This day in military history..

July 6th

1940: Off the coast of Norway, light units of the Kriegsmarine sink 5 British submarines, Narwhal, Salmon, Spearfish, Shark and Thames. After spending 8 weeks in the West, a triumphant Hitler returns to Berlin where he is wildly cheered by the Berlin population.
1941: In the East, Heeresgruppe Nord continues its advance, reaching a line from Lake Peipus through Reval to Parun N of the Gulf of Riga. In Libya, Axis aircraft bomb Tobruk and Sidi Barrani.
1942: In Egypt, the Afrikakorps is holding on to its positions before El Alamein against continuous attacks by the British Eighth Army. U-132 (Kptlt. Vogelsang) enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Canadian east coast and sinks 3 merchant ships.
1943: In the East, the battle of Kursk continues with unabated ferocity. While the northern pincer of 9.Armee (Model) is struggling to make any significant progress, the southern pincer of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) advances some 12 miles, with both sides incurring heavy casualties.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front recaptures Kovel SE of Brest-Litovsk. In Italy, the British Eighth Army (Leese) captures Osimo 20 miles S of Ancona.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1757: Quebec Quebec - French troops sent to re-enforce Louisbourg; the Corps Royal, consisting of six officers, four hundred recruits from France, and twenty artillery men, plus two battalions of the Berry Regiment.
1757: St-Jean Quebec - French troops depart for assault on Fort William Henry; companies of La Reine, La Sarre, Languedoc, and Guyenne, plus 1,000 men of La Marine, a three hundred man unit known as Villiers' Volunteers, 2,500 Canadians, 1,800 Indians (Ottawa, Menomonee, Sauk, Potawatomie and Fox), two companies of artillery, one company of workmen, and the artillery train; Lévis to take command of Carillon and await arrival of Montcalm.
1758: Ticonderoga NY - General James Abercromby lands at Howe's Cove at the northern end of Lake George, to attack Montcalm's French at Fort Carillon; army of almost 15,000 advances in four columns; retreat after death of Lord Howe; will try again the following morning.
1777: Ticonderoga NY - British force under General John Burgoyne takes Fort Ticonderoga from Arthur St. Clair and his rebels during the American Revolution.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=06

1898 - Armed Auxiliary Dixie captures Spanish Three Bells, Pilgrim, and Greeman Castle
1908 - CDR Robert Peary sails in Roosevelt from New York to explore Arctic.
1911 - First naval aviation base established at Annapolis, MD.
1920 - Test and first use of radio compass in aircraft off Norfolk, VA
1943 - Night Battle of Kula Gulf results in loss of 2 Japanese destroyers and USS Helena.
1976 - 1st women enter Naval Academy.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1630http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1630 - Thirty-Years War: 4,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
1801http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1801 - Battle of Algeciras: The French navy are defeated by the British Royal Navy.
1917http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917 - World War I: Arabian troops led by Lawrence of Arabia and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Turks during the Arab Revolt.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_6

1918: Corporal W.E. Brown, VC - Corporal W.E. Brown, 20th Battalion, originally from New Norfolk, Tasmania, wins the Victoria Cross at Villers-Bretonneux, France.
1941: Battle of Damour, Lebanon - This was the final battle in Lebanon against the Vichy French.1943: Darwin bombed - Darwin was bombed 64 times during the Second World War.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp
 
July 7th

1940: A French naval squadron that has sought refuge at Alexandria is disarmed and interned by the British Navy, while the battleship Richelieu berthed at Dakar is attacked and disabled by British naval forces.
1941: Under the pretext of defending the Western Hemisphere against Nazi incursions, the US 1st Marine Brigade is landed in Iceland to relieve the British garrison that has been there since the previous year.
1942: In the East, units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) capture Voronesh on the Don.
1943: In the battle of Kursk, the German forces engaged are still unable to achieve a major breakthrough in the face of stiffening Soviet resistance reenforced by the arrival of strong tank and infantry reserves. Lt. Hartmann, II/JG 52, downs 7 Soviet aircraft near Kursk, bringing his total to date to 22. Off the coast of Brazil, U-185 (Kptlt. Maus) sinks 3 merchant ships.
1944: In the West, 450 heavy RAF bombers carry out a saturation raid (2,300 tons) on the German defenses in and around Caen. Attacks by the US Seventh Army (Bradley) in the Carentan area of the Cotentin peninsula are blunted by violent German counter-attacks.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1944: Caen France - Highland Light Infantry ordered to attack fortified German positions in Buron, a source of dangerous fire from Germans, while Canadian and British bombers drop 2,572 tons of bombs on Caen.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=07

1798 - Congress rescinds treaties with France; Quasi War begins with Frigate Delaware capturing French privateer, Croyable.
1846 - Commodore John D. Sloat lands at Monterey and claims California for U.S.
1916 - Thomas A. Edison becomes head of Naval Consulting Board which screens inventions for use by the Navy
1948 - First six enlisted women sworn into Regular Navy. The Navy WAVES in Naval Reserve, who were the first to transfer to the Regular Navy, were Kay Louise Langdon, Aviation Storekeeper First Class; Wilma Juanita Marchal, Chief Yeoman; Frances Teresa Dovaney, Storekeeper, Second Class; Edna Earle Young, Yeoman, Second Class; Doris Roberta Robertson, Teleman, Second Class; and Ruth Flora, Hospital Corpsman, First Class.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1942: 9th Division in action at El Alamein - General Rommel's forces had pushed the allies back to El Alamein in June 1942, the July battles involved allied attempts to push German and Italian forces back, none of the three attempts were successful.
1942: Horn Island Bombed - Horn Island was bombed by Japanese aircraft nine times during the Second World War. 1956: Last RAAF transports return from Korea - The last Australian servicemen did not depart Korea until 1957.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1846http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1846 - Mexican-American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States conquest of California.
1915http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915 - World War I: end of First Battle of the Isonzo.
1937http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937 - Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge - Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.
1941http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941 - World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland to forestall an invasion by Germany.
1941http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941 - World War II: Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_7

