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

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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D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: Organized resistance against Australian troops on Goodenough Island ceases; 250 Japanese are withdrawn to Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, by destroyers after nightfall.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of the 7th Marine Regiment is thinly spread along a 2,800-yard (2 560 meter) front, the 2d Battalion having been withdrawn to plug a gap between the Lunga perimeter and the forward positions along the Matanikau River.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'sbomb shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island.

CHINA: Twelve B-25 Mitchells 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 SBD Dauntlesses 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-39 Airacobras with bombs and three F4F Wildcats, 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 F4F Wildcats. 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 ditched TBF Avenger of Torpedo Squadron VT 10, and, deemed beyond salvage, is scuttled by destroyer USS Shaw. SBD Dauntlesses of Scouting Squadron VS 10 in USS Enterprise damage aircraft carrier HIJMS Zuiho; SBDs of Bombing Squadron VB 8 and VS 8 in USS Hornet damage carrier HIJMS Shokaku and destroyer HIJMS Terutsuki; TBF Avengers of VT 6 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.

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

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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 2,575 kilometer (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 (497 kilometers) southeast 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 (295 kilogram) 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 Fighter Group, 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 2 575 kilometer (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-20 Havocs 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 (229 kilometers) east-southeast 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.

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator 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 (16 kilometers) 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, Navy
Type 0 Observation Seaplane) at 0515 hours.
- USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses 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.

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force weather and reconnaissance flight is flown over Japanese held Attu and Kiska Islands; over Kiska, the weather aircraft draws antiaircraft fire from Little Kiska Island; no other missions as all combat aircraft are alerted for a possible naval target.

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

JAPAN: The Central Agreement between the Japanese Army and Navy, concerning the strengthening of defenses in the Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alaska, U.S., is published as Navy Directive No. 155. The objective of the operations is to increase the land forces necessary for occupying and securing the western Aleutian Islands, thereby strengthening its defenses.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/31st Battalion on the Kododa Track arrives in Isurava early in the afternoon. Meanwhile, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb and strafe Nauro and the area to the north while B-25 Mitchells strafe supply trucks southeast of Gona.

GUADALCANAL: On Guadalcanal Colonel Tsuji Masanobu arrives at the Japanese 17th Army headquarters at Kokombona. He has retraced the route of the Japanese 2nd Division in 2.5 days wracked with malaria. Fresh men took a week to make this hike. He describes the failed attack and current situation. They abort plans to land the 38th Division east of the Lunga perimeter.
The 1st Marine Division completes preparations for their offensive on Guadalcanal. The 5th Marine Regiment and 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion) move into attack positions along the Matanikau River. During the night of 31 October/1 November, Company E of the 5th Marine Regiment crosses the Matanikau River and outposts the west bank, and the 1st Engineer Battalion constructs three footbridges.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's bomb shipping in Buin, Bougainville- Faisi Island-Tonolai, Bougainville Island area.

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INDIA AIR TASK FORCE (IATF): During Nov 42, the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Tenth Air Force, based at Karachi, India, with F-4s, sends a flight to operate from Kunming, China until July 1943 (first mission is 1 Dec).

HAWAII: HQ 307th Bombardment Group arrives at Hickam Field, Hawaii from the US.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): The 431st Bombardment Squadron, 11th BG (Heavy), moves from Viti Levu, Fiji , to Espiritu Santo with B-17s. During Nov, the 98th Bombardment Squadron, 11th BG (Heavy), based on Espiritu Santo, begins operating from Guadalcanal , Solomon with B-17s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-25's bomb the airfield and dump area at Lae. B-17's strike shipping in the Buin-Faisi, Shortland-Tonolai. Kahili Airfield is also attacked. Lost is B-17E 41-2635. Force landed at 7-Mile Drome is A-20A "Little Hellion" 40-166. A detachment of the 33d Troop Carrier Squadron, 315th Troop Carrier Group, begins operating from Cairns, Queensland, Australia with C-47s (squadron is enroute to Australia from the US).

GUADALCANAL: On Guadalcanal, the 1st Marine Division, with artillery, naval gunfire, and air support, launches an attack toward the Poha River. The 5th Marine Regiment, followed by the 2d Marine Regiment (less the 3d Battalion) in reserve, crosses footbridges over the Matanikau River at 0630 hours and drives west about 1,000 yards (914 meters) in two columns to positions short of Point Cruz, the 1st Battalion , the right flank column, meeting considerable delaying opposition along the coast. The Whaling Group (3d Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment and scout-sniper detachment) crosses the river upstream and advances west on the inland route to protect the left flank of the 5th Marine Regiment.
To forestall expected Japanese landings in the Koli Point area, east of the Lunga perimeter, the 2d Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment starts east toward the Metapona River. The only authenticated US bayonet charge of the campaign is conducted by Company I. By nightfall they are west of Point Cruz.
The first squadron of Marine MAG-11, Marine VMSB-132 begins arriving at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. The squadron is equipped with SBD Dauntlesses.

