Air Operations, Europe

There are RAF night raids on railway targets in Münster, the first of 3 consecutive nights which destroy a quarter of the city, and a power station in Bielefeld. There are heavy civilian casualties.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The British submarine Tigris sinks the Italian submarine Michele Bianchi in the Bay of Biscay. There are no survivors.
• The British auxiliary minesweeper Snaefell is sunk by German bombing off Newcastle with the loss of 1 of her crew.
• U-96 sinks the British troop transport Anselm (5954t) about 300 miles south of the Azores. 4 crewmen and 250 troops are lost on the steamer of a crew of 98 and 1210 troops. The British surveying ship Challenger rescues 970 survivors and the corvette Starwort 240. They are all later transferred to the British armed merchant cruiser Cathay.
• The Swedish steamer Stig Gorthon (2241t) sinks on a mine off Borkum. The entire crew is rescued.
• The British steamer Bencruachen (5920t) sinks on a mine northwest of Mex High Light. 3 of the crew are lost.

Eastern Front

The German 6th Army under von Reichenau breaches the Soviet defense line west of Zhitomir. This area is defended by the Russian 6th and 26th Armies. Von Kleist's 1st Pzr Group begins to move through the gap heading for Berdichev and Zhitomir, southeast and east of Kiev. But the drive is somewhat held back by orders from Hitler. Farther north in the attacks east of Minsk the German advance reaches the Dniepr.

The German advance toward Salla grinds to a hald amid ferocious Soviet defense and difficult conditions. SS Nord is attacking the town frontally, the 169th Infantry Division is attacking from the north and the 6th Finnish Infantry Division from the south. The Finns send up their 14th Infantry Division to support the attack.

The XLI Panzer Corps comes under heavy attack at Ostrov as the XXIV Rifle Corps counterattacks. German fire crushes the assault, however, forcing the battered rifle divisions to fall back.

To the south, the LVI Panzer Corps advances toward Opochka, but finds the going extremely difficult in the trackless forest and marsh that cut across its line of advance.

Schweppenburg's XXIV Panzer Corps succeeds in reaching the Dniepr during the afternoon, moving near the river at the small settlement of Stary Bykhov. The Germans become embroiled in heavy fighting with the retreating elements of Remezov's 13th Army. At the same time, the XXXIX Panzer Corps encounters strong resistance from Kurochkin's 20th Army on the approaches to Vitebsk, the Soviets preventing the early capture of that city. The Soviet V and VII Mechanized Corps also move into the combat line and begin to counterattack in conjunction with the 20th Army, striking the exposed southern wing of the XXXIX Panzer.

The 6th Army and the 1st Panzer Group unleash a fierce attack upon Muzychenko's 6th Army. Furious fighting erupts around Zhitomir where the XIV Panzer Corps fights a bitter battle. To the north the III Panzer Corps pushes closer to the Irpen at Radomyshl.

In Moldavia, Tyulenev's Southern Front begins to abandon its positions west of the Dniestr above Kishinev. The 9th Army continues to hold out around the Moldavian capital against the weaker forces of the LIV Corps.

Ecuador-Peru

While the worlds eyes are turned towards Europe, Ecuador and Peru face each other in open combat.

War Breaks Out Between Ecuador and Peru

Mediterranean

The British submarine Torbay sinks the Italian submarine Jantina south of Melos.