June 26th

1941: In the East, German forces of Heeresgruppe Nord capture Dünaburg in Latvia. The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Leningrad. Finland declares war on the oviet Union.
1942: Generaloberst Rommel, C-in-C of the Afrikakorps is promoted to Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal).
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1956: Sungei Siput, Malaya - Men of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, attacked a Communist camp near Sungei Siput in Perak, Malaya. Three of the Communists were killed in the fight.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1943: Tunisia - RCAF bomber wing begins operating from North Africa; 3 squadrons; a prelude to invasions of Sicily and Italy.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=26

1884 - Congress authorizes commissioning of Naval Academy graduates as ensigns
1918 - Marine brigade captures Belleau Wood
1959 - Twenty-eight Naval vessels sail from Atlantic to Great Lakes, marking the formal opening of Saint Lawrence Seaway to seagoing ships.
1962 - NAVFAC Cape Hatteras makes first Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) detection of a Soviet diesel submarine.
1973 - Navy Task Force 78 completes minesweeping of North Vietnamese ports.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1862: General Robert E. Lee attacks McClellen’s line at Mechanicsville during the Seven Days’ campaign.
1863: Jubal Early and his Confederate forces move into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1900: The United States announces it will send troops to fight against the Boxer Rebellion in China.
1916: Russian General Aleksei Brusilov renews his offensive against the Germans.
1917: General Pershing arrives in France with the American Expeditionary Force.
1918: The Germans begin firing their huge 420 mm howitzer, "Big Bertha," at Paris.
1924: After eight years of occupation, American troops leave the Dominican Republic.
1942: The Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter flies for the first time.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0626.htm

1948: The Berlin Airlift began in earnest as the United States, Britain and France began ferrying supplies to the isolated western sector of Berlin after the Soviet Union cut off land and water routes.
1950: President Harry S. Truman authorized the Air Force and Navy to enter the Korean conflict. (The order, made on June 26, was not made public until June 27.)
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/gene.../20080626.html

June 27th

1941: In the East, German forces encircle several Soviet divisions near Minsk and capture Riga, Bobruisk and Przemysl. Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union.
1944: The Red Army recaptures Orsha on the Dnepr and destroys the German pocket near Vitebsk.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1864: Battle of Kennesaw Mountain - Union General William T. Sherman launches a major attack on Confederate General Joseph Johnston's army in Georgia. Beginning in early May, Sherman began a slow advance down the 100-mile corridor from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Atlanta, refraining from making any large-scale assaults. The campaign was marked by many smaller battles and constant skirmishes but no decisive encounters. Johnston was losing ground, but he was also buying time for the Confederates.
1944: U.S. troops liberate Cherbourg, France - The Allies capture the fortified town and port of Cherbourg, in northwest France, freeing it from German occupation.
1950: President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia. In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea, Truman also deployed the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to guard against invasion by communist China and ordered an acceleration of military aid to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1911: Royal Military College Duntroon opens. The Royal Military College Duntroon was created at the suggestion of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener; its first commandant was Colonel W.T. Bridges, who was later killed at Gallipoli.
1950: UN recommends assistance to South Korea - United Nations Security Council recommends United Nations assistance to South Korea after the North Korean invasion of 25 June.
1950: RAAF bomber Squadron to Malaya - Six RAAF Lincolns of No. 1 Squadron and a flight of Dakotas from No. 38 Squadron formed part of the Far East Air Force. The RAAF's contribution represented Australia's first involvement in the Malayan Emergency.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava.
1743 - War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen On the battlefield in Bavaria, George II personally led troops into battle. The last time that a British monarch would command troops in the field.
1759 - General James Wolfe starts siege of Quebec.
1806 - The British capture Buenos Aires.
1991 - Slovenia, after declaring independence two days previous, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_27

