20 January 1939

GERMANY: Berlin: President of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht is dismissed from his office.

At 2026, SS Miranda was hit by one torpedo from U-57 and sank within five minutes about 30 miles northwest of Peterhead. The three survivors were picked up by a unknown vessel and taken to Kirkwall.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Churchill orders that Singapore "be converted into a citadel and defended to the death."

GERMANY: Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish question." Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's number-two man, met with Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann, chief of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration, and 15 other officials from various Nazi ministries and organizations at Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin.

The agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a "final solution to the Jewish question" in Europe.

Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner of Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Objections to this plan included the belief that this was simply too time-consuming. What about the strong ones who took longer to die? What about the millions of Jews who were already in Poland? Although the word "extermination" was never uttered during the meeting, the implication was clear: anyone who survived the egregious conditions of a work camp would be "treated accordingly."

Shortly after this conference, the elimination camps of Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau began their work.

Over a decent lunch today, followed by brandy and Kaffee und Küchen in the cordial surroundings of the Villa Am Größen Wannsee, the Reich security chief, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich [Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's second-in-command of the SS and the chief of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) and head of the German secret police apparatus], outlined his plans for exterminating the Jews. At a secret meeting fourteen high-ranking civil servants from a number of Nazi agencies and SS-officers from the occupied territories, the civil service and security organizations agreed to co-ordinate efforts to help him. He was assisted by Heydrich's second in command SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann. Heydrich started off by reviewing the development of Nazi policy toward the Jews. Extermination, he said, was now a more realistic option than "evacuation". He ran through the statistics of how many Jews were alive in the world. National differences notwithstanding, Europe must be "combed through from east to west" for Jews, who will be evacuated to transit ghettoes in the east and finally to death camps where they will be murdered to prevent "a germ cell of a new Jewish development." He assured delegates that these plans, covered 11 million people in Britain, Sweden and Switzerland as well as occupied territory.

NORTH AFRICA: U-66 landed espionage agent Jean Lallart on the coast of Mauritania near Cape Blanc. Lallart and the two crewmen who rowed him ashore (Bootsmaat Wagner and Matrosenobergefreiter Daschkey) were immediately captured by the French. After waiting in vain for over 13 hours for the crewmen to return, Kptlt Markworth was forced to abandon his crewmen to whatever fate they had suffered. Ten days later Markworth learned of the capture of his men.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: No action against the "Gifu" today due to heavy rain.

U.S.A.: The 14th Anti-aircraft Artillery Group is activated at Camp Stewart as the 14th Coastal Artillery Group (AA). (Jean Beach)

Submarine USS Capelin launched.

Destroyer escort USS Brennan commissioned.

CHILE: Santiago breaks off diplomatic relations with Berlin. (Mike Yared)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-553 (Type VIIC) is missing and presumed sunk, in the mid North Atlantic after going missing in January 1943. 47 dead (all hanDave Shirlaw lost) . Last radio-message sent on 20 Jan, 1943: "Seerohr unklar" (periscope not clear)

Previously on 25 April, 1941 U-553 was forced to return to base due to major engine trouble. (Alex Gordon)

Between 1633 and 1635, U-453 fired four torpedoes at Convoy KMS-7 off Cape Tenès and heard three detonations and one ship sinking. The only ship hit and sunk was the Jean Jadot, which carried 323 soldiers. 6 dead and 397 survivors.

20 January 1944

January 20th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship Fort Louisbourg (7,130 GRT) was damaged by bombs while alongside the Surrey Commercial Docks, at London. Two of her crewmembers were lost in this incident. Fort Louisbourg was a North Sands-class freighter built by Canadian Vickers Ltd., at Montreal, PQ She was completed in Apr 42. Fort Louisbourg was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. The ship was managed by Wm. Thompson and Co. (The Ben Line), of Edinburgh, Scotland, for the British government. Twenty-two of these ships were sunk and another seven were damaged.

Frigate HMS Cayman and Nadder commissioned.

Escort carrier HMS Smiter commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Terpsichore commissioned.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: British coastal guns sink the German blockade-runner MUNSTERLAND.

GERMANY: U-321, U-773, U-1052 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops advancing south-west from Pulkovo and south-east from Oranienbaum join up, encircling the Germans around Leningrad and sealing off the corridor to Finland.

Novgorod falls to the Soviet 59th Army.

SOUTH AFRICA: Frigate SAS Transvaal laid down.

INDIAN OCEAN:

At 2039, the unescorted SS Fort Buckingham was hit by two torpedoes from U-188 northwest of the Maldive Islands and sank within 10 minutes. The master, 30 crewmembers and seven gunners were lost. Six survivors were picked up by the British SS Moorby and landed at Fremantle on 29 January. 28 crewmembers and nine gunners were picked up on 5 February by the Norwegian SS Ora and later transferred to destroyer HMS Redoubt and landed at Bombay on 9 February. Eight survivors were rescued by the Norwegian tanker Kongsdal and landed at Melbourne on 22 February. Fort Buckingham was a North Sands-class freighter built by Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co., Ltd., at Lauzon, PQ She was completed in Feb 43. Fort Buckingham was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Joseph Constantine and Sons of Middlesborough, York, managed the ship for the British government. Twenty-two of these ships were sunk and another eight were damaged.

