Air Operations, Carolines

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

Air Operations, CBI

• 2 10th Air Force B-25s attack the rail line between Mawhun and Mohnyin.
• More than 60 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Mogaung and Myitkyina.

• 31 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Ichang and Siangtan, and river traffic and Japanese Army ground troops and horses over a wide area.
• 23 B-25s and P-40s attack a bridge and supplies at Chenghsien.
• 7 CACW B-25s attack stores at Shayang.
• 23rd Fighter Group P-40s down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 1 A6M Zero in a large engagement near Hengyang at 1000 hours.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters, 2 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters, and an unidentied fighter over the Yellow River at 1300 hours.

• More than 50 10th Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, Europe

• 323 aircraft of Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack 3 flying bomb sites. In this total are 202 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos. The weather is clear and it is believed that all the raids are accurate. 2 Halifaxes of. No 4 Group are lost on the raid to the Montorgueil site. No. 617 Squadron sends 17 Lancasters, 2 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang to bomb the Siracourt flying bomb store. The Mustang is flown by Wing Commander Cheshire and is used as a low-level marker aircraft. The Mustang has only arrived at Woodhall Spa that afternoon, by courtesy of the 8th Air Force, and this is Cheshire's first flight in it. The Lancasters score 3 direct hits on the concrete store with Tallboy bombs and no aircraft are lost. Cheshire has to make his first landing in the unfamiliar Mustang when he returns to his home airfield after dark.

• 42 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group are sent to bomb the Rheinpreussen synthetic oil plant at Homberg/Meerbeck. Photographs show that no new damage is caused.
• There are no losses.

• 16 Mosquitos carry out Serrate patrols and 8 fly RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army positions on Saipan and Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5 Air Force and RAAF aircraft attack But, Dagua, Suain, and barges at Kairiru and Muschu islands.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and V Fighter Command P-40s attack the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor.
• B-25s and P-47s attack occupied villages along the Tor River.
• P-47s attack Japanese Army tanks along the Wiske River.

Atlantic

Allied battleships and cruisers silence the German coastal batteries near Cherbourg. The USS Texas is damaged.

Burma-China

On the Salween front the Japanese inflict a bloody defeat on the 261st Regt of the Chinese 87th Div in the Lungling area. 1,500 Japanese have sufficed to get the better of at least 10,000 Chinese. Chiang Kai-shek sends the Chinese 8th Army up from Indo-China toward Teng-chung, China southeast of Myitkyina and orders them to resume the offensive against Lungling.

Eastern Front

The Russian advances in Belorussia continue, particularly near Vitebsk where 5 German divs are now trapped, about 40,000 men, and the Smolensk-Minsk road is cut. In this sector the troops of 3rd Belorussian Front have crossed the Bvina, and in the other sectors the fighting is nearing Mogilev and Bobruysk.

The Finns are forced back almost a kilometer at Tali, north of Viipuri.

In Germany, Nazi propaganda spreads stories of treachery in high military circles rather than admit that the Wehrmacht has insufficient forces in the sector where the Russians have broken through.

BAGRATION continues apace, with the 4th Shock and 6th Guards Armies advancing on the northern flank. Soviet troops fight their way into Vitebsk as the German LIII Corps attempts to retreat. The German VI Corps is attacke by aircraft from the Soviet 3rd Air Army. XXVII Corps collapses, and XXXIX Corps is overcome by the Soviet 49th and 50th Armies. The 1st Belorussian's 3rd and 48th Armies outflank XXXV Corps, and the 28th and 65th Armies advance from the south. The counterattack by the 20th Panzer Div in support of XXXV Corps fails.[MORE]

Italy

The US 36th Div takes Piombino before it, and like other units, is taken out of the line to prepare for the ANVIL landings in the south of France. The French Expeditionary Corps begins the crossing of the Orcia in force, and German resistance weakens. The 78th Div of the British XIII Corps succeeds with great difficulty in widening its bridgehead near Pescia. The 4th Div succeeds in driving the German rearguards out of Vaiano. At nightfall, after fierce fighting lasting all day, the German withdraw from Chiusi.

