September 20th, 1943 (MONDAY)
FRANCE: During the night of 20/21 September, RAF Bomber Command sends 20 Wellingtons on minelaying missions against three targets: six each aircraft laid mines off Brest and Lorient, and five off St. Nazaire.
GERMANY: During the night of 20/21 September, eight RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Berlin.
BALTIC SEA: The German submarine U-346 is sunk in the Baltic Sea near Hela, in position 54.25N, 19.50E, in a diving accident. 6 of the 43-man U-boat crew survive.
U.S.S.R.: General Yeremenko's forces liberate Velizh and Kholm, northwest of Smolensk.
An announcement published in the Soviet newspaper “Pravda” of the formation of a "Union of German Officers," composed of prisoners of war in the Soviet Union.
ITALY: The Allies launch an assault on Naples as British and US units link up at Eboli to form a solid line from Salerno to Bari.
Canadian units of the British 8th Army enter Potenza. General Lucas takes command of US VI Corps from General Dawley.
The US Seventh Army starts into the mountains north of Salerno.
The U.S. 82d Airborne Division is ordered to concentrate in the Crotone area and be prepared to assist the advance of VI Corps. The U.S. 3d and 45th Infantry Divisions start northward into the mountains north of Salerno, the 3d driving through Battipaglia toward Acerno and the 45th on the right along Highway 91.
The US Ninth Air Force flies its last mission to Italy. B-24s of 98th and 376th Bombardment Groups (Heavy) are dispatched to the Castelfranco Veneto marshalling yard. Clouds obscure the target, but the 98th Group drops bombs on the estimated time of arrival. The 376th bombs a marshalling yard and airfield at Pescara during the return trip.
US Twelfth Air Force B-17s and B-26s bomb the Castelnuovo road junction, the town of Formia, the Torre Annunziata area roads, and roads and railroad southwest of Sarno; XII Air Support Command A-36 Apaches attack and disperse enemy tank and troop concentrations forming near Nocera for a counterattack. Other USAAF and RAF aircraft of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force hit enemy movement in the Avellino-Naples-Potenza-Benevento-Calabritto-Pomigliano-Pescopagano areas.
During the night of 20/21 September, 50 RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group bomb the North railroad bridge at Benevento.
LIBYA: The US Ninth Air Force's 98th and 376th Bombardment Groups (Heavy), based in Libya, along with the 43d Service Group and several military police and engineer units, are to be transferred to the US Twelfth Air Force, effective on the date they transfer to Tunisia.
CHINA: 27 Japanese bombers and 20 fighters attack the airfield at Kunming, China; 24 US Fourteenth Air Force P-40s and 3 P-38 Lightnings intercept, claiming 17 airplanes shot down; 1 US fighter is lost; damage to the airfield is negligible.
BURMA: US Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Sagaing and Naba.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: B-25s bomb Penfoei on Timor Island.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea the
Australian 2/6th Independent Company kills another 100 Japanese north of Kaiapit.
In the air, Fifth Air Force B-25s and B-17s hit roads from Kaiapit to
Madang, destroying 3 key bridges; P-39s strafe and dive-bomb the Bogadjim-Yaula
area; and B-24s bomb Wewak and Boram airfields.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: 27th Infantry
Regiment forces on Sagekarasa Island find that Japanese have withdrawn from the
island. On the mainland of Arundel Island, the rest of the 27th Infantry
suspends their attack while patrols try in vain to locate the 172d Infantry’s
position.
In the air First Lieutenant Henry Meigs II (of the 6th Night Fighter
Squadron), flying a P-38 against Japanese night attackers over Bougainville
Island, shoots down two aircraft within 60 seconds.
General Imamura gives the order to reinforce Finschhafen. "With the co-operation of the navy, the essential places of the Dampier Strait and Bougainville Islands will be held. The Army, Navy and Air Forces will combine their strength to eliminate the enemy on land and sea". (Mike Mitchell)
U.S.A.: General Marshall and Admiral King testify before the US Congress about the Selective Service (draft). They tell the Senate that failure to draft fathers may prolong the war.
The Lockheed XPB4Y-2 Privateer makes its maiden flight. This aircraft had a lengthened fuselage, single vertical tail surfaces and unsupercharged engines.
Douglas (Model DC-3A-457) C-53D-DO, msn 11656, USAAF s/n 42-68729, crashes near Laurinburg-Maxton AAB, North Carolina, killing all 25 aboard. The aircraft crashes into a wooded area after nearly colliding with a glider being towed by another aircraft. The evasive maneuver caused the C-53D to stall and crash.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-338 is listed as missing in the North Atlantic in approximate position 57N, 30W. All 51 hands on the U-boat are lost.
Three warships escorting Convoy ON-202 (U.K. to North America) are struck by T5 acoustic torpedoes (Zaunkoenig or Gnat) fired by German submarines:
- At 0256 hours GMT British frigate HMS Lagan (K 259) has her stern blown by U-270 while the ship is about 450 nautical miles (834 kilometers) south-southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, in position 57.09N, 27.28W. She is towed back to the UK by the rescue tug HMS Destiny (W 115) arriving on 24 September, but is not repaired. (Alex Gordon)(108)
- At 1756 hours GMT, Canadian destroyer HMCS St Croix [I 81, ex USS McCook (DD-252)] is struck by a torpedo fired by U-305 and brought to a stop. At about 1856 hours GMT, another torpedo fired by the same U-boat sinks her about 481 nautical miles (891 kilometers) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland in position 57.30N, 31.10W. Eighty survivors are taken aboard the British frigate HMS Itchen (K 227). (Alex Gordon)(108)
- At 2236 hours GMT the British Flower class corvette HMS Polyanthus (K 47) is sunk by U-952 about 507 nautical miles (939 kilometers) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, in position 57.00N, 31.10W. Only one survivor is picked by the British frigate HMS Itchen (K 227). (Alex Gordon)(108)
In addition to the above three warships, two merchant ships in Convoy ON-202 are sunk and one damaged today.