Air Operations, Carolines

• Carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.2 and 58.3 attack various targets in the Palau Islands.
• Carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.1 attack and photograph Fais Island, Ngulu Island, and the Sorol, Ulithi, and Yap atolls.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Woleai Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack stores at Mohnyin. 42 10th Air Force P-40s attack the Myitkyina area.
• 16 P-51s attack the Kamaing and Mogaung areas.
• 20 fighter-bombers attack Bhamo, Hopin, Mandalay, Myothit, and Wuntho.

• 27 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 3 14th Air Force P-40s attack the city walls at Tengchung in support of an attack by Chinese Army ground forces.
• 32 P-38s and P-40s attack targets of opportunity in and around Lungling, Mangshih, and Tengchung.
• 97 P-40s attack numerous targets in eastern China, including the airfield at Hengyang, Changsha, Leiyang, and other cities.

Air Operations, East Indies

During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack targets on Ceram and Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

Fighter-bombers of the US 5th Air Force, on the shuttle between USSR and Italy, make a successful attack on enemy installations in the area between Ploesti and Bucharest, in Rumania.

• 178 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group carry out an accurate attack on the railway yards at Givors.
• 4 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos are lost.

• 30 Mosquitos are sent to Hamburg, 11 to Somain and 2 to Saarbrücken, 6 Lancasters lay mines off Heligoland, 6 aircraft are on Resistance ops, and there are 23 Mosquito patrols and 6 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Hamburg raid.

• 40 VIII Fighter Command P-47 fighter-bombers attack a fuel dump and 93 P-47 fighter-bombers attack a marshalling yard after failing to locate their primary target due to bad weather.
• 1 P-47 is lost

• 160 light and mesium bombers attack a fuel dump.
• Fighters and fighter-bombers respond to numerous close-air-support requests and fly aggressive armed-reconnaissance patrols around the battle area.
• In addition to one planned fighter-bomber mission, IX TAC fighters and fighter-bombers mount 16 eight-plane 'armed reconnaissance' missions in which the pilots are permitted to attack any authorized-type target anywhere within the mision area.
• IX TAC fighter pilots down 17 Luftwaffe fighter over France between 1430 and 1840 hours.

• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack gun emplacements and destroy an estimated 20 parked aircraft at the Valence Airdrome.

• 12th Air Force B-25s and B-26s attack numerous road and rail bridges in northern Italy.
• XII TAC A-20s attack a fuel dump.
• P-47 pilots of the 79th Fighter Group's 86th Fighter Squadron down 5 Bf-109s near Brescia during an afternoon mission.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack an oil storage facility at Berat.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack three Vienna-area airdromes.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack an aircraft factory at Wiener-Neustadt.
• Escort pilots from the 14th, 52nd, 325th, and 332nd Fighter Groups down 20 Axis fighters and 2 Ju-52s over Austria and Hungary between 1055 and 1330 hours.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack the Szombathely Airdrome.

• 15th Air Force P-38s and P-51 fighters returning to Italy from the Soviet Union strafe several targets around Bucharest and Ploesti, as do 15th Air Force escort fighters released from with the heavy-bomber formations. In all, the 15th Air Force fighter pilots down 18 Axis aircraft.

• 15th Air Force fighters releasted from escort duty conduct aggressive sweeps between Brod and Zagreb.

Air Operations, Marianas

• 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25 gunships and 318th Fighter Group P-47s support US Marine Corps ground forces on Tinian.
• US Marines capture the 4,700-foot Ushi Point airfield on Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Babo and Ransiki.
• B-25s attack Langgoer.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack many coastal targets.

Baltic Sea

This is the first of the Type XXIII coastal submarines to be lost. She is sunk when she runs over an Allied air-laid mine.

U-2323

CBI

On the Salween front, the Japanese defending Sung Shan request and receive air support that damages the Chinese batteries and brings the attack to a halt. After a preparatory aerial bombardment, the Chinese attack Teng-chung in force with mortar and artillery support and seize Lai-feng, a fortified peak dominating the approaches to the town. At the same time, other Chinese forces attack the southeastern wall of the town but cannot get over it.

