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1931   (FRIDAY) 

UNITED STATES: French Premier Pierre Laval conducts a state visit to Washington, DC, to meet with President Herbert Hoover. The French outline their position on the financial crisis in Europe, arguing that Allied war debts and German reparations are directly linked. In response, President Hoover announces that when the one-year moratorium on Inter-Allied debt ends, some kind of agreement to cover the period of the business depression will be necessary.

1933   (MONDAY) 

SWITZERLAND: The German government announces that Germany withdrew from the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations in light of the failure of the Germans to gain military parity with the Western powers.

1934   (TUESDAY) 

UNITED KINGDOM: The London Naval Disarmament Conference begins. The major naval powers make a last attempt at negotiating a naval disarmament treaty in London. With mounting political tensions, the conference collapses on 19 December without agreement.

October 23rd, 1939 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyers HMS Marne and Martin laid down.

AMC HMS Ranchi commissioned. .

U.S. freighter SS Tulsa is detained at London by British authorities.

ROMANIA: The frontier between Romania and Bulgaria erupts in localised fighting late this evening, when a band of guerrillas-cum-brigands armed with "military rifles" crosses the border and attacks the Romanian border village of Sharshaniar in a "smash and grab" looting raid.  While being pursued by a patrol of Royal Romanian Gendarmes (Jandarmi), the attackers wound two gendarmes ("gravely") before fleeing back across the border into Bulgaria.  Romanian authorities investigating the incident declined to attach any political significance to the incursion, declaring it to be a simple case of robbery. (Source: a copy of an article from the New York Times Newspaper) (Greg Kelley)

FINLAND: The field army is fully mobilised and in its positions along the eastern border.

Moscow: The second round of Fenno-Soviet negotiations begin.

The Finns make counter proposals to Russia stating, "Finland understands the efforts which the Soviet Union is making to render the defense of Leningrad more secure. As she had repeatedly stated before, Finland wishes her relations with the Soviet Union to remain friendly and good." The Soviets reject them stating ". . . in accordance with the views defined in the memorandum of the Government of the Soviet Union of October 14, the proposals advanced by them represent their minimum terms, . . ." 

EGYPT: U.S. steamship SS President Hayes, detained by British naval authorities at Alexandria the previous day, is released, but not before a consignment of rubber earmarked for delivery to Genoa, Italy, is unloaded. The cargo is held at Alexandria for about two weeks, and then reloaded on board steamship SS President Polk. The President of the shipping concern involved (American President Lines) subsequently requests the Department of State to protest methods employed by the British naval authorities at Port Said and Alexandria in searching that company's vessels. "The fact that [the] British...allowed this eventual delivery," the shipping company executive complains, "indicates that [the] shipment ought never have been interfered with in [the] first place."

U.S.A.: Writer Zane Grey, 64, dies at his home in Altadena, California.

Corvette USS Surprise (ex-HMS Heliotrope laid down).

Submarine USS Seadragon commissioned.

CARIBBEAN SEA: Destroyer HMCS Saguenay intercepted the German tanker Emmy Friederich in the Yucatan Channel. The German ship scuttled herself before she could be captured.

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October 23rd, 1940 (WEDNESDAY)

Battle of Britain: By night Glasgow and London are bombed.

U.S.A.: Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox makes a public statement that it was now US policy to fully defend the Philippine Islands against any and all attack. (Marc Small)

     The Government protests the potential German use of the French fleet.

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October 23rd, 1941 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: General de Gaulle asks resistance members to stop murdering German military personnel, to avoid further retaliation against the French populace.

GERMANY: Catholic Provost Bernhard Lichtenberg, who right through the stepped-up antisemitic agitation, continues to say a daily prayer for the Jews, is finally arrested. During questioning by the SS, the Father Lichtenberg asserts that the deportation of the Jews is irreconcilable with Christian moral law, and asks to be allowed to accompany the deportees as their spiritual adviser. He is sentenced to two years imprisonment for abuse of the pulpit. Upon his release he immediately resumes his ministry, both pastoral and social, and is arrested again and sentenced to the Dachau concentration camp. He dies in a rail car en route to Dachau.

U-216 launched.

