20 February 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

February 20th, 1939 (MONDAY)

U.S.A.: The Douglas DC-5 twin-engined, high wing transport makes its maiden flight.

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20 February 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

February 20th, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Fighter Command: North Sea shipping is again attacked by the Luftwaffe. ASW trawler HMS Fifeshire bombed and sunk by German aircraft east of Copinsay, Scotland.
RAF Bomber Command: Reconnaissance of Heligoland Bight; one aircraft is lost.

NORTH SEA: U-54 believed sunk by mine in North Sea. No survivors.

GERMANY: General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, who commanded XXI Corps in the invasion of Poland, is given command of the invasion force for Norway.

U-111 laid down.

FINLAND: British Brigadier Christopher Ling and French Colonel Jean Ganéval visit Mannerheim's GHQ. They give vague promises of future aid, but can give no concrete information.

The 8000 Swedish volunteers of Lt. Gen. Ernst Linder's Svenska Frivilligkåren become officially a part of the Finnish field army.

Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner asks his Swedish collague Christian Günther to mediate between Finland and Soviet Union.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia offers fresh peace talks to Finland.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Chambly, HMS Trillium and Mayflower laid down Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: 300 Douglas Boston Mk IIIs (Douglas Model DB-7B) attack bombers are ordered for the RAF. These are essentially the same as the USAAF Havocs but equipped with British instrumentation, bomb racks, radio equipment and machine guns.

20 February 1941

February 20th, 1941 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Weston-Super-Mare: The first Weston-built Bristol Beaufighter Mk IF makes its maiden flight.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Ouse mined and sunk off Tobruk.

GERMANY:

U-128, U-565, U-566 launched.

U-558 commissioned.

GREECE: Athens: The British Military Mission reports to the War Office:

"...All Italian counter-attacks have been repulsed. Today concentric Greek attacks are to take place southwards and westwards with a view to clearing up Southern portion of Shennell ridge north-east of Tepelene. If these succeed Tepelene should fall and second-phase operation will include operations towards Berat and also between Tepelene and the sea."

"The have about 3000 casualties from 5 Division, many with frostbite."

LIBYA: British and German troops have their first clash in the desert at El Agheila.

Free French troops under Leclerc attack the Italian-held El Raj fort.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The freighter SS Chirikof arrives at Seward with 20 crated P-36 Hawks in its hold. These are the first fighter aircraft to be based in the territory.

CANADA:

HMC Gate Vessels GV 1 and GV 2 ordered Concrete Foundation Maritime Ltd, Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Corvettes HMCS Calgary, Regina, Malbaie and Fredericton (ex-Fort William) ordered.

U.S.A.:
Washington: telegram Roosevelt to Churchill. ...Matsuoka (Japanese foreign minister) is visiting Berlin, Rome and Moscow in the near future. This may well be a diplomatic sop to cover absence of action against Great Britain. If Japanese attack ...is now postponed, this is largely due to fear of United States. ... Appreciation given of naval consequences following Japanese aggression against Great Britain holds good in all circumstances."

20 February 1942

February 20th, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Major General Ira C. Eaker, who is to command the USAAF VIII Bomber Command, 8th Air Force, arrives by air with six staff officers to select a headquarters site and prepare for the arrival of American troops; he reports to Major General James E. Chaney, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, British Isles (USAFI).

Destroyer HNLMS Van Galen commissioned.

Escort carrier HMS Searcher laid down.

FRANCE: Admiral William D. Leahy writes to President Roosevelt that he expects a recall "for consultation" since the French have not responded positively to Roosevelt's message of 11 February. President Roosevelt, while sympathetic to Admiral Leahy's position, subsequently informs his ambassador to Vichy that "to hold the fort [in Vichy] is as important a military task as any other in these days." Leahy is thus retained in France. On the same day that Leahy writes to the President, however, German submarine U-156 puts in to the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean to put ashore one of the men wounded by the premature barrel explosion on 16 February.

GERMANY: Berlin: German casualties in the USSR so far are 199,448 dead, 708,351 wounded, 44,342 missing and 112,627 cases of severe frostbite.

The German naval warships, Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen leave Brünsbuttel for Norway. (Alex Gordon)

U-618 launched.

U-534, U-956 laid down.

