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CHINA: Chiang Kai-shek is born in the town of Xikou, located inside Fenghua county.

October 31st, 1939 (TUESDAY)

Corvettes HMS Candytuft, Dianthus, Carnation and Delphinium laid down.

Submarine HMS Tigris launched.

Submarine HMS Truant commissioned.

U.S. freighter SSBlack Osprey is detained at the Downs by British authorities; freighter SS Gateway City, detained by the British since 16 October, is released after cargo billed for delivery at Antwerp and Rotterdam, Holland, is seized as contraband.

FRANCE: Colonel Gwido Langer, the leader of the brilliant Polish cryptologists who have been working with their French and British counterparts to solve the mysteries of the German 'Enigma' enciphering machine, arrived in France this month with his team and two Enigma machines. The Poles have thus fulfilled the orders of their General Staff that "in the case of a threat of war the Enigma secret must be used as our Polish contribution to the common cause of defence and divulged to our future allies.

It is hoped the Poles, helped on their journey by the British Secret Service, will carry on with their work to enable the Allies to read the German's secret codes.

FINLAND: Beginning today discussions between the Finns and Soviets over the recent Soviet demands. The Finnish government interprets Soviet bargaining as a sign of weakness. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov has explained the talks is a public speech so their prestige is at stake. Three meetings between now and the 9th of November will occur, but no further discussions will take place. Today the Finnish negotiators businessman Juho Paasikivi and Väinö Tanner return to Moscow. The third and last round of negotiations will begin on 3 November.

     Foreign Commissar Molotov said that the Soviets has not only a right but a duty to adopt serious measures to strengthen its security stating, "Leningrad lies at a shorter distance from another country than is necessary in order to bombard this town with modern long-range guns. On the other hand, the approaches to Leningrad by sea are also dependent to a large extent on the inimical or friendly attitude towards the Soviet Union adopted by Finland, to which country the shore of the whole northern part of the Gulf of Finland belongs, as well as all the islands lying in the central part of that gulf."

ITALY: Mussolini reshuffles his cabinet, replacing pro-Nazi members with neutral members.

U.S.A.: Corvette USS Tenacity laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Royal Navy starts a global hunt for the pocket battleships 'Admiral Graf Spee' and 'Deutschland'.

RN is also stepping up its offensive action against German submarines. Since the 'Royal Oak' was sunk at anchor in Scapa Flow a fortnight ago the fleet has stayed at sea. German battleships have seized at least six merchant ships in the last month, but most damage has been effected by the U-boats.

The submarines have been laying mines on all the routes out of the Scottish supply bases and prowling close to shore.

British destroyers, frigates and corvettes are in constant action against U-boats, relying mainly on an echo sounding device from the last war, ASDIC (from its inventors, the Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee). Patches of oil can give rise to a "kill" claim, but there are often deceptive. The navy's claim of 18 U-boat sinkings since the war began is almost certainly too high.

U-25 sank SS Baoule.

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October 31st, 1940 (THURSDAY)

This month, 6,350 civilians have been killed and 8,700 injured by enemy action.

Blackpool, Squire's Gate: The Wellington V High Altitude bomber reaches 30,000 feet, for the first time.

London: The government is to release 5,000 building workers from the army to try to catch up with the urgent task of repairing bomb damage. In London 60,000 houses are uninhabitable, 130,000 less badly damaged, and 16,000 totally destroyed. Three-quarters of the houses in the East End are of Stepney are estimated to be wrecked.

So far only 7,000 people have been rehoused by local authorities, out of 250,000 made homeless, at least temporarily. No more repair workers are to be called up until further notice. In the meantime, 5,000 men of the Pioneer Corps are clearing debris. London's "Rest Centres" are badly overcrowded, with 25,000 homeless people seeking shelter each night.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN: There is drizzle in the English Channe and haze in the Thames estuary and Dover Straits. Luftwaffe air activity during the day takes the form of aircraft operating singly in widespread parts of the country. Very little damage is done but a characteristic feature of the raids is the machine-gunning of many towns. Birmingham and district appear to receive most attention from the Germans. There are no interceptions by the RAF and no casualties to the either side. The evening raids started at 1830 hours but the "All Clear" is received in London at 2100 hours and there is no further activity until 0030 hours when London and Birmingham again became the main objectives of the Luftwaffe bombing. This month, 6,350 civilians have been killed and 8,700 injured by German action during the Battle of Britain (The Blitz). The British Air Ministry considers the Battle of Britain over. The Luftwaffe lost 2,375 planes while the RAF lost 800 planes. Many British cities, however, are seriously damaged and burned. German air attacks will resume in the spring of 1941, but the Luftwaffe has to shift air resources to the east in preparation for the German invasion of Russia. (Andy Etherington)

Submarine HMS Upholder commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Bleasdale laid down.

Corvettes HMS Dahlia, Kingcup and Spirae launched.

Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan (ex-Iroquois) laid down Vickers-Armstrong Ltd, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

GERMANY: The Protestant cleric Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who is banned from preaching and teaching, this month issued a "confession" that the church has been "silent when it should have screamed, because the blood of the innocent cries to heaven."

