, several B-24s are able to attack the target.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack numerous targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains along the Mambare River.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-353 is the second of two U-boats sunk following convoy SC-104. The destroyer HMS Fame followed up a radar contact, rammed the U-boat, then engaged with gunfire and depth charges.

U-353

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Romer
Location	North Atlantic
Cause	Ramming/gunfire/depth charge
Casualties	6
Survivors	33

• The US freighter Winona, in a convoy bound for Rio de Janeiro, is torpedoed by U-160 with injuries to 1 of the 42 crewmen and 2 of the 15 Armed Guard sailors.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Cactus Air Force SBDs, P-39s and P-400s mount 7 ground-attack missions against Japanese Army supply dumps in western Guadalcanal.
• V Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield at Buin and other targets in the northern Solomons.

Aleutian Islands

American aircraft sink the Japanese destroyer Oboro.

India, Home Front

A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal kills about 40,000, most of them in the area south of Calcutta. The destructive force severely cripples transportation and logistics for the Burma front.

Indian Ocean

US submarines begin mining the Gulf of Siam on the approaches to Bangkok.

Eastern Front

Fighting in the factories reach a peak as the Luftwaffe launches a massive raid. Heavy fighting follows as German infantry attacks south from the Tractor factory toward the Barrikady, striking the 84th Tank Brigade hard. Amid furious fighting, the brigade holds the Germans on Tramvaynaya Street. In the Tractor factory, the 37th Guards is down to just 200 men but fight on.

Assault Group in Stalingrad

German Pioneer Officer in Stalingrad

Madagascar

The British forces take Ambositra, 140 miles south of Tananarive.

Britain, Home Front

The convoy of vessels for Operation TORCH, the landing in North Africa, begins to assemble in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.

Burma

Orders are given to the 14th Indian Division, advancing slowly into the Arakan, to reach a line between Rathedaung and Buthidaung by the start of December in preparation for further operations toward Akyab.

New Guinea

The Australian advance along the Kokoda Trail is temporarily held up at Eora Creek by strong Japanese resistance. The Australian 16th Brigade has now taken over from 25th Bde at the head of the advance.

One regiment of the US 32nd Division is airlifted from Port Moresby to Wanigela on the north coast.

Air Operations, Aleutians

5 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack Kiska.

Air Operations, Europe

• 94 Lancasters are sent to Le Creusot, 88 to attack the Schneider factory, the French equivalent to the Krupps works, and 6 to attack the nearby transformer station which supplied the factory with power.
• The force is led by Wing Commander L. C. Slee of 49 Squadron; force flies at nearly tree-top level across France without any interference from German fighters. At the last turning point near Nevers, the force gains altitude for the bomb run. With hardly any flak, the bombs are dropped from heights between 2,500 and 7,500 feet. 140 tons of bombs are dropped and the planes return without incident. The crews claim a successful attack, but photographs show most of the bombs fell short into workers' housing near the factory. Some bombs did fall into the factory area, but not much damage.
• 1 of the planes bombing the transformer station is lost when it hit a building because it was flying too low.

The Schneider Factory, Le Creusot

Schneider Factory after the Bombing

Schneider Factory after the Bombing

• 11 Bostons are sent to Le Havre, but have to turn back. 6 others carry out sweeps in order to divert attention from the main bomber force.
• There are no losses.

• 7 Stirlings lay mines in the Baltic off Bornholm and Sassnitz without a loss.
• 94 Lancasters attack the Schneider armaments and locomotive works at Le Creusot, southeast of Paris, at dusk.
• 1 bomber is lost.

Air Operations, Solomons

• At 0720 hours, in response to radio-intelligence findings, 8 VMF-121 F4Fs intercept a force of 18 D3A 'Val' dive-bombers and 18 A6M Zeros from Japanese fleet carriers Hiyo and Junyo that are temporarily based at Buka Airfield. As the 'Vals' are attacking the US destroyers that are shelling the new Japanese Army supply dumps west of the Lunga Perimeter, the F4Fs completely disrupt the bombing attack and down 6 'Vals' and 4 Zeros. 1 F4F and its pilot are lost.
• Throughout the rest of the day, numerous 67th Fighter Squadron P-39 and P-400 fighter-bombers and 6 New Hebrides-based 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s help destroy the Japanese Army supply dumps.
• 15 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 9 A6M Zeros attack Guadalcanal without opposition.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Angelina (4772t), in New York-bound Convoy ON-137, but struggling, is torpedoed by U-618.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s the Wairopi bridge, a village and docking facilities at Pilelo Island. Meanwhile, B-17s attack shipping and buildings at Lorengau on Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 16 F4Fs from VMF-121 and VMF-212 intercept 15 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 9 A6M Zeros over Guadalcanal at 1300 hours. The F4Fs claim 6 'Bettys' and 15 Zeros, but Japanese records report probably 3 'Bettys' and 4 Zeros are lost. 1 F4F is lost in an operational accident and 2 are shot down, but no pilots are lost.
• V Bomber Command B-17s attack the Japanese Navy anchorage at Faisi in the Shortland Islands, the Kahili airfield on Bougainville, and shipping off Buin and Kahili.
• A D3A 'Val' bomber and an A6M Zero are downed during the early evening by a Marine Corps F4F and 2 VF-71 F4Fs.

Germany, Home Front

Hitler secretly orders all captured British Commandos to be summarily executed.

Guadalcanal

Adm Kusaka sends 15 'Bettys' and 9 Zeros to Guadalcanal for the noon raid. With enough gasoline for a change, the Cactus Air Force shoots down 3 bombers an 4 fighters for a loss of 1 F4F. The Japanese army is again shelling the Henderson Field area with 150-mm howitzers. Geiger orders engineers to begin the construction of a new airfield east of the present one, and hopefully out of Japanese gun range. Meanwhile Gen Tadashi Sumiyoshi's attack force is cutting its way through the jungle, the hardest terrain his men have encountered.

New Guinea

The American force moving over the Kapa Kapa Trail begins to arrive at Pongani. By October 21 the whole of one regiment has made this journey but after the rigors of the trip they are in no condition to fight. Its efforts have been wasted since it has proved possible to fly troops from Port Moresby to the north coast. Savage fighting continues in the area of Eora Creek, along the Kokoda pass.

Norwegian Sea

The Norwegian submarine Uredd sinks the German steamer Libau (3713t) near Valnesfjord.

Eastern Front

After two days in which the Soviets have largely succeeded in holding the German advance, renewed attacks in the Krasnye Oktyabr area make some gains. Desperate Russian resistance continues.

Soviet attacks regain the northern outskirts of Rynok and force the Germans out of Spartakovka. During the afternoon, the Germans break through the 84th Tank Brigade on Tramvaynaya Street, attack the Barrikady factory wiping out the 37th Guards Division as they advance. Bloody battles rage across the railway lines as the Soviets fight to hold every yard. Again the Luftwaffe operates in force but is unable to influence the battle, the Soviet units hugging the German front line closely in order to negate the German air superiority.

