Air Operations, Carolines

• 30 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
• During the night, VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• Several 10th Air Force P-40s attack targets around Mogaung.

• 43 14th Air Force P-40s attack Japanese Army troops, Yangtze River traffic, and occupied villages in the Tungting Lake region.

• 21 10th Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the seaplane base at Halong, Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• 221 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 5 Groups carry out Bomber Command's first daylight raid since May 1943. The targets are the fast German motor-torpedo boats (E-boats) and other light naval forces harbored at Le Havre which are threatening Allied shipping off Normandy only 30 miles away. The raid takes place in 2 waves. Most of the aircraft in the first are from No. 1 Group and the second from No. 3 Group. Pathfinders provide marking for both raids by their usual methods. The naval port is accurately bombed by both waves with 1,230 tons of bombs. Few E-boats escape damage. No. 617 Squadron sends 22 Lancasters, each loaded with a 12,000lb tallboy, and 3 Mosquito marker planes to attack the concrete-covered E-boat pens just before the first wave. Several hits are scored on the pens and 1 bomb penetrates the roof.
• The raid is regarded as an experiment by Sir Arthur Harris, who is still reluctant to risk his squadrons to the dangers of daylight operations, but both waves of the attack are escorted by Spitfires of No. 1 Group.
• Only 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 337 aircraft of Nos. 4, 5 and 8 Groups attack German troop and vehicle positions at Aunay-sur-Odon and Évrecy, near Caen. In this total are 223 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes and 14 Mosquitos. The raids are prepared and executed in great haste in response to an army report giving the details of the presence of major German units. The weather is clear and both targets are successfully bombed.
• There are no losses.
• 330 aircraft of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack railways at Cambrai, Douai and St Pol. All the targets are either partially covered in cloud or affected by haze and the bombing is not completely concentrated or accurate. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost, the Lancaster being the Master Bomber's aircraft at Douai.
• 35 Mosquitos are sent to hit the Scholven/Buer oil plant. A German report says that 3 bombs fell in the plant area and that 3 civilians outside the factory are killed.
• There are no aircraft losses.

• 12 Stirlings lay mines off French ports, 10 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 19 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols and 8 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s are attacked by 20 Japanese fighters while on a photo-reconnaissance mission over the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Marianas

• US warships and carrier aircraft continue to attack pre-invasion targets, especially on Saipan.
• A VF-50 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 0830 hours.
• A VF-16 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Saipan at 1255 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-39s attack the Wewak area.
• A-20s attack the airfield at Babo, and a bridge, fuel dumps, and other targets along the Orai River.
• 348th Fighter Group P-47 glide bombers destroy several bridges across the Orai River.

Air Operations, Pacific

(15th? or 13th?) The first B-29 Superfortress raid on Japan takes place. 48 planes carry out an ineffective night attack on the Yawata iron and steel works from bases in China. 4 planes are lost.

Britain, Command

The appointment is announced in London of Adm Sir Henry Moore to be Commander of the British Home Fleet.

Burma

The Chinese and American forces continue to attack Myitkyina. The Japanese counterattack, taking advantage of the gaps they have opened between the enemy units to create little pockets, but they do not succeed in wiping these out. A part of the 3rd Indian (Chindit) Div is ordered to reinforce the Sino-American force, but cannot reach them because of the flooded condition of the ground and exhaustion of the men. Also, the approaches to the area are strongly defended by the Japanese. In the Mogaung valley the Chinese tighten the ring around Kamaing.

On the Salween front the Japanese reinforce their positions and mount vigorous counterattacks on the outskirts of Lungling, retaking an important bridge.

China

The Japanese capture Liu-yang, increasing the threat to Changsha.

Eastern Front

The Russian 23rd and 21st Armies, Leningrad Front, advance into the Karelian Isthmus after breaching the outher defenses of the Mannerheim line. The Russians break through the 'VT Line' at the village of Kuuterselka. The sole Finnish armored division counterattacks during the night and briefly recaptures the heights near the village, but the Russians recapture them the next morning.

The 23rd and 21st Armies launch a concerted attack upon the second defense line and break through, pushing the Finns back on an 8-mile front.

