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1931   (TUESDAY) 

UNITED STATES: The Government invokes the Kellogg-Briand Pact because of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria after Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain had done so. This Pact between the U.S. and other countries provided for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy and was signed at Paris on 27 August 1928.

1935   (SUNDAY) 

CHINA: Just over a year after the start of the Long March, the Chinese Communists, lead by Mao Zedong, arrive in Shensi Province in northwest China with 4,000 survivors and sets up Chinese Communist headquarters. The epic flight from Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles (9 656 kilometers). The Long March began on October 16, 1934, q.v.

1938   (THURSDAY) 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Czecho-Slovak government, renamed after Slovakian autonomy and federal reorganization, makes the Communist Party illegal. This policy reflects German influence on the new state and soon leads the government to adopt anti-Jewish legislation.

October 20th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

Corvette HMS Asphodel laid down.

The U.S. freighter SS Scanstates, detained at Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, by British authorities since 14 October, is released.

GERMANY: U-507, U-508, U-509, U-510, U-511, U-512 ordered.

VATICAN CITY: The new Pope Pius XII issues an encyclical, "Summi Pontificatus"  which begs for peace, expressly rejecting Nazism, and directly mentioning the Jews.  Pius states that in the Catholic Church there is: "..neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision  nor uncircumcision" - a clear rejection of Nazi racial tenets. " This encyclical," wrote  Heinrich Müller, Gestapo chief, "..is directed exclusively against Germany, both in ideology and in regard to the German-Polish dispute. How dangerous it is for our foreign relations as well as our domestic affairs is beyond dispute." (Russell Folsom)(273, pp.73)

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine SC-424 rammed and sunk by Soviet fishing trawler RT-43 at the entrance of Kola Bay. 10 crewman (another source says 7) survived, including the commander. She sank in 3 minutes to a depth of 250 meters.

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: Smuts pledges South African assistance if needed to British colonies in southern Africa, but restricts service outside the Union to volunteers.

AUSTRALIA: While announcing compulsory military training, Mr. Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister, states categorically that "It must be made clear that there is no obligation for service abroad, except in the case of a volunteer for such service." 

U.S.A.: Destroyers USS Lansdale, Madison, O'Brien and Walke launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-34 sank SS Sea Venture and Gustaf Adolf. After sinking the steamer Gustaf Adolf, U-34 towed the ship's lifeboats for three hours until a Norwegian ship came in sight and could rescue the survivors.
 

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October 20th, 1940 (SUNDAY)

The weather is mainly cloudy in most districts. During the day, bombs are again dropped in the London area but only a few casualties occur, and property, mostly private, is little damaged. A number of incidents are reported in Surrey, Sussex, Essex and Kent, and although widespread, do not on the whole cause much damage. Dover is shelled by artillery in France during the day and considering the number of shells fired the results are mediocre. As is now customary, London is attacked as soon as darkness falls and the surrounding suburbs are again bombed indiscriminately but not so heavily as on the previous night. Several districts in the Midlands are attacked and Coventry is again the primary objective. RAF Fighter Command claims 7-5-6 Luftwaffe aircraft and antiaircraft batteries claim 2-2-0 aircraft. The RAF loses three aircraft but the pilots are OK.

Cairo: Wavell orders an investigation into a possible attack on the Italian positions in the Sofafi-Sidi Barrani-Buqbuq area. The chances of success are rated high.

RED SEA: On the night of October 20th, 1940, the Italians sent their four smaller destroyers on a sortie to intercept a British Red Sea convoy, which was protected by a light cruiser, a destroyer, and five smaller escorts. Contact was briefly made, and there was a short and ineffective exchange of fire, mainly between the Italian destroyer NULLO and the British destroyer KIMBERLY. Shortly after beginning this indecisive affair, the NULLO developed a severe mechanical problem with its steering, and was forced to break off and head as best it could back toward its base. (Mike Yaklich)

Flying from bases in East Africa, Italian aircraft bomb oil refineries in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

CANADA: Corvette HMS Windflower commissioned Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A British submarine fired torpedoes at U-31 off Lorient, but without success.

U-124 sank SS Cubano and Sulaco in Convoy OB-229.

U-100 sank SS Caprella, Loch Lomond and Sitala in Convoy HX-79.

U-46 sank SS Janus in Convoy HX-79.

U-47 sank SS Whitford, SS La Estancia and damaged SS Athelmonarch in Convoy HX-79.

U-48 sank SS Shirak in Convoy HX-79.

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October 20th, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

"Regarding the Japanese Air Force, which many people, he said, were inclined to discount as a second-rate body equipped with obsolete aircraft and lacking skilful and daring pilots, Air Vice-Marshal Pulford said that he certainly does not underrate its capacity. When it was suggested to him that it might be compared with the Italian Air Force, he pointed out how completely the R.A.F. gained the mastery of the skies of the Middle East even when the Italians possessed great numerical superiority. He thinks that what the R.A.F. has done in the Middle East it could certainly do in the Far East against the Japanese. One of the best Japanese fighters is the 'O' naval fighter, but the Brewster Buffaloes at present with the R.A.F. in Malaya and Burma would have no difficulty in dealing with them.