Farthest German Advance

Air Operations, CBI

A 51st Fighter Group P-40 shoots down a Japanese reconnaissance plane over the Assam region.

Air Operations, Egypt

USAMEAF B-25s join RAF units in an all-out three-day effort against Axis landing grounds behind the El Alamein front.

Air Operations, Libya

USAMEAF B-24s attacking shipping at Tobruk harbor claim a direct hit on 1 vessel.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-116 left on patrol on September 22, 1942. When she failed to answer all signals, she was declared missing. It is presumed that she was the victim of an accident, a mine or accidental detonation of one of her own mines.

U-116

Class	Type XB
CO	Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Grimme
Location	North Atlantic
Cause	Unknown
Casualties	55
Survivors	None

• The US freighter Steel Navigator (5718t), straggling from Convoy ON-137, is attacked by U-610. The U-boats is driven off temporarily by the ship's 5-inch gunfire, but returns, torpedoes and sinks the freighter. 16 survivors are eventually rescued on October 27 by the British destroyer Decoy.

China

30 addisional Chinese divisions are to be armed and equipped by the US.

Eastern Front

With 6th Army bogged down and Army Group A rendered immobile in the Caucasus, Hitler issues Operational Order No. 1, closing the German summer offensive. As he is confirming his order, rain begins to fall at Stalingrad, heralding the onset of the autumn mud.

Guadalcanal

Halsey orders his commanders to Mouméa for meeting aboard his flagship, the old destroyer tender Argonne.

Gen Masao Muruyama has sent a message to Yamamoto to postpone Y-Day. The problem lay in the two-pronged attack aimed at the envelopment of Henderson Field. Maj Gen Kawaguchi is to lead the eastern prong and Maj Gen Yumio Nasu the western. Both are still dealing with jungle, however, and will probably need 2 more days to be in position. Also, they had to leave behind much heavy equipment and heavy guns because the steep mountain trails would not accommodate such weight. Y-Day is reset to October 22. Meanwhile, the new airfield is complete at Buin and 30 new Zeros are moved there to cut the flight time to Guadalcanal in half. The Japanese navy is ready with the exception of the carrier Hiyo which has been sent back to Truk for engine repairs. Adm Kukuta transfers his flag to the carrier Junyo. This reduces the Japanese carrier force from 5 to 4 against 2 American.

Air Operations, CBI

10th Air Force transport aircraft begin airlifting personnel from 2 Chinese Army divisions from China to India where they will undergo training and re-equipping by US forces.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to attack individual German targest.
• 2 planes bomb Bremen and 1 bombs Minden.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

Air Operations, Libya

USAMEAF B-17s and B-24s sent to Tobruk fail to locate the target due to bad weather and poor visibility, but 3 B-17s attack the coastal highway near Bardia while returning to their bases.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

There are fighter-bomber raids on Malta. Italian 4-engined night raiders are intercepted by RAF fighters over Gibraltar and forced to jettison their bombs over Spanish territory, causing damage and casualties.

Air Operations, North Africa

Allied aircraft begin a 4-day operation to establish air superiority over El Alamein, a requirement for the planned ground offensive.

Air Operations, Solomons

30 A6M Zeros sweep Guadalcanal ahead of an attack force composed of 16 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 6 Zeros. VMF-121 and VMF-212 F4Fs down 3 'Bettys' and 9 Zeros over Guadalcanal at about 1145 hours.

Chile

The cabinet of Chile resigns after widespread agitation against what most Chileans consider to be a pro-Axis government policy.

Battle of the Atlantic

Liberator 'H' of No 224 Squadron sighted U-216 and attacked with depth charges.

U-216

Eastern Front

German forces are repulsed in a massive attack on Stalingrad.

The fighting in Stalingrad has settled down into stable positions, the 62nd Army having broken up the German attack despite consierable losses. The fresh divisions of the VIII Corps have been bloodied in the bitter street fighting as Paulus pressed home his attack without skill, using sheer firepower and weight of numbers to blast a way through to the Volga.

German Tank Approaches Defeated Enemy Tank

The condition of the Luftwaffe in the south begins to cause concern. The 4th Air Fleet has been operating along an extensive sector from the Don and the Caucasus. Combined, the IV and VIII Air Corps number only 970 aircraft at the end of October, of which barely 590 are operational.

The newly created IV Mechanized Corps under Gen Vasily Volskii, with the XXXVI, LIX and LX Tank Corps, begins to deploy in the Beketovka salient.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Luscan Harbor.

Air Operations, CBI

7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in India stage through the airfield at Chengtu, China attack the coal mines at Lin-hsi. An attempt to flood the mines fails, but heavy damage results from the bombing.

Air Operations, Egypt

USAMEAF B-25s support RAF bombers in attacking Axis landing grounds behind the El Alamein front.

Air Operations, Europe

RAF Mustangs strafe barges on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. 8th Air Force B-17s raid the Lorient U-boat base.

• 3 Mosquitos are sent to Germany, but 2 bomb targets in Holland, a factory in Hengelo and the airfield at Leeuwarden. There are no losses.

• 7 Stirlings and 7 Wellingtons are sent to lay mines off Denmark and in the Frisians, but the Wellingtons are recalled.
• 1 Stirling is lost.

• Cloud cover prevents all but 15 of the 90 B-17s and B-24s sent against the submarine base at Lorient from finding their targets. The 97th Heavy Bomb Group, which is the only unit to drop its bombs on the target, completes its final mission with 8th Air Force, as do the 92nd and 301st Groups.
• 8 of 17 B-17s sent by the 11th Combat Crew Replacement Command attack Cherbourg/Maupertus Airdrome and claim 10 of 37 attacking Luftwaffe fighters downded, plus 4 probables.
• 3 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged; 5 crewmen wounded and 30 missing.

Air Operations, Libya

Bad weather prevents USAMEAF B-24s from locating Benghazi harbor, but German army tent camps and Axis landing grounds near the coast in Egpyt are attacked during the return flight.

Air Operations, Solomons

7 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 6 A6M Zeros attack Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. VMF-212 F4Fs shoot down 5 Zeros and 2 VF-71 F4Fs down 1 Zero at about 1245 hours. 2 F4Fs are lost in the action.

Eastern Front

The focus for the German effort in Stalingrad in now the Barrikady Factory and housing estate. Over the next two days over half of it is taken in a series of vicious engagements. There are German gains in the Red October area.

The German 79th Infantry Division launches strong attacks against the Barrikady and Red October factories. Luftwaffe support aids the attack but the Soviets repel each assault. Minor gains are made in the Red October area as the workers' houses fall.

Soviet Machine Gun Crew

Soviet Militia

Defending the Tractor Factory

A German Machine Gun Team in Stalingrad

Guadalcanal

The Japanese forces under Gen Masao Maruyama are now 20,000 strong and begin a series of attacks against the American positions. A Japanese coastal force under Gen Sumiyoshi, with artillery support and 9 tanks, attempts to cross to the east bank of the Matanikau but pulls back after losing a tank to US 37-mm and 75-mm fire. The main Japanese units are from the 2nd Infantry Division. The plan is for the primary attacks to be delivered northward between the Lunga and Tenaru Rivers while secondary attacks are to be made on the western outposts along the Matanikau River. Japanese Intelligence has little information on the strength and dispositions of the US forces. When this shortcoming is added to the difficulties of the inland approach march for the main attacks, the whole Japanese effort proves to be badly planned and badly coordinated.

