Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Cape Gloucester and Gasmata.

Air Operations, Europe

The Luftwaffe sends a heavy daylight raid to Southeast England including London. 28 fighter-bombers escorted by 50 fighters carry out the devastating surprise attack. A school in Lewisham is hit killing 5 teachers and 39 children. The Surrey Docks are also hit. Typhoons intercept the raiders as they withdraw. 3 bombers and 6 fighters are shot down.

Raid on Lewes, East Sussex

The worst raid on Lewes, East Sussex, was at about 12.40pm on Wednesday January 20, 1943 when four Me 110 fighter bombers dropped six HE bombs on the town and machine-gunned and cannon fired into the town around Brook Street, North Street and West Street. Two were killed and 11 seriously injured.

• 8 Mosquitos make a low-level attack on the Stork engineering works at Hengelo. 6 planes bomb successfully.
• There are no losses.

Bombing at Hangelo

Photo taken from a Mosquito during the attack at Hengelo. Arrow A - Main workshop; Arrow B - Bomb heading towards the target; Arrow C - Smoke from anti-aircraft gun position.

• 8 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians without a loss.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Aroe Islands and supply dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and Madang.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-26s attack a Japanes destroyer off southern Bougainville.
• 347th Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s down 2 A6M Zeros and 3 F1M 'Pete' recon floatplanes near the Shortland Islands between 0815 and 0830 hours.
• 1 US fighter is lost.

Diplomatic Relations

Chile breaks off relations with the Axis powers.

Eastern Front

Troops of the Southern Front, hitherto called the Stalingrad Front, under Gen Yeremenko capture Proletarskaya, along the Stalingrad-Novorossiysk railway east of the Manych River, and press on from east-southeast towards Rostov. Army Group A is forced back all along its lines and the Soviets also take Nevinnomyssk.

The South Front crosses the Manych River as it pushes toward Rostov. Elements of the 2nd Guards Army take Manychskaya. Army Group A gives up Nevinomysk to the 37th Army and Proletarskaya to the 28th Army.

Guadalcanal

Operations are limited because of heavy rain, mud and poor visibility. The 3rd Battalion, 147th Infantry, less I Company but plus C Company, begins moving into the CAM Div line between the 6th Marines and the 182nd Infantry. The division attack is halted to await the completion of this move. To carry out Gen Patch's orders, Gen Collins, orders the 25th Division to attack west from Galloping Horse on January 22. The 27th Infantry is to deliver a holding attack while the 161st Infantry, with the main effort, moves southwest to outflank the enemy. The 35th Infantry is to complete the mopping up the Gifu, then pass to division reserve. The 161st is to seize 3 small hills southwest of Hill 53, then move northwest through the jungle to attack Hill 87, the division objective, from the rear. After capturing Hill 87 the regiment is to seize the other two, Hills 88 and 89, comprising the hill mass. The 161st Infantry, upon assembling in the southern part of Galloping Horse, moves its 2nd Battalion forward to Hill X, southwest of Galloping Horse. The 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, patrols toward Hill 87, meeting enemy fire upon approaching it. One patrol from the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, penetrates 150 yards north from Hill 27 and another finds 3 pillboxes northwest of Hill 27. 2 of them are empty, the third is approached by the patrol who shoots a couple of the Japanese before machine guns force the patrol to withdraw.

New Guinea

The Australians mop up the coastal area west of Sanananda and the northern part of the Soputa-Sanananda road, from which the Japanese are retreating. The Americans begin the liquidation of the 3 enemy pockets straddling the road from Soputa to Sanananda. An American regiment advancing to the west comes in sight of Giruwa.

North Africa

Troops from 51st Highland Div take Homs as the Germans fall back.

The Germans press their way down the Rebaa and Ousseltia Valleys in Tunisia. Upon gaining entrance to the Ousseltia Valley, which parallels Rebaa Valley, shifts the main weight of the attack there and reaches Ousseltia. Many French XIX corps troops are isolated in the mountains to the east. Gen Alphonse Juin places Combat Command B, US 1st Armored Div, under the command of Gen Louis-Marie Koeltz, the CG of the French XIX Corps, who orders it to the Ousseltia Valley. Gen Eisenhower, having decided against Operation SATIN by the US II Corps, issues a directive prescribing that the southern flank remain on the defensive and that as much as possible of the II Corps be held in reserve.

llied forces on the southern flank take up defensive positions.

Darby's Rangers Speed-Marching at Arzew, January 20, 1943

Occupied Yugoslavia

In response to increasing partisan activity, the Germans launch Operation WEISS headed by Gen Lueters, Commander of German Troops in Croatia. Cooperating with Italian forces, its objective is the annihilation of partisan units west and northwest of Sarajevo. German units include the 7th SS Mountain, 369th and 717th Infantry Divisions, and a regiment of the 187th Infantry Div. The Italian contingent is V Corps of the 2nd Army. In the first attak the Axis troops inflict 8,500 casualties on the partisans and capture 2,010. German losses are 335 dead and 101 missing. WEISS will conclude on February 18, 1943.

Operation WEISS. January 20, 1943, Yugoslavia.