Air Operations, Europe

The US 8th and 15th Air Forces drop 73,000 tons of bombs and RAF Bomber Command adds 57,000 tons more. Among the targets are, for the Americans, Munich, Friedrichshafen, Metz and Belfort and, for the British, Stuttgart and Hamburg. The German oil industry is heavily hit by both British and Americans especially at Wesseling, Bohlen, Merseburg, Vienna and Ploesti.

English Channel

Throughout the month there are many sharp engagements, usually at night between German and Allied, mostly British, naval units. Both sides take some losses but the Allied preponderance of strength is normally decisive. The German submarine force suffers especially heavily.

Air Operations, Carolines

• Several FEAF B-24s conducting armed reconnaissance missions attack the Yap Atoll and Peleliu Island.
• During the night, VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 2 10th Air Force B-25s bomb rail facilities at Mohnyin and Naba.
• 8 10th Air Force P-40s support Allied ground troops at Myitkyina.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in the Tungting Lake region.
• During the night, 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines near Canton.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Namlea airfield on Boeroe and shipping in the same area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 307 Halifaxes of Nos. 4 and 6 Groups with 15 Mosquitos and 6 Lancasters of the Pathfinders attack 2 flying bomb sites and a stores site. All target are almost completely cloud-covered. The bombing is made on Oboe markers and results are not observed.
• 1 Halifax from No. 4 Group is lost on the raid to St Martin l'Hortier.
• 2 Mosquitos carry out uneventful Ranger patrols to airfields in northern Holland.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil plant and 4 to the Homberg oil plant, 6 Lancasters lay mines off Horn's Reef and 2 Mosquitos make flying-bomb patrols.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack Kurabu Cape airfield and Shimushu Island at dawn with the aid of radar.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army positions on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V and XIII Bomber command B-24s, V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers open the final pre-invasion bombardment of Noemfoor Island.
• 5th Air Force aircraft attack the airfield at Manokwari and mount numerous sorties against coastal targets in the Wewak area.

Eastern Front

Berisov, a major center midway between Orsha and Minsk, is taken by troops of 3rd Belorussian Front under Gen Ivan Chernyakovsky.

With the Soviet armies fast approaching the Germans begin the evacuation of second echelon personnel from Minsk, 8,000 wounded and 12,000 ausiliaries being moved west.

Heavy fighting rages on the Berezina, the 31st and 267th Infantry Divisions attempting to hold open a line of retreat for the 4th Army. Despite the threat posed by the 11th Guards and 5th Guards Tank Armies around Borisov, the XXVII Corps gets most of its men across near Zhukovets while the XXXIX and XII Corps cross at Berezino. Soviet forces continue or push forward, trying to get behind the German army and encircle it before it can reach Minsk. Leading tanks enter Tschweren.

Italy

Troops from the 34th Division, IV Corps, 5th Army take Cecina on the west coast and inland, in the advance to Volterra, Pomerance also falls. East of Cecina, despite resistance by the Germans, the 135th Regiment succeeds in holding the bridgehead captured the previous day. On the right of the American corps, the 1st Armored Division advances on Siena.

On the right of the Allied line the British X Corps of 8th Army which has not yet made contact with the enemy, replaces the British 6th Armored Division in the front line.

Mariana Islands

On Saipan the US 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions and the 27th Infantry Division advance northward against heavy Japanese resistance pushing forward about a mile in some sectors and bringing right flank troops to within 5-1/2 miles of the northern tip of the island. On the left flank of the advance, US troops have seized the heights overlooking Tanapag harbor.

New Guinea

Task Force 77 under Rear-Adm William N. Fechteler, with the US 158th Infantry Regiment and Australian units, sails for Numfoor Island, between Biak and the northwest point of New Guinea. The Japanese 18th Army has to split up its slender forces to try to defend an impossible number of Allied targets. On Biak the Americans try to prevent the Japanese from re-grouping. In the Wadke-Sarmi area, on the mainland, to ensure the safety of Maffin Bay, American troops advance as far as the mouth of the Woske River and then move inland.

Air Operations, Carolines

VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 2 10th Air Force B-25s attack rail lines at Katha and Pinwe.
• 7 10th Air Force P-40s support Allied ground troops at Myitkyina.

• 11 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 42 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army ground troops and shipping in the Tungting Lake region.
• B-25s and P-51s attack the airfield at Lupao and town area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 374 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups attack 3 V-weapon sites. Cloud affected all the raids, but good concentrations of bombs are believed to have been dropped on all targets.
• There are no losses.
• 4 Mosquitos make uneventful Ranger patrols.

Air Operations, Marianas

• A VF(N)-76 F4U downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber at sea at 0008 hours.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army ground troops on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Kamiri area of Noemfoor Island.
• B-25s attack the Manokwari area.
• 44 V Bomber Command B-24s mount a noon attack against the Kornasoren airfield on Noemfoor.
• Following an air and naval bombardment, including a last-minute precision target-suppression attack by 12 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, US Army ground troops invade Noemfoor Island without opposition. The Kamiri airfield is captured, and US Army and RAAF engineers immediately begin to prepare it for flight operations. Cover and air support is provided throughout the day by 4 A-20 squadrons; 17th Reconnaissance Squadron B-25s; the 8th, 348th, and 475th Fighter groups; and the 421st Night Fighter Squadron.

Atlantic

• The US motor minesweeper YMS-350 sinks in the Normandy area after an encounter with a mine.
• The US transport General W. A. Mann (AP-112), escorted by the Brazilian destroyers Marcilio Dias, Martz E Barros and Greenhalgh, sails from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the first elements of the Italy-bound Brazilian Expeditionary Force.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-543 in sunk by aircraft (VC-58) from the US escort carrier Wake Island (CVE-65) southeast of the Azores Islands.

U-543

Brazil

The first contingent of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force leaves Rio by sea to join the Allied 5th Army in Italy.

Burma-China

The Chinese divisions reinforce the north flank of the Myitkyina area, fearing a Japanese counter-offensive from the north. On the Salween front the Chinese 116th Division advances on Teng-chung in spite of the violent monsoon rain.

Eastern Front

The Russian forces cut several of the rail lines leading west from Minsk.

The 5th Panzer Division comes under heavy attack east of Minsk as the 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts draw closer together. Furious fighting rages at Krasnoye and Molodechno, the latter being retaken by 5th Panzer after ferocious fighting with the 3rd Belorussian Front. However, the 31st Army then slices through the German defenses and, supported by the 5th Guards Tank Army, reaches the outskirts of Minsk. Smolovichi falls.

The 3rd Army also draws up from the south, outpacing the retreating 9th Army. With the loss of Minsk imminent, Hitler agrees to the evacuation of the city. It was already too late, the bulk of the 4th Army being far to the east.

Germany, Command

Field-Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt asks to be relieved of the command of German forces in the West. Hitler accepts and replaces him with Field Marshal Hans Günther von Kluge.

Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

• US carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.2—under overall command of Rear-Adm Joseph J. Clark—mount extremely devastating attacks against airfields and shipping at Chichi Jima, Haha Jima, and Iwo Jima. Naval gunfire is also employed against some targets.
• A VF-31 F6F and a VT-31 TBM crew down an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 1304 hours. VF-1, VF-2, and VF-50 F6Fs down 49 A6M Zeros in the Iwo Jima area between 1555 and 1635 hours.

Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attack Peleliu Island and the Woleai and Yap atolls.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 20 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground troops at Myitkyina.

• 4 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack rail facilities at Yoyang.
• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 14th Air Force P-40s attack numerous other targets in the Tungting Lake region.
• B-25s airdrop supplies to Chinese Army ground troops near Hengyang.

• 14th Air Force P-40s attack a bridge and targets of opportunity at Phu Lang Thuong.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group attack Saumlakki in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil pland and 4 to the Homberg one, 4 Stirlings lay mines off Brest, 24 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 11 Mosquitos on flying bomb patrols.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army troops on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• After a smoke screen has been laid by V Bomber Command A-20s and B-25s, 317th Troop Carrier Group C-47s airdrop a 739-man US Army parachute- infantry battalion at the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor, which is already in American hands. Paratroop casualties are an extremely high - 10 percent due to accidents, drifting smoke, and, to a far lesser degree, enemy fire.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack Biak Island, Efman Island, Larat, and Manokwari.
• B-25s and P-38s attack Japanese Army troops and supply dumps near Noemfoor's Kamiri airfield.
• 5th Air Force aircraft attack coastal targets in the Wewak area.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-boats equipped with schnorkels begin operations off Normandy.
• The Germans submarine U-154 is sunk by the US destroyer escorts Frost (DE-144) and Inch (DE-145) off Madeira.

