Air Operations, Carolines

• 19 XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Sorol and Yap atolls.
• B-24s attack the airfields on Peleliu and Woleai while conducting armed-reconnaissance flights.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 80 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Mytikyina.
• 7 fighter-bombers attack Loilaw, Pyindaw, and Waingmaw.

• 14 341st Medium Bombt Group B-25s attack Hankow.
• 14th Air Force bombers and fighter-bombers complete more than 180 sorties in the Tungting Lake region.
• 14 22nd Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 36 14th Air Force P-40s support Chinese Army ground forces on the Salween River front with attacks against Tengchung and Lungling, targets of opportunity between Tengchung and Lungling, and bridges at Mangshih and Tingka.
• Japanese bombers attack the airfield at Lingling, where 1 P-51 is destroyed on the ground.
• 23rd and 51st Fighter group P-40s and P-51s based at the Lingling and Kwelin airfields down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters in a large morning engagement over Lingling and Hengyang.
• A 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40 downs an 'Oscar; in an engagement near Changsha at 1525 hours. 1 USAAF P-40 is lost.
• Japanese Army ground forces advancing toward the French Indochina border from the Tungting Lake region seize the 14th Air Force’s forward airfield at Hengyang—the first 14th Air Force base to fall into Japanese hands. This loss is despite the best efforts of the 23rd Fighter Group, which has flown 538 effective ground-attack sorties against the Japanese Army force since June 17. Despite the loss of the outlying airfield, however, the strategically vital city of Hengyang, which sits astride the Hankow-Hanoi rail line, will hold out until Japanese Army ground forces abandon the offensive on July 2.

• More than 30 10th Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, Europe

US aircraft, taking off in Russia, bomb the oil installations at Drogobych (Drohobycz) and go on to Italy. Yak fighters escort the American planes to the targets.

• 2 Mosquitos make uneventful Ranger patrols.

• 35 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attack Göttingen with the intention of hitting railway workshops. The raid is carried out from medium altitude - 4,000 to 10,000ft - but the marker aircraft experience difficulties in locating the target and bombing is scattered. 1 Mosquito is lost. This may have been an experimental raid, to try out the No. 8 Group Mosquitos in a precision bombing role, but this type of operation is not repeated.
• 8 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group lay mines off French ports without a loss.

Air Operations, Japan

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

Air Operations, Marianas

• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army positions on Saipan and Tinian.
• A VF-27 F6F downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter at sea at 1710 hours.
• At 2318 hours, a Japanese Navy torpedo bomber collides with the boom of a cargo ship and disintegrates. While the torpedo falls into the superstructure but fails to detonate, 11 men aboard the ship are injured.
• During the night, Japanese bombers strike the VMO-2 squadron area on Saipan with anti-personnel mines that lightly wound several Marines but cause negligible material damage. Nevertheless, bomb strikes in the VMO-4 sector kill 3 and wound 9 members of the squadron. Also, Japanese Army ground troops armed with Molotov cocktails attack and destroy a 318th Fighter Group P-47 on the ground at Isely Field (formerly Aslito airfield) on Saipan.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s, V Fighter Command P-39s, US Navy bombers, and RAAF aircraft attack the Wewak area through the day.
• B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, A-26s and fighter-bombers attack targets in the Schouten Islands throughout the day.

Atlantic

The British battleship HMS Rodney bombards the German forces in the Caen sector.

Burma-China

The Chinese 38th Div and Chindit units of the 77th Bde, 3rd Indian Div, take Mogaung, an important position on the Burma Road and the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway. Just over the Chinese border, American B-25s attack Teng-chung.

China

Japanese troops take Hengyang airfield, a major American base north of Canton in Hunan province. The Japanese 11th Army is temporarily halted by the Chinese 10th Army. B-25s and P-47s make constant air attacks on the Japanese supply lines.

Eastern Front

The Russian forces burst into Vitebsk after a heavy bombing raid by 700 aircraft. 6,000 German bodies are found in the streets. 80,000 Germans are captured. Vitebsk is one of the most famous of the 'hedgehog' strongpoints which Hitler has ordered to be defended at all costs in order to avoid the fall of Minsk to the west. Stalin orders salvos from Moscow's 224 guns to mark the first major victory of the summer offensive.

To the south near Rogachev they take the railroad town of Zhlobin.

