58 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Ludwigshaven. Only two bombed, two more bombed alternative targets.

77 Sqn. Four aircraft to Hamm. Three bombed, one iced up and returned early.

FRANCE: U-30 is the first U-boat to make use of the newly captured French bases when she arrives at Lorient.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Admiral Cunningham sails from Alexandria with HMS Warspite, HMS Malaya, HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Eagle, cruiser and destroyers to cover convoys from Malta to Alexandria and to challenge the Italians to action.
French Rear Admiral Rene Emile Godfroy agrees to allow his ships to be demobilized in Alexandria Harbor. Battleship Lorraine, 4 cruisers, 3 destroyers and a submarine of the French navy are involved.

Submarine HMS OLYMPUS bombed and damaged by Italian aircraft while in dock at Malta.

FRENCH WEST AFRICA: The RN's aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and heavy cruiser HMS Doresetshire and the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Australia are laying off Dakar where the French battleship Richelieu and other ships are in the harbor. The British issue an ultimatum to surrender but the French refuse to allow the ultimatum to be delivered by blocking the sloop HMS Milford from entering the port. (Jack McKillop and Mark Horan)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0714, the unescorted Lucrecia was torpedoed by U-34 about 100 miles west of Lands End and broke in two. The master was lost and one survivor later died of wounds. The Portuguese SS Alfarrarede picked up the survivors

U-99 sank SS Bissen 80 nautical miles south of Cape Clear, Ireland.

At 0053, the Sea Glory was hit by two torpedoes from U-99 and sank by the bow within two minutes south of Fastnet. The master, 27 crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The ship was reported missing after leaving Fowey.

While flying as second pilot in a Vickers Wellington of No. 75 Squadron during a night raid, Sgt. J.A. Ward (RNZAF) displays such gallantry that he is later awarded the Victoria Cross.

Corvette HMS CAMPION is commissioned.

GERMANY: Sgt James Allen Ward (1919-41), Royal New Zealand Air Force, crawled over the starboard wing of his Wellington to smother an engine fire.(VC)
Burt Knight adds: Sgt. Ward, 75th Squadron, was second pilot in a Wellington Mk. I. The aircraft was hit by Flak over Germany in a fuel tank and engine. The crew tried using fire extinguishers but the slipstream swept the spray away. Sgt. Ward volunteered to try to put the fire out and climbed out a hatch, tethered by a rope. Kicking holes in the fabric covering, Sgt. Ward was able to smother the fire. Sgt. Ward received the VC for this and command of his own aircraft. He died on his second mission over Germany as Pilot.(60)

Cologne: The city is attacked overnight by 114 RAF Wellingtons.

U-339 is laid down.

ICELAND: The United States takes over the protection of Iceland from Britain and lands troops to start building naval and air bases. The American security zone is also extended east wards to longitude 22 W, to embrace Iceland. The US also assumes the responsibility for the direct protection of all convoys of American ships bound for Iceland and of any such ships of other nationalities as wished to attach themselves to such convoys. General Marston is in command of the 1st Marine Brigade.

FINLAND: On the left flank of Karelian Army Group Oinonen (Maj. Gen. Oinonen) crosses the border near Ilomantsi to capture better starting positions for the coming main attack. The attack is soon stopped by stiff Soviet resistance.

U.S.S.R.: Russian and German tanks clash at Ostrov, a key point of the road to Leningrad.

EUROPE: Nazi-inspired anti-Bolshevik campaigns start in France and Belgium.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Prestone arrives, the P-40B’s are flyable. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: Washington: President Roosevelt today informed Congress that United States forces have landed in Iceland.

The immediate occasion for the decision for the US to join British and Canadian troops in defending Iceland was the report that Germany has assembled an expeditionary force in northern Norway to invade Iceland. It would clearly have been a strategic disaster fort Britain to allow the Germans to seize a bastion in the middle of the vital western shipping lanes from North America. to the Western Approaches. However, the significance of the US move goes beyond Iceland itself.

