Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll and Sorol Island.
• 25 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack Myitkyina and Naungtalaw.
• 16 10th Air Force P-51s support Allied ground troops at Pyindaw.
• 25 P-40s attack targets in the Myitkyina area.
• 8 P-47s attack Theinin.

• More than 30 14th Air Force P-40s attack shipping between Chaling and Hengyang.
• 13 P-40s attack a fuel dump on the rail line through Kangtsun-i.
• 16 P-51s and P-40s attack river traffic between Lienchiangkou and Sainam.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter in an engagement in the Yellow River area at 1220 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 942 aircraft are sent to bomb 5 fortified villages in the area east of Caen through which British 2nd Army troops are about to make an armored attack, Operation GOOD WOOD. Included in the aircraft total are 667 Lancasters, 260 Halifaxes and 15 Mosquitos. The raids take place at dawn in clear weather. 4 of the targets are satisfactorily marked by Oboe, and at the target where Oboe fails, the Master Bomber Squadron Leader E. K. Creswell, and other Pathfinder crews use visual methods. More than 5,000 tons of bombs are dropped on the targets. Elements of two German divisions, the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division and the 21st Panzer Division, are badly affected by the bombing, the Luftwaffe Division particularly so. Operation GOODWOOD makes a good start. This raid was either the most useful or one of the most useful of the operations carried out by Bomber Command in direct support of the Allied armies. The aircraft bomb from medium heights, 5,000-9,000ft, but army artillery and naval gunfire subdue many of the flak batteries and only 6 aircraft - 5 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster - are shot down. No German fighters appear. Allied air superiority over the battlefield by day is complete.
• 99 Halifaxes, 6 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards at Vaires, but no bombing results are filed.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.

• 111 Halifaxes, 77 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups attack the synthetic oil pland at Wessling. A useful German report from Wesseling shows that this was a very successful raid and a credit to the Pathfinder marking. Approximately 1,000 high-explosive bombs fall inside the area of the plant in 20 minutes. 20 per cent of the installations are destroyed but, because some important buildings are particularly hard-hit, the loss of production is greater than this figure. 600 workmen are present on the night shift but they have good air-raid shelters and only 3 are killed. The nearby town is also hit and 151 houses are destroyed, many of them being in the estate for the oil plant workers. The people here must also have been provided with good shelters because only 8 German people are killed. The local report stresses that no children of school age are among the casualties. The local school had been evacuated to Silesia a few weeks earlier. Foreign workers and prisoners of war in a nearby camp probably had poorer air-raid shelters; 22 foreign workers and 9 prisoners of war die there.
• 157 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack the oil plant at Scholven/Buer. This is also a successful raid. The local report says 550 bombs fall in the plant area, although 233 of them do not explode. Production comes to 'a complete standstill for a long period'.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.
• 253 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups attack railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny. Both targets are hit and the railway lines to the battle front are cut.
• 2 Lancasters are lost on the Aulnoye raid, but German fighters hit the No. 5 Group on the Revigny raid and 24 Lancasters are shot down. No. 619 Squadron from Dunholme loses 5 of its 13 Lancasters taking part in the raid.
• 51 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups attack the flying bomb launch site at Acquet, but photographs reveal no new damage is caused.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.
• Support and 115 aircraft including 86 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings and 10 Halifaxes from Heavy Conversion and Operational Training Units make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea.

• 22 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 6 to Cologne, 8 Halifaxes lay mines in the Frisians, 36 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 76 Mosquito patrols and 20 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid and 2 Halifaxes from Resistance operations are lost.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Pagan and Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets between Aitape and Wewak.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Ukraine Front capture Brody, east of Lvov, in Poland. In the sector immediately to the north, armored columns from the 1st Belorussian Front advance from Kovel toward Lublin. The 3rd Baltic Front, on the offensive south of Lake Peipus, threatens Ostrov and Pskov, advanced strongpoints which until now the Germans have maintained at a high cost.

West of Grodno the Russians have already nearly reached the East Prussian border, but they are halted by a violent counterattack by Model's armies near Augustow.

The 31st Army crosses the East Prussian border and reaches Augustow, but ferocious German counterattacks halt the Soviets. The fighting has reached German soil. As the Russian advance slows, Model constructs a thin defense line from Kaunas to Bialystok.

