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• 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]
• 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]
• At Mines Field in Inglewood, California, United States, test pilot Vance Breese took the North American Aviation NA-73X, prototype for the P-51 Mustang, on a five-minute maiden flight. ww2dbase [P-51 Mustang | Mines Field | Inglewood, California | CPC]

26 Oct 1940 Interactive Map