20 March 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: A report submitted by Major General Ira C Eaker in compliance with Major General James E Chaney's instructions of 25 February indicates completion of studies of RAF Bomber Command operations and of airfields, training, tactical doctrine, equipment, and methods of conducting air offensive in cooperation with the RAF. The report also indicates much dependence upon the British for the present but emphasizes the apparent compatibility of the tactical doctrines of the US (daylight precision bombing) and RAF (night area bombing), and implies the principle of coordinating these attacks to complement each other.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 13 Manchesters and six Lancasters on daylight minelaying in the Frisian Islands; only 11 aircraft reached the correct area. Two Wellingtons on a mission to Essen returned because of lack of cloud. There are no losses.

U.S.S.R.: Sebastopol: A counter-attack by the German 22 Panzer Division fails when it marches into a Soviet assembly area and is destroyed. The Soviet offensive at Kerch in the Crimea is defeated by the Germans with heavy losses to the Soviets.

Russian Government announced one year extension of Soviet-Japanese fisheries agreement.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The Second Battle of Sirte. Four merchant ships carrying 26,000 tons of supplies sail from Alexandria at dawn for Malta, to supply food and munitions to the besieged island. Its escort, commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Phillip Vian, consisting of five light cruisers HMS Cleopatra, Dido, Euryalus and Penelope, the antiaircraft light cruiser HMS Carlisle and 18 destroyers faces opposition from the entire Italian Mediterranean Fleet. The sailing is reported to Axis forces by spies.

At 1054, whilst making an anti-submarine sweep ahead of convoy MW.10, destroyer HMS Heythrop is torpedoed and sunk by U-652. A tow is attempted but Heythrop sinks 5 hours later East of Tobruk at 32 22N 25 28E. There are 15 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

MALTA: With its fighter defence force reduced to fewer than 30 Hurricanes, and anti-aircraft ammunition in desperately short supply, Malta is clearly being "softened up" for invasion.

Malta has been under continuous attack since 22 December, with "alerts" lasting as long as 13 hours and as many as 16 alarms in the course of 24 hours. Heavy rains have frequently made the two grass airstrips unserviceable.

The tiny island took the full brunt of the Luftwaffe today. Wave after wave of Ju88s with fighter escorts - a total of 143 aircraft - braved the fierce Malta barrage, attacking the three airfields and the harbour area.

LIBYA: Complying with the request of 8 March for offensive action to divert the enemy's attention from a Malta-bound convoy, the British Eighth Army raids landing grounds in the Derna and Benghazi areas after nightfall.

BURMA: Japanese troops, reinforced by the 18th and 56th Division which had arrived by sea at Rangoon a few days earlier, attack the Chinese 6th Army near Toungoo.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The navy minister, Admiral Shimada, says that in view of the Allies' "retaliation and hatred", Japan will no longer follow the recognized rules of sea warfare.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Major General Jonathan Wainwright learns that he has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and that Washington has placed him in command of all U.S. Forces in the Philippines (USFIP).

AUSTRALIA: Japanese Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers (later assigned the Allied Code Name Betty), attack the Broome Airfield, Western Australia, at high altitude. There are a number of craters off the end of the strip and in the tidal flats; one aboriginal is killed by a bomb splinter but no other casualties or damage was caused.

U.S.A.: The "Plan for Initiation of U.S. Army Bombardment Operations in the British Isles" further elaborates previous USAAF plans outlining the intention of launching strategic bombardment from the U.K. against facilities supporting German national, economic, and industrial structure.

The South Dakota Class battleship, USS South Dakota (BB-57), is commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Submarine USS Scorpion laid down.

Light cruiser USS Birmingham launched.

Destroyers USS McCalla and Lardner launched.

Submarine USS Growler commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An unarmed U.S. tanker is shelled by German submarine U-71 about 430 miles (692 kilometres) east of Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. and abandoned; U-71 then torpedoes the tanker and shells her until she sinks.