GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler tells Spanish Foreign Minister Serano Suner to make good on an agreement for Spain to attack Gibraltar. This would seal off the Mediterranean and trap British troops in North Africa. But the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, did not want to commit his country to the war, even as he allowed German subs to refuel in Spanish ports and German spies to keep tabs on British naval forces in Gibraltar and he had instructed Suner to stall for time. .

RAF No. 80 Squadron, equipped with Gladiator Mk. II biplane fighters, arrives at Trikkala from Egypt. This is the third RAF squadron to arrive in Greece.

ALBANIA: The Duce announces the occupation of Erseka by the Greek Army. Erseka is a vitally strategic point as it can cut off all communication and transport and will allow the Greeks a speedy advance into Koritsa. (Steven Statharos)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0051hrs Kptlt Schepke on U-100 sighted a British convoy. Three hours later U-47 reached the reported convoy and fired five torpedoes, but all missed.

ARCTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-104 reports for the last time today when about 84 nautical miles (155 kilometers) west of Bergen, Norway, in approximate position 60.30N, 02.30E. She is never heard from again and all 47 crewmen are listed as lost. There is a possibility that she was lost to mines from minefield SN 44 which was laid on 8 November northwest of Tory Island as her last reported position was very close to that field.

INDIAN OCEAN: Shark Bay, in Western Australia. Modified Leander class light cruiser HMAS Sydney D 48) and German raider, the auxiliary cruiser, HK Kormoran exchange gunfire, about 409 nautical miles (758 kilometres) northwest of Perth in position 26.32.34S, 111.00E.

The Kormoran with 11 ships and 68,300 tons to her credit, and Sydney both sink. 320 crew from Kormoran survive to tell the story, with 78 dead about 20 killed in action and the rest when an overloaded raft capsizes, there are no survivors of Sydney's 644 man crew.

The Kormoran was flying the Dutch flag and going under the name Streat Malakka.
After escorting the troopship Zealandia to the Sunda Strait, the Sydney encountered Kormoran on the return passage to Fremantle, 130 miles off Carnarvon, Western Australia. It was not until the ships were within a mile of each other that the Kormoran hoisted the Swastika ensign and opened fire. 
The Sydney was hit, her bridge and gunnery director tower badly damaged with the result that (possibly from flooding magazines in response to the turret penetration) SYDNEY's firepower was reduced to half. KORMORAN also hit SYDNEY with a torpedo. For the next half hour the ships exchanged fire. The Kormoran, holed and badly damaged is forced to scuttle.
KORMORAN's survivors reported that a couple of hours or so (IIRC) after SYDNEY had disappeared from their sight there was a bright flash on the horizon in the direction of her disappearance. The implication of course is that SYDNEY may have suffered a magazine explosion from uncontrolled fires. If the majority of her surviving crew were still aboard at this time, that might go far to explain why no survivors were found. (Brooks Rowlett, Alex Gordon and Ric Pelvin)(198)

The official version is: At about 1600 hours local, the German auxiliary cruiser HK Kormoran, ship 41 also known to the British as Raider G, sights the HMAS Sydney and turns away. HMAS Sydney follows, approaches to within 1,500 yards (1 372 meters) and requests Kormoran to identify herself, which she does as the Dutch freighter SS Straat Malakka. When asked for her secret call sign Kormoran drops her camouflage, hoists the German ensign and opens fire which apparently knocks out Sydney's fire control system and forward turrets, and probably killed her captain and many others on the bridge. The battle lasts from approximately 1730 to 1825 hours Both ships are crippled and on fire. HMAS Sydney steams slowly south-southeast, still ablaze, and is never seen again; all 645 crewmen are lost. German survivors later say that they saw a glow on the southern horizon followed by a bright flash around 2400 hours; this could possibly be caused by the cruiser's magazines exploding. HK Kormoran drifts for approximately five hours before being scuttled by her crew with explosive charges; 85 crewmen are lost but 315 make it to Australia where they are held as POWs. This is a controversial subject in Australia with some believing the government is covering up the sinking. The truth and fate of HMAS Sydney will probably never be known.

