Air Operations, EuropeThe Luftwaffe's Dive-Bomber Wing 210 has completed 1,574 sorties since the beginning of BARBAROSSA. Its aircraft have thus far destroyed 915 enemy aircraft (823 on the ground), 165 tanks, 2,136 vehicles and 60 trains. [ | ]Battle of the Atlantic
Diplomatic Relations
Eastern FrontFINLANDThe Army of Karelia reaches Lake Onega at Petrozavodsk, but the Red Army is putting up heavy resistance at Suoyarve and around Lake Yanisyarve. CENTRAL SECTORThe Germans seal the Smolensk Pocket, trapping 700,000 Red Army troops. The Soviets mount a series of desperate attacks to break out from the encirclement, with particularly heavy fighting at Yelnya and in the Yartsevo corridor. In addition, the Soviet 13th, 21st and 28th Armies launch assaults at Gomel, Rudnya and Roslavl against the German southern wing of the pocket.[MORE]
LithuaniaWith German encouragement, the local militia murders 1,500 Jews in Kovno. A report by Einsatzgruppe A states: 'To our surprise it was not easy at first to set any large-scale anti-Jewish pogrom in motion there [in Lithuania]. Klimatis, the leader of the partisan group referred to above... succeeded in starting a pogrom with the aid of instructions given him by a small advance detachment operating in Kovno, in such a way that no German orders or instructions could be observed by outsiders. In the course of the first pogrom during the night of June 25-26, the Lithuanian partisans eliminated more than 1,500 Jews, set fire to several synagogues or destroyed them by other means, and burned down an area consisting of about 60 houses inhabited by Jews. During the night that followed, 2,300 Jews were eliminated in the same way. In other parts of Lithuania similar Actionen followed the example set in Kovno, but on a smaller scale, and including some Communists who had been left behind.' []PhilippinesRoosevelt orders that the Philippine army be entirely incorporated in to the US Army for the duration of the tension with Japan. Gen MacArthur, who has been leading the Filipino forces, is appointed to command the US forces in the area as well. []United States, PolicyThe US government puts the headquarters of the Hawaii sector on alert. Returning to active duty, Gen Douglas MacArthur takes over command of American forces in the Far East and of the Philippines forces. [ | ] |
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[July 25th - July 27th] |