This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 10 B-24s, 7 B-17s, and 4 P-38s fly 4 missionsto Kiska; the third mission (3 B-17s) does not make contact; theothers bomb and strafe the Main Camp area, hit shipping in Trout Lagoon andoff South Head, where gun positions and installations are also blasted; firesare started in the Main Camp and hangar areas. The 344th Fighter Squadron,343d Fighter Group, is activated at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage with P-40s.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Twenty one USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Rabaul and nearby Lakunai Airfield on New Britain Island.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops are still not making progress against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track. In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit targets along the Buna-Kokoda trail and, with P-400 Airacobras, strike villages in the area of Asisi and Sanananda. The main body of the 2d Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, with supporting units, leaves Kalikodobu on foot for Jaure.

INDIA AIR TASK FORCE (IATF): HQ 51st Fighter Group and the 26th FighterSquadron move from Karachi to Dinjan, India with P-40s.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In anticipation of a Japanese counteroffensive on Guadalcanal, the marines strengthen defense positions and patrol aggressively. Three battalions of the 1st and 7th Marine Regiments plus elements of the Special Weapons Company take responsibility for the east bank
of the Matanikau River, where permanent positions are established at the river mouth.
- USMC F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down ten Japanese Navy aircraft over New Georgia Sound and Rekata Bay at 0640 hours local. By this time on Guadalcanal, 12 USAAF P-39 Airacobras of the 67th Fighter Squadron are at Henderson Field and B-17 Flying Fortresses are occasionally staging through the field.

UNITED STATES: The U.S. Senate approves the largest tax bill in history. Americans will pay US$8.5 billion (US$95.96 billion in year 2005 dollars) in corporate and income taxes during 1943.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese-held Kiska Island is hit by three bombing and strafing missions flown by ten B-24s and three B-17s of the USAAF Eleventh Air Force. The B-17s make no contact but the B-24s blast harbor targets and the Main Camp.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, Australian troops of the 2/33rd Battalion are ordered to take Templeton's Crossing but they are unable to dislodge the Japanese.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): The 22d Troop CarrierSquadron, Air Carrier Service, Air Service Command, Fifth Air Force, movesfrom Essendon Airdrome to Garbutt Field, Australia with C-47's.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25, homeward bound from her deployment off the U.S. West Coast, torpedoes and sinks Soviet submarine L16 about 653 nautical miles W of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Soviet submarines L-15 and L-16 are en route from Dutch Harbor, Territory of Alaska, to San Francisco, California, and the commander of I-25 assumed they are American.
USN submarine USS Searaven torpedoes a German blockade runner in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java in the Netherlands East Indies.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: During the day, the Japanese Navy initiates a two-part air attack against Guadalcanal which is interecepted by 39 USMC F4Fs and 12 USAAF P-39 and P-400 Airacobras. The first attack is by 17 "Zeke" fighters which are not intercepted. The second part of the attack, which is forced to a low altitude by clouds, consists of 18 "Betty" bombers and 30 "Zeke" fighters. The Japanese second force is intercepted and the Marine Wildcat pilots shoot down nine "Bettys" and two "Zekes" and the USAAF Airacobra pilots shoot down two "Bettys." U.S. loses are one Wildcat and one Airacobra.
During the night of 11/12 October, a Japanese transport force (Rear Admiral Koji Koji), formed around seaplane carriers HIJMS Chitose and Nisshin and six destroyers, reaches Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, to disembark elements of the Japanese Army's 2d Infantry Division. Three heavy cruisers and two destroyers are to provide cover by shelling Henderson Field.
USAAF B-17s sight the cruisers and destroyers bearing down on Guadalcanal Island in the afternoon. USN Task Force 64 (Rear Admiral Norman Scott) consisting of the heavy cruisers USS Salt Lake City and San Francisco, light cruisers USS Helena and Boise and five destroyers has been formed to thwart the "Tokyo Express," a steady flow of Japanese vessels maintaining reinforcement and resupply to Guadalcanal. At about 1615 hour local, the USN ships commence a run northward from Rennel Island, to intercept the Japanese force.
By 2330 hours, when the ships are approximately 6 nautical miles NW of Savo Island, they turne to make a further search of the area. A few minutes after setting the new course, radar indicates unidentified ships to the west, several thousand yards distant. At about 2345, the Battle of Cape Esperance begins.
Search planes are ordered launched from the cruisers, but in the process of launching, USS Salt Lake City's plane catches fire as flares ignite in the cockpit. The plane crashes close to the ship and the pilot manages to get free. He is later found safely on a nearby island. The brilliant fire is seen in the darkness by the Japanese flag officers, who assume that it is a signal flare from the landing force which they are sent to protect.
The Japanese flagship answers with blinker light, and receiving no reply, continues to signal. The American force forms a battle line at right angles to the Japanese T-formation (crossing the T), and thus are able to enfilade the Japanese ships. The USN cruisers open fire and continue scoring hits for a full seven minutes before the confused Japanese realize what is taking place. They had believed that, by error, their own forces are taking them under fire. When the Japanese warships reply, their fire is too little and too late. The action is over in half an hour.
The Americans sink heavy cruiser HIJMS Furutaka and destroyer HIJMS Fubuki and cripple heavy cruisers HIJMS Aoba and Kinugasa; one destroyer of the five-ship force escapes damage.
After the battle, more than 100 of Fubuki's survivors refuse to be rescued from shark-infested waters and are forcibly pulled onto two American ships. Heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City sustains three major hits during the action; light cruiser USS Boise is severely crippled, but manages to rejoin the group under her own power; and the destroyer USS Duncan is left gutted off Savo Island. The ships form up and steamed to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Two USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24s abort a bombing mission to Japanese-held Kiska Island due to overcast and instead fly a shipping search west of Japanese-held Attu Island.

CHINA: Lieutenant General Stilwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army China-Burma- India Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek requests that a second 30 Chinese divisions be equipped.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, two Australian battalions converge on Templeton's Crossing on the Kododa Track. In the afternoon, one of the battalions encounters the Japanese between Myola and Templeton's Crossing but makes little progress.
In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s attack the village of Isivita and targets on the trail near Wairopi and B-25s bomb Buna, Wairopi bridge, and targets along the Buna-Kokoda Track.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The reinforcement convoy of seaplane carriers HIJMS Nisshin and Chitose with six destroyers unloads supplies and 280 reinforcements on Guadalcanal. Included in the equipment unloaded are four 105mm howitzers. These will become known to the Marines as "Pistol Pete."
Sixteen SBDs escorted by 16 F4Fs and eight P-39s take off from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at 0515 hours, in search of the Japanese ships that resupplied the island last night. SBD pilots follow oil slicks and locate four Japanese destroyers north of the Russell Islands and a Scouting Squadron VS-71 SBD pilot scores a near miss on destroyer HIJMS Natsugumo which later sinks. At 0800 hours, 14 USMC F4Fs plus six SBDs and six TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron VT-8 attack the ships. The F4Fs strafe two destroyers, the SBDs score three near misses on the ship and finally, a TBF torpedoes the destroyer HIJMS Murakumo which is later scuttled by destroyer HIJMS Shirayuki.
The USN destroyers USS Gwin, Nicholas, and Sterett shell Japanese artillery positions on Guadalcanal. The first four boats of the USN's Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two (MTBRon 2) arrive at Government Wharf on Tulagi Island today. PTs 38, 46, 48 and 60 had arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia on 19 September and had been towed to Espirtu Santo Island. They are then towed from Espirtu Santo to a point 300 nautical miles from Tulagi by two fast minesweepers and then sailed on their own power. The second four-boat division of the squadron will arrive on 25 October.
Five USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb Japanese installations on Buka Island north of Bougainville Island.

AUSTRALIA: The 64th Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG (Heavy), arrives at Fenton Field from Iron Range with B-17s.

UNITED STATES: In Washington during a radio "fireside chat," President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that 18- and 19-year-olds will be drafted into the military services. In Washington, Attorney General Francis Biddle says 600,000 first-generation Italian-Americans, including some who have lived in the United States for decades, no longer will be classified as enemy aliens due to the result of the "splendid showing the Italians of America have made in meeting this test [loyalty to U.S.]."

