Air Operations, Carolines

FEAF B-24s attack Fais Island and the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10th Air Force B-25s attack 4 bridges in the Mawhun and Naba areas.
• 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces at Taungni and attack the airfield at Onbauk and bridges and targets of opportunity across northern Burma.

• A lone 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 sinks an Italian cargo ship in the Whangpoo River near Shanghai.
• 27 14th Air Force P-40s attack the Hengyang area.
• 21 P-40 fighter-bombers attack Changsha.
• 4 P-40s bomb the city wall and town area at Tengchung.
• 6 P-40s attack Hsiaoshuipu.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Galela and the Lolobata airfields on Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 25 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos are sent to bomb the U-boat pens at Lorient but are recalled before bombing. 1 Wellington flies an RCM sortie.
• There are no losses.

• 1,019 aircraft are sent to hit 5 target areas in front of Allied ground troops. Include in the aircraft total are 614 Lancasters, 392 Halifaxes and 13 Mosquitos. The attacks are carefully controlled and only 660 aircraft drop their bombs. The German strongpoints and the roads around them are left well-cratered.
• 10 Lancasters are lost.

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to the Coulommiers airfield, 18 Halifaxes and 11 Stirlings lay mines off Brest, 6 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 11 Mosquito patrols and 48 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• 483 8th Air kForce B-17s and B-24s, of 905 dispatched, attack numerous fuel dumps, bridges, airfields, and other tactical targets in northern France.
• 1 B-17 is lost
• Escort and support for the heavy bommbers are provided by 437 VIII Fighter Command fighters.
• 271 VIII Fighter Command P-47 and P-51 fighters and fighter-bombers attack marshalling yards and rail lines north and east of Paris.
• 8 fighters are lost with their pilots

• As part of Operations FRANTIC, 55 8th Air Force B-17s of the 95th and 390th Heavy Bomb Groups, operating from bases in the Soviet Union and escorted by 29 357th Fighter Group P-51s, attack oil refineries around Trzebinia with 134 tons of bombs and then return to the Soviet bases.
• 357th Fighter Group P-51 pilots down 3 Luftwaffe over Poland between 1230 and 1330 hours.

• In the first theater combat encounters of the new P-61 twin-engine, two-place night-fighter, two crews from the 9th Air Force's newly committed 422nd Night-Fighter Squadron score probable victories against a Ju-188 and a Do-217 between 0300 and 0310 hours.
• More than 380 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack bridges spanning the Loire and Seine Rivers.
• 8th and 9th air force fighter pilots down 19 Lusfwaffe fighters over France during the afternoon and early evening.

• 12th Air Force B-26s and A-20s attack bridges throughout southern France.

• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack shipping at Imperia as well as several airfields.

• 365 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack two synthetic-oil refineries at Blechhammer.
• Escort pilots from the 14th, 31st, and 325 Fighter Groups down 21 Luftwaffe fighters and a twin-engine bomber between 1005 and 1230 hours along the bomber route through Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Germany.

• A total of 76 15th Air Force B-24s attack oil-industry targets at Novi Sad and the airdrome at Alibunar.

Air Operations, Marianas

Massive air, artillery, and naval bombardments support what is hoped will be the final drive by US ground forces to clear Guam of Japanese forces. 16 41st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 80 318th Fighter Group P-47s based on Saipan participate in the effort, as do 30 VC-5 TBMs from the USS Kitkun Bay.

At 0600 hours, VMF-225, in F4Us, mounts Marine Air Group 21’s first combat air patrol from the Orote airfield on Guam. As a result, US carrier aircraft are no longer required to provide general air cover for the island. VMF(N)-534, in F6F night fighters, is also declared fully operational at the Orote airfield, relieving US carrier-based night fighters of night-patrol responsibilities over the island.

Opening a long campaign aimed at neutralizing Japanese bases in the Mariana Islands that are to be bypassed, VMF-217, in F4Us, attacks targets on Rota Island.

