Air Operations, Carolines

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

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Mogaung and Myitkyina.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force P-40s attack Yoyang and shipping in the Siang-Chiang River delta.
• P-51s and P-40s attack an estimated 100 supply boats on lower Tungting Lake.
• P-51s and P-40s strafe a village near Changsha and Japanese Army cavalry between Changsha and Siangyin.
• 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters near Changsha at 0830 hours.
• A 449th Fighter Squadron P-38 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Anking during a late-morning engagement.
• A 51st Fighter Group P-40 downs a Ki-27 'Nate' fighter near Hsuchang during the morning.
• 76th and 26th Fighter squadron P-51s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscars' in an early-afternoon engagement near Changsha.

Air Operations, Europe

A V-1 destroys the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, killing 119 and injuring 102.

• In a period of bad flying weather, 10 Mosquitos are sent to hit a large concrete flying-bomb storage facility in the woods at Watten, near St Omer. 9 aircraft bomb, but the results are unknown.
• There are no losses.
• 5 Halifaxes and 2 Stirlings lay mines off Brest and St Malo.

Battle of the Philippine Sea

The US forces make their rendezvous west of the Marianas while the Japanese continue to approach. The Japanese are heavily outnumbered by US Task Force 58, which includes 7 battleships, 14 carriers (7 heavy), 21 cruisers, and 69 destroyers. Late in the evening the Japanese scout planes sight the American fleet. This is the only advantage that the Japanese have and comes about principally because their scout planes have a longer range. The Japanese plan to launch their strike planes early the next day while still at very long range and, after attacking, to have them fly on to Guam where the local forces can protect them while they refuel and rearm. Once this is done they can attack again on the return journey. The glaring weakness in this plan is that the air forces on Guam have suffered seriously from American attacks recently and have failed to inform the fleet of this. In fact this shortcoming is less significant that might have been the case as the American ships exact such a heavy price from the first attacks.

Air Operations, Marianas

In the opening move of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, 9 Yap-based G4M 'Betty' bombers searching for Task Force 58 miss that target but instead locate a Fifth Fleet escort carrier group southeast of Saipan. As a result of this sighting report, 6 P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber and 11 A6M Zeros from Yap and 38 A6M Zeros and 1 D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber from Palau are sent to attack the escort carriers. They miss the target but at 1545 hours attack a group of fleet oilers, of which they damage 3.

US carrier F6Fs and FMs down a B6N 'Kate' carrier-based reconnaissance plane, 4 G4Ms 'Betty' bombers, 1 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance float plane, 1 D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber, and 1 Ki-61 'Tony' figher between 0755 and 1630 hours. The D4Y pilot is captured, a rare event. Throughout the day, 19 US carrier fighters and 1 pilot are lost in operational accidents.

• Elements of the US 27th Infantry Division capture the Aslito airfield on Saipan, from which VMO-2 and VMO-4 OYs immediately begin operating.
• The torpedo-damaged escort carrier USS Fanshaw Bay retires toward Eniwetok.
• During the afternoon, several 1st Mobile Fleet carrier-based search aircraft locate Task Force 58.
• During the evening, Japanese Navy bombers attack troop-laden US transports. 1 LST is mortally damaged and later scuttled. Escort-carrier FMs down 9 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters, 1 Ki-45 'Nick' fighter, and 2 J1N 'Irving' fighters near Saipan between 1630 and 1730 hours. A VC-10 TBM and a VC-10 FM each down a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber over the escort carriers at 1800 hours. VC-5 FMs down 9 A6M Zeros over Saipan and Tinian between 1810 and 1820 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, V Fighter Command fighter-bombers, and RAAF aircraft attack supply dumps and other targets in the Wewak area.

China

Japanese troops of the 11th army capture the cities of Chuchow and Changsha, 322 km south of Hankow.

Eastern Front

The Leningrad front breaks through the main Finnish positions on the Mannerheim line and advance toward Viipuri.

Italy

Units of the 1st Motorized Div of the French Expeditionary Corps under Gen Alphonse Juin reach Radicofani, northwest of Orvieto, overlooking the road frm Florence to Rome.

In the British sector the columns converging on Perugia meet with a certain resistance in the outskirts of the city. During the night the Germans abandon Città della Pieve, which is occupied by British XIII Corps units. The 8th Army captures Assisi, south of Perugia.