BURMA: The Indian 17th Division begins withdrawal behind the Sittang River, the 48th Brigade leading.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Jakarta: With its latest simultaneous strikes the Japanese Pacific offensive now threatens Java and Australia's northern doorstep. Landings were made yesterday on Timor, and Bali has been invaded today when Japanese aircraft of the Tainan Air Group land at the intact den Passar Airfield and begin operations. The Bali landings open the way for an assault on Java, separated from Bali only by two-mile-wide straits. With the capture by paratroops of the airfield at Kupang, on Portugese Timor, the Japanese now have a base within 500 miles of Australia. The Bali landings were opposed by Allied ships that damaged three enemy warships at the cost of two of their own damaged.

The Japanese land at Dili in Portugese (East) Timor during the night of the 18-19th. In December 1941, 155 Australian troops of the of the 2/2 Independent Company and 260 Dutch troops had landed at Dili. One Australian platoon was at Dili Airfield. By daylight, the Japanese had occupied part of the airfield and forced the Australians to retreat. In one incident four Australian prisoners had been forced to march some distance with their hands tied behind their backs, pushed into a drainage ditch beside the road and shot. Three were killed and when the survivor moved he was bayoneted. When he again regained conscientiousness, he found his hands free and wristwatch gone. He crawled away and was found by local natives who returned him to Australian lines.

The Japanese also landed at Koepang in Dutch (West Timor) in the early morning. The Australian Imperial Force 2/40th Battalion and a coast artillery battery had been deployed to West Timor in December to defend the Bay of Koepang and Penfoie Airdrome. Japanese aircraft attacked Penfui Airfield and then dropped paratroopers of the Yokosuka 3rd Special Naval Landing Force to capture it. Again, the Japanese outnumbered the Allied forces and overwhelmed them.

On Java, three Australian battalions, designated “Blackforce,” are tasked with defending five airfields. The destroyer USS Stewart (DD-224), damaged by shellfire in the Battle of Badoeng Strait the previous night, suffers further damage when, improperly shored and placed on blocks, she rolls on her port side in a Dutch floating drydock at Surabaya.
During the morning, USAAF 5th Air Force aircraft based in Java attack the Japanese transports landing troops on Bali. B-17 Flying Fortresses attack in three waves and 17 A-24 Dauntlesses, escorted by 16 P-40s, attack six ships in Lombok Strait; they claim five hits on a cruiser (there were none) with the loss of two A-24s. Two P-40s are also shot down and three others are lost when they run out of fuel or crashing on landing. Late in the morning, five Japanese fighters based on den Pasar Airdrome on Bali attack Singosari Airdrome on Java and destroy three of five B-17s waiting to takeoff.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The carrier, USS Lexington attacks Rabaul, New Britain. Note: While she tried to attack Rabaul, she encountered aerial resistance and abandoned the attempt. (Tim Lanzendoerfer)

Task Force 11 (TF 11) built around USS Lexington (CV-2), with Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3) aboard, is attacked by Japanese Navy land-based aircraft as it approaches Rabaul on New Britain Island. Because of these attacks, the proposed mission against Rabaul is cancelled and TF11 begins withdrawing. Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3), equipped with Grumman F4F Wildcats, has a busy day: Between 1112 and 1202 hours, VF-3 pilots shoot down two four-engined patrol bombers.

At approximately 1700 hours, VF-3 pilots intercept nine Mitsubishi G4M Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers, Allied Code Name "Betty," approaching the Lexington and shoot down four of them. The remaining five miss the carrier and flee. As the F4Fs chase the "Bettys," another nine-plane element attacks the Lexington. Airborne at this time is Lt.(jg) Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare and he proceeds to shoot down five of the Bettys, and possibly a sixth, over Bougainville Island in the Solomons between 1705 and 1730 hours becoming the US's first ace-in-a-day. O'Hare is subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. Other "Bettys" also attack and eight of nine are shot down by VF-3 pilots and the rear gunner in a Scouting Squadron Two (VS-2) Douglas SBD Dauntless. US casualties are two F4Fs and one pilot.

Although the US raid on Rabaul is cancelled, the loss of so many Japanese aircraft forces them to postpone the seizure of several positions in New Guinea.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In Manila Bay area, the Japanese artillery bombardment of fortified islands reaches peak intensity.

President Manuel L. Quezon has been evacuated on-board the submarine USS SWORDFISH (SS-193). He is accompanied by his wife and two children, Vice-President Sergio Osmeña, and other Philippine government officials off Mariveles.