The OKH confirms that it believes the main Russian attack for the coming summer campaign will be made in the Ukraine, probably against the 4th Panzer Army

Italy

While the German 14th Army under Gen Joachim Lemelsen slowly withdraws, maintaining contact with the enemy with its rearguards, the advance of the American IV Corps in the Tyrrhenian sector of the front continues, north and northeast toward Leghorn and Florence. At the center of the Allied line the South African 6th Arm Div takes Orvieto without opposition. Terni and Todi also fall to units of 8th Army.

Marianas

As Operation FORAGER, the invasion of the Marianas, begins, preliminary bombardments for the invasion of Saipan and Tinian are made. The 2 bombardment groups are commanded by Adms Walden Ainsworth and Jesse Oldendorf and their squadrons include 7 battleships, 11 cruisers and 26 destroyers. There are 8 escort carriers in support. The battleship California (BB-44) is hit by defensive fire from Japanese coastal batteries causing some damage and a number of casualties. There are also intensive minesweeping operations and clearing of underwater obstacles.

New Guinea

Fighting continues on Biak. The Americans manage to get nearer to the Japanese strongpoint based on caves in the west of the island. Gen Horace Fuller is replaced by Gen Robert Eichelberger, Commander of the US I Corps, as Commander of Task Force Hurricane, i.e. the regiments engaged on Biak. The change of command galvanizes the Biak offensive, which has ground to a halt against vicious Japanese resistance in the caves and hills of the island.

Occupied France

De Gaulle appoints administrators for liberated areas.

Western Front

The divisions of the US VII Corps continue to advance in the north and west of the Cotentin peninsula, the 4th Div proceeding along the east coast of the peninsula, the 82nd Airborne, 9th and 90th west of the Merderet River, in an attempt to cut off Cherbourg. On Utah beach, the 79th Div is landed. The newly formed US XIX Corps enters the line between the V and VII Corps. The XIX Corps is made up of the 29th Div, transferred from the V Corps, and the 30th, which occupies the sector between Carentan and Isigny.

In the British sector, intervention by the American 1st Div allows the 7th Arm Div, which is being pushed south by the German armor, to disengage from the enemy and seek safety in the area of Parfourn-l'Eclin. The offensive against Caen is held up for a time both east and west of the Orne River.

Gen de Gaulle visits the beachhead and takes measures to prepare for the restoration of French civil government in the captured territory.

Images from June 14, 1944

US 75-mm Howitzer Crew Firing at Japanese Positions in Myitkyina, Burma, June 1944

General de Gaulle Addressing the Citizens of Bayeux, 14 June 1944

General Charles de Gaulle with General Montgomery at his HQ in France, 14 June 1944

Kurt Meyer (left), Fritz Witt (center)and Max Wünsche (right) in the courtyard of Ardenne Abbey in June 1944. On 14 June, SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt was killed when British naval gunfire hit his command post. Meyer, as the next highest-ranking officer, was promoted to divisional commander; at 33 years of age, he was the youngest German divisional commander of the war.

Kurt Meyer, Fritz Witt and Max Wünsche

British 6-pdr Anti-tank Gun Deployed outside Lingevres, June 14, 1944

German Soldiers Taking Care of British Soldiers of the 50th Division, June 14, 1944

A Canadian Soldier Showing the Impact Location on a Sherman Tank Destroyed at Bayeux. June 14, 1944

A Bulldozer Being Used to Recover a Cromwell Tank that Became Bogged Down on the Beach, 14 June 1944

Paratroopers of 502nd PIR, 101st Airborne Division 'Screaming Eagles' in a German VW type 82 'Kübelwagen' at the crossroads of the street Holgate and RN 13 (actually street of the 101st Airborne), Carentan, Normandy, France. 14 June 1944.

Paratroopers in German Vehicle

Normandy Invasion, June 1944 USS PT-199 speeds past invasion shipping, carrying Admiral Harold Stark, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe, to the Normandy beachhead for an inspection tour, 14 June 1944. A British hospital ship is in the left distance.

USS PT-199 Speeds Past Invasion Shipping

Operations Room of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade, near Creully, France, 14 June 1944

'Phoenix' caissons being emplaced as breakwaters for a 'Mulberry' artificial harbor off the Normandy invasion beaches, 14 June 1944

Building an Artificial Harbor