2 Oct 1940
  • British cruisers HMS Orion and HMS Sydney bombarded the Italian-controlled port of Maltezana, Stampalia, Greece. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-32 sank British ship Kayeson 400 miles west of Ireland at 1825 hours; the crew abandoned ship in lifeboats but none were seen again. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
  • George Patton was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general. ww2dbase [George Patton | CPC]
  • Adolf Hitler ordered Hans Frank and other Nazi officials in occupied Poland to keep the standard of living low and to deprive the Polish population of education, for that the Polish people were now mere low laborers of Germany. Additionally, he ordered that the Polish gentry to be exterminated. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Adolf Hitler | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci sighted British armed merchant cruiser HMS Cicilia in the Atlantic Ocean at 1825 hours. At 1910 hours, she fired two torpedoes at the distance of 350 meters. Commanding officer Ferdinando Calda assumed that the torpedo could not miss at such short range and ordered the submarine to surface to sink the target with deck guns, but upon surfacing he was surprised with an unharmed destroyer, and an aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, that the Italians had not detected before. The Leonardo da Vinci dove to escape, firing three rounds at the British ships in the meanwhile; HMS Cicilia also fired 13 rounds. All 16 rounds missed their targets. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Argus | Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]
Mediterranean Sea
  • British destroyers HMS Havock and HMS Hasty sank Italian submarine Berillo 50 miles south of Crete, Greece; all 45 aboard Berillo were rescued. ww2dbase [Berillo | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • A German Ju 88 bomber became lost in the darkness during an early-morning reconnaissance mission and landed at Brightlingsea, Essex, England, United Kingdom at 0630 hours and was captured. During the day, the German Luftwaffe launched 6 raids of Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters and fighter-bombers against London and Kent in southern England; only one of the raids contained bombers. The Germans lost 5 bombers and 5 Bf 109 aircraft, while the British lost 1 fighter without the loss of its pilot. Overnight, London, Manchester, and Newcastle were bombed. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 2 Oct 1940
Handley Page Hampden crewmembers of No. 83 Squadron RAF Bomber Command arriving at their aircraft in a lorry driven by a WAAF member, RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom, 2 Oct 1940

2 Oct 1940 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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