Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass to discuss a strategy that included the possibility of Francoist Spain entering the war on their side. Mussolini had already decided to attack Greece and hinted at his intention by speaking scornfully of the attitude of the "double-dealing" Greek government, but Hitler brushed such talk aside and said that the Axis powers should avoid any initiative that was not "absolutely useful." Hitler did not reveal his intention to attack the Soviet Union.[5]
The Italian merchant ship Antionietta Costa collided with an unidentified vessel near Bari. It is believed that this was the British submarine Rainbow which sank.
Died:Ballington Booth, 83, Officer of the Salvation Army and co-founder of Volunteers of America; Lincoln Loy McCandless, 81, American industrialist and politician; Silvestre Revueltas, 40, Mexican composer, violinist and conductor (pneumonia)
A large number of German troops entered Romania to train the Romanian Army and protect the country's oil fields. Romania was now effectively under German occupation.[10]
Hitler inaugurated an emergency program called the Luftschutz-Sofortprogramm to build protective shelters for the civilian population and essential personnel. Aiming to build 6,000 bunkers across 92 cities, it was the largest public works program in history.[15]
Philippe Pétain gave a radio address suggesting to the French people that they reconsider their historic view of who was friend and who was foe among the European nations.[9]
The Battle of Cape Passero was fought southeast of Sicily. The Royal Navy clashed with several Italian ships which attacked them after a convoy mission to Malta, resulting in British victory.
14-year old Princess Elizabeth made her first public speech, a radio address to the children of the British Commonwealth. Her ten-year-old sister Princess Margaret joined in at the end.[16]
A German bomb exploded on the road above Balham station in south London, creating a large crater which a double-decker bus drove into during blackout conditions. A total of 66 people were killed and pictures of the bus in the crater were published around the world.[18]
King George V and Queen Elizabeth visited Neville Chamberlain on his deathbed.
With the United States presidential election three weeks away, Charles Lindbergh made a radio speech attacking the Roosevelt Administration's record and appealing for the election of leaders "whose promises we can trust, who know where they are taking us, and who tell us where we are going." Lindbergh did not directly endorse Wendell Willkie or even mention him by name, but his position was unmistakable.[19]
Vichy France outlawed the manufacture, export or movement of war materiel in French territory for the duration of the war.[20]
The Machita incident began in southern Arizona when U.S. officials raided an O'odham tribe that refused to enlist for the draft.
Two Air Raid Precautions rescue workers were jailed for one year each at the Old Bailey for looting after they took £16 they found in a bombed-out house.[4]
Winston Churchill made a radio broadcast directed to the people of France. In a French-language address he appealed to them not to hinder Britain in the war against Germany, saying that "we are persevering steadfastly and in good heart in the cause of European freedom and fair dealing for the common people of all countries for which, with you, we draw the sword ... Remember, we shall never stop, never weary, and never give in, and that our whole people and empire have bowed themselves to the task of cleansing Europe from the Nazi pestilence and saving the world from the new Dark Ages."[24]
Meeting at Hendaye: Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco met at the train station of Hendaye on the Spanish-French border to discuss the conditions under which Spain would join the Axis. After seven hours of talks, Hitler found Spain's demands to be still too high.
President Roosevelt made a campaign speech in Philadelphia in which he answered many charges from his opponents, including one in particular that he called "outrageously false ... a charge that offends every political and religious conviction that I hold dear. It is the charge that this Administration wishes to lead this country into war." Roosevelt's speech concluded: "We are arming ourselves not for any foreign war. We are arming ourselves not for any purpose of conquest or intervention in foreign disputes. I repeat again that I stand on the platform of our party; 'We will not participate in foreign wars and will not send our Army, naval or air forces to fight in foreign lands outside of the Americas except in case of attack.' It is for peace that I have labored; and it is for peace that I shall labor all the days of my life."[26]
Hitler met with Philippe Pétain at Montoire-sur-le-Loir. Pétain was not willing to have Vichy France enter the war on the side of the Axis but agreed in principle to collaborate with Germany.[4]
The Greco-Italian War began when the Italians invaded Greece. October 28 is celebrated as Ohi Day in Greece and Greek communities throughout the world to commemorate Ioannis Metaxas' rejection of the Italian ultimatum.
Hitler and Mussolini met in Florence to exchange the latest war information. Hitler might have intended to use the meeting to dissuade Mussolini from attacking Greece had the invasion not, as it turned out, gone ahead that morning. Mussolini was in high spirits and told Hitler, "Don't worry, in two weeks, it will all be over." Hitler wished Mussolini the best of luck and refrained from expressing any disapproval, though after the meeting he fumed to his inner circle that what Mussolini had done was "pure madness" and that he should have attacked Malta instead.[29]
The troopship Empress of Britain was bombed northwest of Ireland by a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range bomber, forcing passengers and crew to abandon ship. She was sunk shortly afterwards by a U-boat while being towed to a British port.
Pétain gave a radio address to the French people saying, "It is with honor and in order to maintain French unity, a unity which has lasted ten centuries, and in the framework of the constructive activity of the new European order that today I am embarking on the path of collaboration."[31][25]
The United States Selective Service conducted its first peacetime draft lottery.
German submarine U-32 was sunk northwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyers Harvester and Highlander, just two days after it had torpedoed the Empress of Britain.
The Battle of Britain ended. Between August 8 and this date the Luftwaffe lost 2,375 planes while the RAF lost 800.[10]
The Italian submarine Scirè attacked the British naval base at Gibraltar with manned torpedoes, but none of them deployed successfully and the British were able to recover one for analysis.[9]
^Everitt, Chris; Middlebrook, Martin (2014). The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939-1945. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN9781473834880.
^Doss, Erika (1991). Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism: From Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism. University of Chicago Press. p. 243. ISBN9780226159430.
^"The Broadway Parade". Film Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc.: 2 October 7, 1940.
^ abRosbottom, Ronald C. (2014). When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN9780316217453.
^Zebrowski, Carl (2007). "Your Number's Up!". America in WWII. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
^Kershaw, Alex (2015). Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris. Crown Publishing. ISBN9780804140041.
