27 October 1939

1934 (SATURDAY)

ITALY: An assassination plot against dictator Benito Mussolini is exposed.

1936 (TUESDAY)

SCANDINAVIA: In light of the collapse of the League of Nations and the general rearmament of Europe, the leaders of the Scandinavian countries agree to take steps to increase their security.

1937 (WEDNESDAY)

JAPAN: The government declines to attend the Brussels Conference on the Sino-Japanese dispute stating, "The action of Japan in China is one of self-defense which she has been compelled to take in the face of China's violent anti-Japanese policy and practices, exemplified particularly in her provocative acts in appealing to force of aims. Consequently Japan's action lies, as has been declared already by the Imperial government, outside the purview of the Nine Power Treaty . . . an attempt to seek a solution at a gathering of so many powers . . . would only serve to complicate the situation still further and to place serious obstacles in the path of a just and proper solution."

October 27th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF: 51 Sqn. Leaflets and reconnaissance - Stuttgart and Munich. 5 aircraft from Villeneuve. 1 returned early with severe icing, 4 successful despite very bad weather. 1 crashed on return (K9008 all crew safe, aircraft wrecked) and another was abandoned over France (K8984 all crew safe, aircraft wrecked). 102 Sqn. N1377:P Badly damaged by Flak, crew unhurt.

Corvette HMS Aubretia laid down.

AMC HMS Arawa commissioned.

U-31 laid a very successful field of 18 mines in Loch Ewe. This minefield later accounted for two ships sunk and one damaged.

FRANCE: In Paris, the Polish government-in-exile protests the German annexation of occupied territory stating, ". . . a new violation by the Reich of the elementary principles of international law relating to the conduct of an enemy in occupied territory."

GERMANY: Vicomte Davignon, Belgian Ambassador in Berlin, reports to the Belgian Government that he has learnt from a reliable source that the Germans intend to invade Belgium soon.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Pius XII issues his first encyclical which "denounces the violation of treaties, the ruin of Poland and the forcible transfer of populations and proclaims his determination to fight the Church's pagan enemies and defend the rights of family and individual against dictatorial encroachments."

GIBRALTAR: The U.S. Consul at Gibraltar William E. Chapman meets informally with the British Colonial Secretary there, and objects to the protracted delay in detention of U.S. merchantmen, especially freighter SS Exporter, which has on board diplomatic pouches bound for Athens, Greece. Consul Chapman's low-key approach bears fruit. SS Exporter, detained since 14 October, is released later that day, as are freighters SS Oakman (detained since 13 October) and SS Meanticut (detained since 21 October).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-34 sinks SS Bronte in Convoy OB-25.

27 October 1940

October 27th, 1940 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Battle of Britain: The weather is cloudy all day except for brighter weather in the late morning. During the day, German aircraft activity is centred over London, Kent, and Sussex and Portsmouth is attackortsmouth is attacked in the late afternoon. The Luftwaffe's main objective appears to be RAF Stations, attacks being made on no less than 16 of these. The commencement of night activity is at 1800 hours when the South East and East Coast aerodromes are attacked. Later London, the Bristol Channel area and the Midlands as far North as Liverpool are visited. A raid on Conventry lasts from 2023 to 2130 hours and during this period 75 fires are started, but these are all under control by 2220 hours. Considerable damage is caused to shop property, Central Market Hall and to house property, and four factories. RAF Fighter Command claims 8-7-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; antiaircraft batteries claim 2-0-0. The RAF loses nine aircraft with five pilots killed or missing.

RAF Fighter Command: Seven airfields are attacked. Continuing fighter-bomber raids and individual tip-and-run bomber attacks force Fighter Command to fly over 1,000 sorties. That it can do so is proof of its continuing strength.

Losses: Luftwaffe, 15; RAF, 10.

RAF Bomber Command: In a night of widespread bombing, the RAF successfully targets the key Skoda arms plant at Plzeň in Czechoslovakia.

French Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle forms the free government for France stating, "As long as the French Government and the representation of the French people do not exist normally and independently of the enemy, the powers formerly performed by the Chief of State and by the Council of Ministers will be exercised by the leader of the Free French forces assisted by a Council of Defense."

