Air Operations, Carolines

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Sorol and Woleai atolls and the airfield and other targets in the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 10th Air Force B-25s attack the rail line between Mawlin and Naba.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force fighter-bombers complete more than 160 sorties against numerous targets in the Tungting Lake region and adjacent areas along the Yangtze River.
• B-25s and fighter-bombers attack supply bases and Japanese Army infantry and cavalry in the Hengyang area.

Air Operations, Europe

US B-17s fly from Soviet bases to bomb Polish oil refineries being used by the Germans and then, on to Italy. No aircraft are lost on this mission which is one of a growing number deploying British and US aircraft from Soviet airfields.

• 103 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group, with 5 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of the Pathfinders, attack the V-weapon site at Wizernes.
• There are no losses and no report of the results.

• 202 Halifaxes of Nos. 4 and 6 Groups along with 28 Pathfinder Lancasters attack the railway yards at Blainville and Metz. Both targets are hit.
• 11 Halifaxes of No. 4 Group and 1 Lancaster are lost on the Blainville raid, and 7 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group and 1 Lancaster are lost on the Metz raid.

• 33 Mosquitos are sent to Saarbrücken and 10 to the Scholven/Buer oil plant, 8 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off Lorient and St Malo, and there are 35 Mosquito patrols and 21 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

• US carrier aircraft mount their first pre-invasion attacks against ground targets on Guam.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack targets on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian.
• VF(N)-101 F4U night-fighters down 3 G4M 'Betty' bombers between 2015 and 2245 hours.
• During the night, Japanese Navy aircraft from Truk and Iwo Jima mount light, ineffectual attacks against US ships off Saipan.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5th Air Force bombers and fighters bombers attack Japanese Army positions on Biak and Efman islands, numerous targets through the Wewak area, the airfield and fuel dumps on Noemfoor Island, and the Babo and Maffin Bay areas.
• V Bomber Command B-24s assigned to attack Noemfoor Island are grounded by bad weather over the Nadzab-area bases.

Axis Diplomacy

Gen Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of Staff of the OKH, the supreme command of the German army, goes to Helsinki and promises to send reinforcements from Estonia. This meeting follows in the wake of Ribbentrop's visit. The Germans are trying desperately to avoid the separate peace that seems imminent.

Burma

In the north of the country units of the Chinese 14th Div advance towards Sitapur with the object of cutting off the Japanese units north of Myitkyina. On the Salween front Japanese aircraft appear for the first time, dropping supplies to the garrison of Sung Shan.

China

The Japanese move in to take Hengyang, having already captured the airfield there, and for the first time they run into stern resistance from the Chinese.

Eastern Front

In Finland the northern wings of the Russian advance reach Petrozavodsk and also cross the Murmansk rail line farther north. The 7th Army of the Karelia Front under Kirill Meretskov takes Petrozavodsk, on the west bank of Lake Onega, cutting the railway line to Murmansk. The same railway line is also cut north of the lake by the 32nd Army. The Finnish II and VI Corps still resist stubbornly. The 3rd BRF and supportin tank army begin crossing the Berezina River. In the main battles in Belorussian Georgi Zakharov's troops take Mogilev and are now across the Dniepr nearby on a 70-mile front. Hitler dismisses Ernst Busch from command of Army Group Center. Field Marshal Walther Model is appointed as his replacement.

As BAGRATION unfolds Hitler replaces Lindermann, commander of Army Group North, with Field Marshal Friessner. Busch is sacked and replaced by Model, who cedes operational command of Army Group North Ukraine to Gen Harpe.

The German 3rd Panzer Army has virtually ceased to exist. Soviet forces are driving west: the 1st Baltic Front's 43rd Army takes Lepel, 2nd Belorussian's 49th and 50th Armies capture Mogilev, and the 5th Guards Tank Army is across the Berezina. Fierce fighting rages around Bobruisk where 70,000 troops of the German XXXV and XLI Corps are trying to escape west.[MORE]

Italy

The American IV Corps, with the 34th Div on the left and the 1st Arm Div on the right, advances along Highway 68, which runs parallel with the Cecina River. The South African 6th Arm Div reaches Chianciano without engaging the enemy. The positions of the 8th Indian Div are taken over by the 10th Indian Div.