1777: American troops give up Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, to the British.
1798: Napoleon Bonaparte’s army begins its march towards Cairo from Alexandria.
1966: The U.S. Marine Corps launches Operation Hasting to drive the North Vietnamese Army back across the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=7&tdih=GO

1917: British Army Council Instruction Number 1069 formally establishes the British Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), authorizing female volunteers to serve alongside their male counterparts in France during World War I.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=807

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July 8th

1941: In the East, Panzergruppe 4 (Hoepner) of Heeresgruppe Nord (von Leeb) captures Pskov and advances toward Novgorod and Leningrad. Germany and Italy announce the dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia, with large portions annexed by Italy; an independent state of Croatia, allied to the Axis and with its capital at Agram (Zagreb), is proclaimed.
1942: In the East, 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) at Voronesh begins an offensive SE along the west bank of the Don to meet up with 6.Armee (Paulus) advancing E toward the Don from Charkov with the objective of establishing bridgeheads across the river in the Kalach area and continue on to capture Stalingrad on the Volga. Axis bombers carry out raids on harbor facilities at Malta in the Mediterranean.
1943: The battle of Kursk is about to reach its climax, with the exhausted German forces unable to make any further gains while losing vast numbers of men, tanks and planes. Soviet claims for the day are 304 tanks and 161 aircraft, the German 400 tanks and 193 aircraft.
1944: In the West, the British Second Army (Dempsey) begins a major attack (Operation Epsom) to capture Caen. In the East, the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front recaptures Baranovichi NW of Brest-Litovsk.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1950: Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080708.html

1959: First Americans killed in South Vietnam - Maj. Dale R. Ruis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand become the first Americans killed in the American phase of the Vietnam War when guerrillas strike a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) compound in Bien Hoa, 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The group had arrived in South Vietnam on November 1, 1955, to provide military assistance. The organization consisted of U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel who provided advice and assistance to the Ministry of Defense, Joint General Staff, corps and division commanders, training centers, and province and district headquarters.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=1954

1944: Caen France - The 3rd Canadian Division and 1st British Corps and move into the city; the 9th Canadian takes both Buron and Authie; the 7th Brigade captures Cussy and Ardenne; the 8th Brigade completes its capture of Carpiquet as the Germans are pulled back.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=08http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=08

1778 - Allied French fleet under Comte d'Estaing arrives in America.
1853 - Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his squadron into Tokyo Bay.
1879 - USS Jeannette departs San Francisco to explore Arctic.
1944 - Naval bombardment of Guam begins.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1942: 460 Squadron raids Wilhelmshaven - 13 Wellingtons of 460 Squadron participated in a night time bombing raid on this major German port severely damaging an armour plate shop and the Deutsche Werke ship building yards.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

:rambo:
 
July 9th

1940: The German raider Komet leaves Bergen in Norway for operations in the Pacific via the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean assisted by Soviet icebreakers.
1941: In the East, Vitebsk is captured by troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock). To date, the Red Army has lost 2.500 tanks and 300,000 men as prisoners of war.
1942: In Egypt, renewed attacks by the Afrikakorps against British defenses at El Alamein bog down in the face of stubborn British resistance.
1943: Beginning of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, with the US 82nd and the British 1st Airborne Divisions making the first landings at night; due to navigational errors, hundreds of US paratroopers are dropped in the sea and are drowned, while many others are widely scattered and miss their assigned targets.
1944: In the West, units of the British Second Army enter Caen which has been reduced to a heap of rubble due to the preceding heavy aerial and artillery bombardments by the Allies.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1941: Damour taken - Damour was the main military base and administrative centre for the Vichy French forces in Syria. The Australian victory at Damour opened the way to Beirut and led the Vichy French to seek an armistice.
1943: 3 and 450 Squadrons RAAF and eight RAN corvettes involved in the allied invasion of Sicily - Known as Operation Husky the invasion of Sicily was the second largest undertaken in Europe during the Second World War, Overlord being the largest. The operation involved 180,000 troops and 2,590 ships.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1846 - Sailors and Marines from USS Portsmouth occupy and raise flag over San Francisco.
1918 - Henry Ford launches first of 100 Eagle boats.
1944 - Organized Japanese resistence ceases on Saipan, Marianas.
1960 - USS Wasp departs Guantanamo Bay to support United Nations effort to calm the newly independent Congo.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1915: Germans surrender Southwest Africa to Union of South Africa. With the Central Powers pressing their advantage on the Western Front during World War I, the Allies score a distant victory, when military forces of the Union of South Africa accept a German surrender in the territory of Southwest Africa.
1971: United States turns over responsibility for the DMZ - Four miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), about 500 U.S. troops of the 1st Brigade, 5th Mechanized Division turn over Fire Base Charlie 2 to Saigon troops, completing the transfer of defense responsibilities for the border area. On the previous day, nearby Fire Base Alpha 4 had been turned over to the South Vietnamese. This was part of President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization policy, which had been announced at a June 1969 conference at Midway Island. Under this program, the United States initiated a comprehensive effort to increase the combat capabilities of the South Vietnamese armed forces. As the South Vietnamese became more capable, responsibility for the fighting was gradually transferred from U.S. forces. Concurrent with this effort, there was a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1944: Caen France - Canadians and British capture Caen after massive bombardment by 467 planes from Bomber Command; urban area north of Orne River secured by nightfall by two British Divisions and the 3rd Canadian; the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders and the Sherbrooke Fusilier tanks are the first into the ruined city, although the famous Abbaye-aux-Hommes, 1000 years old, is untouched; 1,194 Canadian casualties, 334 are fatal.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=09