U-593 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin reorganizes his military high command. General Georgii Zhukov is now Commander in Chief Western Front and General Semen Timoshenko is commander of the Commander in Chief Southwestern Front.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: USAT Tasker H Bliss arrives in Manila with 10 more pilots for the 24^th P.G. (Marc Small)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Wollongong commissioned.

U.S.A.: Walt Disney's feature-length animated musical "Dumbo" opens at the Broadway Theater in New York City.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Tribal class Destroyer HMS Cossack is torpedoed west of Portugal at 35 36N, 10 04W by U-563 whilst escorting convoy HG.75 from Gibraltar to the UK. She sinks three days later, despite attempts to save her. (85)(Alex Gordon)

An incredibly strange event befell U-106 on this date. When the replacement watch opened the tower hatch in rough seas they found out that the entire previous tower watch of 4 men had been washed overboard. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Grüneberg, Fähnrich zur See Herbert Von Bruchhausen, Oberbootsmannmaat Karl Heemann, Matrose Ewald Brühl]

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October 23rd, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Convoy HX-212 arrived Liverpool having lost 5 of its 43 ships to U-boats. U-436, KpLt Günther Seibicke, Knights Cross, CO, sank 2 ships and shared in the sinking of a third. U-606 and U-624 each sank a ship and shared in the sinking of another.

Destroyer HMS Limbourne commissioned.

FRANCE: Eight RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off La Pallice.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, three RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos hit the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo with the loss of one aircraft.

GERMANY: Berlin radio states that Britain would be excluded from the post-war "European Charter" because "she has estranged herself from Europe more and more under Churchill's regime."

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 26 Wellingtons to bomb two targets in the Ruhr: seven bomb Essen and four bomb Krefeld. These aircraft bombed estimated positions through cloud without loss.

NORWAY: During the night of 23/24 October, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Stavanger; one aircraft is lost.

CRETE: US Army, Middle East Air Force bombers sent to attack Candia turn back short of the target due to bad weather.

ITALY: During the night of 23/24 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 122 aircraft, 53 Halifaxes, 51 Stirlings and 18 Wellingtons, to bomb Genoa; 92 bomb the target with the loss of two Halifaxes and a Stirling. The target area is found to be almost completely cloud-covered and it is later discovered that the raid has actually fallen on the town of Savona, 30 miles (48 kilometers) along the coast from Genoa. Four aircraft bomb Turin where two people are killed and ten injured.

NORTH  AFRICA: The invasion transports are bound from the US and UK for the "Torch" landings. There are 21 German U-Boats operating in  the Gibraltar area. Due to their pre-occupation with convoy SL-125 they do  not sight the invasion ships.

FRENCH MOROCCO: Admiral Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Armistice (Vichy) Army, arrives in Rabat to rally Vichy colonies.

ALGERIA: General Mark Clark is landed by submarine to see French General  Mast. Mast agrees to accept the authority of General Giraud, who is to be  smuggled out of Vichy France and into North Africa. This compromise, like  most, turns out to be unworkable.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force bombers sent to attack and Bengasi turn back short of the target due to bad weather.

EGYPT: Montgomery launches the Second Battle of El Alamein with a heavy artillery barrage.

The El Alamein offensive by the British Eighth Army, Operation LIGHTFOOT, begins at 2140 hours local with an artillery barrage by 1,000+ guns aimed at Axis batteries; at 2200 hours, the barrage switches to the forward positions as British troops move forward; heavy fighting continues during the night of 23/24 October with XXX Corps on the north making the main effort and XIII Corps conducting diversionary actions on the south. The 12 Italian and German divisions amount to 80,000 men (53,000 of which are Italian). The Commonwealth forces amount to 230,000 men divided among ten divisions. As far as the tanks are concerned, only the German Panzer IV (35 total) are equal to the Commonwealth's American M4 Sherman (252 total) and M3 Grant (170 total) tanks. The British attack the sector defended by the Italian Folgore Parachute Division. The Italian forces include 3,500 paratroopers, 1,000 Guastatori d'Africa, 80 artillery pieces and five tanks of German origin. The Folgore prepare their defenses among a 15 kilometer (9.3 mile) barrier and realize they are the last defense before the rear of the Italo-German Army. The fighting lasted for one week and constituted four separate battles; the central sector on the 23rd, the northern sector near Naqb Rala on the 24th, the central sector again on the 24th and 25th, and the southern sector on the 25th, 26th and 29th. The British are thrown back after every attempt with a considerable loss of life and are ordered a stop any further initiatives on that front. Total dead, wounded or missing amount to 1,100 for the Folgore. Eventually General Montgomery's forces claim victory over the Axis forces in El Alamein and Rommel orders the Folgore to withdraw on the 2nd of November, leaving their defenses still intact. Eventually, the remaining Folgore forces thin out during the difficult withdrawal through the desert.