Adm Kusaka's 11th Air Fleet sends the noon raid from Rabaul. There are 7 'Bettys' escorted by 20 fighters. 6 fighters are shot down, AA fire gets 1 of the bombers. 2 American planes lost. P-400s are sent on ground strafing missions along the Matanikau River to try to eliminate some of the gunfire.

Air Operations, Crete

In an extension of the USAAF and RAF air offensive against Axis landing grounds and airdromes in Egypt and Libya, USAMEAF heavy bombers attack Maleme Airdrome.

Air Operations, Egypt

• USAMEAF B-25s attack Axis aircraft dispersed on the ground behing the El Alamein front.
• 57th Fighter Group P-40s escorting the B-25s attack tent camps and vehicles along the coastal highway near El Hamma, reconnoiter the area west of El Daba, and attack German artillery positions.

Air Operations, Europe

The RAF launches a series of devastating raids on the Turin-Milan-Genoa 'Triangle', the Italian equivalent of the Ruhr, with a night attack by 100 Lancasters on Genoa. There will be 6 heavy night raids on Genoa and 7 on Turin by year's end. Both industrial production and civilian morale are affected.

• 22 Wellingtons are sent on cloud-cover raids to Essen, the Ruhr and the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Lingen.
• 13 aircraft bomb estimated postions through the clouds and 1 strafes a train near Lingen.
• There are no losses.

• 112 Lancasters of 5 Group and Pathfinders are sent to Genoa to recommence the campaign against Italy in conjunction with the British offensive at El Alamein.
• It is a perfectly clear moonlit night and the Pathfinder marking is accurate. 180 tons of bombs are dropped in ideal conditions. There is heavy damage in the city center and the eastern districts. Estimates of casualtiess are 39 dead and 200 injured. It is reported that the attack has had a severe effect on the morale of the people of Genoa.
• There are no losses.

• 12 Stirlings lay mines off the southern Biscay coast without a loss.

Lancaster Crews at Syerston, Nottinghamshire

Air Operations, Solomons

Marine Corps F4Fs down 5 D3A 'Val' dive bombers over Guadalcanal at 1300 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-412 is spotted by Wellington 'B' of No 179 Squadron on a routine A/S patrol. Four depth charges are dropped which explode in pairs on each side of the submarine. U-412 had left Kiel just five days earlier on her first patrol.

U-412

Britain, Home Front

• The first convoy for Operation TORCH sails from Britain.
• Britain lowers its draft age to 18.

Chile

President Juan Antonio Rios announces a policy aligining the country in the pro-Allied hemispheric alliance.

Eastern Front

The first winter snow falls on the hills outside Stalingrad. As the Seige of Leningrad continues, the Germans make an unsuccessful assault on Suho Island in Lake Ladoga.

As the first winter snows fall at Stalingrad, Gen Mikhail Shumilov's 64th Army attacks from the Beketovka salient to link up with the 62nd Army in the southern wing of Chuikov's force. The attack, however, is disrupted by massed German counter artillery fire, the 64th suffering heavy casualties under the protracted bombardment.

The Stavka activates the Southwest Front, Gen Nikolay Vatutin taking command. The front deploys the 63rd and 21st Armies, Gen Prokofy Romanenko's 5th Tank Army, the latter formation having the I and XXVI Tank Corps, 6 rifle divisions, 1 tank brigade and 1 cavalry corps and Krasovsky's 17th Air Army. The 63rd Army, with 6 rifle divisions, is in the process of re-forming, shortly being redesignated the 1st Guards Army under Gen Dmitry Lelyushenko. Gen Ivan Chistyakov's 21st Army deploys 6 rifle divisions, the IV Tank and the III Guards Cavalry Corps.

Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group bombers attack the submarine base and main camp at Kiska.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

During the night V Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping in Rabaul harbor. While most of the bombers attack from high altitude, specially trained crews of 43rd Heavy Bomb Group's 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron release their bombs at or below 250 feet. Violent explosions are observed and the experiment is declared a success.

Air Operations, Europe

• 26 Wellingtons are sent to the Ruhr: 15 to Krefeld and 11 to Essen.
• 11 aircraft bomb estimated positions through clouds.
• There are no losses.

• 122 aircraft are sent to Genoa: 53 Halifaxes, 51 Stirlings and 18 Wellingtons.
• Aircraft are provided by 3 and 4 Groups and the Pathfinders. The target area is almost completely cloud-covered and it is later discovered that the bomb loads actually fall on the town of Savona, 30 miles along the coast from Genoa. There are no reports of the damage in Savona, but some of the planes bomb Turin where 2 people are killed and 10 injured.
• 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling are lost.
• 17 Wellingtons of 1 Group lay mines off La Pallice and the Danish coast.
• 1 aircraft is lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Deniki.

Air Operations, Solomons

• When an attack force composed of 16 G4M 'Betty' bombers and 28 A6M Zeros is intercepted by 24 Cactus Air Force F4Fs and 4 P-39s at approximately 1130 hours, VMF-121 and VMF-212 F4F pilots claim 1 Zero and 2 'Bettys', a VF-71 F4F claims 2 'Bettys', and a 339th Fighter Squadron P-39 claims 1 Zero. 1 of 7 damaged F4Fs is written off.

• Between 1800 hours and sunset Cactus Air Force SBDs provide continuous support for Marine Corps ground forces under attack by Japanese Army ground forces on the western side of the Lunga Perimeter.

Atlantic

The cruiser Phoebe is damaged by U-161 off the Congo Estuary.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Reuben Tipton (6829t), bound for Trinidad, is torpedoed and sunk by U-129 with the loss of 3 of her crew. 2 of her crew are rescued on October 25 while 39 crewmen and 10 Armed Guard sailors are rescued on October 26.

Britain, Home Front

Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt arrives in London as a guest of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Burma

The bulk of the British force has advanced to Cox's Bazar but forward units have reached Buthidaung. There they come into contact with a Japanese formations which has pushed up from Akyab. After a brief fight the Japanese hold the position.

Eastern Front

German attacks reach the northwestern corner of the Red October factory. Paulus has committed the bulk of his reserve and is close to the end of his resources. To the north and south, the attacks by the 66th and 24th Armies between the Don and the Volga and the 64th Army at Beketovka continue. The Germans move elements of the 295th, 71st and 100th Infantry Divisions and the 29th Motorized Division south to ward off the 64th Army.

Diplomatic Relations

Adm Darlan arrives in Rabat, Morocco, and calls for unity and defense of the Vichy-controlled area.

