RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - marshalling yards at Hamm and oil plant at Dusseldorf.

58 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Hamm. Weather bad. One bombed primary, seven bombed alternative targets.

102 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Dusseldorf. Weather bad and opposition heavy. Five bombed.

Dover: "Hellfire Corner" was attacked by the Luftwaffe again today as Stuka’s protected by Bf109s attacked shipping at Dover. The concussion of bursting bombs shook buildings and broke windows all along the seafront, while waterspouts dropped tons of water onto ships in the harbour.

RAF fighters tore into enemy formations already heavily engaged by Anti-Aircraft defences. 12 out of 80 German planes engaged were downed to three RAF machines.

41 Sqn begin the proceedings with a 07:25 scramble to engage the enemy on his northern flank, leaving ten Hurricanes of 501 Sqn. to race in from the sunward side. As they met the Luftwaffe they realised they were facing one of the largest formations yet of Bf109s escorting two waves of Stukas.

The Stuka's attacked Dover sinking the previously damaged 'Gronland' and starting a fire aboard a submarine depot ship. 41 Sqn. went in after the Stukas but Bf109s bore down upon the Spitfires. The squadron forced to split engaged both, and lost one aircraft in combat and four more in crash landings for the destruction of one Bf109. 64 and 56 Sqns. were vectored to help. 501 Sqn. penetrated to the Stukas, shooting down two into the sea. Incendiaries and HEs which had fallen on the Royal Navy oil depot broke a supply pipe from which split fuel gushed, then blazed upon the water. Dover's Anti-Aircraft guns added to the confusion and claimed 501's Ju87s.

Soon after midday attention switched to Channel convoys. Off Dungeness one was subjected to a low-level onslaught by Ju88s of KG 76, whose lead aircraft hit a ships balloon cable. Another was claimed by the ships' gunners. Convoy 'Agent' off Essex came under attack by a mixture of 36 fighter and fighter-bomber Bf110s. 151 Sqn engaged. From 45 miles off Felixstowe a reconnaissance Do 17 was chased as far as the Dutch coast, and three pilots of 85 Sqn. had a share in a He-111 approaching 'Agent'. A few minutes later another He-111 was destroyed off Lowestoft.

Night raids include nine on north-east England. At Hull five shops and a pub were damaged. Near Bury St. Edmunds, soon after midnight a Ju88 crashed .

BELGIUM: Germany annexes Eupen, Malmedy and Moresnet.

GERMANY: The German navy reports that landings on the British coast cannot take place until mid-September.

Secret Report of the SS Secret Service on German internal affairs, NO. 110 of Monday 29 July 1940 (extract);

V. The economy: The effects of night air raids on industrial production..

...Thus Dortmund reports a falling off in mining production there as a result of overfatigue and diminished resiliency. Many personnel say that they have a long way to go to get to the pits, and as a result they have only a short time to get to sleep at the end of the air raid alert. The consequence is that personnel frequently fall asleep, which is leading increasingly to short shifts. The alertness of personnel is also suffering, so that already additional accidents have occurred.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: On 21 July RN convoy AN2 (HMSs Capetown, Liverpool, Diamond, Defender, Dainty, HMAS Stuart, and 6 merchant vessels departed Alexandria for ports in the Aegean, and then picked up the returning convoy AS2 on 26 July. Covering the operation was the Adm A. B. Cunningham's Mediterranean Fleet operating off Crete with HMSs Eagle, Warspite, Malaya, Royal Sovereign, Neptune, HMAS Sydney, and 10 destroyers. Starting on 27 July, the various forces are subjected to numerous Italian air attacks, particularly on 29 July, when HMS Eagle's Sea Gladiators of 813 Fighter Flight again arise (literally) to the occasion. While breaking up several attacks, Lt. L. K. Keith, RN in N5513 and Lt. P. W. V. Massey, RN in N5512 shoot down 1 S.79. Unfortunately, Lt. Massey pursues one foe too far and with his fuel exhausted, he force lands N5512 along side HMAS Stuart. This will ultimately prove to be the only Sea Gladiator lost off HMS Eagle in 6 months of operations. During the entire three days operations, the Italian bombers achieve only a single bomb hit on HMS Liverpool which, fortunately for the RN, fails to explode. (Mark Horan)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Chambly launched Montreal, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: John Sigmund of St. Louis, Missouri completes a 292-mile (470 km) swim down the Mississippi River. It took him 89 hours, 48 minutes to swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, Missouri.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0215, the unescorted Clan Menzies was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 about 150 miles west of Loop Head, Co. Clare. Six crewmembers were lost. The master and 87 crewmembers landed at Enniscrone, Co. Sligo.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin demotes General Georgi Zhukov from the position of chief for the General Staff, for advising a tactical surrender at Kiev, replacing him with Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov.

