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.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 14; RAF, 4.
Corvette HMS Crocus commissioned.
Destroyer HMCS Margaree departed Londonderry as the sole escort for the 5-ship convoy OL-8. The OL series of convoys ran very briefly in the early part of WWII. They were relatively small convoys and often not included in references that list the major convoys. Some sources that deal with the sinking of Margaree indicate that the convoy was bound for Iceland. 'OL' stood for 'Outbound from Liverpool'. The object with all early convoys was to get the ships clear of U-boat danger area around the UK. Once clear, the convoy dispersed and ships proceeded independently to their destination ports. There is no record of whether all or only part of OL-8 was bound for Iceland.
During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command Whitleys are caught by German night fighters shortly after take-off and are shot down.
GERMANY: Helmuth James, Count von Moltke, writes a manifesto for the liberal resistance group known as "The Kreisau Circle" after his estate; it envisages a democratic post-Nazi Germany.
During the night of 20/21 October, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons attack Hamburg starting 12 fires but the loss of life is slight.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Italian submarine R. Smg. 'Lafolè' is damaged by depth charges launched by British by destroyers HMS Gallant (H 59), Griffin (H 31) and Hotspur (H 01) and then rammed 12 nautical miles north of Cape Tres Forcas located north of Melilla, Spanish Morocco.
EGYPT: Cairo: Italian planes bomb Cairo for the first time.
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.