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 mount heavy attacks against the Woleai Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force B-25s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Sihet.
• More than 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack the Kamaing, Mogaung, Myitkyina, and Taungni areas.
• 16 fighter-bombers attack various targets of opportunity.

• 18 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail yards at Yoyang.
• B-25s mount individual and two- and three-plane attacks against a bridge on the Yellow River and the airfields at Canton and Hankow.
• 18 14th Air Force P-40s attack the airfield at Pailochi.
• More than 30 P-40s and P-51s attack a wide variety of targets.
• In the course of several engagements over Yochow and the Yellow River, planes of the 23rd, 51st, and 3rd CACW Fighter groups down 4 Japanese fighters.
• A 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 is destroyed by bombs during a Japanese air attack against the airfield at Kweilin.

Air Operations, East Indies

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Laha airfield on Ceram.
• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Cape Chater, Timor.
• 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s abort in the face of bad weather while on their way to attack the Haroekoe airfield on Ceram.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply dumps at Maumere in the Sunda Islands.
• 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s mount two anti-shipping sweeps between Halmahera and New Guinea’s Vogelkop Peninsula.
• A 49th Fighter Group P-38 downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber over Ceram at 1015 hours.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs a Ki-51 'Sonia' bomber over tje Amahai airfield on Ceram at 1045 hours.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack targets on Ceram and Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 199 aircraft including 159 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos and 20 Stirlings of Nos. 3, 4 and 8 Groups attack 2 launch sites and make 2 raids on the Forêt de Nieppe storage site. All bombing is through cloud, but the various methods used are believed to have led to accurate results.
• 1 Halifax is lost on one of the Forêt de Nieppe raids.

• 494 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups make the last raid of the current series on Stuttgart. German fighters intercept the bomber stream while over France on the outward flight.
• There is a bright moon and 39 Lancasters are shot down.
• 307 aircraft of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Hamburg. Included in the aircraft total are 187 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos. This is the first heavy raid on Hamburg since the Battle of Hamburg just a year earlier. The bombing on this raid is not well concentrated. The Germans estimate that only 120 aircraft bomb in the city area, with no recognizable aiming point, though the western and harbour areas receive the most bombs.
• German fighters appear, this time on the homeward flight, and 18 Halifaxes and 4 Lancasters are lost. No. 431 (Canadian) Squadron, flying from Croft airfield in Co. Durham, loses 5 of its 17 aircraft on the raid.
• 119 aircraft of Nos. 1, 4 and 8 Groups attack the flying bomb stores area at Forêt de Nieppe.
• There are no losses.

• Support and 95 training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 13 Mosquitos are sent to Frankfurt, 5 Halifaxes lay mines in the Elbe River, and there are 50 Mosquito patrols and 41 RCM sorties.
• There are no aircraft losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

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

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s attack the airfields at Babo and Manokwari, shipping in Kaimana Bay, and a bivouac at Kasoeri.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity around But, Cape Moem, and Wewak.
• P-39s attack villages around Geelvink Bay.

Eastern Front

The 1st Belorussian Front establishes 2 bridgeheads over the Vistula south of Warsaw. Panzers and the Luftwaffe carry out repeated, furious counterattacks both north and south of Warsaw throughout August. The Russians take Brest-Litovsk and Przemysl. Units of the 1st Ukraine Front are on the San River.

There is heavy fighting near Brest-Litovsk as Weiss' 2nd Army is pushed back by the 70th and 61st Armies. Elements of 2nd Tank Army pushes north from Magnuszew and hits the 73rd Infantry Division and Herman Göring Par Panzer Division southeast of Warsaw. In southern Poland, Przemysl falls to the 3rd Guards Tank Army after a long struggle.

English Channel

German MTBs hit 5 cargo ships with FAT torpedoes.

Guam

While mopping up continues on the Orote peninsula, where the Marines reach the edge of the airfield, the 77th Inf Div succeeds in joining up the 2 beachheads. Infantry and Marines take Mount Chachao and Mount Alutom and advance on Mount Tenjo from Point Adelup. Gen Hyo Takashima, the Japanese garrison commander, is killed during the day; Gen Hideyoshi Obata takes his place.

New Guinea

With the liquidation of the Ibdi pocket, all organized Japanese resistance on Biak Island ceases. Mopping up continues. On the mainland, in the Aitape are, the Americans shorten their lines, withdrawing in the Afua area.

Pacific

The Japanese submarine I-55 is sunk in the Central Pacific area by the US destroyer escorts Wyman (DE-38) and Reynolds (DE-42).

Tinian

The Marines advance rapidly southward.

Western Front

At 5:00p.m. the US 4th Arm Div enters Coutances, and the objective of Operaton COBRA is achieved. East of St Lô the 30th Div continues the advance southward on the west bank of the Vire River.

Images from July 28, 1944

HM King George VI inspecting American troops of the Fifth Army with General Mark Clark, Italy, 28 July 1944

King George VI in Italy

Personnel of the Calgary Highlanders reading the first issue of the Maple Leaf newspaper , Caen, France, 28 July 1944. (L-R): Private Dan MacDonald, Lance-Corporal John MacDonald and Private Ed Cole.

First Issue of the Maple Leaf

Damage from Operation COBRA

On 28 July 1944, Americans continue to exploit the breakthrough of the operation Cobra. The Roncey pocket became a pocket of death for the 2nd SS division, ‘Das Reich.’ The town square filled up with armor, supply vehicles and mechanized infantry, trying to escape the unstoppable American thrusts. Fighter bombers had swooped and dived on this throng, setting the whole place ablaze. Ammunition trucks exploded, tanks were completely upended and the screams of the burning Germans filled the air. Nearly 1,500 German soldiers are put out of action and 4,000 others were taken prisoner. 500 vehicles, including many heavy tanks, are destroyed.

3.7 AA Gun, Hastings, 28 July 1944

V1 Bomb Incident, Lewisham High Street, 28 July 1944

US Marines Gunnery Sergeant J. Paget and Privates L. C. Whether and V. A. Sot, Guam, 28 July 1944 (US National Archives)

Marines on Guam

USMC M4 Sherman Tanks on a Newly Built Road on Guam, 28 July 1944

US Marine Corps 155mm rifle Long Tom, being fired at 1,400 yard range from White Beach, Agat Beachhead, Guam, prior to 28 July 1944

US Marine Corps 155mm Rifle Long Tom

M5 Stuart Light Tanks Pass through the Streets of Coutances, France, circa 28 July 1944

A Dodge WC 1 1/2-ton 6x6 coming up the road from the shore of White Beach, Agat Beachhead, Guam, prior to 28 July 1944. Supply ships and landing craft in background plus jeeps on the beach

A Dodge WC 1 1/2-ton 6x6

Clearing in a field behind White Beach, Agat Beachhead, Guam, prior to 28 July 1944. Trucks and jeeps load while troops advance inland

A Field behind White Beach

US soldiers, 41st Armored Inf. Regiment, 2d Armored Division, in camouflage uniforms in a Half-track M2

US Soldiers in an M2 Half-track