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.

• 69 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Metz.
• 480 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack eight airdromes in eastern and central France.
• 3 B-24s are lost
• 69 3rd Bomb Division B-17s returning from a FRANTIC mission to the Soviet Union via Italy attack the Toulouse/Francazal Airdrome on the final leg of the mission.
• Escort for the FRANTIC mission is provided by 58 P-51s that accompanied them to the Soviet Union and 42 VIII Fighter Command P-51s that meet them following the bombing attack.
• 3 B-17s, with 4 P-51 escorts, return to Italy due to mechanical problems
• 386 VIII Fighter Command P-47s and P-51s escort 8th Air Force heavy bombers and IX Bomber Command medium bombers over France during the day. Several escort groups strafe ground targets.
• 3 P-51s are lost with their pilots
• Throughout the day, the VIII Fighter Command mounts 706 fighter-bomber sorties against transportation targets in northeastern France and Belgium.
• 10 fighters are lost

• IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack a rail bridge spanning the Seine River, a refueling siding, and numerous targest along the highways in the Argenten area, through which large German Army forces are attempting to retreat.
• 8th and 9th Air Force fighter pilots donw 4 Ju-88s and 1 Bf-109 over France between 0700 and 1450 hours.

• 12th Air Force medium bombers attack coastal gun emplacements.
• During the nighte, XII TAC A-20s attack targets of opportunity along the Monaco-Toulon road.
• 12th Air Force medium bombers attack gun emplacements in the US 5th Army battle area.

• Operating in support of the Operation DRAGOON pre-invasion plan, 234 15th Air Force B-24s attack a variety of German Army gun positions in the invasion area and around Toulon.
• More than 100 15th Air Force P-51s attack radar installations and observation posts along the Mediterranean coast.
• During the night, 11 B-24s of the 15th Air Force's 885th Special Heavy Bomb Squadron conduct their unit's first operational mission of the war by dropping 33 tons of weapons, munitions, and other supplies from low level to several groups of partisan fighters of the French Forces of the Interior. To cover the true purpose of the mission, the bombers also scatter 225,000 leaflets.

A total of 307 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack German Army gun positions around Savona and Genoa.

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.

Indian Ocean

U-198 had sunk two ships in early August and because of lengthy signals sent to U-boat command, the British are able to pin point the U-boat's location to within 200 miles. Force 66 is sent to search for the U-boat. She is spotted by an aircraft from the escort carrier Shah and brings sloops to the area. The British frigate Findhorn delivers a Hedgehog attack which destroys the U=boat.

U-198

Italy

The Allied forces complete the capture of Florence.

Pacific

• The US submarine Pompon (SS-267) attacks a Japanese convoy in the Sea of Okhotsk damaging the merchant cargo ship Mayachi Maru (2159t) seat of Sakhalin.
• The US submarine Puffer (SS-268) attacks a Japanese convoy off Mindoro and sinks the merchant tanker Teikon Maru (5113t) off Cape Calavite and damages the tanker Shimpo Maru (5135t) which is beached off Golo Island.

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 Krupps Armament Works

Towing a Lancaster

A WAAF Plotter

Destroyed SdKfz 251

German Column Devastated by US 30th Infanty Division

Tank Towing a Bulldozer

Monty's Bridge Under Construction

Field Hospital Nurses

Rocket Tank

Rocket Tank Demonstration

Rocket Tank Demonstration