U-154

Burma-India

On the Assam front the 7th Indian Division of the XXXIII Corps captures Ukhrul. But the Japanese dig in close to this important road junction.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts complete the capture of Minsk. Many German units, particularly from 4th Army are now isolated to the east and casualties and losses of equipment have been enormous. Already after less than two weeks of the Soviet offensive, Army Group Center is in total disarray with 28 of its 40 divisions being encircled and before long it will have practically ceased to be a coherent fighting formation. The Russians claim 400,000 German dead and 158,000 taken prisoner and the capture of 2,000 enemy tanks and 10,000 guns. This overwhelming victory beings a grave threat to the Army Group North, stationed in the Baltic states, which is in danger of being cut off. The 1st Baltic Front under Gen Ivan Bagramyan is about to unleash a powerful offensive against it. The Russians have superiority in every respect and during the attack against Army Group Center could muster at least 320 guns to every mile of the front in the most vital sectors. Gen Johannes Freissner replaces Gen Georg Lindemann in command of Army Group North. Moscow calls this battle 'one of the decisive victories of the war.'

Elements of the 5th Guards Tank Army enters Minsk, it and the 31st Army fighting bitter actions with German rearguards. The 3rd Army fights its way in from the south and southeast, linking up with the 3rd Belorussian Front. The German 4th Army, with 100,000 men, is isolated. Heavy fighting rages as the XXVII, XXXIX and XII Corps retreat, unaware that their escape route has been cut.

Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

• US carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.2 attack the Japanese bases at Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima.
• VF(N)-75 F4Us on a reconnaissance/nuisance mission down 7 A6M2-N 'Rufe' floatplanes s over Chichi Jima at 0530 hours.
• VF-13, VF-14, and VF-31 F6Fs down 31 A6M Zeros and 1 Ki-61 'Tony' fighter over the Iwo Jima area between 0600 and 0635 hours.
• A VF-2 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat at sea at 0715 hours.
• A VF-13 F6F downs a B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber near Iwo Jima at 0855 hours.
• The gunner of an observation plane from the cruiser USS Santa Fe downs an A6M Zero at sea at 1500 hours.

Air Operations, Carolines

• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll and airfields at Peleliu Island and the Sorol and Woleai atolls.

Air Operations, CBI

• 4 10th Air Force B-25s attack bridges and rail lines around Hopin and Naba.
• More than 30 10th Air Force P-40s support Allied ground troops near Myitkyina.
• More than 20 P-47s and P-51s sweep the Lashio area and the Mogaung Valley.

• 38 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 74 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, throughout the Tungting Lake region, and in the Canton area.
• B-25s airdrop supplies to Chinese Army ground troops at Hengyang and attack the airfield there.
• An 81st Fighter Group P-47 downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane at about 0912 hours. This is the group’s first victory (of four) in the theater, and the first victory by a P-47 over China.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack airfields and shipping in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command A-20s support US Army ground troops on Noemfoor Island.
• B-24s attack Efman Island.
• V Fighter Command P-47s attack targets of opportunity on Biak Island.
• Various 5th Air Force aircraft attack the Maffin Bay area, But and Dagua airfields, and barges at Wewak.
• US Army ground troops capture the Kornasoren airfield on Noemfoor without opposition.
• 317th Troop Carrier Group C-47s airdrop 400 US Army paratroopers at the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor. When casualties from accidents and enemy fire exceed 8 percent, it is decided to fly the rest of the parachute-infantry regiment to the island as soon C-47s are able to land at the Kamiri airfield.
• During the night, V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack barges and dumps in the Dagua area.

Air Operations, Europe

• 328 aircraft of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack 3 flying bomb sites. In this total are 307 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos ahd 6 Lancasters. Some cloudes are present but at least 2 of the raids are assessed as accurate.
• There are no losses.
• 17 Lancasters, 1 Mosquito and 1 Mustang of No. 617 Squadron attack a flying bomb store in a large cave at St Leu d'Esserent north of Paris. The site is accurately bombed without a loss.
• 4 Mosquitos make uneventful Ranger raids.

• 231 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos, mostly of No. 5 Group with some Pathfinders, attack the underground flying bomb store in the limestone caverns St Leu d'Esserent with 1,000 pound bombs in order to cut communications to the site.
• The bombing is accurate, but 13 Lancasters are lost when German fighters engage the force.
• 282 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards at Orléans and Villeneuve. Both targets are accurately bombed.
• 11 Lancasters are lost on the Villeneuve raid and 3 on the raid to Orléans.

• 13 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil facility, 6 Stirlings and 5 Halifaxes lay mines off Brest and St Nazaire, 16 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 61 Mosquito patrols and 25 RCM and 30 OTU sorties.
• 1 Halifax RCM is lost.

Air Operations, Marianas

• For the first time since June 19, carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.3, freshly arrived from Eniwetok sweep Guam.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army troops on Aguijan, Rota, Saipan, and Tinian islands.

Allied Command

The Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff send a message to Roosevelt suggesting that he should put pressure on Chiang Kai-shek to give Gen Joseph Stilwell command of all the Chinese armed forces and the Gen Daniel I. Sultan should be put at the head of the Chinese forces in Burma in succession to Gen Stilwell. Sultan's positions as Deputy Supreme Commander in Southeast Asia, under Adm Mountbatten, should go to Gen Raymond A. Wheeler.

Caribbean

The US tanker Kittanning (10,195t) is torpedoed by U-539 while returning to Cristobal, Canal Zone. There are no casualties among the 49-man crew or the 25-man Armed Guard, who are rescued by the Coast Guard cutter Marion (WPC-145).

Eastern Front

There is a new series of attacks toward Riga by the 1st Baltic Front against the positions of Army Group North. The German armies here are in a very dangerous situation because of the Soviet advances to the south toward their right flank and rear. Polotsk, northwest of Vitebsk, is very quickly taken. Army Group North, after the Russians' huge breakthrough in the center, is now in a highly critical position.

The 4th Shock Army of the 1st Baltic Front takes Polotsk, threatening the southern flank of the German 16th Army.

There is heavy fighting around Minsk as the 4th Army tries to escape. Despite repeated attacks, the XXVII, XXXIX and XII Corps faile to break out. By dusk the Germans have been contained around Pekalin.

Air Operations, Europe

233 B-24s raid Toulon. 7 U-boats are damaged.

• 542 aircraft including 321 Lancasters, 201 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos of Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack 2 flying bomb launching sites and 2 storage sites. The night is clear with a bright moon and all targets are hit.
• 5 Lancasters are lost.
• 154 Lancasters of No. 1 Group attack the main railway area at Dijon which is heavily bombed.
• There are no losses.

• 35 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer facility and 10 to Düren, 6 Halifaxes lay mines off Brest and St Nazaire, 29 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 50 Mosquito patrols and 9 RCM and 3 OTU sorties.
• 3 Mosquitos are lost, 1 on Scholven/Buer raid, 1 on an RCM and 1 on a Serrate sortie.

Burma-China

On the Salween front the Chinese 8th Army attacks Sung Shan from east and south but such ground as they are able to take is recaptured by the Japanese in a powerful counterattack.

Eastern Front

The XXVII breaks up and attempts to break out in small pockets but many of its men are ambushed and killed. Thousands die in bloody battles in the forests of Belorussia.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Neger-type U-boats begin operations off Normandy. In 3 nights of operations they sink 4 light warships and cripple the cruiser Dragon but at a heavy cost.
• German one-man Biber (Beaver) submarines attack Allied ships off Normandy. Also with raids on the 8th, the 29-foot-long craft sink 3 minesweepers and damage the Polish cruiser Dragon. 7 of the mini-subs are sunk.
• The German submarine U-233 is sunk by the US destroyer escorts Thomas (DE-102) and Baker (DE-190) in the North Atlantic area.

• The German submarine U-586 is sunk off Toulon, France by US Army aircraft.

Italy

The battle for Rosignano continues. The Americans of the 34th Division make very slow progress against the tenacious German resistance.

The resistance of von Vietinghoff's German 10th Army stiffens in the area in which the British XIII Corps is advancing which is south of Arezzo after making rapid advances to Tuoro and Umbertide.

Mariana Islands

On Saipan the Americans begin the last stage of the capture of the south of the island. The 4th Marine Division makes headway, but the 105th Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division, is held up by the enemy, dug in on the north side of a ravine called Harakiri Gulch.

Air Operations, Europe

• 551 aircraft attack 5 V-weapon sites. In this total are 314 Halifaxes, 210 Lancasters, 26 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang. 4 of the targets are clear of clouds and are believed to have been bombed accurately. No results, however, are seen from the Forêt de Croc site.
• A No. 6 Group Halifax is lost on the raid on a Siracourt flying bomb store.

On his return from leading 617 Squadron's attack on the Mimoyecques site, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire is ordered by the commander of No. 5 Group to leave the squadron and rest. Cheshire had completed 4 tours and flown 100 operations. Squadron Leaders J. C. McCarthy, K. L. Munro and D. J. Shannon, the three No. 617 Squadron flight commanders - all survivors of the Dams Raid - are also ordered to rest. 2 months later, Cheshire is awarded the Victoria Cross for his 4 tours and for his courage and skill in developing low-level marking. He does not fly on operations again.

