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• Dmitry Karbyshev was born in Omsk, Omsk Governorate, Russia in Central Asia; his birth date was also recorded as 14 Oct in the Old Style. ww2dbase [Dmitry Karbyshev | Omsk | CPC]

• Oregon was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Oregon | CPC]

• Walther Buhle was born. ww2dbase [Walther Buhle | CPC]

• Haichou fired on revolutionary forces at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. ww2dbase [Haichou | Wuhan, Hubei | CPC]

• The Allies, front line troops exhausted, decided to flood to the canal and waterways of the Yser River in Belgium should German troops continue to advance. ww2dbase [AC]

• Boris Shaposhnikov was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 4th Class. ww2dbase [Boris Shaposhnikov | CPC]

• In Russia the first Bolshevik Government was established; Joseph Stalin was given the Commissariat of Nationality Affairs with responsibility for preventing the non-Russian borderlands (including his own native Georgia) from seceding from the new revolutionary community. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | AC]

• General Jiro Akashi was removed from his position as the commanding officer of the Taiwan Army. ww2dbase [CPC]

• In a speech in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, President Warren Harding advocated Civil Rights for African-Americans. ww2dbase [Birmingham, Alabama | AC]

• Philippe Leclerc was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. ww2dbase [Philippe Leclerc | CPC]

• Jiang Dingwen was named the commanding officer of the Chinese 1st Division. ww2dbase [Jiang Dingwen | CPC]

• HMS Hermes arrived in Britain. ww2dbase [Hermes | CPC]

• Prince Nagahisa was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers. ww2dbase [Nagahisa | CPC]

• Montcalm was launched at La Seyne-sur-Mer, France. ww2dbase [Montcalm | La Seyne-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | CPC]

• Germany set up a the Reich Central Office for Combating Abortion and Homosexuality to specifically deal with homosexuality and abortion, both of which, in their thinking, decreases the German birth rate. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Japanese commando battalions broke through Chinese lines and pushed the defenders back along the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Railway in Shanxi, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Shanxi | CPC]

• At 2200 hours, the Chinese 524th Regiment withdrew from Shanghai North Railway Station into the six-story Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai, China. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Shanghai | Shanghai | CPC]
• Liu Cuigang, flying a Hawk III fighter, led three others from Piaosui Airfield in Jiangsu Province, China to reinforce Communist guerrilla forces near Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, taking off at 0700 hours. In the evening, they briefly stopped at Luoyang, Henan Province, China to refuel, taking off again at 2000 hours. As the sun began to set and in poor weather, he led the flight past Taiyuan into Japanese lines by mistake and was subjected by anti-aircraft fire. Failing to locate their destination airfield near Taiyuan, they turned back for Luoyang, but one of the fighters ran out of fuel. Liu swooped down to drop a flare for his comrade, who was descending via a parachute. Misjudging his altitude, Liu crashed into a pagoda southeast of Gaoping, Shanxi Province, killing him. ww2dbase [Liu Cuigang | Gaoping, Shanxi | CPC]

26 Oct 1937 Interactive Map

• Japanese troops captured undefended Wuchang and Hankou (now districts of the city of Wuhan) in Hubei, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Wuhan | Wuhan, Hubei | CPC]

26 Oct 1938 Interactive Map

• Kurt Fricke was awarded the Memel Medal. ww2dbase [Kurt Frike | CPC]

• Jozef Tiso was declared the President of Slovakia. ww2dbase [Jozef Tiso | CPC]

• German authoriities decreed that Polish Jews between the age of 14 and 60 were to be conscripted as forced laborers. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• Arthur Greiser became the administrator of Reichsgau Posen in occupied Poland. ww2dbase [Arthur Greiser | Poznan | CPC]

• In Britain, the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps was established by Royal Warrant. Made up of volunteers between the ages of 30 and 50 years (many veterans from the Great War) their role would be the construction of defences to turn Britain into an impregnable fortress. During the London Blitz this force would assist the civilian services with bomb damage and rescue. ww2dbase [AC]

• Italy lodged a protest against Greece, citing its anti-Italian attitude. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
• British Ministry of Food subsidised fish and chip shops to encourage potato consumption. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Thunderbolt was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Thunderbolt | CPC]
• The P-51 Mustang fighter, NA-73X, took its maiden flight. ww2dbase [P-51 Mustang | CPC]
• Hubert Lanz was given command of 1. Gebirgs-Division. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]

