WWII On This Day: January 20

Burmese refugees fleeing along the Prome Road toward India, 31 January 1942. — James Jarche / British Ministry of Information, Imperial War Museums JAR 1240 · Public domain (UK Government)

January 20, 1942 The Fall of Burma

The Fifteenth Army crosses the frontier from Thailand

From 20 January 1942 the Fifteenth Army, about 35,000 men in two divisions, crossed from Thailand into Burma. The 55th Division, which had been ordered on 22 December to take Moulmein, attacked through the Kawkareik Pass in the days around 22 January, and the army's other division, the 33rd, also took part in the invasion. On the coast the British evacuated Mergui on 22 January, and by 23 January the airstrips at Tavoy, Mergui and Victoria Point were in Japanese hands. Iida's army had been formed in December 1941 with…

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Child survivors of Auschwitz, wearing adult-size prisoner jackets, stand behind a barbed wire fence. — USHMM

January 20, 1942 The Holocaust: Timeline and Evidence

The Wannsee Conference coordinates implementation

Fifteen officials representing the SS, Nazi Party and government ministries met under Reinhard Heydrich. The surviving protocol listed an estimated eleven million Jews in Europe and discussed deportation, jurisdiction and definitions. By January 1942 mass shootings were already widespread and Chełmno was operating. Wannsee records the participation of the wider state administration and Heydrich's claim to coordinate the continent-wide programme.

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Polish and British flags raised over the shattered Monte Cassino monastery after Polish troops entered the ruins on 18 May 1944. — Polish official photographer / Imperial War Museums MH 1680 · UK Government public domain

January 20, 1944 Cassino and Anzio: The Road to Rome

The U.S. 36th Division attacks across the Rapido

On the night of 20–21 January the U.S. 36th Infantry Division attempted to force the Rapido below Cassino. Boats, bridges and assault units came under heavy fire as they approached fortified German positions. German counterattacks and the difficulty of supplying small footholds defeated the crossings. Further attacks on 21–22 January brought severe losses, and the route into the Liri valley remained closed.

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Modern operational map of the Leningrad–Novgorod offensive, showing the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts from 14 to 31 January 1944. VT1978 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Source

January 20, 1944 · 18:00 The Siege of Leningrad

Novgorod is retaken

Volkhov Front entered Novgorod on 20 January and opened the route toward Luga from the south-east. The loss of Novgorod and the collapse of the Ropsha sector forced Eighteenth Army to retreat across a widening front, turning the siege's final phase into a general withdrawal from the Leningrad region.

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The Scherl publishing building burning in Berlin after an air raid, July 1944. — Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J30142 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

January 20, 1945 The Bombing of Cities

LeMay changes the method

Curtis LeMay assumed command of XXI Bomber Command on 20 January 1945. He inherited a force whose high-altitude campaign had not produced the results expected against Japanese aircraft and engine production. Experimental incendiary attacks had already been conducted. LeMay progressively moved toward lower-altitude night operations with larger incendiary loads, taking advantage of weak Japanese night-fighter and anti-aircraft defence while reducing the fuel and formation problems associated with very high altitude. The doctrinal break was completed in the planning for the 9–10 March Tokyo raid. The selected target was a densely…

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