October 27th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Frigates HMS Hargood and Holmes laid down.
FRANCE: During the night of 27/28 October, 21 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons drop leaflets over the country.
GERMANY: U-479 and U-1164 are commissioned.
AUSTRIA: Over 150 USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb Wiener-Neustadt and railroad tracks and installations and bridges at Friedberg and Ebenfurth.
BALTIC SEA: Finnish submarine Iku-Turso (kapteeniluutnantti Eero Pakkala) torpedoes and sinks the Soviet submarine Shtsh 320 in Gulf of Finland.
U.S.S.R.: South of Nikopol on the Nogaysk Steppe, the Germans mount a series of counterattacks to save their access to the Crimea. Soviet forces break through German defenses beyond Melitopol, but by this time the Germans have succeeded in stabilizing their positions before Nikopol and at Krivoi Rog.
YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighter-bombers bomb small vessels on the Dalmatian coast at Opuzen.
ITALY: The British 8th Army captures Montefalcone. The 78th Division expands its bridgehead over the Trigno River during the night. German defenses here are still holding.
Major Roy Farran leads a detachment of 2 SAS which is dropped north of the River Tronto behind the German lines. Over the next five days his small force blows up the railway line, cut telephone communications and destroyed enemy transport.
In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division is ordered to attack on 28 October since elements of the 135th Infantry Regiment are being held up by German rear guards on a hill south of Ailano.
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the 78th Division makes a futile attempt to expand the bridgehead across the Trigno River. Their failure is largely due to heavy rainfall.
Weather severely curtails Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force (NATBF) missions and XII Air Support Command operations in support of ground forces. Fighter-bombers attack Gaeta..
CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the city of Tungling and claim eight intercepting “Zeke” fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) shot down.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force P-40s and P-39 Airacobras intercept an escorted Japanese bomber force dropping supplies over the Sattelberg area; the U.S. fighters claim 12 airplanes downed.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit harbor and supply dump area at Gasmata on New Britain Island.
PACIFIC OCEAN: 0000 hours: In the East China Sea, USN submarine USS Shad (SS-235) and Grayback (SS-208) sink a Japanese merchant cargo ship about 130 nautical miles (241 kilometers) north of Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, in position 28.20N, 128.05E. USS Shad has put two torpedoes into the 9,000 ton ship and at 0600 USS Grayback administered the coup de grace. (Skip Guidry)
At 1000 hours in the Philippine Sea, USN Submarine USS Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks a Japanese transport about 301 nautical miles (558 kilometers) north of Peleliu Island, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, in position 12.02N, 134.28E. (Skip Guidry)
1000 hours: USS Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks a cargo ship at 10-59 N, 134-35 E. (Skip Guidry)
SOLOMON ISLANDS: New Zealand troops land on the Treasury Islands. These units of the 8th Brigade meet no opposition on Stirling Island and only token opposition on Mono Island.
In preparation for the invasion of Bougainville, the 8th Brigade Group of the New Zealand 3rd Division, under Brigadier R. A. Row, lands on two islands of Treasury Islands, Stirling and Mono. Pre-invasion bombardment and covering for the landings are provided by U.S. naval vessels and aircraft of Task Group 39.3 (two light cruisers and Destroyer Squadron 23) and New Georgia-based aircraft from South Pacific Air. The small Japanese force on Mono is quickly put to flight and must be rounded up. Stirling is undefended. During Japanese retaliatory air strikes by 25 "Val" (Aichi D3A, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers) and "Judy�" (Kugisho D4Y, Navy Carrier Bomber Suisei) dive bombers and "Zeke" fighter escorts (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) at 1530 hours, destroyer USS Cony (DD-508) is damaged by horizontal and dive bombers 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) north of Mono Island and tank landing ships LST-399 and LST-485 are damaged by mortar fire. USAAF
P-38 Lightnings and P-40 pilots shoot down ten "Vals" and "Judys" and two "Zekes." The 2d Marine Parachute Battalion begins a diversionary raid on Choiseul Island landing on the night of 27/28 October, and subsequently patrols actively to feign strength that is not present.
USAAF Thirteenth Air Force Islands, B-24 Liberators pound Kahili and Kara airfields on Bougainville Island; P-40s over Kahili claim the "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) shot down. P-38 Lightnings, P-40s, and P-39 Airacobras, plus some New Zealand (P-40) Kittyhawks, cover the landing by New Zealand troops on Stirling and Mono Islands. The fighters claim destruction of 12 Japanese dive bombers attacking the landing force and afterwards claim three fighters shot down.
CANADA:
Minesweeper HMCS Providence launched Toronto, Ontario.
Tug HMCS Glenmont launched Owen Sound, Ontario.
Corvette HMCS Prescott completed forecastle extension refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
U.S.A.: The Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) is authorised by the US War Department. (War Department Circular 269-1) for issue to individuals recommended by a regimental commander or higher authority who had performed in infantry units in combat. The same circular authorized the establishment of the Expert Infantry Badge. If 65 percent or more of a unit's personnel had the CIB, the unit could be awarded a Combat Infantry Streamer for its guidon. Award of the CIB was made retroactive to service on or after Dec. 7,1941. (Skip Guidry)First women Marines report for duty on West Coast, Camp Pendleton.
In an opinion poll today the question asked was:
Suppose that the German army gets rid of Hitler, gives up all the countries Germany has conquered, and offers to make peace. If that happens should we make peace, or should we continue the war until Germany is completely defeated?
Make peace 24%
Continue fighting 70%
Undecided 6%
(Jay Stone)
Destroyer USS Johnston commissioned.
Destroyer escort USS Gillette commissioned.
Submarines USS Pomfret and Sterlet launched.
Destroyers USS Walke and Smalley launched.
Destroyer escort USS Weeden launched.
Destroyer escort USS Martin H Ray laid down.
Aircraft carrier USS Midway laid down at Newport News.
BRITISH WEST INDIES: German submarine U-218 lays 18 mines off the Port of Spain, Trinidad, but no sinkings result from this field.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-218 laid 18 mines off the Port of Spain, but no sinkings resulted from this field.
U-354 set a weather reporting team ashore on Hope Island.
SVALBARD ISLANDS: German submarine U-354 sets a weather reporting team ashore on Norwegian Hopen Island located about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) southeast of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.