• German submarine U-28 hit British ship Matina 250 miles northwest of Ireland at 0432 hours with a torpedo, then surfaced to hit her with 15 shells with the deck gun; 67 crew members and 2 gunners of Matina abandoned the ship in lifeboats, but they would never to be seen again. On the same day, German Fw 200 Condor bomber discovered and hit British troop ship Empress of Britain with two 250kg bombs 70 miles northwest of Aran Island in the Atlantic Ocean; most of the 416 crew, 2 gunners, and 205 passengers survived the attack and abandoned ship; German submarines were alerted, and would close in for the kill. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | AC]

• Japanese aircraft raided the CAMCO factory at Loiwing (Leiyun), China, destroying recently arrived kits of CW-21 fighters. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Leiyun CAMCO Factory | Leiyun, Yunnan | CPC]

• The German Luftwaffe conducted the longest night time raid on London, England, United Kingdom to date. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | London, England | TH]
• James Lacey shot down a German Bf 109 fighter over Britain. ww2dbase [James Lacey | CPC]

• The US Marine Corps organized a Marine Parachute Detachment at the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States. ww2dbase [Lakehurst, New Jersey | CPC]

26 Oct 1940 Interactive Map

• General Fedyuninsky was transferred from Leningrad, Russia to lead the Soviet 54th Army at Tikhvin about 120 kilometers to the east. The relieved commanding officer of the Soviet 54th Army, General Mikhail Khozin, who had previously served in Leningrad in 1938, was assigned to direct the defenses there. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | CPC]
• German submarine U-83 attacked Allied convoy HG-75 in the central Atlantic at 0354 hours and damaged British fighter catapult ship HMS Ariguani with a torpedo, killing 2. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Tetrach departed Malta for Gibraltar. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Karl von Le Suire was awarded the Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Swords. ww2dbase [Karl von Le Suire | CPC]

• HMS Eagle arrived off Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Eagle | Greenock, Scotland | CPC]

• USS S-28 began performing training missions for the West Coast Sound School and for the Amphibious Forces Training Group. ww2dbase [S-28 | CPC]
• 850 Jews were arrested in Norway. Meanwhile, in Nürnberg, Germany, 95 scientists gathered to review the result of Dr. Sigmund Rascher's freezing experiments using concentration camp prisoners as subjects. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• British Private Percy Gratwick used grenades, rifle, and bayonet to take enemy positions at El Alamein, Egypt but was then shot and killed. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [AC]
• In the morning, Rommel committed much of his reserves to the Point 29 region in Egypt. Meanwhile, noting that Rommel had taken the bait, Montgomery planned to pin down Axis troops around Point 29 while launching a new offensive to the southwest. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• Allied convoy UCF 1, containing troops and equipment for the invasion of French North Africa, was met by a covering force of battleships and cruisers which had sailed from Casco Bay, Maine, United States. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | CPC]
• USS S-31 stalked Japanese cargo ship Keizan Maru starting at 0825 hours in Otomae Wan, Paramushiro, Kurile Islands. At 0922 hours, she fired two torpedoes, both scoring and sinking the cargo ship. While withdrawing after the attack, S-31 ran aground on reef multiple times, finally reaching deep waters at 1000 hours. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]
• At the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, US forces achieved victory but saw USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, USS South Dakota, and USS San Juan damaged. On the Japanese side, carriers Shokaku and Zuiho were damaged by dive bombers from USS Hornet and USS Enterprise, respectively. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• US Navy Ensign George L. Wrenn of VF-72 from the USS Hornet engaged Japanese aircraft attacking the US fleet. He shot down five Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers during the sortie. The Hornet was sunk during the battle and Wrenn had to be recovered aboard the USS Enterprise. ww2dbase [F4F Wildcat | AC]
• Men of the 1st Battalion of US 164th Infantry Division repulsed a Japanese attack on the southern flank of the Lunga Perimeter at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, another attack against Hill 67, initially penetrating into the American line, was eventually driven back by US Marines. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell announced his intention to establish his forward base at Ledo, India for the planned offensive into Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• ShCh-307 sank Finnish merchant ship Betty H. south of the Ã…land Islands in the Gulf of Finland. ww2dbase [ShCh-307 | CPC]

• USS S-35 departed Unalaska, US Territory of Alaska for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-35 | Unalaska | CPC]

• Tenryu evacuated 260 Sasebo No. 5 Special Naval Landing Force troops from Welle Island (now Sanaroa), D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Welle Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands | CPC]