Quezon was carried to Mindanao and attempted to remain in the Philippines.

MacArthur quietly arranged for him to be kept under close escort as he did not trust Quezon not to try to cut a deal for neutralization of the Philippines with the Japanese. Quezon and Osmena were eventually carried to Australia and thence to the US. Quezon died in the US but Osmena went ashore at Leyte and resumed his duties as Philippine President as the US cleared the Archipelago.

Quezon's reluctance in 1942 to leave the Philippines might have resulted from the knowledge that he was dying from tuberculosis and that he would have preferred to die on his home turf. In the event, he died, I believe, at Walter Reed hospital.

Off Bali, contact was made with two Japanese destroyers and a transport just past midnight on 19-20 by ABDA naval forces including the destroyers USS Parrott (DD-218) and the Piet Hein. The ensuing fight, left the Dutch destroyer Piet Hein at the bottom of the sea and the Japanese destroyer Michishio dead in the water. The USS Parrott struck ground in the treacherous shoal water, but was able to churn herself free and retire with the rest of the force to Surabaya.

AUSTRALIA: Canberra: A massive aerial onslaught by a Japanese naval task force yesterday shattered the northern Australian port of Darwin. Some of the 188 attacking aircraft were from four of the aircraft carriers that took part in the Pearl Harbor raid, plus land-based bombers operating from Celebes. The raid has temporarily wrecked Darwin's war potential and has sunk many ships, including the USS PEARY, and killed 243 people. There was chaos and a little panic when the enemy action was interpreted as the prelude to an invasion. But this was clearly not the aim of the Japanese, whose apparent intention was to shatter the morale of Australia, which is fast becoming a rallying point against Japan's expansion. (Associated Press)

In the wake of this strike Darwin is abandoned as an Allied naval base. RAF and USAAF air operations from the field outside the port, however, will continue.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Moose Jaw arrived St John's for temporary repairs.

U.S.A.: The Combined Chiefs of Staff announces that Allied forces on Java will not be evacuated under any circumstances.

Washington: The US supplies the USSR with a $1,000 million loan.

Destroyers USS Hudson and Charrette laid down.

Destroyers USS Guest, Duncan, Hutchins and Lansdowne launched.

CARIBBEAN SEA: U-156 puts into the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean to put ashore one of the men wounded by the premature barrel explosion on 16 February.

At 1131, the unescorted SS Delplata was hit by a single torpedo from U-156 about 60 miles west of Martinique. The torpedo struck on the starboard side aft of the #2 hold and damaged the superstructure, the wheelhouse, the chart room and the quarter of the master. The freighter took an immediate list to starboard, while the whistle cord become fouled and let the whistle blow continuously. Most of the ten officers, 30 men and 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four .50cal and four .30cal guns) abandoned ship in the four lifeboats and the three rafts. The master, seven crewmen and seven armed guards remained on board. One hour after the first hit, the U-boat fired a second torpedo, which struck on the starboard side and five minutes later another on the port side at the #2 hold. The gun crew fired twelve shot in the direction of the U-boat, but they had to left the ship as her heavy list to port increased. The next day, all men were picked up by seaplane tender USS Lapwing (AVP-1). Some of the crew returned to consider salvage possibilities and to recover belongings. The seaplane tender then sank the wreck by gunfire after it was determined that she could not be salvaged. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An unarmed U.S. freighter, the 5,529-ton Azalea City, of the Waterman Steamship Company heading from Trinidad to Philadelphia with a cargo of linseed, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-432 about 125 miles (201 kilometres) east-southeast of Ocean City, Maryland. There are no survivors from the 38-man crew.

At 0359, SS Nordvangen was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-129 and sank within one minute. 19 Norwegian, four Dutch and one Danish crewmember were lost. The ship had been reported missing, but on 6 March, a marked lifeboat and some debris was washed ashore at Trinidad.

U-869 sunk due to unknown causes. The most probable cause is that one of its own homing torpedoes locked in on the boat itself after being fired on some unknown target. 56 dead (all hands lost). Several divers found a German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, USA on 2 Sept 1991. On 31 August 1997 these same divers reported evidence that the boat they found is the U-869 (knife inscribed with a U-869 crewmember's name, UZO torpedo aiming device, machinery-numbers from the engine room). This location is at 39.33N, 73.20W in about 230 feet of water.