The Japanese, he said, have two bombers of the Mitsubishi type, one of which is used by the Navy and one by the Army -they are about equal in performance to the Whitley bomber in the R.A.F. He believes that Messerschmitt 109s are being produced in limited numbers in Japanese factories."

-- "The Times", Oct 20, 1941, p. 4, col. 7. (William D. O'Neil)

Destroyer HMS Teazer laid down.

BELGIUM: During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 35 aircraft to bomb Antwerp but none attacked because of complete cloud cover.

FRANCE: The German commandant Lt-Col Karl Holz in Nantes is assassinated by the resistance. As a reprisal 50 hostages are shot. A similar incident in Bordeaux occurs, including reprisal shootings, on the 22nd.

GERMANY: During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 153 aircraft to Bremen, 47 to Wilhelmshaven and 36 to Emden but none of them attack because of complete cloud cover.  

U-734 laid down.

U-508 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: There is heavy fighting near Mozhaysk and Malayaroslavets in the Moscow sector. German attacks continue to advance in Stalino (Donetsk).

Stalin declares a state of siege in Moscow. He appeals to all workers "to keep calm and orderly and to render the Red Army defending Moscow all possible help." It also says that all enemies of public order are to be handed over at once to court martials and that all provocateurs, spies and other enemies inciting riot are to be shot on the spot.

Stalin has called on other Russians to support his call to arms. The author Alexei Tolstoy, a kinsman of the great novelist, issued a stirring message to the Red Army today: "Grit your teeth! Squeeze the enemy's throat! Not a step backwards! Smash the German hoards with a storm of bombs and the fiery storm of artillery with the steel of your bayonets and the fury of your anger!"

The huge military machine of Germany has access to only 3% of the world's crude oil assets - a little more than it had before the outbreak of war, but less than it needs. Germany's problems would be solved if it captured the Soviet oilfields centred on Baku, in the Caucasus, which would quadruple its supplies. Meanwhile, the coming winter means that operations in Russia must slow. This will cut oil demand, but also means that the conquest of the Caucasus cannot take place before next spring.

Soviet ASW trawler SKR-11/No 70, ex RT-66 sunk by unknown cause.

Soviet destroyer Razumny commissioned.

YUGOSLAVIA: As a result of the guerilla war between the partisans and the Germans, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler had issued a directive stating that for every German soldier killed by partisans 100 civilians are to be executed. For every soldier wounded, 50 residents are to be executed. On 18 October, ten German soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in an ambush by communist partisans. The city of Kragujevac in Serbia, with a population or 42,000, is chosen as the site where Hitler’s directive can be carried out because more hostages could be found here than elsewhere. In the villages of Meckovac, Grosnica, Milatovac and Marsic a total of 427 civilians are executed. In the two villages of Draginac and Loznica, 2,950 hostages are massacred in retaliation for German losses in the fighting against partisans around Kraljevo. In the town of Kraljevo itself, 1,736 hostages, including 19 women, are shot. In the roundup of hostages in Kragujevac the 53 inmates of the town's jail are murdered. Communists and their sympathizers are specifically targeted as are Jews. Within a week, over 4,000 innocent civilians are slaughtered in two of the largest massacres committed on Yugoslavian soil for what the German commander, General Franz Boehme, commander of the XVIII Mountain Corps, believes will give such a lasting impression on the partisans that they would willingly give up their struggle.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In the Aegean Sea, mines previously laid by British submarine HMS/M Rorqual (N 74) in the Gulf of Athens sink Italian torpedo boats R.N. Aldebaran and Altair.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Bellechasse launched North Vancouver, British Columbia.

HMC ML 058 and ML 061 commissioned.

U.S.A.: The aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) is commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia. The USN now has seven aircraft carriers in commission. Submarine USS Shad laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS British Marine torpedoed by U-126. Constructive total loss.

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October 20th, 1942 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commanding General, European Theater, issues a directive reflecting the immediate urgency of Operation TORCH (plan for the Allied landings in North and Northwest Africa in November 1942) as the currently important item of Allied strategy and requiring the Eighth Air Force, as a matter of first priority, to protect the movement of men and supplies from the U.K. to North Africa by attacking German submarine bases on the west coast of France, with shipping docks on the French west coast as a secondary targets for these missions and with German aircraft factories and depots in France as second priority.

FRANCE: Paris: Pierre Laval, the Vichy premier, today called for another 100,000 French workers to join the hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen already working in Germany. On 11 August, at Compeigne, the first train of French PoWs passed the first train taking Frenchmen to work for the Germans. Fritz Sauckel, Hitler's manpower chief, made Laval send three workers to Germany for each PoW freed. In September, Laval mobilized all Frenchmen between 18 and 50 and all unmarried women between 21 and 35 for forced labour.