 

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BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Fifteen USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s again bomb Rabaul, New Britain Island, concentrating on Vunakanau and Lakunai Airfields.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops on the Kokoda Track make no progress in advancing northward. One section of 2/25th Battalion finds evidence of Japanese cannibalism of dead Australian soldiers.
- A USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Buna, Papua New Guinea. A pair of B-25s search for Japanese warships off Goodenough, but fail to locate them. Instead they hit the Japanese landing party at Waytutu Point. On the return flight, lost is B-25C 41-12501. The 6th Troop Carrier Squadron, 63d Troop Carrier Group, arrives at Port Moresby from the US with C-47s. The 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Torrens Creek to Iron Range with B-17s.

NEW HEBRIDES: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 launches a "Glen" reconnaissance aircraft to reconnoiter American installations on Espiritu Santo Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Rear Admiral Richmond Turner, Commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, brings reinforcements to Guadalcanal. Two hundred ten men of the First Marine Aircraft Wing and 85 Marine replacements join 2,850 men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment in the transports USS McCawley (AP-10, ex SS Santa Barbara) and USS Zeilin (AP-9, ex SS President Jackson). Unloading despite air attacks, the vessels embark the 1st Raider Battalion and sail for New Caledonia. Troop strength is thus brought up to 23,088 men, excluding forces on Tulagi. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, divides the Lunga perimeter into regimental sectors, massing the greatest strength on the west. At 1202 hours local, as the Army reinforcements are being put ashore, 27 "Betty" bombers escorted by 18 "Zeke" fighters, all based on Rabaul on New Britain Island, attack Henderson Field. The runway is cratered and 5,000 U.S. gallons of aviation fuel are destroyed.
Forty two Navy and Marine F4Fs and 13 USAAF P-39 and P-400 Airacobras take off but only one bomber and a fighter are destroyed; one F4F is lost but the pilot is recovered. At 1350 hours local, a second attack by 18 "Betty" bombers and 18 "Zeke" fighters occurs while the Cactus Air Fighters are being refueled. The Henderson Field runway is further damaged. A Japanese convoy of six transports and eight destroyers is spotted, 200 miles north of Guadalcanal, by the afternoon search of the Cactus Air Force. Under the direct command of Rear Admiral Takama Tamotsu, Commander of Destroyer Squadron 4, 4,500 new soldiers, a battery of both 3.9 inch and 5.9 inch artillery, the 1st Independent Tank Company, and various supplies are headed for Japanese positions on Guadalcanal.
At about 1830 hours local, the first shell from a Japanese 15 centimeter howitzer lands on Henderson Field. "Pistol Pete" is finally in battle.
Also heading down the Slot towards Guadalcanal tonight is Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo with the battleships HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna on a bombardment mission. They carry special Type 3 shells designed for antiaircraft use, but equally deadly for bombardment use. For tonight spotting is assisted by a naval gunnery officer atop Mount Austen and another leading a group of spotter and illumination aircraft.
- Six USAAF B-17s bomb Buka Island and Tonolai on Bougainville Island.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force dispatches nine B-24s, six B-26s, a B-17 and 12 P-38s to bomb and strafe Japanese held Kiska Island installations and shipping; fire bombs are dropped on hangars and the Main Camp area where a large fire is started; two torpedo attacks on shipping in Gertrude Cove by B-26s score no hits; the P-38s destroy three floatplanes on the water; a P-38 is shot down.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25's attack Lae. In Papua New Guinea, B-25s hit a bridge 40 miles north of Port Moresby, and the area of the Wairopi bridge.
On the Kokoda track, the Japanese offer fierce resistance to the Australian 7th Division's drive in the vicinity of Templeton Crossing and more cannibalized and mutilated bodies of Australian troops on found on the track.
The USAAF Fifth Air Force begins flying begins flying a coastal force, the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32d Infantry Division and the Australian 2/6th Independent Company, to Wanigela.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 shells Espiritu Santo following the reconnaissance flight by the submarine-based aircraft yesterday.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink four Japanese ships:
- In the East China Sea, USS Finback, attacking a Japanese convoy, sinks a Japanese army transport about 10 nautical miles north of Tansui, on the NW tip of Formosa, in position 25.20N, 121.25E.
- USS Greenling sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 101 nautical miles NE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan, in position 39.33N, 142.15E.
- In the Bismarck Sea, USS Sculpin sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 53 nautical miles WNW of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in position 03.51S, 151.21E.
- USS Skipjack sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 456 nautical miles WSW of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, in position 05.35N, 144.25E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0130 hours "Louie the Louse," a Japanese observation plane, wakes the U.S. forces on Guadalcanal. The battleships HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna pass Savo Island and slow to 18 knots. The Japanese have sent their battleships to bombard Henderson Field and destroy the aircraft of the Cactus Air Force allowing the successful resupply of their forces on Guadalcanal. They have a supply convoy coming down the slot due to arrive this evening. "Louie" brackets Henderson Field with flares and at 29,500 yards, HIJMS Kongo fires her first salvo; Haruna soon follows. The other ships of the force, the light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu, and seven destroyers, also bombard the island. The Japanese sailors topside are reminded of a fireworks display. This continues until 0256 hours during which they fire 973 shells and are opposed by the 5-inch coast defense guns on Guadalcanal and motor torpedo boats PT-60, PT-38, PT-46 and PT-48 from Tulagi.
Destroyer HIJMS Naganami turns back the motor torpedo boats. The attacks of the PTs are assumed by Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo, commander of the battleship division, to be his screen detecting a submarine. The damage is widespread around Henderson Field and Fighter One and includes 48 of 90 planes and fuel stocks at the field, putting the facility temporarily out of action. The men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment have spent their first night on Guadalcanal wondering if this is like all nights there.
During the morning Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch, Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific Force, sends 17 SBDs dive bombers at Espiritu Santo and 20 F4F fighters to Henderson Field. Later in the day, 12 SBDs of Bombing Squadron VB-6 in USS Enterprise are dispatched to Guadalcanal for service with the Cactus Air Force from Fighter One airfield.
Meanwhile, due to the low fuel supply, the B-17s that had been based at Guadalcanal are withdrawn to Espirtu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands. Admiral Fitch also organizes an airlift of fuel using USAAF C-47 and USMC R4D transports carrying ten 55 U.S. gallon (46 Imperial gallons or 208 liter) drums each.
At about 1200 hours, 26 "Betty" bombers bomb Henderson Field causing heavy damage. At 1300 hours, 18 "Betty" bombers escorted by ten "Zeke" fighters attack and are met by 24 F4Fs and P-39s; nine bombers and three fighters are shot down with the loss of two Wildcats and a P-39.
The Japanese resupply convoy consisting of six transports and eight destroyer transports is sighted in the afternoon and four SBDs of USN Scouting Squadron VS-3 and three USAAF P-400 Airacobras attack at 1445 hours but score no hits. At 1745 hours, seven SBDs, six P-39s and P-400 Airacobras, refueled from gasoline found in a damaged B-17, attack but again score no hits; a P-400 is shot down by antiaircraft fire and another crashes on landing.
These attacks do not stop the convoy which reaches Guadalcanal at midnight along with another run of the Tokyo Express.
On Vella Lavella Islands, Australian coastwatchers are landed on the coast of the island by the USN submarine USS Grampus.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force dispatches three B-26s to bomb and a B-24 to fly photo reconnaissance over Japanese-held Kiska and Attu Islands; the B-26s hit a large cargo ship in Gertrude Cove on Kiska starting a fire, and hit buildings on Attu Island; antiaircraft fire claims a B-26.

