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• American SBD and TBF aircraft from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands attacked and damaged seaplane carrier Nisshin. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Nisshin | CPC]
• The US Army established the War Dog Reception and Training Center at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, United States. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Nicholas was directed to pick up a downed pilot near the shore of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. A Japanese “Zero” fighter came within range and Nicholas opened fire with her 5-in/38 anti-aircraft guns, Nicholas’s first shots of the war at a definite enemy target. 2Lt Kenneth D. Frazier, USMC of VMF-223 was rescued from the water, treated briefly by Nicholas’s medical officer, and returned to base on Guadalcanal. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Guadalcanal Campaign | DS]

• USS Nashville and USS Bailey delivered destroyers USS Dent, USS King and transport ships Branch and Thompson to Adak Island. Nashville and Bailey retired for refueling. ww2dbase [Aleutian Islands Campaign | Bailey | Nashville | Aleutian Islands | DS]

• Kiyoshi Ito's fighter crashed into the water in the Solomon Islands due to fuel system issues; he drifted in the ocean for five to six hours before being rescued by a destroyer. ww2dbase [Kiyoshi Ito | CPC]

• The first successful A4 test flight reached the altitude of 84.5 kilometers (52.5 miles). The rocket was launched at Peenemünde, Germany. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Peenemünde, Pommern | CPC]

• Heavy losses were incurred on both sides as the German 6.Armee pushed the Soviet 62nd Army back to the Volga River at Stalingrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | TH]
• Boris Shaposhnikov was awarded his second Order of Lenin. ww2dbase [Boris Shaposhnikov | CPC]

• James Byrnes stepped down as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and was made the Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization. ww2dbase [James Byrnes | Washington | CPC]
• USS Ranger departed Norfolk, Virginia bound for Bermuda. ww2dbase [Ranger | Norfolk Navy Yard | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

3 Oct 1942 Interactive Map