It signals the administration's willingness to relieve Britain of any burdens which a non-belligerent can undertake, so as to free British manpower for operations elsewhere.

The White House released copies of three-cornered negotiations between Washington, London and the prime Minister of Iceland, Herman Jonasson, in which the US recognized the sovereignty of Iceland and promised to withdraw all military forces as soon as the war came to an end.

The First Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), composed of a Headquarters Squadron and Marine Air Group 1 (MAG-1), is organized at Quantico, Virginia. This is the first of its type in the USMC and the first of five wings organized during the war.

The USAAF orders 150 model NA-91 P-51 Apaches intended for the RAF under Lend-Lease as Mustang Mk. IAs. These aircraft retained the Allison V-1710-39 engine.

ITALY: Various targets in Southern Italy are attacked by British aircraft, including Messina and Reggio Calabria.

ARCTIC OCEAN: Convoy PQ-17 loses eight more ships. With these losses some two-thirds of the ships have been sunk in the worst convoy disaster of the war so far. Twenty-three merchant ships and one rescue ship have been sunk of the 36 merchant ships and three rescue ships which sailed for Russia on 27 June. Nearly 100,000 tons of cargo were lost, including 430 tanks, 210 aircraft and 3,350 vehicles, all urgently needed by the Russians.

Todays' losses include three merchant ships, two British and one American, which are hit by U-255, U-355 and U-457. Two of these are sunk off the west coast of Arkhangel'sk Island and the third about 434 nautical miles (805 km) northeast of Murmansk.

Controversy over the devastation seems destined to continue for years to come - because it happened without the Germans making the move which the Allies had feared for some time. Operation Rosselsprung - meaning knight's move, from chess - had been planned by Grand Admiral Raeder himself. Germany's biggest battleship, the TIRPITZ, based at Trondheim, was to move out, supported by the heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER the pocket battleships ADMIRAL SCHEER and LUTZOW, and six destroyers, to attack an Arctic convoy.

The Admiralty had long feared such an attack and knew that by 4 July the support team had joined the TIRPITZ in Altenfjord ready for Rosselsprung. What it did not know was whether the operation had actually begun. Sir Dudley Pound, the first sea lord and chief of naval staff, chaired the meeting which began at 8.30pm that day. Pound asked for confirmation that the enemy strike team was still in port. When he could not get this, he closed the meeting at 9.30pm and decided to assume that it was already at sea.

He gave the order for the convoy to scatter, with each ship trying to reach a Russian port as best she could. In fact at the time of the order the TIRPITZ was still at anchor. However, there were ample other German forces nearby. During the night the U-boats and the dive-bombers started to pick off the ships. Thirteen were sunk on 5 July, then more yesterday and today.

Meanwhile TIRPITZ and her supporting armada had sailed. Once the news of the massacre reached Raeder, however, he decided that there was no longer any need to risk his prize ships, so he cancelled Rosselsprung. His knight had won the game without making a move. Admiral Pound's defenders argue that the outcome could have been even worse if he had not given the order to scatter. The TIRPITZ might have sunk the whole convoy.

At 0927, the US ship Alcoa Ranger was steaming independently towards Archangel, when she was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side at the #2 hold, opening a large hole and causing the vessel to list heavily to starboard. The eight officers, 26 men and six British gunners (the ship was armed with two old Anti-Aircraft-guns and one .30cal Lewis MG) abandoned ship in three lifeboats 15 minutes after the attack. U-255 surfaced, questioned the crew and began to shell the ship from a distance of 100 yards. She fired at least 60 shells (some survivors stated that they used as many as 150 shells) until the Alcoa Ranger sank by the head at 1100. Two of the lifeboats landed at Novaya Zemlya on the same day and one week later the last boat landed at Cape Kanin. Soviet patrol boats picked up all hands and landed them at Archangel. The crew was later repatriated from Scotland on the British troop transport Queen Mary and arrived Boston on 15 October.

