June 13th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Swanscombe, Kent: At 0418 the first V-1 "buzz bomb" lands on England. Of ten launched by the Germans, only four cross the Channel. But one of these kills six people in London.Whilst escorting a westbound Channel convoy, destroyer HMS Boadicea is attacked by Ju.88 aircraft and struck by two torpedoes which caused her magazine to explode, and the ship to sink rapidly. There are 175 casualties, but 12 survivors. Location: English Channel 12 miles SW of Portland Bill at 50 26N 02 34W. (Alex Gordon)(108)
London: The destruction of Germany's vital synthetic oil plants has become one of the prime strategic objectives of Bomber Command and the US Eighth and Fifteenth Army Air Forces. "Ultra" intelligence has revealed the extent of the crisis caused by the raids in May, when the Eighth struck at the oil plants and the Fifteenth, flying from Italy, hit Germany's only source of natural oil at Ploesti in Romania. The Fifteenth has kept up the attack and the Eighth is returning to it after supporting the invasion in Normandy.
Bad weather cancels large-scale bombing of high priority targets in Germany by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force based in England; overcast bombing against tactical targets in northwestern France is undertaken:
Mission 409: In the first mission of the day, cloud cover is less than anticipated and visual runs are made by 129 B-17s against Evreux/Fauville Airfield (37 bomb), Dreux Airfield (52 bomb) and St Andre de L'Eure (40 bomb); escort is provided by 101 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft.
Mission 410: In the second mission, 112 B-17s and 260 B-24s are dispatched:
1. 97 B-17s attack Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield (41 bomb) and Beauvais/Nivelliers Airfield (56 bomb).
2. 148 B-24s attack Dinard/Pleurtuit Airfield (ten bomb), Ploermel Bridge (26 bomb), Vannes Bride (19 bomb), Vicomte-sur-Rance Bridge (24 bomb), Montfort-sur-Meu Bridge (21 bomb), Porcaro Bridge (12 bomb) and 3 others hit targets of opportunity; two B-24s are lost.
Escort for Mission 410 is provided by 12 P-38 Lightnings, 47 P-47 Thunderbolts and 174 P-51s; one P-51 is lost.
Other fighter sorties during the day are:
1. 97 P-38s are dispatched on fighter-bomber missions; two P-38s are lost.
2. 199 P-47s are dispatched to La Port Boulet (90 attack), Montlouis (24 attack), transport targets (33 attack) and Chinon (31 attack); they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; one P-47 is lost.
3. 35 P-51s fly escort for fighter bombers.
4. 12 P-38s and 35 P-47s escort Ninth Air Force bombers.
5. 62 of 64 P-38s fly patrol over the English Channel.
Mission 411: eight B-17s drop leaflets on France during the night.
Six B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over France.
The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 397 B-26 Marauders and A-20 Havocs to bomb rail and road junctions, marshalling yards and fuel dumps in the assault areas of France; aircraft of nine fighter groups escort the bombers and attack bridges, marshalling yards, troop areas, rail and road traffic, gun emplacements, ammunition dumps and other targets.
U-715 (Type VIIC) is sunk at 0930hrs northeast of the Faroes, in position 62.55N, 02.59W, by depth charges from a Canadian Canso aircraft (RCAF-Sqdn. 162/T). 35 dead, 15 survivors taken into captivity. U-715 was on her first patrol at the time of her loss and had not sunk or damaged any ships. U-715 was sighted while she was at periscope depth, a very significant feat of aerial observation. After being attacked she was forced to surface, whereupon the boat was abandoned. The patrol a/c then incautiously overflew the submarine before it was completely abandoned and was shot down. Three of her crewmembers died of exposure before air-sea rescue launches arrived to rescue the Canadian and German survivors.
While escorting a westbound Channel convoy, destroyer HMS Boadicea is attacked by Ju.88 aircraft and struck by two torpedoes which caused her magazine to explode, and the ship to sink rapidly. There are 175 casualties, but 12 survivors. Location - English Channel 12 miles SW of Portland Bill at 50 26N 02 34W. (Alex Gordon)
FRANCE: The British 7th Armoured Div attacks toward Villers Bocage, it is stopped and held by defending Germans.
