
German WWII-era Messerschmitt Me 262A jet at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, McMinnville, OR (Photo: Sarah Sundin, March 2019)
80 Years Ago—Nov. 26, 1943: Hitler observes Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft and insists it be developed as a “blitz bomber.”
In the Gilbert Islands, USS Enterprise performs the first carrier night air intercept in the Pacific (F6Fs guided by radar), the first coordinated by a carrier Fighter Director Officer.
In night-fighter mission from USS Enterprise, Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Cdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare is lost in his F6F Hellcat (Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is named after him in 1949).
Off Algeria, German Luftwaffe sinks British troop transport HMT Rohna with Hs 293 glide bomb; 1149/1755 US soldiers & British crew are killed, the worst troopship loss in US history.
Movie premiere of musical Girl Crazy, starring Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland.

Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare in front of a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter, spring 1942 (US Navy photo)