GREECE: Dimitry Statharos has his stitches cut after his operation for a phony case of appendicitis, the doctor asks him to stay overnight for observation before he takes his coveted 20 day leave. As he sleeps, Italian Ambassador Grazzi arrives outside the residence of Greek PM John Metaxas at some time after 2:00 a.m. Grazzi delivers an ultimatum to Metaxas which demands that Italian troops be allowed entry into Greece to occupy key positions. (Steven Statharos)
What also would have been good to mention on the 27th was a strange paradoxical situation that Metaxas found himself and some Greeks in on the night of the 27th. Im recalling this from the tope of my head but that night the Italian embassy held a celebration following the performance of (I believe it was) Madame Butterfly. In this celebration on underlying theme of the Italian hosts was the strength of positive/friendly ties between Greece and Italy.... Greek and Italian flags were strewn about side by side to celebrate this. However while this was going on, elsewhere in the embassy secretaries were working furiously elsewhere in the embassy to translate the communiqué from Italy which contained the ultimatum that Grazzi was to deliver that night. At one point Grazzi excused himself and was absent for a substantial time, when he returned some of the Greek guests noted that his mood had changed , as if something was troubling him. It is believed that he received the ultimatum from his superiors during this absence. The "strong ties" they celebrated that night would be shattered before sunrise. -steve statharos

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA: Free French forces under General Rene de Larminat, High Commissioner of Free French Colonies in Africa and General Officer Commanding Free French Forces in Equatorial Africa occupy Lambarene in Gabon.

BELGIAN CONGO: Brazzaville: General de Gaulle has arrived in the capital of French Equatorial Africa, and proclaimed the creation of a Council of Defence of the French Empire. He was welcomed by the governor, Felix Eboue, and huge crowds.

Most of French Equatorial Africa, with 12 million inhabitants, rallied to de Gaulle in late July after the arrival of emissaries sent from London led by General Leclerc. Attempts to rally French West Africa suffered a setback with de Gaulle's failure to capture Senegal from Vichy in September.

27 October 1941

October 27th, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: 41 year old Lord Louis Mountbatten has been appointed director of Combined Operations and told to put some zip into hit-and-run attacks on German positions on the Continent.

Lord Louis, who is related to most of Europe's royal families, gained his reputation for courage and audacity when, virtually single-handedly, he brought his destroyer HMS Kelly back to port under continuous German air attack after she had been torpedoed in the North Sea.

Lord Louis's father, Prince Louis of Battenberg, who settled in Britain, was forced by anti-German hysteria to resign as first sea lord during the Great War. Lord Louis is determined to erase this slur on his family's reputation; he hopes one day to succeed to his father's old job.

Carroll McColpin, an American flying with 71 Squadron RAF, becomes an ace with his fifth German aircraft victory today. (Skip Guidry)

Monitor HMS Roberts commissioned.

POLAND: Kalisz: Germans kill 290 Jews from an old people's home in the first trial of a van specially adapted to suffocate them with engine exhaust fumes.

U.S.S.R.: Kramatorsk falls to the German forces in Russia who later reach Sevastopol.

Units of 11.Armee force a breakthrough at Perekop, thus opening the gate to the Crimean peninsula. Soviet forces launch desperate attacks against the Germans in front of Moscow. The attacks are bloodily repulsed but do buy some time for the Soviets.

LITHUANIA: Kovno: 9,000 Jews including 4,273 children are massacred by German Einsatzkommandos.

VATICAN: Harold H. Tittmann, assistant to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's special emissary to the Vatican, attempts to get the Pope to issue a public protest against the German's mass shooting of hostages. He is told that this could not be done since it would jeopardize the situation of the German Catholics. (U.S.D.P)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS/M Tetrarch (N 77) is lost, probably due to mining either in the Sicilian Channel or Cavioli. There are no Axis claims for her sinking. (Alex Gordon)(108)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Hart advises Navy Department that he will keep the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines and would fight to defend the Islands. This would require modification of Rainbow-5.

MacArthur authorizes USAFFE to conduct site surveys in surrounding territories. The Hawaii Department had sent out teams for this purpose earlier in this month. (Marc Small)

U.S. military officials in the Philippines send the following radio message to Washington, D.C.: "General southward movement of Japanese shipping in western Pacific is reported by British sources two aircraft carriers have been operating among mandated islands, of which Kaga repeat Kaga still present following planes reported based there: Palau repeat Palau, eight flying boats, Saipan repeat Saipan eight fighters, six heavy bombers; Truk repeat Truk, six fighters, six heavy bombers: Jalu repeat Jalu, eight flying boats, twelve flight planes; Wotje repeat Wotje, eight flying boats."