• 33 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil plant and 3 to the Mezieres railway junction, 4 Stirlings lay mines off the Belgian and Dutch coasts and there are 6 Intruder and 16 flying bomb patrols. Mosquitos shoot down 6 flying bombs, their best success of the war.
• There are no aircraft losses.

Air Operations, Pacific

The first purpose-built US night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, destroys a Japanese G4M bomber over Saipan.

Allied Command

Roosevelt forwards to Chiang Kai-shek the proposals made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Caribbean

The US tanker Esso Harrisburg (9887t), en route from Cartegena, Colombia to New York, is torpedoed and sunk by U-516 losing 4 or her 44-man crew and 4 of the 28 Armed Guard sailors. Survivors are picked up two days later by the US submarine chaser SC-1299 and the Dutch escort vessel Queen Wilhelmina.

Diplomatic Relations

Over the next few days De Gaulle is in Washington for talks on the status of his administration and aid for the fighting French.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front take Kovel, 70 miles east of Lublin. The Germans have pulled back in this sector. Svir, southwest of Minsk, is also taken.

Following the destruction of the XXVII Corps, the XII Corps attacks toward Minsk but it is halted by concentrated Russian fire. Casualties are severe as the Germans rush the Soviet lines, only to be gunned down in droves. Panic begins to spread throughout the remnants of the 4th Army.

The retreating LV Corps of the 9th Army escapes destruction as it falls back to Luninets. This is the only unit left to the 9th Army.

English Channel

The British corvette Statice says she is in contact with a submerged U-boat during the evening of the 5th. Ottawa and Kootenay are detached and both ships make contact the middle of the next morning. Ottawa attacks with Hedgehog and hears an explosion. Kootenay delivers a depth-charge attack and Statice delivers a Hedgehog which produces one hit and produces some wreckage, but not enough to classify as a kill. Although the ships make several more attacks, there is not enough evidence to confirm a kill.

U-678

Germany, Command

Berlin announces that Field Marshal von Kluge has replaced Field Marshal von Rundstedt as Commander-in-Chief West. Von Rundstedt was sacked for wanting to sue for peace after the Allied invasion.

Guam-Rota

Aircraft from US carriers begin a series of daily bombing raids on the islands of Guam and Rota, in the Marianas, in preparation for the landing.

Air Operations, Europe

• 467 aircraft of Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups are involved in a major effort to assist the land battle. Included in the aircraft total are 283 Lancasters, 164 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos. The Canadian 1st and British 2nd Armies are held up by a series of fortified village strongpoints north of Caen. The first plan is for Bomber Command to bomb these villages but, because of the proximity of friendly troops and the possibility of bombing error, the bombing area is moved back nearer to Caen, covering a stretch of open ground and the northern edge of the city. The weather is clear for the raid, which takes place in the evening, and two aiming points are well marked by Oboe Mosquitos and other Pathfinder aircraft. The Master Bomber, Wing Commander S. P. (Pat) Daniels of No. 35 Squadron, then controls a very accurate raid. Dust and smoke soon obscure the markers, but the bombing always remains concentrated. 2,276 tons of bombs are dropped.
• It is afterwards judged that the bombing should have been aimed at the original targets. Few Germans are killed in the area actually bombed, although units near by are considerably shaken. The northern suburbs of Caen are ruined.
• No German fighters appear and only 1 Lancaster, of No. 166 Squadron, is shot down by flak. 2 further Lancasters and 1 Mosquito crash behind the Allied lines in France.

• 208 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos from No. 5 Group with some Pathfinder aircraft attack a flying bomb storage dump in a group of tunnels at St Leu d'Esserent. The bombing is accurately directed on to the mouths of the tunnels and on to the approach roads blocking access to the bombs stored there. German night fighters intercept the force and cause heavy casualties.
• 29 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos are lost. No. 106 Squadron, from Metheringham, loses 5 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid and No. 630 Squadron, from East Kirkby, loses its commanding officer, Wing Commander W. I. Deas, who was flying his 69th operation. Wing Commander Deas was killed and is buried in a small cemetery at Omerville, north-west of Versailles.
• 123 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos carry out an accurate raid on the railway yards at Vaires without loss.
• 106 aircraft of Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 9 Groups carry out a diversionary sweep almost to the coast of Holland in support of the St Leu d'Esserent raid and 7 Mosquitos drop spoof markers.

• 32 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 9 to the Scholven/Buer plant, 83 Mosquitos are on patrols and there are 48 aircraft on RCM sorties or Resistance operations.
• 2 Mosquitos are lost on the Berlin raid and 1 aircraft on a Resistance operation.

Air Operations, Asia

A second raid is carried out on the Japanese metropolitan islands by US Superfortresses. The B-29s concentrate their attack on naval installations at Sasebo, in Kyushu Island.

Burma-China

Fresh attacks by the Chinese 8th Army against Sung Shan are repulsed by the Japanese with considerable losses.

Eastern Front

North of Lake Ladoga, the Finns complete their retreat to the 'U' Line.

SOUTHERN SECTOR

The 1st Belorussian Front begins limited attacks with its 47th Army, taking Kovel after hard fighting.

France, Politics

The former Cabinet Minister and anti-collaborationist, Georges Mandel, is executed at Fontainbleu on the orders of the Vichy Police Chief, Joseph Darnand.

Italy

Units of the US 34th Division take Pignano in their advance up the Tyrrhenian coast. Rosignano is captures by the 135th Regiment of the 34th Division. The Germans rearguards have not yet yielded, however, and they take up positions just outside the town. The 4th Mountain Division of the French Expeditionary Corps takes Val d'Alsa hill.

Marianas

In Saipan at first light practically the whole of the Japanese garrison, now reduced to about 3,000 men, mount a wild attack on the American lines south of Makunsha Village. They sweep through one regiment of the 27th Infantry Division and the guns of the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Marines. There is bitter hand-to-hand fighting. Toward the end of the morning an American counterattack drives the Japanese back and they are pursued northward with terrible losses.

Air Operations, Europe

• 10 Mosquitos are sent to the Scholven/Buer oil plant, 8 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off the Biscay coast, 8 Mosquitos are on flying bomb patrols and 7 aircraft are involved on Resistance operations.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Far East

Yahata iron and steel works and several other key military industrial targets are hit by the second B-29 raid in three weeks. The US bombers are using air bases in China.

Allied Command

Chiang Kai-shek agrees in principle with Roosevelt's request that Stilwell should have operational command of the Chinese army, but he asks for a personal representative of the President to be sent to China.

Argentina, Home Front

Juan Perón is appointed Vice-President by Pres Julián Farrell. From this moment Perón rapidly becomes virtual dicator.

Battle of the Atlantic

Sunderland 'H' of No 10 Squadron RAAF sights fully surfaced U-243 at a range of 6 miles. At 2 miles the U-boat opens fire, but the accurate fire of the plane's front gunner quickly silences the gunfire. 6 depth charges are dropped with a perfect straddle around the stern. Shortly thereafter the crew is seen launching dinghies and taking to the water. The survivors of the U-boat are rescued by the Canadian destroyer escort HMCS Restigouche.

U-243

Britain, Home Front

1,750 barrage balloons are put in position south of London to combat the V-1.

Capt F. J. Walker, an 'ace' U-boat hunter, dies at the age of 50.

Burma-China

On the Salween front 5 Chinese divisions surround Teng-chung.

With the commander of the Japanese Southern Army, Field Marshal Count Hisaichi Terauchi, having sanctioned the abandonment of the Imphal operation, the Japanese 15th Army is ordered to retreat across the Chindwin. It is the final acceptance of defeat by Mutaguchi in the battle of Imphal-Kohima in which the Japanese lsot 53,000 men out of the 85,000 committed.

Eastern Front

Advancing north of the Pripet Marshes, Rokossovsky's men take Baranovichi, midway between Minsk and Brest-Litovsk.

More than 60,000 men of the German 4th Army have fallen during repeated break-out attempts, the majority of its 40,000 survivors being captured by Soviet forces. The 4th Army has effectively ceased to exist.

The 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts continue to push west. Elements of the 65th Army, together with Group Pliev (Gen Issa) and part of the 28th Army, take Baranovichi after a furious battle with remnants of the German 9th army.

Operation BAGRATION has succeeded in destroying Army Group Center. The Stavka and Red Army have successfully broken the individual armies in small-scale encirclement operations before trapping the remnants in a larger cauldron thrown around Minsk. For the Ostheer the defeat eclipsed even Stalingrad, some 20 infantry, 1 security, 3 panzer grenadier, 1 panzer and 2 Luftwaffe field divisions being destroyed and 350,000 men being lost. The German front in the central sector simply no longer exists.

English Channel

The British frigate Trollope is bady damaged by a German motor torpedo boat off Cap d'Antifer, France with the loss of 63 of her crew.