The unescorted MS Lake Osweya followed three miles behind the Empire Seal, while they approached Halifax. When the British ship was sunk by U-96 at 2329 hours, the Lake Osweya tried to escape by changing course and zigzagging. But at 0453 on 20 February, the vessel was struck amidships by one torpedo fired by U-96 from a distance of 500 yards, broke in two and sank quickly by the bow. Lehmann-Willenbrock reported that three lifeboats were launched, but none of the eight officers, 22 crewmen and nine armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in guns) were ever found.

20 February 1943

February 20th, 1943 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Escort carrier HMS Speaker launched.

Escort carrier HMS Fencer commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Rapid commissioned.

Submarines HMS Stubborn and Vandal commissioned.

GERMANY: München: Anti-Nazi demonstrations without precedent in the Third Reich have broken out in Munich. Stunned citizens looked on as students dared to chant anti-Nazi slogans and painted "Down with Hitler" on walls in the centre of the city.

The protests began after the Nazi Gauleiter of Bavaria, Paul Giesler, visited the university to investigate the source of anti-Nazi letters circulating in universities. Giesler told women students they would better serve the fatherland by bearing a child each year. When he offered to provide Nazis to give the women "a thoroughly enjoyable experience", the students thought the students bundled the Gauleiter and his guards out of the university.

The anti-Nazi protests were led by Hans Scholl, a 25-year-old medical student, and his sister Sophie, a biology student aged 21. They call their group the "White Rose" and have been circulating the letters with the encouragement of a philosophy professor, Kurt Huber. Yesterday, a caretaker saw Hans and Sophie scattering leaflets from a balcony; he betrayed them to the Gestapo. Sophie was said to have been tortured after her arrest, and she appeared in court with a broken leg. She and her brother and Huber were sentenced by Roland Freisler, the bloodthirsty president of the People's Court, to be executed by the guillotine.

U-717 launched.

U-238, U-738, U-848 commissioned.

ITALY: Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb Crotone, Naples, Amantea, Palmi, Nicotera and Rosarno.

CRETE: RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bomb Heraklion and Kastelli/Pediada Airfields during the night of 19/20 February.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops take Pavlograd and engage the enemy at Krasnograd.

TUNISIA: The 10th and 15th Panzer Divisions attack Allied Forces at Kasserine Pass.

Kasserine: A shaken American army has come face to face with the military genius of Rommel - and tasted defeat for the first time in the Tunisian campaign. Many vital lessons will be learned from the Battle of the Kasserine Pass.

The command structure itself was a recipe for disaster. Lt-Gen Kenneth Anderson, a Briton, was in command of the British First Army, made up of the British V Corps, led by Lt-Gen C W Alfrey, the American II Corps, under Major-General Lloyd Fredenhall, and the XIX French Corps, led by General Louis-Marie Koeltz.

What was not taken into account was that the French, still resentful at the destruction of their fleet at Oran, would refuse to serve under a British commander; Gen Koeltz would "co-ordinate" - no more. Fredenhall dislikes the British, particularly Anderson, and has little time for the poorly-equipped French. Nor did language difficulties help matters.

Rommel believed that a bold move by the Tunisian defenders with his Panzerarmee Afrika could avenge the German defeat at Stalingrad. This belief brought about the battle at the Kasserine Pass.

In a typical Rommel Blitzkrieg operation, German tanks, supported by Stuka dive-bombers, hit the American sector of the line, taking the village of SidiBou Zid and cutting off 2,000 men. In a badly planned counter-attack, tanks of the US 1st Armoured Division were annihilated when they drive directly into German artillery.

With Rommel scenting victory and confusion reigning in the Allied camp, General Alexander, who took command of the 18th Army Group, including all these forces, today, ordered that there should be no withdrawal. Panzers stormed into the pass yesterday and were stopped by US anti-tank fire. But in a fresh attack today the Americans faced German Nebelwerfer rocket-launchers and a huge artillery barrage before Axis tanks and artillery advanced relentlessly. The threat from Rommel is not over.

A handful of Northwest African Air Force P-39Airacobras strafe trucks and half-tracks in the Kasserine area as the enemy breaks through the Kasserine Pass and thrusts north and west toward Thala and Tebessa.

General Alexander is appointed Commander of the 18th Army Group in North Africa.