Villers-Bocage: Montgomery's attempt to outflank Caen by seizing Villers Bocage has collapsed in confusion with heavy losses. He sent in two of his most experienced formations from the Eighth Army, the 51st Highland and 7th Armoured Divisions.
The 7th, after a brush with the enemy at Livry, pushed on to Villers-Bocage without opposition. Lt-Col Lord Cranley sent A Troop of his 4th County of London Yeomanry, together with a motor company of the 1st Battalion, the Rifle Brigade, up to Point 213, high ground east of the town. There was no sign of the enemy.
Meanwhile following a drive from Beauvais under repeated air attack, Lieutenant Michael Wittman led the six Tigers of the 2nd Kompanie of sSSPzAbt 101 Heavy Tank Battalion out of the woods and along a sunken road into the village. His orders were to stop the advance of the 22nd Armoured Brigade of the British 7th Armoured Division from advancing through the township, outflanking the German line and gaining the road to Caen. Wittman's company, hidden behind a hedgerow, spotted the British column, which passes him at a distance of 200 metres. At about 8.00am, Wittman attcks the column on the main road, while the rest of his company (4 Tigers as one broke down) attacked the British forces around Hill 213. Soon after, Wittmann destroys a Sherman Firefly and Cromwell IV and heads south to attack the rest of the enemy transport column. After knocking out 8 half-tracks, 4 Bren Carriers and two 6 pounder anti-tank guns, Wittmann reaches the crossroad with the road to Tilly-sur-Seulles. At the crossroad, he destroys three Stuart tanks from a recon unit and reaches the outskirts of the town of Villers-Bocage. At the end of Rue Pasteur, Wittmann's Tiger was hit by a Sherman Firefly from B Squadron and he decides to turn back, Wittmann's Tiger was attacked by another Cromwell IV, which he destroyed as well. Back at the Tilly crossroad, British soldiers from 1st Rifle Brigade opened fire at Wittmann with their 6 pdr anti-tank gun, immobilizing his Tiger. Wittmann and his crew managed to escape on foot towards the Panzer Lehr positions 7km away near Orbois. The rest of his company at the Hill 213, destroyed the rest of A Squadron of the 4th County of London Yeomanry Regiment ("Sharpshooters") including 5 Cromwell IV and a Sherman Firefly, while capturing 30 men. During this short engagement, Wittmann's company destroyed 4 Sherman Firefly, 20 Cromwell, 3 Stuart, 3 M4 Sherman OP, 14 half-tracks, 16 Bren Carriers and 2 6 pdr anti-tank guns. Wittmann's attack was followed by another one by Tigers of Hauptsturmführer Rolf Moebius' 1st Kompanie of sSSPzAbt 101 and Panzerkampfwagen IV tanks from Panzer Lehr but was repulsed by anti-tank guns from 22nd Armoured Brigade. (Russell Folsom)(200)
With German reinforcements continuing to arrive, the surviving British forces were pulled out, covered by an artillery bombardment. Another attempt, supported by fighter-bombers, failed to dislodge the Germans. The defeat is being blamed on the excessive caution exercised by the 7th Armoured Division exhausted after continuous fighting since 1940.
From: Rapport and Northwood, Rendezvous with Destiny:
A map of the situation identify the attacking Germans as elements of the 17th SS Panzer Division and elements of the 6th Parachute Regiment. ... The counter attack force was composed of 37th and 38th SS Panzergrenadier Regiments and the 17 SS Tank Battalion, [These units were probably organic to the 17th SS Panzer Division] and the 6th Parachute Regiment.
The defending force was composed of elements of the 101st Airborne Division and Combat Command A, 2nd Armored Division which stopped the German attack, then counter attacked and drove them from the field. (Jay Stone)
Normandy: Gnr. J. T. Etherington and his 5.5" gun battery are landed at Sword Beach. Europe is saved!
