Air Operations, Bonin Islands

30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based on Saipan attack Chichi Jima.

Air Operations, Carolines

• 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in the Marshall Islands attack the Truk Atoll.
• During the night, 868th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack Japanese airfields and defenses in the Palau Islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 24 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces at Pinbaw and Taungni.
• Nearly 20 fighter-bombers attack a variety of targets at Bhamo, Manla, Myothit, Pinwe, and Shwekyina.

• 7 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail yards at Hengyang.
• 19 14th Air Force P-51s and P-40s attack the Hengyang area.
• 39 P-40s attack numerous targets of opportunity.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Sinkantow during a morning engagement.

Air Operations, Europe

Italian-based US bombers attack the Bordeaux-Mérignac airfield and then fly on to Britain.

• 95 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups attack a fuel dump at Forét De Montrichard. The area is soon covered in a thick plume of smoke.
• There are no losses.
• 68 Lancasters of No. 1 Group and 2 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack U-boat pens at Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux without a loss. A U-boat is believed to have been hit at La Pallice. Fighter escort is provided by 8 Mosquitos of No. 100 Group. An RCM sortie is flown by a Wellington.

• 242 Lancasters and 137 Halifaxes are sent to Brunswick. This is an experimental raid. No Pathfinder aircraft participates and there is no marking. The intention is to discover how successfully a force of aircraft can carry out a raid with each crew bombing on the indications of its own H₂S set. The raid is not successful and there is no concentration of bombing. The Brunswick report calls it a 'heavy raid' but only states that bombs fell in the central and Stadtpark areas. Other towns, up to 20 miles distant, are mistaken for Brunswick and are also bombed.
• 17 Lancasters and 10 Halifaxes are lost.
• 297 aircraft including 191 Lancasters, 96 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitos are sent to Rüsselsheim. The target for this raid is the Opel motor factory and normal Pathfinder marking methods are used. The motor factory is only slightly damaged. The local report states that the tire and dispatch departments and the powerhouse are hit but most of the bombs fall in open countryside south of the target.
• 13 Lancasters and 6 Halifaxes are lost.
• 91 Lancasters, 36 Halifaxes, 12 Stirlings and 5 Mosquitos bomb a German troop concentration and a road junction north of Falaise. The bombing is believed to have been very effective.
• There are no losses.
• 40 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos attack 2 launch sites and a storage facility.
• There are no losses.

• Support and training aircraft make a diversionary sweep over the English Channel, 21 Mosquitos are sent to Kiel, 10 to Frankfurt and 3 each to the Coulommiers and Juvincourt airfields, 10 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lay mines off Biscay ports, and there are 47 Mosquito patrols and 33 RCM and 21 OTU sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Frankfurt and 1 Mosquito from No. 100 Group.

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Compisite Bomb Group B-24s and 2 11th Air Force F-7s attack Paramushiro and Shimushu islands, and Suribachi in the Kurile Islands.

During the night, 2 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kashiwabara.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Babo.
• B-25s and V Fighter Command P-39s attack the airfield at Nabire.
• A-20s and P-47s attack Japanese Army ground troops and targets of opportunity around Sarmi.
• A-20s and P-39s attack Japanese Army ground troops at Haur and mount a coordinated strike with US Navy PT-boats against fuel dumps at Boram.
• P-39s attack Mansinam Island and targets around Geelvink Bay.
• P-47s support Allied ground forces in the Sansapor area.
• A 421st Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a Ki-49 'Helen' bomber near Owi Island at 0415 hours.

China

Chiang Kai-shek accepts Roosevelt's proposal to send Gen Patrick J. Hurley and his economic adviser(?), Donald M. Nelson, to China as his personal representatives.

Diplomatic Relations

Churchill meets with Tito in Italy.

Eastern Front

The Germans attack into the Old Town district in Warsaw, hitting the Poles from the south, west and north.

Italy

The Allied forces complete the capture of Florence.

Western Front

While units of the US 1st Army have completely wiped out the enemy forces in the Avranches area, some German armored divisions begin to leave the Mortain salient for the planned attack towards the east against the flank of the XV Corps.

The US XV Corps takes Alençon and advances to the outskirts of Argentan where the German 116th Pzr Div is in position.

The situation is unchanged in Brittany, where the 83rd Div is still held up outside St Malo and Dinard.

The first PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) is in operation carrying fuel from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg. This will greatly facilitate fuel supply deliveries to Allied forces in France.

Images from August 12, 1944

Extensive Damage to the Huge Krupps Armament Works at Brunswick

A Lancaster of No 49 Squadron is towed out in prepartion for the night's mission from Fiskerton on August 12. The tractor is driven by one of the many WAAFs who served with great distinction on Bomber Command bases carrying out vital support tasks.

Towing a Lancaster

A WAAF Plotter (Possibly from a Pathfinder Station)

Destroyed SdKfz 251 Somewhere In France 12 August 1944

Destroyed SdKfz 251 Somewhere In France 12 August 1944

German column of the 1. SS-Panzer-Division 'Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler' devastated by direct fire from 57mm guns of the AT Platoon of Sergeant Miller, 120th IR, U.S. 30th ID 'Old Hickory'. l'Abbaye Blanche, near Mortain, Normandy. 12 August 1944.

German Column Devastated by US 30th Infanty Division

A turretless Stuart reconnaissance tank towing a bulldozer which got bogged down while repairing a hole blown in the road by the retreating Germans, 12 August 1944.

Tank Towing a Bulldozer

View from Vaucelles of Monty's Bridge, built in eight days by the 20th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. Caen, Normandy, 12 August 1944.

Monty's Bridge Under Construction

Nurses of a field hospital who arrived in France via England and Egypt after three years service. 12 August 1944

Field Hospital Nurses

A good side view of one of the 752nd T40 Rocket Tanks, just prior to the initial demonstration and test firing that took place on 12 August 1944. The name "Bishop" is stenciled in tiny letters on the dark camouflage spot on the middle of the sponson. The 2½ ton truck in the background is transporting some of the observers to the site, which had been closed to all other traffic

Rocket Tank

2nd Lt. T. L. Collins demonstrates the firing control box on 12 August 1944, prior to the test firing. The firing control box was mounted on the inside of the lower rear of the turret. A completely assembeled 7.2 inch rocket round appears in the foreground.

Rocket Tank Demonstration

Men of the 752nd load the 7.2 inch rockets as part of the Technical Training phase immediately prior to the initial test firing demonstration that was held on 12 August 1944. The rockets were loaded into the front of the launcher, and each rocket was then individually wired from the rear of the launcher.

Rocket Tank Demonstration