Today in
World War II History

Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19 Jun 1944, photographed from light cruiser USS Birmingham (US National Archives)

Broached landing craft during the Normandy storm, probably at Omaha Beach, 21 June 1944; USS LST-543 in background (US National Archives)

75 Years Ago—June 19, 1944: The Battle of the Philippine Sea begins—US Fifth Fleet sinks three Japanese aircraft carriers, and the Japanese lose over 450 aircraft in the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”

In a great storm off Normandy, Allied Mulberry harbor A is wrecked, Mulberry harbor B is damaged, and hundreds of vessels are grounded, hampering the Allied build-up.

Free French secure Elba.

US Marine First Sgt. Neil Shober feeding bananas to a native goat, Saipan, Mariana Islands, June 1944 (US Marine Corps photo)

75 Years Ago—June 18, 1944: German V-1 buzz bomb hits the Guards Chapel in London during a service, killing 121.

Ivanoe Bonomi replaces Pietro Badoglio as Prime Minister of Italy.

On Saipan, US Marines drive to the east coast, cutting the island in two, while Army forces take Aslito AF, renamed later Isley Field.

Japanese take Changsha, China, in drive to open land corridor to Hanoi in French Indochina.

Flag of Iceland

75 Years Ago—June 17, 1944: In Normandy, US First Army cuts off the Cotentin Peninsula, trapping Germans in Cherbourg.

Free French troops land on Elba off the coast of Italy.

Iceland becomes an independent republic with Sveinn Björnsson as the first president.

Tank of Company A of the 746th Tank Battalion supported the 325th Glider Infantry entering St. Sauveur-Le Vicomte, France, 16 June 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

75 Years Ago—June 16, 1944: In drive across the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, US First Army takes Ste. Colombe and St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte.

US Navy Seabees finish the first pier of Mulberry A harbor at St. Laurent-sur-Mer off Omaha Beach and the first ship unloads; Mulberry B at Arromanches in the British sector opens two more piers.

US Army 27^th Infantry Division lands on Saipan, joining the Marines who landed the day before.

US troops landing on Saipan, 15 June 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

75 Years Ago—June 15, 1944: US Marine 2^nd and 4^th Divisions land on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

US B-29 Superfortress bombers fly first mission to Japan, to Yawata steel works on Kyushu.

US 75-mm howitzer crew firing at Japanese positions in Myitkyina, Burma, June 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

75 Years Ago—June 14, 1944: US and Chinese troops attack besieged Japanese forces in Myitkyina, Burma.

Australia begins meat rationing (2 pounds per week).

V-1 “buzz bomb” falling over Covent Garden area of London, 14 June 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

75 Years Ago—June 13, 1944: Germans launch first V-1 buzz bomb at London; 7000 will be launched by Aug. 24, killing almost 5000.

At Villers-Bocage in Normandy, one German Tiger tank destroys 25 British tanks.

US war bond poster, 1944

75 Years Ago—June 12, 1944: Allies consolidate all five landing beaches in Normandy, a 50-mile front, as US forces from Omaha and Utah Beaches link near Carentan.

US Fifth War Loan starts, launched with a broadcast from President Franklin Roosevelt in his final Fireside Chat. (Read more: “World War II War Bonds”)

Big Bend National Park is established in Texas.

SBD Dauntless after taking off from the carrier USS Lexington for strikes against Saipan in the Mariana Islands, 13 Jun 1944 (US National Museum of Naval Aviation)

75 Years Ago—June 11, 1944: US Fast Carrier Attack Force (TF 58) begins bombing the Mariana Islands in preparation for invasion.

Battleship USS Missouri is commissioned at Brooklyn, NY, the last battleship in the US Navy, currently a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. (See photos from my tour of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor)

USS Missouri firing a salvo in her shakedown period, August 1944 (US National Archives)

Flight nurses Lt. Suella Bernard and Lt. Marijean Brown, the first nurses to evacuate the wounded from Normandy to England, are greeted by their head nurse, Lt. Foster. (US Air Force photo)

Patch of the US Eighth Army, WWII

75 Years Ago—June 10, 1944: German SS troops massacre 642 civilians in Oradour-sur-Glane, France; only 10 survive.

First US nurses and female American Red Cross workers land in Normandy, with the 128^th Evacuation Hospital.

US flight nurses fly first medical air evacuation missions from France to England. (Read more about flight nurses: “Medical Air Evacuation in World War II – The Flight Nurse”)

US Eighth Army is activated at Memphis, TN under Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger (will serve in the Pacific).

At age 15, Joe Nuxhall with the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in Major League Baseball.