Battle of El Alamein

Montgomery's attack begins shortly before midnight after meticulous preparation. Units have received precise training in night movement and mine clearance. An elaborate and extensive artillery plan has been worked out, and complicated measures of deception have been taken to confuse the enemy as to the time and place of the attack. Masterly camouflage operations are organized by Lt-Col Geoffrey Barkas involving the use of many dummy tanks, trucks and dumps in order to convince Rommel that the attack will take place farther south. The plan is for the infantry of XXX Corps to push through the minefields and the enemy infantry positions and then for X Corps, of 2 armored divisions, to move through and hold off the counterattacks while the infantry clears and widens the gap behind. In the final phase the German armor will be fought and destroyed in the open. 8th Army has a superiority of about two to one in tanks, guns and men as well as considerable advantage in the air. Most important, however, is the question of supplies. Montgomery has under him the XXX, X and XIII Corps, deployed respectively at the north, center and south of the line. On the Axis side the German 15th Panzer and the 164th Division have taken position at the north of the line with the Italian Littorio Division, the Italian Trento, Bologna and Brescia Divisions in the center and the German 21st Panzer and 2 more Italian divisions, the Ariete and Folgore, in the south. The German armor has been dispersed into two groups because, if concentrated, it might not have enough fuel to motor to the site of an attack. All along the front Italian and German units have been mixed so there is a reliable German contingent everywhere. The Italians' task is to hold their positions, while any possible attack will be carried out by the German armor, which is handicapped by having to be spread widely along the front and so losing in striking power.

The British plan is for the decisive attack to be delivered in the north by the infantry of the XXX Corps and the armored divisions of the X Corps; the XIII Corps will carry out diversionary actions.

25-Pounders Open Fire on Axis Positions Another British Gun in the Artillery Barrage The Barrage Which Opens the Second Battle of El Alamein

British Tanks Move Forward

Guadalcanal

Adm Kurita sends 16 twin-engined bombers and 28 Zeros to strike Henderson field. The Americans respond with 3 8-plane flights of F4Fs and 4 P-39s. The fighters go after the Zeros in dogfights contrary to navy fighter doctrine. 1 F4F is destroyed in the air but the pilot makes it down safely, 7 others are damaged. The American pilots claim 20 Zeros. Kurita has made the 'maximum effort' called for in the battle orders, but the surface fleet is told to hold for the ground troops are not ready. The new date for the attack is October 24.

Adm Yamamoto's search planes have been keeping track of Adm A. W. Lee's Task Force 64, built around the battleship Washington (BB-56) and the cruiser Atlanta (CL-51) which is moving out to meet Adm Scott and his cruiser force. Their task is to patrol south of Guadalcanal and engage any enemy trying to run through The Slot. Yamamoto still has no idea where the American carriers were. At this time they are about 1,000 miles southwest of the Japanese Fleet, just below New Hebrides. Adm Murray commands the Hornet (CV-8) and Adm Kinkaid the Enterprise (CV-6), but Halsey is now in charge. He issues specific orders for the 2 groups: run along the New Hebrides, around the Santa Cruz Islands then head southwest to cover Guadalcanal. He also sends several American submarines to patrol the waters north, east and west of Guadalcanal to watch for Japanese fleet.

After a quiet day, Sumiyoshi's artillery opens up at 1800 with heavy concentrated fire on the American positions on the Matanikay River, the rear areas and the coast road. After the bombardment, the assault force of a tank company and an infantry regiment comes out of the jungle and makes a determined but futile effort to cross the Matanikau River mouth and overrun the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marines. The Japanese 4th Infantry assembles in jungle west of river. To halt the infantry, the 11th Marines begins firing a series of barrages to cover a 600- to 800-yard-wide area between the Matanikau River and Point Cruz, while 37-mm guns on the Matanikau engage the tanks. 8 of the tanks are knocked out by the antitank guns. One crosses the sand bar but is destroyed on the beach by a 75-mm self-propelled tank destroyer. Not one infantryman makes it across the sand bar. The Japanese sustain heavy losses. About 600 are estimated killed and at least 8 tanks are knocked out. The 1st Marines lose 25 killed and 14 wounded. The surviving Japanese infantry withdraw to the west. Around midnight the Japanese make a second attempt to cross the river farther upstream, but it is easily halted. Eventually 20,000 men under the command of Gen Maruyama Wave will be involved in this offensive. The main enemy enveloping force, which was to have attacked simultaneously with the coastal force, is not yet in position and postpones for another day its attack on the southern perimeter.

At 9:30p.m. artillery fire from a thousand guns begins to fall on the German positions. The main attack in fact falls on the German 164th Div and the Italian Trento Div who are supported by the Littorio and the 15th Pzr. The Axis forces are completely surprised. To make matters worse, Rommel has been in Germany for some weeks and has been temporarily replaced by Gen Georg Stumme. The Axis forces have been ordered not to reply to the British artillery fire, to save ammunition. This is a very delicate moment for the British. Some days earlier, Churchill telegraphed Alexander, the Commander-in-Chief of British armed forces in the Middle East, that 'all our hopes' rested on the outcome of the battle.

Diversionary attacks at first make sure that the 21st Pzr stays in the south. During the opening night and day of the battle the British forces make some progress but do not manage to keep to their timetable to force their armor through the minefields. Gen Stumme, who commands in Rommel's absence, dies of a heart attack during a visit to the front and in the very confused situation the German reaction is somewhat lethargic.

Lunga Perimeter around Henderson Field Map of the Battle, October 23–26 Result of the Japanese Attack

Air Operations, Aleutians

3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-17s attack the Kiska submarine base.

Air Operations, Egypt

• USAMEAF 12th Medium Bomb Group, in B25s, mounts 50 combat sorties against German Army troop concentrations, vehicle traffic, artillery emplacements, and tent camps.
• 57th Fighter Group P-40s, escorting RAF and British Commonwealth bombers attack targets of opportunity, including tanks and motor vehicles.

Air Operations, Europe

• 88 Lancasters of are sent to Milan on a risky daylight operation.
• The planes proceed on a direct route across France, using partial cloud cover, to rendezvous at Lake Annecy. The Alps are crossed and Milan is bombed in broad daylight. Defense there is weak and the bombing is accurate. The raid is a complete surprise to the city. 135 tons of bombs fall in 18 minutes. 30 large fires are started. 441 houses are destroyed as well as a number of industrial and commercial sites. At least 171 people are killed.
• 3 Lancasters are lost, 1 near Milan and 2 over Northern France and the Channel. Another crashed on its return to England and all the crew are killed.

RAF Waddington, October 1942

RAF Waddington, October 1942

• 71 aircraft of 1 and 3 Groups and the Pathfinders including 25 Halifaxes, 23 Stirlings and 23 Wellingtons continue the attack on Milan.
• Storms along the way disperse the group, some actually flying over Switzerland where they are 'warned' by anti-aircraft fire. 39 aircraft claim to bomb the target area, but reports from the ground say little further damage is caused.
• 4 Wellingtons and 2 Stirlings are lost.

• 25 Wellingtons of 1 Group lay mines in several areas between La Pallice and Denmark; there are 11 OTU sorties that attack trains in northern France.
• 2 Wellinton mine-layers are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Lae.

