20 February 1943

Escort carrier HMS Fencer commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Rapid commissioned.

Submarines HMS Stubborn and Vandal commissioned.

GERMANY: München: Anti-Nazi demonstrations without precedent in the Third Reich have broken out in Munich. Stunned citizens looked on as students dared to chant anti-Nazi slogans and painted "Down with Hitler" on walls in the centre of the city.

The protests began after the Nazi Gauleiter of Bavaria, Paul Giesler, visited the university to investigate the source of anti-Nazi letters circulating in universities. Giesler told women students they would better serve the fatherland by bearing a child each year. When he offered to provide Nazis to give the women "a thoroughly enjoyable experience", the students thought the students bundled the Gauleiter and his guards out of the university.

The anti-Nazi protests were led by Hans Scholl, a 25-year-old medical student, and his sister Sophie, a biology student aged 21. They call their group the "White Rose" and have been circulating the letters with the encouragement of a philosophy professor, Kurt Huber. Yesterday, a caretaker saw Hans and Sophie scattering leaflets from a balcony; he betrayed them to the Gestapo. Sophie was said to have been tortured after her arrest, and she appeared in court with a broken leg. She and her brother and Huber were sentenced by Roland Freisler, the bloodthirsty president of the People's Court, to be executed by the guillotine.

ITALY: Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb Crotone, Naples, Amantea, Palmi, Nicotera and Rosarno.

CRETE: RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bomb Heraklion and Kastelli/Pediada Airfields during the night of 19/20 February.

TUNISIA: The 10th and 15th Panzer Divisions attack Allied Forces at Kasserine Pass.

Kasserine: A shaken American army has come face to face with the military genius of Rommel - and tasted defeat for the first time in the Tunisian campaign. Many vital lessons will be learned from the Battle of the Kasserine Pass.

The command structure itself was a recipe for disaster. Lt-Gen Kenneth Anderson, a Briton, was in command of the British First Army, made up of the British V Corps, led by Lt-Gen C W Alfrey, the American II Corps, under Major-General Lloyd Fredenhall, and the XIX French Corps, led by General Louis-Marie Koeltz.

What was not taken into account was that the French, still resentful at the destruction of their fleet at Oran, would refuse to serve under a British commander; Gen Koeltz would "co-ordinate" - no more. Fredenhall dislikes the British, particularly Anderson, and has little time for the poorly-equipped French. Nor did language difficulties help matters.

Rommel believed that a bold move by the Tunisian defenders with his Panzerarmee Afrika could avenge the German defeat at Stalingrad. This belief brought about the battle at the Kasserine Pass.

In a typical Rommel Blitzkrieg operation, German tanks, supported by Stuka dive-bombers, hit the American sector of the line, taking the village of SidiBou Zid and cutting off 2,000 men. In a badly planned counter-attack, tanks of the US 1st Armoured Division were annihilated when they drive directly into German artillery.

With Rommel scenting victory and confusion reigning in the Allied camp, General Alexander, who took command of the 18th Army Group, including all these forces, today, ordered that there should be no withdrawal. Panzers stormed into the pass yesterday and were stopped by US anti-tank fire. But in a fresh attack today the Americans faced German Nebelwerfer rocket-launchers and a huge artillery barrage before Axis tanks and artillery advanced relentlessly. The threat from Rommel is not over.

A handful of Northwest African Air Force P-39Airacobras strafe trucks and half-tracks in the Kasserine area as the enemy breaks through the Kasserine Pass and thrusts north and west toward Thala and Tebessa.

General Alexander is appointed Commander of the 18th Army Group in North Africa.

BURMA: 17 Tenth Air Force P-40s bomb a factory, oil tanks, and railroad tracks at Sahmaw and 13 B-24s attack the Gokteik Viaduct but fail to damage the structure.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force B-17s and USN PB4Y-1 Liberators of Bombing Squadron One Hundred One (VB-101) bomb Ballale Island and Kahili on Bougainville Island and B-24s pound Vila on Kolombangara Island. During the night of 19/20 February and day strikes, P-39s and USN aircraft attack the Munda area on New Georgia Island, hitting the airfield and nearby Lambeti and Munda Point.

The USN's Carrier Air Group Five (CVG-5) is temporarily based on Guadalcanal to cover the upcoming invasion of the Russell Islands.

In the Bismarck Archipelago, Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Gasmata Airfield on New Britain Island.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Three Seventh Air Force B-24s from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands photograph Makin Island, Abaiang Island and Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and attack shipping at Tarawa.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A Japanese destroyer and a transport are sunk by two USN submarines.

Minesweeper HMAS Ararat launched.

Frigate HMAS Gascoyne launched.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Reconnaissance over Kiska Island finds the weather favourable and 5 B-24 Liberators, 7 B-25 Mitchells and 8 P-38 Lightnings of the Eleventh Air Force take off to attack. The fighters hit the Main Camp area; the bombers bomb North Head, the Main Camp area and the runway.

A Japanese army cargo ship sinks as the result of damage inflicted by gunfire from USN surface vessels.

U.S.A.: In baseball, Phil Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager, charter the All-American Girls Softball League. The league will operate around the Chicago area and is formed as a sports backup in case the government shuts down major league baseball. The league will later change its name and switch to hardball with a pitching distance of 40 feet (12 meters) and bases 68 feet (21 meters) apart.
In Hollywood, movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies informally. World War II led to a proliferation of war-themed films, and the government feared that vital information might be disclosed through movies.

Minesweepers USS Saunter and Jubilant launched.

Escort carrier USS Barnes commissioned.

Minesweepers USS Ardent and Lucid laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0508, SS Radhurst, a straggler from Convoy ONS-165, was hit by one of two fired torpedoes from U-525 NW of St John's. The torpedo struck amidships and caused the ship to sink within three minutes. The master and 37 crewmembers were lost.