Mariana Islands

On Saipan fighting continues along the line crossing the island from just south of Garapan, on the west coast, across the features of Mount Tipo Pale, Mount Tapotchau and Purple Heart Peak, to the east coast north of the Kagman peninsula. The 27th Inf Div suffers considerable losses in Death Valley, near Mount Tapotchau, and on Purple Heart Peak.

New Guinea

Gen Walter L. Eichelberger hands over command of Task Force Hurricane to Gen Jens A. Doe. The Japanese begin to withdraw from the eastern caves toward the north, preparing to go over to guerilla warfare in the absence of reinforcements and supplies. The Japanese strength has now largely been dissipated and the main task for the Americans is mopping up.

Occupied France

The Vichy Minister for Propaganda, Philippe Henriot, is assassinated in Paris by the Resistance.

Pacific

The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 24 is sunk by the US submarine Archerfish (SS-311) in the western Pacific area.

United States, Politics

At the Republican Party convention in Chicago Gov Thomas Dewey and Gov John Bricker win the nominations for president and vice-president respectively.

Western Front

The American 79th Div leaves the Cherbourg sector for the area where the US VIII Corps is operating, southwest of the Cotentin peninsula. In the Cotentin the US 9th Div is preparing for final attacks to eliminate the German resistance in the direction of Cap de la Hague. Just west of Caen advancing British troops cross the Odon on a two-mile front near Mondrainville.

Images from June 28, 1944

Men of the 2nd Kensington Regiment, 49th (West Riding) Division, Attempt to Spot a Sniper in Rauray, 28 June 1944

Infantry of 15th (Scottish) Division advance through waist-high corn, supported by Churchill tanks of 7th Royal Tank Regiment during Operation 'Epsom', Normandy, 28 June 1944

Advancing Through Waist-high Corn

A Churchill tank of 7th Royal Tank Regiment, 31st Tank Brigade, supporting infantry of 8th Royal Scots during Operation Epsom, 28 June 1944.

Churchill Tank Supporting Infantry

At Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea, on 28 June 1944, a Piper L-4 is transported by truck to be loaded on an LST

Piper L-4 Transported by Truck

Men of the Durham Light Infantry, 49th (West Riding) Division inspect a knocked-out German Tiger tank '334' from the 3rd Company of SS Heavy Tank Battalion during Operation 'Epsom', 28 June 1944

Inspecting a Knocked-out German Tiger Tank

Sherman tank of the East Riding Yeomanry, 27th Armoured Brigade, Normandy, 28 June 1944

Sherman tanks of the 4/7th Dragoon Guards, 8th Armoured Brigade, waiting to go into action near Rauray, Normandy, 28 June 1944.

Waiting To Go Into Action

A Sherman tank of the East Riding Yeomanry, 27th Armoured Brigade, advances through a gap in a hedge, 28 June 1944

Advancing Through a Gap in a Hedge

TBM-1C 'Avenger', of Torpedo Squadron 51 (VT-51). Takes off from USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) for a raid on Guam, 28 June 1944. The catapult operator is at right.

Torpedo Bomber Takes Off from San Jacinto

28 June 1944 - Acre Lane in Brixton was hit by a ‘doodlebug’ Flying Bomb with devastating results, 72 killed

V-1 Damage in Briston

A soldier of 10th Durham Light Infantry digs in close to a knocked-out German Tiger tank at Rauray, 28 June 1944.

Digging In near Knocked-out Tiger

Maj-Gen Willis H Hale (front seat) and Vice Admiral John H Hoover tour Aslito Field, Saipan, Marianas (later Isley Field), 28 June 1944, ten days after the area was captured from the Japanese. P-47 Thunderbolt in left background

Touring Asliton Field, Saipan