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.

• More that 400 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack rail bridges at four locations and fuel dumps at three locations.
• 14 9th Air Force tactical groups escort the bombers or conduct dive-bombing attacks at Grgentan, Chartres, Dreux, Orleans, and Tours.
• VIII Fighter Command and 9th Air Force fighter and fighter-bomber pilots down 49 Luftwaffe fighters between 0700 and 1940 hours.

• 12th Air Force B-25s and B-26s are grounded by bad weather.
• XII TAC A-20s attack ammo dumps.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack towns and rail lines around the battle area.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack oil-industry targets and a marshalling yard at Sete, port facilities at Toulon, and a marshalling yard at Avignon.

• A 15th Air Force fighter group strafes all the traffic and other targets along the road linking Fiume, Italy with Senje, Yugoslavia.

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.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Early in the morning the British frigate HMS Bickerton makes contact with U-269 to the southeast of Start Point. After a number of depth-charge attacks, the U-boat is blown to the surface and abandoned.

U-269 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Georg Uhl Location English Channel, SE of Start Point Cause Depth charge Casualties 12 Survivors 39

U-1191 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Peter Grau Location English Channel, SE of Torquay Cause Depth charge Casualties 50 Survivors None

• Some time after the sinking of U-269 the British frigate HMS Goodson is struck by a Gnat. Other ships join in the search for the culprit. The frigate Balfour obtains a contact and the frigate Affleck attacks with a Hedgehog. When running in to deliver a depth-charge attack Affleck finds herself steaming through a growing oil slick.

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.

The 20th RCT reaches the op of Lone Tree Hill. Although the Americans have gained one position, there are several other strongpoints that musb be attacked.

Occupied France

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

Pacific

• The US submarine Bashaw (SS-241) attacks a Japanese convoy between Taland Island and Halmahera and sinks the army cargo ship Yamamiya Maru (6440t).
• The US submarine Jack (SS-259) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks merchant tanker San Pedro Maru (7268t) off the northwest coast of Luzon.

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

In the village of Fontenay-le-Pesnel

Sherman DD tank Passing Through Douet

Carrying Supplies to the Front

A Knocked-out German 75mm Anti-tank Gun

A German Gun Emplacement at Cherbourg

Fighting in Cherbourg

Bombardment of Cherbourg

Coastal Artillery Firing at US Battleships

V-1 Flying Bomb Damage

V-1 Flying Bomb Struck Merryweather's Works

Michael Wittmann with Adolf Hitler

Panther of the 12th SS Panzer Division

Waffen SS Grenadiers

Directing the Shelling of Enemy Positions

Finnish Soldiers in a Foxhole

Finnish 7.5cm Pak 40 Anti-tank Gun in Action