FAR EAST: Vichy France signs a treaty giving Japan control of its colonies in Indochina in the event of enemy attack. The Japanese occupy southern French Indochina with the permission of the French.

UNITED KINGDOM: A combined British and US Production and Resources Board is established in London. The goal is to control allocations of material and industrial priorities. Averill Harriman for the US and Oliver Lyttelton for the UK are to be the senior members.

Westminster: The minister of labour, Ernest Bevin, announces a scheme for universal state pensions.

GERMANY:

U.S.S.R.: Army Group A continues to attack south of the Don, making good progress and Proletarskaya falls. Hitler is not satisfied and returns the 4th Panzer Army to Army Group B. These changes by Hitler have caused much wasted time and effort moving this army from front to front.

NEW GUINEA: The village of Kokoda is captured by the Japanese "South Seas Force", fighting overland from Buna to Port Moresby on the Kokoda Track. This is the halfway point in their overland trek to Port Moresby on the Coral Sea.

Undeterred by the climate on the Papuan coast where disease is a greater enemy than the bullet, the fresh Japanese force has taken only a week to reach Kokoda village which is flanked by 7,000-foot peaks in the Owen Stanley mountains. On the night of 28-29 July the Japanese attacked and, in a confused battle, drove the defenders off and took the village.

USAAF A-24 Dauntlesses, with P-39Airacobra escort, and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft attack shipping off Gona, partially frustrating Japanese attempts to land more troops and supplies; the Japanese recapture Kokoda, which they temporarily lost the previous day. Five of 7 A-24s participating in this attack are lost and this leads the USAAF to withdraw the aircraft from combat use.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Broome commissioned.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Navy PBY-5 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Twenty Three (VP-23) based on Espirtu Santo Island, bomb Japanese installations on Tulagi and Gavutu.

Its configuration was designed for defense. In front was a general purpose flat car equipped with one 75mm gun, together with a searchlight and diesel generator. The second car carried two 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. A low steel parapet around each of these cars gave the gun crews some protection from the wind. The third car was a steel-covered coach carrying the headquarters and one platoon of infantry. Four 3-inch mortars and personal weapons were also carried. The locomotive was in the center of the train. It was followed by another all steel car, which served as a train office and first aid room. A third armored coach followed, carrying two infantry platoons. The final two cars of the train duplicated the first two.

"Initially, the armored train made a return trip down and up the river each 24 hours. (251)

- VIII Air Support Command Missions 8 and 9 target 2 airfields; 18 B-26B Marauders are dispatched against Schipol Airfield at Amsterdam, The Netherlands; the mission is aborted due to a navigational error while 19 B-26Bs attack Ft. Rouge Airfield, France at 1828 hours local.

- VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 79 targets 2 locations in Germany. 91 B-17s bomb the shipyards at Kiel at 0901 hours while 48 attack targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost. 54 B-17s hit the Heinkel Works at Warnemunde at 0922-0924 hours 4 B-17s are lost.

Escort carrier HMS Pretoria Castle commissioned.

GERMANY: The press celebrates Mussolini's 60th birthday, showing Hitler's continued loyalty to the Duce.

ITALY: Sicily: The British 78th Division arrives at the front and attacks toward Paterno.

On the ground the US Seventh Army almost completes the mop up of western Sicily, approaches Santo Stefano Quisquina, advances on Mistretta, and takes three islands off Trapani. The British Eighth Army opens an assault during the night of 29/30 July along an axis of Catenanuova-Adrano.
    In the air, 200+ Ninth Air Force P-40's, the largest number of fighters operating in a day during the Sicilian campaign to date, attack Messina Riposto, shipping at Catania, Santa Teresa di Riva, Taormina, Milazzo, and in the Straits of Messina. 

Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-26 Marauders hit Aquino Airfield while In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force fighters and light bombers hit Regalbuto, Milazzo, shipping off Messina, and gun positions and motor transport in northeastern Sicily.

Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17s bomb Viterbo Airfield.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Italian submarine Pietro Micca was torpedoed and sunk at the entrance to Adriatic, in the Strait of Otranto by the British submarine HMS Trooper.

U.S.S.R.: The III Panzer Corps counterattacks Soviet positions on the River Mius, north of Taganrog with little effect.

INDIAN OCEAN: At 0600, the Cornish City in Convoy DN-53 was torpedoed and sunk by U-177 SE of Madagascar. The master, 31 crewmembers and five gunners were lost. Five crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by destroyer HMAS Nizam and landed at Port Louis, Mauritius.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A US Eleventh Air Force B-17 scouts Kiska Island and bombs the Main Camp area.