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July 10th

1940: Beginning of the Battle of Britain. - The Luftwaffe carries out its first large scale attack (70 aircraft) against targets in Britain by bombing dock facilities at Swansea and the Royal Ordnance Factory at Pembrey in Wales.
1941: In the East, Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist) repulses a violent Soviet counter-attack in the area of Korosten W of Kiev. The Finnish Karelian Army (Heinrichs) begins an offensive toward Lake Ladoga NE of Leningrad.
1942: In the East, armored units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) and 6.Armee (Paulus) of Heeresgruppe B (von Weichs) join up N of Kalach on the Don, while 17.Armee (Ruoff) and 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) of Heeresgruppe A (List) continue their advance toward Rostov.
1943: Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, is now fully underway with 12 divisions (160,000 men and 600 tanks) of the US Seventh (Patton) and the British Eighth (Montgomery) Armies being brought ashore by 3,000 landing craft (200 sunk by rough seas) on the southeast coast of Sicily.While the British approaching Syracuse meet with little German resistance, the US forces are held back by strong counter-attacks of the Hermann G=F6ring and the Italian Livorno Divisions.
1944: In the East, the Red Army begins 3 major offensives into the Baltic States: the 2nd Belorussian Front NW from Vitebsk, the 3rd Belorussian Front W from Psovsk, and the Leningrad Front SW toward Narva.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1911: Formation of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) - In its original form the Royal Australian Navy consisted of the battlecruiser Australia and several cruisers, destroyers and submarines. When the new fleet arrived in Australia on 4 October 1913 the day was declared a public holiday and was described in the press as the greatest day in Australia's history.
1941: Private J.H. Gordon, VC - Private J.H. Gordon, 2/31st Battalion, originally from Rockingham, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross near Jezzine, Lebanon.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1965: MiGs shot down as bombing of North Vietnam continues - U.S. planes continue heavy raids in South Vietnam and claim to have killed 580 guerrillas. U.S. Phantom jets, escorting fighter-bombers in a raid on the Yen Sen ammunition depot northwest of Hanoi, engaged North Vietnamese MiG-17s. Capt. Thomas S. Roberts with his backseater Capt. Ronald C. Anderson, and Capt. Kenneth E. Holcombe and his backseater Capt. Arthur C. Clark shot down two MiG-17s with Sidewinder missiles. The action marked the first U.S. Air Force air-to-air victories of the Vietnam War.
1967: Heavy fighting continues near An Loc and the Central Highlands -
Outnumbered South Vietnamese troops repel an attack by two battalions of the 141st North Vietnamese Regiment on a military camp five miles east of An Loc, 60 miles north of Saigon. Communist forces captured a third of the base camp before they were thrown back with the assistance of U.S. and South Vietnamese air and artillery strikes. Farther to the north, U.S. forces suffered heavy casualties in two separate battles in the Central Highlands. In the first action, about 400 men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade came under heavy fire from North Vietnamese machine guns and mortars during a sweep of the Dak To area near Kontum. Twenty-six Americans were killed and 49 were wounded. In the second area clash, 35 soldiers of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division were killed and 31 were wounded in fighting.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

1934 - USS Houston takes Franklin Delano Roosevelt on first visit of U.S. President to South America.
1943 - Naval gunfire help Allied troops land on Sicily. It was first extensive use of LST's and smaller landing craft to deliver heavy equipment over the beach.
1945 - 14 carriers from Third Fleet carriers begin air strikes on Japanese Home Islands which end 15 August.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1943: Pachino Italy - In Operation Husky, Canadian 1st Infantry Division and 1st Tank Brigade invade Sicily with British 8th Army, U.S. and French troops; after training for 3 1/2 years in Britain; Sicily taken Aug. 17 with 2,434 Canadian casualties.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=010

1942: General Carl Spaatz becomes the head of the U.S. Air Force in Europe.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=10&tdih=GO

