20 December 1942

WESTERN EUROPE: The Eighth Air Force suffers its worst single day loss of the war to date. Luftwaffe fighters and flak down six B-17s. Two B-17s crash upon landing in England. Two men were KIA, 58 MIA, 12 WIA. (Skip Guidry)

NETHERLANDS: "Oboe" equipped de Havilland Mosquitoes IX's of No. 109 Squadron RAF flying from Wyton make an attack on a power-station at Lutterade in Holland. This is the first use of Oboe by Pathfinder Mosquitoes. (22)

FRANCE: During the night of 19/20 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three ports on the Bay of Biscay: six lay mines off Lorient, five off St. Nazaire and four off Brest.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler receives French Prime Minister Pierre Laval at his headquarters in the presence of Italian Foreign Minister Count Gian Ciano, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the German Air Force; and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, to discuss "the existing problems of France."

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet forces are now about 70 miles northeast of Voroshilovgrad. The Rostov-Voronezh rail line is cut and the northern forces of Manstein are feeling the increasing Russian pressure. Paulus cites fuel shortages as his reason not to breakout of Stalingrad.

The Sixth Army Chief of Staff, General Schmidt, a committed Nazi Party member, is an important figure in the decision. Meanwhile, the Fourth Panzer Army's relief column has been making smaller gains and is now at the Myshkova River.

Soviet forces continue to gain ground in a broad offensive. Assault forces from the middle Don River reach Kantemirovka, on the Voronezh-Rostov railroad north of Millerovo.

SPAIN: Spain and Portugal announced the creation of a neutral Iberian bloc. "Our peninsula policy is based on sentiment and the, conviction that we are serving the permanent interests of all nations" .

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: While escorting a convoy to Benghazi, Libya, the British corvette HMS Snapdragon (K 10) is bombed and sunk off Bizerte, Tunisia, by German aircraft.

TUNISIA: Rain curtails most aerial operations but USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs and DB-7 Bostons, with fighter escort, hit the marshaling yard at Sfax.

NEW GUINEA: Continuing the assault on the Sanananda front in Papua New Guinea, the Australians reduce several Japanese positions just beyond the track junction in a frontal drive; flanking elements reach positions near the roadblock. A Japanese attack on the block is repulsed. Australian cavalrymen destroy a Japanese force 300 yards (274 meters) north of the block and establish a new perimeter, which they call "Kano." The Urbana Force, after air and mortar preparation, attacks the Triangle, Companies E and G of the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment driving south on it while Company F blocks from below. The attack is soon halted by cross fire, which causes heavy casualties. The battalion commander is lost in this action. Troops on the Warren front regroup. The rest of Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, arrives at the front after dark. U.S. troops are to operate the Oro Bay port and the engineers charged with the construction of a road from Oro Bay to Dobodura airfields land at Oro Bay during the night of 19/20 December. Additional cargo is also brought ashore.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchells hit the Buna Mission area. B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack warships, transports and cargo vessels off Madang in Astrolabe Bay and north northwest of Finschhafen off the coast of Huon Peninsula damaging a destroyer. Meanwhile, B-25s bomb Lae Airfield.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 3rd Battalion, backed up by 1st Battalion of the 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, has spent two days moving into contact with Japanese forces in the area that will become known as "The Gifu" on Mt. Austen. After an artillery and aerial bombardment, Colonel William Wright, battalion commanding officer, moves forward with his unit. He is wounded by machine gun fire. While attempting to hit the Japanese position with grenades, he is mortally wounded. The action is stalemated for the rest of the day, until the battalion executive officer can move forward. The next few days will show small gains as the U.S. forces aggressively patrol in their attempts to locate the Japanese forces. The Japanese will continue to send forward infiltration parties, making the front lines of the U.S. forces jittery and harassing the rear supply forces. (John Nicholas)

USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, hit the airfield at Munda on New Georgia Island. They are attacked by 20 Japanese Zeke fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters); the Americans claim three Zekes with no American losses.

PACIFIC: Japanese submarine I-4 is sunk by the USS Seadragon (SS-194) off New Britain. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The American reconnaissance team that landed on Amchitka Island on 17 December leaves the island.

Two USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators fly reconnaissance and patrol over Amchitka and Kiska Islands. Four escorting P-38 Lightnings turn back due to weather and mechanical difficulties.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS La Malbaie completed mechanical repairs Halifax, Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "German Tactical Doctrine" (William L. Howard)

Destroyer USS Anthony launched.

Submarine USS Rasher launched.

Destroyer USS Herndon commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-621 sank SS Otina in Convoy ON-153.