Air Operations, CBI

• 7 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by 8 23Rd Fighter Group P-40s, attack an Japanese Army-held village in support of Chinese Army ground troops. 8 other B-25s, escorted by 9 P-40s, sent to attack another Japanese-held village accidentally bomb the wrong town and kill 50 Chinese Army soldiers.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s mount a pre-dawn attack against Koepang, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 705 aircraft are sent to Krefeld. Included in the total are 262 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxes, 117 Stirlings, 105 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitos.
• This raid is carried out before the moon period is over and heavy casualty number is caused by night fighters. The raid takes place in good visibility and the Pathfinders produce an almost perfect marking effort. The ground markers dropped by the Oboe Mosquitos are well backed up by the Pathfinder heavies. 619 aircraft bomb these markers with more than three quarters of them achieving bombing photographs within 3 miles of the center of the target. A larger area of fire is created and it rages out of control for several hours. There is heavy damage and a death total fo about 5,000.
• 17 Halifaxes, 9 Lancasters, 9 Wellingtons and 9 Stirlings are lost.

• 1 Mosquito is sent to Hamborn and there are 15 OTU sorties without a loss.

Air Operations, Gilberts

A VII Bomber Command B-24s reconnoiters several islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Lae Airdrome and nearby areas.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Lae and Malahang.
• 8th Fighter Group P-38s down 13 Japanese fighters over Lae and Salamaua between 1100 and 1120 hours.

Air Operations, Solomons

A V Bomber Command B-24 attacks targets of opportunity on Buka Island. A VF-11 F4F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near San Cristobal Island at 1600 hours.

Britain, Policy

The BBC warns Belgians to stay away from industrial plants working for Germany.

Douglas SBD "Dauntless" dive bomber balanced on its nose after crash landing on a carrier flight deck, 21 June 1943.

Dive Bomber Crash Lands on Carrier

Eastern Front

Hitler sets July 3 as the date Operation CITADEL is to begin but soon reschedules this to July 5.

German Tiger IIIs and IVs on the move near Belgorod directly to the south and outside the Kursk salient, June 21, 1943. Their aim: penetrate and eliminate the Kursk salient.

German Tanks Near Belgorod

Germany, Policy

Himmler orders the liquidation of Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Russia. Simultaneously, German execution teams begin carrying out the murder of Jews in the Lwow ghetto. In the next week 20,000 Jews are killed.

SS Chief Himmler orders: 'All Jews who may still be found in ghettos in the Ostland must be confined in concentration camps. All non-essential inhabitants of the Jewish ghettos are to be referred to the East. The reorganization in concentration camps is to be completed by August 1, 1943.' 'Referred to the East' means extermination, although those Jews who can work will be kept alive to serve the German economy. Further to Himmler's orders, a number of ghettos were liquidated: Bialystok in August; Vilna and Minsk in September; and Riga in November. Inexplicably, two ghettos in Lithuania-Kovno (Kaunas) and Shavli (Siauliai) were left intact until mid-1944.

HM King George VI rides with General Montgomery in a staff car between lines of cheering troops during his first visit to Tripoli, 21 June 1943.

King George VI in Tripoli

New Georgia

The US begins its offensive to retake New Georgia

Operation TOENAILS. An air and naval bombardment pounds Japanese positions, while the waters around New Georgia are mined to prevent Japanese reinforcements. The 4th Marine Raider Bn lands at Segi Point at the southern tip of New Georgia. There is no Japanese garrison there and the Marines are reinforced without incident on June 22.

Occupied France

Jean Moulin, a French Resistance leader, is arrested by the Gestapo after he was betrayed.

A woman passenger climbs out of the rear window of a tram in Detroit, Michigan, on June 21, 1943, after a mob halted the car in an effort to remove the black passengers on board during race riots. (AP)

Another Scene From Detroit Race Riot

Police use tear gas to disperse a crowd gathered on the main street of Detroit, Michigan, in an effort to halt race rioting on June 21, 1943. (AP)

Police Using Tear Gas