At 1835, the Hartlebury, dispersed from Convoy PQ-17, was hit by two of three torpedoes fired by U-355 and two minutes later by another torpedo. At 1845, a coup de grâce hit the vessel, which sank over the bow within 10 minutes 17 miles 180° from Britwin Lighthouse, Novaya Zemlya. The first torpedoes had killed six mess attendants and the master had to be freed underneath a piece of debris. The explosions only left one lifeboat intact, which was lowered by panicking crewmen and flipped over, throwing the occupants into the icy water. Others jumped into the water and tried to reach the rafts. A total of 29 crewmembers, seven gunners and two naval signalmen were lost. The master and 12 survivors landed at Pomorski Bay, Novaya Zemlya. Seven survivors made it to the American SS Winston-Salem aground at North Gusini Shoal, Novaya Zemlya, were rescued by a Soviet survey ship and transferred to the British SS Empire Tide at anchor in Pomorski Bay. All survivors were later transferred to HMS La Malouine and landed at Archangel on 25 July. The master, George Willbourne Stephenson, survived the sinking but died of a head trauma within a year.

RFA Aldersdale, dispersed from Convoy PQ-17, was bombed and heavily damaged by German Ju88 aircraft of III/KG 30 in the Barents Sea north of the Kola Peninsula. The motor tanker was first taken in tow by HMS Salamander, but was later abandoned. The master and 53 crewmembers transferred to the minesweeper and landed at Archangel on 11 July. Between 1140 and 1300, U-457 shelled the abandoned Alderdale with the 88-mm gun (38 high explosive shells and 37 incendiary shells) and the 20-mm Flak (40 rounds). At 1456, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce, which broke the ship in two. Both parts sank within 20 minutes.

CHINA: Chungking: Hard on the heels of its successes in the air and on the ground, Generallissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang enters the sixth year since the Japanese invasion more optimistic that ever, but with a warning to the rest of the Allies that China's fate now hinges on being provided with at least 500 more planes.

The warning was made by Chunking's military attaché in Washington, General Chu Shih-ming, who said that with 500 bombers, plus the fighters to support them, China would be able to launch an offensive against Japan. But if the planes were not provided there was the danger that Japan, which has now launched an all-out attack against China, might be more successful than the west realized. His remarks were supported by Chinese successes in the last 24 hours.

These include the destruction of six Japanese fighters and the bombing of three Japanese air bases without the loss of a single plane by the United States China Air Task Force.

On the ground the Kuomintang forces have turned back Japanese attacks in Kiangsi province in eastern China and on the Hunan-Kiangsi border, inflicting 1,700 Japanese casualties.

In a speech to mark the fifth anniversary General Chiang had predicted: "We may face worse reverses in the next few months, but these will be short and the final collapse is near.

U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Force, China-Burma-India Theatre of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, issues a letter of instructions setting up the command structure in the CBI, with "Headquarters, American Army Forces, China. Burma, and India" at Chungking and a branch office at New Delhi, India. A few days later another branch office is established at Kunming.
The USAAF 10th Air Force in India activates the China Air Task Force (CATF).

 

AUSTRALIA: Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, South Pacific Area commander, arrives in Australia to discuss the upcoming operations in the Solomon Islands with General Douglas A. MacArthur, the Commanding General Southwest Pacific Area.

U.S.A.: A 1st Air Force A-29 Hudson of a detachment of the 396th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 41st Bombardment Group (Medium), operating from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, sinks German submarine U-701 by aerial depth charges about 153 nm (284 km) east-northeast of Wilmington, North Carolina at 34-50N 74-55W. This is the first submarine sunk by USAAF aircraft during World War II. U-701 is sunk in 60' of water ; 18 self escape, 15 without Drager gear, no rescue at hand, but only 7 survive until rescue, PoW.

USAAF Major General Millard F Harmon is designated Commanding General, US Army Forces in the South Pacific (COMGENSOPAC).