Japan, Home Front

Emperor Hirohito summons Japan's field marshals and fleet admirals to Tokyo to discuss the worsening military situation. He is advised that holding Saipan and other key islands will be extremely difficult and emphasis must be placed on establishing an 'Inner Perimeter' around the home islands.

Marianas

On Saipan Marines of the 8th and 29th Regts fight their way to the top of Mount Tapotchau. The 27th Inf Div puts pressure on enemy positions in 'Death Valley', but to no effect. The 4th Marine Div seizes the Kagman peninsula. In the south of the island the 105th Inf Regt succeeds in breaking through the enemy positions near Point Nafutan, which they are already certain to capture despite the desperate resistance of the Japanese.

New Guinea

During the night the Japanese evacuate the area in the center of Biak Island where they have been cut off by the Americans. American patrols find some more underground positions in the western caves. American attacks in the Sarmi area force the Japanese to withdraw westward.

Occupied France

Gen Marie Pierre Koenig is to command the Free French Forces of the Interior.

Western Front

Units of the 3 attacking divs have penetrated into the suburbs of Cherbourg. They have massive support from naval gunfire including 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and 11 destroyers. After a day of furious fighting, Gen Schlieben sends a despairing message to Rommel's headquarters: 'The troops are worn out . . . the loss of the town is inevitable and must come very shortly . . . Among the troops defending the town there are 2,000 wounded who cannot be treated. Is the sacrifice of the others still necessary?' Rommel replies drily: 'In accordance with the Führer's orders you are to hold out to the last round.' The 9th Div is penetrating into the town from the west, while units of the 79th Div, coming up from the south, reach and capture Forte-du-Roule, only just outside Cherbourg, and penetrate into the suburbs of the town. To the east it falls to the 12th Regt of the 4th Div to be first in the city.

In the British XXX Corps sector 49th Div mounts an attack toward Rauray, about 10 miles west of Caen. The Germans have a number of divisions deployed in defense of the town from the LXXXVI Corps and I and II Panzer SS Corps.

Images from June 25, 1944

Infantry of the York and Lancaster Regiment in the village of Fontenay-le-Pesnel, Normandy, 25 June 1944

A Sherman DD tank, with flotation screens removed, passing through Douet as engineers work to clear the debris, 25 June 1944.

Sherman DD tank Passing Through Douet

Trucks carrying supplies to the front make their way through Bayeux, with the cathedral making an imposing backdrop, 25 June 1944.

Carrying Supplies to the Front

A knocked-out German 75mm anti-tank gun and one of its gunners lying dead beside it. A disabled Panther tank is also visible in the background. Fontenay-le-Pesnel, 25 June 1944.

A Knocked-out German 75mm Anti-tank Gun

A German Gun Emplacement at Cherbourg

12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division Soldiers Fight in Cherbourg, 25 June 1944

The cruisers HMS Glasgow (right) and USS Quincy (left) during the bombardment of Cherbourg in support of the advancing Allied troops

Bombardment of Cherbourg

A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between Texas (in the background) and Arkansas while the two battleships were engaging Battery Hamburg during the battle of Cherbourg, France, 25 June 1944.

Coastal Artillery Firing at US Battleships

25th June 1944, Heathfield Terrace, Plumstead: V-1 flying bomb. 6 fatal casualties & extensive damage to properties.

V-1 Flying Bomb Damage

25 June 1944 - a V-1 Flying Bomb Struck Merryweather's Works in Greenwich High Road - 1 Fatal Casualty

Michael Wittmann with Adolf Hitler, 25 June 1944

Fontenay-le-Pesnel, 25 June 1944: Panther No. 438 of the SS-Uscha Gerhard Mahlke who were killed the same day. We are with the 12th SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitlerjugend'. Men of this unit later would be guilty of the execution of about 156 Canadian prisoners in June 1944

Panther of the 12th SS Panzer Division

Waffen SS Grenadiers near a Panther from I./SS-Panzer Regiment 12, 25 June 1944

On the heights south of Cherbourg artillery observers direct the shelling of enemy positions on the outskirts of the city, 25 June. Elements of all three divisions entered either the outskirts of the city proper this day.

Artillery Observers Direct the Shelling of Enemy Positions

Finnish Soldiers in a Foxhole, One Holding a Panzerfaust

Finnish 7.5cm Pak 40 Anti-tank Gun in Action