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Bad day for the French

July 11th

1940: Marshal Petain replaces president Lebrun and proclaims himself head of state of the French Republic.
1941: In the East, armored units of Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist) advance within 10 miles of Kiev. Stalin replaces 3 major Soviet commanders appointing Voroshilov for the northern, Timoshenko for the central and Budjenny for the southern front.
1943: In the battle of Kursk, the attacking German forces depleted by heavy losses in men and armor have nearly spent their momentum. even though 4.Panzerarmee and Armee-Abteilung Kempf in the southern sector succeed in capturing the pivotal town of Prokhorovka. To prevent further attrition, especially of the vital armored forces, Field Marshals von Kluge and von Manstein urge Hitler to call off the operation which is turning into a disaster for the entire Eastern Front, but Hitler refuses.
1944: In the East, the Red Army captures the remnants of the encircled 4.Armee (35.000 men). In the West, the US VIII Corps (Collins) continues its attacks from the Carentan area toward St. Lo, but is meeting with strong German resistance. The United States formally recognizes the provisional French government of General de Gaulle at London as the de facto government of France.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1302: An army of French knights, led by the Count of Artois, is routed by Flemish pikemen.
1708: The French are defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy.
1942: In the longest bombing raid of World War II, 1,750 British Lancaster bombers attack the Polish port of Danzig.
1972: American forces break the 95-day siege at An Loc in Vietnam.
source: http://www.historynet.com/tdih0711.htm

1941: Vichy French surrender in Syria - The five-week long Syrian campaign represented the first occasion that the Australian 7th Division was committed to action. The campaign was based on the premise that the Vichy French forces would offer only token resistance, though this turned out not to be the case. Of the 34,000 Allied troops (Australian, British, Indian and Free French) committed to the campaign 3,900 became casualties.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1798 - Reestablishment of Marine Corps under the Constitution
1919 - Pay Corps renamed Supply Corps
1943 - Gunfire from U.S. cruisers and destroyers stop German and Italian tank attack against Army beachhead at Gela, Sicily.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1940: England - Petty Officer D. A. Hewitt first Canadian killed in the Battle of Britain.
1944: Caen, France - Guy Simonds, 2nd Canadian Corps, takes over operational command of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division and 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in Normandy.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=011

1861: Battle of Rich Mountain - Union troops under General George B. McClellan score another major victory in the struggle for western Virginia at the Battle of Rich Mountain. The Yankee success secured the region and ensured the eventual creation of West Virginia. Western Virginia was a crucial battleground in the early months of the war. Western Virginia was also a vital east-west link for the Union because the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ran through its mountains. After McClellan scored a series of small victories in western Virginia in June and early July, Confederate General Robert Garnett and Colonel John Pegram positioned their forces at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill to block two key roads and keep McClellan from penetrating any further east. McClellan crafted a plan to feign an attack against Garnett at Laurel Hill while he sent the bulk of his force against Pegram at Rich Mountain. Part of McClellan's force, led by General William Rosecrans, followed a rugged mountain path to swing around behind the Rebels' left flank. McClellan had promised to attack the Confederate front when he heard gunfire from Rosecrans's direction. After a difficult march through a drenching rain, Rosecrans struck the Confederate wing. It took several attempts, but he was finally able to drive the Confederates from their position. McClellan shelled the Rebel position, but did not make the expected assault. Each side suffered around 70 casualties. Pegram was forced to abandon his position, but Rosecrans was blocking his escape route. Two days later, he surrendered his force of 555. Although McClellan became a Union hero as a result of this victory, most historians agree that Rosecrans deserved the credit.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

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July 12th

1940: The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Aberdeen in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales.
1941: The last Vichy French troops in Syria surrender to British and Free French forces. Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign a Mutual Assistance Pact declaring that neither state will make a separate peace with the Axis Powers. In the East, the Luftwaffe launches its first bombing raid on Moscow, but with minimal results.
1942: The Soviet Stavka (Red Army High Command) establishes a Stalingrad Front under Marshal Timoshenko. On the Leningrad front, troops of Heeresgruppe Nord complete the reduction of the Volchov pocket, taking 30,000 Soviet prisoners, including General Vlasov, CO of the Second Guards Army and later to become C-in-C of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army.
1943: In the East, while the battle of Kursk is still raging, the Soviet Central (Rokossovsky), Bryansk (Popov) and West Fronts (Sokolovsky) begin a massive counter- offensive in the area of Orel, Bryansk and Kursk. At Krasnograd near Moscow, a group of captured German officers, including Field Marshal Paulus and General von Seydlitz, and exiled German communists form the 'National Committee for a Free Germany' that calls for the overthrow of Hitler and the cessation of hostilities against the Soviet Union. In Sicily, the Allies capture Augusta and Ragusa.
1944: In the West, the US First Army (Bradley) advancing S from the Carentan area toward St. Lo is slowly gaining ground against fierce resistance by the German 7.Armee (Dollmann).
source: : http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html


1965: Last 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, ambush of Malayan Emergency - The last ambush conducted by the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment was mounted from Malaysia against targets at Babang in Kalimantan.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1836 - Commissioning of Charles H. Haswell as first regularly appointed Engineer Officer.
1916 - North Carolina is first Navy ship to carry and operate aircraft
1921 - Congress creates Bureau of Aeronautics to be in charge of all matter pertaining to naval aeronautics.
1951 - Ninth Naval District forces assist in flood relief work in Kansas City through 20 July
1953 - United Nations Fleet launches heavy air and sea attack on Wonsan; Major John Bolt, USMC becomes first jet ace in Marine Corps.
1988 - SECDEF approves opening Navy's Underwater Construction Teams, fleet oiler, ammunition ships, and combat stores ships to women.
1990 - Commander Rosemary B. Mariner becomes first woman to command an operational aviation squadron (VAQ-34).
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

