We Remember:
1940: The British Purchasing Mission in the United States reaches agreement that it will be allowed to buy up 40% of the United StatesÕ production of aircraft.
A provisional government of Czechoslovakia is formed in London. Dr. Benes is president and Mgr Sramek is prime minister. This government is recognized by Britain.
RAF: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombs road and rail communications at Osnabruck, Hamburg Docks and an aircraft factory at Kassel. RAF 2 Group (Blenheim). Three a/c raided airfields around Wilhelmshaven. (Andy Etherington)
The Local Defence Volunteer force is renamed the ÒHome GuardÓ. (Andy Etherington)
An emergency British budget today ushered in tough new taxes, including 24% on luxuries such as furs, real silk stockings and cosmetics. ÒIn the hard circumstances of the times we can do without them,Ó said Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He also announced all-round tax increases, including an extra shilling on income tax. This will be 8/6 in the pound from next January. (42.5%) In future income tax will also be compulsorily deducted at source. People will Òpay as they earnÓ instead of the present system with lump sums paid twice a year. (Andy Etherington)
Submarine minelayer HMS Narwhal (instructed to proceed on the surface) is attacked and sunk by a Dornier flying boat in the Norwegian Sea at 55 30N 01 10E. All 59 crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)
1941: One destroyer, HMS Fearless, in the convoy of Operation Substance, from Gibraltar to Malta, is sunk and 1 cruiser and three destroyers are damaged in Italian air attacks.
Destroyer HMS Fearless is hit aft by an air dropped torpedo and completely disabled. As nothing could be done to save her, the crew were taken off and she was scuttled by HMS Forester, south of Sardinia at 37 40N 08 20E. There are 27 casualties. (John Nicholas and Alex Gordon)
Airplanes from Sardinia attacked the convoy starting from 9.42, they were part of the 283° and 280° Sqd AS (SM79 torpedo bombers), 32° Stormo BT (SM79 level bombers) and 51° Gruppo BT (Cant Z1007). A plane from the 283° Sqd hit and damaged the cruiser Manchester, while a SM79 of the 280° Sqd badly damaged the DD Fearless, which was later scuttled. In the afternoon SM79 bombers damaged with a near-miss the DD Firedrake, which is forced to return to Gibraltar. I am not sure about which formation scored the hit on the Firedrake, any suggestion ? During the night MAS 532 and MAS 533 hit and damaged the freighter Sidney Star. (Andrea Galliano)
The Syrian armistice is again changed to allow the Free French to contact Vichy troops; the captured war material was French property and the Syrian and Lebanese troops would be placed under Free French command. (Andy Etherington)
Following the heavy air attacks, the Communist Party and STAVKA start to evacuate the families of government members and high-ranking military men from Moscow. The Red Army general staff headquarters was always shifted to the Byelorosskaya subway station in the evening so that the Soviet officers could get on with their work in peace. (Andy Etherington)
RAF 2 Group: 21 Sqn. attack a 4,000-ton tanker escorted by four flak ships off Ostend. Four a/c are shot down by flak and the tanker is undamaged. (Andy Etherington)
1942: Advance elements of Maj-Gen Horii's South Seas Detachment advancing up the Kokoda Track towards Port Morsby make contact with elements of the Australian rear guard.
There is heavy fighting in Russia along to Don for Rostov to Tsimlyansk.
US Secretary of State Cordell Hull urges the formation of an international peace-keeping organization by the United Nations (Allies) after the war.
In the Solomons, USMC photographers of Marine Observation Squadron Two Hundred Fifty One (VMO-251) using USN cameras and flying in USAAF B-17Es based in the New Hebrides, fly their first preinvasion photographic reconnaissance mission over Gavutu, Guadalcanal and Tulagi. The B-17s are intercepted by "Rufe" floatplanes (Mitsubishi A6M2-N Navy Type 2 Fighter Seaplanes) but there are no losses on either side. (Jack McKillop)
1943: The Americans liberate Trapani and Marsala, Sicily and on the north coast they reach Termini Imerese.