CANADA: The Canadian ‘C’ Force, comprised of two infantry battalions totalling 1,975 men, departed from Vancouver, BC, for Hong Kong to reinforce the garrison. The Canadian troops were embarked in the fast New Zealand passenger liner (turned troopship) Awatea (13,500 GRT). Awatea was advertised in 1936, the year of her launching, as "the fastest ship in the Antipodes." She was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Robert, a converted Canadian National Steamships passenger ship, Cdr. F.G. Hart RCN CO. The decision to deploy, and potentially to evacuate, C Force was dictated entirely by the availability of military sealift provided and controlled by the British War Office. The sailing date was fixed by British authorities and could not be altered to accommodate Canadian requirements. The training and logistical support provisions for C Force were dictated by factors entirely outside of either Canadian naval or military control. Unit and individual training was far from complete when the ships sailed. Because the troopship was overcrowded, 109 members of the Royal Rifles of Canada were transported in Prince Robert. The conversion of Prince Robert to an armed merchant cruiser eliminated her cargo holds as an alternate for the large volume of materiel that could not be embarked in Awatea. C Force’s total cargo space requirements totaled 195,000 cubic feet: 125,000 for motor transport and 70,000 for other stores. Awatea had only 45,000 cubic feet of freight capacity. A priority list of transport vehicles was selected for loading. The vehicles were embarked on four rail cars and rushed to Vancouver, but did not arrive until 28 October, by which time the troopship had sailed with two cargo holds practically empty. The Philippine 8½-knot freighter Don José (10,900 GRT) was contracted to carry C Force’s 212 vehicles and departed Vancouver on 04 Nov. A shipment of automotive spare parts was loaded in the Norwegian 14-knot freighter Fernplant (5,300 GRT) on 22 Nov. Prince Robert and Awatea sailed across the North Pacific at a brisk 20 knots, stopping at Honolulu and Manila for fuel, which Prince Robert also did on the return trip. Don José was routed by American authorities via the Torres Strait and Molucca Passage to Manila, instead of direct to Shanghai and then Hong Kong before proceeding to Manila, as originally intended. Prince Robert and Awatea, escorted by the light cruiser HMS Danae, arrived in Hong Kong on 16 Nov. Fernplant discharged her cargo in Los Angeles on 10 December, several days after the commencement of hostilities, and it was eventually returned to Canada. Don José arrived in Manila on 12 Dec and disembarked C Force’s vehicles for use by the US Army. All of these vehicles were either captured or destroyed by the Japanese. Canadian Chief of the General Staff, General Kenneth Stuart testified at the Duff Commission of Inquiry into the disaster at Hong Kong that "[t]he shortage of shipping, particularly ships equipped to carry personnel, had been a problem since the beginning of the war and had become more of a problem as each month passes." Stuart claimed that "there was no alternative but to accept the course we did," which was "to proceed as directed in the cable received from the United Kingdom." It seems no questions were directed at the RCN during the inquiry over the wisdom of converting the three Prince-class liners into auxiliary cruisers when a national requirement for troopships existed from the first days of the war and was becoming a critical problem of strategic proportions.

Corvette HMCS Shawinigan arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks of German designs on South America and all religions stating, "This map makes clear the Nazi design not only against South America but against the United States itself. . . . All of us Americans, of e between the kind of world we want to live in and the kind of world which Hitler and his hordes would impose upon us."

Escort carrier USS Card laid down.

Minesweeper USS Pilot laid down.

Submarine USS Grouper launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The British destroyer HMS COSSACK sinks three days after being torpedoed by U-563.

USN Task Unit 4.1.6 screens convoy ON-28 (U.K. to North America). During the day, destroyers USS DuPont (DD-152) and Sampson (DD-394) each carry out two depth charge attacks against suspected U-boat contacts.

27 October 1942

October 27th, 1942 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Australian Prime Minister John Curtin commenting on the opening of the “great battle in Egypt,” noting that “you will have observed with pride and pleasure the distinguished part which the 9th Australian Division are playing in what may be an event of the first magnitude.”