An agreement is reached between the USAAF and USN which stipulates that the USAAF will deliver to the USN a specified number of B-24s (USN PB4Y-1), B-25 Mitchells (USN PBJ) and B-34 Venturas (USN PV-1) to meet the Navy's requirement for long range landplanes. In exchange, (1) the Navy cancels the production of the Boeing PBB-1 Sea Ranger seaplane at Boeing's Renton, Washington, plant so that the plant may be used for the production of B-29 Superfortresses, and (2) limits its orders for PBY Catalinas to avoid interference with the production of B-24s.

Major General Carl A. Spaatz, Commanding General 8th Air Force, is also named Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces in the European Theater.

Second Lieutenant Richard Bong loops the loop around the central span of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, while flying a P-38 Lightning. He then flies up Market Street at low altitude causing a local woman's laundry to be blown off the clothes line. Bong is ordered to report to Major General George C. Kenney, Commanding General 4th Air Force, and Kenney orders him to re-wash the woman's laundry as punishment. Kenney goes on to command the Fifth Air Force, and later Far East Air Forces, in the Southwest Pacific Area. Bong is later assigned to the Fifth Air Force and becomes the U.S.'s top fighter ace of all time with 40 Japanese aircraft shot down.

Destroyer USS BACHE is launched.

GULF OF MEXICO: Between 1016 and 1017, German submarine U-67 fires four torpedoes at three ships about  78 nm (144 km) east-southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. Eeports one hit and assumed that one tanker sank at 1045. The Paul H. Harwood was hit by one torpedo while steaming at 12 knots in a small convoy of four ships being escorted by one destroyer. The torpedo struck on the port side abaft amidships at the #6 tank and blew a hole 15 feet by 12 feet into the hull, causing the flooding of tanks #5, #6 and #7. The tanker was stabilized by counterflooding the forward tanks and continued on her course at 10 knots into Southwest Pass to Burwood, Louisiana. She anchored at Pilottown and then proceeded to New Orleans. None of the eight officers, 32 crewmen and 16 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and four 20mm guns) reported an injury. The tanker arrived for permanent repairs at Galveston, Texas on 16 July and returned to service on 28 September. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

NORTH AFRICA: In preparation for the forthcoming invasion of Sicily, 27 Airpeed Horsa gliders arrive after being towed all the way from England by Halifaxes. (22)

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: General Smuts wins a majority of 67 seats in the general election.

INDIAN OCEAN: At 0645, U-198 began shelling the unescorted Leana with 147 rounds from her deck gun about 40 miles southeast of Zavora Point, Portuguese East Africa and sank the ship with a coup de grâce at 0810. Two crewmembers were lost. The master was taken prisoner by the U-boat, landed at Bordeaux on 24 September and was taken to the POW camp Milag Nord. 57 crewmembers, five gunners and one passenger landed after five days at Inchi-Inchi Lighthouse, near Lourenco Marques.

NEW GUINEA: Australian and US troops of the 3rd Australian Division (GOC Maj-Gen Savige) attack Observation Hill overlooking Japanese positions at Mubo, lying on the southern approaches to Salamaua. It possesses an airstrip, which is vital in Papua New Guinea and also sits astride the only track for miles linking the coastal landing site of Nassau Bay with the inland Bulolu Valley.

The Japanese were in strength at Mubo. Deceptive patrols and small attacks prior to the battle by 15 Australian Brigade (militia and commandos) caused Col Araki to denude Mubo of troops, leaving it to be defended only by II/66 Bn.

17th Brigade AIF (2/5 Bn AIF, 2/6 Bn AIF and I/162 US Inf Bn, supported by 1st Aust Mtn Bty and 218 US Fd Arty Bn) launches a double-envelopment against Mubo. Over the next five days the US and Australians conduct numerous small attacks and fighting patrols in close contact with the enemy. (Michael Mitchell)

Fifth Air Force B-24s and B-25s, along with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft, operate in direct support of Allied ground operations in the Mubo area of Nassau Bay, dropping over 100 tons of bombs on numerous targets as the MacKechnie Force begins an assault on Bitoi Ridge and Australian forces (2/6 Battalion) capture Observation Hill.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The Japanese continue to attack Allied shipping off New Georgia Island. Marine F4U Corsairs shoot down 6 of 12 "Betty" bombers and 10 of 60 "Zeke" fighters near Rendova in the afternoon. Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville while B-25s and P-38s attack Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A Japanese rescue force of two light cruisers, ten destroyers and  a tanker departs Paramushiru Island, Kurile Islands at 1600 hours enroute to Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands to evacuate the troops on Kiska. This force is Phase II of the KE-GO Operation.

