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• » 2 Oct 1942

• US Marine 5th Defense Battalion occupied Funafuti, Ellice Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Grampus began her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Grampus | CPC]
• Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [Heinrich | CPC]
• ShCh-307 attacked Finnish merchant ship Wanda in the Sea of Åland; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [ShCh-307 | CPC]
• The troopship Queen Mary collided with (and sank) one of her escorts, the light cruiser HMS Curacoa, off the Irish coast with the loss of 239 lives. ww2dbase [Queen Mary | AC]

• USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of 19th Bomb Group of US 5th Air Force from Port Moresby, Australian Papua attacked Rabaul, New Britain between 0440 and 0510 hours, damaging Japanese light cruiser Tenryu with a hit at the stern, killing 22 and wounding 26. Auxiliary repair ship Hakkai Maru would provide Tenryu with temporary repairs. ww2dbase [Tenryu | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for light cruiser Jintsu and destroyer Yugiri at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | CPC]

• Nachi arrived at Ominato Guard District, Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Nachi | CPC]

• Yekaterina Budanova shot down a Ju 88 bomber and a Bf 109 fighter over Stalingrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Yekaterina Budanova | CPC]

• The British codebreaking establishment at Bletchley Park and the US Navy's codebreaking department (OP-20-G) agreed to a relationship of "full collaboration". ww2dbase [Enigma Code Broken | Bletchley Park | AC]

• Bell P-59 Airacomet jet fighter took flight for the first time at Muroc Dry Lake, California, United States. The test pilot was Robert Stanley. The first turbojet-driven aircraft to be built in the USA, the P-59 fighter proved unacceptable as a stable gun platform and was quickly relegated to a training role where it would provide the USAAF with a nucleus of trained jet pilots for later aircraft. ww2dbase [AC, CPC]

2 Oct 1942 Interactive Map