FRANCE: German troops reach the border with Spain.

Corvette FS Lobelia (ex-HMS Lobelia) laid down.

GERMANY: U-138 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: All factories in the USSR are put on a 7 day working week.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: To the south and west of Crete a patrol of Mediterranean Fleet destroyers including HMS Dainty and HMS Ilex sink Italian submarines 'Liuzzi' and 'Uebi Scebeli'

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes a National defence Research Committee to correlate and support scientific research on the mechanisms and devices of war. Among its members are officers of the War and Navy Departments appointed by the respective Secretaries of War and the Navy. Although research on the problems of flight are specifically excluded from its functions, this organization makes substantial contributions in various fields of importance to aviation, including airborne radar. 

President Roosevelt invokes the Espionage Act of 1917 to exercise control over shipping movements off the U.S. coast and in the vicinity of the Panama Canal.

A confidential meeting is held between members of the British and Australian governments and US Secretary of State Hull regarding their concerns about the Japanese build up. They request either economic measures or movement of some naval vessels to the area of Malaysia or the Philippines. Cordell Hull does not agree to any of these proposals. They would constitute a more active foreign policy than the Administration believes the American public is prepared to tolerate. (Marc Small)

Battleship USS Iowa laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0338, the unescorted Lenda was missed by U-47 with one torpedo. Then the U-boat began shelling the ship for the next 20 minutes until she caught fire. The crew then abandoned ship in the starboard lifeboat, because the shelling had damaged the port lifeboat. The boat stayed near the ship for a while in the hope to find the first mate that was missing. The ship was on fire aft and amidships and the sea entered through holes at the waterline on the port side, so the U-boat left her in this sinking condition. But at dawn, some of the crew reboarded the vessel and they found the first mate dead on the port side of the upper bridge. A workboat was lowered and eight of the men transferred to it, whereupon both boats left and headed for the south of Ireland, just before two explosions were heard, followed by a tall column of fire which appeared to come from the engine room. Lenda remained afloat for a while on her cargo, but finally sank in 50°N/13°24W, about 160 miles southwest of Fastnet, Ireland. The survivors were picked up in the afternoon by destroyers HMS Hurricane and Havelock and taken to Plymouth on 30 June, respectively 2 July.

At 1705, the unescorted Leticia was attacked by U-47 with gunfire about 135 miles west of Ireland. The U-boat was only spotted when it opened fire from a distance of about 300 meters from the stern. The shelling killed the second engineer, seriously wounded the second mate and slightly wounded the master and a British donkeyman. Prien ceased fire to allow the crew to abandon ship in both lifeboats, but one British sailor fell overboard and drowned. After the lifeboats sailed away the U-boat again shelled the ship until she sank at 18.11 hours. Three men, which had remained on board, had to jump overboard and were picked up by U-47. They got dry clothing and schnaps and were brought to the lifeboats. First aid materials, some sausages and wine were given to the survivors before the U-boat left the area. The same day, the survivors were picked up by HMS Hurricane and landed at Plymouth two days later.

Stalin has accepted Churchill's offer of an alliance to fight Hitler. It has been agreed that military collaboration between the two nations will be on a "mutual and reciprocal basis." Military and economic missions are to be sent to Moscow to coordinate the joint war effort.

In his broadcast last Sunday after receiving the expected news of the German invasion. Churchill, who has often been outspoken in his opinions of the USSR, said that no-one had been a more consistent opponent of communism than he. "I will unsay not a word that I have spoken about it," he said, "But all this fades away before the spectacle which is now unfolding."

He insisted that "any man or state who fights against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe... We have but one aim and one irrevocable purpose. We are resolved to destroy Hitler and every vestige of the Nazi regime."

He forecast an even greater alliance: "The Russian danger is therefore our danger and the danger of the United States, just as the cause of any Russian fighting for his hearth and home is the cause of free men and free peoples in every quarter of the globe."

(Gazetted) Sub-Lt Geoffrey Gledhill Turner (1903-59), RNVR, disarmed many German mines in the early Blitz. One at Seaforth, Lancs, blew up in his face; amazingly, he survived. (George Cross)

DENMARK: Denmark severs diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

HUNGARY: Budapest: Hungary declares war on the USSR following air raids by the latter.

