Air Operations, Mediterranean

British aircraft raid Palermo, Sicily.

Air Operations, North Africa

Italian and German aircraft bomb the Tobruk fortress and the area of Sidi Barrani.

Eastern Front

Rumanian forces take Chersovtsy, just over the Carpathians, and are welcomed enthusiastically by the civilian population, which is Rumanian, on entering the city. The Soviets claim to have carried out successful counterattacks in Latvia and in Belorussia.

In the outskirts of Vitebsk, not far from Smolensk, the 16th Army of Army Group North makes contact with the 9th Army of Army Group Center. The northernmost German army, the 18th, continues its advance north, establishing a line from Lake Peipus through Tartu to Parnu, north of the Gulf of Riga.

The Soviet 52nd and 14th Rifle Divs withdraw to the Litsa River. The German advance toward Salla grinds to a halt in the face of Soviet resistance.

The Luftwaffe's, 54th Fighter Wind shoots down 65 of 73 Soviet bombers that attacked the German bridgehead at Ostrov.

As LVII Panzer Corps holds off an assault by the 22nd Army at Disna, Timoshenko launches his counterattack. The 20th Army stops XXXIX Panzer Corps from taking Vitebsk, and XXIV Panzer Corps is attacked by the 21st Army from Zhlobin. The V and VII Mechanized Corps also engage the XXXIX and XLVII Panzer Corps.

With Red Army forces disintegrating, III, XIV and XLVIII Panzer Corps approach Kiev. To the south, the 17th Army pushes back the Soviet 26th Army, which forces the 12th Army to retrat in Moldavia. To date the Southwestern Front has lost 165,000 killed or missing, 65,700 wounded, 4,400 tanks, 5,800 artillery pieces and 1,200 aircraft.[MORE]

A Scene from the Senno-Lepel Tank Battle

Ecuador-Peru

In a border war, Peru ousts Ecuadorian forces from 2 disputed areas and recaptures Matapalo Island, which had been occupied by Ecuador in 1938. Peruvian aircraft and paratroops are involved in the action. U.S., Argentinian and Brazilian mediators arrange a cease-fire on July 26. (See October 2, 1941)

Peruvian paratroops made the first combat drop in the Western Hemisphere during the 1941 war

First Combat Drop in Western Hemisphere

First Combat Drop in Western Hemisphere

After over a century of border disputes with Ecuador, the Peruvian Army began a massive build up for a final reckoning. With modern tanks from Czechoslovakia and modern artillery and planes from Italy, South America's first unit of paratroopers and a battalion of marines, Peru unleashed its blitzkrieg in July 1941. The war lasted for seven weeks, ending with a crushing Peruvian victory as Ecuador was forced to hand over half of the territory claimed by the Quito government.

Mediterranean

The British submarine Triumph sinks the Italian steamer Ninfea (607t) and its escorting gunboat De Lutti off Benghazi.