1812: Windsor Ontario - US Brigadier General William Hull crosses the Detroit River with 2,500 troops and occupies the town of Sandwich; first American invasion in the War of 1812; worried about a new alliance between the British and the Indians led by Tecumseh, Hull will soon retreat to Detroit, and surrenders to the British a month later.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=012

1965: First Marine wins Medal of Honor - Viet Cong ambush Company A of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, led by U.S.M.C. Lt. Frank Reasoner of Kellogg, Idaho. The Marines had been on a sweep of a suspected Viet Cong area to deter any enemy activity aimed at the nearby airbase at Da Nang. Reasoner and the five-man point team he was accompanying were cut off from the main body of the company. He ordered his men to lay down a base of fire and then, repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire, killed two Viet Cong, single-handedly wiped out an enemy machine gun emplacement, and raced through enemy fire to rescue his injured radio operator. Trying to rally his men, Reasoner was hit by enemy machine gun fire and was killed instantly. For this action, Reasoner was nominated for America's highest award for valor. When Navy Secretary Paul H. Nitze presented the Medal of Honor to Reasoner's widow and son in ceremonies at the Pentagon on January 31, 1967, he spoke of Reasoner's willingness to die for his men: "Lieutenant Reasoner's complete disregard for his own welfare will long serve as an inspiring example to others." Lieutenant Reasoner was the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

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July 13th

1940: Hitler issues Directive No. 15 outlining the details of Unternehmen Seel=F6we (Operation Sea Lion), the German invasion of the British Isles. In advance of the landings, the Luftwaffe is to begin operations against British defensive positions, airfields and radar installations along the southern coast of England on August 15; 2.600 aircraft have been earmarked for this purpose.
1941: In the East, troops of Heeresgruppe Nord (von Leeb) continue their advance from Pskov toward Luga, 75 miles from Leningrad.
1943: Finally admitting that despite the maximum efforts by the German forces to break through the Soviet defenses no further gains can be made, Hitler orders the suspension of Operation Citadel. Though the Wehrmacht is able to extricate most of its depleted forces from a potential disaster - a second Stalingrad - this outcome of the battle represents a tremendous victory for the Red Army and portends the end of German offensive operations in the East.
1944: In the East, the Red Army recaptures Vilna in Lithuania, and continues its advance into eastern Galicia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1953: HMAS Tobruk begins a two-week patrol of the northern part of Korea's east coast - This was the Tobruk's last patrol before the war in Korea ended in late July 1953.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1942: Rimouski Quebec - German U-Boats sink three more merchant ships in Gulf of St. Lawrence; Quebec outcry for protection forces secret Commons session.
1950: Honolulu Hawaii - Royal Canadian Navy destroyers HMCS Cayuga, Athabaskan, and Sioux arrive at Pearl Harbor escorted by cruiser Ontario; to join US naval task force to operate against the Communists in Korea as part of the United Nations contingent; war began June 25.
1993: Lahr Germany - Germans hold farewell ceremony for Canadian troops after 42 years of NATO service.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=013

1863 - USS Wyoming battled Japanese warlord's forces.
1939 - Appointment of RADM Richard Byrd as commanding officer of 1939-1941 Antarctic Expedition.
1943 - During Battle of Kolombangara in Solomon Islands, U.S. lost USS Gwin. (DD-433) while Japanese lost light cruiser Jintsu.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm

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July 14th

1941: Believing the campaign in the East soon to be concluded in Germany's favor, Hitler orders the German war industry to shift production away from guns and armored vehicles to U-boats and airplanes. In Syria, an armistice is signed at Acre between the Vichy and British-Free French forces.
1942: In the East, the advances by Heeresgruppe A (List) and Heeresgruppe B (von Weichs) toward the Don bend at Kalach and Rostov continue against minimal Soviet resistance. In Egypt, an attack by the British Eighth Army against the positions of the Afrikakorps S of El Alamein is unsuccessful.
1943: Joining in the counter-offensive by the Central, Bryansk and Western Fronts, the Soviet Western Front (Vatutin) launches attacks against 4.Panzerarmee and Armee-Abteilung Kempf in the southern sector of the Kursk salient.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) begins an offensive E of Lvov and recaptures Pinsk.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1918Fighting at Abu Tellul, PalestineA heavy attack by about 1,000 men of the German Asia Corps on Australian Light Horse positions at Abu Tellul, a prominent hill on the west bank of the Jordan River, Palestine, is defeated. This was the only occasion on which the German Asia Corps was known to have carried the primary role in an attack in the Middle East during the First World War.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1940: England - Andrew George Latta McNaughton 1887-1966 put in command of new Anglo-Canadian 7th Army Corps; with British and New Zealand troops as well as Canadian.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=014

1864: At Harrisburg, Mississippi, Federal troops under General Andrew Jackson Smith repulse an attack by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
1900: European Allies retake Tientsin, China, from the rebelling Boxers.
1940: A force of German bombers attacks Suez, Egypt, from bases in Crete.
1945: American battleships and cruisers bombard the Japanese home islands for the first time.
1964: The United States sends 600 more troops to Vietnam.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=14&tdih=GO
 