CANADA: Armed yacht HMCS Beaver arrived Digby, Nova Scotia, for training DEMS gunners.

U.S.A.:

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-614 (Type VIIC) is sunk northwest of Cape Finisterre, at position 46.42N, 11.03W, by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 172/G) . 49 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

ALBANIA: Allied troops land south of Spilje.

FINLAND: Finnish Sgt. Vilho Rinkineva in a captured I-153 (biplane) shot down an Airacobra from Soviet 773rd Fighter Aviation Regiment over Loimola in northern Karelia (see: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/finland_rinkineva.htm).

EASTERN FRONT: The Neimen River is crossed by the Third Belorussian Front.

14 P-38s, taking off from bases in the USSR , sweep the Kecskemet, Hungary area.

ITALY: Weather cancels all bombing operations by the US Fifteenth Air Force 

CHINA: 70+ US XX Bomber Command B-29 Superfortresses operating from Chengtu bomb the Showa Steel Works at Anshan, Manchuria and harbour at Taku; the first B-29 to be shot down on a combat mission falls to 5 fighters near Chenghsien (which the B-29 bombs after engine trouble causes an abort from the primary mission); another B-29 bombs Chinwangtao before making a forced landing at a friendly field near Ankang.

A B-29 of the 771st Bombardment Squadron, aircraft number 42-6256 "Ramp Tramp" lands in Soviet territory. "Ramp Tramp," commanded by Captain Howard R. Jarrell (crew consisting of Pops Bailey, Early Lewis, Keat Paul, Frank Sommers, Jerome Zuercher, Frank Carney, Herbert Bost, Mike J. Losik and George Hummel), was badly damaged. Jarrell decided to head toward Vladivastok, believing they could not make it back to a base in China. Once Soviet mechanics repaired and refueled the aircraft, they could take off and return to China. During the flight to Vladivostok, the B-29 suffered several electrical systems failures, with the radio able to receive but not transmit. However, once the B-29 landed at Vladivostok, the Russian air force retained the aircraft and interned the crew. (Mike Yared)(286)

KURILE ISLANDS: Three US Eleventh Air Force B-24s from the Aleutian Islands fly bombing and reconnaissance runs over Shimushu Island and Paramushiru Island sites including Kurabu Cape installations.

NEW GUINEA: A Japanese pocket around Ibdi, on Biak, is eliminated by US forces.
 

TINIAN: Japanese resistance is increasing now that the US Marines have occupied most of the northern half of the island.
In support of the operations in the Mariana Islands, US Far East Air Force B-24s bomb supply areas in Woleai Atoll; the nearby islands of Mariaon and Tagaulap are also hit. US Seventh Air Force P-47s continue to hit Tinian Island while B-24s hit Truk Atoll and B-25s attack Ponape Island.

MARIANAS ISLANDS: USMC troops capture Orote Airfield on Guam.

CANADA: HMC ML 128 commissioned.
HMS LST 3536 and 3537 ordered from Canadian Vickers Ltd, Montreal. HMS LST 3540 ordered from Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co Lauzon Province of Quebec. HMS LST 3544 and 3545 ordered from Marinne Industries Ltd Sorel Province of Quebec. HMS LST 3548, 3549, 3550, 3551 and 3552 ordered from United Shipyards Ltd. Montreal Province of Quebec. HMS LST 3553 and 3554 ordered from Yarrows Ltd Esquimalt, British Columbia.

U.S.A.: The first successful test of the Pelican guided missile is conducted 44 miles (70.8 km) offshore from NAS New York, New York; 2 of the 4 missiles hit the target ship.

The US heavy cruiser USS Baltimore (CA-68) with President Franklin D Roosevelt aboard, departs Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, for Adak, Aleutian Islands.

EUROPE: The British Eighth Army is disbanded.

- Also during the day, American and British carrier-based aircraft attack airfields and naval targets in the Inland Sea sinking a destroyer and 12 merchant vessels. USN Task Group 34.8.1 consisting of 3 battleships (SOUTH DAKOTA, INDIANA and MASSACHUSETTS), 4 heavy cruisers (CHICAGO, QUINCY, BOSTON and SAINT PAUL) and 10 destroyers bombards facilities on Honshu. The British battleship HMS King George V and 3 destroyers join in the bombardment.

- During the night of 29/30 July, the US Twentieth Air Force flies Mission 304; 24 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and the waters at Fukuoka, Karatsu, and Najin; 2 others mine alternate targets.

509BG aircraft carry out 'Pumpkin Missions' to practice bomb runs.

(David Hebditch)

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Nanoonse (ex HMCS Nootka) paid off.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS William W Wood launched.