8 June 1939

June 8th, 1939 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The minelayer HMS Welshman is commissioned.

The Westland Lysander Army Co-Operation aircraft makes its first flight at Yeovil.

U.S.A.: Ousted Czech President Dr. Eduard Beneš addresses the Czechoslovak Legions in Chicago Illinois. Beneš ended his speech emphasizing the return to Czechoslovakia, "I overlay, dear friends, this evening and this speech with a promise, that we all in lands outside Czechoslovakia in faithfulness and unity, with valour and with faith will endure to the end. This end means the renewal of our Czechoslovak democracy and independence, which will come, even when the strongest powers of hell join to fight against us, because truth and justice are on our side and because we believe, with Masaryk, that in the end, truth will be prevail."

8 June 1940

June 8th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Royal Navy: At the end of the evacuation from Norway, fleet carrier HMS Glorious and escorting destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent sail for Britain independently of the other forces. West of Lofoten Islands they meet the 11in battlecruisers 'Scharnhorst ' and 'Gneisenau' steaming at 17 knots on their way to attack expected allied shipping off Harstad. Glorious has no aircraft on patrol. Despite the destroyers laying down a smokescreen Glorious is hit in the forward upper hangar, suffers a massive hole in her flight deck and is set on fire. The casualty count is heavy: 76 officers, 1086 naval ratings, and 41 RAF personnel. There are 43 survivors picked up by the Norwegian Borgrund and landed in the Faroes, and a further 5 picked up by Norwegian trawler Svalbard II who become POW’s. Location of the sinking is to the southwest of Narvik at 68 45N 04 30E.

Destroyer HMS ARDENT fires 8 torpedoes at the German ships but is hit and sinks. Casualties: 10 officers and 142 ratings. A German seaplane picks up survivors on 11 June.

Destroyer HMS ACASTA manage a torpedo hit on Scharnhorst but is herself hit hard and sinks with 8 officers and 152 ratings as casualties. Just one able seaman (C. Carter) survives the sinking. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Polish submarine 'Orzel' is lost presumably mined.

RN Trawler HMS Juniper was allocated to escort the tanker Oil Pioneer to the UK from Tromsö when the two ships were sighted by the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau accompanied by heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four destroyers. (Pause to consider remarks likely to have been uttered by Juniper’s bridge crew at this time) The trawler and tanker were sunk by gunfire in the Norwegian Sea at 67 26N 04 23E. There are 4 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - arms dumps and communications in France - marshalling yards in Germany. 10 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Rheydt, Wedan and Essen marshalling yards. One crashed on take-off (two injured), one returned early, eight bombed. 51 Sqn. Nine aircraft to arms dumps in France. All bombed. 58 Sqn. Six aircraft to road/rail comms Avesnes and Aulnoye. All bombed. 77 Sqn. Nine aircraft to road/rail comms Hirson and Charleville. All bombed. 102 Sqn. Nine aircraft to road/rail comms Sedan. One returned early, eight bombed, one damaged by Flak.

P/O Edward Donald J Parker (1910-43), RAFVR, carried his wireless operator clear after their bomber crash-landed and caught fire. (Empire Gallantry Medal).

FRANCE: Rommel breaks through the British defences on the Bethune and Andelle rivers, and heads for Elbeuf.

French 10 Army is now cut in two. The left part withdraws towards Le Havre and the right to Pontoise, southwards. This means that the whole of the Seine, between Vernon and its mouth is uncovered.

Weygand now orders General Duffour, commanding Third Region at Rouen, to organise some sort of local defence. At the same time he turns the Military Government of Paris into the "Army of Paris" which under General Hering, is to hold the Seine from Vernon to Pontoise, and the Oise as far as Boran.

The Germans push the French 7 Army south of Amiens back as far as Saint-Just-en-Chaussee. The 7th Army is then ordered to cover the eastern approaches to Paris as far as the river Ourcq.

GERMANY: OKW issues Führer Directive #14.

(i) The enemy is offering stiff resistance on the Somme front.
Accordingly the main attack is to begin on 9th June near Rheims as laid out in Directive #13, however stronger forces will be employed towards the lower Seine and Paris than had been originally contemplated. XIV Corps will reinforce the left flank of 4th Army and the 9th Army will thrust towards the Marne with XVI Corps.

