October 5th, 1942 (MONDAY)
GERMANY: During the night of 5/6 October, RAF Bomber Commands sends 257 aircraft, 101 Wellingtons, 74 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes and 23 Stirlings, to bomb Aachen; 184 aircraft bomb the target with a loss of ten bombers, five Halifaxes, two Stirlings, two Wellingtons and a Lancaster, 3.9 per cent of the force. A further six aircraft crash in England, possibly in thunderstorms. The weather continues to be bad over Germany. There is little Pathfinder marking at Aachen and most of the bombing falls in other areas. Aachen reports that the raid is carried out by an estimated ten aircraft and that the centre of the attack appears to be in the southern suburb of Burtscheid. Five people are killed and 39 injured. Many of the bombs intended for Aachen fall in the small Dutch town of Lutterade, 17 miles (27 kilometers) away from Aachen, and it seems that most of the Pathfinder marking are over this place. More than 800 houses are seriously damaged; 83 people are killed, 22 are injured and 3,000 are made homeless.
U-359 is commissioned.
U-430 is laid down.
U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine "Sch-320" of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas is sunk by the Finnish submarine Vetehinen (Kapteeniluutnantti Antti Leino) by ramming, in the Gulf of Finland. The Vetehinen is also damaged, but manages to get back to base for repairs. (Sergey Anisimov and Mikke Härmeinen)(69)
Joseph Stalin, premier and dictator of the Soviet Union, fires off a telegram to the German/Soviet front at Stalingrad, exhorting his forces to victory. "That part of Stalingrad which has been captured must be liberated."
CHINA: Chiang Kai-shek formally reincorporates Sinkiang province into China and demands that the USSR withdraw its military presence.
NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, on the Kokoda Track, the main body of the 3rd Battalion, “Maroubra Force,” reaches Menari. Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack a convoy off Buna; A-20 Havocs hit AA positions at Sanananda Point and bomb the village of Sanananda; and B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb airfields at Buna and also hit airfields at Rabaul on New Britain Island.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: An American offensive raid against the Japanese bases and shipping at Shortland Island in the northern Solomons is launched by Admiral Ghormley. The USS Hornet is moved west of the base and the aircraft are launched early. The clouds and weather of the approaching cold front impede the attack. The formation unravels n the low cloud and rain. Hornet crews claim 8 planes and two more during their withdrawal. The simultaneous raids by B-17s against Buka and the Cactus AF against Rekata Bay are also derailed by the weather.
SBD Dauntlesses of Scouting Squadrons Three and Seventy One (VS-3 and VS-71) and Marine Scout Bombing Squadron One Hundred Forty One (VMSB-141) from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, attack a Japanese convoy, damaging destroyers HIJMS Minegumo and HIJMS Murasame 150 miles (241.4 km) from Guadalcanal.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutian Islands, 6 Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, 3 P-38 Lightnings and 3 P-39Airacobras abort a bombing, weather, and photo mission over Kiska Island due to weather.
U.S.A.: Baseball!The motion picture “Road to Morocco” is released today. This musical comedy is directed by David Butler and stars Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Anthony Quinn; Yvonne De Carlo and Ken Maynard appear in uncredited roles. Crosby and Hope, two wild and crazy guys adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean, are cast away on a desert shore and hop a convenient camel to an Arabian Nights city where Hope soon finds himself sold as a slave...to luscious Princess Shalmar (Lamour). The film is nominated for two technical Academy Awards. This film is ranked Number 78 on the American Film Institute’s list of “The 100 Funniest American Films” and Jimmy Van Heusen’s song “(We’re Off on the) Road to Morocco” sung by Crosby and Hope is ranked Number 95 on the list of “The 100 Greatest American Movie Songs Of All Time.” (Jack McKillop
ATLANTIC OCEAN southwest of Iceland, a PBY-5A Catalina of Patrol Squadron Seventy Three (VP-73) based at NAF Reykjavik, Iceland, depth charges and sinks German submarine U-582 in position 58.52N, 21.42W. All hands on the sub are lost.
U-619 (Type VIIC) is sunk southwest of Iceland, in position 58.41N, 22.58W, by 4 depth charges from a British Hudson aircraft (269/N Sqdn.). 44 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)
U-68 reaches the area off Capetown, South Africa, and begins looking for shipping traffic.
While closing on convoy HX-209, U-257 is attacked by an aircraft which drops six bombs. The U-boat suffers such severe damage that it has to return to base.
U-575 loses a man overboard. [Oberbootsmaat Herbert Bühler]
U-175 sinks the SS WILLIAM A MCKENNEY.