1940: Japanese troops occupy part of the Hong Kong peninsula. French C-in-C in Syria accepts armistice terms. All French ships in British ports are seized by the Royal Navy. German troops reach Franco-Spanish border.
1941: German forces capture Bobruisk and Przemysl. Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union and agrees to send troops to help Army Group South.
1942: German troops begin to outflank the British positions at Mersa Matruh. As this happens the British start to withdraw towards the El Alamein line, confirming radio intercepts that had indicated they would. Convoy PQ-17 sets sail from Iceland. It consists of 35 merchants, 3 rescue ships and 2 tankers for refueling and is heavily loaded with 297 aircraft, 594 tanks, 4246 lorries and gun carriers, plus an additional 156,000 tons of cargo. The convoy is to be guarded by 21 close escorts, 7 warships from a cruiser covering force and a further 19 warships in a distant covering force. All told 1 aircraft-carrier, 2 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 23 destroyers, 4 corvettes, 3 minesweepers, 2 AA ships, 4 ASW trawlers are to protect the convoy. Additionally, 15 submarines, six of them Russian are placed ahead of the the convoy.
1944: The Red Army recaptures Orsha on the Dnieper and destroys the trapped German 53rd Korps near Vitebsk. Further gains are reported by the Russians at Mogilev to the South of Vitebsk. The British gain Hill 112 in Normandy.
1945: The U.S. Sixth Army reaches Aparri, effectively ending the campaign on Luzon.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1905: The crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin mutinies.
1918: Two German pilots are saved by parachutes for the first time.
1927: The U.S. Marines adopt the English bulldog as their mascot.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0627.htm

June 28th

1940: Following an ultimatum to the Rumanian government, the Red Army occupies Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
1941: German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte capture Minsk.
1942: Beginning of the first stage of Fall Blau (Operation Blue), the new German summer offensive on the southern front in Russia. From the area of Kursk, the German 2. Armee and 4. Panzerarmee, with 50 divisions, advance toward Voronesh on the upper Don.
1944: In Normandy, Operation Epsom designed to break through the German defenses near Caen is halted by the fierce resistance of the I. and II. SS-Panzerkorps. source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1794 - Joshua Humphreys appointed master builder to build Navy ships at an annual salary of $2,000.
1814 - USS Wasp captures HMS Reindeer
1865 - CSS Shenandoah captures 11 American whalers in one day
1970 - USS James Madison (SSBN-627) completes conversion to Poseidon missile capability
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1944: France - RCAF fighters down 26 German planes over France; mostly in support of railway yard bombing.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=28

1918: Corporal P. Davey, VC - Corporal P. Davey, 10th Battalion, originally from Goodwood, South Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Merris, France.
1945: Private L.T. Starcevich, VC - Private L.T. Starcevich, 2/43rd Battalion, originally from Subiaco, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Beaufort, North Borneo.1950: Seoul captured - The North Korean People's Army captured Seoul in their initial southward advance, by the end of the Korean War the city had changed hands four times.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

June 29th

1941: On the Arctic front in northern Finland, the German 20. Gebirgsarmee (Dietl) launches Unternehmen Silberfuchs (Operation Silver Fox), an offensive to capture the Soviet port of Murmansk. Several divisions of the Soviet West Front (Pavlov) are encircled near Bialystok.
1942: The Afrikakorps captures Mersah Matruh in Egypt.
1944: In the East, German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Busch) encircled near Bobruisk surrender to the Red Army (70,000 prisoners). In the West, Cherbourg is captured by the US VII Corps (Collins).
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1943 US forces landed in New Guinea.
1965 US troops took offensive action for the first time against North Vietnamese forces.
source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp

1925 - Ships and men from 11th and 12th Naval Districts assist in relief after earthquake at Santa Barbara , CA
1950 - Truman authorizes sea blockade of the Korean coast
1950 - USS Juneau fires first naval shore bombardment of Korean Conflict
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1944: Camilly France - Canadian Second Corps under Guy Simonds sent to join the Second Army in the Caen sector with the Eighth Army on its left and the First Corps on its right; second Infantry Division sent immediately since infantry casualties heavy; Crerar told his First Army headquarters not required in the line at present.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=29

1950: Australia commits military units to the United Nations Force in Korea - Australia was one of the first nations to commit units, from each of the three services, to the war in Korea. Australians in Korea fought as part of the United Nations Command.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

