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• Japanese troops landed on Kuria, Gilbert Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell received orders to plan for an offensive into northern Burma to open the Ledo Road and Burma Road. ww2dbase [Burma Road and the Hump | Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• German auxiliary cruiser Stier and supply ship Tannenfels came across US liberty ship Stephen Hopkins off of Dutch Guiana. Exchanging gunfire at the distance of 2 miles starting at about 0900 hours, Stephen Hopkins sank about an hour later; only 15 men survived, and they drifted for a month before reaching the Brazilian coast. Stier, fatally damaged, was scuttled by her crew at 1140 hours; 2 men were lost. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | Stier | Stephen Hopkins | CPC]

• US Coast Guard Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, in charge of twenty-four Higgins boats, was killed during a mission to rescue nearly five hundred US Marines beleaguered by Japanese forces at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. By placing his own boat as a shield to protect the evacuating Marines he undoubtedly saved many lives. For his devotion to duty he would later be granted a posthumous Medal of Honor by President Franklin Roosevelt. ww2dbase [Point Cruz, Guadalcanal | AC]

• USS Whale arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Whale | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Lydia Litvyak shot down a German Ju 88A-4 bomber and shared the credit for downing the Bf 109G-2 fighter piloted by Horst Loose over Stalingrad, Russia while flying a Yak-1 fighter. ww2dbase [Lydia Litvyak | Stalingrad | CPC]
• German Luftwaffe unit III./KG 4 (flying He 111 bombers) flew its last bombing sortie over Stalingrad, Russia. The unit would soon be transported out of its base in Morozovsk, Russia for Germany to undergo glider towing training. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• The Taichu Prisoners of War Camp near Taichu (now Taichung), Taiwan was opened. ww2dbase [Taichu | CPC]

27 Sep 1942 Interactive Map