U-74 commissioned.

U-587, U-588, U-589, U-590 laid down.

U-71 launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: British troop reinforcements land on Crete.

EGYPT: Telegram from HQ RAF, Middle East , to the Air Ministry, repeated to the Minister at Athens and C-in-C, Med.

"... it has become absolutely essential to send token force to Greece even at the expense of my forces here. I have despatched to Athens 1 Blenheim Sqn. of which half the aircraft are equipped as fighters, half as bombers. This makes no provision for fighter defence of the fleet base at Crete for which no aerodrome available. It also reduces fighter defence of Alexandria."

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Bass Strait, the body of water between Australia and Tasmania, the 7,766 ton German Auxiliary Cruiser HK Pinguin, Ship 33 to the Germans and Raider "H" to the British, begins laying mines along the Victorian Coast of Australia,, including the area off Apollo Bay. This field claims two ships, the British ship S.S. Cambridge and the U.S. ship MS City of Rayville.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Trillium commissioned Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMS Windflower arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC (Summary for October):

Pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sails from Germany and passes through the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland for the Atlantic and later Indian Oceans. She gets back home in March.

Raider 'Widder' arrives in France after six months of operations in the central Atlantic where she has sunk or captured 10 ships of 59,000 tons.

The Luftwaffe's long range aircraft are now flying from bases in Norway. Inter-service rivalry between the Luftwaffe and the Navy means the Kondor will never be fully integrated into the German effort in the BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC.

Escort limits are now being pushed out to 19 degrees west. In a series of pack attacks on lightly defended Canada/UK convoys, U-boats sink more than 30 ships from SC7 and HX79 between the 17th and 20th a rate of loss that will soon bring Britain to her knees. Fortunately a number of measures are being taken to ease the dire situation and provide some of the foundations from which Britain and her Allies will go on to defeat the U-boat.

- The old US destroyers are coming into service and the British building programme is starting to deliver the escorts needed.

- The need for permanent escort groups to develop and maintain expertise is being accepted and greater emphasis given to A/S training.

- Co-operation between RAF Coastal Command and Western Approaches Command is steadily improving.

However, there is still a long way to go and vast areas of the Atlantic are still without air or sea anti-submarine cover.

U-124 sank SS Rutland in Convoy HX-82.

Losses:

ATLANTIC OCEAN: 56 ships of 287,000 tons and 1 destroyer

1 U boat

European Waters: 43 ships of 132,000 tons.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: 1 ship of 3,000 tons.

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October 31st, 1941 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: 262 civilians have been killed and 361 injured in air raids this month.

The first production Avro Lancaster heavy bomber makes its first flight today. It has four 1,280 h-p Merlin XX engines and with its dorsal and ventral gun turrets weighs in at 60,000 lb. (22)

One of the lessons learned in the last war was that bully beef and mutton stew, no matter how plentiful, neither satisfied the appetites of the troops nor kept up their morale.

The Army Catering Corps has now been formed, and chefs for all branches of the armed forces go through a sophisticated training programme. Professional caterers have been moved from their hotels and restaurants and put to work analysing the needs of serving men in climates as different as Libya and Iceland. They have developed no fewer than 89 rationing scales.

However, civilians should not feel that they are getting the scraps from the Army's table; the ministry of food says it takes their needs just as seriously.

After a shaky start the Ministry of Information is showing signs of growing sophistication in the propaganda war with Germany. 

Posters have gained in artistic impact; slogans are snappier. So far the focus of propaganda has been directed within Britain, cajoling the citizens into public spirited behaviour, whether it be avoiding gossip, growing vegetables or mending clothes. As thoughts begin to turn to promoting the Allied cause abroad, the changing line-up of war powers has caused some problems even at home.

For the past four months, for instance, the backroom boys of the MOI have been juggling with a tricky question: Now that we have Joe Stalin as an ally, what do we tell the public about communism.

Churchill appointed Brendan Bracken, the journalist and financier to head the ministry soon after Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. Bracken found the civil servants fearful of a communist takeover. Bracken has now solved the problem: Stalin and his armed forces are to be praised to the skies, but with absolutely no mention of communism. Any attempts by British communists to exploit public admiration for Russia will be forestalled by the ministry organizing Tanks-for-Russia campaigns.

In its early months, the ministry had been ridiculed for its fondness for exhortation: Your courage, your cheerfulness, your resolution will bring us victory. At a policy meeting after the outbreak of war, contingency plans for the ministry were examined; a proposal that cups of tea should be provided to prevent panic after air-raids was amended to cups of coffee. It only slowly dawned on the officials that what people wanted was not rallying cries but actual information, particularly as, in its absence, rumors flourish.

Sloop HMS Whimbrel laid down.

GERMANY: Berlin: German workers are being forced to "volunteer" as much as 25 Reichmark (about £2/1/8d) a week from their wages to pay for Hitler's war. Those who resist payment are likely to be approached by Nazi Party members in their factories.

