Plymouth: Britain’s latest commando raid has ended in farce. A team of untrained men designated as special forces of No. 3 Commando was to raid Guernsey airport. Compass failure sent it in error to tiny Sark. Other men hit undefended points on Guernsey to no purpose. As they withdrew, their commanding officer slipped and fired his revolver, alerting the enemy. Three men said that they could not swim to the pick-up boat.

Spilsby, Lincolnshire: The rector of Old Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, was sentenced to four weeks’ jail today for ringing his church bell. He claimed that he did not know of the order prohibiting the ringing of church bells except as warning of an airborne invasion. It came into force a month ago, on 14 June. PC Peck said that he found the rector in his belfry pulling the bell rope on 16 June.

The rector, the Rev Robert Grant Colvin Graham, insisted that he was a loyal citizen. He had not then read the letter from his bishop banning bell-ringing.

Corvette HMS Godetia commissioned.

Corvette HMS Mignonette laid down.

Destroyer HMS Panther laid down.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: A force of 15 Do17s attempt to bomb a convoy but are driven off by Hurricanes from Nos. 56 and 151 Squadrons.

BALTIC STATES: Plebiscites held yesterday  in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are said to show unanimous support for union with the USSR.

Some regions register more than 100% support.

The plebiscites were rigged and conducted under heavily intimidating circumstances to ensure that the Soviets got the 99+% approval.

PORTUGAL: The cruiser USS Trenton (CL-11) sails from Lisbon, Portugal for the Annapolis, Maryland, USA, with members of the royal family of the Duchy of Luxembourg on board.

U.S.A.: Chippewa Falls: Robert Pershing Wadlow, the worlds tallest man at 8 ft 11inches, dies of complications brought on by a foot infection.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Evdoxia was sunk 40 miles SW of Bull Rock, Ireland by U-34.

LEBANON: Beirut: The Allies have entered Beirut in triumph, and will hand over Syria and Lebanon to their inhabitants. When they invaded a month ago General de Gaulle said in a broadcast: "I come to end the mandatory regime and to proclaim you free and independent." Thus Syria and Lebanon - to strong Vichy protests - join Eritrea in being offered self-determination.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: All 3^rd and 20^th Pursuit Squadron pilots are certified on the P-35A. (Marc Small)

NEWFOUNDLAND: The US sets up an air base at Argentia Bay. The two facilities established on this date were the U.S. Naval Air Station and the U.S. Naval Operating Base.

U.S.A.: Baseball, the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox play the final game of a three-game series at Comisky Park in Chicago, Illinois. Yankee center fielder Joe DiMaggio goes 2-for-4 against White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith and extends his hitting streak to 55 consecutive games.

Aircraft carrier USS Lexington laid down.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser USS Oakland laid down.

Destroyer HMS Relentless launched.

Frigate HMS Musk laid down.

Ruweisat, Egypt: Sgt. Keith Elliott (1916-89), New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was wounded but led his men to capture four machine-gun posts, an anti-tank gun and 130 PoWs. (Victoria Cross)

Ruweisat, Egypt: Capt. Charles Hazlitt Upham (b.1908) was badly wounded,, but stayed with his men until so badly wounded that he was unable to move. (Victoria Cross, only VC and bar of the war)

In North Africa, US Army, Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF): B-24s strike the harbour and ships at Benghazi, Libya during the night of 15/16 July.

HM S/M P554 arrived Argentia for ASW training.

Submarine USS Sunfish commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Stewart, Sturtevant laid down.

Corvette USS Might launched.

Destroyer USS Thompson launched.

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMCS Loch Morlich (ex HMS Loch Morlich) laid down Wallsend-on-Tyne.

Frigate HMS Calder commissioned.

Frigate HMS Musk launched.

Destroyer HMS Zephyr launched.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Steepholm launched.

Escort carrier HMS Thane launched.

Minesweeper HMS Welfare launched.

GERMANY: U-988 is commissioned.

ITALY: US General Patton forms a provisional corps to advance on the west in Sicily. Bradley's II Corps drives north.

Italian (transport) submarine Remo was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Taranto by submarine HMS United.

