Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
- 347 aircraft of Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups bomb 6 V-weapon launching sites. Included in this total are 197 Halifaxes, 120 Lancasters and 30 Mosquitos. Most of the targets are covered in cloud and some of the bombing is scattered.
- 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster are lost.
Evening Ops:
- 8 Mosquitos are sent to Scholven/Buer, 8 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off the Biscay ports, 19 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 9 Serrate patrols and 14 RCM and 4 OTU sorties.
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Eastern Front Troops from the 3rd Belorussian Front take Lida, 50 miles east of Grodno. Army Group North is isolated in the Baltic states as a direct result of Hitler's reckless orders. The Russians cross the Vuoksi River in the Karelian Isthmus.
CENTRAL SECTOR
The Soviet 5th Army encircles Vilnius, cutting off nearly 15,000 Germans in the city. Other units of the 3rd Belorussian captures Lida as they rush toward the Niemen.
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India, Home Front Gandhi concedes that an independent India must be partitioned between Hindus and Moslems.
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Italy On the left flank of the American 34th Div the northward advance beyond Rosignano continues, while on the right the US 88th Div takes Volterra. The French units are advancing on Poggibonsi. The British 8th Army prepares an attack against Arezzo.
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Marianas The US forces reach Point Marpi and the final organized Japanese resistance on Saipan is overcome. The Japanese have lost an estimated 27,000 dead as well as 1,780 prisoners, both figures including a number of civilians. At Point Marpi hundreds of civilians, possibly collaborators with the Japanese, are found smashed to death at the foot of a high cliff. The US forces have a casualty list of 3,126 dead and 11,000 hurt.
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Mediterranean The US minesweeper Swerve (AM-121) hits a mine and sinks in the Italian area.
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Western Front The American 5th Div lands in France. The US VIII Corps, trying to push beyond La Haye-du-Puits, is pinned down by the difficult terrain and by the stiff resistance of the divisions of the German LXXXIV Corps. The American 4th and 83rd Divs of VII Corps advance toward Pèriers under a violent German barrage. The 9th Div, brought up from Cherbourg, is sent into the sector east of the Taute River. In the XIX Corps sector the 30th Div's offensive toward the road linking St Lô and Lessay continues.
In the British 2nd Army sector, units of the British I Corps begin to enter the suburbs of Caen from the west, the Canadian 3rd Div, and north, the British 1st Div, driving out the 12th Panzer SS Div. The Canadians also take Carpiquet Airfield.
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Images from July 9, 1944
Men of 1st King's Own Scottish Borderers, Some of First Troops to Enter Caen, 9 July 1944
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Men of the Lancashire Fusiliers Crawl Cautiously through a Cornfield near St Contest, Normandy, 9 July 1944
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British Sherman Tanks and Infantry during the Advance on Caen, Normandy, 9 July 1944
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Sherman Tanks, Carriers and Infantry during Operation CHARNWOOD, Normandy, 9 July 1944
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Some of the first troops to enter Caen, France, pose with local inhabitants outside wrecked shops, 9 July 1944
Some of the First Troops to Enter Caen
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A soldier 'keeps a sharp lookout for snipers' in the ruins of Caen, 9 July 1944. He is armed with a Lee Enfield .303 rifle and is wearing a Mk III steel helmet.
Looking Out for Snipers
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Sherman Tanks Moving Past Panzer IVs
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| On 9 July 1944 a column of Sherman tanks drove past two type "J" Panzer IV's belonging to the 2nd SS Panzer Division, near Saint-Fromond, during the time when the Germans were attempting to block the American advance towards St-Lo. The two tanks had been put out of action by the men of the 117th Infantry Regiment (30th Infantry Division. The insignia of the 2nd SS, the "Runes of Combat" can clearly been seen on the left of the rear hulls of the two tanks.
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30th men passing a 90mm Anti-Aircraft gun being used as an anti-tank gun near the bridgehead of St. Fromond, 9 July 1944
30th Men Passing a 90mm Anti-Aircraft Gun
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A German soldier surrenders to troops of the 79th ID. Note the other German troops lined up against the wall of the church. Cherbourg, France, 9 July 1944.
A German Soldier Surrenders
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US Army engineers fabricating the hedge cutter from the steel beach obstacles left behind by the Germans.
Fabricating a Hedge Cutter
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A Sherman Tank Equipped with a Hedge Cutter
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Sergeant Curtis G Culin Devised the Hedge Cutter while in the Fields of Normandy
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