July 15th
1940: The Luftwaffe carries out raids against British convoys in the English Channel as well as airfields and railway lines in SW England.
1941: German fores of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) encircle 300,000 Soviet troops in the Smolensk-Orsha pocket. In the outskirts of Leningrad, hundreds of thousands of Soviet civilians, mostly women and teenagers, begin constructing over 300 miles of trenches and field fortifications.
1942: In the East, units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) capture Kamensk on the Donets.
1944: In Italy, the British Eighth Army (Leese) reaches the river Arno near Arezzo. The Italian government returns to Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1940Volunteer Defence Force formedThe Volunteer Defence Force (VDC), composed mainly of First World War veterans, was formed for home defence by the Returned and Services League (RSL).
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1240: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
1410: Battle of Grunwald: allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order.
1918: the Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_15

1942: The first supply flight from India to China over the ‘Hump’ is flown.
1958: President Dwight Eisenhower sends 5,000 Marines to Lebanon to keep the peace.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=15&tdih=GO
 
July 16th
1940: Hitler issues Directive No. 16 ordering preparations to begin for Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sealion), the seaborne invasion of England, to be completed by mid-August.
1941: In the East, Finnish troops break through Soviet positions N of Lake Ladoga. On the central front, German forces of Heeesgruppe Mitte begin the destruction of several Soviet divisions encircled in the Uman pocket. Stalin's son, Lt. Jacob Dugashvili, is taken prisoner near Vitebsk. In Libya, Axis bombers carry out raids on Tobruk.
1942: In Egypt, the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) attacks the Afrikakorps' positions at El Alamein, gaining some ground near the railway station.
1943: In Sicily, troops of the US Seventh Army (Patton) continue their advance toward Palermo, while the British VIII Corps (Dempsey) approaches Catania.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts converge to capture Grodno SW of Vilna. In Italy, Allied forces are making only slow progress against German positions of the Gothic Line S of the Arno river.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1940: HMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen at BardiaHMA Ships Stuart and Waterhen were on screen at the bombardment of Bardia.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1957: United States Marine Major John Glenn flies a F8U Crusader supersonic jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds setting a new transcontinental speed record.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16

1779: American troops under General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, N.Y.
1944: Soviet troops occupy Vilna, Lithuania, in their drive towards Germany.
 
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July 17th

1941: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) cross the Dnepr river near Mogilev, while in the South the Rumanian 4.Armee (Dumitrescu) captures Kishinev on the lower Dnestr. Axis bombers carrry out raids on port facilities on Malta.
1942: In the East, units of Heeresgruppe A (List) capture Voroshilovgrad in the Donets industrial region. The German 6.Armee (Paulus) and 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) continue their advance toward Kalach on the Don.
1943: In Sicily, units of the US Seventh Army capture Agrigento on the road to Palermo.
1944: Returning by car to his HQ at La Roche-Guyon from a tour of inspection to I.SS-Panzerkorps S of Caen, Field Marshal Rommel, C-in-C of Heeresgruppe B, is severely wounded in a low-level attack by an RAF fighter bomber. In Italy, the British Eighth Army advances toward Ancona and Florence. In the East, the Soviet First Guards Tank Army reaches the River Bug, the old border between Poland and the USSR. At Moscow, 57,000 German prisoners of war captured in Belorussia, including several generals, are paraded through the center of the city. In Norway, the British Navy launches an abortive carrier raid on the German battleship Tirpitz in Kaa Fjord.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1918:Lieutenant A.C. Borella, VCLieutenant A.C. Borella, 26th Battalion, originally from Borung, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Villers-Bretonneux, France. At 36 Borella was the oldest member of the first AIF to receive this award.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1918: The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German submatine U-55; only 5 lives are lost.
1944: Napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_17

1812: Michilimackinac Michigan - Charles Roberts captures Fort Michilimackinac with 600 British, Canadians and Indian allies from the British Fort St. Joseph.
1944: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Royal Canadian Navy escorts war's largest convoy of 167 ships into Atlantic; meets no U-Boat opposition; RCN now controls all Battle of the Atlantic escort forces.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=17

:army:
 
Back again

July 18th

1940: The RAF carries out a daylight raid on invasion barges at Rotterdam, and a night raid on the Krupp armaments works at Essen in the Ruhr.
1942: In the East, the advance by 6.Armme and 4. Panzerarmee toward the Don bend at Kalach continues. The RAF launches a night raid on Duisburg.
1943: In Sicily, the attacks by the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) before Catania are stalled in the face of stiff German resistance.
1944: In the West, units of thr US First Army (Bradley) enter St. Lo. In the Caen area, the British Second Army (Dempsey) begins Operation Goodwood with the objective of dislodging and destroying the German forces fiercely opposing its further advance, notably the I. (Dietrich) and II.SS-Panzerkorps (Bittrich), and then to break out and join up with US forces to the south.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1863: Assault of Battery Wagner and death of Robert Gould Shaw
On this day, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and 272 of his troops are killed in an assault on Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. Shaw was commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, perhaps the most famous regiment of African-American troops during the war.
1918: Allies begin major counter-offensive in Second Battle of the Marne
Three days after a German offensive near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France meets with failure, Allied forces launch a major counterattack on July 18, 1918, ending the Second Battle of the Marne and decisively turning the tide of the war toward an Allied victory.
Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

1936: the Spanish Civil War began as Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of army troops based in North Africa.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080718.html

1861: Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, in a prelude to the Battle of Bull Run.
1942: The German Me-262, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, makes its first flight.
1971: New Zealand and Austrailia announce they will pull their troops out of Vietnam.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=18&tdih=GO

