20 Mar 1940
- British bombers sank converted minesweeper Sperrbrecher 12 (former steamer Altenfels) off the Dutch coast. ww2dbase [CPC]
- German submarine U-22 departed Wilhelmshaven. Communications with the submarine was lost shortly after, its crew of 27 was never seen again. ww2dbase [CPC]
- German submarine U-19 sank Danish steamer Viking in the Moray Firth, Scotland at 0500 hours, killing 15; 2 survived. At 0515 hours, she sank Danish steamer Bothal, killing 15; 5 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
- HMS Fortune sank German submarine U-44 off Narvik, Norway. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Chinese troops attacked Japanese-occupied Wuyuan, Suiyuan Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Wuyuan | CPC]
- U-56 ended her seventh patrol. ww2dbase [U-56 | CPC]
- Lavrentiy Beria dispatched 11 NKVD killing squads to Ukraine and Byelorussia to arrest, execute, and deport resistance elements. ww2dbase [Katyn Massacre and Related Atrocities | CPC]
- RMS Queen Mary departed New York, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Queen Mary | New York | CPC]
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"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944
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