Atlantic

The British submarine Unique disappears west of Gibraltar while on a patrol of the Bay of Biscay.

Axis Diplomacy

Hitler holds a meeting with Marshal Pétain, which gives rise to secret accords known as Montoir. Pétain agrees to support Germany in every way short of military involvement: 'The Axis Powers and France have an identical interest in seeing the defeat of England as soon as possible.' In return for Vichy support, Francs is to be accorded 'the place to which she is entitled' in the new Europe. Pétain possibly has no choice but to pay lip service to Hitler's ambitions. However, the aged Pétain has succeeded at Montoire in keeping France out of the war.

Sherman Tanks of 1st Armored Division

British Cannon on the Egyptian-Libyan Border

Battle of El Alamein

The British XXX Corps reaches its objective, the 'Oxalic' line, at dawn in the rear of the German 15th Panzer and the Italian Littorio Divisions, but the X Corps' armor has not yet succeeded in crossing the minefields and reaching their first objective, 'Pierson'. On the south flank the XIII Corps engages the German 21st Panzer Division. In the afternoon Gen Georg von Stumme, acting commander in place of Rommel, is stricken by a heart attack when his armored car is hit by an enemy shell. The general, who was holding on to the turret of his vehicle, falls to the ground without his driver realizing what has happened, and at first is reported missing. His body is not found until many hours later. During the afternoon Rommel receives word to return from Germany.

Australians on the Attack

Italian Prisoners of the Australians

By nightfall the British 1st Armored Division has managed to get its units through the minefields, but the 10th is still working its way through the corridor between the mines.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-599 is spotted by Liberator 'G' of No 224 Squadron which was tasked with flying cover for convoy KX-2. The U-boat was attacked with depth charges.

U-599

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 CATF B-25s from the 11th and 22nd Medium Bomb Squadrons, escorted by 7 23rd Fighter Group P-40s, stage through the airfield at Kweilin to mount a bombing attack against the port of Hong Kong and the Kowloon ferry terminal. Attacked by an estimated 21 Japanese fighters, the P-40s down 7 A6M Zeros and 1 Ki-45 'Nick' fighter at about 1330 hours. The bomber gunners claim 7 Japanese aircraft downed and another 8 probables. 1 P-40 is lost over Hong Kong and 1 severely damaged B-25 is abandoned by its crew during the return flight.
• 23rd Fighter Group P-40s shoot down 4 Japanese fighters near Mengtze, China at 1520 hours.
• During the night, 6 of the 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s that attacked Hong Kong during the day return from the airfield at Kweilin to attack the city's power supply. Later, 3 other B-25s attack warehouses in Canton.
• In an effort to cripple the USAAF supply service to China, an estimated 100 Japanese bombers and fighters attack the airfields at Chabua, Dinjan, Mohanbari, and Sookerating in the Assam Valley. Runways and facilities are damaged, 10 US aircraft are destroyed on the ground, and 17 others are damaged. 6 Japanese aircraft are downed by ground fire.
• 2 51st Fighter Group P-40s shoot down 3 Japanese fighters over the Assam region between 1335 and 1410 hours.

Air Operations, Egypt

Continuing their support of the British 8th Army's El Alamein offensive, 30 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 57th Fighter Group P-40s, attack a wide range of tactical targets. The P-40 escort pilots down 4 Bf-109s in a morning air action over a Luftwaffe landing ground.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Bostons are sent to Le Havre again to attack a large merchant ship there. They are forced to turn back because for lack of cloud cover. 3 Mosquitos are sent to Germany but also turn back.
• There are no losses.

35 4th Fighter Group Spitfires and 24 14th Fighter Group P-38s escort RAF bombers to France, but encounter no enemy planes and return early due to bad weather.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack numerous targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains in support of an Australian Army ground offensive.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Japanese Navy land-based aircraft and warships and Japanese Army artillery bombard Henderson Field on Guadalcanal throughout the day. Many Cactus Air Force aircraft and facilities are destroyed or damaged and the airfield is closed for extended periods during the day.
• 2 of 5 VMF-121 F4Fs down 3 of 6 A6M Zeros encountered over the Lunga Perimeter at 0940 hours.

• At about 1000 hours, 4 VMF-212 F4Fs strafe 3 Japanese destroyers that are attacking 2 US minesweepers, a fleet tug, and a yacht patrol craft between Tulagi and Lunga Point. The tug is sunk and 1 of the Japanese destroyers is severely damaged by the F4Fs and artillery fire from Guadalcanal. The 4 F4Fs are attacked by several of the 40 A6M Zeros overhead at the time. 1 F4F pilot intentionally rams a Zero, which causes both airplanes to crash. The Marine Corps pilot is rescued and the Japanese pilot is captured.
• In other action over Guadalcanal, VMF-121 and VMF-212 F4Fs claim 7 A6M Zeros during the noon hour; VMF-121 and VMF-212 F4Fs claim 7 Zeros and 4 of 9 G4M 'Betty' bombers at 1430 hours; and a VF-71 F4F claims a Zero at 1500 hours.
• In distant action, 5 Cactus Air Force SBDs take off from the Fighter-1 field at about noon, and at 1300 hours they attack a Japanese surface force composed of a light cruiser and 5 destroyers that are advancing toward Guadalcanal through New Georgia Sound. The light cruiser is severely damaged by a direct hit and a near miss, and 1 destroyer is damaged by a near miss. 3 67th Fighter Squadron P-39s that attack the cruiser at 1420 hours score 1 near miss; 5 VB-6 SBDs that attack at 1500 hours score a near miss on the damaged destroyer and another on the light cruiser; 4 Cactus Air Force SBDs, 4 P-39s, and 3 F4Fs attack at 1530, and 1 of the P-39s scores a near miss on the damaged destroyer; 6 11th Heavy Bombardment Group B-17s based in the New Hebrides attack from high altitude at 1600 hours, and 2 hits are claimed. With that, the cruiser is abandoned and scuttled with torpedoes and the 5 destroyers withdraw.

Battle of El Alamein

The situation of the 10th Armored Division in the corridor through the minefields has become very difficult by the early hours of the morning, but at 3:30am Montgomery confirms that the attempt to break through must go on whatever the cost. At the middle of the day Montgomery decides to modify his plan of attack, shifting the pivot of the offensive to the north. The main attack is given to the Australian 9th Division, supported by the 1st Armored Division. There is violent fighting in the area of Kidney Ridge. Although by the end of the day thay have lost perhaps 250 tanks, this can be accepted since 15th Panzer has less than 40 left. When Rommel arrives in the evening the 9th Australian Division in the north has already started attacking toward the sea. They make important gains which attract Rommel's attention.

The tankers Proserpina and Luisiano, loaded with fuel for the nearly empty tanks of Rommel's vehicles, are sunk in Tobruk harbor.

