Air Operations, Carolines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield on Peleliu.
• 39 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
• 26 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack airfields in the Truk Atoll.
• During the night, VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 10th Air Force P-40s attack targets at Mogaung and in northern Burma.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force P-51s, and P-40s attack Japanese Army troop concentrations at Lingpao and near Loyang.
• More than 100 P-40s and P-51s attack numerous targets in the Tungting Lake region.

• More than 30 10th Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, Europe

• 671 aircraft attack communications, mostly railways, at Amiens/St Roch, Amiens/Longueau, Arras, Caen, Cambrai and Poitiers. In this total are 348 Halifaxes, 285 Lancasters and 38 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups. Bomber Command's records state that the Poitiers attack, by No. 5 Group, is the most accurate of the night and that the 2 raids at Amiens and the raid at Arras are of reasonable accuracy. The target at Cambrai is hit, but many bombs also fall in the town. The most scattered attack (also by No. 5 Group) is at Caen.
• 23 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters - are lost from these raids; all being from Nos. 4 and 6 Groups.

A Canadian airman, Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski from Winnipeg, is awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery on the Cambrai raid. His Lancaster, of No. 419 Squadron, is attacked by a night fighter and set on fire and the crew are ordered to abandon the aircraft. Mynarski is about to jump when he sees that the tail gunner is trapped in his turret and he goes through fierce flames to help. The rear turret is so badly it jams and can not be freed and the trapped gunner eventually waves Mynarski away. By the time he leaves the aircraft, Mynarski's clothing and parachute are on fire and he dies while being cared for by French civilians soon after he lands. The tail gunner is fortunate to survive the crash and his report on Mynarski's courage leads to the award of the Victoria Cross. Pilot Officer Mynarski is buried in the small village cemetery at Meharicourt, east of Amiens.

• 303 aircraft carry out the first raid of the new oil campaign, the target being the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen. In this total are 286 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups. The attacks opens with exceptional accuracy owing to the good work by the Pathfinders and to improved versions of Oboe sets now available. Later phases of the bombing are spoiled by the clouds of smoke from the burning target and by a rogue target indicator which falls 10 miles short of the target and is bombed by 35 aircraft. A German industrial report shows that all production at the oil plant ceased, with a loss of 1,000 tons of aviation fuel a day for several weeks, as well as the loss of other fuels.
• 17 Lancasters are lost on the raid.

• 27 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne, 9 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings lay mines off Brest and St Nazaire, 13 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 39 Serrate and 13 Intruder patrols and 3 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

• 8 Truk-based G4M 'Betty' bombers attack the main body of Task Force 58 from 0315 hours to 0415 hours. No damage results from the attack and 1 'Betty' is downed by antiaircraft fire.
• Beginning at dawn, US carrier aircraft mount heavy attacks against the main islands in the Marianas, focusing now on land targets, especially on Saipan. Task Group 58.1, detached from the main body of Task Force 58, will carry out strikes against Guam.
• At least 10—and as many as 14—Japanese ships and numerous fishing vessels are sunk in two separate strikes by Task Group 58.4 aircraft as a convoy attempts to flee from the area, and several other ships are sunk or damaged at or near Saipan. US carrier aircraft also attack a large number of sampans near Pagan Island, because it is believed the sampans are being used to transport troops between islands.
• A VF-50 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea 20 miles from Task Force 58 at 0613 hours. A VF-31 F6F downs another 'Judy' at sea 30 miles from the task force at 0620 hours.
• While covering air attacks and participating in sweeps that commence over Guam at 0630 hours, F6Fs and FMx down 22 Japanese aircraft over Guam and Rota.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Japanese aircraft attack Allied ground forces and shipping at Biak Island. One US destroyer is severely damaged by a bomb.
• 5th Air Force A-20s and P-47s attack the Hansa Bay and Wewak areas.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47 glide bombers destroy several bridges spanning the Orai River.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47s down 7 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bombers and 1 Ki-61 'Tony' fighter near Biak Island between 1030 and 1045 hours.

China

Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung announces his support of Chiang Kai-shek in the war against Japan. Similar declarations have been made before, ant the Communists still jealously guard their own territorial areas in northern China.

Eastern Front

The Finnish 4th Div arrives in the Karelian Isthmus from eastern Karelia.

Germany, Home Front

The first electro-boat, U-2321, is commissioned. It is a Type XXIII, a small coastal submarine, carrying two torpedoes.

Italy

The American IV Corps continues to advance up the Tyrrhenian coast, though now slowed down by growing opposition from motorized units of the German 14th Army. A special group is set up under Gen Rufus Ramey to protect the IV Corps's right flank and maintain contact with units of the French Expeditionary Corps. It is composed of the 9th Squadron of the Reconnaissance Cavalry, the 14th Regt of the US 36th Div and other units.