BURMA: 17 Tenth Air Force P-40s bomb a factory, oil tanks, and railroad tracks at Sahmaw and 13 B-24s attack the Gokteik Viaduct but fail to damage the structure.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-17s and USN PB4Y-1 Liberators of Bombing Squadron One Hundred One (VB-101) bomb Ballale Island and Kahili on Bougainville Island and B-24s pound Vila on Kolombangara Island. During the night of 19/20 February and day strikes, P-39s and USN aircraft attack the Munda area on New Georgia Island, hitting the airfield and nearby Lambeti and Munda Point.

The USN's Carrier Air Group Five (CVG-5) is temporarily based on Guadalcanal to cover the upcoming invasion of the Russell Islands.

In the Bismarck Archipelago, Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Gasmata Airfield on New Britain Island.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Three Seventh Air Force B-24s from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands photograph Makin Island, Abaiang Island and Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and attack shipping at Tarawa.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A Japanese destroyer and a transport are sunk by two USN submarines.

AUSTRALIA:

Minesweeper HMAS Ararat launched.

Frigate HMAS Gascoyne launched.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Reconnaissance over Kiska Island finds the weather favourable and 5 B-24 Liberators, 7 B-25 Mitchells and 8 P-38 Lightnings of the Eleventh Air Force take off to attack. The fighters hit the Main Camp area; the bombers bomb North Head, the Main Camp area and the runway.

A Japanese army cargo ship sinks as the result of damage inflicted by gunfire from USN surface vessels.

U.S.A.: In baseball, Phil Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager, charter the All-American Girls Softball League. The league will operate around the Chicago area and is formed as a sports backup in case the government shuts down major league baseball. The league will later change its name and switch to hardball with a pitching distance of 40 feet (12 meters) and bases 68 feet (21 meters) apart.
In Hollywood, movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies informally. World War II led to a proliferation of war-themed films, and the government feared that vital information might be disclosed through movies.

Minesweepers USS Saunter and Jubilant launched.

Escort carrier USS Barnes commissioned.

Minesweepers USS Ardent and Lucid laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0508, SS Radhurst, a straggler from Convoy ONS-165, was hit by one of two fired torpedoes from U-525 NW of St John's. The torpedo struck amidships and caused the ship to sink within three minutes. The master and 37 crewmembers were lost.

20 February 1944

February 20th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Fulham, London: Mr. Leslie Owen Fox (1904-82), Heavy Rescue Service, tunnelled for hours under burning debris to find a man trapped in a bombed house. (George Cross)

Destroyer HMS Warwick sunk by U-413.

NETHERLANDS: 35 Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Haamstede Airfield as a target of opportunity, after about 100 B-26s abort attacks on other airfields because of weather.

GERMANY: The US 8th Air Force begins attacks which become known as "Big Week". 731 B-17s and 272 B-24s are disparched to bomb German fighter aircraft production centers at Tutow, Leipzig, Heiterblick, Abtnaundorf, Bernburg, Brunswick, Wilhelmtor, Neupetritor and Gotha. 15 aircraft are lost.

USAAF Sgt Archibald Mathies, engineer, and Second Lt Walter E Truemper navigator, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions this day. (Anthony Staunton)

It was a planned attack on the German Air Force. The attacks were aimed at airframe and engine manufacturing plants. That was the target. The aim was to force the Luftwaffe to come up and engage with the new American long range fighter capability. The object to kill German fighter pilots and destroy the manufacturing ability. The first aim succeeded the second did not. American fighters were freed from close support of the bombers and instructed to engage and kill all German aircraft in the sky, to follow them down wherever they went and kill them.

In my own case we had a mission to Gotha, Germany where we were under fighter attack for four and one half hours. We lost 13 out of 25 planes in my group. We were credited with 26 German aircraft destroyed. How accurate this was I cannot say (For the Germans. I am sure of our losses). (Hal Turrell)

U-822 launched.

NORWAY: Norwegian resistance successfully sinks a barge carrying heavy water from Ryukan, Norway bound for Germany. Heavy water is necessary for continued experiments by the German nuclear program.

