tomtom22

July 3rd
1940: Heavy units of the British Navy, codenamed Force H (Somerville), launch an attack (Operation Catapult) on the French fleet stationed at Mers-el-Kebir near Oran in Algeria, sinking the battleship Bretagne and heavily damaging the battleship Provence and the battlecruiser Dunkerque. 1,300 French sailors are killed and hundreds wounded. Reaction in both occupied and Vichy France is one of shock and outrage at this totally unexpected and ruthless action by their former ally. Some 59 other French warships that had sought refuge at Plymouth and Portsmouth are seized by the Royal Navy, but only after overcoming armed French resistance in some cases.
1941: For the first time since the beginning of the German attack on the Soviet Union, Stalin speaks to the Russian people over the radio. Demanding utmost resistance 'in our patriotic war against German Fascism', he calls for a policy of scorched earth if the Red Army is forced to yield ground and the formation of 'people's partisan' groups behind enemy lines, as well as the summary execution of all cowards and shirkers.
1942: In Egypt, due to exhaustion and lack of supplies, especially fuel for the armored divisions, German and Italian forces of the Afrikakorps suspend all offensive operations before El Alamein and begin constructing defensive positions.
1943: In the East, the opening of Unternehmen Zitadelle (Operation Citadel), the massive German counter-offensive to encircle and destroy the Soviet forces in the Orel-Belgorod salient near Kursk. is delayed by one day because of heavy Soviet air attacks against the German deployment areas. The RAF carries out a heavy night raid on Cologne, causing considerable damage and killing hundreds of civilians.
1944: In the East, 28 divisions of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Model) are encircled or destroyed by the Soviet 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts in the Minsk area. The Soviets claim 400,000 German dead and 158,000 taken prisoner.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1812: St. Clair River - Frederic Rolette 1785-1831 captures General William Hull's schooner Cayahoga and finds Hull's battle plans; War of 1812.
1814: Fort Erie Ontario - Major General Jacob Brown crosses Niagara River and captures poorly defended Fort Erie from the British; War of 1812.
1942: Washington DC - Canada and the United States form joint military, naval, and air office in Washington.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=03

1900: Leeuw Kop, South Africa - 400 Imperial Bushmen in action at Leeuw Kop, South Africa.
1950: Pilots of No. 77 Squadron involved in friendly fire incident - Pilots of No. 77 Squadron accidentally destroy a train carrying American and Republic of Korea soldiers having been assured by the United States 5th Air Force Tactical Control Centre that the area under attack was in North Korean hands.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1898 - At Battle of Santiago, Cuba, RADM Sampson's squadron destroys Spanish fleet
1950 - USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict. VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first combat test of F9F Panther and A1D Skyraider.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1775: George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered at Cambridge common in Massachusetts and draws his sword, formally taking command of the Continental Army. Washington, a prominent Virginia planter and veteran of the French and Indian War, had been appointed commander in chief by the Continental Congress two weeks before. In agreeing to serve the American colonies in their war for independence, he declined to accept payment for his services beyond reimbursement of future expenses.
1863: Pickett leads his infamous charge at Gettysburg - Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through.
1940: Operation Catapult is launched - 1940, British naval forces destroy the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, a port in Algeria, in order to prevent Germany from co-opting the French ships to use in an invasion of Britain.
1968: U.S. command announces new high in casualties - The U.S. command in Saigon releases figures showing that more Americans were killed during the first six months of 1968 than in all of 1967. These casualty figures were a direct result of the heavy fighting that had occurred during, and immediately after, the communist Tet Offensive. The timing and magnitude of the attacks caught the South Vietnamese and American forces completely off guard, but eventually the Allied forces turned the tide. Militarily, the Tet Offensive was a disaster for the communists. By the end of March 1968, they had not achieved any of their objectives and had lost 32,000 soldiers with 5,800 captured. U.S. forces suffered 3,895 dead; South Vietnamese losses were 4,954; non-U.S. allies lost 214. More than 14,300 South Vietnamese civilians died.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

1916: The Battle of the Somme begins. More than 100,000 men are killed in the first day.
1944: The U.S. First Army opens a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France.
1945: U.S. troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.
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