Guam

For the next 12 days a squadron of US carriers and destroyers under the command of Rear-Adm Charles T. Joy begins a series of daily bombardments of the defenses of Guam. On the 14th Adm Walden L. Ainsworth's battleships will join in this work of demolition.

Hungary, Politics

With the Red Army fast approaching, Hungary's leader, Adm Miklos Horthy, orders a halt to the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp.

Air Operations, Europe

• 347 aircraft of Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups bomb 6 V-weapon launching sites. Included in this total are 197 Halifaxes, 120 Lancasters and 30 Mosquitos. Most of the targets are covered in cloud and some of the bombing is scattered.
• 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster are lost.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to Scholven/Buer, 8 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off the Biscay ports, 19 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 9 Serrate patrols and 14 RCM and 4 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Eastern Front

Troops from the 3rd Belorussian Front take Lida, 50 miles east of Grodno. Army Group North is isolated in the Baltic states as a direct result of Hitler's reckless orders. The Russians cross the Vuoksi River in the Karelian Isthmus.

The Soviet 5th Army encircles Vilnius, cutting off nearly 15,000 Germans in the city. Other units of the 3rd Belorussian captures Lida as they rush toward the Niemen.

India, Home Front

Gandhi concedes that an independent India must be partitioned between Hindus and Moslems.

Italy

On the left flank of the American 34th Division the northward advance beyond Rosignano continues, while on the right the US 88th Division takes Volterra. The French units are advancing on Poggibonsi. The British 8th Army prepares an attack against Arezzo.

Marianas

The US forces reach Point Marpi and the final organized Japanese resistance on Saipan is overcome. The Japanese have lost an estimated 27,000 dead as well as 1,780 prisoners, both figures including a number of civilians. At Point Marpi hundreds of civilians, possibly collaborators with the Japanese, are found smashed to death at the foot of a high cliff. The US forces have a casualty list of 3,126 dead and 11,000 hurt.

Mediterranean

The US minesweeper Swerve (AM-121) hits a mine and sinks southwest of Nettuno, Italy.

Air Operations, Europe

RAF BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:

• 213 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups attack a flying bomb storage dump at Nucort, but the target is covered in cloud and the bombing is scattered.
• There are no losses.
• 6 Mosquitos carry out Ranger patrols without a loss. 1 Ju-88 is claimed to be destroyed near Oldenburg.

• 35 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 8 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters lay mines in the Kattegat and in the Frisians, 13 Halifaxes and 9 Stirlings are on Resistance operations, and there are 4 OTU sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Berlin raid.

Burma-China-India

On the Salween front the Chinese persevere with their costly eforts to dislodge the Japanese from Sung Shan.

On the Assam front, in India, the British XXXIII Corps has succeeded in driving the Japanese out of the immediate vicinity of the road junction at Ukhrul

Eastern Front

Model, commanding Army Group Center, asks for Army Group North to be moved south behind the Dvina to bolster his front and to prevent them being cut off by the Russian drive to the Baltic. As usual, Hitler refuses to allow this sensible step. In a great Russian offensive into the Baltic States, the 2nd Belorussian Front attacks northwest of Vitebsk.

A week later the 3rd Belorussian Front will attack near Pskov and the Leningrad Front will attack at Narva 9 days after that. Army Group Center has lost almost the whole of the 9th and 4th Armies. The 3rd Belorussian Front, under Gen Ivan Chernyakhovsky, surrounds Vilna in Lithuania. In the middle of Model's sector Slonim is taken.

Soviet forces reach the Suvilahti and Lormada Rivers, taking Pitkjuaranta.

The German 16th Army is assaulted by the 3rd Shock and 10th Guards Armies, while to the south the 2nd Guards and 4th Shock Armies advance to link up with the 6th Guards Army at Daugavpils. Hitler forbids any retreat of Army Group North to the Dvina.

The 2nd Baltic Front attacks the southern wing of the 16th Army with its 10th Guards and 3rd Shock Armies. The 2nd Guards and 4th Shock Armies launch new attacks aimed at meeting up with the 6th Guards Army at Daugavpils. With Army Group North now also threatened, Field Marshal Model requests that Gen Johannes Friessner be allowed to withdraw behind the line of the Dvina, shortening his line and creating a reserve that can be committed to reinforce the shattered armies of Army Group Center. Hitler categorically refuses.

Utena falls to the 43rd Army and Slonim to the 65th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

Italy

In the Tyrrhenian sector the divisions of the American IV Corps make negligible progress northwards toward Leghorn.

Air Operations, Europe

• 26 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group make 2 separate raids on a flying bomb site at Gapennes. The Lancasters make the first 'heavy Oboe' attack of the war. A Lancaster of No. 582 Squadron had been fitted with Oboe equipment and Wing Commander G. F. Grant, from No. 109 Squadron, one of the Oboe Mosquito squadrons, flies in the Lancaster and directs the bombing. When Grant releases his bombs, other Lancasters flying in formation do the same. This method allows a greater tonnage of bombs to be dropped directly on the Oboe signals and it becomes one of Bomber Command's most accurate bombing methods and enables small targets like the flying bomb sites to be bombed accurately in cloudy conditions.
• No aircraft are lost on this raid.
• 2 Mosquitos fly Ranger patrols and 1 attacks a tanker with cannon fire.
• There are no losses.

• 8 Mosquitos are sent to the Homberg oil plant, 21 aircraft are on Resistance operations and there are 3 Serrate patrols.
• There are no losses.

Battle of the Atlantic

Sunderland 'P' of No 201 Squadron is flying a rectangular search pattern when the snorkel of a U-boat is spotted. As the aircraft came in U-1222 dives. 5 depth charges are released which fall a straddle around the stern. When the explosions subside, a large amount of wreckage is seen on the surface.

U-1222

China

In central east China the Japanese 11th Army renews the attack against Hengyang but is repulsed by the Chinese with effective air support.

Diplomatic Relations

Roosevelt announces that the US will recognize de Gaulle's French Provisional Government as the de facto authority for the civil administration of the liberated territory in France.

Eastern Front

2nd Baltic Front (Gen Andrei Yeremenko) starts a new program of attacks on a 90-mile front east of Idritsa. Red Army units cross into Latvia and penetrate 40 miles into Lithuania. Elsewhere the German pocket, the German 4th Army, east of Minsk has been virtually wiped out. 70,000 Germans have been killed since late June and 35,000 more taken prisoner.

The 1st Ukrainian Front is poised to open its offensive against Army Group North Ukraine. For the offensive, Gen Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front has 840,000 men with 14,000 artillery pieces and 1,600 tanks among the 3rd Guards Army north of Lutsk, 13th Army between Lutsk and Brody, 60th, 38th, 1st Guards Armies massed between Brody and Tarnopol, 5th Guards Army behind the left wing of the 1st Guards Army and 18th Army on the southern wing at Kolomya. The 1st Ukrainian Front's armored forces, held in the second echelon, consists of the 1st Guards Tank Army near Lutsk, 3rd Guards Tank Army near Brody and 4th Tank Army near Tarnopol. 2 cavalry mechainzed groups, held north and south of Dubno, also provide support. The 2nd and 8th Air Armies are also attached and have 2,800 aircraft.

Also facing the northern wing of Army Group North Ukraine is the left wing of the 1st Belorussian Front. This force comprises the 70th, 47th, 8th Guards and 69th Armies concentrated north of Kovel with the 1st Polish Army and 2nd Tank Army in reserve.

Army Group North Ukraine, commanded by Gen Josef Harpe in the absence of Field Marshal Model, has the 4th Panzer, 1st Panzer and 1st Hungarian Armies. The German forces deploy 34 infantry divisions, 5 panzer divisions and 1 panzer grenadier division, a total of nearly 500,000 men with 900 panzers, 6,000 artillery pieces and 700 aircraft.

Italy

Orders are issued for Operation MALLORY MAJOR, the destruction of bridges over the Po River. The American IV Corps makes limited progress northwards. In the British XIII Corps sector the New Zealand 2nd Division gets ready to support the final attack on Arezzo.

Air Operations, Europe

The RAF deploys the Gloster Meteor, the sole jet aircraft to be used by the Allies during the war.

• 222 aircraft of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups bomb a storage dump at Thiverny but the target is covered in cloud and no results are seen. Included in the aircraft total are 168 Halifaxes, 46 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos. 18 Lancasters and 5 Mosquito of No. 8 Group use Oboe to bomb the Rollez launching site.
• There are no losses.
• 153 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups attack the important railway yards at Vaires on the outskirts of Paris. The target are is completely covered in cloud and the Master Bomber orders the attack to be abandoned after 2 Mosquitos have marked and 12 Lancasters have bombed.
• No aircraft are lost.

• 378 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups attack railway targets at Culmont, Revigny and Tours. Culmont and Tours are accurately bombed, but cloud interferes with the all-No. 1 Group raid at Revigny and only half the force bombs.
• 10 Lancasters are lost on the Revigny raid and 2 on the Culmont one.
• 196 Halifaxes, 17 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack 4 flying bomb launch sites. All the targets are hit with the raid on the Bremont les Hautes being particularly accurate.
• There are no losses.