Battle of Santa Cruz

The Japanese navy mounts a major operation in support of the offensive on Guadalcanal, sending 4 battleships and the carriers Shokaku, Zuiho and Junyo as well as numerous cruisers and destroyers. The carriers are to send aircraft to Henderson Field once the army has captured it and only a report to that effect has brought it so close to the island. The Americans have 2 carriers in the operations, the Enterprise (CV-6) and the Hornet (CV-8), but unlike the Japanese their one battleship is in close attendance to provide supporting anti-aircraft fire. As at Midway, the Japanese force is split into several groups, in this instance four. The battleships are separate from the carriers which themselves have fewer defensive guns than their American counterparts.

The Junyo, with 55 aircraft, is even in a separate group from the rest of the carriers. A second disadvantage in the design of the Japanese carriers is that their bridges are too small to accommodate tha admiral's staff necessary if no other large ships are in company. However, despite these disadvantages, the Japanese have 212 planes on their carriers and the Americans 171. Both sides will receive help, especially in scouting, from land-based aircraft.

Off Guadalcanal, the US tug Seminole (AT-65) and the district patrol craft YP-284 are sunk by gunfire from the Japanese destroyers Akatsuki, Ikazuchi, and Shiratsuyr. The high speed minesweeper Zane (DMS-14) is damaged by the same trio of destroyers in Sealark Channel. Later in the day, off Lunga Point, Marine shore batteries and VMF-121 F4Fs damage the Akatsuki while VMF-121 F4Fs also damage the Ikazuchi.

The American patrols are first to find the enemy but a strike launched later goes astray. Both sides prepare for action on the 26th.

Air Operations, CBI

• Making their first use of dive-bombing techniques, 23rd Fighter Group P-40s raid a Hong Kong power station and the airfield at Canton.
• As many as 50 Japanese aircraft attack US airfields in the Assam region, especially the airfield at Sookerating. A freight depot is leveled, but no aircraft are destroyed or damaged. 2 Japanese aircraft are shot down by anti-aircraft fire.
• A 51st Fighter Group P-40 downs a Japanese Army reconnaissance plane near Dinjan at 0930 hours and another P-40 downs a Japanese fighter near Digbol at 1220 hours.

Air Operations, Egypt

18 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 57th Fighter Group P-20s, attack tactical targets in support of the British 8th Army's El Alamein offensive.

Air Operations, Europe

• 24 Stirlings and Wellingtons of 3 Group lay mines in the Frisians and off the Biscay ports.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Libya

After being grounded by bad weather for a week, more than 30 USAMEAF B-17s and B-24s attack Tobruk-bound Axis convoys at sea off the Libyan coast.

Battle of El Alamein

The Australian 9th Division launches its attack in the north; the switch forces the Germans to move their reserves some way to the north. The British action, however, has slowed considerably compared with the first couple of days. Montgomery halts most of his forces to regroup and summons his generals urging them to resume the advance with the determination of the first few hours. In London they are waiting for decisive news, which does not arrive. Churchill is furious, and is said to have exclaimed: 'Is it really impossible to find a general who can win a battle?' The main events of the day are German counterattacks. Rommel orders up 21st Panzer and Ariete from the south. Believing that the main Allied attack is now coming along the coast, he tries to counter there with 15th Panzer and moves 90th Light forward to support.

Britain, Home Front

Another convoy sails for North Africa as part of Operation TORCH.

Battle of Santa Cruz

Both sides launch strikes about 7:00a.m. Just after 9:00a.m. the Japanese attack reaches and seriously damages the Hornet (CV-8) which sinks later. The American attacks have been launched at the extreme range of the aircraft, the Japanese having the longer range, and so no fuel can be used forming up for a coordinated attack. Some of the American planes attack Adm Hiroaki Abe's Vanguard Group, damaging the cruiser Chikuma, and the remainder inflict severe punishment on Shokaku. A second wave of Japanese attacks manages to severely damage the Enterprise (CV-6), but many aircraft from this group and from a third less successful strike from Junyo are shot down by the massive barrage of the South Dakota (BB-57). Although the Enterprise (CV-6) is made partially effective, Kinkaid decides to withdraw.

Although this has been an undoubted Japanese victory, leaving the damaged Enterprise (CV-6) as the only American carrier in the Pacific, the Japanese losses in aircrew have again been severe, with the undamaged Zuikaku virtually out of action because of this. The Japanese withdraw also, partly because of lack of fuel, and partly because their aircraft strength has been too reduced to make any attack on Henderson Field worthwhile.[MORE]

Guadalcanal

The Japanese troops, commanded by Gen Kiyotaki Kawaguchi(Gen Maruyama Wave?), renew their attacks but once again are driven off. The marines enlist fighting support in the form of cooks and headquarters personnel who brave the hill with hand grenades and recapture it. The Japanese guns are silenced to a great extent by accurate fire from American batteries.

Adm Kurita sends a reconnaissance plane escorted by 8 Zeros to check out the report that Henderson Field is in Japanese hands. No planes rise in the air to meet them but not for the reason they expected. The fighter runway is unusable after two days of rain. Several hours of baking sun are needed to dry out the mud. The reconnaissance plane is hit by AA fire and explodes into the ground. 5 F4Fs take off about two hours later. Several Zeros are shot down. Takama's destroyers stop off at Lunga Point to destroy the tug Seminole and a small patrol boat enlisted to carry gasoline. Two old four-stack destroyers carrying supplies are nearly caught but manage to escape under cover of air attack against Takama's ships by handful of fighters from Henderson. The ships are also fired at by marine shore guns and 1 5-in gun puts 3 shells into one destroyer and they move away from the shore.

In Adm Kusaka's mind the airfield is held by the Japanese and at noon he contiues to send Zeros to land at field. They engage the Americans as they take off and land. The attrition rate is high on both sides. 5 dive bombers take off at noon to attack Japanese ships in The Slot. They find 3 destroyers, then Takama's flagship, the light cruiser Yura and 5 more destroyers. They attack and 1 1,000-lb bomb hits the Yura squarely in the after engine room which slows the ship's speed to a crawl. The destroyer Akizuki is hit by a bomb and is damaged. The Japanese ships turn to escape. More planes come and score near misses that adds to the damage already inflicted. The captain of the Yura tries to beach his ship near Santa Isabel Island, which is in Japanese hands, but he is caught by planes from Henderson and then by 6 B-17s. The several near misses and bomb hits are too much and the ship begins burning from end to end. The crew abandons ship and it is sunk by 2 Japanese destroyers. The Akizuki manages to crawl back to Shortland Island as rest of destroyers make it back up The Slot as well. In the day's action the Americans lose the tug Seminole (AT-65) while the destroyer Hughes (DD-410) and the minesweeper Zane (DMS-14) are damaged by naval gunfire.

Y-Day has ended and is a complete failure for the Japaneses. They have not captured the airfield, not cleared the sky of planes nor exerted any force against the American fleet. About 3,000 men had been lost against the American perimeter. Air combat cost has been high. Geiger figures he had 35 fighters available that morning, 12 left that night plus 11 dive bombers and 6 army planes. In last few days the Japanese have lost more than 100 planes. The 11th Air fleet is so reduced it can not launch a major attack against Guadalcanal. The Japanese surface fleet has lost a cruiser and learned the lesson that as long as the Americans control Henderson Field it can not move in waters around Guadalcanal during daylight.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s based in western China attack the airfield at Lashio, Burma.
• 23rd Fighter Group P-40s down 2 Japanese fighters over Mengtze during an afternoon encounter.