An illegal underground newspaper, the Suddeutsche Volkstimme, is claiming that this "iron savings" scheme means that Hitler is "extorting nearly six billion marks from the people to pay for armaments."

U-639 laid down.

ESTONIA: SS Commander Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski reports back to Berlin that there are no Jews left in Estonia.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The Luftwaffe bombs the city in 45 attacks today.

JAPAN: The Japanese High Command approves the plan submitted by Admiral YAMAMOTO Isoroku, Commander-in-Chief, Combined Fleet, calling for an aerial attack on the USN fleet at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. YAMAMOTO has threatened to resign if his plan is not approved.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur      "> MacArthur requests recall of Grunert and was appointed Department commander in his stead. (Marc Small)

CANADA:

Minesweeper HMCS Chignecto commissioned.

HMC ML 052 commissioned.

UNITED STATES: Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, South Dakota, is “completed” this day. Actually, the money ran out. Work on the monument, honoring Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, had begun 10 August 1927. It was dedicated 3 March 1933 although work continued. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in 1941 and his son, Lincoln, continues the project until funds ran out on this day. Since then, no additional carving has been done, nor is any further work (other than maintenance) on the memorial planned.

ICELAND: Reykjavik: The USN destroyer USS Reuben James (DD-245) is sunk when U-552 fired a torpedo into the magazine. The ship split into two parts. The aft section stayed afloat for five minutes, but as it sank depth charges exploded killing a number of men in the water. 115 sailors from a crew of 160 are lost in the first sinking of a US warship in the, so far, undeclared war in the ATLANTIC OCEAN. The Reuben James is part of the escort for 42-ship convoy HX-156 (Halifax, Nova Scotia to the U.K.). The attack happens at 0525 hours about 660 nautical miles west of Galway, Éire, in position 51.59N, 27.05W. Despite the heavy oil slick in the vicinity and the need to investigate sound contacts, destroyer Niblack (DD-424) rescues 36 men (one of whom dies of wounds on 2 November); Hilary P. Jones (DD-427) picks up ten.  Other destroyers are performing such regular escort duties. 

The loss of USS Reuben James proves a temporary detriment to Navy recruiting efforts. Since this ship has essentially the same silhouette as the 50 destroyers loaned to the British, the U-boat commander believes it is a Royal Navy ship. It is only when they heard the attack announced by a US radio station a few days later that he realised their target had been a USN ship. (John Nicholas and Alex Gordon)

     USN Task Unit 4.1.6 screening Convoy ON-28 (U.K. to North America), carries out vigorous attacks on sound contacts: destroyer USS Babbitt (DD-128) carries out two, while USS Buck (DD-420), DuPont (DD-152) (which is attacked by U-boat but missed), Leary (DD-158) and Sampson (DD-394) one attack apiece.

U-374 sank SS Rose Schiaffino.

U-96 sank SS Bennekom in Convoy OS-10.

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October 31st, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Canterbury: A week after the RAF bombed the industrial city of Milan the Luftwaffe today attacked historic Canterbury, dropping 52 tons of bombs and causing extensive casualties. In a single incident, an attack on a bus, ten people died. The raid followed the tactic masterminded by the RAF: a low-level approach to the target at dusk, the delivery of a short but intensive barrage, and a follow-on raid by night. 68 fighter-bombers flew in the earlier raid and 68 fighters. Only three were lost.

     USAAF Eighth Air Force: Major General Spaatz, Commanding General Eighth Air Force, informs Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, that operations against submarine pens may prove too costly for results obtained; believing the pens impervious to normal high-altitude bombing, Spaatz plans to operate as low as 4,000 feet (1 219 meters) and accept higher casualty rates.

Corvette HMS Dittany launched.

Destroyer HMCS Sioux (ex-HMS Vixen) laid down.

Escort carrier HMS Premier laid down.

Escort carrier HMS Battler commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Loyal commissioned.

FRANCE: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 (A-20) Bostons in low-level cloud-cover raids on power stations. Cover is sparse and four aircraft attack mostly minor targets with three aircraft bombing the power station at Pont a Vendin and one hitting a power station at Mazingarbe.

     During the night of 31 October/1 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 22 Wellingtons and Stirlings to mine the waters off Biscay Bay ports; one Wellington is lost. Nine aircraft mine the waters off La Pallice, four off St. Nazaire, three off Lorient and one in the Gironde Estuary.

GERMANY: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches eight Wellingtons to Emden, seven bomb, and six to Essen, two bomb. Two aircraft are lost over Essen.

U-856 laid down.

U-308, U-736, U-801, U-802, U-849 launched.

U-856 laid down.

POLAND: This month, the Nazis have murdered 64,000 Jews and gypsies at Belzec and 82,000 at Treblinka.

ESTONIA: After 35,000 persons have been executed in Riga, SS General Eirch Bach-Zelewski wrote: “Today, there are no more Jews in Estonia.”