Submarines HMS Spirit, Vivid and Voracious laid down.

Minesweeper HMS Onyx launched.

In the North Sea during the night of 27/28 October, five RAF Bomber Command lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

NETHERLANDS: Two RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

GERMANY: A 17-year-old youth is executed for listening to foreign news broadcasts.

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the U-boat yards at Flensburg.

U-1161 laid down.

BALTIC SEA: The submerged U-339 collided with the cruiser Nürnberg.

FINLAND: Finnish submarine Iku-Turso (Kapteeniluutnantti Eero Pakkala) torpedoes and sinks the Soviet submarine Shtsh 320 in Gulf of Finland.

U.S.S.R.: German forces continue to gain ground between the Red October and Barrikady Factories in Stalingrad. Those parts of Stalingrad still held by Soviet forces are strongly held and fortified. The Soviet policy at Stalingrad has been to feed new divisions in slowly, gaining experience. In the Moscow area new divisions are committed as a unit. Faulty intelligence allows the Germans to assume the northern policy is followed in Stalingrad. They therefore overestimate losses and underestimate remaining strength.

The German forces are now within firing distance of Soviet landing jetties on the west bank of the Volga. The Soviet-held strip is only 300 yards deep on average.

XII Squadriglia MAS removed from Lake Ladoga and transported to Tallinn via Helsinki.

EGYPT: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, Commander of German-Italian Panzer Forces in Africa, mounts an intended major counterattack by the 21st Panzer Division to push the attacking British forces back into the German minefields. They are held off by a small British force at Kidney Ridge and lose 50 Panzers in the Battle of El Alamein. This leaves the the axis forces with just 81 operational tanks.

El Aqqaqir: Lt-Col. Victor Buller Turner (1900-72), Rifle Brigade, led an attack which knocked out 50 out of 90 tanks, helping, despite a head wound, to man a six-pounder gun himself. (Victoria Cross)

U.S. Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with fighter escorts, bomb Matruh and attack motor transports, tanks, and other ground targets. Axis reinforcements brought up from the south, counterattack Kidney Ridge and are repulsed; the British Eighth Army continues regrouping for an assault.

In the MTO 1st Lt. Lyman Middleditch Jr., 64th FS/57th FG, USAAF, becomes the first USAAF fighter pilot in the ETO or North Africa to score a triple victory when he downs three Bf 109s. Middleditch will end the war as an ace with five victories. (Skip Guidry)

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.

CHINA: Peking: Wang Ching-wei, the leader of the Chinese puppet government in Nanking, today made an official visit to Peking. He attended the third national convention of the Hsin-min-hui [New People's Society], north China's central collaborationist political organization.

Though Wang Ching-wei is officially leader of the puppet "central" government of occupied China, in the north the Hsin-min-hui is effectively in control. The organization's purpose is simple: the inculcation of a Japanese philosophy of life, based on Confucian principles, in the people of the region.

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.

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

PACIFIC OCEAN:

The abandoned aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8), 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 (737 kilometers) 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 (SS-199) sinks a Japanese transport/cargo ship about 124 nautical miles (229 kilometers) east-southeast of Saigon, French Indochina, in position 10.20N, 108.43E. (Skip Guidry)

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators 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.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Milltown arrived Halifax from builder Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: LST-325 is launched.

Minesweepers USS Triumph and Logic laid down.

Destroyer USS Stephen Potter laid down.

Destroyer USS Aulick commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Strive commissioned.

Destroyers USS Bush and Spence launched.

Submarines USS Lapon and Balao launched.

Minesweeper USS Caravan launched.

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.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-627 (Type VIIC) which had left Kiel for its first combat patrol on 15 Oct is sunk 12 days later south of Iceland, at position 59.14N, 22.49W, by depth charges from a British Fortress aircraft (Sqdn. 206/F). 44 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-436 damaged SS Frontenac, Gurney E Newlin and sank HMS LCT-2281, SS Sourabaya in Convoy HX-212.

U-509 sank SS Pacific Star and SS Stentor in Convoy SL-125.

U-604 sank SS Anglo Mærsk (already torpedoed the previous day) in Convoy SL-125.

After an explosion during torpedo loading on U-67 one man was killed. [Matrosenobergefreiter Heinz Hartmann] .