U-188 was a long-range Type IXD/40 submarine built by AG Weser, at Bremen. She was commissioned on 05 Aug 42, OLt. Siegfried Lüdden, CO. U-188 conducted three patrols and compiled a record of nine ships sunk for a total of 50,915 tons and damaged one ship for a further 9,977 tons. U-188 was scuttled on 20 Aug 44 at Bordeaux, France. She was raised and broken up for scrap in 1947. Siefried Lüdden was born in 1916 at Neubrandenburg, Stargard. He joined the navy in 1936. After liaison duty with the Luftwaffe, in Apr 40, he was attached to the U-boat Headquarters while undergoing conversion training. Lüdden served briefly as a Watch Officer in the Type IID training boat U-141 and then on the staff of the 24th U-boat Flotilla before he was selected in Feb 41 as the ADC to the commander of the 1st U-boat Flotilla. Whether he was particularly suited for this duty or was following the movements of a senior officer is uncertain, but Lüdden also served subsequently as the ADC to the commander of the 3rd and the 5th U-boat Flotillas. From Sep 41 to May 42, he served as the First Watch Officer in the Type IXC boat U-129, commanded by the ‘ace’ KptLt. Nicolai Clausen, Knight’s Cross (24 ships for 74,807 tons). OLt. Lüdden was selected for command and underwent his U-boat Commander’s Course in May-Jun 42. He was appointed to commission U-188 on 05 Aug 42, at the age of 26. Lüdden conducted three patrols in U-188, sinking the Town-class destroyer HMS Beverley (ex-USS Branch) on his first patrol. His second patrol took him to the Far East, where he embarked 100 tons of strategic materials and transported them back to France. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross on 11 Feb 44 (the 111th presented in the U-boat Force). Lüdden completed his tour of duty with U-188 in Aug 40 and was assigned to the staff of the 24th U-boat Flotilla. He was assigned to U-boat Headquarters Staff in Nov 44. KptLt. Lüdden was promoted to FKpt. on 1 Jan 45 but was killed only 12 days later in a fire onboard the accommodations ship Daresalam in Kiel. Siefried Lüdden sank nine ships for a total of 50,915 tons and damaged one ship for a further 9,977 tons, ranking him as the 88th highest-scoring U-boat ‘ace’ of the war.

GILBERT ISLANDS: 98th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's moved from Nukufetau to Tarawa and then to Kwajalein on 3 Apr 44.

CANADA: Tug HMCS Marysville assigned to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

U.S.A.:

Frigate USS Pueblo launched.

Destroyer escort USS Samuel B Roberts launched.

Minesweeper USS Implicit commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-263 sinks near La Rochelle in position 46. 06N 01. 36W whilst carrying out deep dive tests. All 51 members of the crew are lost.

During an attack on two merchants on 20 Nov, 1942 convoy escorts had dropped some 119 depth charges on the boat causing so much damage that Nölke had to abort his mission and return to France. During the return on the 24th a British Hudson aircraft (Sqdn 233/Q) straddled the boat with 4 depth charges causing extensive damages to the already weak boat. She was told to head for El Ferrol, Spain but managed to limp back to La Rochelle, with assistance from the returning U-511 and covered by Ju-88 aircraft, reaching the base on the 29th. She then spent 13 months in repair and rebuilding.

Her loss occurred when she was performing tests after the repairs had been completed, but not (it would now seem) at great depth , since U-263 has been located lying at 27m depth near La Rochelle, France and is a dive site. (Alex Gordon)

20 January 1945

January 20th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Hungarian Provisional Govt. signs an armistice with the USSR, USA and UK.

Auxiliary minelayer HMS Agamemnon conversion to Amenities Ship by Victoria Machinery Depot ordered.

Minesweeper HMS Welcome commissioned.

FRANCE: Alsace: The German counter-offensive in Alsace, Operation North Wind, has brought the enemy within eight miles of Strasburg and caused near-panic in the city. The Germans have established a bridgehead over the Rhine and are poised to link up with another German force striking northward from the "Colmar pocket". Hitler launched North Wind on New Year's Day in the expectation that Blaskowitz's Army Group G would overwhelm the greatly over-extended American-French 6th Army Group, which holds a 120-mile front that includes positions which Patton's men held before they moved up to the Ardennes.

GERMANY:

U-3033 launched.

U-3025 commissioned.

HUNGARY: Russian Armies continue fighting for Budapest, the Pest side of town is controlled by the Russians.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The Red Army is racing through Poland, covering over 100 miles in a week as the great sweep west gathers pace. In the past the Russians had to pause to allow their infantrymen to rest; now, thanks to Lend-Lease, the infantry is motorized and able to keep up with the tanks.