June 30th

1940: German troops occupy the British Channel Islands off the coast of Brittany.
1941: In the East, German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) capture Lemberg (Lvov). Pilots of Luftwaffe fighter wing JG-51 down 100 Soviet bombers attacking German armored forces east of Minsk; its CO, Oberst (Colonel) Mölders, accounts for 5 of them. Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
1942: In the East, beginning of an offensive by 6. Armee (Paulus) from the area of Belgorod toward the Don. Returning from a successful patrol in the Gulf of Mexico (12 ships sunk), U-158 (Kptlt. Rostin) is destroyed by a US Mariner flying boat off Bermuda.
1944: In the West, the RAF carries out a saturation raid (250 Lancasters) on 2. and 9. SS-Panzerdivisions (Das Reich and Hohenstauffen) at Villers-Bocage near Caen. The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Finland.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/june.html

1815 - USS Peacock takes HMS Nautilus, last action of the War of 1812
1943 - Third Fleet Amphibious Force lands troops on Rendova Island while naval gunfire silences Japanese artillery
1951 - Naval Administration of Marianas ends
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjun.htm

1941: HMAS Waterhen sunk - HMAS Waterhen was sunk on the Tobruk run.
1942: Australian troops raid Salamaua - The raid on Salamaua was carried out by men of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and the 2/5th Independent Company, they caused damage to Japanese facilities and supplies.1950: No. 77 Squadron RAAF committed to Korea - Prime Minister Menzies announced that No. 77 Squadron RAAF was to be committed to combat duties in Korea. This was the first Australian unit committed to the war in Korea; they were equipped with Mustangs.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jun.asp

1944: Off the Shetlands, Scotland - Flight Lt. David Hornell VC scores U-boat kill; one of four by RCAF 162 Squadron this June.
1976: Goose Bay Newfoundland - US Air Force closes base at Goose Bay, Labrador, when lease expires.
1992: Croatia - Canadian peacekeepers start trek to Sarajevo, Bosnia; 800 troops in armored vehicle convoy move to keep airport open as part of international relief effort to bring in food and medicine.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jun&day=30

July 1st

1940: German troops complete the occupation of the Channel Islands, the only British territory ever captured by Germany during WWII. The French government of Marshal Petain moves from Bordeaux to Vichy. Marshal Balbo is replaced by Marshal Graziani as C-in-C of Italian forces in Libya. In the first 6 months of the year, German U-boats have sunk 900,000 tons of Allied shipping.
1941: In the East, armored forces of Panzergruppe 4 (Hoepner) of Heeresgruppe Nord (von Leeb) cross the Dvina and capture Riga, while units of Panzergruppe 2 (Guderian) of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) reach the Beresina near Borisov near Minsk.
1942: Infantry and combat engineers trof 11.Armee (von Manstein) complete the capture of the fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea. In Egypt, armored units of the Afrikakorps approach the defensive lines of the British Eighth Army at El Alamein on the road to Alexandria.
1944: Since D-Day, the Allies have landed 920,000 tropps, 177,000 vehicles and 600,000 tons of supplies and equipment. In 24 days of fighting, they have lost 62,000 men killed, wounded and missing. In the East, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front (Chernyakovsky) recapture Borisov.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1916: First day of the battle of the Somme - This was the worst single day in the history of British arms with 60,000 men being killed or wounded. The battle of the Somme then continued for four months and resulted in more than 1,200,000 casualties on both sides.
1945: 7th Division landed at Balikpapan, Borneo - The landing at Balikpapan was the largest and final Australian amphibious landing of the Second World War.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1916: Beaumont-Hamel France - Newfoundland troops capture Beaumont-Hamel on the first day of the Battle of the Somme; bloodiest battle in history will cause casualties of one million dead or wounded by the time it ends in November.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=01