The same day 3 men were washed overboard from the U-706, 2 men died but the third was saved by U-463. [Leutnant zur See Erich Eichmann, see right, Matrosenobergefreiter Ralf Köhler].

U-117 laid some mines off Iceland, but no sinkings resulted from this field.

27 October 1943

October 27th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Hargood and Holmes laid down.

FRANCE: During the night of 27/28 October, 21 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons drop leaflets over the country.

GERMANY: U-479 and U-1164 are commissioned.

U-1003 and U-1004 launched.

AUSTRIA: Over 150 USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb Wiener-Neustadt and railroad tracks and installations and bridges at Friedberg and Ebenfurth.

BALTIC SEA: Finnish submarine Iku-Turso (kapteeniluutnantti Eero Pakkala) torpedoes and sinks the Soviet submarine Shtsh 320 in Gulf of Finland.

U.S.S.R.: South of Nikopol on the Nogaysk Steppe, the Germans mount a series of counterattacks to save their access to the Crimea. Soviet forces break through German defenses beyond Melitopol, but by this time the Germans have succeeded in stabilizing their positions before Nikopol and at Krivoi Rog.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers bomb small vessels on the Dalmatian coast at Opuzen.

ITALY: The British 8th Army captures Montefalcone. The 78th Division expands its bridgehead over the Trigno River during the night. German defenses here are still holding.

Major Roy Farran leads a detachment of 2 SAS which is dropped north of the River Tronto behind the German lines. Over the next five days his small force blows up the railway line, cut telephone communications and destroyed enemy transport.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division is ordered to attack on 28 October since elements of the 135th Infantry Regiment are being held up by German rear guards on a hill south of Ailano.

In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 78th Division makes a futile attempt to expand the bridgehead across the Trigno River. Their failure is largely due to heavy rainfall.

Weather severely curtails Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF) missions and XII Air Support Command operations in support of ground forces. Fighter-bombers attack Gaeta..

CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the city of Tungling and claim eight intercepting “Zeke” fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) shot down.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s and P-39 Airacobras intercept an escorted Japanese bomber force dropping supplies over the Sattelberg area; the U.S. fighters claim 12 airplanes downed.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit harbor and supply dump area at Gasmata on New Britain Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0000 hours: In the East China Sea, USN submarine USS Shad (SS-235) and Grayback (SS-208) sink a Japanese merchant cargo ship about 130 nautical miles (241 kilometers) north of Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, in position 28.20N, 128.05E. USS Shad has put two torpedoes into the 9,000 ton ship and at 0600 USS Grayback administered the coup de grace. (Skip Guidry)

At 1000 hours in the Philippine Sea, USN Submarine USS Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks a Japanese transport about 301 nautical miles (558 kilometers) north of Peleliu Island, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, in position 12.02N, 134.28E. (Skip Guidry)

1000 hours: USS Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks a cargo ship at 10-59 N, 134-35 E. (Skip Guidry)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: New Zealand troops land on the Treasury Islands. These units of the 8th Brigade meet no opposition on Stirling Island and only token opposition on Mono Island.

In preparation for the invasion of Bougainville, the 8th Brigade Group of the New Zealand 3rd Division, under Brigadier R. A. Row, lands on two islands of Treasury Islands, Stirling and Mono. Pre-invasion bombardment and covering for the landings are provided by U.S. naval vessels and aircraft of Task Group 39.3 (two light cruisers and Destroyer Squadron 23) and New Georgia-based aircraft from South Pacific Air. The small Japanese force on Mono is quickly put to flight and must be rounded up. Stirling is undefended. During Japanese retaliatory air strikes by 25 "Val" (Aichi D3A, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers) and "Judy�" (Kugisho D4Y, Navy Carrier Bomber Suisei) dive bombers and "Zeke" fighter escorts (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) at 1530 hours, destroyer USS Cony (DD-508) is damaged by horizontal and dive bombers 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) north of Mono Island and tank landing ships LST-399 and LST-485 are damaged by mortar fire. USAAF

P-38 Lightnings and P-40 pilots shoot down ten "Vals" and "Judys" and two "Zekes." The 2d Marine Parachute Battalion begins a diversionary raid on Choiseul Island landing on the night of 27/28 October, and subsequently patrols actively to feign strength that is not present.