• Shokaku was heavily damaged by bombs during the Battle of Santa Cruz. Four to six bombs struck the flight deck; one struck aft of the island and the rest were grouped around the amidships and aft elevators. Large fires were started, and the flight deck was completely buckled by the blasts. Though sixty officers and men were killed, since no aircraft were aboard, no fuel was active and damage control was able to extinguish the fires and save the ship. Admiral Nagumo transferred his flag to destroyer Arashi. Then, with the damaged light carrier Zuiho, Shokaku was detached and ordered home to Truk escorted by Hatsukaze and Maikaze. ww2dbase [Shokaku | CPC]

• Isaac Sweers departed Gibraltar for the Azores. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]

• Nachi arrived at Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• Norwegian trawler Arthur, commanded by Norwegian Lieutenant Leif Larsen working for the British Special Operations Executive, entered Trondheimsfjord, Norway with two Chariot manned torpedoes secreted beneath the vessel. The Chariots were torn off the hull when just 10 miles short of their target, German battleship Tirpitz, and the mission had to be abandoned. ww2dbase [Chariot-class | Trondheimsfjord | AC]

• USS Whale sank a Japanese freighter south of the Kii Channel between the islands of Shikoku and Honshu, Japan, hitting her with 2 of 5 torpedoes fired. Shortly after, she damaged two other freighters, hitting them with 2 of the 6 additional torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• USS Juneau served as a part of the anti-aircraft screen during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. ww2dbase [Juneau | CPC]
• Tanikaze participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands and then escorted the damaged heavy cruiser Chikuma toward Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Tanikaze | CPC]
• Kumano screened the carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Shokaku | Zuikaku | Kumano | Zuiho | DS]

• The Soviet 15th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment was formed in the Moscow Military District from the 137th Tank Brigade. Equipped with Churchill III and IV tanks supplied by the British under Lend-Lease the Regiment was initially assigned to I Guards Mechanized Corps but was removed from the Corps in Jul 1943 to serve as an independent infantry support regiment. It was disbanded in Feb 1944 to provide manpower for the new heavy assault gun regiments. ww2dbase [Moscow | AC]

• In light of the positive report from Friedrich Paulus from Stalingrad, Russia, Adolf Hitler, from his Wehrwolf headquarters near of Vinnytsia in Ukraine, ordered some of the German units in that region to prepare to move north once Stalingrad was conquered. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Vinnytsia | CPC]

• USS Sunfish departed San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | San Francisco, California | CPC]

26 Oct 1942 Interactive Map

• RAF bombers attacked Stuttgart, Germany before dawn; during the day, USAAF bombers bombed Bremen, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | TH]
• USS Rock was commissioned into service with Commander John Jay Flachsenhar in command. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]
• USS Scorpion completed a reconnaissance mission of Agrihan and Pagan islands in the Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Scorpion | CPC]
• The human collection at the University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France was destroyed, as reported by the scientists who performed research on them for the Nazi regime. In actuality, there was not enough time to destroy the entire collection, and a few cadavers were hidden, to be found later. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• Light carrier Ryuho departed Singapore. ww2dbase [Ryuho | CPC]
• Vasily Chuikov was awarded the Order of Lenin for the first time. ww2dbase [Vasily Chuikov | CPC]

• 82 B-25 bombers were launched from Port Moresby, Australian Papua; their mission to attack Rabaul, New Britain was canceled mid-flight due to poor weather. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Port Moresby | CPC]

• Yamato arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yamato | Truk | CPC]
• Repair ship Akashi performed repair work for submarine I-180 at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• USAAF 14th Air Force deployed naval mines at the entrance of Haiphong harbor in northern French Indochina. US Navy Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization (SACO) intelligence officers Raymond Kotrla, Ralph DuBois, and Duncan McCann were aboard to provide naval expertise. As they departed, the lead ship of a Japanese convoy struck a mine, blocking the harbor entrance for the rest of the war. The remainder of the convoy fled toward Hainan island, China to the east, but they would be discovered by a second wave of B-24 bombers, which sank six of the ships. ww2dbase [Haiphong, Tonkin | CPC]

26 Oct 1943 Interactive Map

• 10 Lancaster bombers of No. 1 Group RAF conducted minelaying operations off Helgoland, Germany; one bomber was lost. ww2dbase [CPC]
• George Giffard was mentioned in a despatch for his service in Burma and India. ww2dbase [George Giffard | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell officially stepped down as the Commanding General, China-Burma-India Theater. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• Four TDR drones were flown against lighthouse on Cape Saint George, New Ireland. One of the four hit squarely and demolishes the structure. ww2dbase [TDR | Cape Saint George, New Ireland | DS]