U.S.S.R.: The German offensive towards the Caucasus mountains of southern Russia is petering out in the face of strong Soviet resistance and the onset of winter. The 1st Panzer Army of General von Kleist is currently stuck five miles west of Ordhonikidze with serious supply problems. Ironically, it is lack of oil which has most handicapped what began as a drive through the Caucasus to the oilfields near Baku. At first progress was swift, but neither of the original objectives of the 1942 southern offensives - the oilfields and the capture of Stalingrad - has been secured.

The Luftwaffe launches 45 separate attacks on Moscow.

     In Leningrad, the air evacuation of 17,614 factory specialists and 8,590 wounded Sovet Army soldiers is completed.

CRETE: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24 Liberators sent to bomb the Maleme dispersal area fail to locate the target because of overcast.

EGYPT: The German 90th Light Division continues to slog it out with the Australians north and east of Tell el Eisa in the Battle of El Alamein.

El Alamein: As Allied shells crashed around his headquarters, Rommel wrote his daily letter to his wife, Lu, today. Gone was the confidence that had made him the master of desert warfare. He wrote of "rivers of blood poured out over miserable strips of land that not even the poorest Arab would have bothered about". The blood is not just German and Italian, as the Allies suffered more losses than the Axis forces, but the "miserable strip of land" was a key point in his defences, the "Kidney Ridge", and it is now broken.

Both sides have sustained heavy losses in armour. The Kidney Ridge assaults have cost the 25th Panzers all but 31 of their 119 tanks. Further to the north, the British XXX Corps lost 200 tanks driving a two-mile wedge into the German positions to clear the way for the 9th Armoured Brigade and the 7th and 10th Armoured Divisions with the New Zealand infantry. The Australians in the north are fighting a relentless battle to take Tel el Eisa and break through to the coastal road.

Fortune has deserted Rommel. He was flown here from a sick-bed in Germany when his stand-in as the head of the Afrika Korps, General Stumme, died of a heart attack when his car was caught in crossfire on 24 October. Even the massive "devil's garden" - the five-mile deep minefield - that Rommel had planted was failing to hold the weight of Allied armour and the determination of the infantry.

Other generals have failed to out-manoeuvre the Desert Fox. His new opponent, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, is fighting a war of attrition based on superior numbers - he began this battle with 195,000 men to Rommel's 104,000, 1,029 tanks (including 252 Shermans) to 489, 2,311 guns to 1,219 and 750 planes to 675 - and detailed preparations which exploit Allied codebreaking. He knew Rommel's strengths and plans: a secret and possibly vital element in his chances of success.

Cairo: Taking part in General Montgomery's attacks at El Alamein is a new tank, the American M4 Sherman. Four British armoured brigades are equipped with the tank, deliveries of which were made in mid-September. It is armed with a 75mm turret-mounted gun and three machine guns and has a five-man crew: commander, gunner and loader in the turret plus driver and co-driver. With a battle weight of just under 30 tons, it is capable of speeds of up to 24mph. Like the Grant tank, it can fire high-explosive shells, crucial in dealing with the German 88mm anti-tanks guns.

     US Army, Middle East Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit a landing ground and claim one fighter shot down while P-40s flying escort claim three.

LIBYA: Miteiriya Ridge: Sgt. William Henry Kibby (b.1903), Australian Military Forces, died assaulting an enemy position. For a week he had shown brilliant courage in leading his platoon. (Victoria Cross)

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.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: Colonel Tsuji Masanobu arrives at the Japanese 17th Army HQ in Kokombona. He has retraced the route of the IJA 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.

     USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb shipping in Buin, Bougainville-Faisi Island-Tonolai, Bougainville Island area.

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

PACIFIC OCEAN: 1800 hours: Submrine USS Thresher (SS-200) sinks a cargo ship at 04-40 S, 118-54 E. 

Submarine USS Grayback (SS-208) sinks a cargo ship at 04-37 S, 152-30 E, Rabaul area. (Skip Guidry)

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.

U.S.A.: "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter orchestra reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. The song is from the motion picture "Holiday Inn" starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. This song, which debuted on the charts on 10 October 1941, was charted for 15 weeks, was Number 1 for 11 weeks and was ranked Number 1 for the year 1942.

Twenty-six men from the 100th (Company B, Third Platoon) leave Camp McCoy, Wisconsin for Ship Island and Cat Island off the Mississippi Gulf coast, on special assignment to be used to train dogs to recognize and attack Japanese, based on their supposedly unique scent. (Gene Hanson)

The auxiliary aircraft carrier, ex-Altamaha (ACV-6, ex-Maritime Commission Hull 160) is completed and purchased by the USN and immediately transferred to the British Royal Navy under Lend-Lease. She is renamed HMS Battler (D 18) and is returned to the USN on 5 January 1946. This is the sixth ACV transferred to the Royal Navy.

Minesweeper USS Serene launched.

Destroyer USS Maddox commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy SL-125 loses its 13th ship in a week's harrying by U-boats.

U-521 was attacked by a Hudson aircraft from RAF 145 Sqn and sustained minor damage.

