Editing 1942 (section)

===October===
{{Main|October 1942}}
* [[October 2]]
** British cruiser {{HMS|Curacoa|D41|6}} collides with liner {{RMS|Queen Mary}} (carrying troops from the United States) off the coast of [[Donegal (town)|Donegal]] and sinks; 338 drown.
** WWII: Japanese troopship ''[[Lisbon Maru]]'' sinks, following a torpedo attack the previous day by submarine {{USS|Grouper}} off the coast of China; 829 are killed, mostly British prisoners of war who (unknown to the attacker) were being held on board.
** The first American-built [[turbojet]] aircraft, the [[Bell P-59 Airacomet]] fighter prototype, makes its first official flight.<ref>{{cite book|last=Angelucci|first=Enzo|title=The American Fighter: the Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the present|location=New York|publisher=Orion Books|year=1987|page=50}}</ref>
* [[October 3]] &ndash; The first [[V-2 rocket|A-4 rocket]] is successfully launched from [[Test Stand VII]] at [[Peenemünde]], Germany. The rocket flies 147 kilometers and reaches an altitude of 84.5 kilometers, becoming the first man-made object to reach space.
* [[October 9]]
** WWII: [[Third Battle of the Matanikau]] on [[Guadalcanal]]: American forces defeat the Japanese.
** The [[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942|Statute of Westminster Adoption Act]], passed by the [[Parliament of Australia]], formalizes Australian autonomy from the United Kingdom.
* [[October 11]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Cape Esperance]]: On the northwest coast of [[Guadalcanal]], [[United States Navy]] ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet, on their way to reinforce troops on the island.
* [[October 13]] &ndash; WWII: North Atlantic [[convoy SC 104]] is attacked by [[U-boat]]s, sinking seven ships.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945 |author=Rohwer, J. |author2=Hummelchen, G. |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1992 |page=167 |isbn=1-55750-105-X}}</ref>
* [[October 14]]
** [[The Holocaust]]: The [[International Committee of the Red Cross]], meeting in special session at the Hotel Métropole, [[Geneva]], Switzerland, declines to issue an international appeal condemning the holding of civilians in [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Simpson |author-link=John Simpson (journalist) |title=A Mad World, My Masters |year=2000 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780333724200 |location=London}}</ref>
** WWII: A [[U-boat]] sinks the ferry {{SS|Caribou}} off [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], killing 137.
* [[October 16]]
** A [[cyclone]] and consequential floods in the [[Bay of Bengal]] kill 40,000 people, with particularly heavy damage around [[Contai]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Longshore |first=David |date=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahurr00long |url-access=limited |edition=New |location=New York |publisher=Facts On File |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahurr00long/page/n270 258] |isbn=978-1-4381-1879-6}}</ref>
** Animated short film ''The Mouse of Tomorrow'', featuring the debut of [[Mighty Mouse]] (as "Super Mouse"), is released in the United States.
* [[October 18]] &ndash; WWII: Hitler issues the [[Commando Order]], which stipulates that all Allied [[commando]]s encountered by German forces should be executed immediately without trial, even in proper uniforms, in response to the [[Dieppe Raid]] and [[Operation Basalt]] conducted by the Allies. After the war, the [[Nuremberg trials]] finds this order a direct violation of the [[laws and customs of war]].
* [[October 21]] &ndash; A [[Royal New Zealand Air Force]] [[torpedo bomber]] sinks the German [[Motor ship|MS]] [[MS Palatia (1928)|''Palatia'']], with a loss of 946 lives.
* [[October 23]] &ndash; Award-winning composer and songwriter [[Ralph Rainger]] ("Thanks for the Memory") is among 12 people killed in a mid-air collision between an [[American Airlines Flight 28|American Airlines]] [[Douglas DC-3|DC-3]] and a U.S. Army bomber near [[Palm Springs, California]].
* [[October 23]]&ndash;[[October 26|26]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle for Henderson Field]]: Japanese forces fail to recapture [[Honiara International Airport|Henderson Field]] airfield in [[Guadalcanal]] from the Americans.
* [[October 23]]&ndash;[[November 4]] &ndash; WWII: [[Second Battle of El Alamein]]: British troops go on the offensive against the Axis forces.
* [[October 26]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands]]: Two Japanese aircraft carriers are heavily damaged and one U.S. Navy carrier is sunk.
* [[October 28]] 
** Film actor [[Errol Flynn]] is accused of statutory rape by two teenage girls. 
** The [[Alaska Highway]] is completed.
* [[October 29]] &ndash; [[The Holocaust]]: In the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over [[Nazi Germany]]'s persecution of Jews.
* [[October 30]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[U-boat]]s sink 11 ships, attacking diversionary [[convoy SL 125]], but move out of the path of approaching [[troopship]]s, carrying Allied [[Operation Torch]] invasion forces.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dönitz and the Wolf Packs |author=Edwards, Bernard |publisher=Brockhampton Press |year=1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/donitzwolfpacks0000edwa/page/115 115] |isbn=1-86019-927-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/donitzwolfpacks0000edwa/page/115}}</ref>
** British sailors board {{GS|U-559||2}} as it sinks in the Mediterranean and retrieve its [[Enigma machine]] and codebooks.