Air Operations, Aleutians

7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s and 1 B-17 are sent to reconnoiter Attu, Agattu and Kiska, but are deterred by bad weather. 1 Japanese Navy scout plane is downed in the operation.

Air Operations, Europe

In mine-laying operations, 79 Wellingtons and 23 Stirlings are sent to the Frisians. There are no losses.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

British aircraft raid Messina and Reggio Calabria in Sicily.

Arctic

Another 8 ships of PQ-17 are sunk. From July 9 onward stragglers begin to arrive in Russian ports both in singly and in groups. The ships which reach Russian deliver 896 vehicles, 164 tanks, 87 aircraft and 57,000 tons of general cargo. 24 ships are lost altogether, with 3,350 vehicles, 430 tanks, 210 aircraft and 96,000 tons of other equipment. The Germans lose 5 planes. There are no more Arctic convoys until September. PQ-17 has been a disaster.

Although Adm Pound could not know of the restrictive conditions placed by Hitler on the operation of the German heavy ships his decision to order the convoy to scatter had probably been premature. The system of control from the Admiralty has not been to blame. Pound has had all the information and the necessary authority to make such a decision because he has access to the latest intelligence.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-701 is sunk by Army aircraft off the coast of North Carolina.

U-701

Canada, Politics

The Canadian House of Commons votes 158-14 to begin sending draftees overseas.

Eastern Front

The German 6th Army and the 4th Panzergruppe join up northeast of Valuyki and capture Voronezh(?). The Russians, however, hold up the Germans by a violent counterattack just east of the town. Other units of Army Group South, including 6th Army, continue to drive along the Donets Corridor. Meanwhile other units of Army Group South continue with the destruction of the Russian forces in the Don basin.

Russian Marines attempt to seize Someri Island in the Gulf of Finland, but are routed by Finnish naval and air forces on July 9.

The final pockets of resistance in Voronezh are quelled as the 4th Panzer Army completes the conquest of the city. Farther south the 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army link up near Vayluki as another encirclement is concluded. The tally of prisoners is low following the withdrawal of the Southwest Front.

German soldiers posing on Soviet T-34/76 tanks of the XVIII Tank Corps, abandoned by the Russians in Voronezh.

Germans Posing on Abandoned Soviet Tanks

The 1st Panzer and 17th Armies begin their offensives, striking Malinovsky's South Front. Soviet forces again give ground to avoid encirclement, prompting the Germans to believe the Soviets have reached the end of their resources.

Gulf of Mexico

The US tanker Paul H. Harwood (6610t) is torpedoed by U-67 off Southwest Pass, Louisiana. There are no casualties and the ship puts into Burrwood, Louisiana under her own power.

Mediterranean

British aircraft raid targets in southern Italy including Messina and Reggio Calabria.

New Guinea

Australian troops begin a march across the Owen Stanley Mountains in southern Papua. It will take 5 days after which they will take up defensive positions along the Kokoda trail, which snakes from coast to coast across southern Papua.

North Africa

XIII Corps' attack runs out of steam, during the night the 7th Motor Brigade gets behind the enemy lines as far as Fuka, shells the Axis airstrip for 30 minutes before retiring. The 24th Australian Brigade delivers an attack in the area of Ruweisat Ridge but neither action does any real damage.

Grant and Lee tanks of ‘C’ Squadron, 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars, 2nd Armoured Brigade, El Alamein position, Egypt, 7 July 1942.

Grant and Lee Tanks of 2nd Armored Brigade

Pacific

The aircraft carriers Saratoga (CV-3) and Enterprise (CV-6) sail from Pearl Harbor for the South Pacific.

United States, Command

Gen Carl A. Spaatz is appointed to command US air forces in Europe.