• B-24 and B-25 bombers of the US 14th Air Force attacked Japanese shipping off Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong, China. ww2dbase [Leizhou, Guangdong | CPC]

• Marcel Albert, flying a Yak-3 fighter, shot down a Bf 109 aircraft southeast of Stallupönen, Ostpreußen, Germany (now Nesterov, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). ww2dbase [Marcel Albert | Stallupönen, Ostpreußen | CPC]

• Shinano completed bow repairs at Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Yokosuka Naval Arsenal | Shinano | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• USS Ticonderoga departed Eniwetok, Marshall islands for Ulithi, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Eniwetok | DS]

• USS Rock sank Japanese tanker Takasago Maru No. 7 with three torpedoes in the South China Sea. ww2dbase [Rock | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS Kingfish sank Japanese landing ship No. 138 in the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles north of Iwo Jima, Japan with 2 of 3 torpedoes fired. She also fired three torpedoes at another vessel, but all torpedoes from that volley missed their target. ww2dbase [Kingfish | CPC]

• USS Marcus Island launched 12 aircraft to attack and shared the credit for the sinkings of Kinu and Uranami in the Vasayan Sea in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | CPC]
• Nachi refueled from oiler Nichiei Maru at Coron, Palawan, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Coron, Palawan | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 102 was sunk by US aircraft west of Negros, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• A German V-2 rocket hit Palmers Green Station in North London, England, United Kingdom at 1845 hours; detonating next to a stationary train, it seriously injured 15 people, while 38 suffered minor injuries. Elsewhere, another rocket hit Ilford, London, killing 8, seriously injuring 15, and lightly injuring 20. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | London, England | CPC]
• Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, passed away at Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England, United Kingdom. He was the last Archbishop of Canterbury to die in office and had only recently returned from visiting the Normandy battlefield - the first Archbishop of Canterbury to go into battle since medieval times. ww2dbase [Westgate-on-Sea, England | AC]
• On attachment to 68 Squadron RAF for night fighter training, First Lieutenant Sam Peebles USN and his navigator Ensign Dock Grinndal USN chased three V-1 flying bombs that went into thick cloud but, sighting a fourth, they dived to follow and got to 200 yards range at only 400 feet above the sea. "We had reached 350 mph and gave it a short burst, the engine stopped, and it exploded and shook the Mosquito a little", he put in his report. A V-1 flying bomb that had evaded the defences came down on the railway line at Palmer's Green Station in Enfield in London, England, United Kingdom, causing the line to be closed for a day and slightly injuring some railway workers. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | London, England | HM]

• USS Brill was commissioned into service with Commander H. B. Dodge in command. ww2dbase [Brill | CPC]
• USS New Mexico departed Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | New Mexico | Bremerton, Washington | CPC]

26 Oct 1944 Interactive Map

• Du Yuming was named the commanding officer of the Northeastern Provinces Security Command. ww2dbase [Du Yuming | CPC]
• Two days after Chinese 12th Military Region commanding officer Fu Zuoyi accused Chinese Communist forces of raiding Nationalist forces in Shanxi and Suiyuan Provinces, the Communist propaganda organization Xinhua denied all accusations. ww2dbase [CPC]

• British Indian Army Brigadier General A. W. S. Mallaby, tasked with the protection of British interests in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia as well as the safety of European former prisoners of war in the city, negotiated with nationalist fighters. He offered that he would not force the fighters to disarm, and he would limit Indian troops under his command to a 800-meter perimeter of the harbor. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• Allied repatriation ship Hikawa Maru departed Uraga, Japan. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Uraga, Kanagawa | CPC]

• US President Harry Truman ordered the Philippines to remove collaborators from positions of power and to punish them. ww2dbase [Harry Truman | Washington | CPC]

• USS Ling was decommissioned from service and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. ww2dbase [Ling | CPC]

• USS Missouri ended bombarding communist positions in the Chongjin-Tanchon area, Korea. ww2dbase [Missouri | Chongjin, North Hamgyong | CPC]

• Sir Winston Churchill visited USS Randolph at Cannes, France. This was Churchill's first visit to a warship since World War II. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | Randolph | Cannes | DS]

26 Oct 1958 Interactive Map

• USS Wasp was assigned to US Navy Task Group 67.6 while in the Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]

• Semyon Budyonny passed away. ww2dbase [Semyon Budyonny | CPC]

• USS Iowa was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Iowa | CPC]

26 Oct 1990 Interactive Map

• The Swedish Tax Agency declared Raoul Wallenberg dead legally. ww2dbase [Raoul Wallenberg | CPC]