AUSTRALIA: The Advisory War Council agrees that the government should send a request to the British requesting the return of the Australian 9th Division, Australian Imperial Force, from North Africa.
The USN's Submarine Base, Fremantle-Perth, Western Australia, is established.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA HQ 318th Fighter Group isactivated at Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii; squadrons assigned,all equipped with P-40s, are the 44th and 72d Fighter Squadrons at Bellows Field and the 73d Fighter Squadron on Midway.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 25th Brigade, 7th Division, drives the Japanese back from Templeton's crossing. USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and P-40s attack the Japanese south of Templeton's Crossing and at Popondetta while B-25 Mitchells hit targets in the Owen Stanley Range and in the area around the bridge at Wairopi. In Northeast New Guinea, B-25 Mitchells bomb Salamaua.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese 17th Army issues tactical orders for the assault on Lunga Point, setting the date tentatively for 18 October. Beginning at 0600 hours with a strafing by four USN Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5) F4Fs, the Cactus Air Force mounts piecemeal but effective attacks against ships and newly landed Japanese troops and supplies. At 1030 hours, Brigadier General Roy Geiger, Commanding General 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, finally organizes a planned attack
of 12 SBDs dive bombers of USN Bombing VB-6 and Marine Scout Bombing Squadron VMSB-141 plus other unidentified units; eight F4F fighters of VF-5; three P-39s and a P-400 Airacobra fighters and 11 B-17s bombers of the USAAF; and a USMC PBY Catalina, the personal "flag" aircraft of General.
The PBY carries two torpedoes under its wings and after receiving radioed instructions on how to airdrop torpedoes, Marine Major Jack Cram attacks the Japanese ships. These aircraft conduct a succession of attacks on the Japanese supply convoy off Tassafaronga undamaged by VS-3s strike yesterday. The B-17s damage a transport which, along with a merchant cargo ship, is run aground, where uncontrollable fires destroy both ships. Air attacks also sink a freighter and damage destroyer HIJMS Samidare.
Two of the transports pull out at 1200 hours and the others pull out during the afternoon under continued attacks of the Cactus Air Force, but the attacks continue with another ship damaged. As the two remaining transports approach to finish unloading, they are waved off by General Ito.
A small USN resupply convoy consisting of the cargo ships USS Alchiba and Bellatirx, the gunboat USS Jamestown, the destroyers USS Meredith and Nicholas and the tug USS Vireo, each towing a barge carrying barrels of gasoline and 250-pound bombs, is en route to Guadalcanal when spotted by Japanese aircraft. All ships but the tug USS Vireo and the destroyer USS Meredith beat a hasty retreat. Cautiously proceeding, the pair beat off a two-plane Japanese attack before they received word that Japanese surface ships are in the area. Only then did they reverse course.
At 1200 hours, USS Meredith ordered old, slow, and vulnerable USS Vireo abandoned and took off her crew. Meredith then stood off to torpedo the tug at 1215 hours so that she would not fall into Japanese hands intact. Suddenly, 27 "Val" dive bombers and "Zeke" fighters, from the Japanese aircraft carrier HIJMS Zuikaku attack.
Before Meredith can scuttle the tug with a torpedo, however, after shooting down three aircraft, the destroyer is overwhelmed and sunk in the ensuing air attack, by bombs and aerial torpedoes. Vireo and the two gasoline barges, however, drifted to leeward, untouched. One life raft, crammed with some of Meredith's survivors, succeeded in overhauling the derelict tug and the men gratefully scrambled aboard.
The barges and the tug are later found, intact. When a salvage party boarded Vireo on 21 October, the ship is dead in the water with no lights, no steam, and no power. After abortive attempts to light fires under the boilers, using wood, the tug has to be taken under tow by the destroyer USS Grayson. In company with Grayson and USS Gwin, Vireo arrived safely at Espiritu Santo Island, on 23 October. Only seven officers and 56 men from the Meredith survived the attack and the three ensuing days of exposure to the open sea and sharks until they are rescued.
At 1245 hours, 27 "Betty" bombers escorted by 9 "Zeke" fighters attack Henderson Field against virtually no opposition. A USN VF-5 pilot flying the last operational squadron F4F Wildcat, shoots down a "Zeke." During the day, the Japanese lose six "Zekes" and a reconnaissance biplane vs. three SBDs, two P-39s and an F4F. Four American pilots and 3 aircrew are lost. In the afternoon, the Hornet Air Group in the aircraft carrier USS Hornet which is on station south of Guadalcanal but out of range of Japanese aircraft, assumes responsibility for the air defense of Henderson Field while the Cactus Air Force reorganizes and repairs aircraft. By the end of the day, the Cactus Air Force is able to maintain air defense over Henderson Field and USS Hornet retires.
During the day, Japanese land-based artillery bombards the Marines' Lunga Point Perimeter.
Air resupply and reinforcements for the Cactus Air Force arrive in the form of three Marine Utility Squadron Two Hundred Fifty Four R4D-1 Skytrains each carrying twelve 55 U.S. gallon drums of aviation fuel while Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-21 pilots ferry six SBDs from Espiritu Santo Island in the New Hebrides.
A single USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 attacks shipping near Treasury Islands during the day. At the end of the day, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Fleet and Commander of the Pacific Ocean Area, calls the situation on Guadalcanal "critical."
During the night of 15/16 October, Japanese heavy cruisers HIJMS Chokai and Kinugasa (Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi) bombard Henderson Field between 0147 and 0217 hours, covering the movement of six destroyers and eleven transports with 5,000 troops to Tassafaronga. More U.S. aircraft are destroyed or damaged, more fuel is set afire and more facilities are destroyed on the airfield.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force dispatches a B-17s, six B-26s, and four P-38s to bomb Japanese-held Kiska Island. After attacks by USN PBY Catalinas fail, USAAF B-26s sink Japanese destroyer HIJMS Oboro about 31 nautical miles NE of Kiska Island, in position 52.17N, 178.08E, and damage destroyer HIJMS Hatsuharu. One B-26 is shot down.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): A-20s and B-25s hit the village of Pawaia, trails in the Kokoda area, the Buna-Kokoda trail, and villages at the mouth and along the Mambare River; and B-25s also bomb the Mubo-Salamaua trail. B-17s bomb airfield at Rabaul, New Britain and attack targets in the Solomons, including the airfield at Buin, and shipping off Moila Point and the Shortland Islands. Lost on a cargo drop is C-47 "Maxine" 41-18585.

INDIA: A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal kills some 40,000 south of Calcutta.

NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese abandon Templeton's Crossing but the Australians locate them a little

SOLOMON ISLANDS: During the night, a Japanese surface force (Rear Admiral Sentaro Omori), with heavy cruisers HIJMS Maya and Myoko, light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and seven destroyers (Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo), shells Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
On Guadalcanal, the Japanese begin a march along the narrow trail from the Kokumbona assembly area toward attack positions east of the Lunga River. Japanese artillery shelling of the Lunga perimeter increases in volume and accuracy. U.S. patrol craft attack Japanese coastal positions from Kokumbona to Cape Esperance. Operational aircraft number 66 after arrival of 20 F4F's and 12 SBD's.
During the day, Seabees patch up Henderson Field runways enough for use by fighters. USMC SBD Dauntlesses and USAAF P-39 and P-400 Airacobras fly seven ground-attack missions against the Japanese invasion force landing at the Kokumbona Doma Reef area just 8 miles away however, the Japanese continue to bombard Henderson Field by air strike and artillery and to land troops.
Assisting in these attacks are aircraft from Task Force 17, formed around the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (Rear Admiral George D. Murray), which strike Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, and the seaplane base at Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel Island. USS Hornet is spotted by an Japanese Navy search plane late in the morning and nine "Val" dive bombers are dispatched from Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, to attack but they cannot find the carrier.
The seaplane tender (destroyer) USS McFarland and two other ships make an emergency run to Guadalcanal to deliver aviation fuel. While unloading cargo and embarking wounded personnel in Lunga Roads, McFarland is attacked by the the nine "Val" dive bombers that could not find the Hornet. While the first seven scored no hits, the eighth hits a gasoline barge in tow alongside the tender's starboard quarter setting 40,000 U.S. gallons afire. The blazing barge is cut loose as the ninth plane made its run.
At least one bomb hits McFarland's stern, knocking out her rudder and steering engine. Her crew manages to shoot down one plane, but five men are killed, six are missing and 12 are critically wounded.
As the Japanese aircraft pull out, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, who is leading 26 Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-212 F4Fs to Guadalcanal from Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, arrives and single-handedly attacks them and shoots down four of the "Vals." Bauer had downed four "Zeke" fighters on 3 October and he is awarded the Medal of Honor for these two missions. USS McFarland is towed to Florida Island, where she is moored to the beach in the upper channel (later called McFarland Channel) of Tulagi harbor.
After the Japanese naval bombardment during the night, there are only 34 operational aircraft, nine of them F4F fighters, on Guadalcanal. During the day, 19 F4Fs and seven SBDs are flown from Efate Island, New Hebrides Islands, to Guadalcanal and by the end of the day, there are 66 operational aircraft on Guadalcanal.