Marianas

The operations of the US carriers go on. 3 groups continue to attack Tinian and Saipan while the other concentrates on Guam. In response to these assaults the Japanese Fleets sail from Tawitawi and Batjan. The main force from Tawitawi is quickly sighted and reported by an American submarine. Altogether there are 5 fleet carriers, 2 light carriers and 2 seaplane carriers. In support there are 5 battleships and numerous cruisers and destroyers. In every department, therefore, they are outmatched by TF 58. Adm Takeo Kurita leads the Van Force which includes the 2 seaplane carriers, 1 light carrier and 4 of the battleships. Adm Jisaburo Ozawa leads the main force with the remainder of the ships.

The plan for their operation, devised by the Commander in Chief, Adm Soemu Toyoda, intends to cope with their inferiority by relying on the help of land based aircraft from the Marianas and other nearby groups. Unfortunately from the Japanese point of view, the recent and present operations of the American carriers have drastically reduced these land based forces but the local commanders have left their superiors in ignorance of this when such knowledge will in fact prove vital in the coming battle.

The Japanese torpedo boat Otori is sunk during the raid by carrier-based aircraft.

New Guinea

The Japanese still resist doggedly on Biak.

Western Front

The US VII Corps has still not reached the line it was meant to occupy on the first day of landing. However, its units advance both in the Cotentin peninsula and south in the direction of St Lô. On the east coast of the peninsula the 4th Div and elements of the 9th enter Crisbecq, from which the enemy has been forced to withdraw. Azeville is captured by the American 22nd Regt after a massive barrage from land and sea. The 8th Regt tries several attacks against Montebourg but is repulsed by units of the German 243rd Div. Equally unsuccessful is a new attempt by 2 regiments of the 9th Div to continue their advance west of the Merderet River.

Units of the 82nd Airborne Div, reinforced and regrouped, cross the Douve River near Benzeville-la-Bastille, trying to line up with the 101st Airborne Div at Baupte.

In the American V Corps sector the 29th Div crossed the Vire and Taute Rivers but are held up in the area of Monmartin-en-Graignes by determined German defense. The divisions of the V Corps begin the assault toward St Lô; on the left the 1st Div reaches Caumont, on the St Lô-Caen road.

The third wave of divisions is now largely ashore. At this stage there are 326,000 men, 104,000 tons of supplies and 54,000 vehicles from the Allied armies in France.

Images from June 12, 1944

Inspection of the Normandy Beachhead, 12 June 1944

2-inch Mortar, Canadian Scottish Regiment, France, 12 June 1944

US forces and British Army Meet at Caretan, June 12, 1944

Inspecting the Normandy Beachhead, 12 June 1944

Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, chats with Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, on the bridge of a warship (HMS KELVIN) during their voyage across the English Channel en route to General Bernard Montgomery’s Headquarters in Normandy, France, 12 June 1944.

Churchill on the Kelvin

Winston Churchill with Field Marshal Jan Smuts, of the Imperial War Cabinet, (right) and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, CIGS (Chief of the Imperial General Staff), on board the destroyer conveying his party to Normandy, 12 June 1944.

Churchill, Smuts and Brooke on the Destroyer Kelvin

General Sir Bernard Montgomery, commanding 21st Army Group, guides Winston Churchill to his jeep after the Prime Minister had come ashore to begin his tour, 12 June 1944.

Montgomery and Churchill

Winston Churchill lights a cigar in the back of a jeep as he and General Montgomery, commanding 21st Army Group, set out on a tour inland, 12 June 1944.

Montgomery and Churchill Touring Inland

Winston Churchill watching air activity with other senior officers above General Sir Bernard Montgomery’s headquarters, 12 June 1944. Left to right: Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O’Connor, commanding VIII Corps; Churchill; Field Marshal Jan Smuts; Montgomery; Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

Watching Air Activity

More than six hundred German prisoners, the largest number yet to reach this country since the opening of the second front, arrived in England on June 12, 1944. Here they are seen being marched under guard to a prisoners-of-war camp. (AP Photo)

German POWs Arrive in England

American troops moving up to the front lines, right, pass a long line of German prisoners marching back to a holding camp prior to being shipped out of France, on June 12, 1944. (AP Photo)

American Troops Moving Up

A German officer smiles as he is interrogated by American soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy, France on June 12, 1944. (AP Photo/Peter Carroll)

Interrogation by American Soldiers

Top-ranking American officers tour the Normandy beachhead on June 12, 1944. Left to right: General Henry H. Arnold, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall, Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, and Admiral Ernest J. King.

US Brass Tour the Normandy Beachhead

Inspecting the Normandy Beachhead, 12 June 1944

The dedication of Cemetery No 1 (Omaha Beach), 12 June 1944

Two tanks destroyed by Rifleman Ganju Lama, 1st Battalion, 7th Gurkha Rifles, Ningthoukong, India, 12 June 1944.

Two Destroyed Tanks