U-103 sank SS Tasmania in Convoy SL-125.

U-510 damaged SS Alaska in Convoy SL-125.

U-172 sank SS Aldington Court. After sinking the Aldington Court, U-172 captured the vessel's First Officer.

U-174 sank SS Marylyn.

U-504 sank SS Empire Guidon and SS Reynolds.

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October 31st, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Rupert and Stockham launched.

Frigate HMS Conn commissioned.

FRANCE: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Antheor Railroad Viaduct on the French-Italian border a few miles east of St Raphael.

GERMANY: During the night of 31 October/1 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 17 Mosquitos to bomb four cities: six hit Emden, four each bomb Cologne and Oberhausen and three attack Dusseldorf. One aircraft is lost.

U-772 is launched.

U.S.S.R.: The German access to the Crimea is cut as the advancing Soviets capture Chaplinka.

Moscow: Britain, the US and the Soviet Union today pledged themselves to work together for peace after the defeat of the Axis powers. A new United Nations organization will be created and national armaments will be controlled by agreement.

The three foreign ministers, Eden, Cordell Hull and Molotov, agreed to set up a three-power commission in London to consider European issues as the end of the war against Nazi Germany draws near. Austria's independence will be restored.

Moscow: General Tolbukhin, the commander of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, has captured Chaplinka, 15 miles north of Perekop, which guards the north-western entrance to the Crimea. With the main road cut and the railway under fire, this means that the Germans in the Crimea are virtually cut off by land from the rest of their forces in Russia. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 German and Romanian troops occupying the Crimea, plus the bulk of the Seventeenth Army which has been withdrawn from Taman across the Keren Straits.

They are all now in danger of being left behind as the Russians push forward along the Black Sea towards Kherson. The Germans enjoy one great advantage, however, their navy rules the Black Sea, with the Russians too fearful of Stuka attacks to risk their ships.

While this remains the case Hitler is unlikely to sanction an early evacuation on the grounds that the divisions still in the Crimea will tie down major Russian forces to guard against an attack in their rear. This reasoning does not please Field Marshal von Kleist, who would rather get his men, guns and tanks to safety.

U-24 sank Soviet minesweeper SKA-088.

YUGOSLAVIA: Eleven USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-40s bomb and strafe a tanker off Split leaving it burning.

ITALY: Teano is captured as the British X Corps advances towards Monte Santa Croce.

The U.S. Fifth Army takes control of the Italian 1st Motorized Group.In the British X Corps area, while the 7th Armoured and 46th Divisions continue attacks on Mt. Massico and Mt. St. Croce, the 56th Division, on the Corps right flank, takes Teano. In the VI Corps area, some elements of the 34th Division reach Fontegreca while others occupy Ciorlano, on the slopes of La Croce Hill.

The Germans have lost their Italian allies; but they have the rain on their side, a steady remorseless deluge that turns the small fordable rivers of summer into fierce-flowing torrents and makes every mountain track a treacherous quagmire.

The infantry have the worst of it. Supplies are plentiful in the rear echelons, but for the men in the frontline of this campaign, life has become a matter of finding shelter in a slit trench or gully and eating "nourishing" K-rations or bully beef cold from the tin. Hot meals are no more than a memory for thousands. And the Germans are fighting a skilled defensive battle with the aid of their new ally. Bridges are demolished, culverts are mined and booby traps are everywhere. Villages are flattened to deny shelter to the Allies.

The advance continues, however, but at a desperately slow speed. Earlier this month, the US Fifth Army managed to cross the Volturno river under an artillery barrage and smoke screen. By 14 October, a four-mile-deep bridgehead had been established. In the east, General Montgomery paused to regroup the Eighth Army; as he did so, four German divisions moved up to oppose him.

     In the British Eighth Army’s XIII Corps area, Cantalupo falls to the 5th Division. .

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders hit Anzio; B-25 Mitchells attack docks and shipping at Civitavecchia; and P-38 Lightnings strafe and bomb Tirana airfield. .

     During the night of 31 October/1 November, 27 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group attack Perugia Airfield, 2.3 miles (3,7 kilometers) north of Batia; two bombers are lost.

BURMA: In an attempt to knock out the Japanese base from which fighters are attacking ferrying operations, USAAF Tenth Air Force P-40s carrying 1,000-pound (454 kilogram) bombs fly four strikes against Myitkyina; following the bomb runs, the fighters strafe antiaircraft positions; the attacks cause considerable damage to the base. B-25 Mitchells attack the Meza railroad bridge, scoring hits on the approaches but missing the structure; the bridge remains unusable due to damage caused by the 10 October strike.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s sink a barge off the New Britain Island coast.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Over 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with fighter support, bomb Kara Airfield in southern Bougainville Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0600 hours: Submarine USS Gabilan (SS-252) sinks small patrol craft at 32-50 N, 134-21 E off Murotosaki.