THAILAND: USN submarine USS Thresher mines the approaches to Bangkok in the first U.S. Navy submarine mine plant of World War II.

UNITED STATES: In the arena of US public opinion, an article in The New York Times newspaper on 16 October states, "The shadows of a great conflict lie heavily over the Solomons - all that can be perceived is the magnitude of the stakes at issue. ... Guadalcanal. The name will not die out of the memories of the generation. It will endure in honor." US Navy Secretary Knox responds to a question of holding Guadalcanal: "I certainly hope so and expect so ... I will not make any predictions, but every man will give good account of himself. What I am trying to say is that there is a good stiff fight going on. Everybody hopes we can hold on."

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Main Camp area on Japanese-held Kiska Island and a beached vessel in Trout Lagoon; the results are unobserved due to clouds; a B-24 flying weather reconnaissance finds no trace of two destroyers, confirming their sinking on 16 October.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, bitter fighting is in progress on the Kokoda Track at Eora Creek, where the Japanese commit reinforcements.
The point unit for the Australians is the 16th Brigade which has taken over from the 25th Brigade.
Abel's Field at Fasari, on the upper Musa River near Mt Sapia, becomes operational; the field is named for Cecil Abel, a missionary who constructed it with assistance of native labor and equipment dropped by USAAF Fifth Air Force.
First luggers reach Wanigela and continue toward Pongani with men and supplies.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A force of 18 "Val" dive bombers and 18 "Zeke" fighters from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiyo and Junyo have been temporarily based at Buka Airdrome on Buka Island just north of Bougainville Island. This force is airborne this morning to attack shipping off Guadalcanal. At 0720 hours local, eight Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-121 F4Fs intercept this force as the "Vals" attack two USN destroyers, USS Aaron Ward and Lardner, shelling new Japanese Army supply dumps west of the Lunga Perimeter near Tassafaronga. The Marine Wildcats disrupt the attack and shoot down six "Vals" and four "Zekes;" one Wildcat is lost along with its pilot. The destroyers continue their bombardment and fire 1,925 5-inch rounds at the supply dumps.
Throughout the day, numerous P-39 and P-400 Airacobra fighter-bombers and six B-17s bomb the Japanese supply dumps. In the afternoon, the Japanese Navy sends 15 "Betty" bombers and nine "Zekes" to bomb Guadalcanal; the Japanese aircraft are unopposed.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): The 403d Bombardment Squadron, 43d BG (Heavy), moves from Torrens Creek to Iron Range, Australia with B-17s.

 

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ADMIRALTY ISLANDS: Fifth Air Force B-17s attack schooners and buildings at Lorengau on Manus Island.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: On Japanese-held Kiska Island four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Main Camp, score near misses on a beached vessel in Trout Lagoon, and hit a gasoline (petrol) storage area; a weather aircraft flies reconnaissance over Attu, Segula, Little Sitkin, and Gareloi Islands.

NEW CALEDONIA: Admiral William F. Halsey arrives at Noumea, New Caledonia prior to the arrival of his flagship, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, to scout the situation. He receives a sealed envelope
containing orders, from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Ocean Area and Commander of the Pacific Fleet, to immediately take command of the South Pacific Ocean Area and the South Pacific Force.
In relieving Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley just days after the public release of the Battle of Savo Island, the blame for the loss is attached publically to Ghormley.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, U.S. forces advancing over the Kapa Kapa Trail, which parallels the Kokoda Track over the Owen Stanley Mountains, arrive at Pogani. The complete regiment will finish the
journey over the next three days. They will, however, not be in condition to fight due to the rigors of the trek through the mountains and jungle.
This overland journey will prove wasted, since it has become possible to airlift troops to the north shore of New Guinea. Hard fighting by the Australians continues on Kokoda Track in the vicinity of Eora Creek.
USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Wairopi bridge in the Owen Stanley Range, the village of Mubo, and the dock and occupied area on Pilelo Island; air movement of most of 128th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, to Wanigela by the USAAF Fifth Air Force is completed. Elements are left at Port Moresby temporarily when Wanigela Field becomes unserviceable because of rains.
- the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, moves from Townsville, Australia to Port Moresby's 14 Mile Drome with P-38s.


SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 1300 hours local, 16 USMC and USN F4F Wildcats intercept 15 "Betty" bombers
escorted by 9 "Zeke" fighters over Guadalcanal. The Americans claim six "Betty" bombers and four
"Zekes," Japanese Navy records state three bombers and four fighters lost. One Wildcat is lost in an operational accident and two F4Fs are shot down but there are no pilot loses.
During the early evening, a "Val" dive bomber and a "Zeke" fighter are shot down near Guadalcanal by a USMC F4F pilot and two USN Fighting Squadron VF-71 F4F Wildcat pilots.
- On Guadalcanal, construction begins on an all-weather fighter airfield to the west of Henderson Field. This field will be known as Fighter 2 or Kukum Strip.
- USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack shipping and aircraft in the Faisi area in the Shortland Islands, and Kahili airfield, and shipping off Kahili, Pupukuna Point, and Buin on Bougainville Island.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-17 flies weather reconnaissance and bomb runs over Attu, Semichi, Kiska, and Amchitka Islands; six B-24s dispatched to bomb Japanese-held Kiska Island abort the mission due to weather.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The U.S. 25th Infantry Division is alerted for movement to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

NEW CALEDONIA: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 launches a "Glen" reconnaissance aircraft to reconnoiter Noumea.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, U.S. Colonel Leif Sverdrup's reconnaissance party completes march along Kapa Kapa trail, which is so poor that it is rejected as a possible route of advance, to upper Musa River, where Abel's Field is already in use. Sverdrup is the deputy to the Southwest Pacific Area's Engineer officer and he is charged with locating and developing landing fields. He began his march on 17 September.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The USN submarine USS Amberjack arrives at Espiritu Santo, assigned temporarily to Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific, for duty. Over the next three days, two of the submarine's fuel tanks will be cleaned and converted to carry aviation gasoline. She will also take on board 100-pound bombs and embark USAAF enlisted ground crew for transportation to Guadalcanal.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN destroyer USS O'Brien, damaged by submarine torpedo on 15 September 1942 breaks in two and sinks en route to United States for repairs, 53 miles NNE of Tutuila, Samoa.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The last elements of the Japanese 2nd "Sendai" Division step off along a primitive road (the "Maruyama Road") through Guadalcanal' s jungles and struggle toward attack positions south of the American-held airfields. The "road" is a 24-inch wide trail hacked through the jungle for 20-miles; the initial march started on 16 October. Each member of the elite
2nd "Emperor's Own" Infantry Division lugs his rifle, pack and a 30-pound artillery shell over ridges and gorges. Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao, commander of the 2nd Division, is confident his division will massacre Henderson Field's defenders with a surprise attack and his staff is already planning the surrender ceremony. Another 3,000 Japanese infantry supported by artillery and tanks are readying a diversionary attack west of the airfields. As yet, the Americans have not detected the moves.
During the day, a USN minesweeper arrives off Lunga Point with one hundred seventy five 55 U.S. gallon drums of aviation fuel and a fuel barge is towed from the New Hebrides to Tulagi Island by a fleet tug. Cactus Air Force F4Fs fly a constant combat air patrol (CAP) over the fuel.
SBDs dive bombers of the USN's Bombing Squadron VB-6 and Scouting Squadron VS 71 and Marine Scout Bombing Squadron VMSB-141 from Henderson Field attack three Japanese destroyers north of Guadalcanal, damaging HIJMS Uranami.
Japanese artillery fire closes Henderson Field for part of the day.
The USN submarine USS Grampus lands Australian coastwatchers on Choiseul Island.