(ii) The Luftwaffe will continue operations as laid out in Directive #13, in addition it will keep the coast on the right flank of Army Group B under observation and strong fighter cover, and assist Army Group A at the focal point of the attack. (Marc Roberts)

NORWAY: Tromsø : The last of the 24,500 Allied troops have been evacuated from Harstad. The evacuations started on 4 June.
German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau operate off the Norwegian coast against the British evacuation convoys. The carrier HMS Glorious and destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent are sunk. This in spite of a gallant defence by the destroyers.

Mark Horan adds: At 0045, with the Royal Navy carriers in position 70.05N, 15.52E, the RAF fighters began taking off Bardufoss landing ground: 10 Gladiator IIs of 263 Squadron and 7 Hurricane Is of 46 Squadron.

At 0100, Ark launched a relief fighter patrol for Narvik, two 803 Squadron Skuas (OC-Lt.Cdr. J. Casson, RN). Fifteen minutes later, the RAF fighters were sighted. With little ado, Glorious again worked up to full speed and the 17 RAF fighters landed aboard as if the entire effort was simply routine. Following behind the Swordfish guides and a 701 Squadron Walrus which landed aboard with several important communications. Its mission accomplished, it took off for Ark Royal at 0207, the last aircraft to takeoff the ill-fated Glorious.

At 0130, two further two-plane patrols from 803 departed for Risoy and Bardufoss (Lt. C. H. Filmer, RN and S-Lt. J. R. Callander, RN) as well as a relief A.D.A. patrol. At 0300 two three-plane patrols were sent over the transports at Reisen and Risoy (803, Lt. C. W. Peever, RN, and 800, Lt. G. R. Callingham, RN). These were followed at 0515 by another six 800 Squadron Skuas (Lts. G. E. D. Finch-Noyes, RN and K. V. V. Spurway, RN) and another A.D.A patrol. This later patrol reported the embarkation at Reisen complete.

Meanwhile, at 0253, having requested and received permission for his ship to return forthwith to Scapa Flow to for the purpose of making preparations for impending courts martial, Capt, Guy D'Oyly-Hughes DSO+bar, DSC, RN ordered Glorious and her two attendant destroyers, HMS Acasta (Cdr. Charles Galsfurd, RN) and HMS Ardent (Lt.Cdr. J. F. Barker, RN) to set a course westward towards home. More of this later.

Meanwhile, back on Ark, the next fighter patrol (three Skuas, Lt. D. C. E. F. Gibson, RN, 803) left for Risoy at 0805. This was the first patrol to actually sight an enemy aircraft, chasing off an He-111">He-111 that escaped into the low clouds. This was followed by an A.D.A. patrol at 0815. At 1000, in response to the sighting of a snooper from the bridge, a pair of 803 Squadron Skuas was led aloft by Lt. C. H. Filmer, RN, but they were unable to locate it.

Word having been received that the embarkation was complete, Ark now shifted her air cover to the retiring transports. Three-plane Fighter patrols were sent aloft at 1050, 1330, 1515, 1715, and 1915. By that point, Ark Royal had closed with the convoy such that her A.D.A. patrols could cover both forces. The days flying ended at 2205 with a two Swordfish A.D.A. patrol.

Operation Juno

The Loss of Glorious.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Brother Orchid" is released in the U.S. This crime drama, directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern, Humphrey Bogart, Ralph Bellamy, Donald Crisp and Allen Jenkins, has gang boss Robinson returning from Europe, where he tried to acquire "class," to find his gang has been taken over by Bogart. He forms another gang and is wounded in a gunfight and takes refuge in a monastery where he plots his next move.

8 June 1941

June 8th, 1941 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: In a supplement to Hitler's Commissar order of two days ago, the OKH directs that political commissars shall be summarily shot.

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria and Lebanon by Allied and Free French forces. The Free French forces commanded by General Legentilhomme number 6,000 infantrymen, with 8 guns and 10 tanks supported by 24 aircraft. The remainder of the forces are one Australian division, a cavalry and two infantry brigades. and the support of about 60 aircraft. The Vichy forces under General Dentz comprise 18 regular battalions with 120 guns, 90 tanks and as many aircraft; in all more than 45,000 men.
Allied forces totalled 34,000 troops - 5,000 Free French; 9,000 British; 18,000 Australian, 2,000 Indian troops. (Sidney Allinson)

The Allies make no progress on the coastal axis at the Litani Bridge, or on the central axis. The Free French contingent pass through (as planned) up the desert road towards Damascus.

