Air Operations, CBI

• 18 10th Air Force B-25s attack Tamu.
• 6 B-25s attack Wainggyo.
• 11 459th Fighter Squadron P-38 fighter-bombers attack a bridge at Myitnge.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in the Tungting Lake region.
• B-25s and fighter-bombers attack the airfield at Hengyang and bridges at Leiyang and Liling.

• 15 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail traffic and a bridge at Phu Lang Thuong.

• 47 10th Air Force B-25s airlift ammunition to Imphal.

Air Operations, Europe

• 266 aircraft of Nos. 3, 4 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb a road junction at Villers Bocage through which the tanks of 2 German panzer will have to pass in order to carry out a planned attack on the junction of the British and American armies that night. In the aircraft total are 151 Lancasters, 105 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitos. The raid is controlled with great care by the Master Bomber who orders the bombing force to come down to 4,000 feet in order to be sure of seeing the markers in the smoke and the dust of the bombs. 1,100 tons of bombs are dropped with great accuracy and the planned German attack does not take place.
• 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 102 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups bomb the flying bomb launching site at Oisemont. The attack takes place with cloud cover and the results are not observed.
• There are no losses.
• 6 Mosquitos fly uneventful Ranger patrols.

• 118 Lancasters of No. 1 Group attack the railway yards in the small town of Vierzon, south of Orléans, with great accuracy. This is a success for No. 1 Group's own marking flight.
• 11 Lancasters are lost.

• 40 Mosquitos are sent to the Homberg oil plant, 6 Stirlings lay mines in the Scheldt River, 29 Mosquitos make fighter patrols and there are 6 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Homberg raid.
• 250 Lancasters drop 1,000 ton bombs on the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divs as they pass through the village of Villers Bocage near Caen.

• 24 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the Le Culot Airdrome.
• 11 1st Bomb Division B-17s unable to locate their assigned target in France attack the Coxyde/Furnes Airdrome.

• An 8th Air Force Air-Sea Rescue Squadron P-47 pilot downs a V-1 rocket.

• 39 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack the Montdidier Airdromes.
• 61 3rd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Conches and Evreux/Fauville Airdromes. GH radar is employed in all the attacks.
• A total of 305 VIII Fighter Command fighters carry out bombing and strafing attacks against bridges, several marshalling yards, and transportation targets of opportunity.
• 1 P-38 and its pilot are lost

• Although 250 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s are forced to abort due to bad weather, more than 125 others employ blind-bombing methods to attack several road junctins and fuel dumps through heavy cloud cover. More than 500 9th Air Force fighters escorting the bombers subsequently attack beach defenses, bridges near Paris and Evreux, marshalling yards at Chartres and another location, and several rail lines.

• IX TAC fighter-bombers based in France attack numerous communications targets directly behind the Normandy battle lines.
• VIII Fighter Command and 9th Air Force fighter and fighter-bomber pilots down 7 Luftwaffe fighters and 1 Ju-99 between 1045 and 2125 hours.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a rail bridge, a viaduct, and a tunnel.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack gun emplacements, bridges, rail targets, and motor vehicles along the battle line.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers dispatched against targets at Blechhammer, Germany, are diverted by bad weather against a variety of targets of opportunity in Hungary and Yugoslavia.

Air Operations, Marianas

• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army positions on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian islands.
• During the night, Japanese Navy aircraft from Truk and Iwo Jima mount light, ineffective attacks against USN ships off Saipan.

Air Operations, New Guinea

90th, 5th, and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s, an assortment of V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Kamiri and Namber airfields on Normfoor, Japanese Army defenses and stores on Noemfoor Island, and barges, troops, and targets of opportunity at Nyaparake and Suain.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-478 is first sighted by Canso 'A' of No 162 Squadron. The aircraft attempts an attack, but the depth charges would not release. The task is given to Liberator 'E' of No 86 Squadron who attacks with six depth charges blowing the bows out of the water, then sinks stern first.

U-478

CBI

Air Transport Command is averaging 46,000 tons of supplies a month delivered to China over the Hump.

