World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Tuesday August 20, 1940
Day 355

August 20, 1940: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 4: "More U-Boat Claims"
(The Germans claimed to have sunk an armed merchantman, Ampleforth, which was true. Ampleforth was sunk by U-101.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of the Birmingham Gazette, Birmingham, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline: "Somaliland Evacuated"
(And now 81 years later we are evacuating Afghanistan, and this time it is not going well.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report in column 4: "Hyderabad's Gift of Hurricanes"
(The fund, started by Mr. B. H. Gidney and the Prime Minister, Sir Akbar Hydari, sent Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, £100,000 to buy aircraft for the defense of the realm.)
Also note the notice in column 6: "Curb Your Curiosity"
(The Home Security Ministry had to issue a warning to people to keep away from air-raid damaged areas. Apparently, sightseers were causing some consternation to the police and other emergency service personnel.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 5: "Bund And Ku Klux Klan Row"
(Some members of the KKK joined those of the German-American Bund for a rally. It turned violent, as one would expect. The surprise is found in paragraph 9. The Imperial Wizard of the KKK in Atlanta described the rally as a "grave mistake" and said it would be suicidal for the Klan and the Bund to be allies. This shows that even the KKK found the Nazis too radical to associate with.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of Haarlem's Dagblad, Haarlem, Netherlands.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the photo at top right: "Their Cross To Bear"
(The wife and daughter of Lance-Corporal Harry Nichols, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The King personally presented the decoration to them in a private ceremony. Two weeks after this photo was published, it was learned that Harry was alive and in a German Prisoner of War camp.)
[See "Young Wife Hears Dead V.C. Is Safe" in The People and "Posthumous Winner of V.C. Still Alive" in the Sunday Telegraph of Sept. 8, 1940.]


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Refugee Ship Bound for U.S. Sunk"
(The unnamed ship was the Empire Merchant, which was sunk Aug. 16 by U-100.)


August 20, 1940: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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August 20, 1940: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Berbera in italienischer Hand!
(Berbera in Italian hands!)


August 20, 1940: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. England Flucht aus Somali.
(England escapes from Somaliland.)
2. Der übliche erfolgreiche Rückzug auf die Schiffe.
(The unsuccessful retreat on the ships.)
3. Churchills "Sieg" in Ostafrika.
(Churchill's "victory" in East Africa.)



   
Page published August 20, 2021