1797 - Naval Regulations passed by Congress
1800 - First convoy duty; USS Essex escorts convoy of merchant ships from East Indies to U.S.
1801 - U.S. squadron under Commodore Dale enters Mediterranean to strike Barbary Pirates
1850 - Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy
1851 - Naval Academy adopts four year course of study
1911 - Trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1. The designer, Glenn Curtiss, makes first flight in Navy's first aircraft, A-1, at Lake Keuka, NY, then prepares LT Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, for his two solo flights in A-1.
1914 - Prohibition of alcohol begins in the Navy
1916 - Establishment of informal school for officers assigned to submarines at New London, CT
1918 - USS Covington hit without warning by two torpedoes from German Submarine U-86 and sank the next day
1951 - Responsibility for the Government of Trust Territories transferred from Navy to Department of Interior.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1862: Battle of Malvern Hill Union artillery cuts down Confederate attackers on the last of the Seven Days' battles.
1863: The Battle of Gettysburg begins The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
1942: The Battle of El Alamein begins Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is brought to a standstill in the battle for control of North Africa. Reinforced by American supplies, and reorganized and reinvigorated by British General Claude Auchinleck, British, Indian, South African, and New Zealand troops battled Rommel, and his by now exhausted men, to a standstill in Egypt. Auchinleck denied the Axis Egypt. Rommel was back on the defensive-a definite turning point in the war in North Africa.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1596: An English fleet under the Earl of Essex, Lord Howard of Effingham and Francis Vere capture and sack Cadiz, Spain.
1690: Led by Marshall Luxembourg, the French defeat the forces of the Grand Alliance at Fleurus in the Netherlands.
1898: American troops take San Juan Hill and El Caney, Cuba, from the Spaniards.
1950: American ground troops arrive in South Korea to halt the advancing North Korean army.
1961: British troops land in Kuwait to aid against Iraqi threats.
1966: The U.S. Marines launch Operation Holt in an attempt to finish off a Vietcong battalion in Thua Thien Province in Vietnam.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

251 - The Battle of Abrittus is won by the Goths against the Romans. Roman EmperorsDecius and Herennius Etruscus are killed.
1097 - Battle of Dorylaeum: Crusaders under Bohemond of Taranto defeat a Seljuk army under Qilich Arslan I.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_July

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

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

July 4th

1940: In direct response to the devastating British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, the Vichy French government of Marshal Petain breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain. In the House of Commons, prime minister Churchill declares,'I leave the judgment of our actions with confidence to Parliament. I leave it to the nation and I leave it to the United States [?!]. I leave it to the world and to history.' German Stukas and MTBs attack a British convoy S of Portland, sinking 5 merchant ships. Italian bombers raid Malta and Alexandria.
1941: Units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) capture Ostrov s of Pskovsk.
1942: Off the northern coast of Norway, German U-boats and Luftwaffe torpedo planes attack Convoy PQ-17 bound for Murmansk. Over a period of 6 days, they sink 24 ships out of a total of 37. In the East, the German 11.Armee (von Manstein) completes the occupation of the Crimea, taking 97,000 Soviet prisoners. For the first time, 6 B-17s of the US 8th Air Force join an RAF bomber formation in raids on German airfields in Holland.
1943: General Sikorski, leader of the London-based anti-Communist Polish government-in-exile, is killed in a plane crash at Gibraltar, some suspect as the result of deliberate sabotage.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st Baltic Front begins an offensive toward Riga, capturing Potolsk and threatening to isolate Heeresgruppe Nord in its fighting retreat from iEstonia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1776 - American colonies declare their independence from Great Britain
1777 - John Paul Jones hoists first Stars and Stripes flag on Ranger at Portsmouth, NH.
1801 - First Presidential Review of U.S. Marine Band and Marines at the White House.
1842 - First test of electrically operated underwater torpedo sinks gunboat Boxer
1863 - Confederates surrender of Vicksburg, MS, gives Union control of Mississippi River.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1944: Carpiquet France - Canadians take village of Carpiquet and part of airfield; Keller's 8th Brigade: North Shores, Queen's Own, and le Régiment de la Chaudière, with the 7th Brigade's Winnipeg Rifles under command; supported by the 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Fort Garry Horse) and the Assault Vehicles, Royal Engineers of the 79th British Armoured Division; the Canadians have 428 field guns, backed by naval fire including the 9 16-inch guns of the battleship Rodney and the 15-inch guns of the monitor Roberts; take 117 dead and 260 wounded; position held for five days until Caen is taken in Operation Charnwood.
1945: Berlin Germany - Canadian troops enter Berlin as part of British garrison force; to share occupation duties.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=04