60 RAF aircraft take part. The first operations are raids on the French airbase at Rayak. 80 Squadron RAF Hurricanes are ordered to destroy the Martin 167 Maryland bombers of French 39 Squadron, 1st Bomber Group (GBI/39), which had just arrived at Rayak and by this time had started bombing British columns approaching Quneitra.

Next, 5 Tomahawk fighters of the Australian 3rd Fighter Wing raided Rayak, where the French ground defenses took them for French planes because this was the first time they had seen the Tomahawk. Between them they claim six aircraft destroyed on the ground.

803 Squadron FAA lose three Fulmar fighters against French Dewotine D520 fighters. Plt-Off Roald Dahl (80 Squadron RAF) claims a Potez 63 shot down into the sea. French ace Sous-Lt Pierre Le Gloan shoots down a 208 Squadron RAF Hurricane, his first victory of the Syrian campaign and his 12th of the war. (Michael Alexander)

LEBANON: Beirut: Captain Moshe Dayan, of the Palestine Regiment, leading a section of the Allied attack, receives an eye injury when a stray bullet hits his binoculars.

He was a company commander in the Palmach. His company was acting as scouts for the Allied forces.

The Palmach was a paramilitary organization sponsored by the British -- it was not a part of the British army; it was created, commanded and manned by the Haganah which was the underground military organization of the Jewish Agency -- the quasi-government body of the Yishuv, Palestine's Jewish community (The British liason officer with the Palmach was Major Aubrey Eban -- a Cambridge educated South African Jew serving in British Army intelligence -- would later move to Israel change is fist name to Abba and become the "face of Israel" while serving as Israel's Foreign Minister form 1966-74). At the time the Haganah did not use military ranks such as "captain" but functional titles such as "company commander". The Palmach was created in May 1941, to undertake scouting and "commando" missions for the British in the Middle East.

In 1942, the SOE took over the sponsorship of the Palmach and trained them to act as stay behind guerillas in the event of a German occupation of Palestine (which at the time was a very real threat.) In 1943, when the threat of invasion passed and the Palmach and Haganah were caught stealing and hoarding British arms, Britain's sponsership of the Palmach stopped and the organization went underground.

After recovering from his wounds Dayan opting instead to continue his work with the Haganah. In 1942, he set up a radio network through Palestine in preparation for the expected German invasion. In 1943, he headed the Arab Department (Arab Intelligence unit) of the Jewish Agency. He remained in the post until the end of the War.

(Sidney Allinson and Stu Kohn)

AUSTRALIA: A report from Melbourne outlines the problems the Australian's are having with her soldiers in the Middle East.

While the countries of Europe are rationing their food supplies increasingly, Australia has too much. Food ships can make three or four trips between Europe and the United States or Canada to every one to Australia, whose surpluses thus are largely unexportable. She must eat the surpluses herself, store them, or destroy them ...

What is going to happen to the farmers in this period of wasted and partially wasted surpluses is another problem of Australia's government. It is part of the larger problem of Australia's wartime economic readjustment, including the matter of man power allotable to different industries.

U.S.A.: Washington: Senator Byrd states that there are 67 strikes in the defence industries and threats of 19 more.

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Chico Marx stage the first Hollywood "camp show" at Camp Roberts near Paso Robles, California.

En-route to Rio Hato, Panama, for a training flight from France Field, Panama in an OA-46A aircraft, Corporal R. Stubbs of Haverhill along with Augustus J. Allen of Myrtle Springs, Texas and Staff Sergeant James D. Cartwright of Los Angeles are lost when their plane goes down. (Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff)

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-69 was unsuccessfully attacked by a British Sunderland aircraft as she approached St Nazaire. U-69, commanded by Kapitän-Leutnant Jost Metzler arrived in St Nazaire later that day to a huge welcome having spent 65 days at sea, and covered 7,680 nautical miles. Metzler had made, at the time, the longest voyage ever undertaken by a Type VIIC, demonstrated the feasibility of operating long-range mining missions, tied up British naval resources and sank at least seven ships.