GERMANY: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends six Mosquitos to individual German targets; two aircraft bombed Bremen and one each hit Minden and Varel Hafen. One Mosquito is lost.

U-191 commissioned.

MALTA: For ten days the Luftwaffe has attacked Malta in a desperate attempt to paralyse the tiny island which has defied Axis bombardment ever since Hitler issued his directive on 2 December 1941 concerning air and sea supremacy in the Mediterranean. The fighting in this renewed assault has been fierce, with 100 German bombers claimed to have been shot down by the Allies. But Allied leaders believe that their planned offensive in North Africa will soon force Axis air power to be redeployed.

EGYPT: The RAF starts a bid to establish air supremacy over El Alamein. Air action by the US Army, Middle East Air Force is also intensified with the aim of attaining strong air superiority preceding General Bernard L Montgomery, General Officer Commanding British Eighth Army, El Alamein offensive.

LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force Libya, B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators sent to attack shipping at Tobruk fail to locate the target due to bad weather and poor visibility; three of the B-17s bomb a coastal road near Bardia during the return trip. Meanwhile, B-25 Mitchells, in conjunction with the Royal Air Force (RAF), attack landing grounds.

INDIA: Chinese troops begin moving by air into India to meet the Ramgarh requirements. The Chinese 22d and 38th Divisions are being brought up to strength.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 16th Brigade, 6th Division, enters the fight for the Kokoda Trail, relieving the 25th Brigade, 7th Division; the Australians continue the action to clear the Eora Creek area. The U.S. 32d Infantry Division party under Captain Medendorp, having left elements at Laruni where a dropping ground is staked out, arrives at Jaure, where Captain Boice's party is searching for airfield sites.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: IJN 2nd Division Headquarters reaches "Clear Water Valley", 1 mile from his planned deployment area. Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao, commander of the 2nd Division, estimates this is 4 miles south of Henderson Field, it is actually 8 miles south. He sets the attack for 1800 hours on the 22nd.

A patrol of the supporting coastal force is taken under fire at the mouth of the Matanikau River and retires after one of its two tanks is hit.

     Thirty Japanese “Zeke” fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) make a sweep over Guadalcanal before the main attack force of 16 “Betty” bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) and six “Zekes” arrives. Marine F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down three “Bettys” and nine “Zekes” at 1145 hours. Henderson Field is closed for the rest of the day because of Japanese artillery fire.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 

USS Tautog (SS-199) sinks a sampan at 07-00 N, 119-40 E.

USS Drum (SS-228) sinks a cargo ship at 34-09 N, 136-46 E.

USS Finback (SS-230) sinks a passenger-cargo ship at 24-26 N, 120-26 E. 

USS Silversides (SS-236) sinks a a passenger-cargo ship at 06-45 N, 151-30 E. (Skip Guidry)

In the Coral Sea, en-route from Espiritu Santo to San Cristobal USN heavy cruiser USS Chester (CA-27) is hit by a torpedo on the starboard side, amidships which killed 11 and wounded 12. The torpedo was fired by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-176 about 311 nautical miles (576 kilometers) southeast of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, in position 13.31S, 163.17E. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

     In the South China Sea, USN submarine USS Gar (SS-206) mines the approaches to Bangkok, Thailand.

NEW CALEDONIA: Major General Arthur Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, reports to Admiral William F Halsey, Commander of the South Pacific Area and Commander of the South Pacific Force, aboard his flagship in Noumea harbor, and requests and is promised more support. Admiral Halsey orders the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment, which had been earmarked for the invasion of Ndeni, Santa Cruz Islands, to Guadalcanal. The Ndeni operation is never undertaken. Halsey also institutes construction of another bomber airstrip to be located at Koli Point, 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of Henderson Field.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators take off for Japanese-held Kiska Island but return due to weather; reconnaissance is flown to 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Attu Island; a negative search is made for a missing C-53 Skytroop: German submarine U-216 is sunk about 491 nautical miles (909 kilometers) west-southwest of Cork, County Cork, Eire, by six depth charges from an RAF (B-24) Liberator Mk. II, aircraft of No. 224 Squadron based at Beaulieu, Hampshire, England; all 45 crewmen are lost. (Alex Gordon)

CANADA: HMC ML 101 commissioned.

Minesweeper HMCS Brockville arrived Halifax from builder Sorel, Province of Quebec.. Entered 2-week refit to repair grounding damage entailed enroute.

Corvette HMCS Camrose departed Halifax for UK.

U.S.A.: The largest tax bill in US history, of $6.8 billion (US), is approved by Congress.

The US Alien Property Custodian, under the "Trading With the Enemy Act", seizes the shares of the Union Banking Corporation (UBC), of which Prescott Bush is a director and shareholder. The largest shareholder is E. Roland Harriman. Bush is also the managing partner of Brown Brothers Harriman, a leading Wall Street investment firm.