FRANCE: There had been plenty of rumours, but few believed them. Now there is no longer any doubt: the Allied have landed, and one week after D-Day the euphoric Resistance is stepping up its attacks on the occupying army and its French supporters such as the Milice. News of the invasion has come as a terrible shock for collaborators. Speaking on Radio Paris, the announcer, Jean-Herold Paquis, said: "IF France is to live, England, like Carthage, must be destroyed."
Radio Vichy has broadcast a message from Marshal Petain in which he urges the French people to obey his government and not get involved in combat. But almost four years to the day that Paris fell, most Frenchmen see the hour of liberation at hand and plans are being laid for campaigns of disruption and strikes as well as military action by the Resistance.
An attack by elements of the 17th SS Panzer Division and elements of the 6th Parachute Regiment [37th and 38th SS Panzergrenadier Regiments and the 17 SS Tank Battalion], at Carentan is held by defending troops. These troops were the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, two armor companies [Combat Command A, 2nd Armored Division] and a battalion of armored infantry. (Jay Stone)(93)
Yorkshire Evening Post
Mr. and Mrs. J. Gaines, of Fifteenth Avenue, Tong Road, Leeds have received a letter from their son, Private Harry Gaines, who was wounded in the invasion and is in Worcester Royal Infirmary on this, his 19th birthday. He has wounds in both legs and the right arm.
He tells of the kindness of a German prisoner in a Red Cross hospital in
Normandy in succouring him when he fell wounded:
"He carried me for 70 yards to the beach, then looked down at me,
smiled, put a cigarette in my mouth, lit it, and put his lighter in my
pocket. Then he took off his white shirt, tore it into shreds and dressed my
wounds. Having done this, he kissed me, with tears in his eyes, and then
walked away to attend to other wounded."
Corvette HMCS Baddeck, attached to Western Approaches Command in Apr 1944, and engaged in escorting resupply shipping, in the English Channel, to the landing zone when attacked, off Portsmouth, by E Boats, in a night action. After a wild engagement, the action was broken off. There is no record of casualties on either side as a result of this incident/
GERMANY: Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski of 419 (Moose) Squadron, 6 (RCAF) Group wins 6 Group's only Victoria Cross. His Lancaster X is shot down by a Luftwaffe night fighter. As the bomber plunges earthwards, Mynarski, his flying clothing ablaze, tries in vain to free his trapped rear gunner from the jammed rear turret. Miraculously, the gunner lives to relate the story of Mynarski's bravery. Unfortunately, Mynarski dies from severe burns. To get into the rear gunner position it was necessary to remove your parachute. To jump you had to rotate the turret, retrieve your parachute, put it on, and then jump. (Dave Hornford)
U-2508 laid down.
ITALY: The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 560+ B-17s and B-24s, most with fighter escort, to attack targets in Germany and Italy; B-17s attack aircraft component plants at Munich/Allach; B-24s marshalling yards at Innsbruck and Munich, Germany and the industrial area at Porto Marghera, Italy; they claim 30+ Luftwaffe aircraft shot down; ten bombers are lost and several others are missing.
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin praises the D-Day landings extravagantly, saying: "In the whole history of war there has never been such an undertaking."
SWEDEN: An experimental A-4 [V-2] rocket crashes and the wreckage is recovered for study by the Swedish military.
FINLAND: The Finnish IV Corps is now grouped along VT-line, the second line of defence. The corps's right flank on the southernmost part of the front is fiercely attacked by the Red Army. The Finnish GHQ orders more construction troops to work on the VKT-line, the third line of defence, which is still largely exists only on paper.
KURILE ISLANDS: The light cruisers USS Concord (CL-10) and USS Detroit (CL-10) and escorts, which includes six Eleventh Air Force B-24s, bombards Matsuwa Island from 13,000 yards (11.9 km) for 29 minutes. A total of 854 rounds are fired. Because of fog, results cannot be determined.