U.S.S.R.: Member of the Communist Party and of the Komsomol [League of Communist Youth] are mobilised as "political soldiers".

Bialystok: Over 2,000 Jews are killed when German troops rampage through the city.

Moscow:

The Soviet Information Bureau announced:

Our troops are fighting fiercly against large Fascist armoured units in the Minsk area. Battle is still going on. Violent armoured conflicts have been waged all day near Lutsk [western Ukraine; Polish 'Luck']. Our operations have proceeded favourably.

FINLAND: Helsinki: Romania, Hungary and Finland have now joined what Baron Mannerheim has described a a "holy war" against Russian Bolsheviks. The Romanians have fought with the German since the first day of Barbarossa. Hungary, a base for the German invasion, declared war today. The Finns have not declared war, but considered a Soviet air raid on Helsinki two days ago to be the start of new hostilities with their old foe, their resentment of whom has overridden all qualms about fighting with Hitler.

At 0427 the M-99 (SLt B.M. Popov) was hit by two torpedoes from U-149 and sank immediately east of Dagö Island.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HM S/M Triumph on patrol off the Egyptian coast sinks the Italian submarine Salpa.

SYRIA: After three attempts, a depleted company of 2/3 Bn scales Jebel Mazar and captures the summit. The French counter-attack immediately with elements of I/17th Senegalese, followed by V/1st Moroccan, I/24th Colonial and Moroccan Spahis. 2/2 Pnr Bn attack on ridge north of Merdjayoun held by two French battalions [which ones?] is decimated. French Foreign Legion garrison in Palmyra continues to hold it for Vichy against strong allied attack. (Michael Alexander)

NEWFOUNDLAND: The creation of a naval base in Newfoundland was vital to the provision of Trans-Atlantic convoy escort. This was due to the unanticipated high fuel consumption by 'short-legged' escorts while engaged in anti-submarine warfare. Eventually, the River-class frigates and Castle-class corvettes, with 7,000 nautical miles of endurance at medium speed, proved equal to the task. The use of over 200 escort oilers, beginning in the late 1942, was also vital to the efficient operation of the older warships that had much shorter cruising ranges. However, until the escort oilers and long-range escorts could enter service, the lack of fuel was a critical factor in the generally poor performance of RCN and RN warships.

U.S.A.: Baseball's New York Yankees go on the road and open a two-game series at Shibe Park in Philadelphia against the Philadelphia Athletics. Yankee star Joe DiMaggio goes 2-for-3, a home run and a single, against A's pitcher Chubby Dean, and extends his hitting streak to 39-games.

The Douglas XB-19 four-engined bomber makes its first flight. It has a length of 132.25 feet (40,34 meters), a wingspan of 212 feet (64,62 meters), an empty weight of 86,000 pounds (39 009 kilograms), normal range of 5,200 miles (8 369 kilometer) and a maximum range of 7,710 miles (12 408 kilometers).

Although not delivered with armament, it was designed to have one 37 mm cannon and one .30 calibre (7.62 mm) machine gun in the nose and forward dorsal turret; a .50 calibre (12.7 mm) machine gun in the tail, rear dorsal turret, ventral turret, left and right waist positions; and a .30 calibre machine gun on each side of the bombardier's position and on each side of the fuselage below the horizontal stabilizer. A normal crew consisted of 16-men but two additional flight mechanics and a six-man relief crew could be accommodated in a special compartment fitted with eight seats and six bunks. To feed this mob, a complete galley was included. The government paid Douglas $1.4 million ($17.32 million in 2006 dollars) but Douglas had spent an additional $4 million ($49.47 million in 2006 dollars) of their own money.

The aircraft was used as a flying laboratory and provided valuable data that was used to develop the Boeing B-29 and the Convair "Aluminum Overcast," aka, the B-36. During these tests, the plane had many engine-cooled problems and in 1943, the four 2,000 hp Wright R-3350 air-cooled radials engines were replaced with four 1,600 hop Allison XV-3420-1 liquid-cooled engines and the aircraft was redesignated XB-19A. This increased its maximum speed and eliminated the cooling problems. During the next 2-1/2 years, it was transferred from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, to Patterson Field in Dayon, to Lockbourne AAAB in Columbus, Ohio, and finally to Clinton County AAFld, Wilmington, Ohio. Finally, it was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona on 17 August 1946 and was scrapped in 1949.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-556 is sunk SW of Iceland, in position 60.24N, 20.00W depth charges from corvettes HMS Nasturtium, Celandine and Gladiolus, they are escorting Halifax/UK convoy HX133 south of Iceland which has been attacked by 10 U-boats, 5 ships are lost. There are 5 dead and 41 survivors from the U-boat.

