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• Weather data for 20 Aug 1944

• USS Segundo completed taking on ammunition and supplies for a war patrol. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki was assigned to Destroyer Division 30 of Escort Squadron 31 of the Combined Fleet as the division's flagship under Captain Seiji Sawamura. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• French resistance fighters liberated Toulouse, France. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]
• At Falaise, France, Major David Currie became the only Canadian to win the Victoria Cross during the Normandy campaign. In three days of non-stop action, his little force of tanks, self-propelled anti-tank guns and infantry had destroyed seven Panzers, 12 heavy guns and 40 other vehicles, killing more than 1,000 of the enemy and taking 11,000 prisoners. ww2dbase [AC]
• Remy Van Lierde became the commanding officer of No. 164 Squadron RAF. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• The US Liberty ship, SS Richard Montgomery, with a cargo of explosives, ran aground and broke her back on a sandbank off Sheerness, Kent, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Cero arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Blockship Foch was hit by two aerial bombs at the mouth of the Toulon harbor, France. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]
• The Falaise pocket in France began to close around German troops; the Allies captured over 4,000 prisoners of war. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
• US 79th Division reached Seine River above Paris, France. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
• Charles De Gaulle landed at Cherbourg, France. Meeting Dwight Eisenhower later in the day, he convinced the Allied commander that the French capital of Paris should be a priority objective that should not be bypassed. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC, CPC]
• Pierre Laval stepped down as the Prime Minister of France. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Thirteen men of D-1, Unit 5, arrived on board. ww2dbase [Main Article | DS]

• Captain Enpei Kanoka was named the commanding officer of Nachi while the ship was at Kure Naval Arsenal, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 114 was launched. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 136 was completed. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• The keel of landing ship No. 144 was laid down by Kawanami Kogyo. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all 9 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Members of the Armia Krajowa attacked the State Telephone Exchange high-rise building in Warsaw, Poland. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• 2nd Ukrainian Front and 3rd Ukrainian Front launched the Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive into northeastern Romania. The Romanian 3rd Army was broken, while Axis shipping was attacked by Soviet aircraft on the Romanian coast. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC, CPC]

• Three V-1 flying bombs caused 16 deaths in the area around Twickenham Road, Feltham and Studeley Road in Stockwell, both of London, England, United Kingdom. Pilot Officer John Bilodeau RCAF (129 Squadron) flying Mustang III FB395/DV-Y fighter appeared to spin out of low cloud and crash into the sea, this was the squadron's first loss of a pilot whilst combatting the flying bombs. ww2dbase [Main Article | Event | HM]

• USS Kete departed Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

20 Aug 1944 Interactive Map