U.S.A.: General Henri-Honeré Giraud, Commander in Chief French Army, is in Washington for discussions with various US authorities. (Glenn Steinberg)

The U.S. Army Air Forces Training Command is established to take over the functions formerly assigned to the Technical Training and Flying Training Commands.

Destroyer USS SEA ROVER is commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS FOGG is commissioned.

Frigate USS TACOMA is launched.

Destroyer USS ALLEN M SUMNER is laid down.

Frigates USS ORANGE and PASCO are laid down.

Destroyer escort USS ROBERTS is laid down.

CANADA: AMC HMCS  PRINCE ROBERT recommissioned as AA cruiser in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Frigate HMCS THETFORD MINES laid down Quebec City, Quebec.

CARIBBEAN SEA: MS Poelau Roebiah in Convoy TAG-70 was torpedoed and sunk by U-759. Most of the 68 crewmembers, 24 armed guards and 31 US passengers on board abandoned ship in four lifeboats. Two crewmembers were lost. The survivors in three boats were picked up by a USCG cutter and several escort vessels. USS PC-1253 found the whaleboat of the master and brought the occupants to Guantanamo.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-951 is sunk about 308 nm (570 km) west of Lisbon, Portugal by the crew of a B-24 Liberator of the USAAF's 1st Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) based at Port Lyautey, French Morocco. All 46 crewmen in the U-boat are lost.

At 0607 German submarine U-185 carries out two attacks on convoy BT 18 (Bahia, Brazil, to Trinidad) torpedoing an 8,000-ton U.S. freighter and an 8,000 ton tanker about 153 nm (284 km) east of Fortaleza, Brazil, in the first assault. The freighter, the JAMES ROBERTSON in station #21 is struck by two torpedoes in the #2 and #3 holds. The explosions destroy the engine room bulkhead and blow several hatch covers off, littering the deck with bits of metal, rock ballast and pieces of lifeboats. The holds flood to the tweendecks and he ship buckled at the #3 hatch. She then careens through the columns of the convoy with running engines and the rudder jammed at hard right, making a complete circle. She collides in succession with the American steam merchant ALCOA BANNER in station #32  and moments later with the Brazilian steam merchant GOIAZLOIDE in station #33 at the #1 hatch. A part of the eight officers, 36 crewmen and 25 armed guards (the ship was steaming with one 4in and nine 20mm guns) was ordered to abandon ship in two lifeboats and rafts. One boat swamped during launching and others jumped overboard and swam to the rafts, one of the armed guards drowned. The 21 men on the rafts, the men in one of the boats and five men in the water are picked up by the submarine chaser USS PC-575 and landed in Trinidad on 15 July. The master and 20 men abandoned ship after the collisions in two lifeboats and stood by until morning when they reboarded the vessel to recover personal effects, but the ship later went down by the bow. 24 men, including three survivors from the William Boyce Thompson were picked up by the Brazilian escort vessel CS-55 and landed at Fortaleza on 9 July. The 14 men in one of the remaining two lifeboats landed at Fortaleza on 9 July and the other boat landed at Cascavel, Brazil the same day.

At 0829, U-185 attacked the convoy for the second time and reported hits on a tanker and an ammunition ship that were sinking slowly. The ships hit were SB Hunt and Thomas Sinnickson. The SB Hunt in station #51 was hit by one torpedo on the port side at the bulkhead between the pump room and #4 tank. The explosion opened a hole 45 feet by 35 feet in the side but the tanker was able to continue with the convoy. None of the eight officers, 29 crewmen and eleven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and two .50cal guns) reported injuries. The SB Hunt arrived at Trinidad for temporary repairs and after permanent repairs carried out in Galveston she returned to service on 4 November. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

U-951 sunk NW of Cape St Vincent, in position 37.40N, 15.30W by depth charges from a USAAC 1st ASW Sqn Liberator. 46 dead (all hands lost).

UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
- Mission 458: 1,129 B-17s and B-24s and 756 fighters are dispatched to attack synthetic oil plants, aircraft assembly plants and engine works, airfields and an equipment depot, marshalling yards, railway station and railway repair shops in Germany; 37 bombers and 6 fighters are lost.

1. Of 373 B-24s, 102 hit Lutzkendorf and 64 hit Halle oil plants, 90 hit Bernburg and 73 hit Aschersleben aircraft plants and eight hit targets of opportunity; they claim 39-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 28 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 224 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 46-1-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 and three P-51s are lost.

2. Of 303 B-17s, 64 hit Bohlen and 51 hit Merseburg oil plants, 67 hit Kolleda and 32 hit Lutzkendorf Airfields, 22 hit targets of opportunity and 16 hit Gottingen marshalling yard; two B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 185 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 9-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost.

3. Of 453 B-17s, 114 hit Leipzig/Taucha, 79 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 35 hit Leipzig/Heiterblick and 15 hit Leipzig/Abtnaundorf oil plants, 46 hit Leipzig bearing industry, 35 hit Kolleda Airfield, 19 hit Leipzig Station and seven hit Nordhausen; seven B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 247 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground.

- Mission 459: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.

- 19 B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER operations during the night.

Frigate HMS Loch Achray launched .

Frigate HMS Pitcairn commissioned

Minesweeper HMS Tanganyika commissioned.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: German submarine U-678 is sunk about 19 nm (36 km) south-southwest of Brighton, England, by RCN destroyers HMCS Ottawa and Kootenay and RN corvette HMS Statice. All hands on the U-boat (52-men) are lost.

US VIII, VII and XIX Corps are up against heavy opposition on a line from Haye du Puits to just east of the Vire River.

Battleship HMS Rodney bombards German positions around Caen.

RAF Bomber Command drops 6,000 bombs on the northern areas of Caen in support of Operation CHARNWOOOD. The bombs are fuzed to explode six hours later just before British I Corps is due to attack. The I Corps attack will seize the northern portion of Caen to the banks of the River Orne. (W Jay Stone)

100+ Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders bomb a rail bridge near Tours, and targets of opportunity in the Lisieux and Beuzeville areas; 500+ fighters fly escort and area cover, carry out armed reconnaissance of communication and troop activity, and bomb railroads, rolling stock, marshalling yards, ammunition dumps, and bridges in frontline areas and wide areas of western France.

475 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets:

- 233 bomb the U-boat base at Toulon; 4 aircraft are lost.

- 146 hit the marshalling yard at Montpellier.

- 89 attack the marshalling yard at Beziers; 1 aircraft is lost.

- 6 bomb the marshalling yard at Marseilles.

- 1 bombs the marshalling yard at Sete.

GERMANY: 453 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets; the bombers and fighter escorts claim 50+ aircraft shot down during fierce battle with 275-300 fighters mainly in the Vienna-Budapest area:

- 162 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer South; 10 aircraft are lost.

- 122 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North; 8 aircraft are lost.

- 106 bomb the Deschowitz synthetic oil facility at Odertel; 8 aircraft are lost.

- 62 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North using radar; 1 aircraft is lost.

- 1 hits the city of Ober Gloglau.

U-2332, U-2333, U-2371, U-4701, U-4702, U-4703, U-4704, U-4705, U-4706, U-4707, U-4709, U-4710, U-4711, U-4712 ordered

U-778 commissioned

U-2511 laid down.

HUNGARY: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs Lakesa.

ITALY: 85 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group bomb the marshalling yard at Verona.

YUGOSLAVIA: 97 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack three targets:

- 53 attack the airfield at Zagreb.