MARIANAS ISLANDS: The battleships and destroyers of Task Group 58.7 conduct almost a day-long bombardment of Japanese installations on Saipan and Tinian. Carrier-based aircraft from fleet and jeep carriers again attack targets on Guam, Saipan and Tinian. During the strikes, the commanding officer of Torpedo Squadron Ten (VT-10) in USS Enterprise (CV-6) is shot down. After parachuting from the aircraft, he lands in the sea off Red Beach Three and notes that the Japanese have marked the length of the reef with red and white pennants, indicating presited artillery ranges. He reports this after he is rescued and this intelligence gem is forwarded to the amphibious forces.
During the night of 12/13 June, 20 F6F Hellcats, guided by two radar-equipped F6F night fighters, attack an IJN convoy 132 miles (212.4 km) southwest of Guam. The F6F pilots are inexperienced in attacking moving targets at sea at night and only damages one fast transport.
The IJN's First Mobile Fleet sails from the Tawi Tawi anchorage in the Sulu Archipelago with the intention of challenging the USN in the Mariana Islands. The departure is seen and reported by a U.S. submarine.
CANADA:
Frigate HMCS Annan commissioned.
U.S.A.:
CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 47, Supplementing Pacific Ocean Areas communiqué Number 46, the following information is now available concerning operations of Pacific Fleet Forces against enemy installations at Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota Islands in the Marianas. These objectives were attacked by carrier aircraft on June 10 and 11 (West Longitude Dates).
On June 10 our fighter planes swept the objectives in force and destroyed 124 enemy aircraft. A large majority of these were destroyed in the sir. Our losses were 11 Hellcat fighters and eight pilots.
On June 11 our attacks were continued, resulting in the destruction of 16 enemy aircraft, two small cargo ships at Saipan, and a small oiler north-west of Saipan.
A formation of enemy ships apparently attempting to escape from Saipan was brought under attack on June 11. One large oiler, one destroyer, three corvettes, one large cargo ship, one medium cargo ship, and three small cargo ships were sunk; five medium cargo ships and five escort vessels were damaged.
A second formation of enemy ships several hundred miles away was attacked and heavily damaged by our aircraft on June 12. These were:
three destroyers, one destroyer escort, and two cargo ships.
In the operations on June 11 our losses were four aircraft and seven flight personnel.
On the night of June 10 several enemy planes approached our force, but failed to drive home an attack, and one of them was shot down by antiaircraft fire.
CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 442, Truk Atoll was bombed by Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force be-fore dawn on June 12 (West Longitude Date). Thirty-eight tons of bombs were dropped on airfields and the seaplane base. Three enemy fighters Intercepted our force, and damaged one Liberator. Antiaircraft fire was meagre.
All of our planes returned.
Ventura search planes of Group One, Fleet Air Wing Two, bombed Nauru and Ocean Islands on June 11. Gun positions and barracks were attacked. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.
Ponape Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells on June 11, meeting light antiaircraft fire.
In the Marshalls Navy and Marine fighters and dive bombers attacked Maloelap and Wotje Atolls on June 11. (Denis Peck)
Submarine USS Sea Fox commissioned.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-311 was commissioned at Mathis Shipyard, Camden, New Jersey, with LTJG Kenneth P. Howard, USCGR, as commanding officer. On 17 July 1944, she departed New York for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0755, U-107 missed the unescorted and unarmed Lark with a torpedo and again at 08.15 hours about 32 miles southeast of Cape Sable. The U-boat then surfaced off the starboard quarter of the fishing vessel and fired at 08.30 hours a warning shot over the ship. The diesel engines were secured immediately and the crew of two officers and 25 crewmen abandoned ship in five dories, with the exception of the master and the cook who remained on board. The U-boat began shooting at the rigging, deck and hull with the 37-mm and 20-mm guns. Hits were made on the pilothouse and in the hull above the waterline and the mainsail and riding sail were shot away. At daybreak, 40 minutes later, the U-boat departed. The master and the cook started the engines at 1530 and picked up all men within one hour. They arrived at Boston at 0630 on 15 June.
U-270 shot down an RAF 53 Sqn Fortress. No damage to the U-boat; the boat was heading to base after being damaged by an RAF 172 Sqn Wellington. The boat paid off on July 1, 1944 due to the damage.
U-564 shot down an RAF 228 Sqn Sunderland. Aircraft bombs sank U-564 the next day.