Air Operations, Carolines

FEAF B-24s attack the Woleai Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 30 10 Air Force fighter-bombers attack a bridge at Sihet, the Kamaing and Mogaung areas, and Myitkyina.
• Japanese Army ground forces are ordered to withdraw from around Myitkyina.

• 11 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Wuchang.
• More than 70 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack line-of-communication targets over a wide area.

• More than 20 14th Air Force P-38s and P-40s attack road traffic and shipping at Hanoi, Campha Port, and three other locations.

Air Operations, East Indies

• V Bomber Command B-24s and V Fighter Command P-38s attack the Boela airfield on Ceram and nearby oil facilities.
• B-24s attack targets on Morotai.
• B-25s attack the Penfoei and Koepang airfields on Timor and shipping near Amboina, Ceram, and Talaga.
• 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s mount two anti-shipping sweeps around Halmahera.
• During the night, 63rd Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack targets on Ceram and Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 692 aircraft are sent to bomb 6 German positions in front of a mainly American ground attack in the Villers Bocage Caumont area. The presence of cloud creates difficulties and only 377 aircraft are able to bomb on Oboe markers. Only 2 of the 6 targets are effectively hit.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.
• 2 Mosquitos carry out uneventful Ranger patrols.

• 20 Halifaxes are on Resistance operations and there are 6 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

41st Medium Bomb Group B-25 gunships and 318th Fighter Group P-47s support US Marine ground forces on Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• In a surprise move made virtually without a preliminary bombardment, US Army ground forces invade the Vogelkop Peninsula near Mar without opposition. 5 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s deliver the only ground-support attack of the day when they execute a planned minimum-level strafing attack against beach targets moments before the first troops land.
• V Fighter Command P-39s support Allied ground troops on Biak Island and attack barges and troops around Geelvink Bay.
• 5th Air Force aircraft attack numerous targets between Aitape and Wewak.

Atlantic

The US motor minesweeper YMS-304 sinks when it hits a mine in the Normandy area.

Burma

The commander of the Japanese forces in the Myitkyina area orders his troops to withdraw, then takes his own life.

Eastern Front

There is heavy fightin at Tukums as the 51st Army attempts to reach the Gulf of Riga. The 2nd Guards Army also attacks at Siauliai to pin down the 3rd Panzer Army and prevent it from transferring forces to the north.

The 5th Army fights its way into Kaunas. The German counterattack north of Wolomin continues as the XXXIX Panzer Corps strikes the 2nd Tank Army.

To the south, elements of the 1st Guards Tank and 13th Armies cross the Vistula at Baranow, southwest of Sandomierz. The Germans immediately lauch counterattacks but fail to dislodge the Soviet troops.

Guam

The Americans have now largely cleared the southern half of the island.

New Guinea

Without the usual preliminary bombardment, and without air support, the Americans carry out a surprise landing by 2 infantry divisions and and amphibious force of cavalry and infantry in the Vogelkop peninsula, near Sansapor on the northwest point of New Guinea, and on some coastal islets. Gen Franklin C. Sibert's 6th Div lands unopposed on the small islands of Amsterdam and Middleburg off Cape Sansapor. The landing takes place at 7:00a.m. and the division establish a beachhead about a mile and a half wide and half a mile deep. Adm Russell S. Berkey's TF 78 is in support.

Secret War

The Soviets capture an Enigma M4 enciphering machine from U-250, which they sink in the Gulf of Finland and then recover.

Tinian

Despite stiff Japanese resistance the 2nd and 4th Marines Divs push on southward, taking the town of Tinian and squeezing the Japanese into a little strip at the extreme south of the island.

Western Front

Units of the US VIII Corps advance rapidly toward Avranches and Granville. Units of the 4th Arm Div press on into the outskirts of Avranches and capture the bridges over the Sée River. The other corps of the US 1st Army also continue their march south, but while units of the VII Corps quickly approache Villedieu-les-Poêtes, on the road between Granville and Vire, the XIX Corps has to face violent German counterattacks near Percy from the II Parachute Corps. Farther east there are successful British attacks near Caumont. Allied aircraft drop 2,227 tons of bombs in advance of a new offensive by the British 2nd Army.

Images from July 30, 1944

A Cromwell Tank of 7th Armored Division, Normandy, 30 July 1944

Cromwell tanks of 7th Armored Division silhouetted against the morning sky, as they move up at the start of Operation BLUECOAT, the British offensive south-east of Caumont, 30 July 1944.

Cromwell Tanks of 7th Armored Division

An Abandoned German SdKfz 250/9 Halftrack in Le Bourg, 30 July 1944

A motorcycle and infantry of the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders, 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division, during Operation BLUECOAT, the offensive south-east of Caumont, 30 July 1944.

2nd Glasgow Highlanders during Operation BLUECOAT

The crew of a Loyd carrier of 46th Infantry Brigade, 15th (Scottish Division) pose with their weapons during Operation BLUECOAT, the offensive south-east of Caumont, 30 July 1944.

Crew of a Loyd Carrier

A jeep modified to carry two stretchers seen bringing casualties back to a regimental aid post, during Operation ‘Bluecoat’, the offensive south-east of Caumont, 30 July 1944.

Bringing Casualties Back to an Aid Post

An officer or NCO of the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders using a No 18 wireless set during the attack south from Caumont, 30 July 1944.

Using a No 18 Wireless Set

Unfinished Sub Pen, Cherbourg, 30 july 1944

3rd Battalion, 128th Infantry, 32nd Division in the Pacific, 30 July 1944

Universal carriers and infantry of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division move forward during Operation Bluecoat, 30 July 1944

Universal Carriers and Infantry of the 15th Infantry Division

V1 bomb Damage on Sandringham Road in North Watford, 30 July 1944

A Wrecked Japanese Plane in a Hangar on Tinian Island, 30 July 1944