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WWII On This Day: November 20

What happened on November 20 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1941 and 1942, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
Leningraders queue for water in December 1941 after the city's utilities had begun to fail during the first siege winter.
Leningraders queue for water in December 1941 after the city's utilities had begun to fail during the first siege winter. RIA Novosti archive #907 / Boris Kudoyarov · CC BY-SA 3.0 Source
The Siege of Leningrad

Bread falls to 125 grams

Industrial workers received 250 grams of bread per day. Employees, dependants and children received 125 grams. The ration remained at this minimum until 25 December. Electricity generation, heating, water and public transport were also collapsing as winter intensified.

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Modern schematic of the Road of Life system in November and December 1941, showing the changing supply routes across Lake Ladoga.
Modern schematic of the Road of Life system in November and December 1941, showing the changing supply routes across Lake Ladoga. VT1978 / Germash19 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Source
The Siege of Leningrad

The ice route carries its first cargo

A convoy of sledges and carts crossed from the western shore toward Kobona. The first flour shipment reached Osinovets on 21 November while engineers continued marking and testing the route.

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1942
Red Army soldiers carrying a Soviet flag through the ruins of Stalingrad in 1943.
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R76619 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of Stalingrad

Stalingrad Front opens the southern pincer

Stalingrad Front began its attack on 20 November after Yeremenko delayed the opening for several hours because fog prevented effective coordination and air support. Once the assault began, 57th and 51st Armies broke through the Romanian VI Corps along the lake chain south of Stalingrad. Mobile corps passed through the breach and turned northwest toward Sovetskiy and Kalach. Other Soviet forces protected the southern shoulder, allowing the mobile formations to keep moving toward the northern pincer while bypassing retreating Romanian units. Fourth Panzer Army lacked a reserve capable of sealing…

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Bombs falling around Grand Harbour during an Italian air raid over Malta, 19 June 1941.
Central Archives of the State, Italy · photographer unknown · public domain in Italy
Malta: Air Siege and Convoy War

Stoneage restores the supply route

All four merchant ships of Operation Stoneage reached Grand Harbour at about 01:30 on 20 November. The convoy had sailed from Alexandria under escort at a moment when the strategic map around Malta was changing rapidly: the Eighth Army was advancing west after El Alamein, Torch had put Allied forces in French North Africa, and Axis airfields and naval routes were being pushed farther from the island. Stoneage marked a practical end to the siege supply crisis. Malta still faced air attack and the Mediterranean war continued, but convoys could…

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