8 June 1942

June 8th, 1942 (MONDAY)

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler lays a laurel wreath, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra plays the funeral march from Wagner's opera Gotterdammerung, at the state funeral of Reinhardt Heydrich.

AUSTRALIA: Sydney: A week after the spectacular raid in Sydney Harbour, Japanese submarines shelled the major cities of Sydney and Newcastle today. However, little damage was caused and there were no casualties.

The attack on Sydney is believed to have been made by the submarine I-24 which launched one of the midget submarines in the Sydney Harbour raid. At 2.15 this morning, a Sydney patrol spotted gunfire flashes south east of the MacQuarrie light. Within five minutes the submarine had fired ten shells, only four of which exploded. All fell in residential districts. Five minutes later, air-raid sirens were sounded when an unidentified aircraft was sighted over the city.

At about the same time - after a similar incursion by an aircraft - a submarine opened fire on the seaport of Newcastle. Twenty-four shells landed near the power station and customs house, causing some damage but no casualties. The bombardment stopped when shore batteries opened up on the submarine.

A convoy system has been adopted following the shelling of two merchant ships off the Australian coast. One of the ships blew up and sank.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The crew of a USN PBY-5A Catalina of Patrol Squadron Forty One (VP-41) based at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands, spots four transports and two destroyers in Kiska Harbor; flying to Attu Island, they spot the Japanese forces. This is the first indication that the Japanese have occupied these two islands.

The Royal Canadian Air Force's No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron equipped with Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk Is arrives at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Territory of Alaska and is placed under the operational control of the US Army Air Forces' XI Fighter Command. Maxim M. Litvinov, the Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., informs the U.S. Government that the Soviets agree to a Lend-Lease air route being established between Alaska and the Soviet Union.

U.S.A.: The Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., Maxim M. Litvinov, informs Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt">Roosevelt's assistant, that the Soviet Government has agreed to a Lend-Lease air corridor being established between the Territory of Alaska and Siberia.

The European Theater of Operations US Army (ETOUSA) is established by presidential directive. Major General James E. Chaney is designated commander of all US forces in ETOUSA.

CARIBBEAN SEA: U-302 torpedoes and sinks an armed merchant tanker approximately 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Cape Blanco, Venezuela.

8 June 1943

June 8th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The first flight of the de Havilland Mosquito Mk XVIII (HJ 732) is made today. It is equipped with a 57mm Molins gun (equivalent to a 6-pounder field gun). More

POLAND: Auschwitz-Birkenau: With a casual wave of his gloved hand, the new camp doctor, SS Captain Josef Mengele, has just separated 880 Greek Jews from Salonika into two groups: those who will die now, and those who will live a little longer.

He takes a special interest in new arrivals, for they provide human guinea pigs for his gruesome medical experiments. His interests include the way identical twins react when exposed to disease or torture.

His colleague, Professor Carl Clauberg, has just completed his research into sterilization methods; he reported to Himmler">Himmler yesterday that, using X-Rays, he could sterilize up to a thousand half-Jews and gypsies every day.

GREECE: Some 880 Greek Jews from Salonika arrive in Auschwitz.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons pound the town and docks on Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean during the night of 7/8 June. The air offensive against the island increases during the following day as fighters, light, medium and heavy bombers of the NASAF, Northwest Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force continue to bomb throughout the day. Naval forces bombard the harbour and shore batteries. Surrender requests, dropped by airplane, bring no response.

JAPAN: The Japanese Battleship Mutsu is sunk, by an internal explosion, in Hiroshima Bay.

Tokyo: The Japanese High Command orders the Aleutian island of Kiska to be abandoned.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Japanese submarines I-7 and I-34 reach Kiska Island with supplies and evacuate personnel.

HIJMS I-7 lands 19 tons of weapons and ammunition and 15 tons of food and evacuates 42 Navy, 18 Army and 41 civilian personnel.

HIJMS I-34 lands nine tons of weapons and ammunition and five tons of food and evacuates nine ( Navy and 71 civilian personnel.