At 0155, U-564 fired three single torpedoes in one minute intervals at Convoy HX-133 in grid AK 2432, 300 miles (483 km) south of Iceland, and observed three hits. Dutch merchantmen Maasdam and Malaya II are sunk and Kongsgaard was damaged. The Kongsgaard was torpedoed amidships and caught fire in position 60°N/30°42W. The crew first abandoned ship in the lifeboats, but the master, one mate and nine crewmembers later reboarded the vessel and managed to extinguish the fire with the help of more men. After picking up the remaining crew, the tanker continued and arrived at Belfast on 2 July. Three days later, a telegram from the First Lord of the Admiralty arrived, congratulating them on bringing their ship safely to port after being torpedoed. Maasdam was hit by one torpedo on the port side at #2 hold. Several lifeboats were destroyed, but the most of the 48 crewmembers and 32 passengers (17 American Red Cross nurses and US Marines under Maj Walter L. Jordan, the advance detail for the Marine Detachment at the American Embassy in London) safely abandoned ship before she sank. Two passengers were lost. 44 survivors, among them nine of 17 American Red Cross nurses, were rescued by the Norwegian motor tanker Havprins and landed at Barry. The remaining survivors were picked up by another Norwegian vessel. The master, 38 crewmembers and four gunners from the Malaya II were lost. Six crewmembers were picked up by HMCS Collingwood and landed at Reykjavik. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

Italian submarine Glauco is scuttled west of Gibraltar, in position 35.00N, 12.41E, after being damaged by destroyer HMS Wishart.

At 0119, U-69 with her last torpedoes, fired a spread of two torpedoes at two overlapping steamers in Convoy SL-78 about 200 miles SE of the Azores and heard one detonation, but no hit can be confirmed from Allied sources. At 0149 hours, another torpedo was fired that hit the RIVER LUGAR amidships, which broke in two and sank within seconds. In a third attack at 0237, the EMPIRE ABILITY was hit by a torpedo, caught fire and sank after 21 minutes. The master, 60 crewmembers, two gunners, 17 military personnel and 27 passengers from the EMPIRE ABILITY were picked up by the British SS Amerika, transferred to corvette HMS Burdock and landed at Milford Haven. The master, 35 crewmembers and two passengers from the RIVER LUGAR were lost. Six crewmembers were picked up by Burdock and landed at Milford Haven. U-69 was on her return voyage from the South Atlantic, (the longest voyage then made by a type VIIC), and running on one engine to conserve fuel, encountered Convoy SL-78. U-69 also draws the convoy to the attention of U123 and U66. U69 departed on this voyage from Lorient 5 May 1941.

Corvette HMCS Bittersweet departed UK for Iceland and assignment to NEF

Corvettes HMCS Nanaimo and Trail arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.

At 2357, 2358 and 2400, U-123 fired one torpedo each at three ships in Convoy SL-78 from between the columns WSW of the Canary Islands. The first torpedo sank P.L.M. 22, the second the Oberon and the third missed the intended target, but was thought to have hit another ship in the convoy. Oberon was struck by a torpedo in the engine room, killing four men on watch below and a purser. A British corvette picked up the survivors, but one man later died of wounds. The master and 31 crewmembers from P.L.M. 22 were lost. Ten crewmembers and two French naval gunners were picked up by HMS Armeria, transferred to HMS Asphodel and landed at Freetown on 4 July.

At 0056, the Tibia was torpedoed and damaged by U-79 in Convoy HX-133 on position 59°55N/30°49W (grid: AK 2434).