     RAF and USAAF fighter aircraft maintain constant air patrols over Axis airfields after a four-day bombing campaign wipes out most of the opposing forces.

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 Buthidaung.

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 Havocs bomb and strafe Deniki and the Deniki-Kokoda Track.

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

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

SOLOMON ISLANDS: General Vandegrift leaves Guadalcanal for a conference with Admiral Halsey  at Noumea. General Gieger, USMC, is in charge. General Gieger has been in  command of the Cactus Airforce and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

A raid of  12 Zeros on a fighter sweep and then16 Bettys with 17 Zeros escorting is  intercepted by 24 Wildcats and 4 P-39s, commanded by Lt. Col. Harold Bauer,   USMC, MOH. Losses: 6 Zeros; 1 Betty; 1 Wildcat scrapped and 6 more  damaged. Capt. Joe Foss, USMC, MOH claims 4 and lands with a "dead stick"  in one of the damaged Wildcats. Capt. Foss will later serve as Governor of  South Dakota.

 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 mid afternoon, 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 allowed. Kawaguchi argues and Maruyama  dismisses him from command.

1800 hours: At dusk, 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.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Kingfish (SS-234) sinks a converted gunboat at 33-12 N, 135-14 E. (Skip Guidry)

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.

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.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Corvettes HMCS Ville de Quebec, Summerside and Alberni departed St John's for Liverpool with Convoy HX-212 and subsequent support of Operation Torch, North African Landings.

U.S.A.: Forces from the U.S. begin a movement to North Africa in preparation for Operation TORCH, the invasion of northwest Africa. The first detachment of the Western Naval Task Force, under Rear Admiral Henry K. Hewitt, sails from Hampton Roads, Virginia.

     A commercial airliner and a USAAF bomber collide in the air over Mount Jacinyo, 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."

Anti-Aircraft cruiser USS Flint laid down.

Minesweeper USS Knave laid down.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser USS Oakland launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Canada Atlantic Transit Co. merchantman Canatco (2,415 GRT), was lost when she grounded on Gannet Rock and sank off the Labrador coast, in position 53.56N, 056.25W. She was proceeding as part of convoy LN-11 at the time of her loss. The Flower-class corvette HMCS Arrowhead rescued the crew. There was no loss of life in this incident.

U-129 sank SS Reuben Tipton.

U-161 damaged HMS Phoebe.

U-504 sank SS City of Johannesburg.

U-615 sank SS Empire Star.

U-621 sank SS Empire Turnstone in Convoy ONS-136.

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October 23rd, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The prototype Vickers Windsor makes its first flight at Farnborough, Hampshire. It was originally designed to fulfill spec B.5/41 for high-altitude heavy bomber with a pressure cabin and a speed of 345mph at 31,000 feet while carrying 12,000-lb of bombs. Interestingly this aircraft also had remote control 20mm Hispano cannon installed to fire rearwards from the outer engine nacelles.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill issues a directive outlining the mission of Admiral Louis Mountbatten as Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command.

Patrol vessel HMS Kilmelford launched.

Frigates HMS Riou and Rutherford launched.

Minesweeper HMS Arcturus commissioned.

Frigate HMS Kempthorne commissioned.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: Light cruiser HMS Charybdis (88) and destroyer HMS Limbourne (L 57) are sunk by German ships escorting a blockade runner.

Cruiser HMS Charybdis is torpedoed and sunk by torpedo boats T.23 and T.27 in the English Channel North of Ile de Batz at 48 59N 03 39W. There are 107 survivors.

          Destroyer HMS Limbourne loses her bow when she is torpedoed in the English Channel, North of the Ile de Batz at 48 59N 03 39W. There are 103 survivors, but as the ship could not be towed or made to steer a straight course, she is scuttled by torpedoes fired from escort destroyers HMS Talybont (L 18) and HMS Rocket (H 92).