1944: Caen France - Bomber Command sends 100 RAF and RCAF planes to attack German defenses around Caen; much of the city destroyed and up to 3,000 French killed; Canadians and British gain a few miles in attacks beyond Caen in Operation Goodwood/Atlantic to secure Vaucelles and Colombelles, preparing the way to break through the triangle to Falaise; the 2nd Infantry under Maj. Gen. Charles Foulkes comes into line to join the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Brigade of Lt. Gen. Guy Simonds' 2nd Corps and they move forward to take the German stronghold on the Verrières Ridge.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=18

1779 - Commodore Abraham Whipple's squadron captures 11 prizes in largest prize value of Revolutionary War.
1813 - U.S. Frigate President captures British Daphne, Eliza Swan, Alert and Lion.
1943 - German submarine shoots down K-47, the first and only U.S. airship lost during WW II.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 10 with LCDR John W. Young, USN as Command Pilot. Mission involved 43 orbits at an altitude of 412.2 nautical miles and lasted 2 days, 22 hours, and 46 minutes. Recovery was by HS-3 helicopter from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).
Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjul.htm
 
July 19th

1941: In a major change of operational plans, Hitler issues Directive No. 33 ordering the German 4.Armee (von Kluge) and Panzergruppe 2 (Guderian) of Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) to suspend their attacks toward Moscow and join 6.Armee (von Reichenau) and Panzergruppe 1 (von Kleist) of Heeresgruppe S=FCd (von Rundstedt) with the objective of destroying the Soviet Fifth, Sixth and Twelfth Armies W of the Dnepr-Dnestr line. The idea behind this directive is to begin exploiting the great agricultural and mineral riches of the Ukraine for the German war effort just as soon as the Soviet forces in that region are defeated. Both Kluge and Guderian object, but are curtly overruled by Hitler.
1942: In the East, the two-pronged German advance toward the Don bend and to Stalingrad beyond (6. Armee and 4.Panzerarmee) and toward Rostov (1.Panzerarmee) continues in the face of stiffening Soviet resistance.
1943: In Sicily, the US Seventh Army (Patton) makes further progress toward Palermo, while the British Eighth Army (Montgomery) is held up before Catania by stubborn German resistance. The US 15th Air Force (270 aircraft) attacks marshalling yards on the outskirts of Rome. 1944: In the East, the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) encircles 5 German divisions W of Brody. In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) captures Leghorn.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

711 – Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic.
1333 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Halidon Hill – The final battle of the war.
1544 – Italian War of 1542: The Siege of Boulogne began.
1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The Spanish Armada sighted in the English Channel.
1940 – World War II: Twelve men were promoted Generalfeldmarschall by Adolf Hitler, see List of German Field Marshals.
1940 – World War II: Battle of Cape Spada – The Royal Navy and the Regia Marina clash; the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni sinks, with 121 casualties.
1940 – World War II: Army order 112 forms the Intelligence Corps of the British Army.
1942 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic – GermanGrand AdmiralKarl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United StatesAtlantic coast positions in response to the effective American convoy system.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_19

1944: Normandy France - Canadians and British start Operation Goodwood/Atlantic, to secure Vaucelles and Colombelles, and prepare the break through to Falaise. General Dempsey, commander British 2nd Army, launches his Eighth Corps of three armoured divisions south of Caen; attacked by 1st SS Panzer Division and forced to halt; 7th Armoured Division fails to capture Verrières and Bourguebus Ridges; the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division under Maj. Gen. Charles Foulkes comes into line to join the 3rd and 2nd Armoured Brigades of the 2nd Canadian Corps under Lt. Gen. Guy Simonds, who fight on the Eighth's right with infantry; ordered to cross the Orne River into the southeastern suburbs of Caen, force the enemy out of his entrenched positions there, and then forge southward into open country. Their tanks are neutralized by German anti-tank fire and the infantry are decimated as they advance; they gain Colombelles and the Queen's Own captures Giberville. The rest of the 8th Brigade passes south, and by nightfall the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division has taken Cormelles and the eastern part of Vaucelles; the southern part of Caen is cleared; the Black Watch cross the Orne River, and advance to St-Andre-sur-Orne and the northern edge of Verrières Ridge.
1950: Korea - UN asks RCAF transport squadron to assist in United Nations airlift in Korea.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=19


1916: Battle of Fromelles - 5,533 Australians were killed or wounded in this battle, most on the night of 19-20 July. Fromelles was the first battle for the Australians on the Western Front.
1940: HMAS Sydney sinks the Bartolomeo Colleoni - HMAS Sydney sinks the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the battle of Cape Spada off Crete.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp
 