U.S.A.: Los Angeles declared off limits by military authorities in order to bring an end to the Zoot Suit riots. (Patrick Holscher)

Future late night TV star Johnny Carson enlists in the USN, as an apprentice seaman enrolled in the V-5 programme, which trains naval and US Marine pilots. (Military.com)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Fairmile HMC ML 053 following the minesweeper HMS BYMS 989 observed a floating mine at 1815. A towline 90 yards long was attached to the mine and was towed to Ketch Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. At 1930 the towline was passed to a shore party of 8 men from ML 053. The mine was then hauled to the beach. At this point Lt George Henry Olaf Rundle RCNR assisted by OS John Gordon Lancien RCNVR removed the cover plate. The wiring was cut and the detonator removed at 2052. Once the mine was declared safe, the shore party returned and removed the mine and detonator.

8 June 1944

June 8th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The first deep-penetration 12,000-lb. "Tallboy" bomb is dropped on the Saumur tunnel by an RAF Lancaster bomber. (22)

Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General, U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), places oil as the first priority target for the USAAF's Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces as a result of the destructive effect achieved by several missions against oil centers in May 1944.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 400: 1,178 bombers and 1,353 fighter sorties are flown on communications in France to isolate German forward elements, and airfields are bombed to prevent Luftwaffe support. Cloud conditions prevent 400+ bombers from executing attacks.

1. 640 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to La Frilliere (66 bomb), Orleans (36 bomb), Rennes Airfield (30 bomb), Orleans/Les Aubrais marshalling yard (60 bomb), Nantes (25 bomb), La Huchetiere (31 bomb), Tours/La Riche (61 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (57 bomb); 18 hit Bruz, two hit Rennes and 13 hit targets of opportunity; one1 B-17 is lost.

2. 538 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to Pontaubault (67 bomb), Angers/St Laud (24 bomb), Angers (19 bomb), Le Mans/Arnage Airfield (14 bomb), Pontaubault (13 bomb), Nantes (42 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (55 bomb); five hit Dinon, one hits Precey, one hits Cinq Mars bridge, 30 hit Grandville Harbor, 19 hit a bridge at Rennes, nine hit Precey and 26 hit targets of opportunity; an attack on the Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds; two B-24s are lost.

Escort for the bombers is provided by 116 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; two P-51s are lost.

Personal Memory: On this day in 1944 we were assigned a target in Orleans, France where we were to drop our 1000 pound bombs on a train track with rolling stock, hoping to drop a railroad bridge into the rubble. Our assembly had to be modified because of two cloud layers and we finally formed up between these layers. The 303rd Bomb Group furnished 36 B-17s for this mission, comprising three groups of twelve. All three groups took off between 0431 and 0522 and were back on the base at Molesworth before noon. Our part of the mission was largely wasted because of a problem with the Norden bomb sight in the lead plane. Our bomb run was visual but the lead bombardier was having trouble cranking the proper drift corrections. He decided to turn the bomb run over to the deputy lead but was too late as the Norden sight released his bombs and of course all twelve planes dropped in unison. Our bombs struck the ground even with the target but too far to the left by at least five hund red feet, destroying some large, unknown buildings. Hogan was the hero of the day. our 359th squadron that led the high group laid a perfect pattern on the rail yard and the bridge. Hogan saved the mission when the low group did just as badly as we did. Some of the bombers were still jockeying into position when the bombs were away and in banking the plane it tossed the bombs to one side resulting in a poor pattern. Some days it doesn't pay to get up. But at least it was a milk run. Score so far: Milk Runs 9, Others 4.(Dick Johnson)

Other fighter-bomber missions are:

1. 381 P-38 Lightnings, 24 P-47 Thunderbolts and 89 P-51s fly sweeps and patrols along the Normandy beachhead and the Channel area; P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-51s are lost.

2. 333 P-47s and 526 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against communications in northwestern France; they claim 27-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 21-0-11 on the ground; six P-47s and eleven P-51s are lost.

Overall, the fighters fly 1,405 sorties and attack nearly 75 targets during the day.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches around 400 B-26 Marauders to attack rail and road bridges and junctions, rail sidings, marshalling yards, town areas, fuel storage tanks, ammunition dumps, troop concentration and strong points in the Calais, France area. Around 1,300 fighter sorties provide support to B-26s and high cover over the assault area, and bomb and strafe bridges, marshalling yards, gun batteries, rail facilities, vehicles, towns, and troop concentrations.

Corvette HMCS Arnprior (ex HMS Rising Castle) commissioned Belfast.

Paymaster Captain John Alick Edward Woodhouse RN (on loan to RCN) awarded CBE.