The 8th Guards and 1st Polish Armies attack north of Kovel and break through the German line. To the south, leading units of the 1st Guards Army, pushing down from the north, are just 20 miles from Stanislav. The 4th Tank Army takes Olshantsa during heavy fighting on the road to Lvov. Meanwhile, elements of the 38th Army link up woth the 13th Army to isolate 65,000 men of the XIII Corps west of Brody.

Italy

The 34th Div opens its final attack against Leghorn. Some units reach the suburbs of the town but the Germans manage to preserve a good part of the garrison. The 91st Div reaches the Arno at Pontedera which is taken.

In the British 8th Army sector, the South African 6th Arm Div of XIII Corps reaches and passes Radda in Chianti, while in the Arno valley the 4th Div and British 6th Arm Div are almost brought to a halt by the first of a series of defensive lines which the Germans have prepared north of Arezzo. The 4th Div, however, reaches Montevarchi, on Highway 69.

The Germans defend Città di Castello desperately against attacks by the British X Coprs. On the east coast the Poles also advance taking Ancona.

New Guinea

In the Aitape sector the Americans capture the west bank of the Driniumor River from the mouth to the village of Afua.

Pacific

The Japanese submarine chaser No. 50 is sunk by the US submarine Plaice (SS-390) south of Honshu, Japan.

Western Front

St Lô is almost completely taken by units of the US XIX Corps ending the Battle of the Hedgerows. The British and Canadians begin a major push from east of the Orne southward in the direction of the high ground beyond Caen. This operation code named GOODWOOD is to become very controversial. It has the object of drawing as many of the German forces as possible into that sector and so reduce German strength in the western sector, where the American divisions are preparing for Operation COBRA, the attempt to break through the enemy lines west of St Lô and capture Coutances, which is scheduled for July 24. Montgomery hopes that it will lead to a break out from Normandy, but even if this difficult aim is not achieved he believes the attack necessary to maintain the established pattern of drawing the German reserves to the British rather than the American sector. Montgomery has made some unfortunate, extravagant comments on the prospects for GOODWOOD (notably in arguing for heavy bomber support) which will backfire when in fact there is no breakthrough.

More than 2,200 planes are involved in the massive bombardment which precedes the operation, including 1,000 RAF heavy bombers which drop more than 7,000 tons of bombs. The scale of the preparation does much to disorganize and demoralize the defense, and at first the attack goes well. Gradually severe traffic congestion problems develop in the rear. There are only 4 bridges available over the Orne and the Caen canal and in the dust raised by the bombardment and the advance the vehicles of the attacking and following divisions quickly become mixed and misdirected.

The Canadian II Corps cross the Orne southwest of Caen and its 3rd Div captures Colombelles and Giberville, northeast of the city. The British VII Corps attacks in force from the west and after a strenuous battle wi the divisions of the I Panzer SS Group reaches the line Hubert-Folie-La Hogne-Cagny, south of Caen.

Images from July 18, 1944

Infantry and Sherman tanks wait to advance at the start of Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944. A Sherman Firefly is in the foreground.

Waiting for Operation GOODWOOD to Start

Sherman tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry, 27th Armoured Brigade, carrying infantry from 3rd Division, move up at the start of Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944.

Tanks Moving Up in Operation GOODWOOD

Stuart Tanks Moving Up towards Escoville during Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944

A Sherman tank passes a wrecked German Mk IV near Cagny during Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944

A Sherman Crab flail tank crosses a Bailey bridge over the Orne, as it moves up to the start line for Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944.

A Sherman Crab Flail Tank Crosses a Bailey Bridge

Guardsmen of 3rd Irish Guards in a Loyd carrier, wrapped up against the clouds of dust, during Operation GOODWOOD, Normandy, 18 July 1944

Guardsmen of 3rd Irish Guards

Cromwell tanks of 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry advance near Escoville during Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944

Cromwell Tanks Advance near Escoville

The 'Hun Chaser' tank rumbles through the debris of St-Lô while an American soldier looks for snipers with field glasses and poised pistol before blockbusters have cleared the streets of rubble.

'Hun Chaser' Rumbles through St-Lô

St-Lô, France Is Taken, and the Allied Breakout from Hedgerow Country in Normandy Begins, 18 July 1944

Personnel of the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade Taking Part in Advance around Caen, 18 July 1944

Carriers of 1st (Motor) Grenadier Guards, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, Guards Armoured Division, Operation 'Goodwood', 18 July 1944

Carriers of 1st (Motor) Grenadier Guards

A Morris light reconnaissance car and, in the background, Sherman Crab flail tanks move up to the battle area for Operation GOODWOOD, 18 July 1944.

A Morris Light Reconnaissance Car