http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/19.htm
November 19th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Fighter Command: A Bristol Beaufighter Mk I of 604 Squadron, based at Middle Wallop, Hants, claims the first enemy aircraft shot down at night using AI Mk IV radar, a Ju88.
RAF Coastal Command: Over the Atlantic a Sunderland flying boat use air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radio-location gear for the first time to detect a U-boat nearing a convoy.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Fontenoy sunk by German aircraft off Lowesoft.
Corvette HMS Collingwood commissioned.
Corvettes HMS Freesia and Hollyhock commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler tells Spanish Foreign Minister Serano Suner to make good on an agreement for Spain to attack Gibraltar. This would seal off the Mediterranean and trap British troops in North Africa. But the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, did not want to commit his country to the war, even as he allowed German subs to refuel in Spanish ports and German spies to keep tabs on British naval forces in Gibraltar and he had instructed Suner to stall for time. (Jack McKillop).
POLAND: Warsaw: The German authorities execute a Pole for throwing bread over the wall of the Jewish ghetto.
SWITZERLAND: The government bans the pro-Nazi Swiss National Movement.
ITALY: Rome: Mussolini addressing Italian authorities blames the war exclusively on England for refusing all of Germany’s attempts for a rapprochement.
He is adamant that Italy will defeat Greece despite the British intervention.
GREECE: The Italians are driven back behind the River Kalamas.
RAF No. 80 Squadron, equipped with Gladiator Mk. II biplane fighters, arrives at Trikkala from Egypt. This is the third RAF squadron to arrive in Greece. (Jack McKillop)
ALBANIA: The Duce announces the occupation of Erseka by the Greek Army. Erseka is a vitally strategic point as it can cut off all communication and transport and will allow the Greeks a speedy advance into Koritsa. (Steven Statharos)
EGYPT: Four Gladiator Mk. II biplane fighters of the Australian No. 3 Squadron, based at Mersa Matruh, are attacked by 18 Italian CR-42 Falco biplane fighters. The RAAF pilots claim six Italian aircraft shot down with the loss of one Gladiator and its pilot. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The US Navy places a production contract for the Consolidated PB2Y Coronado, flying boat. In all 210 are built.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0051hrs Kptlt Schepke on U-100 sighted a British convoy. Three hours later U-47 reached the reported convoy and fired five torpedoes, but all missed. (Dave Shirlaw)
ARCTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-104 reports for the last time today when about 84 nautical miles (155 kilometers) west of Bergen, Norway, in approximate position 60.30N, 02.30E. She is never heard from again and all 47 crewmen are listed as lost. There is a possibility that she was lost to mines from minefield SN 44 which was laid on 8 November northwest of Tory Island as her last reported position was very close to that field.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 446 November 19, 1940
12 miles off the coast of East Anglia, German bombers attack a convoy in the North Sea damaging 3 freighters and sinking minesweeping trawler HMT Fontenoy. Sloop HMS Lowestoft shoots down a Heinkel bomber.
British cruiser HMS York arrives at Suda Bay, Crete, disembarking a battalion of troops to reinforce the garrison there.
Overnight, England’s second largest city Birmingham is bombed. 357 German aircraft drop 403 tons of high explosive bombs and 810 incendiary canisters. At the same time, RAF bombers attack the Skoda armament plant at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, doing little damage. The Skoda works will remain undamaged until almost the end of the war. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/23/a6743423.shtml