Marianas

The advance of the 4th Marine Div reaches the west side of Saipan at Magicienne Bay. The Japanese forces are thus separated into two. Parts of the 27th Div on the right of the 4th Marines, captures Aslito airfield. Japanese air strikes sink 1 destroyer and 2 tankers offshore as well as damaging the escort carrier Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70). Much of the air cover and close support has been withdrawn to prepare to take part in the imminent fleet battle although the guns of the US Navy and landing craft prevent the Japanese from bringing reinforcements up against the Tanapag Harbor beachhead, north of the harbor itself. Taking advantage of the absence of American aircraft, Japanese air forces attack American shipping and beachheads, losing about 20 aircraft by anti-aircraft fire.

New Guinea

A fresh US regiment is deployed in Biak Island, where the Americans are getting ready to launch a determined attack to liberate the Mokmer airfield area. Gen Walter Kreuger orders the forces in the Wadke-Sarmi area to resume the offensive to the west of the Tirfoam River line.

Western Front

The Commander-in-Chief of the 21st Army Group, Gen Montgomery, issues his first written instructions since the landing in Normandy. He calls for the capture of Caen and Cherbourg. On the Cherbourg front the American VII Corps begins its advance on the city with the 9th, 79th and 4th Divs operating left, center and right respectively of the line.

The situation in the St Lô sector is unchanged, with the XIX Corps held up north of the town.

Images from June 18, 1944

Allied Engineers Repair Bridges Demolished by Germans Retreating From Rome, 18 June 1944

A German Tiger tank on its side in a ditch, north of Rome, and an American truck in the background driving past, 18 June 1944.

Destroyed German Tiger Tank

Visit of General Marshall, 18 June 1944, the PC of General Clark commander of the 5th US Army near Tuscania Italy where the two generals boarded the project 'Operation Anvil'

Gen Marshall and Gen Clark

Bombs leave a Lancaster flying through a flak-dotted sky during the daylight attack on enemy concentrations near Caen, France, 18 June 1944

Bombs leave a Lancaster

105mm Motorized Howitzer M7 Priest with the 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion of the 2nd Armored Division moves along the Rue Holgate, Carentan, 18 June 1944

105mm Motorized Howitzer M7 Priest

US troops Moving Inland on Saipan, June 1944

A scene in the destroyer which carried General Crerar and members of his staff to Normandy. From left to right in the centre foreground, Brigadier A. E. Walford; Brigadier C. C. Mann; Captain F. L. Houghton, RCN; General Stuart; Lt.-Cmdr. D. W. Piers, commanding HMCS Algonquin; General Crerar, 18 June 1944

Divine Service on Board HMCS Algonquin

Seabees Giving Thanks

The Seabees of the 111th Naval Construction Battalion give thanks on D-Day plus 12, 18 June 1944. Navy Chaplains have served around the world with Seabee battalions since their inception in 1942. Chaplains prayed and conducted regular services, using any available area including a ships deck, an apple orchard, a hand-cut hole in a Pacific-island jungle or a makeshift tent for a church. They will use a jeep, packing case or ammunition box for an altar, or a helmet for a yarmulke, the top of a mess kit for a paten or a canteen cup for a chalice.

Wounded Troops Being Evacuated from Marina di Campo, Elba, Italy, 18 June 1944

The fight for Carentan over, a US Army M7 Priest tank of the 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 2nd Armored Division, transits through the damaged town on 18 June 1944

US Army M7 Priest Tank Transits through Carentan

Results of a V1 Attack

PC Frederick Godwin of Gipsy Hill Police Station supplies tea and sympathy to a now homeless man after a V1 attack that sadly killed his wife and destroyed his home. He returned from taking his dog (also pictured) for a walk to find a scene of devastation. In the background, rescue workers can be seen searching the rubble and debris for any survivors of this attack which destroyed almost an entire street

Delivering Milk Following a V1 Attack

Milkmen deliver the morning round along a rubble strewn street, as householders discuss the damage to their properties following a V1 attack in Upper Norwood. A vicar can also be seen walking along the street. The front doors and all windows are missing from these homes, and the interiors appear as shells, with a few timbers or a ladder all that is visible inside.