tomtom22

July 2nd

1940: The British liner Arandora Star, carrying 1,500 German and Italian prisoners of war to Canada, is sunk by U-47 (Kptlt. Prien) off the west coast of Ireland, with many casualties.
1941: On the extreme southern front in the East, troops of the German 11th (von Schobert) and the Rumanian 3rd (Dumitrescu) and 4th Rumanian (Ciuparea) Armies begin an offensive from Moldavia toward Vinnitsa and the Black Sea port of Odessa. The RAF carries out night raids on Bremen and Cologne. China breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy.
1943: The US Fifteenth Air Force, based in Libya, raids three airfields in southern Italy.
1944: In Italy, German troops evacuate Siena. Field Marshal von Rundstedt resigns as C-in-C of German forces in the West and is replaced by FM von Kluge.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1950: No. 77 Squadron flies first combat mission in Korea - First combat mission flown by No. 77 Squadron in Korea. No. 77 Squadron was the first Australian unit committed to the war in Korea.1952: Operation Blaze - A Company 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, raids Chinese positions on Hill 227 during Operation Blaze, Korea. The objective of the operation was to capture a prisoner and destroy the Chinese position's garrison.1993: Death of Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop - Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop gained fame for the medical services he rendered to his fellow prisoners of the Japanese on the Burma-Thailand railway during the Second World War.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1941: Canada - RCAF authorized to enlist women; followed by army, navy.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=02

1923 - Commissioning of Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC.
1926 - Distinguished Flying Cross authorized by Congress.
1937 - Amelia Earhart disappears in Pacific. Navy conducts extensive unsuccessful search
1945 - USS Barb (SS-220) bombards Japanese installations on Kaihyo Island, Japan; first successful use of rockets against shore positions.
1946 - Establishment of VX-3 to evaluate adaptability of helicopters to naval purposes.
1950 - USS Juneau and 2 British ships sink 5 of 6 attacking North Korean torpedo boats and gunboats.
1967 - During Operation Bear Claw, Seventh Fleet Amphibious Force conducts helicopter assault 12 miles inland at Con Thien.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1853 - The Russian Army invades Turkey, beginning the Crimean War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2

1863: The second day of the Battle at Gettysburg - General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions.
1944: American bombers deluge Budapest, in more ways than one -

as part of Operation Gardening, the British and American strategy to lay mines in the Danube River by dropping them from the air, American aircraft also drop bombs and leaflets on German-occupied Budapest.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1298: An army under Albert of Austria defeats forces led by Adolf of Nassua.
1625: The Spanish army takes Breda, Spain, after nearly a year of siege.
1747: Marshall Saxe leads the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld.
1926: Congress establishes the U.S. Army Air Corps.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

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"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - Norman Schwarskopf, Commander of Desert Storm Operations