In Sicily during the night of 14/15 July, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) light and medium bombers bomb Palermo, and fly armored reconnaissance, attacking roads and convoys, over extensive areas of Sicily. During the day, Ninth Air Force B-25s bomb Palermo, Cape Gallo, Salina Island, and Cape Zifferano; and P-40s patrol over the Licata area while NASAF medium bombers bomb Vibo Valentia, and fighters fly numerous strafing and bombing missions against trains, road junctions, radar installations, truck convoys, railway stations, and targets of opportunity throughout Sicily. Northwest African Coastal Air Force airplanes fly sea patrols, reconnaissance, convoy escort, and hit shipping off the west coast of Corsica and east coast of Sardinia.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Central Front begins an offensive toward Orel.

PACIFIC: The submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) surfaces and shells an airfield on Matsuwa Island in the Kurile Islands with her 6-inch (152 mm) guns. This is the first shelling of the Kurile Islands by a U.S. naval vessel in World War II.

US General Griswold replaces General Hester on New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands.

In the last Japanese attempt to mount an air attack against Allied forces in the central Solomon Islands, the IJN dispatches an estimated 27 "Betty" bombers ( Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) and 40-50 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) to attack shipping and ground targets between 1430 and 1530 hours; they are met over Rendova Island by USAAF P-40s, USMC F4U Corsairs and USN F4F Wildcats. The U.S. forces shoot down 15 "Bettys" and 30 "Zekes" with the loss of just three U.S. aircraft.

AUSTRALIA: Frigate HMAS Culgoa laid down.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A B-24 Liberator and two P-39Airacobras of the USAAF's Eleventh Air Force fly reconnaissance over Kiska and Segula Islands. Nine B-24s and 14 B-25 Mitchells bomb Kiska Island targets including AA batteries at North Head, Jeff Cove and Gertrude Cove. Fires are started. one B-24 turns back after losing an engine and jettisons bombs, another crashes on return. AA fire damages a B-25.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Sea Cliff renamed HMCS Guelph while under construction.

The USN establishes new designations for aircraft carriers. The 10,000 ton class aircraft carriers built on light cruiser hulls, formerly designated aircraft carriers (CVs), are redesignated light aircraft carriers (CVLs); auxiliary aircraft carriers (ACVs), classified as auxiliary vessels, are redesignated escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) in the combatant category; and a new category, Aircraft Carriers, Large (CVB) is established for the Midway Class carriers.

Minesweeper USS Graylag laid down.

Submarine USS Blower laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS George, Savage, Spangler launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Day, Rudderow laid down.

Minesweeper USS Gadwall launched.

Frigates USS Covington, Shreveport launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-135 sunk in the Atlantic, in position 28.20N, 13.17W, by sloop HMS Rochester and corvettes HMS Mignonette and Balsam and a USN VP-92 Catalina. 5 dead and 41 survivors.

Two German submarines are sunk by US Navy aircraft. - U-759 is sunk in the Caribbean Sea, south of Haiti, in position 15.57N, 68.30W, by depth charges from a PBM-3C Mariner of Patrol Squadron Thirty Two (VP-32) based at NAS Guantanamo, Cuba. 47 dead (all hands lost)

- U-509 is sunk in the mid-Atlantic north-west of Madeira, Portugal, in position 34.02N, 26.01W, by aerial (Fido) torpedoes from a TBF Avenger of Composite Squadron Twenty Nine (VC-29) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Santee (CVE-29). 54 dead (all hands lost)

SS Twickenham damaged by U-135 at 28.36N, 13.18W

At 2043, the unescorted Harmonic was torpedoed by U-172 620 miles east of Rio de Janeiro. The vessel was sunk by a coup de grâce at 2116. One crewmember was lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up on 22 July by the Portuguese merchantman Inhambane and landed at Bahia, Brazil two days later.

At 1801, the unescorted Empire Lake was torpedoed and sunk by U-181 about 240 miles east of Madagascar. The master, 24 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. Five crewmembers and two gunners landed at Farafangana, Madagascar.

Sailing ship Gilbert B Walters sunk by U-572 at 09.40N, 59.50W.

- Mission 474: 169 P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts make fighter-bomber attacks on enemy transport southeast of Paris; 2 P-38s and 1 P-47s are lost.

- Mission 475: 6 B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflets in France during the night.

- 27 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to France during the night.