          Whilst attempting to clear mines, minesweeper HMS Cromarty is mined and sinks at the western approaches of the Bonifacio Straits. There are 62 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

GERMANY: Operation Pointblank, the Anglo-US strategic bombing offensive against Germany, is growing in intensity and technical complexity. RAF Bomber Command now has over 700 operational heavy bombers, compared with just under 300 at the end of 1942, and is pounding German cities by night. Yesterday US chiefs of staff agreed to establish a new bombing force in Italy, the Fifteenth Air Force, which will strike at targets which the Eighth cannot reach from England.

A growing number of technical aids have been developed to help in the battle against the German night fighters. Last night for the first time "Corona" was used: confusing orders, readings from newspapers, even parts of Hitler's speeches were broadcast from England on the fighters' frequency to interfere with the German voice-control.

U-249 launched.

U-247 and U-317 commissioned.

U-196 under Korvkpt Kentrat completed from 13 March, 1943 to 23 Oct, 1943 the longest patrol a submarine in WWII ever did (225 days at sea).

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: Jewish women from Warsaw today attacked the SS on the threshold of the gas chamber, killing one and injuring several others. The rebellion started in the undressing room, where a woman seized the revolver of SS Sergeant-Major Josef Schillinger, one of the camp's most sadistic and feared guards, and shot him dead. The other women mauled their oppressors, scalping one and tearing the nose off another. They escaped the gas chamber. But their triumph was brief. Commandant Rudolf Hoess has had the rioters removed from the room one by one, and shot. 

U.S.S.R.: Melitopol falls to the Russian Army. They also reach a point 20  miles from Krivoy Roy and are making good progress.

Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Dispatch Ship "Tanais" - by U-boat, in Karkinitskii Bay   (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

ALBANIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Bomber Command B-25 Mitchells hit a bridge in Albania. ;

ITALY: The British 56th Division captures Sparanise. 

In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, opens an assault on St. Angelo d'Alife but is unable to take it.

     German planes raid shipping off Naples; U.S. freighter SS James Iredell is hit by three bombs that set alight the ship's gasoline cargo. Although the ship is abandoned and the fire burns for 64 hours until it is ultimately put out, there are no casualties among the 44-man merchant crew, the 28-man Armed Guard or the 28 passengers.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force XII Bomber Command B-26 Marauders bomb railroad and road bridges at Marsicano and Montalto di Castro and P-38 Lightnings hit the airfield at Tirana. The XII Air Support Command, RAF Desert Air Force (DAF), and Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force attack troop concentrations in the Spinete area, and town areas, vehicles, trains, railroads, highways, bridges, and gun positions at or near Gaeta, Pescara, Vasto, Isolella, Sulmona, Isernia, Vairano, and Ancona.

     During the night of 23/24 October, 50 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack a railroad bridge at Civitanova with the loss of one aircraft.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Whilst attempting to clear mines, British minesweeper HMS Cromarty (J 09) is mined and sinks at the western approaches of the Straits of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. There are 62 survivors.

CHINA: Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief U.S. China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) and Acting Deputy Commander in Chief South-East Asia Command, has by now decided that he can do little more toward improving the Chinese Army, his basic mission.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the Meza railroad bridge, which is still being repaired following the damaging raid of 10 October; damage is done to the approaches.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, nine USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the Bogadjim area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Two days of air strikes on Rabaul, New Britain start today. The New Guinea  based US 5th Air Force is heavily committed.

On southern Bougainville Island, 11 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators and 16 P-38 Lightnings hit Kahili Airfield and 36 P-40s and P-39 Airacobras join 24 SBD Dauntlesses, 18 TBF Avengers and 60 fighters in a strike on Kara; both Kahili and Kara are attacked again later in the day, the former by six B-24 Liberators and 16 USN fighters and the latter by 35 AAF fighters and 42 USN dive bombers. Meanwhile, six B-24s bomb Kakasa on Choiseul Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Over 40 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Rapopo Airfield on New Britain Island, destroying about 20 airplanes on the ground; 20 Japanese interceptors are claimed shot down.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0000 hours: Submarine USS Balao (SS-285) sinks a cargo ship at 00-34 N, 147-40 E. (Skip Guidry)

     A USAAF Seventh Air Force P-40 pilot shoots down a Japanese "Emily" flying boat (Kawanishi H8K, Navy Type 2 Flying Boat) about 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) south of Baker Island at 1220 hours.

