Air Operations, Carolines

41 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force A-36s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Mogaung.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Lanchi and the Chuchou area, large Japanese Army troop concentrations at Fenglinpu and Shanglishih, troop-carrying barges at Changsha, supply boats at Yoyang, and military targets at Ichang.
• A 76th Fighter Squadron P-51 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter near Kiatow in the morning and 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 2 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters in an engagement near Changsha at 0820 hours.

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

Air Operations, Central Pacific

A VB-109 PB4Y based at Eniwetok sinks a Japanese submarine at sea.

Air Operations, Europe

• 317 aircraft of Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 8 Groups attack railway targets at Aulnoye, Montdidier and St Martin l'Hortier. Included in the total are 196 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes and 19 Mosquitos. All targets are covered by cloud and the Master Bombers at Aulnoye and Montdidier order their forces to stop bombing after only 7 and 12 planes had dropped their loads respectively. 87 aircraft of No. 4 group bomb the St Martin l'Hortier target, but results are unknown. 1 Lancaster is lost on the Montdidier raid.
• 90 Halifaxes, 19 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups bomb a site at Oisemont near Abbeville, but results are unknown.
• No aircraft is lost.

• 30 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 4 to the Scholven/Buer oil plant, 8 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes lay mines in the Channel Islands, 12 Halifaxes are on Resistance operations, 54 Mosquitos are on Serrate, Intruder and flying-bomb patrols and there are 10 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• During the morning, of 332 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s dispatched against various Luftwaffe airdromes, 168 attack their assigned targets, 18 attack an unassigned airdrome, 31 attack an unassigned rail bridge, and 15 attack various other targets of opportunity.
• 2 B-17s are lost
• Escort for the 8th Air Force morning mission is provided by 427 VIII Fighter Command fighters. Also, 99 VIII Fighter Command P-38 fighter-bombers attack rail bridges at two locations.
• 5 fighters are lost with their pilots
• During the afternoon, 274 2nd and 3rd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Angers, Laval, and Tour Airdromes as well as two auxiliary fields.
• 1 B-24 is lost
• 270 VIII Fighter Command P-47s and P-51s escort the 8th Air Force B-24s.
• 49 P-38s and 39 P-47s attack rail bridges at two locations.
• 47 P-47s escort the P-38 and P-47 fighter-bombers.
• 3 VIII Fighter Command fighters and their pilots are lost
• During the course of numerous small engagements between 1345 and 1930 hours, VIII Fighter Command and 9th Air Force fighters down 17 Luftwaffw fighers.

• 265 IX Bomber Command B-26s attack fuel dumps, a rail line, and a bridge.
• 9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers mount more than 1,300 tactical sorties against an array of ground targets in and around the Normandy battle area.

• Most of the 12th and 15th Air Force units are grounded by bad weather, but 12th Air Fokrce B-26s attack a bridge, A-20s attack an ammo dump, and fighter-bombers attack several gun emplacements, a few bridges, and some coastal shipping. Support is also provided to an invastion of Elba Island by Free French Army forces.

Air Operations, Japan

12 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s cover a US Navy surface force that bombards installations at Kurabu Cape in the Kurile Islands.

Air Operations, Marianas

• Task Group 58.2 and Task Group 58.3 withdraw from combat operations to refuel at sea while Task Group 58.4, freshly returned from the Bonins and Volcanos, mounts a 35-plane strike against the Pagan airfield.
• Due to the impending threat from the Japanese Navy’s 1st Mobile Fleet, aircraft from the fleet carriers and light carriers are diverted from planned ground-support missions to search for Japanses carriers as well as neutralize Japanese airfields on Guam and Rota. The US escort-carrier air groups remain on station at Saipan in sole support of the US troops ashore.
• Several VMO-2 and VMO-4 OYs are launched from the escort carriers USS Fanshaw Bay and USS White Plains to one of the landing beaches and a temporary beachside landing strip, from which they immediately begin mounting artillery-observation missions for the US Marine Corps divisions ashore on Saipan.
• A VF-10 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea 35 miles from Task Force 58 at 1325 hours.
• A VF-14 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 1640 hours.
• VC-65 FMs down a Ki-21 'Sally' bomber and an A6M Zero at sea 30 miles from the task force between 1644 and 1651 hours. Escort carrier FMs down 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers, 3 B5N 'Kate' torpedo bombers, and 1 Ki-61 'Tony' fighter near Saipan at 1850 hours.
• At about 1750 hours, 5 B6N 'Kate' torpedo bombers and 1 J1N 'Irving' twin-engine night fighter based at Truk attack a group of large US landing craft east of Saipan. One troop-carrying LCI is mortally damaged by an aerial torpedo and 3 of the 'Kates' are shot down by antiaircraft fire.
• At about 1830 hours, 17 D4Y 'Judy' dive bombers, 31 A6M Zeros, and 2 P1Y 'Galaxy' bombers based at Yap damage an LST off Saipan and then attack the Task Force 52 escort carriers between 1850 and 1912 hours. 46 FMs are dispatched on an incorrect vector and miss the attack force, but ships’ gunners down several D4Ys and both P1Ys. Nevertheless, the USS Fanshaw Bay is seriously damaged by a bomb that kills 11 sailors and causes the ship to list. One returning VC-4 FM that is shot up by friendly antiaircraft gunners and then attacked by 4 other FMs makes an understandably bad landing aboard the USS White Plains that leads to the loss of 6 other FMs. In addition, 2 flight-deck crewmen are lost in operational accidents during post-battle night landings.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighters attack the airfield at Babo.
• B-25s, A-20s, and fighters attack the Wewak area.
• Escorted by 68 8th and 475th Fighter group P-38s that refuel at the Wakde airfield, 35 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s based at Hollandia attack Japanese shipping near Sorong.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Catalina 'D' of No 333 Squadron RAF sights U-423 on the surface and attacks with six depth charges. The attack is a perfect straddle and the U-boat sinks in six minutes.