UNITED STATES: The War Department agrees to equip 30 more Chinese divisions.
The initial installation and deployment of the AN/ASB-3 airborne search radar is reported. This radar, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory for carrier based aircraft, has been installed in five TBF-1
Avengers by NAS New York, New York, and five SBD-3s by NAS San Pedro, California. One aircraft of each type is assigned to Carrier Air Group CVG-11 in USS Saratoga and the others shipped to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The remaining sets on the initial contract for 25 are to be used for spare parts and training.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24's take off for Japanese held Kiska Island but return due to weather; reconnaissance is flown to 70 miles east of Attu Island; a negative search is made for a missing C-53 Skytrooper.

INDIA: Chinese troops begin moving by air into India to meet the Ramgarh requirements. The Chinese 22d and 38th Divisions are being brought up to strength.

NEW CALEDONIA: Major General Arthur Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, reports to Admiral William F Halsey, Commander of the South Pacific Area and Commander of the South Pacific Force, aboard his flagship in Noumea harbor, and requests and is promised more support. Admiral Halsey orders the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment, which had been earmarked for the invasion of Ndeni, Santa Cruz Islands, to Guadalcanal. The Ndeni operation is never undertaken. Halsey also institutes construction of another bomber airstrip to be located at Koli Point, 12 miles SE of Henderson Field.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade, 6th Division, enters the fight for the Kokoda Trail, relieving the 25th Brigade, 7th Division; the Australians continue the action to clear the Eora Creek area. The U.S. 32d Infantry Division party under Captain Medendorp, having left elements at Laruni where a dropping ground is staked out, arrives at Jaure, where Captain Boice's party is searching for airfield sites.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Coral Sea, USN heavy cruiser USS Chester is hit by a torpedo on the starboard side, amidships which killed 11 and wounded 12. The torpedo was fired by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-176 about 311 nautical miles SE of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, in position 13.31S, 163.17E.
In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Gar mines the approaches to Bangkok, Thailand.

HAWAII: The 19th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, moves from Kualoa Field to Bellows Field, Hawaii with P-40s.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese 2nd Division headquarters reaches "Clear Water Valley," 1 mile from the planned deployment area on Guadalcanal. Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao, commander of the 2nd Division, estimates this is 4 miles south of Henderson Field; it is actually 8 miles south. He sets the attack for 1800 hours on 22 October. A patrol of the supporting coastal force is taken under fire at the mouth of the Matanikau River and retires after one of its two tanks is hit.
Thirty Japanese "Zeke" fighters make a sweep over Guadalcanal before the main attack force of 16 "Betty" bombers and six "Zekes" arrives. Marine F4F pilots shoot down three "Bettys" and nine "Zekes" at 1145 hours. Henderson Field is closed for the rest of the day because of Japanese artillery fire.

UNITED STATES: The largest tax bill in history, US$6.8 billion (US$79 billion in 2004 dollars), is approved by Congress.
The Government orders the seizure of Nazi German banking operations in New York being conducted by Prescott Bush. The U.S. Alien Property Custodian takes over the Union Banking Corporation and its stock shares, all of which are owned by E. Roland "Bunny" Harriman, Prescott Bush, two other Bush associates, and three Nazi executives.
The trial of Gordon K. Hirabayashi, who violated Seattle, Washington's curfew and exclusion restrictions on 16 May 1942, starts in Seattle with Judge Lloyd L. Black presiding.

 

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BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25's hit Luscan Harbor on the south coast of New Britain Island.

CHINA: B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's India Air Task Force (IATF) stage through Chengtu to bomb coal mines at Lin-hsi; the plan is to blast nearby power stations and pumping facilities and flood the mines; the attack fails to flood the mines but inflicts considerable damage to the target area; this marks the first use of heavy bombers in China and the first USAAF strike north of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, a 50-man patrol of Cannon Company, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, sets out from Jaure for the Kumusi River Valley, where it subsequently establishes a defense line and is joined by Captain Alfred Medendorp's main group (Company E, 126th Infantry Regiment, Antitank and Cannon Companies and native carriers), the entire force being called the Wairopi Patrol.
The Australians maintain pressure on the Japanese along the Kokoda Track, slowly gaining ground in flanking attacks. The 16th Brigade advances and finds that the Japanese have abandoned the positions they held yesterday.
Australian General Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces Southwest Pacific Area and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force, sends a message to Major General Arthur Allen, General Officer Commanding 7th Australian Division, stating, "You should consider acting with greater boldness ...General MacArthur (considers) that progress on the trail is not repeat not satisfactory. The tactical handling of our troops in my opinion is faulty." General Allen responds, "I feel that the difficulty of operations in this country are still not fully realised.... the track between Alola and Myola is the roughest and most
precipitous throughout the complete route."

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Japanese aircraft carrier HIJMS Hiyo is damaged by an engine room fire after departing Truk in the Caroline Islands and thus cannot participate in the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese 11th Air Fleet at Rabaul begins its attacks on Guadalcanal in support of the upcoming offensive. Nine "Betty" bombers , escorted by 25 "Zeke" fighters strike Henderson Field. USMC and USN F4F pilots shoot down six "Zekes;" two F4Fs are lost.
On Guadalcanal, the Japanese 2nd Division is advancing towards the point south of Henderson Field for their attack. They have been marching for six days and are heavily engaged by the jungle. Due to their lack of progress, the attack scheduled for tomorrow night is postponed one day. Meanwhile, the Japanese coastal force, with support of artillery and tanks, attempts to cross to eastern bank of the Matanikau River but pulls back after losing a tank to U.S. fire.

UNITED STATES: Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief United States Fleet, informs Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Ocean Area and Commander of the Pacific Fleet, that the Joint Chiefs of Staff have agreed to strengthen air forces in South Pacific by 1 January 1943.

 

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CHINA: The opening session of the Chinese People's Council today in Chungking is marked by the absence of any Communist delegates and a warning from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Speaking obliquely about the continued factional fighting between Kuomintang and Communist troops, he points out that it is wasting manpower and materials and endangering the Chinese war effort. Success on the war front would not save China from Japan if the divisive internal economic and political battles continue, he warned.

D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: To secure the northeast coast of Papua, New Guinea, the Australian 2/12th Battalion of the 18th Brigade embarks in two Australians destroyers, HMAS Arunta and Stuart at Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, and during the night of 22/23 October, land at a points on Goodenough Island., from which submarines have withdrawn 60 of the 353 Japanese stranded there on 25 August.

INDIA: A combined planning staff conference opens to consider an offensive in Burma.

ALASKA: In the Bering Sea, a USAAF Eleventh Air Force weather reconnaissance aircraft reports a submarine about 376 nautical miles north of Adak Island, Aleutian Islands, in position 52.08N, 177.21 W; a USN aircraft later makes contact and drops a depth charge but the result is unknown.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN destroyers USS Mahan and Lamson, detached from Task Force 16 to "shoot up the Japanese picket boat line" west of the Gilbert Islands, sink a Japanese gunboat about 320 nautical miles SSE of Tarawa Atoll, Gilber Islands, in position 03.30S, 175.15E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant U.S. Marine Corps, tours front line positions of his Marines, on Guadalcanal, amid occasional Japanese artillery fire. He also observes an air raid by 12 "Val" dive bombers escorted by 12 "Zeke" fighters at 1300 hours. Twenty nine USMC F4F Wildcats intercept and five "Vals" are lost. Their target, the destroyer USS Nicholas.
Heavy Japanese artillery firce closes Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, for most of the day.
On Guadalcanal during the evening, the troops of Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao's 2nd Division reach their deployment line, 4 miles south of Henderson Field. They are actually 6 to 7 miles south. The 2nd division is strung out over approximately 18 miles (29 kilometers) of rain-soaked trails. Despite some serious doubts, the attack is scheduled by Headquarters 17th Army, at Kokumbona on Guadalcanal' s north coast, for tomorrow (23 October). The Japanese plan calls for a two pronged attack from the mouth of the Matanikau River early on the 23rd. Colonels Oka and Nakaguma will command the two prongs. That night the attack south of Henderson Field will have a right wing attack under Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, commander of the 35th Brigade,, a left wing under Major General Nasu Yumio, commander of the Infantry Group 2nd Division, and the main attack under General Maruyama.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN submarine USS Grayback sinks a Japanese transport about 54 nautical miles southeast of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in position 04.45S, 152.53 E.