USN destroyer USS Destroyer Leary (DD-158), with Task Unit 4.1.5, escorting convoy HX-160 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact.

Submarine yards at Vegesack, Bremen, and Kiel, Germany, are added to day bombardment program of the USAAF">USAAF Eighth Air Force as top priority objectives.

FRANCE: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Wellingtons to lay mines off two Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft lay mines off St. Nazaire with the loss of one and four lay mines off Lorient.

TUNISIA: General Louis Jacques Barré, French XIX Corps, rejects a German ultimatum to evacuate Medjez el Bab, where German tank-infantry assaults supported by artillery and air are repulsed by French aided by U.S. artillery and British troops. The Germans have been utilizing tanks and infantry under General Walther Nehring, commander of the LXXXX Corps.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Carthage Airfield, 1.6 miles (2,6 kilometers) west of El Aouina.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 135: six B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 2.316 million leaflets on Amiens and Reims, France; Brussels and Ghent, Belgium; and Amsterdam and The Hague, The Netherlands at 1915-2011 hours.

FRANCE: Over 100 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders dispatched to attack airfields in France abort the mission when bad weather prevents rendezvous with the fighter escorts.

During the night of 19/20 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 25 aircraft to lay mines off coastal ports: four lay mines off St. Nazaire, three each lay mines off La Pallice and Lorient, and two each lay mines off Brest and Le Havre. Eleven other aircraft drop leaflets over northern France.

NETHERLANDS: Seven USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses flying Mission 134 to Gelsenkirchen, Germany, bomb Arnheim as a target of opportunity.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 134: 110 B-17 Flying Fortresses and three B-17 pathfinder force aircraft are dispatched to Gelsenkirchen but the malfunction of blind-bombing equipment and the weather causes the force to attack targets of opportunity on the German-Dutch border at 1241-1251 hours.

During the night of 19/20 November, Leverkusen is bombed by 266 RAF Bomber Command aircraft, 70 Halifaxes, 86 Stirlings and ten Mosquitos; only four Halifaxes and one Stirling, 1.9 per cent of the force, are lost; very few German fighters are operating, probably because of bad weather at their airfields. The target is the I.G. Farben chemical plant but failures of equipment prevent most of the Oboe marking being carried out and other Pathfinder aircraft are unable to mark the target properly in difficult weather conditions, leading to bombs being scattered over a wide area. At least 27 towns, mostly well to the north of Leverkusen, record bombs. Leverkusen's own records show only one high-explosive bomb in the town! Mosquitos are also sent to bomb four cities: six hit Duisburg, two bomb Rheinhausen, and one each attack Bonn and Dusseldorf.

U.S.S.R.: Red Army forces abandon Zhitomir to avoid being trapped there.

A-36 Apaches and P-40s of the USAAF Twelfth Air Force's XII Air Support Command bomb a bridge east of Cassino and the bridge and village of Pontecorvo, and, along with RAF Desert Air Force (DAF) fighter-bombers, hit strongpoints around the village of Barrea while supporting ground forces. Fighters (mostly RAF DAF) also strafe trucks and trains around Rieti.

YUGOSLAVIA: RAF Desert Air Force and USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters strafe trucks and trains around Metkovic.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/48th Battalion, 26th Brigade, 9th Division, encounters Japanese positions dug in on the slope of a large feature in the Finschhafen area. The Australians advance and take the positions with and then beat off a counter attack with the help of tanks.

In Northeast New Guinea, 30 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb positions in the Sattelberg area while A-20 Havocs hit the Finschhafen area.

In the South China Sea off China, USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on shipping sweeps strafe two vessels off Hong Kong, score damaging hits on two vessels at Kiungshan, damage a freighter off Tsao Tao Island, and leave a gunboat and freighter sinking east of Swatow; warehouses and wharves at Swatow also are hit.

USN submarine USS Sculpin (SS-191), heavily damaged by Japanese destroyer HIJMS Yamagumo about 154 miles north of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, is scuttled. Captain John P. Cromwell, the embarked submarine squadron commander in Sculpin, familiar with secret details of upcoming operations, decides to go down with the ship rather than risk capture and inevitable interrogation. For his decision to accept certain death, Cromwell is awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Ten USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the Matchin Bay area on Bougainville Island and the airfield on Ballale Airfield on Ballale Island located south of Bougainville.