ITALY: Twelfth Air Force B-26s hit troop concentrations along roads in the Vallalta area; B-25s hit dumps and assembly areas at the northern edge of the Anzio beachhead, and A-20 Havocs bomb a troop and motor transport concentration southeast of Carroceto; A-36 Apaches and P-40s hit troops, trucks and tanks northeast of Carroceto, bomb the town of Fondi, a factory east of Carroceto, the town of Piedimonte, and hit guns and targets of opportunity along the northern line of the beachhead; an Axis attempt to achieve a breakthrough is decisively defeated in the center of the salient created by a counteroffensive and their efforts end.

Fifteenth Air Force B-24s blast troop concentrations in the Anzio, Italy, beachhead area as the Axis efforts end.

At 1755, U-230 fired one Gnat at landing ships off Anzio and heard a detonation after 13 minutes, 25 seconds. The Gnat probably detonated at the end of its run. At 1851 hours, another torpedo was fired, which sank HMS LST-305.

At 0157, USS LST-348 was torpedoed by U-410 and was sunk at 0221 by a coup de grâce about 40 miles south of Naples. The vessel was participating in the landings in Anzio-Nettuno, Operation Shingle.

BLACK SEA: Soviet Black Sea Fleet submarine TS-2 (ex-S2 Marsuinul) sunk due to torpedo explosion at Poti. Raised Feb 28 and later returned to service.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 35 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s, with fighter escort, bomb Lakunai Airfield at Rabaul on New Britain Island. Twelve Fifth Air Force B-24s hit shipping off Kavieng, New Ireland Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force P-39s attack barge traffic, which has greatly increased off southeastern and northwestern Bougainville Island, claiming 20 of the craft sunk.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Aircraft the USS Enterprise (CV-6), part of Task Group 58.1 (TG 58.1) bomb Japanese installations on Jaluit Atoll. Nine Seventh Air Force B-25s from Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands bomb the airfield at Wotje Atoll while P-40s from Makin Island in the Gilberts strafe and bomb runways and small vessels at Mille Atoll.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: 18 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the airfield at Laha on Ambon Island.

NEW GUINEA: 38 Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the Alexishafen-Hansa Bay area.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese ships are sunk by the submarine USS Pogy (SS-266).

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Fort William, Milltown, Blairmore and Minas departed Halifax for Devonport via Azores.

U.S.A.:

Submarine USS Icefish launched.

Minesweeper USS Garland launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Whilst serving in Captain Walker’s renowned 2^nd. Escort Group, sloop HMS Woodpecker is hit by a Zaunkönig fired by U-764 (Leutnant zur See Hanskurt von Bremen) South of Iceland at 48 49N 22 11W . Woodpecker’s stern is blown off but as she remained afloat was taken in tow. She sank in a gale on 27 February at 49 39N 06 08E. There were no casualties.

VandW class destroyer HMS Warwick is torpedoed and sunk by U-413 (Kapitanleutnant Gustav Poel) in the English Channel 20 SW of Trevose Head at 50 27N 05 23W. The torpedo set off an internal explosion, whereupon Warwick sank very quickly with 43 casualties and 93 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-683 reported missing in the North Atlantic SW of Ireland.

20 February 1945

February 20th, 1945 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Carysfort commissioned.

GERMANY: Starting tonight de Havilland Mosquitoes of the RAF Light Night Striking Force begin attacking Berlin. This will last for 36 consecutive nights.

Strategic Air Operations in WESTERN EUROPE:The Eighth Air Force flies 3 missions:

Mission 836: 1,264 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to hit the main station and marshalling yard at Nurnberg, Germany; the target is bombed visually and using H2X radar; they claim 49-1-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 7 fighters are lost:

- 360 B-24s dispatched abandon the mission over Belgium due to weather conditions; one B-24 hits Steig, a target of opportunity. Escorting are 123 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost.

- 831 B-17s hit the primary target; targets of opportunity are Schiltach (16) and other (12); 5 B-17s are lost. The escort is 315 P-51s; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost.

- 194 P-47s and P-51s strafe rail and road targets in the Nurnberg and Straubing areas; they claim 12-0-1 aircraft in the air and 35-1-20 on the ground; 7 fighters are lost.

- 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.

- 10 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany.

Mission 837: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.

Mission 838: During the night of 20/21 February, 30 B-24s attack the Neustadt marshalling yard without loss and 6 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

Tactical Air Operations in WESTERN EUROPE:Weather grounds the Ninth Air Force bombers but, in Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance east and west of the Rhine River, attack a bridge and defended area, and support the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Lichtenborn area, west of the Prum River, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle.

