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. October 3 – The first 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, passed by the Parliament of Australia, formalizes Australian autonomy from the United Kingdom. October 11 – 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 – WWII: North Atlantic convoy SC 104 is attacked by U-boats, sinking seven ships. 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. WWII: A U-boat sinks the ferry off 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. Animated short film The Mouse of Tomorrow, featuring the debut of Mighty Mouse (as "Super Mouse"), is released in the United States. October 18 – WWII: Hitler issues the Commando Order, which stipulates that all Allied commandos 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 – A Royal New Zealand Air Force torpedo bomber sinks the German MS Palatia, with a loss of 946 lives. October 23 – 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 DC-3 and a U.S. Army bomber near Palm Springs, California. October 23–26 – WWII: Battle for Henderson Field: Japanese forces fail to recapture Henderson Field airfield in Guadalcanal from the Americans. October 23–November 4 – WWII: Second Battle of El Alamein: British troops go on the offensive against the Axis forces. October 26 – WWII: Battle of the Santa