0900 hours: Submarine USS Guitarro (SS-363) sinks an armed cargo ship and two cargo ships at 15-15 N, 119-56 E. (Skip Guidry)

LT Hugh D. O'Neill of VF (N)-75 destroys a Japanese aircraft during night attack off Vella Lavella in first kill by a radar-equipped night fighter of the Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Richmond K. Turner, commander of Amphibious Force Pacific Fleet and the Northern Attack Force (Task Force 52), begins rehearsals for Operation GALVANIC the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, off Hawaii.

     Task Force 31 units rendezvous west of Guadalcanal, then sail for Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. Japanese airfields on southern Bougainville are now unserviceable.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Chedabucto declared a constructive total loss. Lost in a collision with the cable vessel Lord Kelvin 30 miles off Rimouski, Province of Quebec. One officer was lost with the ship.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer USS Irwin launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Bowers, Stern and Swearer launched.

Submarine USS Sea Lion launched.

Destroyer minelayer USS Gwin laid down.

The escort aircraft carrier USS Tripoli (CVE-64) is commissioned at Astoria, Oregon. The USN now has 29 CVEs in commission.

Destroyer escorts USS Spangler and George commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Candid commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-584 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, about 662 nautical miles north-northeast of the Azores, at position 49.14N, 31.55W, by a Mk. 24 Fido acoustic homing torpedo from three TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) of the US escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11). All 53 crewmen are lost. (Previously, in June 1942, U-584 had landed a saboteur team of 4 men on the shores just south of Jacksonville, Florida; one of two such teams that landed within a week of each other on the US east coast. The boat then returned safely to Brest on 22 July.)

U-732 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the mid-Atlantic near Tangier, about 8 nautical miles north-northwest of the Tangier Zone at position 35.54N, 05.52W, by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Imperialist (FY 126) and the destroyer Douglas (D 90). 31 dead, 18 survivors. The surface vessels are escorting slow convoy MKS-28 (Mediterranean to U.K.) and SL-138 (Sierra Leone to U.K.)

U-306 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic about 533 nautical miles north-northeast of the Azores, at position 46.19N, 20.44W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Whitehall (D 94) and the corvette HMS Geranium (K 16). 51 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-262 sank SS Hallfried in Convoy SL-138.

U-68 sank SS New Columbia.

     In the Caribbean Sea, USN non-rigid airship (blimp) K 94, en route from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, catches fire and crashes 35 miles north of Cape Borinquen, Puerto Rico.

GLOBAL: Despite, or perhaps because of, the increasingly sophisticated savagery of the war that now encircles the globe, medical treatments are being developed to halt diseases and infections of all kinds.

Countless lives are being saved by a new wonder drug known as penicillin. This is a type of mould, commonly found on old bread, which destroys a host of bacteria. It was discovered by accident by the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming in 1928, but its crucial healing ingredient was only isolated in 1940. Now the drug is being given to war casualties by the thousand. One of its most valuable properties is to combat blood poisoning from infected wounds. Inoculations are also being widely used to prevent the spread of the disease.

In Germany there is a national institute working on ways of curbing infections such as typhus which reached epidemic proportions in the 1914-18 war. It Italy the use of the drug atebrine against malaria has reduced mortality by as much as 70% in some areas. Training for medical workers has also reduced the number of dead. While battle goes on around them, doctors crawl out to injured men to give them blood transfusions.

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October 31st, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Murchison and Enard Bay launched.

WESTERN EUROPE: Weather prevents USAAF Ninth Air Force bomber operations and limits fighters; the XII and XIX Tactical Air Commands fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance over eastern France and western Germany; and the XII Tactical Air Command also supports US Seventh Army elements in the Metz, France area.

NETHERLANDS: The German Fifteenth Army is in full retreat from the southern Netherlands, with troops packing the ferries across the Maas and crowding the last two bridges at Moerdijk. Two German columns, a six-mile-long one approaching the bridges and a second, 12 miles long, beyond the river, are being attacked from the air. The final battle to clear the approaches to Antwerp is about to start. Most of the Beveland isthmus has been cleared, but German positions on Walcheren, at the entrance to the Scheldt estuary, must be taken before the port can open.

In the Canadian First Army’s II Corps area, the Canadian 2d Division starts west across the Walcheren causeway from south Beveland but is halted by German fire. Amphibious assault forces at Breskens and Ostend prepare to land on Walcheren Isalnd. In the Breskens Pocket, only small German groups remain in the coastal area; Cadzand and Knocks are free of Germans. In the British I Corps area, whilethe main body of corps is closing along the Mark River, advance elements attempt unsuccessfully to establish bridgeheads. The 1st Battalion, 415th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 104th Infantry Division, crosses northeast of Standdaarbuiten in assault boats early in the day but is encircled by German counterattacking force and withdraws after nightfall. Elements of the Polish 1st Armored Division cross the river east of Zevenbergen, but they too are forced back to south bank. German fire prevents bridging.

     In the British Second Army area, XII Corps overcomes opposition at Raamsdonk.

     During the night of 31 October/1 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 695: three B-17 Flying Fortresses and five B-24 Liberators drop leaflets.