USAAF Thirteenth Air Force Islands, B-24 Liberators pound Kahili and Kara airfields on Bougainville Island; P-40s over Kahili claim the "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) shot down. P-38 Lightnings, P-40s, and P-39 Airacobras, plus some New Zealand (P-40) Kittyhawks, cover the landing by New Zealand troops on Stirling and Mono Islands. The fighters claim destruction of 12 Japanese dive bombers attacking the landing force and afterwards claim three fighters shot down.

CANADA:

Minesweeper HMCS Providence launched Toronto, Ontario.

Tug HMCS Glenmont launched Owen Sound, Ontario.

Corvette HMCS Prescott completed forecastle extension refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: The Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) is authorised by the US War Department. (War Department Circular 269-1) for issue to individuals recommended by a regimental commander or higher authority who had performed in infantry units in combat. The same circular authorized the establishment of the Expert Infantry Badge. If 65 percent or more of a unit's personnel had the CIB, the unit could be awarded a Combat Infantry Streamer for its guidon. Award of the CIB was made retroactive to service on or after Dec. 7,1941. (Skip Guidry)

First women Marines report for duty on West Coast, Camp Pendleton.

In an opinion poll today the question asked was:

Suppose that the German army gets rid of Hitler, gives up all the countries Germany has conquered, and offers to make peace. If that happens should we make peace, or should we continue the war until Germany is completely defeated?

Make peace 24%

Continue fighting 70%

Undecided 6%

(Jay Stone)

Destroyer USS Johnston commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Gillette commissioned.

Submarines USS Pomfret and Sterlet launched.

Destroyers USS Walke and Smalley launched.

Destroyer escort USS Weeden launched.

Destroyer escort USS Martin H Ray laid down.

Aircraft carrier USS Midway laid down at Newport News.

BRITISH WEST INDIES: German submarine U-218 lays 18 mines off the Port of Spain, Trinidad, but no sinkings result from this field.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-218 laid 18 mines off the Port of Spain, but no sinkings resulted from this field.

U-354 set a weather reporting team ashore on Hope Island.

SVALBARD ISLANDS: German submarine U-354 sets a weather reporting team ashore on Norwegian Hopen Island located about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) southeast of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.

27 October 1944

October 27th, 1944 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The first Avro Anson Mk XII (NL 153) makes its maiden flight. (22)

Also the prototype Bristol Buckmaster three-seat advanced trainer, (TJ 714) makes its maiden flight. (22)

NORTH SEA: German submarine U-1060 (Type VIIF), not a boat but a torpedo transport operating mainly to the Norwegian bases, is driven ashore and grounded about 87 nautical miles (15 kilometers) west-southwest of Bronnøysund, Norway, in position 65.24N, 11.59E after damages by rockets and depth charges from a Firefly Mk. I and two Barracuda Mk. IIs in the British aircraft carrier HMS Implacable (86). The submarine is later destroyed by two RAF Halifax Mk. IIs, aircraft of No. 503 Squadron based at Stornoway, Hebrides Islands, U.K.; and two RAF (B-24) Liberator Mk. Vs, aircraft of No. 311 (Czech) Squadron based at Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. There are 43 survivors of the 55 men in the sub. (Alex Gordon)

NETHERLANDS: The Canadian attacks in the Beveland continues. Inland, Bergen-op-Zoom is captured.
A sharp German counterattack is mounted near Venlo, against the British 2nd Army Sector and British troops capture Tilburg.

In the Canadian First Army's II Corps area, forward elements of the Canadian 2d Division reach the Beveland Canal, at the western end of the Beveland Isthmus, and cross during the night of 27/28 October. The 52d Division expands the Baarland bridgehead to Oudelande. In the British I Corps area, Bergen-op-Zoom falls to the Canadian 4th Armoured Division. The 413th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 104th Infantry Division, assisted by effective artillery preparation and attached British tanks, takes Zundert by storm.

In the British Second Army's VIII Corps area, the Germans, following a heavy artillery barrage, open a strong tank-infantry attack toward Asten in an effort to divert Allied strength from the main battle front, penetrating lightly held positions of the U.S. 7th Armored Division along the Canal de Deurne and Canal du Nord, west of Venlo. The Germans take Meijel, near the junction of the two canals, and penetrate the line at Heitrak, on the Meijel- Deurne highway, and near Nederweert. Combat Command A of the U.S. 7th Armored Division seals off the penetration near Nederweert.

