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• As the Italian invasion of Greece began to slow to a stop in the Epirus Mountains, British forces landed on the islands of Lemnos and Crete in southern Greece to prevent Italian landings on Greek islands. Greek destroyers Spetsai and Psara departed the Gulf of Patras and used their 120-mm guns to bombard Italian troops on the Ionian coast of Albania and northern Greece. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
• German submarine U-124 sank British ship Rutland 300 miles northwest of Ireland at 2158 hours, killing the entire crew of 24. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Widder arrived at Brest, France after a 179-day long operation in the Atlantic Ocean that saw the sinking of 10 ships totaling 58,645 tons. ww2dbase [Widder | CPC]
• HMCS Trillium was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Commander Ronald Fraser Harris in command. ww2dbase [Trillium | CPC]

• Maggiore Baracca spotted a freighter in the northern Atlantic Ocean at about 1935 hours. At 2109, she fired a torpedo, which missed. The freighter turned to ram the submarine, but Maggiore Baracca was able to avoid being struck by going full astern. The Italian submarine would continue to give chase through the end of this day. ww2dbase [Maggiore Baracca | CPC]
• Alessandro Malaspina sighted a group of 7 Allied merchant ships escorted by two destroyers in the Atlantic Ocean at 1315 hours. She was spotted in return by the destroyers, which forced her to submerge. The Italian submarine surfaced at 1730 hours and observed that the convoy was about 48 miles away. At 2040 hours, she informed the Italian base at Bordeaux, France that she had sighted this convoy. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Alessandro Malaspina | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci arrived at Bordeaux, France at 1900 hours, escorted into the harbor by German minesweepers M2 and M13. ww2dbase [M2 | M13 | Leonardo da Vinci | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
• Comandante Faà di Bruno departed Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France at 2000 hours, starting her fourth war patrol. She was escorted out of the port by German minesweepers M9 and M21. ww2dbase [M9 | M21 | Comandante Faà di Bruno | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• RAF bombers attacked Naples, Italy. ww2dbase [Bombing of Rome, Naples, and Other Cities | Napoli, Campania | TH]

• Morosini transited the Strait of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Morosini | Strait of Gibraltar | CPC]

• According to a British Air Ministry pamphlet published in 1941, this date was the official end of the Battle of Britain, but bombings on London, England, United Kingdom would continue. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | TH]

31 Oct 1940 Interactive Map