In preparation for Operation TOENAILS, the invasion of New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, Task Force 36 arrives in the area. TF 36 consists of two aircraft carriers:
USS Saratoga (CV-3) with Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3) minus Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6). VF-6 has been replaced by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) No. 832 Squadron equipped with Grumman TBF-1 Avengers. 
HMS Victorious with the USN's VF-6 with F4F-4s and FAA No. 882, 896 and 898 Squadrons with Grumman Martlet Mk IVs. This exchange put four squadrons of Wildcat fighters on the RN ship. (Jack McKillop and Massimiliano Stola)

The Japanese Navy issues a new order for the evacuation of personnel from Kiska. Known as Operation KE (Phase II), the evacuation will be carried out on one mission rather than by numerous submarine missions. The Rescue Force will consist of cruiser and destroyers and three groups of submarines that will search for American ships, report on weather and screen the surface forces. The submarine force will be divided into three groups; one group to operate between Kiska and Attu Islands and the other two groups deployed to the north and south of Amchitka Island. The operation is scheduled to begin in early July.

 

Mission 443: 251 bombers and 191 fighters are dispatched to hit CROSSBOW (V-weapon) supply sites around Pas de Calais, Criel and Chantilly, France; 195 B-17s hit the Pas de Calais area, 12 B-24s hit targets of opportunity and 11 B-24s hit Criel Airfield; five B-24s are downed by AA fire, two B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 104 B-24s and eight B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 149 of 191 P-51s; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft and lose two; one P-51 is damaged; after completing the escort, the P-51s bomb and strafe targets of opportunity, including marshalling yards, bridges, railroads, transportation and airfield installations, and dispersal areas.

VIII Fighter Command fighter-bomber missions:

1. 46 P-38 Lightnings attack Connantre Airfield; three are lost.

2. 36 P-47 THunderbolts bomb Villeneuve/Zertes Airfield claiming 10-0-8 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air .

3. 32 P-51s attack Coulommiers Airfield and 246 others attack transport in the Paris area; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. 

Mission 444: 4 of 4 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

16 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions in France. A B-24 on a training flight in England is shot down by an intruder.

London: A V1 lands on Victoria station, killing 14 people.
Herbert Morrison, the home secretary and minister of home security, today told the war cabinet that in less than two weeks, since V1 attacks began, 1,600 people have been killed and 4,500 seriously wounded. The scale of the emergency is only being discussed behind closed doors. In a BBC broadcast yesterday the public heard that the "beastly, vicious things" were not upsetting southerners, who were "steadiness itself". The royal family are staying in London, though the King's tennis court was destroyed yesterday by a flying bomb.

London: Churchill was ploughing through his usual diet of documents today when he came across a telegram which upset him deeply. It came from the Jewish Agency in Switzerland, and contained a report of the gas chambers, allegedly based on the eye-witness account of some lucky escapees from Auschwitz-Birkenau. The report's authors, Chaim Weizmann and Moshe Shertok, beg the Allies to bomb the railway lines which being trainloads of victims to the camp. Churchill is minded to agree.

FRANCE: The capture of Cherbourg is completed by US VII Corps. Operations to clear the harbour of obstructions and booby traps can now begin.
In the battle for the port the Americans lost 1,800 dead and 15,000 wounded; they took 45,000 prisoners.

Discipline among men of the US VII Corps broke down when they came across huge stores of champagne and brandy and proceeded to get drunk.

The German commander, General von Schlieben, wanted to surrender two days ago. "Among the troops defending the town," he reported to Rommel, "there are 2,000 wounded who cannot be treated. Is the sacrifice of the others still necessary?" Rommel answered: "In accordance with the Fuhrer's orders you are to hold out to the last round."

Yesterday, after a naval bombardment by three battleships, four cruisers and 11 destroyers, the Americans started firing straight into the tunnel defences. Fuhrer or no Fuhrer, von Schlieben had had enough and gave himself up to the first American he met. This chanced to be Major-General Manton Eddy, commanding the 9th Division; he took the German general to lunch.

But von Schlieben, who brought 800 men with him, refused to order the rest of the garrison to surrender. It was another 24 hours before the Americans had cleared the port; now they face a ten-mile slog to attack Cap de la Hague, on the tip of the peninsula.

The British VIII Corps attacks east of Caen.

Bad weather precludes IX Bomber Command operations; 700+ fighters take part in various operations, most of them fly high cover over the assault areas and bomb and strafe rail and road traffic and communications centers.

GERMANY: U-927, U-2501 commissioned.