Air Operations, Egypt

• 57th Fighter Group P-40s, mounting a surprise low-level dawn raid against the Fuka Bbagush landing ground, destroy several parked aircraft, motor vehicles and tents.
• During the afternoon, while on their way to attack another Axis landing ground, 8 bomb-laden P-40s engage a formation composed of 20 Italian Air Force CR-42 biplane fighters, 20 Luftwaffe Ju-87 dive-bombers, and 20 Bf-109 fighters. 4 CR-42s and 3 Bf-109s are downed by a 64th Fighter Squadron pilot.
• No USAAF fighters are lost.
• 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 57th Fighter Group P-40s, attack German army tanks, motor vehicles and other ground targets in and arount Matruh.

Air Operations, Europe

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Flensburg, Belgium and Holland.
• 2 Mosquitos bomb a shipyard at Flensburg; 4 others bomb several unidentified targets.
• There are no losses.

• 36 aircraft lay mines between St Nazaire and the Frisians; there are also 4 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack ground targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains. V Fighter Command P-40s escort RAAF medium bombers against shipping targets D'Entrecasteaux Islands.

Air Operations, North Africa

Allied fighters rout a large force of Stukas attempting to bomb British forward positions west of Alamein.

Battle of El Alamein

While the British command is mostly concerned with regrouping, Rommel launches a series of counterattacks against the British line, mainly against the 1st Armored Division. by his armor. These attacks result in a further reduction in the number of his own tanks. At the end of the day 61 of the 15th Panzer Division's tanks and 56 of the Littorio Division's have been destroyed or captured by the Allies. The fighting at Tell el Aqqaqir is exceptionally fierce. The British 7th Armored Division is detached from the XIII Corps and moved to the northern sector of the front.

51st Division near El Alamein

Sherman Tanks of 8th Armored Brigade

A 6-pdr Anti-Tank Gun Semi-Armored Portee

Battle of Santa Cruz

Adm Nagumo returns to the battle area in morning. He transfers his flag from the destroyer Arashi to the carrier Zuikaku. They search for the Americans but find nothing. In the evening he calls off the operation to return to Truk.

The abandoned US carrier Hornet (CV-8), damaged by bombs and torpedoes and an attempted scuttling the previous day, is sunk by the Japanese destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo.

It is a Japanese victory, but they have let the Enterprise (CV-6) escape which enrages Yamamoto. Upon Nagumo's return to Truk he is transferred to become commander of Sasebo Naval Station in Japan.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Fortress 'F' of No 206 Squadron is providing cover for convoy SC-105 when U-627 is sighted at 1125. 7 depth charges are dropped as the U-boat dives. After the explosions clear a patch of light, iridescent oil is visible on the surface.

U-627

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Robert Kindelbacher
Location	Atlantic, SW of Iceland
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	44
Survivors	None

• German submarines attack Convoy HX-212 as it is sailing toward the British Isles. The US tanker Gurney E. Newlin (8225t) is torpedoed by U-436 with the loss of 3 of her crew. The rest of the 37-man crew and the 19-man Armed Guard, abandon the ship in 3 boats and 2 rafts. They are rescued by the Canadian corvette Alberni and the Canadian tanker Bic Island.

Eastern Front

In Stalingrad the Germans gain ground in the area between the Red October and Barrikady Factories. From their new positions they are able to bring the landing stages on the west bank of the Volga under direct machine gun fire. The remaining Soviet-held areas of the city are now on average about 300 yards deep. Their largest holdings are on the Mamayev Kurgan Hill and in the Barrikady Factory. The Red October Factory and almost all of the Tractor Factory are now in German hands. What remains to the Soviets, however, is very strongly held and fortified.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack Rabaul harbor and B-25s hit the airfield at Gasmata.

Air Operations, CBI

51st Fighter Group P-40s down a Japanese bomber and a fighter over the airfield at Mohanbari, India during an afternoon engagement.

Air Operations, Egypt

Continuing their support of the British 8th Army's El Alamein offensive, 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 57th Fighter Group P-40s attack a wide range of tacktical targets. While escorting USAAF and RAF light and medium bombers, 57th Fighter Group pilots down a total of 5 Bf-109s in three separate actions during the day.

Air Operations, Europe

Greek aircraft raid Italian positions.

• 9 Wellingtons lay mines off St Nazaire and Denmark.
• 1 aircraft is lost.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

USAMEAF B-17s sent to attack an Axis convoy at sea fail to locate the target due to bad weather. They do, however, find Axis warships in Pylos Bay, Greece and attack with unknown results.

Air Operations, North Africa

Allied bombers break attempted Panzer counterattacks at Alamein.

Battle of El Alamein

RAF formations allow no rest to the Axis armored units, which are trying to re-group for a new counterattack. By evening Rommel can count on 148 German tanks and 187 Italian, a miserable number compared with the 800 tanks still available to the British. Rommel exploits all his tactical and strategic skill, but he knows quite well that the battle is lost. In the north the attacks of the Australian division make some progress during the night in the northern sector and nears the coast road after driving a wedge into the enemy line. It draws more German forces, principally from 90th Light along with some units of the 21st Panzer, to oppose them. The latter's place in the line is taken over by the Italian Trieste Division, kept in reserve until now. The Axis forces try to re-group for a new attack on the British positions, but they are hampered by the incessant pounding of the RAF.

Eastern Front

German troops take 2 streets in north Stalingrad at immense cost.

The XIV Panzer and LI Corps strike the Soviet forces in the Red October and Barrikady factories. Despite heavy fighting, the Germans fail to make any progress.

Russian Rocket Launchers

Air Operations, Crete

• During the night, 1st Provisional Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and B-24s attack Maleme Airdrome.
• 1 heavy bomber is lost.

Air Operations, Egypt

Continuing their support of the British 8th Army's El Alamein offensive, 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 57th Fighter Group P-40s attack a wide range of tactical targets.

Air Operations, Europe

• 7 Mosquitos are sent to Holland and the German Frisians; 6 Wellingtons make 'roving commissions' of the Ruhr.
• 6 Mosquitos and 1 Wellington bomb various targets.
• 3 Wellingtons and 2 Mosquitos are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack ground targets in the Owen Stanley Mountains.

Air Operations, Solomons

V Bomber Command B-17s attack ships at sea between Buin and Faisi.

Aleutians

Attu Island is occupied by a second Japanese invasion force.

Battle of the Atlantic

• As German submarines continue attacks on Convoy HX-212, U-624 torpedoes the US tanker Pan New York (7701t) about 550 miles west of Northern Island. The aviation fuel she is carrying ignites virtually incinerating the ship. Of the 56 on board, only 14 of the 39-man crew and 1 of the 17-man armed guard survive. They are rescued by the Canadian corvettes Rosthern and Summerside.

