Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Koepang, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 8 Mosquitos carry out a nuisance raid on Berlin.
• 1 Mosquito crashes into the sea.

• 53 of 64 1st Heavy Bomb Wing sent attack the Amiens/Glizy Airdrome about 0745 hours with 83 tons of bombs. 1 381st Heavy Bomb Group B-17 had exploded and crashed during assembly. 6 of the crew are killed in the explosion, 4 are rescued.
• 1 B-17 is lost, 36 are damaged; 6 crewmen are killed, 3 wounded, 10 missing
• 52 of 84 4th Heavy Bomb wing B-17s attack the Paris/Le Bourget Airport with nearly 123 tons of bombs.
• 4 B-17s are lost, 51 are damaged; 16 crewmen are wounded, 41 missing
• 101 of 111 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s and 5 YB-40s attack the Villacoublan Airdrome with more that 232 tons of bombs about 0810 hours.
• 2 B-17s are lost, 68 are damaged; 1 crewman killed, 3 wounded, 21 missing
• Fighter escort is only provided to the extremity of their range on the Amiens/Glisy mission. All 128 operational P-47s of the 4th, 56th, and 78th Fighter Groups are involved. 2 FW-190s are downed, but 3 P-47s are lost.

In an effort to limit the movement of Axis reinforcements and supplies to Sicily a major intensification of the air effort is ordered. During the night, with Naples as the primary target, RAF Wellingtons under NASAF control, attack the Naples area.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• Allied bombing is intensified on the lines of communication leading from the north to the south of the peninsula and the main southern towns. Naples is the principal target.
• Messina is hit by 212 Allied bombers which drop 800 tons of bombs. This Sicilian city is the funnel for Axis reinforcements and supplies from the Italian mainland.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s attack targets around Orodubi.
• 1 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17 attacks Lae.
• P-40s of the 49th Fighter Group’s 7th Fighter Squadron downs 3 D3A 'Val' dive bombers near Salamaua between 0825 and 0845 hours.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NASAF B-17s, B-25s, and B-26s attack Enna, Marsala, Messina, Randazzo, and numerous targets of opportunity all across the island.
• IX Bomber Command B-24s and RAF heavy bombers under IX Bomber Command control attack the rail line, marshalling yards, port facilities, and oil storage at Messina.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack targets around Enna.
• Only 1 Luftwaffe is downed this day, a HS-129 ground-attack plane, by a P-51 of the 68tj Recon Group's 111th Recon Squadron.
• During the night, IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Palermo.

Air Operations, Solomons

A total of 11 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack small craft off New Georgia.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-160 is sunk by aircraft (VC-29) from the escort carrier Santee (CVE-29).

U-160

Eastern Front

Despite the formal order to abandon the battle, Hoth's forces continue to make local efforts in the southern part of the Kursk salient. To the north both of the Soviet pincers make good progress toward Orel. The Voronezh Front, under Vatutin, now goes over to the offensive in the southern sector of the Kursk salient opposite the 4th Panzer Army and the Kempf Operational Group.

Soviet SU-122 ~ Prokhorovka ~ July 14, 1943

German forces in the south of the Kursk salient continue limited offensives. The Grossdeutschland and 3rd Panzer Divs counterattack the Soviet V Guards and X Tank Corps, which have been reinforced by the VI Tank Corps. The German units drive the Soviets back. In addition, the III Panzer Corps and the Das Reich Div wipe out an enemy pocket between the Lipovyi Donets River and the Northern Donets River.

The West Front brings up its 4th Tank Army to add weight to the attacks by 11th Guards Army. In addition the 11th Army moves up from reserve to support the 11th Guards. Bryansk Front moves its 3rd Guards Tank Army up behind the 3rd and 63rd Armies to crush the apex of the German salient. Further heavy fighting rages as the Germans slowly withdraw.

South of Kursk the German attacks are dying down but heavy fighting continues around Prokhorovka. Soviet forces are beginning to launch strong counterattacks, sapping the strength of the exhausted XLVIII Panzer and II SS Panzer Corps.

The XLVIII Panzer Corps counterattacks in an effort to regain Heights 247.0 and 243.0. As the Germans move they are brought under intense arty fire. Soviet attacks from the north and west are beaten off but disrupt the German plan. Despite this the Germans retake Height 243.0.

Indian Ocean

The US freighter Robert Bacon (7197t) is torpedoed and sun by U-178 35 miles off Mozambique Light losing 2 of her 44-man crew in the attack. There are no casualties in the 27-man Armed Guard.

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New Georgia

In an attempt to break the stalemate along the main line of defense, a battalion of the 103rd Infantry Regiment, 43rd Infantry Division, lands at Laiana Beach, arriving from previous operations on Vangunu Island. Tanks from the 9th Marine Defense Battalion also land to support the infantry.

Sicily

A Universal carrier with men of Black Watch on a road near Palazzolo, 14 July 1943.

Universal Carrier of the Black Watch

The American 1st Div enters Mazzarino and Niscemi, while on the outskirts of Vizzini the British 51st Div, with support from the American 45th Div, overcomes forceful resistance by the Axis troops. While the US division is shifted out on to the left sector, the village is taken by a brigade of the 51st Div. The Canadian 1st Div now moves northwest towards Enna. The Germans counter-attack at Augusta. Near Lentini, in the British XIII Corps sector, an attack by the 5th and 51st Divs is now contained by the Axis forces. The British capture Primo Solo Bridge, south of Catania. The paratroopers at Ponte Primasole hold out all day. As the evening falls they run out of ammunition and withdraw over a hill south of the river, where they are joined by the men of the Durham brigade of the 50th Div.

The first issue of the 'Eight Army News' is published in Syracuse edited by Warwick Charlton.

A British Sherman tank in the streets of Francofonte. During 13 – 14 July, XIII Corps, Eighth Army began a major effort to reach Catania. Their efforts were resisted by German paratroops in and around Francofonte who delayed the British advance for two days.

British Sherman in Francofonte

Solomons

Heavy fighting continues in the jungles of New Georgia. New reinforcements and tanks are landed at Laiana.

Trobriand Islands

The Americans complete the construction of the airfield begun by the Seabees immediately after landing.