1918: Battle of Hamel, France - The Battle of Hamel was the first set-piece operation planned and conducted under Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. It came to be regarded as a model for later Western Front battles.
1918: Lance Corporal T.L. Axford, VC - Lance Corporal T.L. Axford, 16th Battalion, originally from Carrieton, South Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Vaire and Hamel Woods, France.1918: Private H. Dalziel, VC - Private H. Dalziel, 15th Battalion, originally from Irvinebank, Queensland, wins the Victoria Cross at Hamel Wood, France.1941: Acting Wing Commander H. Edwards, VC - Acting Wing Commander H. Edwards, No. 105 Squadron, Bomber Command, RAAF, originally from Fremantle, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross in a raid on Bremen.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1861: Union and Confederate forces skirmish at Harpers Ferry.
1863: The Confederate town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant.
1946: The United States grants the Philippine Islands their independence.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0704.htm

July 5th

1940: In retaliation for the British action at Mers-el-Kebir, Vichy French warships based at Dakar capture 3 British merchant ships, while French aircraft stationed in Morocco attack British shipping off Gibraltar. The British destroyer Whirlwind is sunk by U-34 (Kptlt. Rollmann) SW of Ireland. The RAF carries out night raids on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven.
1941: In the East, units of 6.Armee (von Reichenau) break through the Stalin Line E of Lvov, while Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist) continues its advance toward Zhitomir and Berdichev in the Ukraine. The RAF carries out night raids on M=FCnster and Bielefeld.
1942: Armored units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) reach the Don at Voronesh.
1943: Beginning of Unternehmen Zitadelle (Operation Citadel), the massive counter-offensive by Heeresgruppe Mitte to eliminate the Soviet salient between Orel and Belgorod near Kursk. On a 200-mile front, 37 divisions totaling 900,000 men of 9.Armee (Model) attacking from the north, and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) attacking from the south, including 11 Panzer divisions with 2,500 tanks and assault guns, 10,000 guns and Nebelwerfer (rocket guns), as well as 1,800 aircraft go into action against 1,300,000 Soviet troops in deeply echeloned defensive positions and protected by 8,000 land mines per square mile, 3,300 tanks, 20,000 guns and 2,500 aircraft. Taken together, the opposing forces in this operation constitute the largest concentration of military power ever assembled in history; the greatest tank and air battles of WWII will be fought here. -- In the northern sector, the Germans advance 6, in the southern, some 25 miles against stubborn Soviet resistance inflicting heavy casualties in tanks and infantry.
1944: German mini-U-boats begin operations off the Normandy coast, sinking 4 small Allied warships and damaging the British cruiser Dragon.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1813: Plattsburgh New York - British begin three weeks of raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York; War of 1812 raids.
1814: Chippewa Ontario - Major General Jacob Brown defeats Gen. Phineas Riall and 1,800 British at Street's Creek (Chippewa); British retreat back toward Burlington, destroying Chippewa Bridge to prevent pursuit; 148 British dead, 48 Americans; with Winfield Scott.
1950: Esquimalt BC - Royal Canadian Navy destroyers HMCS Cayuga, Athabaskan, and Sioux leave Esquimalt for Pearl Harbor escorted by cruiser Ontario; to come under UN control during Korean War.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=05

1814 - Sloop-of-war Peacock captures British Stranger, Venus, Adiona, and Fortitude.
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron arrives at Tripoli to collect reparations for seizure of American merchant ships in violation of Treaty of 1805.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1943: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
1945: Liberation of the Philippines declared.
1950: Task Force Smith - First clash between American and North Korean forces.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_5

1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri - the first large-scale engagement of the Civil War is fought in southwestern Missouri, signaling an escalation in the hostilities between the North and South. After the clash at Fort Sumter in April, the state was deeply divided. The Missouri State Guardsmen, a force of 6,000 men commanded by Confederate Governor Claiborne Jackson and Colonel Sterling Price, were poorly equipped and outfitted mostly in civilian clothing. Their Union counterpart was a force of 1,100, mostly German-Americans from St. Louis, commanded by General Franz Sigel. Sigel's force occupied Springfield in late June, and then collided with the Confederates at nearby Carthage on July 5. Outnumbered, Sigel eventually withdrew, but was able to hold off several small attacks. By nightfall, the Union troops had retreated through Carthage and escaped a dangerous trap. Both sides declared victory, and losses were light: 13 Union men were killed and 31 were wounded, while 40 Confederates were killed and 120 were wounded. The forces remained in the area of Springfield, gathering strength over the next month. They would fight again in August at Wilson's Creek, Missouri.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2235