Air Operations, Europe

• 551 aircraft attack 5 V-weapon sites. In this total are 314 Halifaxes, 210 Lancasters, 26 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang. 4 of the targets are clear of clouds and are believed to have been bombed accurately. No results, however, are seen from the Forêt de Croc site.
• A No. 6 Group Halifax is lost on the raid on a Siracourt flying bomb store.

On his return from leading 617 Squadron's attack on the Mimoyecques site, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire is ordered by the commander of No. 5 Group to leave the squadron and rest. Cheshire had completed 4 tours and flown 100 operations. Squadron Leaders J. C. McCarthy, K. L. Munro and D. J. Shannon, the three No. 617 Squadron flight commanders - all survivors of the Dams Raid - are also ordered to rest. 2 months later, Cheshire is awarded the Victoria Cross for his 4 tours and for his courage and skill in developing low-level marking. He does not fly on operations again.

• 33 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil plant and 3 to the Mezieres railway junction, 4 Stirlings lay mines off the Belgian and Dutch coasts and there are 6 Intruder and 16 flying bomb patrols. Mosquitos shoot down 6 flying bombs, their best success of the war.
• There are no aircraft losses.

• During the morning, 689 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack 18 V-weapons sites in the Pas-de-Calais area.
• During the afternoon, 73 8th Air Force B-17s and 148 B-24s attack V-weapons sites in the Pas-de-Calais area and bridges south of Paris.
• A total of 1,027 VIII Fighter Command fighter sorties are flown throughout the day, escorting the various heavy-bomber attacks and strafing and bombing various ground targets.
• 5 fighters and 4 pilots are lost

• 229 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack shipyards at Kiel.
• 3 B-24s are lost

• During the morning, nearly 500 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack bridges and rail lines throughout France.
• During the afternoon, IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack V-weapons sites, bridges, fuel dumps, and rail lines.
• Throughout the day, 9th Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers escort IX Bomber Command medium and light bombers, provide beachhead cover, conduct armed-reconnaissance sweeps, and attack troop concentrations, gun emplacements, numerous rail lines, bridges, tunnels, buildings, and a supply dump.
• USAAF fighter pilots down 21 Luftwaffe aircraft over France between 0615 and 2020 hours.

• 12th Air Forde B-25s and B-26s attack lines of communications north or the battle area, warehouses, and German Army headquarters.
• XII TAC A-20s attack fuel dumps.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack rail line and bridges just north of the battle area.
• During the night, XII TAC A-20s attack the harbor at La Spezia and road targets in the La Spezia area.

• The 15th Air Force mounts a total of 711 heavy-bomber sorties against marshalling yards at Verona, a viaduct, several oil-industry targets, oil- and fuel-storage areas, rail bridges, and bht Bergamo steel works.

Air Operations, Pacific

The first purpose-built US night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, destroys a Japanese G4M bomber over Saipan.

Allied Command

Roosevelt forwards to Chiang Kai-shek the proposals made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Caribbean

The US tanker Esso Harrisburg (9887t), en route from Cartegena, Colombia to New York, is torpedoed and sunk by U-516 losing 4 or her 44-man crew and 4 of the 28 Armed Guard sailors. Survivors are picked up two days later by the US submarine chaser SC-1299 and the Dutch escort vessel Queen Wilhelmina.

CBI

President Roosevelt contacts Generalissimo Chiang, proposing that Stilwell be promoted to full general and given command of all Chinese forces. 'I fell that the case of China is so desperate that if radical and and properly applied remedies are not immediately affected, our common cause will suffer a disastrous setback.' Chiang Kai-shek makes a surprisingly positive response, but ultimately takes no action.

Diplomatic Relations

Over the next few days De Gaulle is in Washington for talks on the status of his administration and aid for the fighting French.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front take Kovel, 70 miles east of Lublin. The Germans have pulled back in this sector. Svir, southwest of Minsk, is also taken.

Following the destruction of the XXVII Corps, the XII Corps attacks toward Minsk but it is halted by concentrated Russian fire. Casualties are severe as the Germans rush the Soviet lines, only to be gunned down in droves. Panic begins to spread throughout the remnants of the 4th Army.

The retreating LV Corps of the 9th Army escapes destruction as it falls back to Luninets. This is the only unit left to the 9th Army.