During the night of 27/28 October, eight USAAF Eighth Air Force aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the 357th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division, employing four small teams, again attempts in vain to take Hotel de Ville in Maizières-lês-Metz.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division presses slowly in on St Die against heavy fire. The 36th Infantry Division’s isolated and surrounded battalion (1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment) is too weak to break out, but some progress toward it is made by troops of the 442d Infantry Regiment (Nisei). First efforts to drop supplies by air fail. Subsequent attempts achieve some success.

In the French First Army area, General Jean Lattre de Tassigny, commander of the First Army, at conference with Lieutenant General Jacob Devers, Commanding General Sixth Army Group, at Vittel, presents his plan for offensive toward Belfort and gains Devers' approval. The French drive is to coincide with general Allied offensive in November and is to open on the 13th.

The USAAF XII Tactical Air Command flies supply dropping missions (to VI Corps near Saint-Die).

GERMANY: Martin Bormann, Head of the Nazi Party Chancellery and private secretary of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, writes to Alfred Rosenberg, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, informing him that Hitler has rejected the idea of using clergymen for forced labor.

During the night of 27/28 October, RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb seven cities without loss: 58 hit Berlin, three each attack Pforzheim and Rheine, two each bomb Dusseldorf and Essen, and one each hit Mannheim and Schweinfurt.

U-3015 launched.

U-2539 laid down.

HUNGARY: Troops of the Soviet Fourth Ukrainian Front take Ungvar (Uzhorod) on the northeastern border. This completes the Soviet conquest of Carpatho-Ukraine (Ruthenia before March 1939).

LATVIA: A renewed Soviet attacks begins.

ITALY: As winter sets in the Allied advance bogs down.

In the U.S. Fifth Army's British XIII Corps area, the 26th Armoured Brigade Group, following up the German withdrawal on the right flank of the corps, occupies Rocca St. Casciano, on Highway 67.

In the British Eighth Army's Polish II Corps area, elements of the 5th Kresowa Division recapture Predappio Nuovo. In the V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division crosses additional elements over the Ronco River during the night of 27/28 October. In the Canadian I Corps area, plans to relieve the Canadian 1st Division and 5th Armoured Division cannot be carried out at this time because of weather conditions. Advance elements of the corps across the Bevano River in the coastal sector are withdrawn.

Weather curtails operations of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force; fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance in the Genoa-Novi Ligure-Turin area hit communications and transportation targets.

There is one sing they do not - by order - play on the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Italy. The German Lili Marlene remains top of the Eighth Army hit parade, with Glenn Miller running a close second. The frowned-upon song (sung to the tune of Lili Marlene) is based on the alleged, and since denied, remark by a British MP, Lady (Nancy) Astor, and runs:

We are the D-Day dodgers,

out in Italy.

- always on the vino,

always on the spree;

Eighth Army scroungers

and their tanks.

We live in Rome among the Yanks.

We are the D-Day dodgers,

In Sunny Italy.

Sunny Italy it is not. Once again the Eighth Army is faced with a winter which has allied itself with the Germans, while west of the Apennines the US Fifth Army today called off its latest offensive. Despite huge casualty lists - more than 20,000 men have been killed, wounded or taken prisoner since Cassino - the Allied armies here have had little share in the world headlines since the Anzio landings, and are feeling forgotten.

INDIA: Headquarters USAAF Tenth Air Force is reassigned from Army Air Forces, India-Burma Sector to Army Air Forces, India-Burma Theater.