  U-224 torpedoes the Canadian tanker Bic Island (3921t) as it straggles from the convoy and sinks her with all hands including the 44 survivors from the US tanker Gurney E. Newlin sunk the previous day.

• The US freighter West Kebar is torpedoed and sunk by U-129, en route from Freetown, Sierra Leone to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands with the loss of 3 of her crew. The survivors take to 2 lifeboats and 1 raft. They are rescued in November.

Eastern Front

At Pinsk in the USSR, the Germans massacre 16,000 Jews.

The Rumanian 4th Army becomes operational as Constantinescu's headquarters takes command of the VI and VII Rumanian Corps from 4th Panzer Army. Hoth is left with the IV Corps and the 16th Motorized Division.

Madagascar

400 Vichy troops are captured at Alakamisy by East African troops who take Fianarantsoa, the most important town in the south of the island, and continue their advance toward the final areas of resistance from the Vichy forces.

Battle of El Alamein

There are new counterattacks by the Axis in the northern sector of the British XXX Corps. Montgomery, knowing through Ultra intercepts that the mass of the German forces are concentrated in the north, decides to direct his next attack to the south against the Italians. In the morning he is persuaded to alter the direction of the next phase of his attack, SUPERCHARGE, to bear more on the Italians now alone opposite Kidney Ridge. He decides to break through, not westwards along the coast, but southwards, in the sector manned by the already exhausted Italian infantry.

A 6-pdr Anti-Tank Gun in Action in the Western Desert

Air Operations, Egypt

• 1 Bf-109 is downed and at least 4 others are damaged when the 57th Fighter Group's 64th Fighter Squadron mounts a morning attack at wave-top height against a Luftwaffe landing round on the coast well behind the German lines at El Alamein.
• 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 57th Fighter Group P-40s, attack the Axis landing grounds at El Daba and Fuka-Bagush.

Air Operations, Europe

• 9 Mosquitos are sent out, but none reach their designated targets.
  
• 7 planes bomb targets of opportunity in unidentified places.
• 1 aircraft is lost.

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

Air Operations, Solomons

• During a dawn attack against the Japanese Navy seaplane base at Rekata Bay, VMF-212 F4Fs down 3 A6M2-N 'Rufe' float fighters and 2 float biplanes at 0515 hours.
• 5 VMF-121 F4Fs down 4 of 6 D3A 'Val' bombers near Tulagi Island at 1400 hours.
• V Bomber Command B-17s attack the harbor at Buin.

Battle of El Alamein

The Australians and 90th Light continue their slugging match north and east of Tell el Eisa. The Australian 9th Division attacks again in the coastal sector, reaching the sea during the night and turning west so as to enclose huge enemy forces in a pocket. An armored thrust by the Axis forces frees them and they are able to withdraw towards Cyrenaica.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The transport President Doumer (11,900t), part of convoy SL-125, is sunk by U-604 off northwest Africa northeast of Madeira in very bad weather. The master, 173 crew members, 23 gunners and 63 troops are lost. 78 crew members and 7 gunners are rescued by the Alaska and HMS Cowslip.
• U-520 is sunk by a Douglas Digby bomber of No 20 Squadron RCAF during operations in support of convoy SC-107.

U-520

• U-658 is sunk by Hudson 'Y' of No 45 Squadron RCAF. The U-boat was part of a patrol line scouting for an eastbound convoy.

U-658

Eastern Front

A lull settles over Stalingrad, both the 62nd and 64th Armies having fought themselves to a standstill. Paulus intends to reinforce and regroup during the lull for what he expects will be the final attack that will break the 62nd Army.

The Red Army hastens to complete its preparations for Operation URANUS. The pland is revised slightly as the Southwest Front's attack from Serafimovich wi the 5th Tank and 21st Armies is altered so that these forces move on the Chir and Kalach while the 1st Guards supports the attacks on the Chir line. The Stalingrad Front is to attack with the 64th 57th and 51st Armies from the Sarpa lakes to Sovetski and Kalach. The 57th Army (2 rifle divisions, XIII Tank Corps and 2 tank brigades) is to attack an 8-mile front southwest of Kundutovo, enabling the XIII Tank Corps to penetrate into the Rumanian rear while the 51st Army (4 rifle divisions, IV Mechanized Corps and IV Cavalry Corps) attacks between Lakes Tsatsa and Barmantsak on a 6-mile front. The IV Mechanized Corps is to exploit these gains. The 64th Army (5 rifle divisions) is to attack from the Beketovka salient, while the 62nd pins the 6th Army inside Stalingrad.

Guadalcanal

The Marines complete the preparations for their offensive and build more improvised bridges over the Matanikau River.

It having been decided to build a 2nd airstrip for bombers, Aola Point is chosen as the proposed location. 2 companies of 2nd Raider Battalion are selected for an assault of the area. The assault companies board the old 4-stackers McKean and Manley. They land without opposition. It starts raining, the marines huddle on the beach and wait for army troops to replace them while the Seabees begin construction.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, Egypt

12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack an Axis landing ground, and escorting 57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 3 Bf-109s.

Air Operations, Europe

There is a German fighter-bomber raid on Canterbury. 68 Jabos, escorted by 68 fighters, approach the target but the balloon barrage hampers the bombing. 3 planes are lost. A night raid follows on the same target with 7 aircraft being lost.

• 17 Bostons make low-level cloud-cover raids on power stations in France; 8 Wellingtons are sent to Emden and 6 to Essen.
• There is not much cloud cover and 10 planes attack mostly minor targets. On the raid to Germany, 9 aircraft drop their bombs.
• 1 Boston and 1 Wellington are lost.

• 22 Wellingtons and Stirlings lay mines near the Biscay ports.
• 1 Wellington is lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s strafe motor vehicles near Gona and 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s bomb and strafe targets in the Nauro area.

Air Operations, Solomons

V Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping in the Buin-Faisi-Tonolea area.

Eastern Front

The German offensive in the Caucasus led by Gen von Kleist grinds to a halt due to lack of fuel, strong Soviet resistance and the onset of winter.[MORE]

Germany, Policy

In a secret memorandum, Keitel confirms Hitler's orders for the use of Soviet prisoners in German industry: 'The lack of workers is becoming an increasingly dangerous hindrance for the future German war and armaments industry. The expected relief through discharges from the armed forces is uncertain as to the extent and date; however, its possible extent will by no means correspond to expectations and requirements in view of the great demand.

'The Führer has now ordered that the working power of the Russian prisoners of war should be utilized to a large extent by large-scale assignment for the requirement of the war industry. The prerequisite for production is adequate nourishment.'

Guadalcanal

The 1st Marine Division completes preparations for the offensive. The 5th Marines and 2nd Marines move into attack positions along the Matanikau. During the night E Company, 5th Marines, crosses the river and sets up outposts on the western bank. The 1st Engineer Battalion constructs 3 footbridges.

North Africa

Gen Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the Middle East, telegraphs to Churchill as follows: 'Enemy is fighting desperately, but we are hitting him hard and continuously, and boring into him without mercy. Have high hopes he will crack soon.'