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• USS Trepang claimed damaging a Japanese battleship and sinking one destroyer during an attack conducted at 2100 hours, earning Commander Roy Davenport a Navy Cross. Post-war studies could not confirm this success, however. ww2dbase [Trepang | CPC]
• German troops withdrew across the Lower Rhine near Arnhem, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [TH]
• Athens, Greece was liberated by Resistance forces who were supported by British glider-landed reinforcements. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Croaker sank a Japanese merchant ship with 3 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Croaker | CPC]
• The first B-29 bombers of the US 73rd Bomb Wing (VH) arrived at Isley Field on Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [AC]
• Colonel Rudolf von Margona-Redwitz, head of German military intelligence in Vienna (Abwehrstelle Wien) until Apr 1944, was sentenced to death and executed in connection with the July Plot against Adolf Hitler. ww2dbase [July Plot | CPC]
• Robert Cole of No. 3 Squadron RAF, flying a Tempest V fighter, shot down a Me 262 jet fighter which was escorting bombers of German Kampfgeschwader 51. This was the first victory of a jet aircraft by a Tempest fighter. The German pilot, Unteroffizier Edmond Delatowski, bailed out and survived. ww2dbase [Tempest | CPC]

• USS Marcus Island departed Manus, Admiralty Islands with Task Group 77.4. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Manus, Admiralty Islands | CPC]
• Task Group 77.2 consisting of battleships USS Tennessee, USS California, USS Pennsylvania, USS Maryland, USS West Virginia, and USS Mississippi with cruisers USS Honolulu, USS Portland, USS Minneapolis, USS Denver, and USS Columbia departed Seeadler Harbor, Manus bound Leyte Gulf, Philippines. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | California | West Virginia | Maryland | Mississippi | Tennessee | Pennsylvania | Honolulu | Denver | Minneapolis | Columbia | Portland | Manus, Admiralty Islands | DS]

• The docks at Boulogne, France were reopened, thus helping the Allied supply crisis to the armies north of the Seine River, which up to now had been reliant on Dieppe and Ostend whose combined capacity was only about 10,000 tons daily. ww2dbase [Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas de Calais | AC]

• USS Corregidor began qualifying carrier pilots while at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Corregidor | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Kamoi took on a cargo of food at Hong Kong. ww2dbase [Kamoi | CPC]

• American "Buffalo Soldiers" broke through the Gothic Line in northern Italy. The 92nd Infantry Division was the only black unit (with white officers) to see combat in Europe, going into action in Italy after the capture of Rome. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | AC]

• Latvian capital Riga was captured by the Soviets, ending any hope of a breakout by Army Group North. ww2dbase [Riga | AC]

• The German 485 Mobile Artillery Detachment, responsible for launching V-2 rockets, began their move from Friesland to the Hague in the Netherlands. On the same day, Adolf Hitler ordered that London, England, United Kingdom was to be the only target for V-2 rockets in Britain; attacks on other continental cities such as Antwerp were to continue. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | CPC]

• USS Ray sank Japanese cargo ship Toko Maru in the South China Sea, hitting her with 2 of 4 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Ray | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS Miami operated off Okinawa, Japan. After dark, she shot down a Japanese aircraft and assisted in the downing of another. ww2dbase [Miami | CPC]

• USS Sea Robin transited the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Sea Robin | CPC]

• UIT-24 arrived in Singapore. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Singapore | CPC]

• USS Franklin launched strikes against Tainan, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Franklin | Tainan | CPC]
• VT-44 squadron TBM aircraft from USS Langley attacked Kagi Airfield in Kagi (now Chiayi), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Kagi Airfield | Langley (Independence-class) | Kagi, Tainan | CPC]
• Aircraft from USS Wasp attacked the Okayama Airfield north of Takao (now Kaohsiung), Taiwan. Nearby targets of opportunity such as the seaplane base at Toko Bay (now Dapeng Bay), the naval port at Toshien (now Zuoying), and the Japanese Army airfield at present-day Kaohsiung International Airport were also attacked. ww2dbase [Okayama Aircraft Factory | Wasp (Essex-class) | Takao | CPC]
• US Navy carrier aircraft attacked the Japanese Navy base at Mako (now Makung), Pescadores Islands in the Taiwan Strait. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]
• Aircraft from USS Hancock attacked the Karenko Airfield in Karenko (now Hualien) in eastern Taiwan; nearly Japan Aluminum Company and Toho Metallury Company industrial facilities were also damaged. ww2dbase [Karenko Airfield | Hancock | Karenko | CPC]
• VT-18 squadron aircraft from USS Intrepid attacked Shinchiku Airfield in Shinchiku (now Hsinchu) in northern Taiwan. ww2dbase [Shinchiku Airfield | Intrepid | Shinchiku | CPC]
• VT-18 squadron aircraft from USS Intrepid attacked the Rising Sun Petroleum Company facilities in Tamsui and the military seaplane base immediately next to Rising Sun facilities in northern Taiwan. ww2dbase [Tamsui Seaplane Base | Intrepid | Tamsui, Taihoku | CPC]
• Carrier aircraft from USS Bunker Hill attacked Matsuyama Airfield in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Matsuyama Airfield | Bunker Hill | Taihoku | CPC]
• Carrier aircraft from USS Lexington attacked Shoka Airfield in Shoka (now Changhua), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Shoka Airfield | Lexington (Essex-class) | Shoka, Taichu | CPC]
• Carrier aircraft from USS Bunker Hill attacked Shinchiku Airfield in Shinchiku (now Hsinchu), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Shinchiku Airfield | Bunker Hill | Shinchiku | CPC]

• A German V-2 rocket hit Ingworth 14 miles north of Norwich, England, United Kingdom, slightly injuring 2 people and causing damage to 20 houses and 1 school. This rocket was the 28th rocket to hit the Norwich region, and was to be the last of the current rocket campaign against Norwich. None of the 28 rockets targeted at this area killed anyone, and property damage was relatively light. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Ingworth, England | CPC]

• The US Supreme Court argued the case of Mitsuye Endo, a Japanese-American who had been deported for internment since the start of the Pacific War. ww2dbase [Internment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians | Mitsuye Endo | Washington | CPC]

• Bulgarian troops captured Leskovac, Yugoslavia. Elsehwere in Yogoslavia, Soviet 4th Guards Mechanized Corps began advancing toward Belgrade from the bridgeheads at Velika Plana and Palanka. ww2dbase [Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation | Serbia | CPC]

12 Oct 1944 Interactive Map