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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/26.htm

October 26th, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM:
Battle of Britain:

RAF Fighter Command: Losses: Luftwaffe, 10; RAF, 4.

London: Britain and the USA have concluded a secret arms deal which should boost the British effort to turn the tide against Hitler, probably in 1942. Under the deal, signed two days ago and described by Churchill as “splendid”, the USA promises to equip and maintain ten British divisions with weapons currently under production. Churchill received more good news today when he was told that US military supplied destined for Britain include 250 aircraft engines, 2.5 million tons of explosives, 78 million cartridges for the Thompson machine gun and 78 million rounds of rifle ammunition.

London: Transport has taken a hammering as the Luftwaffe keeps up its nightly attacks on the capital. Railways in particular have been hard hit, not just at the docks but with main-line stations regularly bombed. This week it was the turn of St Pancras station, but the forecourt of Victoria station has also been badly damaged.

For travellers train services, especially on the Southern Railway, often terminate in the suburbs, and commuters face new puzzles every day in finding “passable” routes to the office. Unexploded bombs closing many streets add to the frustration by diverting bus routes. So many buses and tramcars have been bombed that Londoners see the unfamiliar colours of buses borrowed from as far away as Aberdeen and Exeter on their streets.

The Underground has also been interrupted by bombs. Four stations have been hit, the worst being Ballam, where 600 people sheltering were deluged with a river of sludge when the road and water mains above caved in, suffocating 64 of them.

Submarine HMS Thunderbolt (ex-Thetis) commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

VICHY FRANCE: It is announced that Petain and Hitler have agreed on principles of co-operation.

GERMANY: U-409, U-457 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

ITALY: Rome: With 162,000 Italian troops massed on the Albanian border, Italy accuses Greece of attacking Albania.

U.S.A.: The North-American NA-73, the prototype P-51 (Mustang), makes its maiden flight at Inglewood, California, USA . This was the NA Model NA-73X, NA serial number 73-3097 registered NX19998. The Allison V-1710-39 engine had been received in October and after installation, the aircraft began taxi runs on 15 October and two brief flights were made today. (Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A Luftwaffe FW Kondor piloted by Oberleutnant Bernhard Jope ranging 150 miles off Ireland damages the 42,348 ton liner ‘Empress of Britain’. The flagship of the Canadian Pacific fleet. The ship was later sunk by a U-boat.
This was an Fw 200C-1 of I. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 40 (I/KG40) based at Merignac Airfield in Bordeaux, France. This unit was reequipped with the Fw 200C-1 in June 1940 and then transferred to Bordeaux. Between 1 August 1940 and 9 February 1941, this unit claimed 363,000 tons of Allied shipping. (Jack McKillop)

U-28 damages SS Matina. (Dave Shirlaw)