• 168 aircraft from all Main Force groups and Nos. 93 and 93 Groups (OTU) make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea. 8 Mosquitos are sent to Homberg, 12 Halifaxes lay mines off Haligoland, and there are 32 Mosquito patrols and 32 RCM and 14 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Burma-China

The Chinese and Americans, with strong air support, launch an attack in force against Myitkyina but are repulsed. Some of the aircraft bomb their own troops through a communications error.

On the Salween front the Japanese in the Sung Shan garrison continue to repulse the attacks of 2 Chinese divisions. The Chinese offensive is suspended.

Eastern Front

The great Russian offensive grows in scale and intensity. Moscow announces that the 2nd Baltic Front has launched a series of attacks between Nevel and Ostrov, south of Lake Peipus, capturing Idritsa, west of Velikiye Luki along the railway line to Riga.

The 2nd Baltic Front rips a 50-mile hole in the 16th Army, the 10th Guards Army advancing 10 miles into the German rear. The 3rd Shock Army has also broken through, reaching the Velikaya River while the 4th captures Drissa. Idritsa falls to the 4th Shock Army of the 1st Baltic Front.

The Stavka strengthens the 1st Baltic Front in its push toward the Gulf of Riga, allocating the 51st and 2nd Guards Armies from the reserve.

The Soviet 5th Army enters Vilnius.

Furious battles rage at Vilnius as the 5th Army forces its way into the city.

Gen Ivan Konev begins probing attacks against the junction of 4th and 1st Panzer Armies. The Germans immediately pull back their forward units to the main defense belt but are observed. Gambling that the Germans will not expect an attack without the usual artillery barrage, Konev decides to attack on the 13th.

Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Sorol and Yap atolls.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 44 14th Air Force P-51s and P-40s support Allied ground forces in the Myitkyina area.
• 40 A-36s, P-47s, and P-51s attack several bridges and the Hopin, Indawgyi Lake, and Lashio areas.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Amahai airfield on Ceram.

Air Operations, Europe

• 13 Lancasters of No. 8 Group are sent to attack a flying bomb site and 2 Mosquitos are on Ranger patrols, but thick cloud prevents all the aircraft from completing their missions.

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to the oil plants and Homberg and Scholven/Buer, 6 Stirlings lay mines off Brest, 3 Halifaxes are on Resistance operations and there are 4 Serrate patrols over Denmark.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s attack a supply depot at Kokas and airfields and artillery batteries at Babo and Manokwari.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army bivouacs and gun positions in the Wewak area.
• Fighter-bombers support Allied ground troops in the Aitape area.
• 5th Air Force and attached RAAF aircraft based in the Hollandia area help defeat a multi-regiment ground attack by Japanese Army ground forces along the Driniumor River. Surviving Japanese ground troops withdraw.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Tinian.

Allied Command

Before leaving for Hawaii for discussions with Nimitz and MacArthur on the Pacific war strategy, Roosevelt replies to Chiang Kai-shek's letter of July 8, agreeing to send him a personal political representative and asking him in the meanwhile to entrust the command of the Chinese army to Gen Stilwell.

Eastern Front

After several days of fierce street fighting the 3rd Belorussian Front captures Vilna, the capital of Lithuania. The German Army Group North is in still greater danger of being completely cut off. Red Army elements in Poland, after capturing Kaunas and Grodno, are now within 100 miles of the German frontier.

After a fierce battle the 5th Army takes Vilnius, more than 7,000 of the 15,000 strong garrison having fallen during the fighting. The 11th Guards Army crosses the Niemen River at Alytus. German counter-attacks are beaten off with some difficulty.

Gen Ivan Konev launches his offensive without artillery preparation. The 60th and 38th Armies attack the center and right of Gen Arthur Hauffe's XIII Corps near Brody. Simultaneously the 13th Army begins a furious attack against the left wing of the XIII Corps and break through near Radekhov. Soon after the 38th Army breaks through near Zolochev. On either flank of the assault the XLVI and XLVIII Panzer Corps counterattack but are hit by the 3rd Guards and 1st Guards Armies.

Italy

The American 34th Division of IV Corps advances about 3 miles toward Leghorn. The other 2 divisions in the American IV Corps, the 88th and 85th, are engaged in the central and right sectors. The 4th Mountain Division of the French Expeditionary Corps captures San Gimignano, while another French division, the 2nd Moroccan, gets nearly as far as Poggibonsi and the suburbs of Castellina in Chianti about 20 miles south of Florence and halfway between Arezzo and Leghorn.

In the center of the Allied line the New Zealand 2nd Division captures the summit of Monte Castiglione Maggiore.

Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

VB-109 PB4Ys, now based at Isely Field on Saipan, attack Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima airfields.

Air Operations, CBI

• 49 10th Air Force P-40s attack Japanese Army positions around Myitkyina.
• 38 P-47s and P-51s attack targets in the Hopin and Myitkyina areas, bridges at four locations, a supply dump, and a rice mill.

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack roads around Tengchung.
• B-25s and 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail facilities at Siangsiang.
• B-25s and fighter-bombers attack a fighter strip near Changsha, artillery batteries at Leiyang, river traffic, and a number of occupied towns.
• 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the airfield at Paluichi at 0735 hours.
• 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40s down a Ki-48 'Lily' bomber and a transport over the airfield at Sinsiang at 1210 hours.
• 76th Fighter Squadron and 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-51s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Tanchuk during a late-afternoon engagement.

Air Operations, Europe

• 19 Lancasters of No. 8 Group attack the flying bomb site at St Philbert Ferme through thick cloud and 4 Mosquitos fly Ranger patrols over northern Germany and Denmark.
• There are no losses.

• 242 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups attack railway yards at Revigny and Villeneuve. The raid on Villeneuve is successful though much of the bombing falls east of the target. The raid to Revigny is not carried out because the target can not be identified.
• 7 Lancasters are lost on the Revigny raid.
• 101 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos and 4 Lancasters of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 groups attack V-weapons sites at Anderbelck and Les Landes. Anderbelck is accurately bombed in good visibility, but the Les Landes site is bombed through 10/10th cloud.

• 132 aircraft make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 42 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover, 8 Stirlings lay mine off the Biscay ports, and there are 56 Mosquito patrols and 35 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito of No. 100 Group is lost.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack barges and artillery batteries at Lautem, Timor.
• 74 3rd and 312th Light Bomb group A-20s staging through the Mokmer airfield on Biak mount extremely low-level attacks against the Boela airfield on Ceram and oil wells and fuel storage facilities at Boela.

Air Operations, Marianas

• 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Tinian.
• A 6th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 crew downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Saipan at 2225 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack a barge terminal at Kokas.
• A-20s attack the airfield at But and Japanese Army ground troops at Sauri.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces in the Aitape area and attack Japanese Army troops near Afua.
• Night-fighters attack airfields on the Vogelkop Peninsula.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-415 was one of the last operational U-boats working from the Biscay ports. As she departed for service and cleared the U-boat pens she strikes an acoustic mine laid by the British and acrivated by her diesel engines. There are only 2 losses but many sustained injuries from the explosion.

U-415

Eastern Front

The central and southern fronts of the Red Army are once more on the move. Konev's 1st Ukraine goes over to the offensive in Poland, north and south of Brody, in the region east of Lvov. Further north, forces of the 1st Belorussian Front take Pinsk, east of Brest-Litovsk. Pinsk is the last major German stronghold in the Pripet Marshes. 5 Russian armies are now concentrated in the drive toward Warsaw. For the first time the Russians clearly dominate the skies, employing thousands of aircraft in support of their ground forces.

The 61st Army and elements of the 28th Army take Pinsk. The 31st Army reaches the Niemen at Grodno and crosses to threaten the East Prussian border. Grodno itself is fiercely defended by the SS Totenkopf Division.

The 1st Ukrainian Front develops its offensive, the 2nd and 8th Air Armies clearing the 4th Air Fleet from the skies. Joining the offensive, the left wing of the 1st Belorussian Front hits the northern wing of the 4th Panzer Army.

The 3rd Guards and 13th Armies resume their attacks against the junction of the 2 German panzer armies, the XIII Corps being crushed as the 13th and 38th Armies advance more thatn 10 miles into its rear. The 60th and 38th Armies develop their attacks toward Lvov but are embroiled in a strong German defensive position. The XLVIII Panzer Corps tries to launch a counterattack but suffer heavy casualties to constant Soviet air attacks.

Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

VB-109 PB4Ys based at Isely Field on Saipan attack Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima airfields.

Air Operations, CBI

• 20 10th Air Force B-25s attack the Myitkyina area and bridges and a supply dump at Mawhun.
• More than 60 P-47s and P-51s attack bridges at three locations and sweep the Katha, Lashio, and Talawgyi areas.
• 38 P-40s support Allied ground forces around Myitkyina.

• 14th Air Force B-25s, P-51s, and P-40s complete more than 100 sorties against numerous towns and river traffic.
• 12 B-25s and P-40s attack a rail yard at Hsuchang.
• 12 B-25s attack Lungling and Mangshih.
• 26 P-40s support Chinese Army ground forces on the Salween River front.
• P-40s from the 23rd Fighter Group’s 74th Fighter Squadron down 6 Japanese fighters over the airfield at Siangtan during a mid-morning engagement.

Air Operations, Europe

• 47 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos carry out an 'Oboe leader' attack on the flying bomb supply dump at Nucort. Because of poor weather conditions, no results are seen.
• There are no losses.
Evening Ops:

• 162 Halifaxes, 58 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos carry out accurate attacks on the flying bomb launch site at Bois des Jardins and the Nucort supply dump.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 222 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos attack the railway yards at Chalons sur Marne and Nevers. Both raids are successful.
• 2 Lancasters from the Nevers raid and 1 Lancaster from the Chalons sur Marne raid are lost.

• 162 aircraft from 7 different groups make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 36 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 6 Lancasters lay mines off Denmark, 11 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 45 Mosquito patrols and 25 RCM sorties.
• 1 mine-laying Lancaster is lost.

Air Operations, Carolines

• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.
• FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Efman through heavy weather.
• B-25s attack the Korrido Anchorage.
• A-20s attack gun batteries on an island near Manokwari.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army troops and other targets throughout the Wewak area.

Eastern Front

2nd Baltic Front take Opochka, 30 miles north of Idritsa. Other Russian formations cross the Niemen in several places west and southwest of Vilna.

The Finns manage to halt the Soviet advance on the Karelian Isthmus.

Opochka falls to the 10th Guards Army.

The Germans counterattack at Alytus, hitting the 11th Guards Army. After heavy fighting the Germans are repulsed and the Guards secure their bridgehead.

The XLII Corps of the 4th Panzer Army break, Gen Arthur Hauffe's XIII Corps losing contact with its neighbor. As the 60th and 38th Armies struggle to break through the German defenses before Lvov, Gen Ivan Konev commits his 3rd Guards Tank Army against the XIII Corps' northern flank ant the 4th Tank Army against its southern wing. Counterattacks by the XLVI Panzer Corps hit the 3rd Guards Tank anc by the XLVIII Panzer Corps strike the 4th Tank Army. In intense fighting the XLVIII suffers heavy losses, being slaughtered by squadrons of Ilyushin ground attack aircraft. However, eventually the German attack halts the 38th Army.

Burma

The commander of the Japanese forces in Myitkyina considers the possibility of breaking out through the surrounding forces and withdrawing. The garrison has already had 800 dead and 1,180 wounded, and the Japanese positions have been gradually eroded by the limited but incessant attacks of the past weeks.

Italy

Units of the 34th Division are now advancing rapidly on Leghorn. 2 regiments, the 168th and the 133rd, press on towards Pisa. In the center of IV Corps sector, the 363rd Regiment of the 91st Division captures Bagni di Casciana without opposition, but then has to help to support the 34th Division's attack on Leghorn. The 88th Division's offensive on the right flank of IV Corps continues. In the French Expeditionary Corps sector the 8th Moroccan Regiment captures Castellina in Chianti.

Air Operations, Carolines

FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 10th Air Force B-25s attack Maingna and bridges at Mohnyin.
• 27 10th Air Force P-40s support Allied ground troops at Myitkyina.
• More than 20 P-47s and P-51s attack targets of opportunity near Hopin and rail bridges at three locations.

• 23 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Changsha.
• 40 P-40s and P-51s attack Ikiawan, river traffic near Changsha, and targets of opportunity near Hengyang.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Atamboea airfield on Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 30 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attack the flying bomb launch site at St Philbert Ferme through thick cloud.
• There are no losses.

• 38 Mosquitos attack the synthetic oil plant at Homberg without a loss.

• 4 Stirlings lay mines off Brest, 8 Mosquitos make flying bomb patrols and there are 5 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack anti-aircraft batteries at Manokwari.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Wewak area.
• Fighter-bombers attack dumps near Moemi and shipping around Babo and Kokas.

Diplomatic Relations

The London Polish government publish a paper claiming territory in East Prussia, Danzig and the Polish Corridor for postwar Poland.

Eastern Front

Armored columns from the 3rd Belorussian Front and the 1st Belorussian Front converge from north and south to capture Grodno, southwest of Vilna and northeast of Bialystok. The Germans launch a fruitless counterattack against the 3rd Belorussian Front's bridgeheads over the Niemen River. The Russian southern fronts in southern Poland and Galicia clash with the German North Ukraine Army Group, commanded now by Gen Josef Harpe in place of Walter Model, who has left this very day to take over command of the Army Group Center.

The 3rd Guards Tank and 4th Tank Armies smash aside the German panzer divisions trying to hold them and break into the rear of the XIII Corps.

Italy

The 135th Regiment, 34th Division, captures Height 232 and Monte Maggiore, Heights 449 and 413, southeast of Leghorn. Units of the 133rd Regiment seize Usigliano and penetrate several miles into the valley of the Arno. The 9th Division is advancing at the center of the US formations, with the 88th Division on the right.

In the British sector the 6th Armored Division takes Arezzo. The stubborn and tenacious German resistance in this sector has not only held up the Allied advance in a remarkable way, but has also allowed the units of von Vietinghoff's 10th Army and Gen Joachim Lemelsen's 14th Army to strengthen and improve the defensive positionso on the 'Gothic' Line. Some units of the British XIII Corps press on as far as the Arno, seize a bridge and establish a bridgehead on the opposite bank. The next target is Florence.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 60 10th Air Force P-51s, P-47s, and P-40s attack Tagwin, a marshalling yard at Mohnyin, and Japanese Army ground forces around Myitkyina.

• 22 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Changsha.
• 7 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 21 14th Air Force P-40s attack rail facilities at Kaifeng.
• 6 B-25s and 12 P-40s attack Tengchung.
• The 14th Air Force’s intense effort to support Chinese Army ground forces holding out in Hengyang is thwarted by the onset of what will be a week of bad weather that prevents any air support whatsoever over the city.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Fuiloro, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

Napalm is used for the first time by USAAF P-38s in a raid on a fuel depot at Coutances, Normandy.

• 132 aircraft attack 3 V-weapons sites without a loss. In this total are 72 Halifaxes, 28 Stirlings, 20 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang.

• 23 Stirlings and 11 Halifaxes from Heavy Conversion units of Nos. 1 and 5 Groups make a diversionary flight over the North Sea without a loss.

• 31 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 8 Halifaxes lay mines off Heligoland and in the Frisians, 16 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 38 Mosquito patrols and 24 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Japanese Army positions on Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Moemi and Manokwari.
• B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-39s attack the Boram airfield and Japanese Army ground troop between Aitape and Wewak.

Arctic

• The British cruisers Formidable, Indefatigable and Furious escorted by the battleship Duke of York send attacks against the Tirpitz in the anchorage at Kaafiord (Kaa Fjord?). The attacks are detected on the way and the Germans successfully conceal the target with smoke.

• U-347 is seen by Catalina 'Y' of No 210 Squadron RAF north of the Lofoten Islands. On the first pass the depth charges refused to release as the aircraft took damage and casualties from the U-boat's flak. The aircraft pressed home the attack and dropped the depth charges in a perfect straddle sinking the U-boat.

U-347

Britain, Home Front

Over the next three days, in a bold move to protect London from V-1 bombardment, 1,596 anti-aircraft guns are moved to the south coast. These guns start using proximity-fused shells which explode when a nearby target is sensed. This new projectile reduces the effort and ammunition needed to bring down the V-1s.

Unemployment is reported at 61,905 people, the lowest wartime figure to date.

Eastern Front

The 1st Belorussian Front reaches the 'Curzon Line'. The 1st Guards Tank Army crosses the Bug River. German army units in the Baltic states are ordered not to yield.

The 3rd Baltic Front joins the offensive now rolling along the line from Lake Peipus to Chernovitsy. Heavy fighting erupts south of the lake as the 1st Shock and 54th Armies hit the dug-in German forces. The 3rd Shock Army captures Sebezh and the 22nd Army Osveya.

Rokossovsky unleashes the full forces of his left wing, hitting the center and north of the 4th Panzer Army.

Gen Ivan Konev commits Gen Mikhail Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army near Sokal, forcing a crossing of the Bug. The XIII Corps fights its way back to the Prinz Sugen line, meeting fierce resistance as it withdraws. Gen Dmitry Lelyushenko's 4th Tank Army is embroiled in bitter fighting on the road to Lvov, being bogged down with the 38th Army.

Italy

The units of the American 34th Division make only slight progress toward Leghorn. Units of the 91st Division take Prusacco and head for Pondedera.

In the British 8th Army sector the XIII Corps pursues the Germans as they withdraw toward Florence. The Polish II Corps begins its attack on Ancona with air support.

Gen Oliver Leese, Commander of the British 8th Army, decides to attack the 'Gothic' Line with two corps on two center lines, Florence-Fiorenzuola and Florence-Bologna.

Japan, Politics

A new Navy Minister, Adm Kichisaburo Nomura, replaces Shigetaro Shimada. On July 18 Hideki Tojo resigns his post as prime minister and Chief of Staff. On July 19 Gen Kuniaki Koiso and Adm Mitsumasa Yonai are chosen to form the new Cabinet. Gen Yoshijuro Umezu becomes Chief of Staff. These changes are in fact manifestations of a growing desire on the part of many Japanese statesmen to end the war. They worry about an unfavorable peace, however, and wish to maintain the appearance of a strong front. The Allies are unable to recognize or correctly interpret these indications and the war therefore continues as before.

Air Operations, Europe

• 942 aircraft are sent to bomb 5 fortified villages in the area east of Caen through which British 2nd Army troops are about to make an armored attack, Operation GOOD WOOD. Included in the aircraft total are 667 Lancasters, 260 Halifaxes and 15 Mosquitos. The raids take place at dawn in clear weather. 4 of the targets are satisfactorily marked by Oboe, and at the target where Oboe fails, the Master Bomber Squadron Leader E. K. Creswell, and other Pathfinder crews use visual methods. More than 5,000 tons of bombs are dropped on the targets. Elements of two German divisions, the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division and the 21st Panzer Division, are badly affected by the bombing, the Luftwaffe Division particularly so. Operation GOODWOOD makes a good start. This raid was either the most useful or one of the most useful of the operations carried out by Bomber Command in direct support of the Allied armies. The aircraft bomb from medium heights, 5,000-9,000ft, but army artillery and naval gunfire subdue many of the flak batteries. No German fighters appear. Allied air superiority over the battlefield by day is complete.
• Only 6 aircraft - 5 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster - are shot down.
• 99 Halifaxes, 6 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 6 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards at Vaires, but no bombing results are filed.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.

• 111 Halifaxes, 77 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 6 and 8 Groups attack the synthetic oil pland at Wessling. A useful German report from Wesseling shows that this was a very successful raid and a credit to the Pathfinder marking. Approximately 1,000 high-explosive bombs fall inside the area of the plant in 20 minutes. 20 per cent of the installations are destroyed but, because some important buildings are particularly hard-hit, the loss of production is greater than this figure. 600 workmen are present on the night shift but they have good air-raid shelters and only 3 are killed. The nearby town is also hit and 151 houses are destroyed, many of them being in the estate for the oil plant workers. The people here must also have been provided with good shelters because only 8 German people are killed. The local report stresses that no children of school age are among the casualties. The local school had been evacuated to Silesia a few weeks earlier. Foreign workers and prisoners of war in a nearby camp probably had poorer air-raid shelters; 22 foreign workers and 9 prisoners of war die there.
• 157 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups attack the oil plant at Scholven/Buer. This is also a successful raid. The local report says 550 bombs fall in the plant area, although 233 of them do not explode. Production comes to 'a complete standstill for a long period'.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.
• 253 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups attack railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny. Both targets are hit and the railway lines to the battle front are cut.
• 2 Lancasters are lost on the Aulnoye raid, but German fighters hit the No. 5 Group on the Revigny raid and 24 Lancasters are shot down. No. 619 Squadron from Dunholme loses 5 of its 13 Lancasters taking part in the raid.
• 51 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups attack the flying bomb launch site at Acquet, but photographs reveal no new damage is caused.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost.
• Support and 115 aircraft including 86 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings and 10 Halifaxes from Heavy Conversion and Operational Training Units make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea.

• 22 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin and 6 to Cologne, 8 Halifaxes lay mines in the Frisians, 36 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 76 Mosquito patrols and 20 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid and 2 Halifaxes from Resistance operations are lost.

Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll and Sorol Island.
• 25 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack Myitkyina and Naungtalaw.
• 16 10th Air Force P-51s support Allied ground troops at Pyindaw.
• 25 P-40s attack targets in the Myitkyina area.
• 8 P-47s attack Theinin.

• More than 30 14th Air Force P-40s attack shipping between Chaling and Hengyang.
• 13 P-40s attack a fuel dump on the rail line through Kangtsun-i.
• 16 P-51s and P-40s attack river traffic between Lienchiangkou and Sainam.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter in an engagement in the Yellow River area at 1220 hours.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Pagan and Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets between Aitape and Wewak.

Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Ukraine Front capture Brody, east of Lvov, in Poland. In the sector immediately to the north, armored columns from the 1st Belorussian Front advance from Kovel toward Lublin. The 3rd Baltic Front, on the offensive south of Lake Peipus, threatens Ostrov and Pskov, advanced strongpoints which until now the Germans have maintained at a high cost.

West of Grodno the Russians have already nearly reached the East Prussian border, but they are halted by a violent counterattack by Model's armies near Augustow.

The 31st Army crosses the East Prussian border and reaches Augustow, but ferocious German counterattacks halt the Soviets. The fighting has reached German soil. As the Russian advance slows, Model constructs a thin defense line from Kaunas to Bialystok.

The 8th Guards and 1st Polish Armies attack north of Kovel and break through the German line. To the south, leading units of the 1st Guards Army, pushing down from the north, are just 20 miles from Stanislav. The 4th Tank Army takes Olshantsa during heavy fighting on the road to Lvov. Meanwhile, elements of the 38th Army link up woth the 13th Army to isolate 65,000 men of the XIII Corps west of Brody.

English Channel

U-672 is attacked by the British frigate HMS Balfour but manages to escape. The submarine is so badly damaged that she is abandoned and the crew takes to dinghies.

U-672

Italy

The 34th Division opens its final attack against Leghorn. Some units reach the suburbs of the town but the Germans manage to preserve a good part of the garrison. The 91st Division reaches the Arno at Pontedera which is taken.

In the British 8th Army sector, the South African 6th Armored Division of XIII Corps reaches and passes Radda in Chianti, while in the Arno valley the 4th Division and British 6th Armored Division are almost brought to a halt by the first of a series of defensive lines which the Germans have prepared north of Arezzo. The 4th Division, however, reaches Montevarchi, on Highway 69.

The Germans defend Città di Castello desperately against attacks by the British X Coprs. On the east coast the Poles also advance taking Ancona.

Air Operations, Carolines

FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll in two waves.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force B-25s attack Myitkyina.
• More than 30 10th Air Force P-51s and P-40s attack targets in the Myitkyina area and support Allied ground forces near Kaimang.

• More than 80 14th Air Force P-40s attack shipping on Tungting Lake, shipping at Changsha, the airfield at Siangtan, and Japanese Army ground troops, supply dumps, and other targets around Hengyang.
• 31 P-51s and P-40s attack port facilities and the town area at Sanshui, and Japanese Army ground troops near Lienchiangkou.
• 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 6 Japanese fighters near Sinshih at 0800 hours.
• A 76th Fighter Squadron P-51 downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter in a late-morning engagement over Sanshui.

• 4 14th Air Force P-40s strafe many junks along the northeastern coast.

Air Operations, Europe

• 132 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos. 5 and 8 Groups attack 2 flying bomb launch sites and a supply dump. All targets are partially covered in cloud, but it is believed that all are hit.
• There are no losses.

• 36 Mosquitos are sent to Bremen, 6 Halifaxes lay mines off Heligoland, there are 29 Mosquito patrols and 9 RCM and 8 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Marianas

318th Fighter Group P-47s attack Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces in the Sarmi area and attack numerous targets of opportunity elsewhere.

Eastern Front

In their advance to Lvov 1st Ukraine Front surround 5 German divisions west of Brody. Farther north, just east of Dvinsk, Russian units enter Latvia.

The XIII Corps is hit by a series of concentric attacks, Soviet troops capturing Koltow during the fighting. As the advance upon Lvov develops, the 4th Tank Army launches flanking attacks in an effort to encircle the Germans inside the city. However, the 1st Panzer Army puts up strong resistance and deflects the Russian attacks.

Italy

The US 34th Division takes Leghorn, but the Germans have destroyed much of the town and port facilities with demolitions before withdrawing. In the sector where the French Expeditionary Corps is advancing the 4th Mountain Division reaches Certaldo, northwest of Castellina. The South African 6th Armored Division begins to advance between the Chianti hills but is greatly slowed down by German fire. Units of the British 6th Armored Division secure a new crossing of the Arno near Laterina.

Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands

VB-109 PB4Ys based at Isely Field, Saipan/ attack Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima airfields.

Air Operations, Carolines

FEAF B-24s attack the Yap Atoll.