The UBC was established to send American capital to Germany to finance the reorganization of its industry under the Nazis. Their leading German partner is Nazi industrialist Fritz Thyssen, who will write a book admitting much of this called "I Paid Hitler".

Among the companies financed is the Silesian-American Corporation, which is also managed by Prescott Bush, and his father-in-law George Herbert Walker. This company is vital in supplying coal to Nazi war industry.

Prescott Bush is also a director of the Harriman Fifteen Corporation, (this one owned largely by Roland's brother, Averell Harriman), which owned about a third of the Consolidated Silesian Steel Corporation, the rest owned by Friedrich Flick, (a member of Himmler's "Circle of Friends" who donates to the S.S.). Two of the principal attorneys for these undertakings are Alan Dulles, later head of the OSS in Italy and head of the CIA and John Foster Dulles, later Secretary of State under Eisenhower. (Scott Peterson)

     The trial of Gordon K. Hirabayashi, who violated Seattle, Washington's curfew and exclusion restrictions on 16 May 1942, starts in Seattle with Judge Lloyd L. Black presiding.

Canadian-manned escort carrier HMS Nabob (ex-USS Edisto) laid down Tacoma, Washington.

Submarine USS Darter laid down.

Destroyer USS Hazelwood launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-216 (Type VIID) is sunk 20 Oct, 1942 southwest of Ireland in position 48.21N, 19.25W, by 6 depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/H). 45 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-77 sank SS Mahrous.

U-662 rendezvoused with the milk cow U-463 in order to get medical aid from their doctor for a crewmember who was suffering severe bleeding of the stomach. However, the stormy weather made a transfer between boats impossible, and two days passed before the weather conditions allowed a consultation by the doctor.

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October 20th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: A meeting of Allied representatives of 17 countries at war with the Axis, agreed today to set up a Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes. It's chairman will be Viscount Simon, the British lord chancellor and head of the judiciary in England and Wales. Assisted by a team of lawyers, he will sift evidence provided by Allied governments. The Soviet Union, although not represented at today's meeting, will be asked to co-operate with its enquiries. (Glenn Stenberg)

The first use, by the USAAF, of Oboe PFF (Path Finder Force) in the ETO. Failure of this equipment in the 1st Bombardment Division caused the return without bombing by most formations. Cloud tops were at 29,500 ft. 3BD bombed from 30,000 feet. Three gunners in a 385th BG B-17 died through failure of oxygen equipment. (Skip Guidry)

Frigate HMS Whitaker laid down.

Frigates HMS Cosby and St Helena launched.

NETHERLANDS: Other targets hit by USAAF bombers as part of Mission 116 are: 16 hit a dummy airfield at Gilze-Rijen and two bomb Woensdrecht Airfield. .

     During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 12 Stirlings to lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

FRANCE: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 117: During the night of 20/21 October, five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 876,960 leaflets over Roen and Paris at 2211-2217 hours.

GERMANY: The USAAF VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 116. The industrial area at Duren is the primary target. 97 of 170 B-17 Flying Fortresses sent hit the primary target at 1413-1416 bombing from 30,000-feet (9 144 meters) because the cloud tops were at 29,500-feet (8 991 meters); the 1st Bombardment Division uses Oboe (a British blind bombing system) PFF (Path Finder Force) for the first time but the equipment fails and 60 aircraft return to base without bombing. Sixteen aircraft bomb targets of opportunity. (Skip Guidry and Jack McKillop)

     During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 358 Lancasters to bomb Leipzig; 285 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of 16 Lancasters, 4.5 per cent of the force. This is the first serious attack on this distant German city. Weather conditions are very difficult - Bomber Command records describe them as 'appalling' - and the bombing is very scattered. Bomber Command also sends 28 Mosquitos to hit various targets: nine bomb Berlin, five each bomb Brauweiler and Emden, and four each bomb Cologne and the Knapsack power station in Cologne. Two aircraft are lost.

U-1109 laid down.

U-872 launched.

U-295 and U-1224 commissioned.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's VI Corps area, Alife falls to the 34th Infantry Division and Piedimonte d'Alife to the 45th Infantry Division. While the 3d Infantry Division continues northward toward Mignano in the region west of the Volturno River, the 34th Infantry Division is to drive on Capriati al Volturno in the region east of the river. The 133d Infantry Regiment opens a drive on St. Angelo d'Alife.

NAPLES: A delayed action high explosive charge left by the German army, exploded at the main Post Office killing 47 people and injuring a score of others. (Russell Folsom)

The USAAF's Twelfth Air Force's XII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses, bomb two airfields in Rome, 36 hit Casale Airfield and 18 hit Marsigliano Airfield; two marshalling yards (M/Ys) are also bombed, 32 B-17s hit the M/Y at Orvieto and 26 attack the M/Y at Grossetto. B-26 Marauders, B-25 Mitchells and P-38 Lightnings attack railroad bridges at Montalto di Castro, Grosseto, and 13 miles (21 kilometers) southeast of Orvieto. The XII Air Support Command, Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force, and other aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force devote most of their efforts to bombing gun positions, trucks, and rail and road communications south of Vasto, at Mignano, north of Cassino, in Cassino and Chieti, at Castropignano, Carpinone, Arce, Tratella, and at various other points along highways and railroads.