CHINA: The Japanese renew their offensive to take U.S. air bases in eastern China (Operation ICHIGO), heading toward Kweilin and Liuchow.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighters bomb and strafe the town of Mengmao and nearby hill positions, river traffic, troops, and horses from Tanchuk to Tengyun, bridges northeast of Hsinganhsien, the town of Kaotienhsu, troops in the Kweilin area, rail traffic west of Puchi, and airfields at Siangtan and Changsha.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 27/28 October, a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on a snooper mission hits Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Buri Airfield is captured by the US 7th Division on Leyte. Admiral Shermans task group of US TF 38 strikes Japanese shipping around Luzon, Philippine Islands. Strikes are also sent against Luzon Island. The battleship, USS California is damaged by the Japanese.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, advances to the Mudburon River without opposition. After night-long shelling of Pastrana, the 19th Infantry Regiment enters the town and mops up. In the XXIV Corps area, the 382d Infantry Regiment of the 96th Infantry Division again attacks Tabontabon. Two battalions push through the northwestern part of the town to positions about 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) to the northwest, but a battalion is held up in the town and establishes a night perimeter in center of it. The 383d Infantry Regiment patrols in the vicinity of San Vicente and San Vicente Hill in an effort to locate Japanese positions. The 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, against surprisingly light resistance, clears Buri airstrip by 1130 hours. The 17th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by a platoon of engineers to repair bridges, continues a drive on Dagami, reaching positions some 2,200 yards

(2 012 meters) south of the town.

Task Group 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attack Japanese ships and installations in the Visaya Islands and the northern Luzon area.

Off Leyte, battleship USS California (BB-44) is damaged by strafing; submarine chaser (rescue) PCER-848 is damaged by horizontal bomber; and motor torpedo boat PT-523 is damaged by dive bomber. U.S. freighter SS Benjamin Ide Wheeler is damaged by a kamikaze that crashes the ship, killing one merchant sailor and one of the 27-man Armed Guard (whose heavy gunfire damages the inbound suicider) and sets fire to the gasoline cargo; salvage ship USS Cable (ARS-19) comes alongside and extinguishes the blaze while some of the ship's complement and passengers are transferred temporarily to nearby amphibious command ship USS Wasatch (AGC-9).

USN submarine USS Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on the east coast of Luzon.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators attack Malili and Palopo on Celebes Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Australian Beauforts again attack Rabaul on New Britain Islands concentrating on targets in the northern part of town.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Two USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators on armed reconnaissance from Saipan Island bomb Yap Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN:

At 0400 hours, two USN submarines sink Japanese merchant vessels. In the East China Sea, USS Burrfish (SS-312) sinks a cargo ship about 185 nautical miles (343 kilometers) north-northeast of Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, in position 29.08N, 128.45E. In the South China Sea, USS Bergall (SS-320) sinks an oiler and a fleet tanker about 89 nautical miles (165 kilometers) north-northeast of Jesselton, British North Borneo, in position 07.17N, 116.45E. (Skip Guidry)

Navy carrier-based planes sink destroyers HIJMS Fujinami and Shiranui about 29 nautical miles (54 kilometers) north-northwest of Roxas, Panay, Philippine Islands,, in position 12.00N, 122.30E.

In the Camotes Sea, over 40 USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers, operating in three waves, hit shipping off Cebu Island and west of Mactan Island in the Philippine Islands. They sink a Japanese motor sail ship off Mactan Island.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Fort Erie commissioned.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer USS Henderson laid down Seattle, Washington.

Destroyer minelayer USS Tolman commissioned.

Destroyer USS Duncan launched.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-319 was commissioned at New York with LTJG Sterling M. Anderson, USCG, as her first commanding officer. She departed New York on 11 December 1944 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated at Finschhafen, Auguson, etc., during the war.

27 October 1945

October 27th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: Ferdinand Porsche, who under Adolf Hitler's strict requirements on cost, fuel economy, and performance, designed the original KdF-Wagen "Peoples Car" (Volkswagen), is arrested by U.S. military officials in Austria for his pro-Nazi activities, and is subsequently sent to France where he is held for 20 months without trial before being released. During the war, Porsche designed military vehicles such as the "Kubelwagen," a jeep-type vehicle, the "Schwimmwagen," an amphibious car, and the lethal "Elefant" assault and anti-tank armoured vehicle using his originally rejected chassis design for the "Tiger 1" tank. His design of the massive 189 ton "Maus" supertank (the largest in WWII) under Hitler's direction was never produced after original testing in 1944. After his release, Porsche returns to sports-car design and construction, beginning with the successful Porsche 356 in 1948 with his son Ferry Porsche. In 1951, Ferdinand Porsche suffers a stroke and dies. (Jack McKillop & Perry Stewart)

U.S.A.: New York City: USS Missouri participates in the great Naval Day fleet review on the Hudson River. (Link)

Submarine USS Dogfish is launched.

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