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• USS Gunnel used infra-red signals to guide ships to a invasion beach in Operation Torch. ww2dbase [Gunnel | CPC]
• Axis defenses in Egypt fell back to Sidi Barrani. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• The first combat victory by the new Seafire naval fighter occurred when a New Zealander, Sub-Lieutenant A. S. Long, shot down a Vichy French Martin 167 bomber over Mers-el-Kébir harbour in French Algeria. ww2dbase [Spitfire | AC]

• USS S-31 arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Unalaska | CPC]

• Allied forces attacked French forces at Algerian ports of Oran and Algiers during Operation Torch. Algiers surrendered at 1800 hours. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | Algiers | TH]
• Two former US Coast Guard cutters renamed HMS Walney (Captain F. T. Peters R.N.) and HMS Hartland (Commander Godfrey P. Billot) each carrying 200 American infantry entered Oran, Algeria with the intention of denying the harbour facilities to the Vichy French. Both vessels came under intense crossfire from French warships and were sunk with heavy losses. The survivors were taken prisoner. Captain Peters miraculously survived but was killed in a plane accident two days later. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and the American Distinguished Service Cross. Commander Godfrey P. Billot of Hartland won a Distinguished Service Order. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | Oran | AC]

• William Halsey inspected Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Staying overnight, he personally experienced a Japanese naval bombardment which he later admitted filled him with fright. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Henderson Field | William Halsey | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
• The 164th Infantry Regiment and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 7th Marine Regiment moved east toward Koli Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in an attempt to envelope the Japanese forces in that area. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | CPC]
• Yugure and six other destroyers transported men to Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Yugure | Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
• Tenryu arrived at Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands and disembarked supplies. On her return voyage to Shortland Island, Solomon Islands, she was attacked by US motor torpedo boats PT-37, PT-39, and PT-61, but they failed to cause any damage. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]

• Primauguet suffered heavy damage at the hands of US battleships and dive bombers at Casablanca, Morocco. To avoid sinking, her commanding officer sailed her to shallow waters. At anchor, she was abandoned and would burn overnight. ww2dbase [Primauguet | Operation Torch | Morocco | CPC]
• Allied forces attacked French forces at Moroccan ports of Safi and Casablanca during Operation Torch, capturing the former. ww2dbase [Ranger | Operation Torch | Safi | CPC]

• Isaac Sweers departed Gibraltar for a patrol. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]

• Dudley Morton was made the prospective commanding officer of USS Wahoo. On the same day, USS Wahoo departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Dudley Morton | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 11 came on board ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• The 5,060-ton Panamanian registered steam merchant ship Plaudit was in the Indian Ocean heading for Capetown, South Africa, carrying 1,075 tons of rubber, 1,000 tons of manganese ore with jute, gunnysack and tea. Owned by the South Atlantic Steamship Company, her final destination was to be the United States however at 2055 hours whilst off Port Elizabeth, South Africa she was struck on her port side by a torpedo fired from German submarine U-181 (Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Lüth). The blast wrecked the Plaudit's bridge wing and the radio shack, so the ship was unable to send out a distress signal. The submarine surfaced after a while and opened fire with her deck gun as the vessel did not appear to be sinking; between 15 and 20 rounds were fired until the Plaudit sank. The guards manned the stern gun of the Plaudit stayed at their posts until the ship went under; the third engineer with the cook and another guard were lost. ww2dbase [HM]

• USS Haddock fired 3 torpedoes at a transport just off the coast west of Pyongyang, Korea; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Haddock | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Shaw | Dunbea Bay, Nouméa | DS]
• USS Juneau departed Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Juneau | Nouméa | CPC]
• US 152nd Infantry Regiment departed Nouméa, New Caledonia for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Nouméa | CPC]

• USS Grayback attacked a Japanese convoy in the Solomon Sea; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Grayback | Solomon Sea | CPC]

• The Japanese Army formally took command of the Davao Penal Colony in southern Philippines. ww2dbase [Davao Penal Colony | Davao | CPC]

• 25 Jewish professional watchmakers were transferred from Majdanek Concentration Camp to Auschwitz Concentration Camp; they were later transferred to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp where they would work in a workshop to sort and repair watches stolen from killed Jews for use by German troops. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Many units of the German Luftflotte 4 were transferred from Stalingrad, Russia to North Africa. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• Reginaldo Giuliani departed Santander, Cantabria, Spain. ww2dbase [Reginaldo Giuliani | Santander, Cantabria | CPC]

• Bogue-class escort carrier USS Card was placed in commission at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington with Captain James B. Sykes in command. Card was commissioned as an Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier (ACV). ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Card | Bremerton, Washington | DS]
• USS Ancon arrived off Fehala, French Morocco and began disembarking invasion troops at about 0630 hours. During this day, she sent out boats to rescue survivors of sinking transports sunken by French coastal guns. ww2dbase [Ancon | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]

8 Nov 1942 Interactive Map