20 June 1943

Sixty Avro Lancasters of the RAF's 57 and 97 Squadrons, No. 5 Group attack the old German Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, Germany, and then fly to Blida, Algeria, in the first shuttle mission between the UK and North Africa.

NEW GUINEA: The 17th Australian Brigade successfully repels a Japanese attack in the area of Mubo.

AUSTRALIA: A force of Japanese aircraft attack Darwin, Northern Territories. 18 Ki 49 Helens of the 61st Sentai bombed Winnelle airfield from high altitude followed minutes later by 9 Ki 48 Lillys from the 76th Sentai, which bombed and strafed Winnelle and Darwin airfields. The bombers were escorted by 22 Ki 43 Oscars of the 59th Sentai. 46 Spitfires scrambled to meet the raid and claimed 9 bombers and 5 fighters destroyed and 8 bombers and 2 fighters damaged. Three Spits were lost. Japanese records show only one Helen and one Oscar were actually shot down, while another Hellen and two Lilly's crashed landed near their home base. (Steve Alvin)(136)

PACIFIC OCEAN: A Japanese freighter and a transport are sunk by U.S. submarines.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Kiska is bombed by six USN PV-1 Venturas based on Adak Island.

U.S.A.: Washington: The most powerful military man in the Allied ranks is this weekend overseeing the final preparations for offensives half a world apart in the Pacific and the Mediterranean. Yet general George C. Marshall is one of the least known military leaders, lacking the charisma of Montgomery or MacArthur.

It is Marshall, though, to whom President Roosevelt">Roosevelt turns first for advice. Born in Pennsylvania in 1880, the young Marshall tasted action in the Philippines and France in 1917. But it was as a master of planning that he began his rise through army ranks, finally leapfrogging many more senior generals to become US Army Chief of Staff in September 1939. It was a surprise, but inspired, appointment by Roosevelt">Roosevelt. By the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Marshall had doubled the size of the US Army. His influence is no longer confined to his own service, however, after Pearl Harbor he became chairman of the new Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at a time when increasing numbers of operations involve more than one service.

Marshall has also emerged as a tough-minded strategist on the international stage. Accompanying Roosevelt">Roosevelt to Anglo-American conferences, he has resisted British pressure to defer planning for a second front in France while at home countering the US naval chiefs who favour the Pacific theatre.

Marshall is often regarded as remote, even austere, and without close friends. But this is seen by some as an advantage since choosing the best man for a particular command (as he chose Eisenhower from relative obscurity) is as much a part of his job as the renowned master of logistics. Whether he can ever be spared to command armies in the field - he has been mooted as an eventual commander in Europe - must be doubtful.

Race-related rioting erupt in Detroit, Michigan; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths.

Howard Hughes pilots the Hughes XA-37. Constructed by the Duramold process, developed and patented by Co. Virginius E Clark, the Army's chief aeronautical engineer during WWI; it involved moulding resin--impregnated plywood into desired shapes and contours under high heat and pressure. It is 43 feet long, wing span of 60 feet 5 inches gross weight of 28,110 pounds Two PrattandWhitney R-2800 Double Wasp 2000 hp engines. Est. top speed of 433 mph, but Hughes was the only test pilot. (John Nicholas)

Destroyer escort USS Waterman launched.

Submarines USS Rock and Flasher launched.

Destroyers USS Dortch and Gatling launched.

NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: A US Navy PBY-5A of Patrol Squadron Eighty Four (VP-84) based at Fleet Air Base Reykjavik, Iceland sinks the German submarine U-388 (Type VIIC) south south-west of Iceland and south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland at 57.36N, 31.20W. This was the first use of the Navy's homing torpedo (FIDO). All 47 crew of the U-boat die. (Jack McKillop and Alex Gordon)