Air Operations, Europe

233 B-24s raid Toulon. 7 U-boats are damaged.

• 542 aircraft including 321 Lancasters, 201 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack 2 flying bomb launching sites and 2 storage sites. The night is clear with a bright moon and all targets are hit.
• 5 Lancasters are lost.
• 154 Lancasters of No. 1 Group attack the main railway area at Dijon which is heavily bombed.
• There are no losses.

• 35 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer facility and 10 to Düren, 6 Halifaxes lay mines off Brest and St Nazaire, 29 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 50 Mosquito patrols and 9 RCM and 3 OTU sorties.
• 3 Mosquitos are lost, 1 on Scholven/Buer raid, 1 on an RCM and 1 on a Serrate sortie.

• A total of 43 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Le Culot, Brussels/Mesbroek and Tulemont Airdromes.

• A total of 101 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack three V-weapons sites.
• 69 VIII Fighter Command P-47 fighter-bombers attack a number of bridges, towns, and communications targets in and around the Normandy battle area.
• 70 B-17s of the 8th Air Force's 3rd Bomb Division, escorted by a total of 228 VIII Fighter Command P-47s and P-51s, take part in the attack on the marshalling yard at Beziers on their way home from Russian via bases in Italy.

• 77 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a factory and the Gilze-Rijen and Volkel Airdromes.
• 13 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack the Eindhoven Airdrome.

• 12th Air Force B-25s attack a marshalling yard, a bridge, and several fuel dumps.
• XII TAC A-20s attack rail lines and a supply dump.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack roads, bridges, rail lines, and tactical targets in support of the US 5th Army
• During the night, XII TAC A-20s attack an ammo ship at La Spezia.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Beziers and the docks and submarine base at Toulon.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Montpelier.
• 6 Bf-109s are downed over southern France between 1040 and 1115 hours by 52nd and 325th Fighter Group P-51 pilots.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Neger-type U-boats begin operations off Normandy. In 3 nights of operations they sink 4 light warships and cripple the cruiser Dragon but at a heavy cost.
• German one-man Biber (Beaver) submarines attack Allied ships off Normandy. Also with raids on the 8th, the 29-foot-long craft sink 3 minesweepers and damage the Polish cruiser Dragon. 7 of the mini-subs are sunk.
• The German submarine U-233 is sunk by the US destroyer escorts Thomas (DE-102) and Baker (DE-190) in the North Atlantic area.

• The German submarine U-586 is sunk off Toulon, France by US Army aircraft.

Burma-China

On the Salween front the Chinese 8th Army attacks Sung Shan from east and south but such ground as they are able to take is recaptured by the Japanese in a powerful counterattack.

Eastern Front

The XXVII breaks up and attempts to break out in small pockets but many of its men are ambushed and killed. Thousands die in bloody battles in the forests of Belorussia.

Italy

The battle for Rosignano continues. The Americans of the 34th Div make very slow progress against the tenacious German resistance.

The resistance of von Vietinghoff's German 10th Army stiffens in the area in which the British XIII Corps is advancing which is south of Arezzo after making rapid advances to Tuoro and Umbertide.

Mariana Islands

On Saipan the Americans begin the last stage of the capture of the south of the island. The 4th Marine Div makes headway, but the 105th Regt of the 27th Inf Div, is held up by the enemy, dug in on the north side of a ravine called Harakiri Gulch.

Mediterranean

U-586 is sunk alongside at Toulon during a daylight USAAF raid.

U-586

New Guinea

The Japanese garrison on Numfoor tries a counterattack with about 400 troops but they are annihilated. The US forces are preparing to move against the island's third airfield at Namber.

Pacific

• The US submarine Plaice (SS-390) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Kogi Maru (857t) off Ototo Jima.
• The US submarine Sunfish (SS-281) sinks the Japanese merchant passenger/cargo ship Shinmei Maru (2577t) off Paramushiro, Kurils.

Western Front

Heavy fighting continues over the whole Normandy front. The US VIII Corps take the La Haye-du-Puits railway station. The US VII Corps continues its slow advance to the south toward Pèriers, on the road leading from St Lô to Lessay on the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula.

Images from July 5, 1944

Washing Vehicles

Carriers and Transport of 179th Field Regiment

Returning from the Front Lines

Col Francis Gabreski in His P-47D 'Thunderbolt'

US Secretary of War in Vatican City

Soviet Tanks Entering Minsk

29th Infantry Division In Action