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WWII On This Day: October 20

What happened on October 20 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1942, 1943 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
British artillery bombardment illuminating the night at the start of the Second Battle of El Alamein, 23 October 1942.
Sergeant Gladstone / IWM E 18465 · UK Government public domain (Imperial War Museums)
The Second Battle of El Alamein

Montgomery completes the assault arrangements

By 20 October 1942 the Eighth Army had concentrated infantry, tanks, artillery and ammunition behind the El Alamein front. Montgomery chose an opening attack in the northern sector where XXX Corps would force passages through the mine belts. The assault required mine-clearance parties, infantry objectives and armoured columns to follow a common timetable. Axis defenders had placed guns where they could cover the narrow approaches, and the British command had to preserve enough strength to renew the attack if its first passage became blocked.

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1943
Children affected by the Bengal famine on a Calcutta street in a photograph published by The Statesman on 22 August 1943.
The Statesman, Calcutta, 22 August 1943 · public domain in India
The Bengal Famine

Wavell takes office with the food crisis as an immediate priority

Archibald Wavell took office as Viceroy in October 1943 after serving as Commander-in-Chief, India. His early private correspondence described the food situation as his first priority and recorded alarming medical conditions in Bengal. The change placed a former senior military commander at the centre of the Government of India during the famine’s most severe period. Wavell could press the central administration and military authorities to support provincial relief and transport. His arrival did not erase earlier delays, but it altered the tempo of central intervention as the government prepared a…

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A destitute mother and child on a Calcutta pavement during the Bengal famine of 1943-44.
Kalyani Bhattacharyee and Manoj Sarbadhikar / Bengal Speaks, Servants of Bengal Society · Public domain
World War II Famines

Wavell takes office and presses for imports and relief

Archibald Wavell was sworn in as Viceroy on 20 October 1943, after famine mortality had already reached catastrophic levels. He pressed London for substantial grain imports and pushed the administration toward more active relief. Military transport and organisation were increasingly used to improve distribution. Mortality declined as the 1943 harvest arrived, imports increased and relief improved, so no single intervention can be credited with ending the famine.

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1944
LVT-4 Alligator amphibious vehicles pass Terrapin amphibious vehicles near Terneuzen during the Battle of the Scheldt, 13 October 1944.
Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada · 13 October 1944 · Public domain in Canada · Source
The Battle of the Scheldt

Operation Suitcase

The 4th Canadian Armoured Division and British 49th Division attacked north of the Scheldt sector on 20 October to widen the corridor and force the Germans away from the eastern flank of the Beveland approach. The operation connected with the broader British offensive in North Brabant and reduced pressure on the 2nd Canadian Division before its advance onto South Beveland.

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