Amid scenes of carnage, the Soviet 39th Army captures Vitebsk, wiping out mosr to the LIII Corps. As the German 4th Army falls back in tatters to the Dnieper, the 5th Guards Tank Army is committed to battle, advancing to Tolochin and capturing the town. Orsha falls to the 11th Guards and 31sth Armies as the 49th Army crosses the Dnieper. Hitler agrees to the withdrawal of the 4th Army to the Berezina, which is taking place anyway. In the south the 9th Army falls apart, with XXXV Corps encircled at Bobruisk. Hitler dismisses the army commander, Hans Jordan, and then refuses the army group commander, Busch, to pull back his forces.[MORE]

Italy

In the Tyrrhenian sector the 34th Div of the IV Corps, replacing the 36th Div, advances across the Cecina River. The French Expeditionary Corps, having crossed the Orcia at the cost of heavy losses, advances on Siena. In the center of the Allied line the South African 6th Arm Div enters Chiusi.

Kurile Islands

A US naval squadron commanded by Rear-Adm E. G. Small bombards Paramushiro Island.

Marianas

A small reinforcement convoy of Japanese lighters carrying troops from Tanapag harbor on the west coast heading south is met and turned away by American amphibian craft. One lighter is sunk and the Japanese effort is thwarted. In the interior of the island the 2nd Marine Div takes an important position north of Mount Tipo Pale. The 27th Inf Div is still held up in 'Death Valley', and the 4th Marine Div, on the American right, is mopping up the Kagman peninsula. In the south the 105th Inf Regt comes nearer to Point Nafutan, repulsing a night counterattack by the Japanese.

Western Front

Most of Cherbourg, except the docks area, is taken by the US VII Corps. The advance units of the 9th Div from the west is halted before the dockyard. Meanwhile the 39th Regt reaches Octeville and the outer suburb of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte, where 1,000 Germans are taken prisoner, including the garrison commander, Gen Karl von Schlieben and the local naval chief, Adm Walter Hennecke. Hennecke has had the harbor completely destroyed so that the Allies will not be able to use it - a gesture for which Hitler decorates him with a knighthood of the Iron Cross. But the battle is not over.

The battleship Rodney and the monitor Roberts along with 3 cruisers give heavy gunfire support to the British forces attacking near Caen.

Images from June 26, 1944

7th Seaforth Highlanders, 15th (Scottish) Division wait at the start line for the signal to advance during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Waiting to Advance

Men of 12 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers prepare to advance at the start of Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Preparing to Advance

Led by their piper, men of 7th Seaforth Highlanders, 15th (Scottish) Division advance during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Advancing, Led by Their Piper

Men of 12 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers advancing through mist and smoke at the start of Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Advancing Through Mist and Smoke

Infantry of 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 15th (Scottish) Division in the village of St Mauvieu-Norrey during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

In the Village of St Mauvieu-Norrey

Men of 12 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers advance into St Manvieu during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Advancing into St Manvieu

Men of 12 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers take cover in St Manvieu during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Taking Cover in St Manvieu

Infantry of 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 15th (Scottish Division), advance through waist-high corn behind a Churchill tank of 9th Royal Tank Regiment at the start of Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944.

Advance Through Waist-high Corn Behind a Churchill Tank

Troops of 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 15th (Scottish) Division, fire from their positions in a sunken lane during Operation ‘Epsom’, 26 June 1944

Firing from Their Positions in a Sunken Lane

General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, commander of the German garrison at Cherbourg, shortly after his surrender on June 26. In his pocket was found a menu from a dinner honoring him a few weeks earlier, featuring lobster and champagne.

Cherbourg Commander Gen Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben

An ammunition carrier of the 11th Armoured Division explodes after it is hit by a mortar round during Operation Epsom, 26 June 1944.

Ammunition Carrier of the 11th Armoured Division Explodes

Men of 15th (Scottish) Division await the signal to advance during Operation 'Epsom'. 26 June 1944.

Awaiting the Signal to Advance

British garrison of a QF 6-pounder pass near Panther '204' of the 2./SS-Pz.Rgt.12, destroyed during the Operation Epsom, at the crossroads of the D139 and D173, between Cheux, Tessel, Rauray and Fontenay le Pesnel, 14 Km W of Caen, France. 26 June 1944

British Garrison of a QF 6-pounder

A young SS officer among the first prisoners to be captured by 8 Corps around Cheux during the battle for France. 26 June 1944

Young SS Office Captured by VIII Corps

During Phase I of Operation Epsom, codename Gout, soldiers of the 6th Battalion Scots Fusiliers, performing a sweep behind the grenadiers of the SS-Pz.Grd.Rgt.26, in the village of Saint-Manvieu-Norrey, west of Caen, Normandy. 26 June 1944.

Soldiers of the 6th Battalion Scots Fusiliers

US troops of the 79th Infantry Division look on at a fallen Wehrmacht soldier at Fort du Roule in Cherbourg, France - 26 June 1944

US Troops Look on at a Fallen Wehrmacht Soldier