UNITED STATES: The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, by amendment to a USN design study contract, is authorized to construct two 19A axial flow turbojet powerplants. Thereby, fabrication is initiated of the first jet engine of wholly American design.

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Armed reconnaissance by seven USAAF Eleventh Air Force bombers, escorted by six P-38 Lightnings, is flown over Japanese-held Kiska Island installations, chiefly the submarine base and Main Camp; visibility is excellent and direct hits are scored, including one on the submarine base. A detachment of the 56th Fighter Squadron, 54thFighter Group, based at Harding Field, Louisiana, begins operating fromElmendorf Field, Anchorage with P-39s.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: During the night of 23/24 October, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's attack shipping at Rabaul on New Britain Island.

BURMA: Advance units of British forces reach Buthidaung. A brief skirmish with the Japanese, who have advanced from Akyab, leaves the Japanese units in control of the town.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops attack the Japanese at Eora Creek on the Kokoda Track but are unable to break through the Japanese lines. In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20's bomb and strafe Deniki and the Deniki-Kokoda Track. HQ 19th BG (Heavy), which has been fighting since 8 Dec 41, begins a movement from Mareeba to the US.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 shells Espiritu Santo Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Kingfish sinks a gunboat off the coast of Japan about 89 nautical miles (165 kilometers) south of Osaka, Honshu, in position 33.12N, 135.14E.
A PBY Catalina spots a Japanese fleet carrier heading for Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands. Three PBYs mount a night attack against the carrier and escorting ships but the attack is unsuccessful. This
carrier will meet USN forces in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October.

SOLOMON ISLANDS:Henderson Field,Guadalcanal, is again made operational by the Seabees, and USMC and AAF fighters begin to inflict heavy losses on Japanese naval aircraft;
A raid of 16 "Betty" bombers with 17 "Zeke" fighters " escorting is intercepted by 24 USMC and USN F4F Wildcats and four USAAF P-39 Airacobras at about 1130 hours. The American pilots claim 23 "Bettys" (of the 16 that attacked!) And two "Zekes."
The Japanese soldiers south of Henderson Field drop their packs and move out for the starting points. Many scouts fail to return, others report jungle in every direction. By midafternoon, most advance units
are still in thick jungle. Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, commander of the 35th Brigade, changes his part of the attack plan, moving east. Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao, commander of the 2nd Division, orders no changes are allowed. Kawaguchi argues and Maruyama dismisses him from his command. At 1800 hours, the Japanese artillery barrage begins with the heaviest fire to date. The attack, under Colonel Nakaguma Tadamasu, commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment, makes a determined but futile efforts to cross the Matanikau River mouth and overrun the 3d Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment. The attack begins with nine tanks moving out. Marine anti-tank guns take on the tanks. Four batteries of Marine artillery respond. The Japanese sustain heavy losses: 600 are estimated killed and at least eight tanks are knocked out. The Marine casualties are 25 killed and 14 wounded. The attacks by Colonel Oka and General Maruyama which are supposed to start at the same time do
not. They are still fighting the jungle.

UNITED STATES: A commercial airliner and a USAAF bomber collide in the air over Mount Jacinto, Palm Springs, California, at 1715 hours local killing all 12 aboard the airliner. The commercial airliner is Douglas DC-3-178, msn 1555, registered NC16017 by the U.S. airline American Airlines; the bomber is a Lockheed (Model 137-27-02) B-34-VE Lexington. The midair collision at 9,000 feet (2 743 meters) destroys the rudder of the DC-3 causing it to crash, the B-34 lands safely with minor damage. The
accident report blames the reckless and irresponsible conduct of the bomber pilot in deliberately maneuvering a bomber in dangerous proximity to an airliner in an unjustifiable attempt to attract the attention of the first officer, his friend aboard the airliner. Composer and song writer Ralph Rainger, 41, is among the dead . Rainger's compositions include "Thanks for the Memory," "June in January," "Blue Hawaii" and "Ebbtide."

 

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Japanese decide to abandon Attu and move the troops to Kiska. The Americans are unaware of this, and never know they could have taken the island without a shot. Kiska, however, is being turned into a fortress, with underground bunkers, flak guns, and midget submarine pens.
Three USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-17's hit the Japanese-held Kiska Island submarine base; results are not observed; and a weather reconnaissance flight is made over Attu Island.

D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: Organized resistance against Australian troops on Goodenough Island ceases; 250 Japanese are withdrawn to Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, by destroyers after nightfall.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI)): The 11th Bombardment Squadron, 341st BG (Medium), based at Kunming with B-25s, sends a detachment to operate from Nanning.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade, 7th Division, continues to drive the Japanese back along the Kokoda Track but meets heavy resistance at Eora Creek. Meanwhile, after an exhausting overland journey, the head of the U.S. 2d Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, reaches Jaure. From there the force is to move to the Buna area via Natunga and Bofu, with the antitank and Cannon Companies protecting its rear and harassing the Japanese in the Wairopi area. In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25's hit Lae Airfield.

PACIFIC OCEAN: At 1245 hours, two U.S. naval aircraft carrier forces, comprised of USS Enterprise and Hornet, rendezvous about 288 nautical miles NE of Vila, Efate Island, New Hebrides Islands, and come under command of Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, commander of Task Force 16.
USN submarine USS Nautilus sinks a Japanese cargo ship about 45 nautical miles ENE of Aomori, Honshu, Japan, in position 41.10N, 141.38E.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, a Japanese column is observed east of the Matanikau River on the foothills of Mt Austen in the afternoon and bombarded by artillery and aircraft with unobserved results. Shortly after midnight 24/25 October, a regiment of the main Japanese assault force attacks the southern flank of the Lunga perimeter, where 1st Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment is thinly spread along a 2,800-yard front, the 2d Battalion having been withdrawn to plug a gap between the Lunga perimeter and the forward positions along the Matanikau River. Marines, assisted by fire of adjacent troops, the 2d Battalion of the 164th Infantry Regiment, and reinforced during night by the 3d Battalion of the 164th Infantry Regiment, hold against repeated attacks, and the Japanese retire during the morning of 25 October.
USMC and USAAF fighters at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, continue to inflict damaging losses upon the Japanese naval air force; Japanese ground forces, attacking aggressively, are again repulsed by defenses around Henderson area.

UNITED STATES: Over 8,000 Japanese American prisoners are working to save the beet and potato crop harvest in various western states.
Spike Jones and his City Slickers' record of "Der Fuehrer's Face" with vocal by Carl Grayson makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The song is from the Walt Disney animated short "In Nutzi Land.." This is the first of his records to make the charts and it stays there for ten weeks and rises to Number 3.

 

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BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Thirteen USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's bomb shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

CHINA: Twelve B-25s and seven P-40s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force (CATF), hit Kowloon Docks at Hong Kong; 21 aircraft intercept and a B-25 and a P-40 are shot down; this marks the first loss of a CATF B-25 in combat; the Japanese interceptors are virtually annihilated; during the night of 25/26 October, six B-25s, on the first CATF night strike, continue bombing Hong Kong, hitting the North Point power plant which provides electricity for the shipyards; three other B-25s bomb the secondary target, the Canton warehouse area, causing several large explosions and fires.