NORTH SEA:

U-319 sunk SW of the Lindesnes, Norway, in position 57.40N, 05.00E, by depth charges from an RAF 206 Sqn Liberator. 51 dead (all hands lost). The aircraft was also lost in this action

U-561 shot down an RAF 159 Liberator.

Bad weather cancels most operations by the USAAF's Ninth Air Force but 4 B-26 Marauders (92 others abort) hit the L'Aigle rail bridge during the afternoon; three fighter-bombers fly an uneventful sweep; and fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command fly area cover and bomb infantry, artillery, a marshalling yard, railroad, and a bridge in the Saint-Lo, Argentan, and Falaise areas.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Von Stauffenberg's second attempt to assassinate Hitler is foiled when the Fuhrer leaves a conference unexpectedly early.

FINLAND: Soviet forces try to break the Finnish U-line in Northern Karelia. Heaviest fighting is around Nietjrvi, where Finnish 5th Div and 15th Brigade start counter-attack in afternoon. The battle rages for two days, until on 17 July Finns are able to recover all lost positions.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Second Baltic Front captures Opochka which is 30 miles north of Idritsa. Other Russian forces advance west and southwest of Vilna.

U-679 damaged Soviet MTB TK-57.

INDIAN OCEAN: U-181 sank SS Tanda at 13.22N, 74.09E.

The unescorted Director was torpedoed and sunk by U-198 in the Mozambique Channel southeast of Inhambane, Portuguese East Africa. One crewmember was lost. The master, 49 crewmembers and six gunners were rescued. The master and 14 crewmembers by the Portuguese sloop Goncalves Zarco and landed at Lourenco Marques. The chief officer, 34 crewmembers and six gunners landed at Kosi Bay, Portuguese East Africa.

GUAM: Supporting the preinvasion strikes against Guam, Seventh Air Force P-47s based on Saipan bomb and strafe Tinian Island and B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, hit Truk Atoll while Fifth Air Force B-24s blast Yap Island, scoring numerous hits in the town area and on a radio station and barracks area. Navy PB4Y Liberators of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Nine (VB-109) based at Isley Field on Saipan, again attack airfields on Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima and Haha Jima.

Minesweeper USS Ptarmigan launched.

Minesweeper USS Diploma commissioned.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The West End lights up again, ending over 2,000 nights of blackout and dim-out.

BELGIUM: Brussels: King Leopold repeats his refusal to abdicate.

FRANCE: SHAEF is disbanded. (Jean Beach)

SINGAPORE: Submarine HIJMS I-502 (ex-U-862) commissioned. (DS)

JAPAN: During the night of 15/16 July, XXI Bomber Command B-29s fly one mining and one bombing mission without loss.

- Mission 269: 26 B-29s mine waters at Naoetsu and Niigata, Japan and Najin, Pusan, and Wonsan, Korea; one other mines an alternate target.

- Mission 270: 59 B-29s bomb the Nippon Oil Company at Kudamatsu and the facility is almost completely destroyed; three others hit alternate targets.

- 104 Iwo Jima-based P-51s attack airfields and other tactical targets at Meiji, Kagamigahara, Kowa, Akenogahara, Nagoya, and Suzuko, Japan claiming 13-4-20 aircraft in the air and on the ground; three P-51s are lost.

58 Far East Air Forces B-24s hit airfields at Tomitaka and Usa. 25 B-24s pound Kikaiga-shima, Amami Islands, Miranoura on Yaku-shima, Osumi Islands, and an airfield on Tamega Island.

The home islands of Japan are attacked by the US Navy.

- Hundreds of carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 (TF 38) attack air bases, shipping and rail targets on Hokkaido and northern Honshu Islands, Japan; 23 Japanese ships are sunk. After the attacks, TF 38 withdraws to refuel.

- Task Unit 34.8.2 (Rear Admiral Badger) with battleships IOWA, MISSOURI, WISCONSIN, light cruisers DAYTON and ATLANTA, and eight destroyers bombard the steel and iron works at Muroran, Hokkaido, firing 860 rounds. (Keith Allen)

U-181, in Japanese hands since May 6, 1945 is renamed as I 501. U-195, in Japanese hands since May 6, 1945 was renamed as I 506. U-219, in Japanese hands since May 6, 1945 is renamed as I 505. (DS)

Corvette HMCS Midland and HMC ML 083 paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia.