July 27th, 1944 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: No. 616 Squadron RAF flies its first mission with the Gloster Meteor jet against V1s, but with little success at first owing to difficulties firing the guns. (Jack McKillop and 22)
The US Eighth Air Force in England flies three missions.
- Mission 498: 26 B-17s are dispatched to hit coastal batteries at Ostend and Cap Gris Nez/Calais area but weather prevents bombing. In Belgium, of 120 B-24s, 34 hit a Luftwaffe communication center at Brussels/Vilvorde, 20 hit a coastal battery at Gravelines, 11 hit oil installations and industrial plants at Ghent and 1 hits a target of opportunity without loss.
Escort is provided by 154 P-38s, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost.
- Mission 499: 193 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly fighter-bomber mission against rail traffic south of Rouen and Amiens; 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are lost.
- Mission 500: 7 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France during the night.
FRANCE:
The US VII Corps breaks through between Lessay and Periers.Lyon: Five prisoners of the Gestapo are shot dead after a Resistance bomb attack on a restaurant used by German officers.
HUNGARY: The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 366 B-17s and B-24s to bomb an armament works at Budapest; 24 other B-24s attack Pecs marshalling yards; P-38s and P-51s escort the Budapest mission.
EASTERN FRONT: The First Ukraine Front, under Konev, takes
Lvov and Stanislav. The Second Belorussian Front, under Zakharov, captures
Bialystock.
The First Baltic Front, under Bargamyan, takes Siauliai. The Second Baltic Front, under
Yeremenko, takes Daugavpils and Rezekne.
U.S.S.R.: Polar
Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Submarine
loss. "V-1"
(ex- "S-81 Sunfish") - accidentally, by British aviation, off English
coast.
ITALY: General Mark Clark presents the Distinguished Presidential Unit Citation to the 100th Infantry Battalion at Vada, Italy for action at Belvedere. (Gene Hanson)
GUAM: The US 77th Division is preparing an attack on Mount Tenjo.
TINIAN: US construction begins on the newly captured
airfield at Ushi Point.
PACIFIC: Supporting the US invasions in the Mariana Islands,
Seventh Air Force B-24s from the Marshall Islands bomb Truk Atoll.
In the Caroline Islands, USAAF Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-24s hit the airfield on Woleai Atoll and supply areas on Mariaon and Tagaulap Islands in the Caroline Islands. Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 58.1 continue their attacks on Fais and Ngulu Islands and Sorol, Ulithi and Yap Atolls while aircraft of Task Groups 58.2 and 58.3 attack targets in the Palau Islands.
CANADA: HM S/M Unseen arrives Digby, Nova Scotia for ASW training.
U.S.A.: The 10-minute documentary "Battle Stations" is released in the U.S. Narrated by James Cagney and Ginger Rogers, this short describes the role of the U.S. Coast Guard's SPARS and how they are freeing men for service overseas in World War II.
In the U.S., the top four pop songs today are (1) "I’ll Be Seeing You" by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra with vocal by Frank Sinatra; (2) "Swinging on a Star" by Bing Crosby which becomes the Number 1 song of the year; (3) "Amor" by Bing Crosby; and (4) "Straighten Up and Fly Right" by The (Nat) King Cole Trio.