Eastern Front

The Russians are contained by the Wehrmacht almost everywhere. In any case the Russians have to suspend their summer offensive for a time after advancing nearly 450 miles in order to reorganize their over-stretched supply lines. In 3 months the Red Army has advanced from the Dnieper to the Vistula, a distance of over 400 miles. The Russian forces advance in the Carpathian foothills to take Sambor southwest of Lvov.

Sombor falls to the 1st Guards Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front.

Italy

The US 5th Army tentatively postpones D-Day of its offensive to 19 August making minor changes in the plan of attack and promising to make available from army reserve the 34th Division to the II Corps and the 442nd RCT and 370th RCT, 92nd Division, to the IV Corps. The II Corps is still to make the main effort while the IV Corps, whose 1st Armored Division is to be replaced by the 442nd RCT, demonstrates in the Pontedera-Cascina area.

Marianas

The III Amphibious Corps, with air and naval gunfire support, attacks in greatest strength yet employed on Guam to clear the northern third of the island. The 3rd Marine Division, the 77th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade, following a heavy barrage, launch a heavy attack against Yigo and Mount Santa Rosa. The 77th Division attacks at noon with the 306th Infantry on the left, 307th in the center, and the 305th on the right. The 307th, assisted by the 306th, overcomes opposition along the Finegayan-Yigo road and seizes Yigo. The 305th advances slowly through the jungle in the coastal sector toward Mt Santa Rosa. Japanese tanks are again active after nightfall, but the US lines hold firm. The 3rd Marine Division in the center of the corps front and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade on the left flank drive northward.

New Guinea

On Biak Island, the 2nd Battalion of the 162nd Regiment advances along the track from Sorido to Korim Bay to link up with the 163rd Regiment, which has been operating against the Japanese in the north of the island.

In the Aitape area, TED Force cuts the new Japanese trail below the main trail and drives westward toward the Driniumor. South Force continues to patrol actively while awaiting the arrive of TED Force at the Driniumor. The Japanese appear to be in full flight.

Occupied France

The Resistance destroys 19 transport aircraft at the SNCAC factory, Bourges.

Occupied Poland

The Germans liquidate the Lodz Ghetto; deportations to Auschwitz concentration camp begin. Trapped Jews try to hide in the hope of surviving until the Red Army can liberate the town. However, the Germans comb the ghetto and will eventually transport 74,000 Jews from the ghetto to the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

Pacific

• The Japanese light cruiser Nagara is sunk by the US submarine Croaker (SS-246) west of Kyushu, Japan.
• The Japanese frigate Kusagaki is sunk by the US submarine Guitarro (SS-363) in the Philippine Islands area.
• The US submarine Barbel (SS-316) sinks the Japanese cargo vessel No.11 Sakura Maru just southwest of Tokuno Jima.
• The US submarine Bluegill (SS-242) attacks a Japanese convoy southwest of Mindanao sinking the transport Yamatama Maru.
• The US submarine Puffer (SS-268) sinks the Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.2 Kyo Maru off Zamboanga.

Western Front

The Germans begin an important counterattack, Operation LUTTICH, ordered by Hitler just east of Mortain. German armored divisions penetrate into the American positions between between VII and XIX(XIV?) Corps. The attackers are from 2nd and 116th Pzr Divs. Mortain is retaken by the Germans as they reach Le Mesnil-Tôve, but heavy Allied air attacks help to prevent any more serious loss. The VII and XIX Corps, duly reinforced, prepare to counterattack.

The 6th Arm Div, VIII Corps, reaches Brest in the evening, but it is too late for an assault on the city, and anyway the Americans do not have the equipment necessary for an operation on that scale. The Germans are thus allowed to reinforce their garrison and complete their defense. The 83rd Div continues the battle for St Malo, while on the south coast the 4th Arm Div attacks Lorient.

During the night the Canadian II Corps launches an offensive southwest of Caen in the direction of Falaise after violent bombing from the air. More that 1,000 RAF heavy bombers drop in excess of 3,000 tons of bombs on the German positions.[WF]

Images from August 7, 1944

Loading Ammunition

US Artillery in Action

Shattered German Armored Column

Naval Task Force in South of France Landings

Armored Personnel Carriers

US Troops in Mortain

Japanese-American Mortar Crew

M3A3 Stuart Light Tank