Captain John Wallace Thomas MN Master SS Empress of Japan awarded CBE.

A/Capt William Lavallin Puyley RN (on Loan to RCN) awarded OBE.

CPO/Sup Ernest Sydney Johnson RCN awarded BEM.

A/LCdr Arthur Hugh Snow Mayne RCNVR awarded Mention in Dispatches.

RPO James Henry Wheeler RCNR awarded LSandGC medal.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: A 'Liberator' patrol a/c from RAF 224 Sqn, piloted by F/Lt KO Moore, RCAF, sank 2 U-boats in less than 30 minutes in the English Channel, by radar-visual attacks on a bright moonlit night. They were - U-441, Kptlt. Klaus Hartmann, CO, at 48.27N, 005.47W and U-373, OLtzS Detlev Von Lehsten, CO, at 48.10N, 005.31W. There were no survivors from U-441's crew of 51 men; however, all but 4 of the 51 crewmembers from U-373 were rescued. OLtzS Von Lehsten has been listed among those lost by some sources (see below). For his part in the action, F/Lt. Moore was awarded the DSO and the US Silver Star.

FRANCE: The Allied second wave is now ashore at Normandy.

Normandy: German troops capture a set of US operations plans; only now do they realize that the Normandy landings are the start of the planned invasion of France, not a diversionary attack.

At Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse a Canadian rifle regiment defeats the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, claiming 12 Panthers (Kurt Meyer admitted to losing 6) destroyed in a night engagement where 6-pdr anti-tank guns claimed 6 Panthers in the first charge. One Panther was dispatched with multiple PIAT hits and a necklace of '75' grenades. (Stuart Millis)

The SS murders Canadian POWs for the second day in a row in Normandy, including six Winnipeg Rifles, and a Red Cross stretcher-bearer, who are ordered into a wood and shot in the temple; 13 more Canadians are executed within 100 yards of the Command post; the bodies of 7 more are found near-by, all shot in the head with small arms; and 40 Winnipegs and Cameron Highlanders are marched into a field, ordered to sit together with the wounded at their centre, and machine gunned; 5 escape. (Patrick Holscher)

Whilst acting as HQ ship for the assault forces off Juno beach, frigate HMS Lawford is attacked and sunk by Luftwaffe Do-217 aircraft armed with Henschel 293 missiles, off Courcelles. Location Seine Bay, Juno Beach area. There are 24 casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

ITALY: German forces withdraw along the Adriatic coast.

The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 52 B-17s, with P-47 escort, to bomb the navy yard and drydocks at Pola, Yugoslavia.

NEW GUINEA: US forces repel a Japanese fleet which attempts to supply the garrison on Biak Island.

CANADA: Repair ship HMS Beachy Head (later HMCS Cape Scott) laid down Vancouver.

Minesweeper HMCS Middlesex commissioned.

HMCS Orkney arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Mask of Dimitrious" is released in the U.S. This mystery based on Eric Ambler's novel "A Coffin for Dimitrious," is directed by Jean Negulesco and stars Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson and George Tobias. The plot involves a mystery writer (Lorre) tracing the life of a notorious criminal (Scott).

Corvette HMCS Hepatica completed forecastle extension refit in New York and left for workups.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyers HMCS Qu'Appelle and Skeena attacked by U-953, OLtzS Karl-Heinz Marbach, CO. A 'Gnat' acoustic-homing torpedo exploded in the ships' wakes.

8 June 1945

June 8th, 1945 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMCS Snowberry paid off and returned to RN at Rosyth.

JAVA SEA: British submarine Trenchant torpedoes the Japanese cruiser Ashigara. She was evacuating soldiers from Batavia to Japan.

JAPAN: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Groups 38.1 and 38.4 attack the Kanoya Airdrome complex on Kyushu Island, Japan attempting to hinder kamikaze missions.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Admirable-class minesweeper USS Salute sunk by mine S of Borneo.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Four Lockheed PV-2 Harpoons of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty Nine (VPB-139), based at Casco Field, Naval Air Station (NAS) Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, attack Shimushu Island, Kurile Islands; two aircraft attack Kataoka on the island.

CANADA: Destroyer HMCS Hamilton paid off.

Minesweeper HMCS Burlington departed St John's for new homeport of Halifax.

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