     In the Solomon Sea, 26 Australian Beauforts attack a Japanese convoy escorted by two light cruisers south of Cape St. George on the southeastern tip of New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago. One of the warships is damaged and one Beaufort is lost.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Chedabucto was taken inshore and grounded on a mud flat, 1.5 miles from the St. Simnon village quay. Due to the extremely soft bottom and strong currents, salvage was not possible.

U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVE-63) is commissioned, she is under the command of Captain F. J. McKenna.

Minesweeper USS Disdain laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Major and Otter launched.

Minesweepers USS Measure and Method launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Fair, Kirkpatrick and Christopher commissioned.

Frigate USS San Pedro commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-274 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic southwest of Iceland at position 57.14N, 27.50W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Duncan (D 99) and Vedette (D 48), and by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/Z). 48 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-23 sank SS Tanais.

U-170 sank SS Campos.

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October 23rd, 1944 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Allies recognise de Gaulle's cabinet as the provisional government of France.

Destroyer HMS Zodiac commissioned.

WESTERN EUROPE: Weather prevents all USAAF Ninth Air Force commands, including the 9th Bombardment Division, from flight operations.

BELGIUM: The British 4th Armored Division begins an attack from the east end of the  Beveland Isthmus.

NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army's British I Corps area, the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, inexperienced in combat, begins moving into line along the Antwerp-Breda highway between the 49th Division and the Polish 1st Armored Division. On the left flank of the corps, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division swings west from Esschen toward Bergen-op-Zoom to seal off the Beveland Isthmus, along which the Canadian 2d Division of II Corps is preparing to drive.

     Sicherheitsdienst (S.D. or security service of the SS) officer Herbert Oelschagel is murdered by the Dutch resistance in Amsterdam and the German reprisal is swift and severe. The next day, 29 civilians are arrested and pedestrians on the Apolloaan are forced at gunpoint to witness their execution. At the same time, several buildings are deliberately set on fire.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 112 Lancasters to attack the Flushing battery positions; 92 bomb but visibility is poor and the bombing is scattered. Four Lancasters are lost.

FRANCE: Paris: Treason trials open, with a journalist sentenced to death for collaborating with the Nazis.

The US 7th Army is still fighting around Bruyeres and St. Dies.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, in a personal letter to Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, Commanding General 6th Army Group, order the Group to protect the southern flank of 12th Army Group in a coming offensive toward the Rhine River.

     In U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division is meeting stronger resistance as it approaches Les Rouges Eaux, on the road to St Die. To the corps' left, the180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, succeeds in establishing a bridgehead across the Mortagne River east of Fremifontaine, from which they will push northeast toward Raon-l'Etape. On the right flank, the 36th Infantry Division extends positions east of Bruyres to Biffontaine; a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment, attempting to secure the heights north of La Houssière, becomes isolated in Forêt Domaniale de Champ.

GERMANY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit five targets: 79 bomb the M.A.N. diesel engine factory at Augsburg; 67 bomb the BMW aircraft engine factory at Munich; 63 attack the Winterhafen oil storage facility at Regensburg; 34 bomb the industrial area at Plauen; and 32 bomb the marshalling yard at Rosenheim.

     During the night of 23/24 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 1,055 aircraft, 561 Lancasters, 463 Halifaxes and 31 Mosquitos, to bomb to Essen; 955 bomb the city. This is the heaviest raid on this target so far in the war and the number of aircraft dispatched is also the greatest number to any target so far; five Lancasters and three Halifaxes are lost. The aircraft drop 4,538 tons (4 117 metric tonnes) of bombs. More than 90 per cent of this tonnage is high explosive and includes five hundred nine 4,000-pound (1 814 kilogram) bombs because it is now considered that most of the burnable buildings in Essen have been destroyed in earlier raids. The greater proportion of high explosive, against all the trends in earlier area-bombing raids, is now quite common in attacks on targets which has suffered major fire damage in 1943. Mosquitos are also sent to various targets: 32 hit Berlin, ten bomb Wiesbaden and two bomb Aschaffenburg

U-2534 laid down.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: One hundred twenty five USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Skoda armament factory at Pilsen. Two aircraft are lost.

