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• » 26 Aug 1942

• Sawfish was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Sawfish | CPC]
• Oberstleutnant Benno Kosch stepped down as the commanding officer of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing. ww2dbase [CPC]
• U-23 was detached from the 21st Submarine Flotilla. ww2dbase [U-23 | CPC]

• USS S-31 departed Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Unalaska | CPC]
• USS Nashville and USS St. Louis departed Kodiak, Alaska as escorts for the US Army troops bound for Adak Island. ww2dbase [Nashville | St. Louis | Kodiak | DS]

• German submarine U-162 sank Norwegian tanker Thelma 60 miles east of Barbados at 0423 hours; 2 were killed, 31 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | U-162 | CPC]
• German submarine U-130 sank British ship Beechwood 160 miles south of Freetown, British West Africa at 1124 hours; 1 was killed, 43 survived (the captain was taken prisoner). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | U-130 | CPC]

• Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops that had landed at Waga Waga, Australian Papua late on the previous day began making contact with positions held by troops of Australian 25th Infantry Militia Battalion and 61st Infantry Militia Battalion. Behind them, Allied aircraft discovered the Waga Waga landing site and destroyed landing barges and other equipment. Japanese warships entered Milne Bay for support. Inland, 2,500 Japanese troops marched onto the Kokoda Track from Buna, along with a mountain gun and several mortars. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]

• German submarine U-375 damaged British ship Empire Kumari with a torpedo 14 miles southwest of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Palestine at 1840 hours; 3 were killed, 89 survived; Empire Kumari was towed to Haifa, Palestine. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Junichi Sasai led eight Zero fighters escorting G4M bombers to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Over Guadalcanal, Sasai engaged an American F4F Wildcat fighter, probably that of US Marine Corps Captain Marion E. Carl of VMF-223 squadron, who surprised Sasai by turning upright, machine guns firing. Sasai's Zero fighter was hit and exploded, killing him. ww2dbase [Junichi Sasai | Guadalcanal | CPC]

• Destroyer Yuzuki departed Truk, Caroline Islands for Ocean and Nauru Islands area. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | Truk | CPC]

• 7,000 Jews were arrested in Vichy France. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• Yugure landed men on Ocean Island, Hawaiian Islands. ww2dbase [Yugure | Ocean | CPC]

• The official General Order No. 1 establishing Ramgarh Training Center in India was issued, although courses had already began on 3 Aug 1942. ww2dbase [Ramgarh Training Center | Ramgarh, Bengal Presidency | CPC]

• Soviet submarine K-2 became missing in the Barents Sea, probably lost to a German naval mine near Tanafjord, Norway. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Haddock fired 6 torpedoes at Japanese freighter Teishun Maru, sinking her with 1 hit in the East China Sea 85 miles north of Taiwan at 0813 hours. ww2dbase [Haddock | South China Sea | CPC]

• The Communist newspaper, Daily Worker, which had been banned by the British Minister of Home Security, Herbert Morrison, on 21 January 1941, was re-licensed. ww2dbase [AC]
• A BBC intelligence report based on letters sent in from listeners in occupied France noted that French civilian morale was low due to the lack of food, and that French civilian confidence in the Allies was low due to the failure of the raid on Dieppe, France 7 days prior. ww2dbase [CPC]

26 Aug 1942 Interactive Map