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]
Russia
  • 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]
United States
  • RMS Queen Mary departed New York, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Queen Mary | New York | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Tiru under construction at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States, 3 Jan 1946; submarines in background were Bashaw, Pampanito, Mingo, Gurnard, Macabi, Tunny, Guavina, and Sand Lance


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Famous WW2 Quote
"We no longer demand anything, we want war."

Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939


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