U-4707 commissioned.

ITALY: Strategic Air Operations in Central and Eastern Europe: 520+ Fifteenth Air Force B-17s, with fighter escort, and B-24s bomb the Lobau, Vienna and Schwechat, Austria oil refineries and Floridsdorf marshalling yard at Vienna, steel works at Kapfenberg, Austria, harbor at Pula, Yugoslavia, and shipyards at Trieste and Fiume, Italy.

Tactical Air Operations in ITALY: Twelfth Air Force A-20s on night intruder missions during the night of 19/20 February, bomb targets of opportunity at over 30 points in the central Po Valley, several rail diversions, and marshalling yards at Villafranca in Lunigiana, Roncanova, Bovolone, Cerea, Legnago, Cittadella, Casa di David, Isola della Scala, Castelfranco Veneto, and Nogara; fighter-bombers devote their main effort to support the US Fifth Army offensive in the Monte Torraccia area; medium bombers bomb bridges at Montebello, Chiusaforte, Salzano, and Calcinato.

The Twelfth Air Force in Italy transfers the 27th and 86th Fighter Groups and an air service group to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) in France.

U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine loss. "TS-2" (ex- "S2 Marsuinul") - due to torpedo explosion at Poti base (Febr.28 raised and later went into service)

EGYPT: Cairo: President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, on their way back from the conference with Marshal Stalin in the Crimea, met for four hours here to plan the next phase of the war against Japan. Mr Churchill told the US president that his government was "determined to throw everything it had at the Japanese."

The prime minister and the president also conferred with King Farouk of Egypt, the emperor of Ethiopia, King ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia and other Arab leaders who were in Cairo for an Arab summit. King ibn Saud presented Mr Churchill with a gold-handled sword.

BONIN ISLANDS: 7 Seventh Air Force B-24s flying individual raids during the night of 20/21 February, bomb the town of Okimura and airfield on Haha Jima Island.

BORNEO: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb runways and warehouse at Jesselton Airfield in Borneo.

BURMA:44 Tenth Air Force P-47s fly close support strikes in the Mongmit battle sector; 8 support ground forces in the Namhsan area; 13 P-38s severely damage a bridge at Mong Long; nearly 100 P-47s and P-38s pound troop concentrations, supply and ammunition dumps, and general targets of opportunity behind enemy lines. Large-scale transport operations continue.

Volcano Islands: Iwo Jima: Jack Lucas Pfc USMC Reserve, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, earns the Medal of Honor.

While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain frontline on D-plus-1 day, Pfc. Lucas and 3 other men were suddenly ambushed by a hostile patrol which savagely attacked with rifle fire and grenades. Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by 2 grenades which landed directly in front of them, Pfc. Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon 1 grenade and pulled the other under him, absorbing the whole blasting forces of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments. Pvt Lucas lives until he is 80, dying in 2008.

CHINA: 34 Fourteenth Air Force P-51s attack locomotives, railroad cars, and other targets of opportunity at Tsingtao and Puchi; about 30 other fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity (mainly rail and river traffic) at scattered locations including Changsha, Lohochai, Tsingtao, Chukiatsi, north of Lingling, and between Siangsiang and Siangtan.

FORMOSA: Far East Air Force B-25s and fighters blast the town of Choshu, and also hit railroad yards, vehicles, railway rolling stock, and buildings.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 2 Guam-based Seventh Air Force B-24s on an armed reconnaissance flight bomb Marcus Island.

A Japanese destroyer and a merchant cargo ship are sunk by USN submarines. Two other Japanese merchant vessels are sunk by mines.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 63 Far East Air Forces B-24s attack buildings at Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island and underground installation on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay.

US Army troops, covered by USMC aircraft, are landed on Biri Island to insure control of San Bernardino Strait.

U.S.A.: Oak Ridge, Tennessee: The Uranium plant K-25 has now produced enough weapon-grade uranium (U-235) to make an atomic bomb.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Flower class corvette HMS Vervain is torpedoed, and sunk by U-1208 (Korvettenkapitan George Hagene) 20 miles S of Waterford at 51 47N 07 06W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-1276 sunk south of Waterford in position 51.48N, 07.07W by depth charges from sloop HMS Amethyst. 49 dead (all hands lost).

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