U-423 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Klaus Hacklander Location North Sea Cause Air attack Casualties 53 Survivors None

U-123 Class Type IXB CO Kapitänleutnant Horst von Schroeter Location Bay of Biscay Cause Scuttling Casualties None Survivors None

• Despite being a relatively new boat, U-123 is written off because she needed spares for her battery which could not be supplied locally. Since there was no future of the large Type IX submarine in the inshore campaign being fought in the Channel, she is written off and her crew redistributed.

Burma-China-India

On the Salween front the Chinese 87th and 88th Divs are ordered to withdraw in the area of Lungling.

In India where the British and Indians have resumed the offensive, the British have had 2,700 dead and 10,000 wounded since March 4, the Japanese about 30,000 dead.

China

Chinese forces fall back from the city of Changsha, which the Japanese begin to occupy. The third Battle of Changsha, as it will come to be known, is significant in that the Chinese won the first two battles in 1939 and 1941 and Changsha came to represent a point beyond which the Japanese could not penetrate. That they have indicated the determination of the Japanese to seize Hunan Province.

Iceland

The independent republic of Iceland is founded with Sveinn Bjöornsonn as president after a plebiscite with 97% in favor. The union with Denmark is ended.

Italy

On the main front the Polish II Corps replaces the British X Corps on the Adriatic sector. Sudden violent rain slows down the movements of the British X Corps; however, where a bridge has been completed over the Tiber about 3 miles north of Todi, the advance on Perugia continues along both banks of the river. Southeast of Perugia the 8th Div meets stiff resistance by the Germans.

Marianas

The US 27th Inf Div is landed on Saipan to reinforce the American advance there. The Marine divisions make some progress to both north and south, but cannot advance into the interior against the tenacious Japanese resistance. The aircraft of Task Force 58 do not give their usual support to the operations for they are engaged in the neutralization of Guam and in looking for the Japanese Fleet.

Mediterranean

In Operation BRASSARD the French 9th Colonial Div (Senegalese), of the French Expeditionary Corps led by Gen de Lattre, lands on Elba from 37 PT boats which penetrate dense minefields. They complete the occupation of the island on June 19.

New Guinea

On Biak the US 186th and 162 Regts occupy a hill overlooking the Japanese strongpoint in the island's western caves.

Pacific

• The Japanese submarine RO-117 is sunk by US naval land-based aircraft (VB-109) from Eniwetok.
• The US submarine Hake (SS-256) attacks a Japanese convoy en route from Palau to Davao and sinks the transport Kinshu Maru (5591t) about 65 miles southeast of Davao. Later in the day, the US submarine Flounder (SS-251) attacks the same convoy sinking the recovery ship Nipponkai Maru (2681t) south of Mindanao.

Western Front

The 9th Div, US VII Corps, launches a powerful offensive in the direction of Carteret, on the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula. During the night a column reaches Carteret, cutting off Cherbourg and the northern part of the peninsula. Rommel wants to evacuate the peninsula, but Hitler refuses even to discuss abandoning it. Rommel has no alternative but to order the divisions in the north, 709th, 243rd, 91st, 77th, to sacrifice themselves for Cherbourg. The rest of the German LXXXIV Corps of Gen Friedrich Dollman's 7th Army is deployed in defense of the base of the Cotentin peninsula.

Hitler brusquely summons Rommel and von Rundstedt and Hitler to Margival, near Soissons, and Hitler flies into one of his rages. He says the army in the West has 'let itself be caught in its sleep' and accused the soldiers of cowardice. Rommel tries to argue, pointing out the disproportion between the Allies' numbers and those of the Germans, and again suggests evacuating the Cotentin peninsula. But Hitler will not give way. At the same time as the capture of Carteret, the 82nd Aiborne Div, now under the command of the VIII Corps, is ordered to establish a bridgehead on the right bank of the Douve River at Pont l'Abbé.

In the XIX Corps sector the 29th Div, advancing on St Lô, is engaged in a hard battle by the German 3rd Parachute Div.

Images from June 17, 1944

Sherman Tanks Moving Up

Cromwell Tank Crew of 4th County of London Yeomanry

French Troops Landing on Elba

25pdr Field Guns in Action

Tank Crew of 4th County of London Yeomanry

5th Battalion Welsh Guards Moving Up

Camouflaged British Commando Snipers Get Final Instructions

French Chaplain Gives Sacrament of Last Rites

Camouflaged Priest 105mm Self-propelled Gun

6th Airborne Division's Area

A Wrecked German SdKfz 250 Half-track

336 Battery at Douvre Radar Station