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the French 2d Armored Division drives southeast from Forêt de Mondon, taking the Germans by surprise and overwhelming their forward positions at Montigny, Merviller, and the northern part of Baccarat are cleared; other elements of the division provide diversion on the southern flank, taking Menarmont and Nossoncourt, southwest of Baccarat. In the VI Corps area, the 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division attacks at night, turning northward in the region west of the Meurthe.

GERMANY: Overnight Cologne was blitzed by 493 RAF heavy bombers. The raid in which 3,451 tons of bombs and 610 tons of incendiaries were dropped killed 554 Germans.

Britain said that the destruction was necessary to ensure that Cologne was not used as an "advance base". In other raids aimed at oil refineries, 671 US bombers attacked eleven targets. A planned raid by 459 B-17s on the oil plant at Luena had to turn back because of bad weather.

The Americans, who captured Aachen ten days ago, today appointed a non-Nazi burgomeister; he cannot be named, because the Nazis have threatened death to relatives of anyone who takes office under the Allies.

Further south, Patton's US Third Army is stalled for the time being on the Moselle. Aggrieved at being assigned lowest priority for supplies of fuel, he has sent his officers foraging among the dumps of the US First Army; they have returned with "quite a bit of gasoline". Though Patton is authorised only to carry out "continuous reconnaissance", he intends to push for the Saar.

The French First Army is pushing into the Vosges with the aim of seizing the Belfort Gap and striking north to Strasburg.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 101 Lancasters on a G-H attack the Welheim synthetic oil refinery at Bottrop. All 101 aircraft bomb the targets with the loss of one Lancaster.

     During the night of 31 October/1 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 493 aircraft, 331 Lancasters, 144 Halifaxes and eight Mosquitos, to attack Cologne; 491 bomb the city. A further 15 Mosquitos carry out a feint attack just before the main raid. This is another Oboe-marked attack through thick cloud. Most of the bombs fall in the southern districts, with Bayental and Zollstock, according to the local report, being the hardest hit, although damage is not as severe as in other recent raids. One aircraft is lost. In additional raids, 48 Mosquitos bomb Hamburg with the loss of one, four hit Saarbrücken, two attack Schweinfurt and one bombs Leverkusen.

U-2541 laid down.

U-2346 launched.

U-2517 commissioned.

DENMARK: The RAF uses a precision attack to bomb the Shellhus (Shell Oil Building) in Copenhagen. This is the headquarters of the Gestapo in Denmark. The successful raid, mounted at the request of the Danish underground, destroys Gestapo records. The aid to the Danish resistance is weighed against the perils of the mission. Despite the location near a school, the raid is executed against very high odds of success by Mosquito bombers.
Unfortunately, the school was bombed by mistake. More than 80 people were killed, almost all of them children. Today the Shellhus has been rebuilt, and there is a plaque above the main door honoring the RAF fliers who didn't return from the mission. This raid is covered thoroughly in Danish schools; everybody there is familiar with it. (Julian Gomez)

Aarhus, Jutland: A young Danish pastor tortured to breaking point be the Gestapo at Aarhus university was set free by the raid, led by the same Australian squadron that hit Amiens jail. The raid also destroyed archives that threatened the continued existence of Denmark's resistance network.

A total of 24 Mosquitoes flew over the North Sea at sea level in response to coded pleas from Danish patriots for help. Their bombs struck as Pastor Harald Sandbaek was about to tell what he knew. His torturers were killed. When compatriots dug him free, he begged them to kill him rather than risk his recapture. They smuggled him to Sweden instead.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: The gas chambers are closed down. The last transport, 1,700 Jews from Theresienstadt, was gassed yesterday.

BALTIC SEA: U-475 sank Soviet landing craft SB-2.

HUNGARY: Broadening operations toward Budapest, elements of the Soviet Second Ukrainian Front force the Tisza River and push into Kecskemet, where street fighting ensues.

GREECE: Salonika is evacuated by the Germans.

YUGOSLAVIA: One hundred seventy four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, dispatched against a target in Yugoslavia, are forced to return because of weather.

     During the night of 31 October/1 November, 58 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly supplies to the partisans.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division progresses rapidly toward the Rabbi River as German resistance weakens. The 4th Division establishes two bridgeheads across the Ronco River between Selbagnone and Highway 9.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders hit a bridge and causeway at Nervesa della Battaglia and bridges at Montebello and Piazzola sul Brenta; and fighter-bombers attack guns and positions in the battle area south of Bologna in the Apennines, and communications and shipping targets in the Po Valley and on the Po River.

CEYLON: Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC), having returned to Kandy from meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo, Egypt, at or near this time proposes to the Combined Chiefs of Staff that (1) Phases 1 and 2 of Operation CAPITAL (th attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay, Burma) be completed; (2) that Arakan and Akyab, Burma, be cleared (Operations ROMULUS and TALON, respectively) in order to release the main body of XV Corps for use elsewhere; (3) a forward base on the Kra Isthmus (the narrow neck of the Malay Peninsula in southwester Thailand, between the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Thailand) be seized in March 1945; (4) that Rangoon, Burma, be taken after the 1945 monsoon; and (5) that Malaya be invaded regardless of the monsoon.

