Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group bombers and 343rd Fighter Group fighters and fighter-bombers mount preinvasion strikes against Kiska throughout the day.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

A V Bomber Command B-24 on an armed-reconnaissance mission sinks a Japanese freighter near Kavieng.

Air Operations, Europe

The Luftwaffe sends a 70-plane night raid on Plymouth. Other bombers attack 'military installations' in Bournemouth.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne and Duisburg, 23 Wellingtons lay mines off Brest, Lorient and St Nazaire, and there are 19 OTU sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Wellington is lost and 1 OTU Wellington goes down in the sea.

• NASAF B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Terni.
• NASAF B-25s attack bridges spanning the Angitola River.
• NASAF B-26s and P-38s attack the bridge at Catanzaro.

Air Operations, Japan

9 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s based at the airfield on Attu attack Paramushiro Island, the Kashiwabara airfield there, and the Kataoka naval base with high-explosive and incendiary bombs. 40 A6M Zeros attack the bombers, but there are no losses.

Air Operations, Sicily

• NATAF fighter-bombers provide close tactical support for landings by US Army forces at Orlando.
• NAAF and IX Bomber Command medium bombers and IX Fighter Command P-40s support British 8th Army ground forces attacking in the Randazzo area.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s attack shipping at Messina and Milazzo, Axis troop concentrations awaiting evacuation to the Italian mainland, and a train near Messina.
• Only 3 Axis aircraft are encountered and downed in the theater, all during afternoon missions.

Air Operations, Solomons

5 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack supply dumps.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-468 is sighted by Liberator 'D' of No 200 Squadron RAF. The U-boat puts up a barrage of flak which sets the aircraft on fire before it begins its attack. Six depth charges are dropped with perfect accuracy sinking the U-boat before the aircraft crashed with the loss of the entire crew.

U-468 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Klemens Schamong Location Atlantic, SW of Dakar Cause Air attack Casualties 42 Survivors 7

U-525 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Hans Joachim Drewitz Location Atlantic, NW of the Azores Cause Air attack Casualties 54 Survivors None

• The German submarine U-525 is sunk by aircraft (VC-1) from the US escort carrier Card (CVE-11) in the North Atlantic area.
• The German submarine U-604 is damaged by US naval land-based aircraft (VB-129 and VP-107) and the US destroyer Moffett (DD-362) in the South Atlantic area. It is later scuttled.

U-604

Eastern Front

The Russian Voronezh Front under Vatutin, the Steppe Front under Konev and the Southwestern front under Malinovsky continue to close on Kharkov, which has already been by-passed in the northwest by the capture of Akhtyrka. The Soviets manage to cut the Poltava-Kharkov railroad about 30 miles west of Kharkov. Von Manstein stands up to the enemy maneuvers with considerable skill, but skill is not enough to repulse troops who are numerous, well armed, and - since Stalingrad and Kursk - convinced of their ability to win.

Lead elements of the 1st Tank Army reach Vysokoplye and after a hard fight take the town. However, late in the day the III Panzer Corps counterattacks and retakes the town.

As fighting continues at Olshany, the Germans bring up elements of the XXIV Panzer Corps. At this point Zhukov orders the 5th Guards Tank Army to call off its attack. The 6th Guards Army deploys southwest of Bogodukhov in order to stiffen the right wing of 1st Tank Army.

Orders are issued for the fortification of the East Wall. Hitler's belated instruction calls for a line of fortifications from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea.

Royal Artillery in Action

English Channel

5 German MTBs are hit by British fighter-bombers.

Mediterranean

The British submarine Parthian becomes missing in the Adriatic, possibly a casualty of a mine.

Pacific

The US freighter Matthew Lyon (7176t) is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-11 as she is sailing for Espiritu Santo. She reaches her destination under her own power with only 1 injury on board.

Sicily

Allied aircraft supporting the 15th Army Group are concentrating on enemy movements and evacuation points with good effect as enemy withdraws at a rapid rate from Sicily to Italian mainland.

In the US 7th Army's II Corps area, as a result of the successful amphibious operation on coast during the previous night, the 3rd Division overruns Naso with little difficulty and the enemy retires eastward beyond Patti. The 9th Division presses closer to Randazzo, passing 39th Infantry through the 4th on Highway 120. The 60th Infantry continues toward Floresta on the northern flank of the 9th Division.

In British 8th Army area, Gen Montgomery, anxious to prepare for the imminent invasion of Italy, orders the 91st Division to relieve the 5th Division and XXX Corps Headquarters to take over duties of the XIII Corps Headquarters on August 13.[MORE]

Solomons

Adm Halsey issues instructions for the next stage of operations in the central Solomons. Task Force 31, under command of Rear-Adm Theodore S. Wilkinson, who replaced Rear-Adm Turner on July 15, is to land units of the 25th Div on Vella Lavella with the task of occupying the Japanese air and naval bases. This will neutralize and by-pass the Japanese garrison at present on Kolombangara. This is the first application of the 'island-hopping' tactics which the Americans are often to use in future operations. In New Georgia long-range guns are to be sited along the northwest coast to shell the Japanese positions on Kolombangara.

Japanese Magnet Mine