The story is the same all along the line. In the north General Cherniakhovsky has torn a 40-mile hole in the East Prussian defence zone and is 30 miles inside Germany's "holy soil". Marshal Rokossovsky is driving through northern Poland and is on the East Prussian border 110 miles south-east of Danzig and is threatening to cut off the whole of East Prussia, the home of German militarism. Zhukov, having taken Warsaw, has now captured Lodz, the great textile and engineering city and an indispensable base for the advance on Berlin. At the southern tip of the line, Konev has taken Cracow, opening up the road from the north into Czechoslovakia. He has also taken Praszka and so reached the borders of German Silesia. The Russians seem unstoppable. Columns of tanks and lorries stretch for miles across the Polish plain. The Russian tactics are to advance with their fast mobile detachments moving ahead of their tank and combined-arms groups. When they run into resistance or it becomes necessary to wipe out bypassed German forces, separate units are assigned to deal with the problem while the main column crunches on.

Overhead, untidy groups of Soviet planes wheel like flocks of starlings ready to settle on German targets. Opposing them are men like the Stuka ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel who claims to have destroyed 500 Russian tanks and a battleship. But there is little that even Rudel can do to stop the Russians. There are just too many of them. Fear is spreading throughout eastern Germany as refugees flood back from the warzone. The vengeful Russians have many scores to settle.

Soviet destroyer Razjarennyj damaged by U-293 at 70.00N, 32.10E - Grid AC 8574.

CANADA: Lt. Charles Arthur "Bones" Burk, RCNVR, Commanding Officer of MTB-491, was awarded his second bar to the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). The citation, awarded as per the Canada Gazette of 20 January 1945 and the London Gazette of 26 December 1944 read: "For gallantry, skill, determination and undaunted devotion to duty during the landing of Allied Forces on the coast of Normandy." Charles Burk was from Toronto. He enlisted in the navy at HMCS York as in 1939 after graduating from the U of T. His basic training was conducted in Toronto and, in 1940, Ordinary Seaman Burke was sent overseas for further training with the RN in Cornwall. After training at Davenport Barracks, he was posted to HMS Newmarket , a USN Wickes-class lend-lease destroyer (ex-USS Robinson). Burk commissioned from the ranks on 30 Feb 40 and was sent to HMS King Alfred for officer training. Next, he was sent to St. Christopher for Coastal Forces training. His first operational assignment was the Third Watch Officer in MGB-101, which was engaged in air-sea rescue operations. Next, he was posted to MGB-14 as First Lieutenant. His first command was MGB-17. He subsequently commanded MTB-442, MTB-461 (28 Feb 44 to 17 Sep 44) and MTB-491 (04 Oct 44 to 29 Jan 45). He also commanded the 29th Canadian MTB Flotilla, which patrolled off Le Havre on D-Day. He received man decorations and commendations. His first was a Mention-in-Dispatches on 04 May 43. The citation in the London Gazette read: "For courage and devotion to duty in action with E-Boats." Next, he was awarded his first DSC on 02 May 44, while in command of MTB 461. The Citation (awarded in the Canada Gazette of 27 May 44) read: "For gallant and distinguished services in Light Coastal Craft in successful engagements with the enemy." He received his first Bar to the DSC on 14 Nov 44. The Citation (awarded in the Canada Gazette of 20 Jan 45) read: "For courage, leadership and determination in close action with the enemy while serving in Light Coastal Craft." He received his second Bar to the DSC on 20 Jan 45 and his second Mention-in-Dispatches on 30 Jan 45. The Citation (awarded as per the Canada Gazette of 03 Feb 45) read: "For courage and determination in an attack on an enemy convoy while serving in Light Coastal Forces." Charles Burk was released from the service in the rank of LCdr. on 25 Apr 45. After the war, he was a National President of the Naval Officers Association of Canada and President of the Montreal Branch of NOAC. Charles Burk died in June 1997, at the age of 81, in Montreal, Quebec.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: American forces of XIV Corps pushing inland from their beach-head at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon are tonight on the outskirts of San Miguel, some 90 miles from Manila. The US troops had met no opposition on the beaches when they landed on 9 January, but the fighting has since been fierce, particularly at the Agno river.

General Yamashita, who commands an army of 260,000 in Luzon, the largest encountered in the Pacific campaign, saved his men from a beach-head mauling from American fire-power by withdrawing them from the shoreline. His plan was to let the Amercans get ashore and then encircle them.

MacArthur was certain that he would secure the Central Plain/Manila region in four to six weeks and he pressed his commanders to push on without delay. A key target for the Americans in Clark Field airbase, which is needed for the forthcoming invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

GUAM: General Curtis LeMay relieves General Hansell as Commanding General XXI Bomber Command, USAAF.

U.S.A.: US President Roosevelt takes the oath of office for his 4th term. Speech.
The USS WARD is struck from the navy list.

Top of Page

Yesterday Tomorrow

Home