CHINA: Major General Albert C. Wedemeyer assumes command of U.S. Forces, China Theater (USFCT) and Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-shek His primary task is to conduct air operations from China, with logistical support from the India-Burma Theater.

     Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs hit shipping targets of opportunity at Swatow and Amoy; about 70 fighters support Chinese ground forces by pounding positions in the Lungling area; and four B-25 Mitchells and 12 P-40s bomb a railroad bridge at Pengpu.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army area, IV Corps headquarters returns from India and opens near Imphal with the Indian 19th Division under command about this time.

In the Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) area, the British 36th Division, against stiffening resistance, reaches Mawlu.

     Over 60 USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts attack occupied areas and supply areas at Namun, Bhamo, and Nakang, and railroad bridges, locomotive shelters, and rolling stock along the Kyaikthin-Naba line; and two B-25 Mitchells attack targets of opportunity from Katha to Bhamo along the Irrawaddy River.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands, four USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells score direct hits on a cannery at Tomari Cape on Paramushiru Island and leave nearby buildings burning; one of twoB-25 Mitchells hit by antiaricraft heads for and safely lands in the USSR.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: During the night of 31 October/l November, a USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator on a snooper mission from Saipan bombs Iwo Jima.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army’s XXIV Corps area, the 96th Infantry Division is mopping up the Catmon Hill sector. The 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, starts from Abuyog toward Baybay.

EAST INDIES: On Halmahara Island, Netherlands East Indies, USAAF East Air Forces P-47 Thunderbolts and A-20 Havocs bomb Kairatoe Airfield and Sahoe village B-25 Mitchells and P-40s hit Loloda and Soasioe.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-38 Lightnings and A-20 Havocs, concentrating on airfields, attack Samate, Jefman and Sagan Aerodrome, and Doom Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 1700 hours: Submarine USS Seahorse (SS-304) sinks a sampan at 31-19 N, 134-13 E.

2200 hours: Submarine USS Rasher (SS-269) sinks a tanker at 01-25 N, 120-46 E. (Skip Guidry)

U.S.A.:

Destroyer escorts USS John L Williamson and Bivin commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Hazard commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned FS-140 was accepted and was used for training at Pascagoula, Mississippi; Tampa, Florida, Brownsville, Texas; Gulfport, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; Corpus Christi, Texas; Pensacola, Florida, etc.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-141 was commissioned while in the Southwest Pacific area in October 1944, with LT W.J. Holbert, USCGR, as commanding officer. She was assigned and operated in the Southwest Pacific area in the Philippines and Hawaii. Exact date estimated.

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October 31st, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)

PALESTINE: Jewish terrorists set off a wave of bombs on police vehicles, railways and the Haifa oil refinery. One policeman, one British soldier and two railway workers are killed. (From the UK newspaper the Daily Mail)

The Irgun and the Stern gang would be defined as terrorist organizations, although perhaps not as extreme as many today. They engaged in assassinations and were responsible for the massacre of civilians in the Palestinian village of Dar Yasin. Although when attacking targets were civilians would be present they typically gave a warning, such as with the Irgun's bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem which served as the HQ of the British military in Palestine, but had many civilians present. The Stern Gang assassinated Count Bernadotte the UN mediator. The Yishuv (the Jewish pseudo-government in pre-Israel Palestine) were vehemently opposed to Irgun and Stern Gang and their underground forces, the Haganah (which inluding a small full time "striking arm" known as the Palmach) was not a terrorist organization. There were occasions were the Haganah and Yishuv assisted the British in rounding up members of the Stern Gang and Irgun. They even came to an armed clash with the Irgun during the summer of 1948 (The Altalena affair). The Haganah exercised self restraint and rarely attacked British military targets, usually in support of Aliyah Bet (illegal immigration) operations. With regard to Arabs: up until November 1947 (when the Arabs in Palestine revolted against the UN decision to partition Palestine) the Haganah only fought with the Arabs in self-defence of settlements. Of course during this time frame the UK press would have described a Haganah action as a "terrorist" attack.

As they say one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The leader of the Irgun was Manachem Begin. The Leader of the Stern Gang was Yitzhak Shamir. Begin was the Israeli Prime Minister who made peace with Egypt. Shamir was the Prime Minister who initiated peace talks with the Arabs in Madrid after the 1991 Gulf War. (Stuay)

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Ottawa paid off.

U.S.A.: Major-General Claire Chennault, USAAF, retires from his position at the Headquarters Army Air Force.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-274 was commissioned at New York and LT R. S. Crampton, USCGR, became her first commanding officer on 24 November 1944. He was succeeded on 4 October 1945 by LTJG G. B. Dowley, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Pacific during the war.

Minesweeper USS Harrier commissioned.

Destroyer USS Stickel commissioned.

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