ITALY: The US Fifteenth Air Force dispatches around 300 bombers to attack targets in Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia; B-17s bomb marshalling yards at Budapest, Hungary; B-24s hit marshalling yards at Brod, Yugoslavia and oil industry targets at Drohobycz, Poland; 75 to 90 enemy fighters attack the formations; three bombers are lost; the bombers and escorting fighters claim 30+ enemy planes shot down; 90 P-51s sweep Budapest area, claiming seven fighters destroyed.

BALTIC SEA: At 1558, U-19 attacked a Soviet tug convoy with torpedoes and sank the barge Barzha No 75 (approx. 1000 tons) NW of Tuapse.

An accident took place during U-1018's work-up period in the Baltic on 17 June which killed 1 man and wounded 2 from its crew. [Obersteuermann Walter Nellsen].

FINLAND: The Germans announce an agreement with the Finnish government to assist them against the Russians, since the Red Army has entered Finland.

Battle of Tali-Ihantala

Maj. Gen. Ruben Lagus's Armored Division continues its efforts to encircle the Soviet salient east of Lake Leitimonjärvi. Plan is to attack with Col. Albert Puroma's Jäger Brigade from west and Col. Sven Björkman's Detachment Björkman from east, while Col. V. Forsberg's battlegroup (IR 48's I and II battalions together with III/IR 13 [*]) attacks from north.

The Soviet salient contains four divisions (63rd Guards, 64th Guards, 46th Guards and 268th) together with one tank brigade and several independent tank and assault gun regiments. All of them, however, have suffered heavy losses.

Nor are the attackers at the top of their powers. Col. Puroma's jäger battalions have about fourth of their strenght left, and Col. Forsberg's forces are also badly worn.

Early in morning Col. Martti Aho's [**] IR 50 (11th Division) relieves the Jäger Brigade form the isthmus between lakes Kärstilänjärvi and Leitimonjärvi, and the Brigade is readied for attack. Mission is to advance to Talinmylly and then reach the old defence-line at the south-eastern end of Lake Leitimonjärvi. On Brigade's right flank, north of Lake Leitimonjärvi, attacks Maj. Eero Leppänen's battlegroup (Jäger battalions 4 and 5). North of Leppänen's force attacks Jäger Battalion 2, and Jäger Battalion 3 is the Brigade reserve.

North of the Jäger Brigade attacks II/IR 6, while Detachment Penttinen (an engineer company, parts of a panzer and assault gun battalion) together with III/IR 6 was to hold the line along the Portinhoikka-Ihantala -road. The two battalions of Col. Forsberg's IR 48 together with the III/IR 13, supported by elements of Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 303 were to clear the Portinhoikka-Ihantala -road of the enemy from the direction of Ihantala, and then continue their offensive south.

Col. Björkman's detachment's Border Jäger Battalion 2, II/IR 13 and Separate Battalion 14 were to attack and link with the Jäger Brigade around Talinmylly.

Col. Puroma's jägers began their offensive at 3 pm. after seven artillery battalions had fired a preparation. Initally they advanced without problems, but then Maj. Leppänen's battlegroup met a strong enemy force, that stopped its advance for few hours. Maj. Leppänen was mortally wounded [***], and replaced by Maj. Jouko Hynninen. The battlegroup continued its offensive, and around 6 pm. reached Aniskala, about half-way to its final objective. There Battlegroup Hynninen's offensive was stopped by fierce enemy resistance. On Hynninen's left flank Jäger Battalion 2 was also stopped short of its objective.

In Ihantala, Col. Forsberg's battlegroup, supported by German assault guns, succesfully cleared the Portinhoikka-Ihantala -road, but the already depleted forces suffered heavy losses in the process, esp. the III/IR 13. The German assault guns were forced to leave after running out of ammo [****]. Col. Forsberg informed Gen. Lagus that his men were unable to conduct offensive operations. Gen. Lagus ordered him to proceed as per his earlier orders: to advance towards Jäger Brigade's advancing men from north. Lagus reinforced Forsberg's men with an engineer company and an assault gun platoon. They were able to reach their first objective around midnight, but were forced to return to their starting positions after running out of ammo. Col. Forsberg's battlegroup had spent what strength it had left clearing the road of enemy.