During the night of 20/21 October, two RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group drop leaflets over the country.

U.S.S.R.: A meeting of Allied foreign ministers, began yesterday, in Moscow. The policy regarding unconditional surrender will not be confirmed. This meeting will last through the 30th. (Glenn Stenberg)

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force aircraft bomb the marshalling yard at Nish obstructing the Belgrade-Sofia line. Fighter-bombers also hit shipping along Dalmatian coast claiming 2 vessels sunk.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The 4,470 ton French freighter SS Sinfra, now in German hands and serving as a troop transport is part of a German convoy that is attacked north of Crete by USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and RAF Beaufighters. The Sinfra, with 2,664 POWs on board, mostly Italians, sinks. Of the prisoners and crew, only 566 are rescued, a death toll of 2,098. This was the greatest loss of POWs in the Mediterranean during World War II.

EGYPT: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Cairo from Moscow, U.S.S.R., and discusses strategy for southeast Asia with Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander Southeast Asia Command.

BURMA: The bridge at Meza, being repaired after being damaged severely on 10 October, is attacked and damaged by USAAF Tenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells.

JAPAN: The Japanese order the air groups from six aircraft carriers, HIJMS Hiyo, Junyo, Ryuho, Shokaku, Zuiho and Zuikaku to Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, to augment land-based air strength and delay Allied progress while the main perimeter defenses of Japan are being strengthened. This plan is called Operation RO.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The air groups from 6 IJN carriers, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Zuiho, Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho, are transferred to land bases at Rabaul. This  indicates a continued decline in the numbers of qualified pilots available.

Kakasa on Choiseul Island is attacked three times by six USN PV Venturas and seven SBD Dauntlesses. Twenty four P-40s and 24 USN F4U Corsairs, escorted by F6F Hellcats, sweep Kahili Airfield on southern Bougainville Island; one force of F6Fs encounters fighters, claiming four destroyed.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs hit Gasmata Airfield on New Britain Island.

GILBERT ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators and USN PB4Y-1 Liberators begin extensive photographic reconnaissance of Tarawa Atoll.

NEW GUINEA: The Australian 24th Brigade arrives at Finschhafen  to reinforce the Australian units there. They will continue to attack the dugin Japanese units.

They will continue to attack the dug in Japanese units. In the air, B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe the Bogadjim area south of Madang. An attack on Finschhafen by 30 Japanese fighters causes minor damage.

     Australian General Headquarters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, issues RENO III, the plan for the operations ending with the capture of islands in the Southern Philippines. The plan consists of five phases between 1 February 1944 and 1 February 1945. According to the plan, the Australians will only participate in one phase, i.e., the capture of islands in the Arafura Sea between New Guinea and Australia in June 1944.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 1500 hours: Submarine USS Kingfish (SS-234) sinks a cargo ship at 12-30 N, 109-30 E, in the Pacific. (Skip Guidry)

CANADA:

Diver tender HMC DT 5 ordered from Shelburne Shipbuilding.

46 ft wood harbour craft HMC HC 214, HC 215 and HC 224 ordered.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Riley laid down.

Submarine USS Hammerhead launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-378 (Type VIIC) is sunk in the North Atlantic, at position 47.40N, 28.27W, by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC 13) of the US escort carrier USS Core. 48 dead, 1 survivor in captivity.  (Alex Gordon)

U-532 damaged SS British Purpose in Convoy BM-71.

U-420 reported missing in the North Atlantic. No explanation exists for its loss. 49 dead (all hands lost).

U-415 returned to base due to serious engine trouble.

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October 20th, 1944 (FRIDAY)

FRANCE: Kuroda, Robert T, SSgt., 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions at Bruyeres, is posthumously awarded the MOH. The 100th Infantry Battalion takes the important "Hill C" at Bruyeres.

Marseilles: Pierre Laval is sentenced to death in absentia for collaborating with the Germans.

In the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, the Germans heavily shell 90th Infantry Division elements at Maizières-lès-Metz. In the XII Corps area, USAAF Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts breach a dam at Dieuze because the Germans are getting ready to flood the Seille River valley. The destruction of this dam releases the waters of the Etang de Lindre (Pond of Lindre) in the rear of German lines which the II Corps is attacking.