NAURU ISLAND: Carrier-based USN carrier force (Task Group 50.4) attack the island in support of the unfolding operations to capture the Gilbert Islands. Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific Ocean, located about halfway between the Gilbert and Solomon Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and was occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942. TG 50.4 is built around the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) with Carrier Air Group Twelve (CVG-12) and small aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Two (CVLG-22).

GILBERT ISLANDS: Thirty one USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Ellice Island bases bomb Makin Island and Tarawa Atoll.

Carrier-based aircraft of USN two task groups attack Makin Island and Tarawa Atoll. Aircraft from Task Group 50.2 attack Makin; this task group is built around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) with Carrier Air Group six (CVG-6) and small aircraft carriers USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Four (CVLG-24) and USS Monterey (CVL-26) with CVLG-30. Tarawa Atoll is hit by aircraft from Task Group 50.3 which drop 69 tons (63 metric tonnes) of bombs; this TG is built around the aircraft carriers USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) with CVG-17 and USS Essex (CV-9) with CVG-9 and the small aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) with CVLG-22. USN pilots shoot down eight Japanese aircraft during the day

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack Kentengi Anchorage.

UNITED KINGDOM: Douglas (Model DC-3A-456) C-47A-80-DL, msn 19512, USAAF">USAAF serial number 43-15046, crashes at Lewes, Sussex, England, at 1510 hours local. The aircraft strikes a hill while flying in low overcast, explodes and burns; 25 of the 30 people aboard are killed.

WESTERN EUROPE: Over 450 USAAF">USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs, A-26 Invaders, and B-26 Marauders bomb storage depots, bridge, junction, ordnance depots, and defended positions in or near ten German towns and cities; fighters escort the bombers, carry out patrols, and fly armed reconnaissance hitting rail facilities and other targets over western German areas including Euskirchen, Trier, Saarbrucken, Julich, and Cologne; the IX, XIX, and XXIX Tactical Air Commands support the US VII, XII, XIX, and XX Corps areas east of Aachen and near Hurtgen, Germany, between Metz, France and Saarlautern, Germany and near Sarreguemines, France.

In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps closes circle around Metz as the 90th, 95th, and 5th Infantry Divisions join hands. The 90th Infantry Division concludes its operations against Metz and halts upon order along the Nied River: the 357th Infantry Regiment drives to the Nied west of Boulay-Moselle; the 359th plugs a German escape route at Les Etangs; the Reconnaissance Troop establishes contact with 5th Infantry Division. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, is clearing the streets in the northeast part of Metz; the 377th and 378th Infantry Regiments drive into Metz from the northwest, crossing the Moselle River. The 5th Infantry Division continues to clear the southern part of Metz The 10th Armored Division, in order to speed their drive to the Sarre River, withdraws Combat Command A's Nied bridgehead, during the nigh of 19/20 November, and blows the bridges. In the XII Corps area, Combat Command B of 6th Armored Division begins attack through the 137th Infantr y Regiment of 35th Infantry Division and, assisted by the 137th, takes Bertring and Gros Tenquin; Virming falls to 320th Infantry Regiment. The 26th Infantry Division commits its full strength to attack against the Dieuze-Bonestroff line, meeting stiff opposition from German forces covering a general withdrawal, which is accomplished during the night of 19/20 November: the 104th and 101st Infantry Regiments fight in vain for Marimont and Marimont Hill (Hill 334) during the day but move forward as the Germans withdraw after nightfall; the 328th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by elements of the 4th Armored Division, is committed against Dieuze arid, upon the German withdrawal, enters together with the 2d Cavalry Group and takes the bridge intact. Combat Command A, 4th Armored Division, enters the battle in the zone of the 26th Infantry Division, recapturing Rodalbe and helping the 320th Infantry Regiment of 35th Infantry Division to take Virming.