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh Army mops up in the western part of the island. The British Eighth Army's 30 Corps meets firm opposition as it moves east from Leonforte.
In the air, RAF heavy bombers hit Reggio di Calabria Airfield in Italy while Northwest African Strategic Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25 Mitchells, and B-26 Marauders bomb Leverano and Crotone, Italy, and Aquino Airfield, Sicily. In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force medium bombers and fighters bomb and strafe Misterbianco, transport in the Nicosia-Troina-
In the U.S., the Joint Chiefs of Staff direct Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to seize Nauru Island in the central Pacific. (Jack McKillop)
The Germans have been pushed back to their original postions on the south side of Kursk.
U-598 (Type VIIC) is sunk 23 July, in the South Atlantic near Natal, at position 04.05S, 33.23W, by depth charges from a US Liberator aircraft
(VB-107/B-12)
U-613 (Type VIIC) is sunk 23 July, in the mid-Atlantic south of the Azores, at position 35.32N, 28.36W, by depth charges from the US destroyer
USS George E. Badger. 48 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)
Amplifying the above:
Lieutenant (jg) Waugh, flying PB4Y-1 Liberator 107-B-6 of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Seven (VB-107) based at Natal, Brazil, attacks a surfaced U-boat in conjunction with Lieutenant Ford, sinking the submarine. Waughâs aircraft apparently sustained damage during the attack, plunging into the sea after his bombing pass, all hands were lost. The submarine was U-598, KapitŠnleutnant Gottfried Holtorf commanding. Only one of the 44-men aboard the U-boat were saved. (This is from the USN's DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL AVIATION SQUADRONS, VOLUME 2: THE HISTORY OF VP, VPB, VP(HL) AND VP(AM) SQUADRONS.) (Jack McKillop)
1944: Russian forces capture Pskov, the last major town of pre-war Soviet Union in German hands.
German Field Marshal Schoerner replaces General Friessner at Army Group North.
A Polish Committee of National Liberation is announced in Moscow. The Polish government in Exile in London denounces this move by Òa handful of unknown communistsÓ.
Units of the US IV Corps occupy parts of Pisa, Italy which lie south of the Arno River.
US Marines on Guam have captured the major airfield. Additional: Tiyan Field, now Brewer Field. (Tom Hickox)
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 490: 280 bombers and 193 fighters are dispatched in 2 formations to attack airfields in France; 1 bomber is lost. Escort for both formations is provided by 177 P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs.
1. 78 B-17s hit Creil Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost.
2. Of 198 B-24s dispatched, 61 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield, 57 hit Laon/Athies Airfield and 48 hit Juvincourt Airfield.
Mission 491: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
Twenty one B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. (Jack McKillop)
In France, 330+ USAAF Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26s bomb rail bridges along the Argentan-Paris and Lisieux-Bernay-
The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 42 B-24s to bomb the Berat, Albania oil refinery; 15 P-51s provide target cover for the bombers and afterwards strafe roads and targets of opportunity in Yugoslavia near the Albanian border. (Jack McKillop)
In U.S. baseball, in a doubleheader between the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants, the Cubs' right fielder Bill "Swish" Nicholson hits four home runs in the two games including three consecutive home runs in the second game. The Cubs win the first game, 7-4, but the Giants win the second game, 12-10. (Jack McKillop)
1945: In Japan, Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Miho and Saeki. (Jack McKillop)
French Marshal Henri Petain, who headed the Vichy government during the war, goes on trial, charged with treason. He is condemned to death, but his sentence is commuted. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., the first passenger train observation car is placed in service by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. (Jack McKillop)
Pacific Ocean Area: LT. W.C. Phelan, USNR Assistant G-2, Island Command, Peleliu, produces a document titled "Japanese Military Caves on Peleliu: KNOW YOUR ENEMY", CinCPac-CinCPOA BULLETIN 173-45. It consists of 45 pages and is an extensive study and analysis of the cave system found on Peleliu. (William L. Howard)
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