BOUGAINVILLE: B-17's strike shipping in the Buin area of southern Bougainville Island. Kahili Airfield on southern Bougainville is also attacked.

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EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Dili on East Timor Island, Netherlands East Indies.

(POA, Seventh Air Force): The 370th, 371st, 372d and 424th Bombardment Squadrons, 307th BG (Heavy), arrive at Kipapa Field, Wheeler Field, Kahuku and Dillingham Field, Hawaii respectively from the US with B-24s (sea-search missions are flown in Nov-Dec).

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): The 68th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter
Group, arrives on New Caledonia from Tongatabu, Tonga with P-40s (first mission is 12 Nov).

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 25th Brigade, which has reentered the battle for the Kokoda Track, seizes Kokoda and its airfield, greatly facilitating supply and reinforcement of Australians
in this area. Piecemeal movement by night of the 128th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 32d Infantry Division, less elements still at Port Moresby, by lugger from Warngela to Pongani and Mendaropu is completed by this time and supplies are being accumulated. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, sets 15 November as the tentative date for an attack to reduce the Buna-Gona beachhead and agrees to a proposal by General Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Allied Land
Forces Southwest Pacific and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force, that troops be transferred by air to Pongani.
- USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses sink a Japanese army cargo ship off Buna.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: A "Glen" small seaplane is launched by a Japanese submarine and flies a reconnaissance mission over Efate Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Tonkin Gulf of the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Tambor lays mines in Hainan Strait between Hainan Island and the Chinese mainland.

BISMARK SEA: In the Bismarck Sea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's attack shipping northeast of Buna, Papua New Guinea while.

SOLOMON ISLANDS:In the Solomon Sea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25's strike at a convoy south of New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.

GUADALCANAL: On Guadalcanal, the 3d Marine Regiment envelops the Japanese on the coast at Point Cruz. The 3d Battalion joins the 1st Battalion in the coastal battle east of Point Cruz while the 2d
Battalion, on the left, drives north to the coast west of Point Cruz and turns east, trapping the Japanese. The 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion) moves forward on the left of the 5th Marine Regiment to continue a westward attack. Stores, ammunition, and one Army and one Marine Corps
155 mm (6.1 inch) gun battery arrive at Lunga Point. The two batteries are the heaviest U.S. artillery to reach the island and the first capable of countering enemy fire effectively. East of the Lunga perimeter, the 2d Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment crosses the Metapona River mouth and establishes itself near Tetere village. During the night 2/3 November, the Japanese 17th Army lands supplies and about 1,500 men east of Koli Point to supply and reinforce the Japanese already there; they are ordered to construct an airfield.

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BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Fore B-17's attack a ship south of Gasmata, New Britain Island.

CHINA: Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek agrees conditionally to plans formulated during a recent conference in India, promising 15 divisions from Yunnan, provided the Allies furnish strong sea and air forces.
Lt. General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief US China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) in Burma, is to command the Chinese Army in India (CAl) during Burma operations.
Chiang’s promise of the Yunnan divisions leads to accelerated planning for the
reorganization of Yunnan force, called Y-Force.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Dili on Portugese Timor Island.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's bomb the airfield and wharf at Lae.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 2d Battalion 7th Marine Regiment,
begins a firefight with Japanese units east of the Metapona River. Without radio contact or air or naval support, Colonel Herman Hanneken, commander of the 7th Marine Regiment, conservatively pulls back. When he is finally able to contact Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, in the afternoon, the 1st Battalion 7th Marine Regiment, by boat, with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions 164th Infantry Regiment, are sent to reinforce. With initial assistance of the Cactus Air Force, and the artillery of the 3rd Battalion 10th Marine Regiment, they turn the tide east of the Lunga Perimeter. In the
closing moments the 2d Battalion receive friendly fire from the Cactus Air
Force.
General Hattori has arrived on Guadalcanal to observe and report the situation of the 17th Army to Tokyo. His initial accounts are of battalions crushed by shelling; the "actual situation is beyond imagination. " He reports that no future contribution from the 2nd Division should be counted on.

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-65 is sunk in the harbor of Kiska Island, when she accidentally dives into a reef while seeking to avoid an attack. Bad weather at Umnak Island and Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island and a flooded field at Adak Island preclude missions by the USAAF Eleventh Air Force; a new Adak Island runway permits an air alert.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Japanese strongpoints at Aileu on Portugese (East) Timor Island.

FIJI ISLANDS: Japanese submarine I-31 launches a "Glen" seaplane to reconnoiter Suva.

NEW CALEDONIA: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a "Glen" seaplane to reconnoiter Nouméa, New Caledonia Island.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade begins an attack on Oivi and finds the Japanese prepared fora firm stand. Colonel Leif Sverdrup, the deputy to the Southwest Pacific Area Engineer Officer, by this time has cleared sites for three more airfields in the general vicinity of Dyke Ackland Bay, the most important of these at Pongani.
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17's and B-25's bomb the town and harbor of Salamaua.
In Papua New Guinea, A-20's hit troop concentrations at Oivi, where an Australian attack meets firm resistance; transports fly most of the remainder of the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, to Wanigela.