INDIA AIR TASK FORCE (IATF): In India, Japanese aircraft attack airfields connected with the the India-China air transport route, heavily bombing Dinjan and Chabua fields and scoring hits also at Mohanbari and Sookerating;10 US aircraft are destroyed and 17 badly damaged; 9 Japanese aircraft are downed. The 492d Bombardment Squadron, 7th BG (Heavy),arrives at Karchi, India from the US with B-24s; and the 493d BombardmentSquadron is activated at Karachi and assigned to the 7th BG (the 492d and 493d will fly their first mission on 24 and 26 Jan 43 respectively).

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb and strafe the Isurava-Kokoda Track, the west bank of the Kumusi River, and the area north of Asisi as Australian ground forces push toward Kokoda in the Owen Stanley Range.
HQ 38th BG (Medium) and the 405th Bombardment Squadron move from Townsville to Port Moresby with B-25s. The 93d Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), begins a movement from Mareeba to the US.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines are active off Japan:
- At 1100 hours, USS Nautilus sinks a sampan about 201 nautical miles ESE of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, in position 41.45N, 145.32E.
- USS Whale lays mines off Honshu, Japan, at the entrance to Inland Sea and later sinks an armed tanker about 68 nautical miles SSE of Tokushima, Shikoku, Japan, in approximate position 33.00N, 135.00E.

CORAL SEA: In the Coral Sea during the afternoon, a USAAF B-17 on a sea-search mission sights a powerful Japanese Task Force northwest of Santa Cruz Island, Solomon Islands, heading for Guadalcanal. With the Japanese Army bogged down in the jungles of Guadalcanal for the past several days, the Japanese Navy must take action or return for fuel.
Their aircraft carriers HIJMS Shokaku, Zuikaku, Zhiho and Junyo, with supporting ships, are steaming northeast of Guadalcanal. The USN has the aircraft carriers USS Hornet and Enterprise with escorts. The Japanese have 199 operational aircraft with the U.S. carriers showing 133 operational aircraft. With both sides receiving assistance from land based aircraft, they have spotted both sides carriers. The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands will occur tomorrow.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese Army on Guadalcanal finally reach the Marine Defensive Line, south of Henderson Field in force, between 0000 and 0100 hours. The battle first involves the 1st Battalion 7th Marine Regiment and the machine guns of Sergeant John Basilone keep the Japanese off balance. Basilone is later awarded the Medal of Honor for action this night. As the battle progressed, Lieutenant Colonel Lewis (Chesty) Puller, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion, brings in his reserves, platoons of the Army's 3d Battalion, 164th Infantry Regiment. By 0200 hours, the entire 3d Battalion is ordered to the line. The soldiers are placed with Marines rather than as a unit. The attack continues until dawn with the center of the line pulling back and absorbing the attack. Isolated small groups of Japanese have gotten through the line.
Marine patrols find 67 during the day; 300 more Japanese have fallen in front of the Marine Lines. Artillery and mortars have claimed uncounted soldiers in the jungle and woods beyond the perimeter.
The daylight occupies the Americans with four air strikes, between 1420 and 1515 hours, from Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, and naval bombardments. The first is from a cruiser, five destroyers and a minelayer. The Japanese move in and sink the tug USS Seminole and patrol craft YP-284 which are unloading aviation gasoline, howitzers, and marines about 3.5 miles E of Lunga Point. Three Japanese destroyers take the two ships under fire and sink both of them. Shortly after beginning the Japanese bombardment, a Marine battery hits a gun mount on the destroyer HIJMS Akatsuki which retires under a smoke screen. During this retirement the Cactus Air Force has four F4F Wildcats of Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-121 strafe them.
The second Japanese bombardment fleet is spotted by the Cactus Air Force and five SBDs of Scouting Squadron VS-71 attack at 1300 hours. Light cruiser HIJMS Yura is struck with a 1,000 pound and a 500 pound bomb and destroyer HIJMS Akizuki suffers a near miss. Two more attacks from the Cactus Air Force do no damage. Then an attack from five SBDs of VS-71, four USAAF P-39s with bombs and three F4Fs, followed immediately by an attack from six USAAF B-17's finishes off light cruiser HIJMS Yura and damage another destroyer.
The Japanese raid, at 1500 hours hits the Henderson Field graveyard of wrecked aircraft. Losses include ten "Zeke" fighters, two "Betty" bombers and two F4Fs. The Wildcat pilots are rescued. Today will become known as Dugout Sunday on Guadalcanal. At 1930 hours, Japanese artillery begins firing on Marine positions near the coast on the west side of the perimeter. Between 2000 and 2400 hours, the Japanese column fights the jungle to reach their attack positions. The Marines of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment and soldiers of the 3d Battalion, 164th Infantry Regiment sort out their units and settle in their sector, south of Henderson Field. At 2000 hours, Japanese artillery fire hits this sector for about an hour and this is followed by three hours of small actions against the American line with groups of 30 to 200 Japanese attacking piecemeal.

 

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CHINA: B-25's of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force move to western China to carry out the neutralization of Lashio, Burma, where the Japanese have aircraft they are using against the Dinjan, India area; P-40s continue to hit the Hong Kong-Canton area, using dive-bombing tactics for first time in the area.

INDIA: The Japanese again bit airfields in Assam connected with the India-China air transport route, concentrating on Sookerating. A freight depot, containing food and medical supplies for China, is destroyed but no U.S. aircraft are lost. Due to a lack of warning, no fighters intercept the attacking force.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25's attack Salamaua and Lae Aerodromes. In Papua New Guinea, an A-20, escorted by P-40s, bomb and strafe trails in the Missima-Kaile-Deniki area.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The 21,936 ton U.S. liner SS President Coolidge, chartered for use as a troop transport, blunders into a U.S. minefield off Espiritu Santo at 0930 hours and strikes two mines; the ship is beached to facilitate salvage, but slips into deep water and sinks. Four of the 5,050 Army troops are lost in the accident, as is one of the 290-man merchant complement. There are no casualties among the 51-man Armed Guard.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Battle of Santa Cruz Islands occurs as Task Force 16 (Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) and TF 17 (Rear Admiral George D. Murray) engage a numerically superior Japanese force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi). Although the Japanese achieve a tactical victory, the failure of their simultaneous land offensive on Guadalcanal means that they cannot exploit it to its fullest. The dwindling number of Japanese carrier planes cannot eliminate Henderson Field, while fuel shortages compel the Combined Fleet to retire on Truk Island in the Caroline Islands.
Americans control the skies above the sea routes to Guadalcanal. The victory, however, does not come cheaply in this, the fourth major carrier battle of 1942, for the USN aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is damaged by planes from Japanese aircraft carriers HIJMS Junyo and Shokaku; aircraft carrier USS Hornet is damaged by planes from HIJMS Junyo, Shokaku, and Zuikaku; battleship USS South Dakota and light cruiser USS San Juan are damaged by planes from HIJMS Junyo; destroyer USS Smith is damaged by a crashing carrier attack plane; during the operation of fighting the fires on USS Hornet and taking off her survivors, destroyer USS Hughes is damaged in a collision with the doomed carrier (as well as by friendly fire earlier in the action).
The attempt to scuttle the irreparably damaged USS Hornet, by gunfire and torpedoes from destroyers USS Mustin and Anderson fails; destroyer Porter is accidentally torpedoed by a battle damaged and a ditched TBF of Torpedo Squadron VT 10, and, deemed beyond salvage, is scuttled by destroyer USS Shaw. SBDs of Scouting Squadron VS 10 in USS Enterprise damage aircraft carrier HIJMS Zuiho; SBDs of Bombing Squadron VB8 and VS8 in USS Hornet damage carrier HIJMS Shokaku and destroyer HIJMS Terutsuki; TBF Avengers of VT6 in USS Hornet damage heavy cruiser HIJMS Chikuma.

