September 20th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - marshalling yards at Hamm - Flushing Docks- industrial targets at Brussels, Krefeld, Mannheim and Osnabruck.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Hamm. All bombed, four damaged by Flak.
58 Sqn. Three aircraft to Osnabruck. All bombed. Two aircraft to Mannheim, both bombed. One aircraft to Flushing. Bombed.
77 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Krefeld, Brussels and Flushing. All bombed.
Battle of Britain:
Heavy fighter sweeps towards London lead to dogfights, the outcome favouring the Luftwaffe more than usual. At night London is bombed, along with Bath and targets in the Gloucester and Bristol areas.
The weather is fair with bright periods and then showery. During the day, one major attack at 1100 hours by a force of about 100 Luftwaffe aircraft, consisting mostly of fighters, is made on East Kent with apparently London as the final objective. The attack is broken up and casualties are inflicted. Reconnaissance flights round the Coasts are also carried out. In the North and North East, one raid is plotted off the Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Coast in the afternoon. In the East Coast, a reconnaissance aircraft off East Anglia reported on a convoy at 1600 hours. In the South East from 0600 hours to 1030 hours German aircraft made reconnaissance in the Estuary, round North Foreland, Dover and westwards to Beachy Head. At 1040 hours German aircraft started to mass in the Calais, France, area. At 1100 hours a formation of 20+ aircraft at 15,000 feet (4 572 meters) apparently led in by a single aircraft at 21,000 feet (6 401 meters), flew inland at Dungeness. Other formations of from 12+ to 30+ aircraft crossed the coast at Dover, Lympne and Deal, between 1100 and 1110 hours. One raid flew up the Estuary without crossing the coast. The Luftwaffe aircraft converged on East London and the attack reached Biggin Hill, Kenley, the Inner Thames Estuary and Hornchurch. Twenty fighter squadrons are detailed to meet the attack while four squadrons are patrolling. The Luftwaffe turned back at 1135 hours. Between 1300 and 1700 hours, various reconnaissances are made in the Straits and in the Kent and Sussex areas, penetrating in some cases inland up to10 miles (16 kilometers). Throughout the day observation balloons are flying over long range guns on the French Coast. In the South and West from 0600 to 1500 hours slight activity by single aircraft took place as far West as the Lizard. Three small raids are plotted off Anglesey in the late afternoon but they did not threaten Liverpool.
During the night of 20/21 September, the German raids concentrated on London. At 1950 hours London Central received a "red" warning. This is occasioned by raids of single aircraft from Le Havre, France, crossing the coast between Beachy Head and Selsey Bill. Activity is on a very much smaller scale than on the previous night. From 2100 to 2300 hours German aircraft started to approach in fair numbers from Cherbourg and Calais, France, and Ostend, Belgium, entering over Shoreham and Dungeness and North of the Thames Estuary. The number of Luftwaffe aircraft operating soon diminished and at midnight the country is clear; London is given the “all clear” signal at 0014 hours. Minelaying activity is fairly certain off the North East Coast, St Abb's Head to the Tees, also from the Humber to the Norfolk coast as far as Cromer. At 0100 hours a further stream of German aircraft started to come over Beachy Head and Dungeness from Dieppe, France, and London Central received a "red" warning at 0119 hours.
RAF Fighter Command claimed 4-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft while the anti-aircraft batteries claimed 2-0-0. The RAF lost seven aircraft with four pilots killed or missing.
CHINA: The Chinese Eighth Route Army attacks Japanese lines, launching the second phase of a Communist "Hundred Regiments Offensive."
CANADA: The third group of 6 "overage" destroyers being transferred to the RN in the destroyers-for-bases agreement arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The War Technical and Scientific Development Committee approves a request by Dr. Frederick Banting to begin bacterial warfare research. Banting, who discovered insulin in 1922 and was awarded a Nobel Prize for it, is serving as a liaison officer between the British and North American medical services. In February 1941, Banting is killed when the aircraft he is flying in from Canada to the U.K. crashes in Newfoundland.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Australian heavy cruiser HMAS
Australia (D 84) intercepts the French light cruiser FR Gloire, which is sailing from
Casablanca to Dakar, French West Africa. The French ship is forced to return
to Casablanca.