English Channel

The British corvette Statice says she is in contact with a submerged U-boat during the evening of the 5th. Ottawa and Kootenay are detached and both ships make contact the middle of the next morning. Ottawa attacks with Hedgehog and hears an explosion. Kootenay delivers a depth-charge attack and Statice delivers a Hedgehog which produces one hit and produces some wreckage, but not enough to classify as a kill. Although the ships make several more attacks, there is not enough evidence to confirm a kill.

U-678

Germany, Command

Berlin announces that Field Marshal von Kluge has replaced Field Marshal von Rundstedt as Commander-in-Chief West. Von Rundstedt was sacked for wanting to sue for peace after the Allied invasion.

Guam-Rota

Aircraft from US carriers begin a series of daily bombing raids on the islands of Guam and Rota, in the Marianas, in preparation for the landing.

Italy

In the British 8th Army sector the Polish 3rd (Carpatica) Div takes Osemo just south of Ancona on the Adriatic flank. Throughout the rest of July the German forces will fall back gradually from river to river, a few miles at a time. The next major delay will be on the Arno.

Marianas

After a futile attempt by the 27th Division to draw abreast of the 4th Marine Division, new orders are issued at 0900. The 27th Division zone is limited in the western coastal area to a point just beyond Makunsha village and extends inland to include the valley running south of it, known as Paradise Valley, and Harakiri Gulch. Marines are given responsibility for the rest of the island to the northeast. Some progress is made toward Makunsha on the left, but efforts to overrun Harakiri Gulch and push to the coast via Paradise Valley are largely futile. The 4th Marine Division attacks with the 23tr, 24th, and 25th Regiments abreast, from left to right, in the expanded zone, making rapid progress against sporadic resistance except on the left, where the 23rd Marines is strongly opposed while attempting to push into Paradise Valley from the west running out of contact with the 24th Marines. The 24th Marines gains between 1,200-1,800 yards. The 25th Marines moves quickly up the east coast, assisted by naval gunfire, to Mount Petosukara. The unit accepts the surrender of between 700-800 civilians.

At dawn Gen Yoshitsugu Saito calls his officers together and, after exacting from them a promise that they will not fall into enemy hands alive, kills himself in accordance with the Japanese code of honor. At almost the same time, Adm Nagumo kills himself by putting a pistol to his temple and firing. The remaining Japanese plan a final Banzai assault, a fierce suicide attack to salve Japanese honor.

New Guinea

On Noemfoor, after a naval and air preparation, the 2nd Battalion of the 158th Infantry makes an amphibious assault on the Namber airfield and takes it without oppostion by 1240. An artillery liaison plane lands there soon afterward. An Australian P-40 squadron arrives at the Kamiri airfield for operations. Vigorous patrolling of Noemfoor finds few enemy there.

On Biak, loudspeakers are moved into the East Caves area in an effort to induce the Japanese to surrender. The few remaining alive are found to have abandoned their positions there.

The 124th RCT of the 31st Division completes its movement to Aitape from Oro Bay.

Pacific

• The Japanese destroyer Hokaze is sunk by the US submarine Paddle (SS-263) in the Celebes Sea.
• The US submarine Cobia (SS-245) sinks the Japanese guardboat Takamiya Maru east of Ogasawara-gunto.
• The US submarine Sealion (SS-315) attacks a Japanese convoy in the East China Sea and sinks the merchant passenger/cargo ship Setsuzan Maru (1922t) of Ningpo, China.
• The US submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Dori Maru (1469t) in Chosen Bay.

United States, Planning

Adm Nimitz proposes to support Gen MacArthur's attack on the Philippines by attacking the Palaus, specifically Peleliu, Angaur, Yap, and Ulithi, to establish naval and air bases to support MacArthur's invasion.

Western Front

The American VII and VIII Corps continue their slow advance to the south in the direction of Lessay and Pèriers against exceptionally fierce German resistances.[WF][CAEN]

Images from July 6, 1944

Mimoyecques V-Weapon Site

King George VI Meets with Pathfinder Crews

Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth and Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett

Infantrymen of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada

Men of the 23rd Hussars

Soviets in the Streets of Borisov

Marines March Through Garapan

Royal Visitors

Circus Tent Fire Tragedy

German Assault Gun StuG III

Hawker Typhoon Mark IBs