JAPAN: At 0900 hours, USN submarine USS S-31 sinks an armed transport off the east coast off Paramushiru Island, Kurile Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Shortly after midnight, the main attack against the Lunga Perimeter begins again on Guadalcanal. The front manned by the 3rd Battalion, 164th Infantry Regiment is under heavy attack by the Japanese 16th Infantry Regiment. 37mm canister fire from two guns of Weapons Company 7th Marine Regiment stops the attack cold. Some survivors succeed in infiltrating the defense lines and are hunted down. This attack, like last night, is short the right wing which is still lost in the jungle. It has turned to the east (right) due to reports of US forces and is not in position. The reports are false.
Near the coast, just east of the mouth of the Matinakau River, Colonel Oka finally reaches a position to attack. This attack falls on the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. The Japanese are heard approaching late last night. At 0300 hours the attack begins. The mortar fire of the battalion and machine gun fire from Sergeant Mitchell Paige (MOH) of the 2-7 hold off the Japanese regimental sized attack until 0500 hours. The Japanese 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, finally scales the steep slope and replaces Company F from the crest of the ridge.
Seventeen men under Major Conoley attack at 0540 hours. They eject the Japanese from the hill. This unit is drawn from communication specialists, cooks, bandsmen, and several riflemen. They receive assistance from Sergeant Paige, Company G, 7th Marine Regiment and Company C, 5th Marine Regiment. At 0800 hours, Lieutenant General Hyakutake Seikichi, Commanding General of the 17th Army, stops the attack. During the last five day, U.S. casualties are 86 killed in action and 192 wounded in action; the Japanese lose 1,553 troops south of Henderson Field and 800 near the Matinakau River.
The number of U.S. operational aircraft on Guadalcanal is now 29.

 

[syscom3]

I will be on vacation untill monday, so I wont be posting anything for Oct 27th, 28th untill then.

 

[syscom3]

Oct 29th 1942:

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A force of Japanese infantry, engineers, antiaircraft guns, and support units lands at Holtz Bay on Attu Island. Simultaneously, 1,100 troops from the 303rd Independent Infantry Battalion sail for Shemya Island. As they sail, USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 flies overhead. A USAAF Eleventh Air Force aircraft flies a special reconnaissance mission with Lieutenant General Simon B Buckner, Commanding General Alaska Defense Force, aboard. The flight covers Tanaga, Amchitka, and Japanese held Kiska Islands.

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin cables British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that it is of vital importance to the Australian Government to get the Australian 9th Division back.

CANADA: First traffic rolls over the 1,600 mile Alcan Military Highway from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska.

NEW GUINEA: Australian patrols find that the Japanese have abandoned their positions at Eora Creek from which they have held up the Australians for a week. The Australian troops pursue the Japanese along the Kokoda Track. In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20's hit the Isurava-Deniki and Abuari-Kaile trails.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Grenadier lays mines in the Tonkin Gulf off Haiphong, French Indochina.
In the Coral Sea, a USN PBY-5 Catalina of Patrol Squadron VP 11 sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-172 about 268 nautical miles SE of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in position 13.01S, 162.45E. The sub is spotted on the surface and crash-dives and is underwater when two 650-pound depth charges are dropped. A large quantity of oil appeared and remained on the surface the following day. All 91 hands aboard, including Rear Admiral Okamoto Yoshisuke, Commander of the 12th Squadron of the Kure Submarine Flotilla.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In the aftermath of recent action on Guadalcanal, the Japanese are consolidating their units west of the Lunga Perimeter. Part of this action occurs as various units struggle in over the next several days. Much of their equipment has been left behind as the Japanese again fight the jungle and hunt for food during their trek. The 1st Marine Division prepares for an offensive to drive the Japanese westward beyond the Poha River.
The 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion) is ordered to Guadalcanal from Tulagi to assist in the offensive; the 3d Battalion, which has been operating as mobile reserve in the Lunga area, is to return to Tulagi for garrison duty. The attack is to begin on 1 November after outposts have been established west of the Matanikau River and bridges have been constructed across the river.
USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's attack shipping in the Bougainville Strait between Buin and Faisi Islands.

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt offers to send an American division from the Territory of Hawaii to the Southwest Pacific Area. Roosevelt claims that the "common cause" would best be served by the retention of the Australian 9th Division in the Mid East.
- A 1943 production objective of 107,000 aircraft is given top priority by President Roosevelt in his instructions to Donald M Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board.

Oct 28th 1942:
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24's turn back from an attempted attack on the Japanese-held Kiska Island submarine base because of adverse weather; a B-17's bombs Attu Island with unobserved results and flies weather reconnaissance over Kiska, Amchitka, and Tanaga Islands.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, B-17's bomb shipping in the harbor at Rabaul while B-25's hit the airfield at Gasmata.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): The 68th Fighter Squadron, 347th FG, begins moving from Tongatabu to New Caledonia.

CANADA: At Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, Canadian Health Minister, Ian Mackenzie, and the U.S. Secretary of Alaska, Edward L. Bartlett, cut a ribbon to open the Alcan Military Highway, today known as the Alaska Highway. The 1,600 mile road, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks Alaska, is built to move supplies and munitions rapidly north in case of Japanese invasion.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the 2d Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, and a portable hospital begin the difficult march from Jaure toward Natunga and Bofu, preceded by two companies, which are to secure dropping grounds.

UNITED STATES: After completing Officer Candidate School, former Hollywood actor Clark Gable is commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Procurement of the expendable radio sonobuoy for use in antisubmarine warfare is initiated as the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, Admiral Ernest J. King, directs the Bureau of Ships to procure 1,000 sonobuoys and 100 associated receivers.


Oct 27th 1942:
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24's flying an attack on the Japanese-held Kiska Island submarine base turn back due to weather; a weather aircraft flies reconnaissance over Gareloi, Segula, Kiska, and Attu Islands.

D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: USAAF Fifth Air Force P-39's escort Australian Hudsons in a strike against small craft at Ferguson Island.

INDIA: British General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, and U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief US China-Burma- India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC), agree that Stilwell shall conduct an offensive in the Hukawng Valley of northern Burma and occupy the area Myitkyina-Bhamo and make contact with Chinese forces from Yunnan. The Americans are to be
responsible for construction of the Ledo Road to Myitkyina; the road is eventually to link with Burma Road.

NEW GUINEA: Australian troops are held up on the Kokoda Track. Engineers work to repair the bridges over Eora Creek which are washed away by heavy rains overnight.
USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s hit trails in southeast Papua New Guinea, around Alola, Isurava, and Abuari.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The abandoned aircraft carrier USS Hornet, damaged by bombs and torpedoes and attempted scuttling yesterday, is sunk by Japanese destroyers HIJMS Akigumo and Makigumo at 0135 hours, about 398 nautical miles east of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, in position 08.38S, 166.43E. The USN now has only four aircraft carriers in commission.
At 2200 hours in the South China Sea, the USN submarine USS Tautog sinks a Japanese transport/cargo ship about 124 nautical miles ESE of Saigon, French Indochina, in position 10.20N, 108.43E.

UNITED STATES: The Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) is established at Orlando, Florida, tasked with testing and demonstrating tactical unit organization, equipment and techniques; training of select USAAF, Army and Navy personnel in air tactics and doctrine; and training of air intelligence officers and air inspectors.

 

[syscom3]

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 twice flies reconnaissance over Agattu and Japanese-held Kiska Islands; there are no bombing mission as all bombers are on alert for possible naval targets.

NEW CALEDONIA: A "Glen" seaplane is launched from Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 and reconnoiters Noumea, New Caledonia Island.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian advance up the Kokoda Trail reaches Alola. This is 10 miles from Kokoda. One Brigade will proceed directly up the track, the other will advance more easterly to Oivi.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USMC F4F Wildcats from Guadalcanal make a dawn attack on the Rekata Bay Seaplane Base on Santa Isabella Island. The Marine pilots shoot down three "Rufe" seaplane fighters (Nakajima A6M2-N, Navy Type 2 Fighter Seaplanes) and two "Pete" biplanes (Mitsubishi F1M2, NavyType 0 Observation Seaplane) at 0515 hours.
- USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb the harbor and shipping at Buin on southern Bougainville Island.
- USN Task Group 64.2 (Rear Admiral Norman Scott), comprising light cruiser USS Atlanta and four destroyers, bombards Japanese positions at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal.