Air Operations, Carolines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Sorol, Woleai, and Yap atolls.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 40 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Mogaung and Myitkyina.
• 10 fighter-bombers attack Hopin, Namma, and Sahmaw.
• 6 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s airlift fuel to Kamaing.

• 13 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping and port facilities at Bakli, Hainan Island.
• 18 14th Air Force P-40s attack motor vehicles between Hsuchang and Lohochai.
• 4 P-40s attack a troopship on Tungting Lake.

• 40 10 Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, Europe

The Luftwaffe stages a surprise night raid on the 8th Air Force's 'shuttle bombing' base at Poltava in the Ukraine. 60 planes are involved in the attack which destroys 44 B-17s. 26 men are killed and over 2 million liters of fuel are destroyed. Shuttle raids are subsequently abandoned.

• 119 Lancasters, 102 Halifaxes and 13 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to special V-weapon sites and stores. The sites at Mimoyecques and Siracourt are accurately bombed by No. 1 and 4 Group forces with Pathfinder marking, but the No 617 Squadron force attacking Wizernes fails to find its target because of cloud and returns without dropping its bombs.
• 1 Halifax is lost from the Siracourt raid.

The accuracy of the bombing by Bomber Command aircraft can be seen at Siracourt where the V-weapons site was attacked.

Attack on V-weapons Site

• 2 Mosquitos fly uneventrul Ranger patrols.

• 111 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 4 and 8 Groups attack railway yards at Laon and Rheims. The bombing at both targets is successful.
• 4 Halifaxes are lost on the Laon raid and 4 Lancasters from the Rheims one.

• 29 Mosquitos are sent to Hamburg, 8 to Rouen, 6 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off French ports, and there are 35 Mosquito patrosl and 15 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

• 22 P-47s of the 318th Fighter Group’s 19th Fighter Squadron catapulted from the escort carriers USS Manila Bay and USS Natoma Bay land at the Aslito airfield on Saipan. And during the afternoon, after being armed with rockets by groundcrewmen already at Aslito, 8 of the P-47s mount their first ground-support mission of the campaign. The catapulting of a total of 73 P-47s of the 318th Fighter Group’s 19th and 73d Fighter squadrons from the escort carriers will continue through June 24.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s mount their first ground-attack sorties in support of US Marine Corps ground troops on Saipan.
• 2 VF-35 F6Fs down a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 0940 hours.
• A VF-25 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea 40 miles from Task Force 58 at 1115 hours.
• A VT-37 TBM downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Saipan at 1115 hours. 4 VF-14 F6Fs down an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea 70 miles from the task force at 1225 hours.
• A VF-8 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 1415 hours.
• VF-60 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea 75 miles from the task force at 1645 hours.
• A VF-51 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea at 1655 hours.
• VF-37 F6F downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea at 1745 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-47s attack Manokwari, the Sarmi area, shipping at Jefman Island, and airfields and other targets on Noemfoor Island.
• A-20s, V Fighter Command fighter-bombers, and RAAF aircraft attack numerous coastal targets around Wewak.
• V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to attack Noemfoor Island are grounded by bad weather over the Nadzab-area bases.

Axis Diplomacy

Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, visits Helsinki to try to persuade the Finnish government not to surrender in exchange for German troop reinforcements and arms.. Despite official announcements to the contrary, surrender seems imminent in view of the desperate military situation.

Burma

The siege of Imphal is raised when advance units of 2nd Indian Div link with 5th Indian at Milestone 107 on the Imphal-Kohima road. The Japanese are taking ever heavier losses both in combat and, more seriously, because of food shortages and illness as their supply system collapses.

Chindits of the 77th Bde of the 3rd Indian Div together with units of the Chinese 38th Div begin the assault on Mogaung.

On the Salween front the Chinese troops who already control the whole of the Shweli valley prepare to attack Teng-chung.

In India, the British IV and XXXIII Corps link up after reopening the Dimapur-Kohima-Imphal road. The Japanese are forced to sped up their withdrawal in the difficult conditions of the monsoon rains. In the long campaigns to penetrate into India they have lost 30,000 men.

Denmark, Resistance

An important rifle manufacturing plant is wrecked by saboteurs in Copenhagen.

Diplomatic Relations

In vier of the ongoing Soviet offensive, the Finnish Government reopens contacts with Moscow regarding bringing hostilities to an end.

Eastern Front

The big Russian offensive begins between the Pripet Marshes and the Dvina River against the positions of the German Army Group Center, commanded by Field Marshal Ernst Busch. 28 of the 40 divisions making up the army group are in immediate danger of being surrounded by a double pincer movement skilfully carried out by the Russians.

During the night the bombardment for the first major Russian offensive of the summer begins. The Red Army massed 146 infantry divisions and 43 tank brigades for the operation. There are 4 fronts, First, Second and Third Belorussian and First Baltic, in the attack under the overall command of Marshal Zhukov. Among the massive concentration of force Zhukov has amassed a huge quantity of artillery. The German defenders are from Busch's Army Group Center. The action ended a comparative lull while the opposing forces regrouped and permitted their exhausted forces to prepare for this new round of fighting.

Arty of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian Dronts begin the bombardment of the 3rd Panzer Army. Massive air attacks accompany the ground assaults, inflicting severe German casualties even before the main reconnaissance attack has begun. Chistyakov's 6th Guards and Beloborodov's 43rd Armies hit the IX Corps hard as they begin strong probing attacks. Elements of the corps give ground, being thrown back from Sirotino on an 8-mile front. A 5-mile gap is opened near Obol. Massed tank and infantry attacks then simply overwhelm the Germans. To support the failing defenses of the IX Corps, Army Group North transfers an infantry division but it does no good. The VI Corps is also under heavy attack by the 39th Army, suffering heavy losses, as another hole opens in the German front, this time south of Vitebsk.