NORWAY: U-256 stricken in Bergen, Norway. Captured there and cannibalized. Broken up later.

FINLAND:  Russian units clear the area around Petsamo.

SWEDEN: An international Jewish conference held at Stockholm thanks the Finnish government and people for their attitude towards the Jews during the war.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Division, attacking in force toward Mt. Salvaro, drives to the summit; elements to the right begin assault on Mt. Termine. In the II Corps area, the Germans counterattack and recover Hill 459 from the 85th Infantry Division. Elsewhere on the right flank of corps, counterattacks are repulsed and bypassed pockets cleared. At night, the 2d Battalion of the 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, attacks toward Vedriano and takes Vedriano by dawn of 24 October. The 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, seizes Mt. Belmonte. In British XIII Corps area, 78th Division, renewing their assault on Mt. Spadura with the 11th and 38th Brigades, clears this feature. The 1st Division takes Mt. Cornazzano without opposition and gains ground north of Mt. Ceco. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, seizes Mt. Giro and pushes on toward Mt. Colombo; the 17th Brigade takes Mt. Casalino.

     In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division reaches the crest of Mt. Cavallo ridge, which extends northward to Bertinoro, commanding Highway 9; the Germans begin to pull back. The Savio River is subsiding and reinforcements are crossed into the 4th Division’s bridgehead. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division maintains a bridgehead across the Savio River but is unable to strengthen it. The 11th Brigade, Canadian 5th Armoured Division, reaches the Savio River.

     Bad weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers; fighters and fighter-bombers, although cancelling many operations, cause much damage to transportation, destroying or damaging numerous locomotives, railroad cars, and motor transport, and damaging vessels in the Savona, Turin, Padua, and Genoa areas.

     USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit various targets: 27 bomb the railroad in the Brenner Pass; 19 hit the industrial area of Trieste; 12 attack a railroad bridge at Casarsa; two hit the railroad bridge at Latisana; one attacks the railroad at Treviso; and 28 bomb targets of opportunity.

     During the night of 23/24 October, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack targets of opportunity in the Po Valley.

CHINA: Three USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells knock out a bridge at Lobochai while seven P-40s hit trucks and locomotives nearby; six B-25 Mitchells and 11 P-51 Mustangs hit the town area of Menghsu; 50+ P-40s and P-51s hit small towns and other targets of opportunity in the Menghsu area; 40+ others attack shipping, bridges, and general targets of opportunity around Anfu, Kweiping, Shepchung, Kuanyang, Ssuwangshu, Mangshih, Chefang, Panghkam, Takhing, Tanchuk, Dosing, Wuchou, and Tengyun and Wanling, Burma.

BURMA: Twenty USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit Japanese concentrations at Nanhlaing and Kyungyi while 16 support ground forces at Mawlu and Henu and in nearby areas. A bivouac area south of Indaw is attacked by four fighter-bombers while seven knock out a bypass bridge at Panghkam while three B-25 Mitchells blast train cars and sidings at Kyaukme, three hit a nearby motor pool, two hit a motor pool at Namhsim, and one blasts a rail line at Nawngpeng.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, three USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators hit Kashiwabara on Paramushiru Island; three more B-24s bomb Otomari and fly a photographic mission over Onnekotan Island; and five B-25 Mitchells bomb the Asahi Bay area.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 23/24 October, a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator bombs Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Leyte, at a ceremony in Tacloban, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, restores Philippine Civil Government under President Sergio Osmena. In the X Corps area, the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, charged with the task of securing control of San Juanico Strait between Leyte and Samar and cutting off Japanese movement, begins operations toward this end. Elements of the regiment move to the Diit River and secure a bridge in preparation for drive on Santa Cruz, on Carigara Bay. A Japanese party raids Palo at night, using Filipinos to deceive the Americans, but is dispersed and leave behind 60 dead. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, begins an attack on Hill C, blocking the passage into the Leyte Valley on north side of Highway 2 at western edge of Palo, a strongly defended feature. In the XXIV Corps area, the 96th Infantry Division is facing an acute supply shortage, which limits forward movement. The 383d Infantry Regiment, less the 1st Battalion, attacks at noon, crosses the Guinarona River and reaches positions west of Pikas. Tanks of 767th Tank Battaion act as a spearhead for the 7th Infantry Division as it continues a drive on Burauen in an effort to take San Pablo Airfield. The tanks arrive at Burauen and scatter the Japanese forces. Infantrymen drive through Julita and San Pablo and seize San Pablo airfield. .