Denmark, Resistance

A general strike begins in Copenhagen. On July 1 the Germans proclaim a state of emergency, but are forced to concede on some points on July 4 when the strike ends.

Diplomatic Relations

The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Finland.

Eastern Front

The 3rd Belorussian Front captures Borisov. Finns in the Isthmus, supported by reinforcements from other sectors, German AT units and Stukas, halt the Russian onslaught.

The Soviet 11th Guards and 5th Guards Tank Armies link up at Borisov to cut off the German 4th Army east of the Berezina. At Bobruisk, 20,000 Germans manage to escape.[MORE]

Italy

On the Tyrrhenian coast the US 34th Div is heavily engaged just south of Cecina, while inland the main Allied advance is being slowed by a new German defense line south of Siena and Arezzo.

Marianas

On Saipan the 2nd Marine Div advances north of Mount Tipo Pale and Mount Tapotchau. The 27th Inf Div, in the center of the line, clear the area known as Death Valley and the nearby Purple Heart Ridge making firm contact with the 2nd Marines on their right and the 4th Marines on their left. This completes the mopping up of the Kagman peninsula, and marks the end to of the battle in the central strip of Saipan. More than half of the island as now been taken.

New Guinea

The main phase of the operations on Biak Island is finished. Part of the landing force is withdrawn into the beachhead, while the rest undertake the mopping up of the island.

On the mainland, in the Wadke-Sarmi area, mopping up operations are in progreas.

Pacific

• The US submarine Jack (SS-259) attacks a Japanese convoy about 70 miles west of Manila and sinks the army cargo ships Tsurushima Maru (4645t) and Matsukawa Maru (3825t).
• The US submarine Plaice (SS-390) sinks the Japanese gunboat Hyakafuku Maru (986t) northwest of Chichi Jima.
• The US submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nikkin Maru (5705t) in the Yellow Sea off Mokpo, Korea.
• The Japanese gunboat Aikoku Maru is sunk by shore batteries off Kwajalein Atoll.

Southwest Pacific

SWPA headquarters orders Lt-Gen Krueger's Alamo Force to develop plans to seize, occupy, and defend Cape Sansapor to allow for the uninterrupted movement of Allied naval and air forces. The Vogelkop Peninsula in western New Guinea is the last Japanese stronghold on the island. Controlling Cape Sansapor would put US forces between the Japanese bases of Sorong and Makwari. This achieves two objectives withoug haveing to fight them and allows SWPA forces to reach the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines.

United States, Planning

American headquarters decide to carry out the landing on Guam on July 21. The operation is to be undertaken by the troops at present engaged on Saipan, plus the 77th Infantry Division from Hawaii.

Guidance from the JCS to Adm Nimitz maintains the intent for forces in the Pacific Ocean areas to invade Formosa (Operation CAUSEWAY), after Gen MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area forces have gained control o fthe central and southern Philippines. The Pacific Ocean Area forces will follow the Formosa operation with operations against the Ryukyu and Bonin Islands in preparation fo and assault on the Japanese home islands.

Western Front

The last German forces in the Cotentin at Cap de la Hague either surrender or are wiped out by attacks of the 9th Div. The 101st Airborne Div replaces the 4th Div in front of Cherbourg.

In the US XIX sector the slow advance of the 3rd Arm Div continues in the area south of St Lô. Before evening this division is replaced by the 29th.

Since D-Day the Allies have landed 630,000 men, 600,000 tons of supplies and 177,000 vehicles in Normandy. They have lost 62,000 dead and wounded.

Images from June 30, 1944

Sherman Tanks of 11th Armored Division

Crew of a Sherman Tank

On the Road to Cherbourg

V-2 Rocket Hits the Air Ministry

Passing by the Wreckage of a T-34

Special Services

British Infantry Move Up

A Finnish PAK38/97

Aftermath of the V-1 Strike

Two M3s during Sherman Tank Repair

Infantry of 49th Division Digging In

Sherman Tank of the 24th Lancers

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger Flies over Bombed Fields

Damage in Villers-Bocage

Examining a Destroyed Soviet T-34

German POWs near Avranches