Eastern Front

Units of 1st Ukraine Front reach the Vistula west of Lublin and east of Radom and capture Deblin. Farther north Narva, in Estonia, is taken by troops of the Leningrad Front, detached from the relatively quiet Finnish front.[MORE]

English Channel

U-214 is on mission to lay mines off Start Point when detected by the British frigare Cooke. A depth-charge attack leads to the U-boat's destruction.

U-214

Germany, Home Front

Goebbels makes a radio announcement on the attempted assassination of Hitler: 'Never again will the Almighty reveal Himself to us as He has just done in saving the Führer. His intention was to let us know that it is for us now to work for victory. Let us go to it.'

Some 7,000 suspected plotters against Hitler's life will be rounded up across Germany and questioned by the Gestapo. Many are tortured and killed.

Italy

The US IV Corps relieves infantry unts as ordered.[ITALY]

Marianas

The 2nd Marine Division completes landing and resumes command of the 8th Marines, and is committed to action. The 4th and 2nd Marine Divisions, with close air, naval gunfire, and artillery support, make a coordinated attack that progresses rapidly against light resistance, securing the northern quarter of the island. The front line extends roughly across the island from points south of Faibus San Hilo Point on the west coast to Asiga on the east cost and embraces the Ushi Point airfield and Mt Lasso.

An attack to clear the Orote Peninsula opens after a heavy preparatory bombardment during which 7 battalions are employed. The 1st Marine Provisional Brigade, with the 4th Marines on the left and the 22nd on the right, begins to clear the narrow neck of the peninsula and gains about 1,500 yards despite the difficult jungle terrain. The 3rd Marine Division repels a strong enemy counterattack against the northern beachhead and, in close combat, eliminates enemy infiltrators who have succeeded in penetrating the lines.

New Guinea

In the Aitape area, since the Japanese appear to be preparing for futher attacks in the Afua sector, US forces in this region are rearranged for defense. No large-scale attacks are forthcoming, each side being in the dark as to strength and disposition of the other's forces.

On Biak and Noemfoor also the Japanese resistance still goes on.

Pacific

• The US submarine Golet (SS-361) is reported as presumed lost in the Pacific Ocean area.
• The US submarine Robalo (SS-273) sinks off western Palawan, Philippine Islands, due to unknown causes.
• The Japanese submarine I-29 is sunk by the US submarine Sawfish (SS-276) in the Luzon Strait, Philippine Islands.
• US submarines carry out a succession of attacks on a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea. Angler (SS-240) damages the transport Kiyokawa Maru; Flasher (SS-249) sinks the merchant tanker Otoriyama Maru (5280t) and teams with Crevalle (SS-291) to sink the army cargo ship Tosan Maru (8666t); Crevalle sinks the transport Aki Maru (11,409t).

South Africa, Home Front

The exiled Shah of Iran, Riza Khan Pahlavi, dies at the age of 67.

United States, Planning

Roosevelt meets MacArthur and Nimitz in Honolulu. MacArthur argues for an attack on the Philippines, but the navy suggests that they can be passed by and instead advocate Formosa as the next major strategic target. This debate is to become very heated and controversial.

Roosevelt, however, approves the plans for the seizure of Peleliu and the invasion of the Philippines. Both Adm Nimitz and Gen MacArthur believe that Peleliu with its airfield must be captured to protect the right flank of MacArthur's Philippine invasion force. The plan for Peleliu is called Operation STALEMATE.

Western Front

In the American VIII Corps sector the 8th Div cuts the road linking Lessay, on the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, with Périers and the 90th Div establishes a bridgehead across the Sèves. The 1st Div of VII Corps captures Marigny and the 2nd Arm Div takes St Gilles and Canisy. East of St Lô the V Corps' offensive gets underway.[WF]

Images from July 26, 1944

Typhoon Landing at a Forward Airstrip

German Prisoners Being Issued Rations

2nd Armored Division Recon

King George VI Knights Gen Oliver Leese

King George VI Passing Indian Troops

Fighting Fire on Crashed Take-off

Lt-Gen Crerar Arriving for Inspection

During the Advance toward Florence

75-mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8

US Army Air Force North American P-51 Mustang Fighters

In the Town Square, Marigny

Building in Yap Town Burning