     In the U.S. Seventh Army area, two fresh U.S. infantry divisions (100th and 103d) arrive at Marseille. In the VI Corps area the 179th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division attacks for Brouvelieures after preparatory fire and gains the heights commanding the town; the 180th Infantry Regiment, which has been pushing toward the Mortagne River from the Freinifontaine area, tries in vain to break through the German defenses along the river. The 3d Infantry Division begins a drive on St Die, employing the 7th Infantry Regiment, which heads for Vervezelle, northeast of Bruyères.

WESTERN EUROPE: USAAF Ninth Air Force fighters fly armed reconnaissance over eastern France and widespread areas of western Germany, attack railroads and various military targets, and support US Third and Seventh Armies' elements in E France.

BELGIUM: An offensive towards the north beginning northeast of Antwerp begins involving the British I Corps and the 1st Canadian Army.

NETHERLANDS: In the Canadian First Army area, British I Corps, protecting the right flank of II Corps, opens a drive toward the Bergen-op-Zoom-Tilburg highway with the Canadian 4th Armoured Division on the left, the 49th Division in the center, and the Polish 1st Armored Division on the right.

     The USAAF Ninth Air Force’s 9th Bombardment Division hits the Parenboom rail bridge at Geertruidenberg and the Moerdijke rail bridge; attacks on other targets are aborted because of bad weather.

GERMANY: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, which is being assisted by elements of 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, forces the Germans to the western and southwestern suburbs of Aachen.

The XIX Tactical Air Command (one of the three TACs assigned to the Ninth Air Force) breaches the dam at Dieuze causing extensive flooding in the rear of German lines which the US 3rd Army is attacking. The details are: P-47s of the 362d Fighter Group, XIX TAC, breach a dam at Dieuze. The Germans were getting ready to flood the Seille River valley and the destruction of this dam released the waters of the Etang de Lindre.

     USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb six targets: 95 bombers hit the marshalling yard at Rosenheim; 77 B-17s bomb two targets in Regensburg, 34 hitting an oil storage facility and 33 bombing the industrial area; 11 B-24s attack the airfield at Bad Arling; and three aircraft bomb targets of opportunity.

U-3011 launched. and

AUSTRIA: Forty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators hit the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck; one aircraft is lost.

HUNGARY: Russian units liberate Debrecen. These units involved were primarily the Romanian 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, plus the Tudor Vladimirescu Division (the latter organized and equipped like a standard Soviet rifle division but made up entirely of Romanian volunteers recruited from POW camps in Russia: many joined simply to escape the virtual death sentence of harsh Soviet captivity). These three units, comprising the "Russian" 27th Army, were of course under Soviet command (in addition, the Tudor Vladimirescu division, nominally commanded by a Romanian colonel, was in reality controlled by its Soviet "advisors"). (Michael F. Yaklich)

Eichmann">Eichmann starts the rapid deportation of Jews to the death camps again.

     During the night of 20/21 October, 59 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the airfield at Szombathely with the loss of five aircraft.

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: Huge bundles of camp documents are burnt in the crematorium to try to conceal the evidence of deaths, tortures and medical experiments.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: One hundred thirty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb a synthetic oil plant at Brux with the loss of three aircraft. Two other B-17s bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen and a target of opportunity.

ITALY: The British V Corps enters Cesena. The South African 6th Armored Division stops a German counterattack south of Bologna.

     In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Germans destroy a bridge in Cesano as the 4th Division reaches it, but elements of the 12th Brigade wade the river near the bridge site. The 25th Brigade, Indian 10th Division, strengthens the bridgehead in the Castiglione area and takes S.t Carlo; to the south, elements of the 20th Brigade secretly cross the Borello River. In the Canadian I Corps area, the Canadian 1st Division attacks across the Savio River with two companies but cannot hold the bridgehead. In the coastal sector, Cesenatico is occupied after the Germans withdraw.

In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the South African 6th Armoured Division maintains positions on Mt. Salvaro under repeated German counterattacks and gains the slopes of Mt. Alcino. In the II Corps area, the 88th Infantry Division continues the offensive on the right flank of the corps, the 350th Infantry Regiment reaching the top of Mt. Cuccoli and taking Farneto. To forestall German counterattacks against the Mt. Grande hill mass, aircraft and artillery interdict all approaches. The rest of the corps front is virtually static. In the British XIII Corps area, the Germans recapture Mt. Spadura from the 78th Division. The 21st Brigade, Indian 8th Division, begins a drive on Mt. Romano.

     During the night of 20/21 October, USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb targets of opportunity during intruder missions north of battle area., and nine RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group hit a pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.

YUGOSLAVIA: Tito's partisans and Russian units complete the liberation of Belgrade. The First Proletarian Division, the elite formation of Tito's Army of National Liberation, drove the Germans out of Belgrade today, freeing Yugoslavia's capital from the hated occupiers. Tito can now enter Belgrade in triumph.

It was, in fact, a combined operation between partisans led by two of Tito's most successful commanders, Dapcevich and Popovich, and troops of General Tolbukhin's Third Ukrainian Front. The strategy, if not the tactics, of the operation had been worked out with Stalin during Tito's clandestine visit to Moscow last month.

