Air Operations, Aleutians

16 28th Composite Group bombers and 28 343rd Fighter Group fighters mount 7 separate attacks against Kiska and Little Kiska. 4 P-38s are damaged by ground fire.

Air Operations, Algeria

A 350th Fighter Group P-39 downs a Ju-88 near Algiers at 1530 hours.

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Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s and B-24s mount pre-dawn and early-morning attacks against the harbor and airfields at Rabaul.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Penfoei, Timor, in the early evening.

Air Operations, Europe

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to Hamburg, 3 to Duisburg, 16 Wellingtons lay mines off Lorient and Brest and there are 14 OTU sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Wellington is lost.

RCAF 420 Snowy Owl Squadron - On June 26, 1943, safely makes an eight and half hour flight in a Wellington X from Hurn, England to Ras El Ma in Morocco to join the squadron.

RCAF 420 Snowy Owl Squadron

• Of 123 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s and 5 YB-40s sent on a late-afternoon mission against Villacoublay Airdrome, a total of only 17 B-17s attack an aircraft-industry plant at Villacoublay or Poissy Airdrome. 39 of the 42 B-17s sent by the 305th and 306th Heavy Bomb Groups attack their primary, Tricqueville Airdrome.

• All 81 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s sent to attack Le Mans Airdrome abort before reaching the target.
• 5 B-17s are lost, 14 damaged; 1 crewman is killed, 3 wounded, 51 missing
• Between 1850 and 1915 hours, while escorting withdrawing heavy bombers, 4th and 56th Fighter Group P-47s are engaged over Dieppe by FW-190s and Bf-109s. 4 victories are confirmed.
• 4 P-47s are lost along with their pilots

Air Operations, Mediterranean

A Spitfire with the 52nd Fighter Group downs 1 FW-190 and damages another north of Pantelleria at 1700 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-17s and B-24s mount pre-dawn and early-morning attacks against Lae. Later, V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfield at Lae and Salamaua.

Air Operations, Solomons

XIII Fighter Command P-38s strafe Rekata Bay.

Eastern Front

As another month ebbs away in relative inactivity the offensive has still not begun. Hoth, commmanding 4th Panzer Army, observes that the chance of success decreases with every passing day.

Death by Buillotine for Telling a Hitler Joke

Germany: Berlin war widow Marianne Elise Kürchner, who worked at an armaments factory, is put to death by guillotine for telling a Hitler joke. The joke... Hitler and Göring are standing atop the Berlin radio tower. Hitler says he wants to do something to put a smile on Berliners' faces. So Göring says, "Why don't you jump?" Marianne Elise Kürchner was called up before the People's Court, whose president, Roland Freisler, was famous for both his long raving speeches berating defendants, and his death sentences. She admitted to telling the joke but said she hadn't been herself at the time, feeling bitter about the recent loss of her husband at the front. Freisler would have none of it and she was immediately sentenced to the guillotine.

New Guinea

MacKechnice Force, assembled at Morobe where a supply depot has been established, prepares for an amphipious move 15 miles north to Mageri Point. This action is preparatory to a combined operation in Nassau Bay.

Occupied France

Brig Claude Nicholson, the heroic defender of the Calais Citadel during the Dunkirk Evacuation, dies in a German PoW camp at the age of 44.

Occupied Yugoslavia

A new Yugoslav Cabinet is formed under Trajan Trifunovich.

Pacific

• The US submarine Jack (SS-259) attacks a Japanese convoy, sinking the transports Shozan Maru (5859t) and Toyo Maru (4163t) off Hachijo Jima, southern Honshu. Although damaged by a Japanes aerial bomb in counter-measures, Jack remains on patrol.
• The US submarine Runner (SS-275) sinks the Japanese army cargo ship Shinryu Maru (4936t) off Matsuwa Island, Kuriles.

United States, Home Front

Dr Karl Landsteiner, the discoverer of blood-groups, dies at age 75.