At the end of the day the 1st Baltic Front has forced the IX Corps back 5 miles and VI Corps has retreated 10 miles before the 3rd Belorussian Front. The disintegration of the wings of the 3rd Panzer Army threatens the LIII Corps positions in Vitebsk.

The Luftwaffe launches a surprise air raid against the US air base at Poltava. The 8th Air Forces loses 43 B-17 and 15 P-51 aircraft, with ammunition and fuel dumps also bein destroyed. This incident will further sour US-Soviet relations, the Soviets refusing to allow US night fighters to defend the bomber bases, insisting that air defens is their responsibility. Having little faith in the Soviet capacity to do so, the Americans will abandon plans permanently to station three heavy bombers groups on Soviet airfields. Indeed, logistical problems and growing Soviet intransigence will force the cancellation of so-called shuttle bombing later in the year.

India

As the Japanese U-GO offensive unravels in India, the British 2nd Div from Kohima and the 5th Indian Div from the IV Corps area around Imphal finally meet up on the Imphal-Kohima road at Milestone 107. In total, the Japanese siege at Imphal lasted 88 days.

Italy

The Polish II Corps is forced to evacuate its small bridgehead across the Chienti River in the eastern sector of the front. The units of the US 5th Army continue their slow advance north.

Marianas

On Saipan the 2nd Marine Div attacks northward and takes Mount Tipo Pale and are engaged on Mount Tapotchau which dominates the entire island. Meanwhile the units attacking along the east coast advance rapidly to the north. In the south, the US 27th Inf Div continues the mopping up of Point Nafutan.

New Guinea

US fighters begin to operate from Mokmer airfield on Biak. The 162nd Inf Regt renews its attacks on the western caves, driving the enemy out with flame-throwers. In the afternoon the area is claimed to be free of enemy forces, but during the night groups of Japanese who have escaped from the mopping-up operations attack the American positions. In the Wadke-Sarmi area, on the mainland, the Japanese counter-attack after dusk in the Snaky River sector and succeed in cutting off two American battalions.

Pacific

The Japanese submarine I-185 is sunk by the US destroyer Newcomb (DD-586) and the high-speed minesweeper Chandler (DMS-9) in the Marianas Islands area.

United States, Home Front

President Roosevelt signs the 'GI Bill' which introduces a range of benefits to give returned veterans a start in civilian life.

Western Front

The final battle for Cherbourg begins with a two-hour air raid in which more than 1,000 tons of bombs are dropped. The 3 divisions of VII Corps, the 9th, 79th and 4th, advance with difficulty over the rough terrain. The opposition they meet is mixed. Some German units resist stubbornly, but others quickly surrender.

Images from June 22, 1944

A DUKW Bringing Ammunition Ashore at Arromanches, 22 June 1944

Sapper Clearing Mines

Universal carriers and motorcycles driving inland from Arromanches during the build-up of Allied reinforcements in the bridgehead, 22 June 1944

Build-up of Allied Reinforcements

Danish Resistance Strikes

A Danish boy flees from the explosion at the Rifle Syndicate factory. The factory had been supplying the occupying German military with arms and became a target for the Danish Resistance. Members of the BOPA (Borgerlige Partisaner)drove two trucks filled with 400 kg of explosives into the factory and informed the factory workers so that they could escape. Copenhagen, Denmark, 22 June 1944.

Soviet soldiers doing guard duty around the American B-17 heavy bomber that burned in the bombing on the night of June 22, 1944 by German aircraft to the airport from the 169th base of special purpose at Poltava, Ukraine. Operation Frantic.

Soviet Soldiers Guarding US Bomber

Franklin Roosevelt signs the GI Bill of Rights, which gave funding to veterans for education and housing

Women of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMS) queue for their lunch at No 88 General Hospital at Douvres-la-Delivrande, 22 June 1944

Lunchtime at the 88th General Hospital

A North American Mitchell Mk II of No. 320 (Dutch) Squadron flying over the Colombelles steel works near Caen in Normandy, during an attack on 22 June 1944.

B-25 Over Steel Works Near Caen

Wrecked Pontoon Causeway of One of the 'Mulberry' Artificial Harbors Following the Storm of 19–22 June 1944

US Soldiers Disembark from Coast Guard Landing Craft at the Shores of Normandy, 22 June 1944

An army of Romanian civilians, men and women, both young and old, dig anti-tank ditches in a border area, on June 22, 1944, in readiness to repel Soviet armies.

Digging Anti-tank Ditches in Romania

Serbian State Guard Marching through Belgrade

Members of the collaborationist Serbian State Guard march through Belgrade. The Serbian State Guard was an auxiliary paramilitary organization used to impose law and order within the Axis puppet state of the Government of National Salvation, which was appointed by the German Military Commander in Serbia and operated from 29 August 1941 to October 1944. The Serbian State Guard assisted the Germans in imposing one of the most brutal occupation regimes in occupied Europe and helped suppress partisan activities and guard and execute prisoners at the Banjica concentration camp in Belgrade. Many members were sympathetic to the Serbian nationalist, monarchist Chetnik movement, and it was purged by the Germans on several occasions for that reason. Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia. 22 June 1944.