The liberation of Belgrade is a tremendous political victory for Tito, who has emerged as the clear winner in the struggle for power inside Yugoslavia with the royalist Draza Mihailovich. There seems little doubt now that he will impose a communist regime on Yugoslavia after the war.

The battle for Belgrade was a bloody affair, with the Germans fighting desperately to keep open their line of retreat from Greece and Albania. This retreat is under constant harassment from the RAF and USAAF, who are co-operating with the partisans.

The fall of the city will make tremendous difficulties for General Lohr's Army Group E on its fighting retreat to the north. Lohr is in grave personal danger. His occupation has been marked by cruelty. If he should fall into the partisans' hands, they would show him no mercy.

The "Russian" units involved were primarily the Romanian 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions, plus the Tudor Vladimirescu Division (the latter organized and equipped like a standard Soviet rifle division but made up entirely of Romanian volunteers recruited from PoW camps in Russia: many joined simply to escape the virtual death sentence of harsh Soviet captivity). These three units, comprising the "Russian" 27th Army were, of course, under Soviet command and the Tudor Vladimirescu division (nominally commanded by a Romanian colonel, was in reality controlled by its Soviet "advisors"). (Mike Yaklich)

Belgrade: The Balkan states are falling like dominoes to the Red Army. Romania and Bulgaria collapsed swiftly and are now fighting against their erstwhile German allies. The Yugoslavs, who have conducted a brave guerrilla war against the Germans, have liberated their own capital and joined the Russians in harassing the retreating Germans.

Now it is Hungary's turn. The Hungarian army has been fighting with more conviction against the advancing Russians than it ever did as the Wehrmacht's ally on the eastern front, but there are signs that its resistance is coming to an end.

The First Hungarian Army which with a stiffening of Germans, has been holding the Carpathian passes has thrown in its hand, and General Petrov's Fourth Ukrainian Front is pouring south through the mountain gorges which lead down into the vaaley of the upper Tisza.

At the same time Malinovsky, having defeated Friessner in the tank battle of Debrecen, is driving north towards Budapest. The Hungarian capital is in turmoil, with huge numbers of refugees passing through the city, and the government is appealing for discipline: "Panic-stricken flight must give way to calm and manliness."

Dubrovnik on the Adriatic is liberated by partisans. 

CHINA: Eighteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb docks and storage area at Samshui and the town of Kweiping; 28 P-51 Mustangs and P-40s join the attack on the Samshui area; 77 P-40s and P-51s on armed reconnaissance attack road, river, and rail traffic, town and village areas and other targets of opportunity around Kweiping, Menghsu, Shawan, Kaotienhsu, Pingnam, Hsenwi, Wuchou, Dosing, Tanchuk.

BURMA: Nine USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit encampments and stores near Naha; five others knock out a road bridge near Wanling and hit a supply dump in the area, while four more attack troops and supplies in the Nansiaung area.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: USAAF Fourteenth Air Force fighter-bombers attack coastal areas including Hongay.

JAPAN: The Japanese Navy institutes Operation SHO-GO. To counter the U.S. landings on Leyte in the southern Philippines, a Japanese naval force consisting of four aircraft carriers, two battleships, three light cruisers, eight destroyers and only 116 combat aircraft, sorties from the Inland Sea for the Philippine Islands. This force, under Vice Admiral OZAWA, Tokusaburo, Commander-in-Chief Third Fleet and commander of the Northern Force, will act as a decoy to draw off the USN battleships and fast carriers so that other surface units can sink the American Seventh Fleet ships off Leyte.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: It is D-Day at Leyte. The escort and fleet carriers which have provided preparatory attacks and the US 5th Air Force provide air cover. The US 7th Fleet provides bombardment and escort for the US 6th Army. The landing troops involve 4 divisions from 2 Corps.

Two hours after the initial landings on Leyte, General MacArthur lands. At noon, wearing a crisp new uniform specially donned for the occasion, he stepped from the cruiser USS NASHVILLE into a landing-craft, to be transported to the beach, where he waded in knee-deep surf  to the beach. He broadcasts to the Philippine people announcing: "I have returned". Thus redeeming his promise of 1942 upon arriving in Australia from Corrigidor.

Two hours later, with the Philippine president in exile, Sergio Osmena, by his side, MacArthur proclaimed in a voice trembling with emotion: "People of the Philippines, I have returned! ... Rally to me!" He said that the blow at Leyte would split the 225,000-man Japanese Philippines garrison in two, making its forces on Mindanao redundant.

The 600-ship invasion armada, the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific, had been accelerated by two months after reconnaissance had revealed surprising gaps in the defence forces. The landings began three days ago with the capture of three offshore islands. Tonight 100,000 US Sixth Army troops are dug in around Leyte's capital, Tacloban and Dulag to the south.