AUSTRALIA:HQ 90th BG and the 319th, 320th, 321st and 400th Bombardment Squadrons arrive at Iron Range, Queensland, Australia from Hawaii with B-24s (first mission is 13 Nov).

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Lunga perimeter command is reorganized and garrison is reinforced, two sectors are established, the commander of each being responsible to 1st Marine Division headquarters. Brigadier General William H. Rupertus, Assistant Commanding General of the division, is assigned the sector east of Lunga River and Brigadier General Edmund B. Sebree, Assistant Commanding General of the Americal Division, the western sector.
The 8th Marine Regiment, reinforced, of the 2d Marine Division debarks from a naval task force in the Lunga-Kukum area and is attached to 1st Marine Division.
The 1st Marine Division halts their westward offensive short of Kokumbona because of a Japanese threat east of perimeter. The 2d Marine Regiment (less 3d Battalion), reinforced by the 1st Battalion of the 164th Infantry Regiment, after driving 2,000 yards (1829 meters) west of Point Cruz, breaks off their attack and digs in at Point Cruz; the 5th Marine Regiment and the Whaling Group return to positions east of the Matanikau River.
East of the perimeter, Brigadier General Rupertus and Headquarters and 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, arrive in the Koli Point area to assist the 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. The 164 Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) and Company B of the 8th Marine Regiment march to the west bank of the Nalimbiu River in the region south of the 7th Marine Regiment and elements start north along the river. Meanwhile, the naval task force transporting the 8th Marine Regiment lands forces at Aola Bay to establish an airfield.
The Aola Force (1st Battalion of 147th Infantry Regiment; companies C and E of the 2d Marine Raider Battalion; the 5th Defense Battalion detachment; Battery K of the 246th Field Artillery Battalion, Americal Division; and 500 naval construction troops) establishes a beachhead a little east of the Aola River without opposition.
This landing is the result of the cancellation of the landings on Ndeni Island in the Santa Cruz Islands; Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, wants to build another airfield there.
Coastwatcher Martin Clemens and Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, oppose this plan. Work is begun at once on an airfield, but the site is later found unsuitable. The 2d Raider Battalion is ordered to Koli Point.
USN cruisers and destroyers of Task Group 65.4 bombard Japanese positions near Koli Point, Guadalcanal.

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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force flies weather reconnaissance over Japanese-held Kiska and Little Kiska Islands.

INDIA: A reconnaissance of the Ledo area, terminus of The Ledo Road to Myitkyina, Burma, and base from which operations in northern Burma, Operation RAVENOUS, are to start, is begun.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade continues their attack on Oivi against determined resistance. The Australian 25th Brigade moves against Gorari from Kokoda.

Bismarck Archipelago: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells unsuccessfully attack a schooner near Arawe on the western tip of New Britain Island,

GUADALCANAL: On Guadalcanal, the US Army's164th Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) crosses the flooded Nalimbiu River about 3,500 yards (3 200 meters), east of the Lunga perimeter, and drive north
along the east bank in an effort to outflank the Japanese facing the 7th Marine Regiment.
The Japanese light cruiser HIJMS Tenryu and five destroyers of the Otsu Detachment of the Tokyo Express lands part of the 228th Regiment at Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal. The Ko Detachment with ten destroyers of the Tokyo Express lands Major General Ito, commander of the 38th Infantry Group, his headquarters and with the balance of the regiment is landed at Tassafaronga. Among those evacuated is Lieutenant General Kawaguchi Kiyotake, commander of the 35th Brigade, 141 soldiers and 206
construction workers. The U.S. opposition tonight consists of motor torpedo boat PT-39 engaging destroyer HIJMS Murasame. The other three US PT boats do not detect the Express.

[syscom3]

NEW GUINEA: General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, arrives in Point Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where the Advanced Echelon of General Headquarters opens to direct operations.
The Australian 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions, 16th Brigade, 7th Division, continue heavy fighting against the Japanese at Oivi in Papua New Guinea.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A single USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchell attacks a Japanese destroyer off the southern tip of New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago; no hits are scored.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 7th Marine Regiment establishes a bridgehead on the east bank of the Nalimbiu River. The Army's 164th Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) continues toward Koli Point, the 3d Battalion reaching it after nightfall. Aola Force transports complete unloading operations and withdraw.
The run of the Tokyo Express tonight is commanded by Captain Sato Torajiro. The Cactus Air Force strikes for some damage, but not enough to stop the run.

(Tenth Air Force): INDIA AIR TASK FORCE (IATF): In India, the 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, based at Karachi, sends a detachment to operate from Sadiya with P-40s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Point Moresby, New Guinea, where the Advanced Echelon of GHQ opens to direct operations. Force landed is DC-5 Tail Code VH-CXB near Charleville


UNITED STATES: First USN officer and enlisted women from training schools report for shore duty around the country.