July 20th

1940: Reichsmarschall Goering, C-in-C of the Luftwaffe, orders the formation of a Nachtjagdgeschwader (night fighter wing), NJG 1, under Oberst (Colonel) Kammhuber, consisting of Me-110 fighter bombers.
1941: Stalin appoints himself People's Commissar for Defense. The RAF launches a raid on Naples.
1943: Cancellation of Operation Brimstone, the Allied invasion of Sardinia, in favor of alternate landings in the area S of Naples (Anzio).
1944: At 12:42 p.m. CET, a powerful bomb explodes in the wooden briefing hut at the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair), Hitler's secret HQ near Rastenburg in East Prussia, during Hitler's Lagebesprechung (daily noon-time conference on operations on all fronts) with his chiefs of staff and their aides of the OKW and OKH. Aside from minor injuries, Hitler is unharmed, but four people, Colonel Brandt, Generals Korten and Schmundt, as well as a stenographer are killed, several other severely wounded. The bomb was placed by Colonel Claus Count von Stauffenberg, chief of staff of the Ersatzheer (Reserve or Home Army) who had volunteered to take on the task of killing Hitler on behalf of a group of high Wehrmacht officers, among them Field Marshall von Witzleben and Generaloberst Beck, to overthrow the Nazi regime and end the war. He returns to Berlin, mistakenly informing his co-conspirators at the War Ministry that Hitler was dead and that Operation Valkyrie, the Army's longstanding emergency plan to secure the vital government offices in case of an internal revolt, should go forward so as to be used to establish the conspiracy's hold on the levers of power over the Reich. Due to the prompt actions by Dr. Goebbels, Reich Propaganda Minister, who speaks with Hitler on the telephone and then orders the Wachbataillon Berlin (Guards Battalion) under Major Remer to surround all government offices and arrest any suspicious person, the Putsch is foiled. Stauffenberg and two of his aides are captured and brought before a summary court convened by Generaloberst Fromm, C-in-C of the Home Army; they are convicted of high treason and shot by a firing squad the same evening. In the coming months, some 5,000 persons implicated in the conspiracy will be executed. In the Arctic Ocean, 7 German U-boats begin laying minefields off the Soviet Lend-Lease port of Archangelsk.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1943HMAS Hobart torpedoedHMAS Hobart torpedoed off San Cristobal, Solomon Islands. Seven officers and six ratings were killed in the attack. Though badly damaged the Hobart was able to reach Espirtu Santo the next day.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp

1780: Mad Anthony Wayne loses to Loyalists in New Jersey - General "Mad Anthony" Wayne leads two brigades of Pennsylvania militia, supported by four artillery pieces, in an attempt to destroy a fortified blockhouse located approximately four miles north of Hoboken, in Bull's Ferry, New Jersey.
1864: Battle of Peachtree Creek - General John Bell Hood's Confederate force attack William T. Sherman's troops outside of Atlanta, Georgia, but are repulsed with heavy losses.
1964: Viet Cong troops overrun town - Viet Cong forces overrun Cai Be, the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, killing 11 South Vietnamese militiamen, 10 women, and 30 children. This incident and numerous intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese regular troops were moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in great numbers to join the fighting in South Vietnam. This marked a major change in the tempo and scope of the war in South Vietnam and resulted in President Lyndon B. Johnson committing U.S. combat troops. North Vietnamese forces and U.S. troops clashed for the first time in November 1965, when units from the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division engaged several North Vietnamese regiments in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands.
Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

1917:The World War I draft lottery began
1942The first detachment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20080720.html

1881: Sioux chief Sitting Bull surrenders to the U.S. Army.
1950: The U.S. Army’s Task Force Smith is pushed back by superior North Korean forces.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=20&tdih=GO
 
July 21st

1940: In accordance with the results of the July 14 referendums blatantly rigged by the Soviet occupying power, the USSR annexes the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1941: In the East, the Luftwaffe launches its first bombing raid (127 aircraft) on Moscow, which is followed by another 73 raids until the end of the year. In the Mediterranean, a British 7-ship convoy from Gibraltar to Malta escorted by heavy units of the Royal Navy is attacked by Italian bombers and MTBs which sink one merchant ship and the destroyer Fearless.
1944: In the East, the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front recaptures Ostrov S of Lake Peipus, while the 1st Belorussian Front advances toward Brest-Litovsk and Lublin. In Italy, the US Fifth Army prepares for a major attack on the Gothic Line.
Source: http://www.feldgrau.com/july.html

1942: Japanese forces land at Buna and GonaBuna, Gona and Sanananda were to become the scenes of heavy fighting over the period November 1942 - January 1943 when the Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of these important Japanese positions. Gona was the first to fall to the Allies and Buna was the second after weeks of heavy fighting.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/jul.asp


1798: Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Arab Mameluke warriors at the Battle of the Pyramids.
1861: In the first major battle of the Civil War, Confederate forces defeat the Union Army along Bull Run near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The battle becomes known as Manassas by the Confederates, while the Union calls it Bull Run.
1944: U.S. Army and Marine forces land on Guam in the Marianas.
1954: The French sign an armistice with the Viet Minh that ends the war but divides Vietnam into two countries.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=7&tihDay=21&tdih=GO


1944: Fleury Normandy - SS veterans of the 1st Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler attack the Essex Scottish Regiment and Les Fusiliers Mont Royal in heavy rain; Montreal's Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, helped by heavy artillery bombardment and support of two tank regiments, beats Germans back, but they keep Verrières Ridge; South Sasks and Essex Scottish suffer over 450 casualties in two days, and the 2nd Canadian Corps loses 1149 men over four days of fighting. Simonds blames Foulkes and tries to get him fired, but Crerar protects him. Pressure from US General Bradley, ready to launch Operation Cobra, had forced Montgomery to pressure the Canadians for action.
Source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=21
 
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today, 70 yrs ago at 0400 JULIET, Germany starte "firing back".

The start shot to a war that cost approx. 25 Million military and another 30 Million civilian lives overall.

70 yrs WWII, just thought I´d mention it.

Should we meet here again MAY 8, 2015, and should you remember having read this post, then you will have got the idea how long it lasted for the folks that fought it in Europe, Russia and Africa.

Rattler
 
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