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 44th Infantry Division, pushing toward Sarrebourg, takes Ibigny and St Georges. The German line along the Vezouse River in the Blmont-Cirey area collapses as the 79th Infantry Division completes the capture of Fremonville and Combat Command R, French 2d Armored Division, takes Cirey. To exploit the breakthrough, Combat Command L begins a drive to secure Saverne Gap, through which the advance can be continued to Strasbourg. The 79th Infantry Division, instead of helping the 44th Infantry Division take Sarrebourg, is to exploit the success of French armor and protect the southern flank of the corps. The VI Corps closes along the Meurthe River and prepares to attack across it. The 100th Infantry Division, already east of the Meurthe River, continues to advance in the Raon area, the 398th Infantry Regiment pushing south across the Plaine River to gain control of the road southeast from the town and the 397th Infantry working on a quarry strongpoint at the edge of town. The Division Reconnaissance Troop and the 117th Reconnaissance Squadron advance to Badonviller without opposition.

In the French First Army's I Corps area, the 2d Moroccan Division, supported by the 5th Armored Division, reaches Chalonvillars, a suburb of Belfort. The 1st Armored Division tries unsuccessfully to open a route to Dannemarie so that 5th Armored Division may drive on Cernay via Fontaine; continuing reconnaissance eastward along three routes on the right flank, gets elements to the Rhine River at Rosenau at 1830 hours. The French are thus the first of the Allied forces to reach the Rhine, but on a narrow front in a sector where the road net is too poor to support an advance in strength. Among the villages taken, Seppois is the first in Aisace to be recovered by the French.

NETHERLANDS: The British XII and VII Corps advance near Venlo.

In the British Second Army's XXX Corps area, 334th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 84th Infantry Division continues to clear the Prummern area and tries in vain to take Mahogany Hill; the 333d Infantry attacks up the Wurm River valley toward Wurm, taking Geilenkirchen and Sueggerath. In the XII Corps area, the 51st Division takes Helden and Panningen and makes contact with the 15th Infantry Division of VIII Corps.

In the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps area, Combat Command B of the 2d Armored Division repels determined counterattack against Apweiler. Combat Command A, reinforced by a battalion of the bn of the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, attacks in two columns from Setterich and Puffendorf toward a spur of high ground between Ederen and Frelaldenhoven, one column reaching positions near Freialdenhoven. The 29th Infantry Division clears the rest of Setterich and an antitank ditch east of the village and then advances to take the villages of Duerboslar and Schleiden. The 30th Infantry Divisionbs 117th Infantry Regiment, with powerful support of heavy weapons, easily takes St Joeris and Kinzweiler.

In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 104th Infantry Division mops up and shifts its main weight of attack to the Eschweiler-Weisweiler industrial complex north of the Inde River. On the north flank of the 1st Infantry Division, the 47th Infantry Regiment column drives northwest along Hamich Ridge from Hill 232 to the base of Hill 187; the 16th Infantry Regiment finishes clearing Hamich and pushes to the southern part of Bovenberger Wald; the reserve regt, the 18th Infantry, begins an attack in the center of the division line toward Langerwehe. previously the objective of the 26th Infantry Regiment, reaching the vicinity of Wenau; the 26th Infantry, whose objectives are now Juengersdorf and Merode, commits reinforcements and advances to positions less than 500 yards (457 meters) from Laufenburg Castle. The 4th Infantry Division suspends eastward attacks in order to consolidate and try to close gap between the 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments. In the V Corps area, Li eutenant General Courtney Hodges orders the corps to begin offensive on 21 November instead of waiting as planned until VII Corps has broken through the German defenses west of the Roer River in order to assist VII Corps.

In the U.S. Third Army area, XX Corps area, Combat Command B, 10th Armored Division, is meeting stiffer opposition as it approaches Merzig and the Saar River.

AUSTRIA: USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb four targets in Vienna and targets in five cities. In Vienna, 143 bomb the Winerhafen oil storage facility, 98 hit the Lobau oil refinery, 52 attack the Schwechat benzine synthetic oil refinery and 56 bomb the Vosendorf oil refinery; three aircraft are lost. Other targets are: 54 bomb the Hermann Göring benzine synthetic oil refinery at Linz, 45 hit Horsching Airfield, 13 attack the aircraft engine plant at Wiener Neudorf and one each bomb the marshalling yard at Leoben and a railroad bridge.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: One USAAF">USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs a railroad, a target of opportunity.