- 43 bomb the marshalling yard at Zagreb.

- 1 hits the airfield at Banja Luka.

FINLAND: Ihantala: This morning a Soviet attack against the I/IR 35 at Pyöräkangas is repulsed with the aid of artillery. The enemy stages another attempt at 3 pm. (a prisoner claimed that this attack was launched by a whole division), but is also repulsed. A few more Soviet attacks are prevented in the evening by Finnish artillery.
Vuosalmi: unsuccessful Finnish counterattacks to capture back the lost ground in the Finnish bridgehead. Finnish troops in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga) get new orders to withdraw to defend the U-position. This is the position where the deciding battles in northern Karelia will be fought later in the month. The commander of the VI Corps, Maj. Gen. Blick is transferred to Isthmus to command the 2nd Div. His immediate superior, Lt. Gen. Talvela, the commander of the Aunus Group, thinks Blick has withdrawn too hastily. Blick's successor as the commander of VI Corps is Maj. Gen. Martola.

LITHUANIA: The Red Army enters Vilna.

ITALY: The US 34th Division liberate Pignano. 

CHINA: 14 B-29s of the XX Bomber Command, operating out of Chengtu, China during the night of 7/8 July, bomb Sasebo, Omura, and Tobata, Japan (most of the planes hitting the Sasebo area); 3 others attack secondary and last resort targets at Laoyao and in the Hankow area of China.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: The Japanese garrison is now down to 3,000 soldiers. They mount an attack on the US lines south of Makunsha Village. The better armed US forces suffer terrific losses in holding this attack, some of which is fought at close quarters.

During one of these close attacks Japanese soldiers attack the battalion aid station of the 27th Infantry Division. A dentist serving as a surgeon at the station, Dr. (Capt.) Benjamin L. Salomon, killed several enemy soldiers as they tried to enter the aid station from different directions. As the attacks continued, he ordered comrades to evacuate the tent and carry away the wounded. He then went out to face the enemy alone and was last heard shouting, "I'll hold them off until you get them to safety. See you later." 

Salomon replaced a dead machine gun crew and begin firing on the attackers. When American troops retook the ground, they found his body still at the machine gun and surrounded by 98 dead Japanese soldiers. (MOH)

Another Medal of Honor will be awarded to Pfc Harold Christ Agerholm, US Marine Corps Reserve, who single-handedly evacuated 45 US casualties before being himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper.

From the 19 June to today, Sgt Thomas A. Baker, US Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division, has displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small arms fire from strongly fortified Japanese positions, he took a bazooka to within 100 yards of the Japanese and knocked out their strongpoint. He dies with an empty pistol having killed 8 Japanese. MOH

US Navy carrier based aircraft of Task Group 53.7 and Task Force 58 begin daily preinvasion air attacks against ground targets on Guam. During the night, eight "Betty" bombers from Truk Atoll and three from Guam attack US Navy ships but damage is negligible; two "Bettys" are shot down by Navy night fighters and one by a destroyer. Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Woleai Airfield on Yap during the day and Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Truk Atoll during the night in an attempt to stop the air attacks.

- Task Group 53.7, the Southern Carrier Support Group, consists of the

following aircraft carriers:

- Carrier Division Twenty Two (CarDiv 22)

USS Chenango (CVE-28) with Escort Carrier Air Group Thirty Five (CVEG-35)

USS Sangamon (CVE-26) with CVEG-37

USS Suwanee (CVE-27) with CVEG-60

- Carrier Division Twenty Four (CarDiv 24)

USS Coral Sea (CVE-57) with Composite Squadron Thirty Three (VC-33)

USS Corregidor (CVE-58) with VC-41  

U.S.A.: Submarines USS Tench and Thornback launched.

Minesweeper USS Device commissioned.

CANADA: HMC MTB 463 sunk by mine. Crew taken off by HMC MTB 466. No lives lost

Corvette HMCS Moncton completes forecastle extension refit in Vancouver.

Tug HMCS Glencove commissioned.