     USAAF Far East Air Force aircraft attack vehicles and small vessels in the Mindanao area while B-25 Mitchells attack small shipping in the Sulu Archipelago.

     USN submarine USS Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on the east coast of Luzon; she will repeat the operation on 24 and 25 October.

 Admiral Kurita's naval force is sighted by submarines, USS Darter and USS  Dace off Palawan. They pass the sighting info on and proceed to sink the Japanese heavy cruisers ATAGO and MAYA and hit the cruiser TAKAO. Aircraft from TF 38 will be waiting as he comes into range.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators and P-38 Lightnings maintain shipping sweeps in the Makassar area on the southwestern tip of Celebes Island. B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, and fighter-bombers hit oil storage at Boela and Amboina town on Ceram Island and two airfields and other targets in the Ceram Island area. Fighter-bombers over Halmahera Island hit scattered bivouacs.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Sagan while A-20 Havocs support ground forces further east in the Sawar Rive-Orai River area.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, Antitank and Cannon Companies relieve the infantry of responsibility for eliminating the few remaining Japanese on Angaur Island.

     Eight USAAF Seventh Air Force 8 B-24 Liberators from Guam Island bomb Yap Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The USN's Special Air Task Group One (STAG-1) operations continue in two missions; three TDR-1 target drones each guided by TBF-1C Avengers are flown against beached Japanese ships in Moisuru Bay and off the south end of the Kahili airstrip on Bougainville Island. In the first mission, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru" the beached Japanese freighter serving as an antiaircraft gun site off the Kahili airstrip; in the second, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru" while another hits a beached merchantman in Moisuru Bay.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF opens. While the submarine USS Darter (SS-227) continues to trail Japanese ships detected the previous day, submarine USS Bream (SS-243) torpedoes heavy cruiser HIJMS Aoba in the South China Sea about 85 nautical miles (157 kilometers) west-southwest of Manila, Luzon, Philippines Islands, in position 14.06N, 119.37E. Subsequently, USS Darter and Dace (SS-247) attack what proves to be the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral KURITA Takeo), one of the three main bodies of the Japanese fleet moving toward Leyte in a major effort to drive U.S. forces from the Philippines. In the South China Sea, USS Dace sinks heavy cruiser HIJMS Maya about 84 nautical miles (156 kilometers) west of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippine Islands, in position 09.28E, 117.20E, while Darter sinks heavy cruiser HIJMS Atago and damages her sistership HIJMS Takao about 94 nautical miles (174 kilometers) west-southwest of Puerto Princesa in position 09.24N, 117.11E. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)

USS Tang (SS-306) sinks a tanker at 25- N, 122- E. 

0100 hours: USS Croaker (SS-246) sinks a cargo ship at 35-30 N, 126-15 E.

0400 hours: USS Tang (SS-306) sinks three cargo ships and one transport at 24-49 N, 120-26 E.

0600 hours: USS Darter (SS-227) sinks a heavy cruiser (Takao) at 09-24 N, 117-11 E west of Palawan.

0600 hours: USS Dace (SS-247) sinks a heavy cruiser (Maya) at 09-22 N, 117-97 E west of Palawan.

1700 hours: USS Sawfish (SS-276) sinks a seaplane tender at 18-58 N, 118-46 E.

2400 hours: USS Snook (SS-279) sinks a tanker at 19-46 N, 118-30 E. (Skip Guidry)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Trail completed forecastle extension refit Liverpool , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Escort carrier USS Sicily laid down.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-385 was commissioned at Decatur with LT Peter Marcoux, USCG, as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Pacific area during the war.

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October 23rd, 1945

FRANCE: Communists top poll.

CANADA:

NEWFOUNDLAND: Mosquito PR 34, RG 241 of No. 540 Squadron RAF smashes the previous trans-Atlantic speed record with a west to east crossing in 5 hours 10 minutes. (22)

U.S.A.: Eleanor Roosevelt writes bemoaning the destruction of historic building in the United States. Link.

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