HUNGARY: USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber attack two targets: 24 aircraft bomb the marshalling yard at Gyor and six bomb the marshalling yard at Kesztheley.

ITALY: Fog and low clouds force cancellation of USAAF">USAAF Twelfth Air Force missions against western Po Valley targets and limit fighter-bombers to a midday attack on rail lines, guns, troop concentrations, motor transport, and other military targets in and near the battle area south of Bologna.

During the night of 19/20 November, USAAF">USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs attack Po River crossings, airfields and lights in the Po Valley.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF"> USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers hit two targets: 23 bomb the marshalling yard at Maribor and one hits the marshalling yard at Sisak.

RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit four targets during the day: 65 bomb troop concentrations at Podgorica, 42 attack a pontoon bridge at Visegard, 15 hit troop concentrations at Sjenica with the loss of two aircraft, and 15 bomb troop concentrations at Novi Pasar.

GREECE: Land Forces Greece and Military Liaison Greece are integrated as Headquarters Land Forces and Military Liaison Greece, under Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Scobie, General Officer Commanding British Troops in Greece.

In the British Fourteenth Army's IV Corps area, the Indian 19th Division begins crossing the Chindwin River at Sittaung.

Fifteen USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts support ground forces attacking Bhamo and fighting in the Pinwe area while 36 P-47s hit enemy concentrations at Man Mao, Sekang, and Manlu.

USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb bridges at Tingka and Wan Lai-Kam.

CHINA: Three USAAF"> USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Samah Bay docks on Hainan Island. Ten B-25 Mitchells damage two buildings north of Chefang; eight P-40s and P-38 Lightnings hit targets of opportunity south of Tingka and Chefang; 19 P-40s blast troops and river, rail, and road traffic in the Hankow area; and 27 P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38s hit numerous targets of opportunity in the Mangshih area.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells hit Sidate, Mapanget, and Borebore on Celebes Island while other B-25s and A-20 Havocs hit airfields and shipping in the Ceram Island-Ambon Island-Boeroe Island area.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The 77th Infantry Division, en route to Leyte, is ordered to release a detachment of some 1,200 men, upon landing, for a projected operation against Mindoro.

In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Battalion of the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, continues efforts to drive the Japanese from Corkscrew Ridge. The 1st Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment, still under heavy fire on Kilay Ridge, withdraws 100 yards (91 meters) north, abandoning the knoll on the south.

USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Alicante on the northeast of Negros Island and Palompon on Leyte Island while P-47 Thunderbolts hit the Valencia, Mindanao Island, and Ormoc, Leyte Island areas. On Mindanao Island B-24 Liberators hit Libby Aerodrome while others bomb airfields at Sasa.

One USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 from Angaur Island, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, bombs Sanbon Field near Legaspi on Luzon Island.

Carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 attack Japanese shipping off Luzon, in addition to airfields on that island. Navy carrier-based planes attack a convoy 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) off San Fernando, Luzon, sinking a merchant cargo ship and damaging two escorting submarine chasers.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: Five USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from Guam, on armed reconnaissance over Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands, bomb airfields on Iwo Jima while 15 hit shipping at Chichi Jima and Haha Jima.

NEW GUINEA: In Dutch New Guinea, elements of Task Group 78.14 land Army troops, a company of the 124th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division, U.S. Eighth Army, on Asia Island, 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) west of Sansapor. The landing is supported by USAAF">USAA Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Havocs.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN destroyer escorts USS Conklin (DE-439) and McCoy Reynolds (DE-440) sink Japanese submarine HIJMS I-37 about 49 nautical mile (90 kilometers) north-northwest of Koror, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands in position 08.07N, 134.16E.

Looking for ways to fund World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive today. The Loan Drive floods the market with war bonds intended to meet Roosevelt's goals of "immediately" raising US$14 billion (US$155.35 billion in year 2005 dollars) for the war.