The Leyte landings surprised the defenders, who put up little opposition after their beach pillboxes were captured. Most of Leyte's 21,500-string garrison has now withdrawn inland. The Japanese Philippines C-in-C, General Yamashita, was expecting the main attack to be against Luzon, hit by US air raids again yesterday, and is hurriedly moving men to Leyte.

 The Japanese respond by launching their operation Sho-go. This will involve their entire remaining fleet units. Admiral Ozawa leaves Japan with his carriers in a decoy role.

Wai, Francis B., Capt., 34th ID, is awarded the MOH for actions today at Leyte. (William L. Howard)

The U.S. Sixth Army invades Leyte Island, landing on the east coast in the vicinity of Tacloban, the capital, and Dulag at approximately 1000 hours. Two firm beachheads are established, but at the end of day they are nearly 10 miles (16 kilometers) apart. In a preliminary operation, the 21st Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division lands well to the south in the vicinity of Panaon Strait at 0930 hours and secures the strait without opposition. Before landings, naval guns of the USN Seventh Fleet pound the assault zone, beginning at o6oo hours, and lifting for a time at 0850 hours for an air strike on the Dulag area. Aircraft provide close support throughout the day. The X Corps lands 2 divisions abreast in the north in the vicinity of Tacloban. On the northern flank, the 1st Cavalry Division, with the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 2d Cavalry Brigade and the 12th and 5th Cavalry Regiments of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, lands and clears San Jose, Tacloban  airstrip, and the Cataisan Peninsula. The 24th Infantry Division, with the 34th Infantry Regiment on the north and 19th on south, meets heavy fire after initial waves have landed; against strong opposition they seize Hill 522, the key terrain feature north of Palo commanding the northern entrance to Leyte Valley, and secure a bridgehead averaging 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) in depth. The XXIV Corps lands near Dulag with the 96th Infantry Division on the north and the 7th Infantry Division on the south. The 96th is slowed by harassing fire and difficult terrain but takes San Jose, positions astride Labiranan River, and Hill 120; they push inland about 2,500 yards (2 286 meters) on the N and 1,300 yards (1 189 meters) on the south. The 7th Infantry Division gets forward elements on the north across Highway 1 and on the south takes Dulag and reaches the edge of the airstrip, where counterattacks are repelled during the night of 20/21 October.

     Forty six USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb a Japanese Army headquarters at Davao on Mindanao Island while 12 B-25 Mitchells attack Dumaguete Airfield on Negros Island. Twelve P-38 Lightnings and 16 P-47 Thunderbolts attack numerous targets on Mindanao and Negros.

CAROLINE ISLANDS: In the Palau Islands, Major General Paul Mueller, Commanding General 81st Infantry Division, takes responsibility for ground operations in the Palaus from the III Amphibious Corps. Elements of 81st seize Pulo Anna Island in the Sosoral Group, between the Palau Islands and Morotai.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Special Task Air Group (STAG 1) operations continue from Stirling Island in the Treasury Islands. Three Interstate TDR-1 target drones controlled from converted TBM-1C Avengers are launched against Japanese gun positions west of Ballale Island located south of Bougainville: one is lost, one makes a hit with its bomb but crashes before it can be directed into its ultimate target (the beached Japanese freighter serving as an antiaircraft gun site off the Kahili Airfield on southern Bougainville and christened the "Kahili Maru"), the last achieves a bomb hit and crashes into "Kahili Maru" as planned.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 0300 hours: USS Hammerhead (SS-364) sinks two cargo ships at 04-45 N, 113-30 E.

0400 hours: USN submarine USS Hammerhead (SS-364) finds a six-ship Japanese convoy and sinks a transport and an army cargo ship of the west coast of Borneo about 176 nautical miles (326 kilometers) west-southwest of Jesselton, British North Borneo, in position 04.46N, 113.23E. (Skip Guidry)

CANADA:

Tug HMCS Maxwellton commissioned.

Frigate HMCS Capilano arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.

Frigates HMCS Sea Cliff, Cap De La Madeleine and corvette Beauharnois arrived Halifax from builders Quebec City PQ

U.S.A.: Four YP-80A-LO's were prepared for shipment to the UK and the Mediterranean to demonstrate their capabilities to combat crews and to help in the development of defensive tactics to be used against the Me 262.

Top songs on the pop record charts are: "I'll Walk Alone" by Dinah Shore; "Is You is or is You Ain't" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters; "It Had to Be You" by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes; and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.

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October 20th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Four Centaur class aircraft carriers HMS Arrogant, Hermes, Monmouth and Polyphemus, are cancelled.

PALESTINE: The Egyptian, Iraqi, Lebanese, and Syrian governments warn the U.S. Government that the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine will lead to war in the region.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Orkney completed tropicalization refit Louisburg, Nova Scotia.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser HMCS Prince Robert arrived Esquimalt with Canadian POWs from Hong Kong.

U.S.A.: Gearing class destroyer USS Theodore E. Chandler is launched.

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