East of the Soviet salient Col. Björkman's forces attacked in afternoon. Especially Maj. Martti Avela's Border Jäger Battalion 2 met success, but its commander was wounded and replaced by Capt. U. Petäjä. At best they were only a kilometer from Col. Puroma's men who were advancing from west. But again fierce Soviet resistance frustrated the Finnish hopes of closing the pocket. The Soviet forces in the salient were still able to bring in reinforcements. Time was running out, but the Armored Division was going to try one more time on the next night.

The Finnish and German air units were busy trying to cut the bridges the Red Army engineers had built at Tali. These bridges were of vital importance for the Soviet offensive, and no matter how often they were destroyed, the engineers, oblivious to all dangers, always rebuilt them.

[*] This unit also contained a company of Swedish volunteers, who distinguished themselves in today's battles.

[**] Col. Martti Aho was one of only four men who received the Mannerheim Cross, 2nd Class, twice.

[***] Maj. Eero Leppänen, who had already distinguished himself in numerous engagements, was awarded a posthumous Mannerheim Cross, 2nd Class.

[****] Germans didn't inform Finns why they left the battle. This caused bad blood among the Finnish units they had been supporting, who thought the Germans were running from battle.

BURMA: Mogaung: The Chindit 77th Special Force Brigade under Brigadier Mike Calvert, supported by two battalions of the Chinese 114th Regiment, has taken Mogaung. The Japanese 18th Division, fighting Lt-Gen Joseph Stilwell's Chinese troops and the remnants of "Merrill's Marauders" at Myitkyina, is now isolated.

The Gurkha, Lancashire Fusilier, Staffordshire and Liverpool men have been fighting for Mogaung for a month. Casualties of battle wounds and ill-health have been so high that for today's assault across the key railway bridge Calvert had only 230 Gurkhas, 110 Fusiliers and men of the King's Regiment (Liverpool), and 180 Staffordshire men from battalions once 800 strong.

MARIANA ISLANDS: US carrier aircraft from Task Force 58 attack Japanese ships in Apra Harbor, Guam destroying a water tanker that had been damaged by a US submarine. During the night, the Japanese mount a coordinated attack against Isely Field, Saipan. The attack involves nine Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers, Allied Code Name "Betty", six from Palau Island and three from Truk Atoll, and two Nakajima B6N Navy Carrier Attack Bomber Tenzan, Allied Code Name "Jill," from Guam. The raiders drop more than 20 bombs without damaging anything; two of the attackers are shot down.

AUSTRALIA: Frigate HMAS Burdekin commissioned.

NEWFOUNDLAND: Corvette HMCS Algoma completed workups and returned St John's.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Quillback laid down.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-312 was commissioned at New York with LT E. L, Jennsen, USCGR, as commanding officer. On 20 August 1944, she departed New York for Los Angeles, towing the QS-22. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area during the war at Batangas, Philippines and elsewhere. She was decommissioned 15 October 1945. 

UNITED KINGDOM: HMS HERON, RNAS Yeovilton, 759 RN Sqn, Corsair aircraft JS700, Lt (A) John "Jack" Joseph FEENEY RCNVR, of Fredericton, New Brunswick lost, crashed short of runway during ADDLs. Interred YEOVILTON CHURCHYARD RNAS. EXTENSION Somerset. "ADDL's" is either Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landings or Airfield Dummy Deck Landings. In other words practice carrier landing on a "real runway".

Submarine HMS Thermopylae launched.

Very long range fighter mission 25: 148 P-51s are dispatched from Iwo Jima Island, against Kasumigaura, Imba, and Tsukuba Airfields in the Tokyo area but abort because of weather.

USN PB4Y-2 Privateers operating from Okinawa continue laying mines off Korea.

Off Okinawa, a kamikaze plane hits the carrier USS BUNKER HILL, killing 373 men.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Arrowhead, Hepatica and Trillium paid off and returned to RN at Milford Haven.

Corvettes HMCS Guelph and Kamloops paid off at Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Ford reduces the work force at Willow Run to 4,000 people. At it's peak, 42,000 workers turned out B-24's (Drew Halevy)

Washington: Edward Stettinius resigns as secretary of state to take up the post of ambassador to the United Nations.

Destroyer USS Samuel B Roberts laid down.

Escort carrier USS Mindoro launched.