Air Operations, Europe

There is a 'thousand-bomber' raid on Bremen by the RAF. 1,006 aircraft are sent which include 272 bomber/trainers and 102 Coastal Command machines. 49 are lost. This is the first successful test of 'Gee' blind-bombing equipment against a major target. The Focke-Wulf works are badly damaged and 27 acres of the business district are destroyed. This is the last such raid at this time. The training squadrons must return to normal duty if the future of Bomber Command is not to be seriously disrupted.

• Another major bombing effort is made by Bomber Command. 960 aircraft of all types are sent to hit Bremen. The total includes 472 Wellingtons, 124 Halifaxes, 96 Lancasters, 69 Stirlings, 51 Blenheims, 50 Hampdens, 50 Whitleys, 24 Bostons, 20 Manchesters and 4 Mosquitos. Also added to the force are 102 Wellingtons and Hudsons of Coastal Command and 5 aircraft from the Army Co-Operation Command making a grand total of 1,067 aircraft. Parts of the force are given specific targets. 142 aircraft from 5 Group are to hit the Focke-Wulf factory, 20 Blenheims the A. G. Weser shipyard, and Coastal Command planes are to hit the Deschimag shipyard. All other aircraft are to carry out an area bombing on the town and and dock area.
• Clouds completely cover the target area for the entire 65 minutes the planes are over it. Limited success is gained by the use of Gee which enables the leading bombers to start fires in the right areas. This allows following planes to drop their loads in the right area. 696 crews claim dropping bombs on Bremen. 572 houses are destroyed and 6,108 are damaged. 85 people are killed, 497 are injured and 2,378 are bombed out.
• The assembly shop at the Focke-Wulf factory is completely destroyed, 6 other buildings there are seriously damaged and 11 others are slightly damaged. Damage is also reported at other industrial sites including the Atlas Werke, the Vulkan shipyard, the Norddeutsche Hütte and the Korff refinery as well as 2 large dockside warehouses.

  Avro Lancaster B Mark I, R5620 ‘OL-H’, of No 83 Squadron RAF, leads the queue of aircraft waiting to take off from Scampton, Lincolnshire, on the ‘Thousand-Bomber’ raid to Bremen, Germany. R5620, flown by Pilot Officer J R Farrow and his crew, was the only aircraft to be lost by the Squadron that night.

  Avro Lancaster Waiting to Take Off

  An Avro Lancaster B Mark I of No. 83 Squadron RAF is signalled off on the third ‘Thousand Bomber’ raid, an attack on Bremen, Germany from Scampton, Lincolnshire. The Wing Commander (Flying) gives a green light for take off with his Aldis lamp.

  Avro Lancaster Taking Off

• A total of 48 aircraft are lost on this raid. The biggest losses occurs in 91 Group which loses 23 of the 23 of the 198 Wellingtons and Whitleys it had dispatched. 5 of the 102 planes sent by Coastal Command are also lost.
• In support operations, 31 Blenheims, 21 Bostons and 4 Mosquitos are sent to attack 13 German airfields. The Bostons and Mosquitos involved make the first Intruder flights for these types of aircraft. 2 Blenheims attacking the Venlo and St Trond airfields are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

During the night HALPRO B-24s attack the harbor area at Tobruk.

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force B-25s attack Salamaua.

Allied Planning

Churchill attends a meeting of the Pacific War Council in Washington.

Eastern Front

Since the threat from Sevastopol to their right flank has been virtually eliminated, the Germans attack all along the southern sector with 35 divisions, moving from the Kursk area in the direction of Voronezh. The Soviets retreat from Kupyansk on the Oskol River east of Kharkov.

The final pockets of reistance on the Volkhov are snuffed out as the 2nd Shock Army is destroyed and its commander, Lt-Gen Andrey Vlasov, is now in German hands. The 52nd and 59th Armies abandon their attacks to free the 2nd Shock as the latter force has diintegrated under German attack. The fighting has cost the 3 armies 54,774 killed and missing and 39,977 wounded.

The destruction of Vlasov's army on the Volkhov, and its abandonment by the Soviet High Command were to lead a loyal Soviet general into collaboration with the Nazis. Stalin's disregard for his fellow countrymen bred in Vlassov and thousands of Soviet prisoners a desire to see the end of Communism in Russia. Had Hitler reconized the real valu of men such as Vlassov at this stage of the conflict, the shortages and difficulties of later years might to a large degree have been overcome.

The 6th Army pounds the 38th and 9th Armies, capturing Kupyansk.

North Africa

Although being heavily attacked by the RAF, the Axis forces advance into Egyptian territory towards Mersa Matruh. Gen Auchinleck sacks Gen Ritchie from command of 8th Army and takes direct control of the battle himself. After a thorough examination of the situation he decides to proceed with the withdrawal of his divisions from Mersa Matruh to El Alamein, 96 miles to the east.

Pacific

The destroyer Yamakaze is sunk by the US submarine Nautilus (SS-168) off Honshu, Japan.

United States, Command

Gen Eisenhower is appointed to command US Land Forces in Europe.

United States, Planning

Adm King offers an alternate plan (discussed on June 12) to Gen Marshall for the Pacific offensive. King argues that Adm Nimitz should lead an operation beginning August 1, directed against New Guinea and New Britain, with intermediate objectives in the Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands. King agrees that the 1st Marine Division and at least two carriers be included in the force list. The Southwest Pacific Theater would support with both ships and land-based aircraft to augment the navy and marine units. The islands captured would be occupied by MacArthur's infantry divisions. MacArthur would support the offensive with diversionary attacks against the island of Timor in the Netherlands East Indies. Gen Marshall argues that King's pland for an offensive in the Solomons, which lin in the Southwest Pacific, should be under Gen MacArthur's command as CinCSWPA. King, desiring an offensive to begin as quickly as possible, does not want to be troubled by arbitrary lines that divide up the geography. He asserts that Nimitsas CinCPac be designated commander for the operation.

Adm King, CominCh, orders CinCPac (Adm Nimitz) and ComSOPAC (Adm Ghormley) to prepare for offensive operations in the southern Solomons. The initial objectives were to be Santa Cruz and Tulagi Islands. Marines are to be the ground forces involved, with army forces in Australia acting as follow-on forces. D-day for the operation is set for August 1. Nimitz notifies Adm Ghormlay, commander of the South Pacific Area, to begin preparations.

The only survivor out of the six land-based Avenger torpedo bombers at the Battle of Midway, 25 June 1942.

Land-Based Avenger Torpedo Bomber