Air Operations, Europe

• ;369 aircraft attack 6 flying bomb launch sites and the V-weapon site at Wizernes. Included in the aircraft total are 174 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes and 30 Mosquitos. All raids are successful except for the small raid by 20 aircraft on the Forêt de Croc site where the Oboe leader Lancaster is shot down and the bombs of this force all miss the target.
• Only the 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 302 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups attack the railway yards and a 'triangle' rail junction at Courtrai. The Bomber Command report says that both sites 'were devastated'.
• 9 Lancasters are lost.
• 149 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitos and 4 Lancasters of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups attack the synthetic oil refinery at Bottrop. The northern part of the target receives major damage.
• 7 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 147 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups attack the Oil Plant at Homberg and cause severe damage. German documents show that the production of aviation fuel, which stood at nearly 6,000 tons per day at the end of April, is now fluctuating between 120 and 970 tons per day, following Bomber Command and American 8th Air Force raids.
• But German night fighters catch the Homberg bomber force and 20 Lancasters are lost. No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron, from Mepal, loses 7 of its 25 aircraft on the raid.
• 54 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 4, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to attack the flying bomb sites at Ardouval and Wizernes, but only 23 aircraft bomb at Ardouval and none at Wizernes.
• There are no losses.

• Support and 106 aircraft from training units make a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 6 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos make a 'spoof' raid to Alost, 26 Mosquitos are sent to Hamburg, 8 Stirlings lay mines off Lorient, 17 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 42 Mosquito patrols and 33 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Hamburg raid.

Air Operations, CBI

• Several 10th Air Force P-40s attack targets around Myitkyina.

• 11 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Changsha.
• More than 140 14th Air Force P-51s and P-40s attack numerous targets in a wide area around Changsha, Shinshih, Hengyang, Leiyang, and Chaling.

Air Operations, East Indies

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Namlea airfield on Boeroe and shipping in Kayeli Bay in the Molucca Islands.
• B-25s attack shipping at Dili, Timor.

Air Operations, Marianas

• The pre-invasion aerial bombardment of Guam by US carrier aircraft from Task Force 58 reaches its peak. Carrier aircraft also attack targets on Tinian, as do artillery based on Saipan and US warships.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s complete 161 sorties against pre-invasion targets on Tinian.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Moemi airfield and Manokwari.
• B-25s attack Kasim Island and shipping off Sorong and other coastal areas.
• A-20s support Allied ground forces near Sarmi.
• B-25s and A-20s attack dumps at Cape Moem, Sauri, and Wom.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack coastal targets of opportunity and Japanese Army troops on Kairiru Island.

Diplomatic Relations

The Russian-supported Polish Committee of National Liberation is formed.

English Channel

The British destroyer Isis sinks on a mine off Normandy with the loss of 154 of her crew.

Eastern Front

Southwest of Kovel, in the central sector, the force of the 1st Belorussian Front reach the Bug River on a front of 40 miles.

The Soviet 1st Shock Army pierces the front of the 18th Army near Ostrov as the 3rd Panzer Army buckles under assaults from the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies.

Shortly after midday a bomb explodes in the conference room at Hitler's HQ at Rastenburg in East Prussia. Hitler, although badly shaken, is only slightly hurt. The bomb has been planted by Col Count Claus von Stauffenberg who represents in this a wide-ranging conspiracy of senior officers and a few politicians. Immediately after the bomb goes off the conspirators act on the assumption that Hitler is dead. In fact the bomb, disguised in a briefcase has been moved slightly by another officer and Hitler, shielded from the blast by the heavy leg of the map table, thus survives. Not all the elements of the conspirators' plan are carried out with sufficient ruthlessness to achieve much success, and once it is clear that Hitler has survived, the plot falls apart. On the first day several of the leading participants, including von Stauffenberg, are shot in Berlin, and eventually the Nazi vengeance will encompass several thousand executions. Hitler later delights in watching film of these. Among those actively involved in the plot are Gen Ludwig Beck, Carl Gordeler (formerly mayor of Leipzig), Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, Gen Franz Halder and others taken from aristocratic and Roman Catholic groups. Many others know of the plot including Rommel, von Kluge and Canaris but have done nothing to help or hinder it. The security of the plot is easily penetrated and many of the conspirators are quickly rounded up. The effect of the incident on Hitler is first to increase his pathological distrust of the generals and second, when combined with the physical deterioration caused by the dubious combination of medicines he takes, the shock of the explosion further weakens his ability to concentrate and to remain stable in the face of reverses. He becomes less interested in his work and more prone to wild outbursts.

Hitler moves to his East Prussian headquarters at Rastenburg. An unsuccessful attempt is made to assassinate Hitler by Col Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenbert at the Wolf's Lair at Rastenburg, Hitler's headquarters in the East.

Stauffenberg had been drawn into the circle of military conspirators against Hitler but also quickly formed the opinion that they lacked resolution. Thus it was taht he took it upon himself, as someone with access to Hitler's conferences but so disabled as to escape body search, to smuggle a bomb into the Führer's conference room. Hitler and the other 24 occupants of the room suffer varying degrees of wounds, the most serious being the loss of life of Col Brant and Herr Berger, who die immediately, and Generalleutnant Schmundt and Gen Korten, dying subsequently from wounds they have received. The remaining 20 suffer superficial wounds and shock, save for Gen Buhle and Generalmajor Scherff, who are more seriously injured. Unfortunately, though Stauffenberg makes good his escape from the Rastenburg headquarters, the Berlin conspirators fail to act with resolution during his return flight to the city, and by the time he has arrived, they have lost irretrievable time. By the evening the coup has foundered and Gen Fromm, head of the Home Army, who hoped thereby to remove the evidence of his own complicity, shot Stauffenberg, with others, in the courtyard of the War Ministry.

Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attacking th Yap Atoll are challenged by Japanese Navy fighters making use of phosohorous bombs.
• 28 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 10th Air Force B-25s attack rail facilities at Mohnyin, and 1 B-25 attacks Naba.

• 41 14th Air Force P-40s attack Japanese Army troops and transportation targets in the Changsha area and at Sinshih, and military targets at Hengyang.
• A 23rd Fighter Group P-40 downs an E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance plane near Changsha at 0500 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 52 aircraft including 45 Halifaxes, 5 Mosquitos and 2 Lancasters attack a flying bomb site at Anderbeck. Results from this raid are unknown, but there are no losses.
• 2 Mosquitos fly Ranger patrols to the airfields at Aalborg, Grove and Jagel. German aircraft seen on the ground are hit in the attack.
• There are no losses.

• 33 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, 6 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters lay mines in the Frisians and in the Kattegat, and there are 18 Mosquito patrols and 20 RCM sorties.
• 1 Mosquito Intruder is lost.

Air Operations, Marianas

• US Marine Corps and US Army ground forces invade Guam, and elements of the Marine Air Group 21 headquarters land with the landing force.
• From dawn until the landings, the pre-invasion air, naval, and artillery bombardment of Tinian Island is intensified. In the day’s first air attack, 9 VB-14 (USS Wasp) SB2Cs attack Japanese Army ground positions on Cabras Island at 0615 hours. Between 0715 and 0815 hours, 53 TBFs, 62 SB2Cs, and 85 F4Fs from Fleet Carrier Air Group 14 (USS Wasp) and Fleet Carrier Air Group 1 (USS Yorktown) sweep 14 miles of Guam’s western shoreline from medium altitude (no lower than 1,500 feet) while US warships bombard the same area.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Manokwari.
• B-25s attack shipping around the Vogelkop Peninsula.
• A-20s attack a barracks at Nabire.
• B-25s and A-20s attack But.
• V Fighter Command P-39s attack a bridge near But, Kairiru Island, and Wewak.

Eastern Front

Troops from Ivan Maslennikov's 3rd Baltic Front take Ostrov, south of Lake Peipus in their continuing attacks. In the central sector the 1st Belorussian Front, after crossing the Bug southwest of Kovel, is split into 2 columns, one advancing towards Lublin and the other toward Brest-Litovsk.

The Soviet 32nd Army is now at the Finnish border, having inflicted heavy losses on the Finns.

The Soviet 1st Shock Army captures Ostrov.

The Soviet 2nd Tank Army is approaching the Vistula River.

Efforts by the XIII Corps to break out of the Brody Pocket fail. The Germans move three divisions to Lvov to cover the northern approach to the city.[MORE]

English Channel

U-212 is lost in a depth charge attack by the British frigates HMS Curzon and HMS Ekins.

U-212

Germany, Command

Gen Kurt von Zeitzler resigns his post as Chief of Staff at OKH (the Army High Command), with responsibility for the Eastern Front and is replaced by Gen Heinz Guderian, the genius of tank warfare. Himmler is appointed commander of the Home Army.

Italy

At the US 5th Army headquarters plans are drawn up for the attack on the 'Gothic' Line. In the British 8th Army sector elements of the New Zealand 2nd Division and the South African 6th Armored Division replace units of the French Expeditionary Corps. The French Expeditionary Corps is taken out of line to prepare for the ANVIL/DRAGOON operation, which is to invade the south of France on August 15, 1944. After sunset the German troops begin to withdraw from the Citta di Castello salient, leaving the field open to the British X Corps.