Nearly 750,000 Allied troops have landed in Normandy.

Cotentin Peninsula: After capturing Carentan, American troops have raced across to Barneville to seal off the Cotentin Peninsula, and now the battle has begun for the key port of Cherbourg. Two days ago, after a heavy air bombardment, Major-General J. Lawton Collins launched his VII Corps into an attack on the Germans' outer defences - three ridges to the south of the port. These were soon reduced, the Germans surprising Collins by withdrawing almost at once to the inner forts. Hitler will not countenance the thought of giving up the port.

Destroyer HMS Swift is mined (possibly acoustic) off Ouistreham which breaks her back. She later broke in half and sank. Location: English Channel, Seine Bay, Sword Beach area. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman FORT NORFOLK (7,131 GRT), struck a mine and sank off of the Normandy beaches in the English Channel. Eight crewmembers were lost in this incident.

Minesweeper FS Magicienne launched.

FINLAND: In Olonets Isthmus the Red Army breaks through the defences of Finnish 15th Brigade this afternoon. The Finnish rear is also threatened by the Soviet invasion at Tuulos. Commander of the VI Corps Maj. Gen. Aarne Blick decides to leave the PSS-line and withdraw past the Tuulos bridgehead. He doesn't inform his superior, commander of the Olonets Group Lt. Gen. Paavo Talvela of his decision, and Gen. Talvela only finds out tomorrow.

In Maaselkä Isthmus the II Corps starts its withdrawal towards the Finnish border after the Soviet breakthrough at Karhumäki. The Red Army follows slowly, sticking to the few roads.

German 122nd Infantry Division arrives Helsinki and Hanko. It's transferred to western shore of the Bay of Viipuri. Commander of the German 122nd Infantry Division just arriving Finland was Generalmajor H. Breusing.

EASTERN FRONT: The strain on the German defenders is already evident on the second day of the Russian offensive.

The Soviet Union answers Finnish peace feelers by demanding unconditional surrender.

ITALY: The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 335 bombers to attack targets in Romania; B-17s attack the railroad bridge at Piatra; B-24s bomb the railroad repair depot at Craiova and oil refinery at Ploesti; 33 P-51s sweep the Ploesti-Bucharest area while other P-51s, P-38s, and P-47s fly 220+ sorties in support of the bombers; the bombers and fighters claim 20+ aircraft shot down; ten US aircraft are downed and several others are missing.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: The 27th Division has completed clearing the southern part of the island. It is now ordered to join the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions in the fierce fighting in the northern part of the island. Elements of the 27th remain under Corps control.

BONIN ISLANDS: Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Group 58.1, the aircraft carriers USS Hornet (CV-12) and USS Yorktown (CV-10) and light aircraft carriers USS Bataan (CVL-29) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), attack Japanese airfields, fuel supplies and barracks on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. Over 140 IJN aircraft rise to challenge the attackers but USN F6F Hellcat pilots claim 116 enemy aircraft destroyed; ship AA fire downs others. After sunset, TG 58.1 retires towards Eniwetok Atoll.

Task Group 58.4 (aircraft carriers Cowpens, Essex and Langley) remain off Guam supporting the Allied operations on Saipan. Meanwhile, Task Force 58 is retiring towards Eniwetok Atoll and Task Group 58.1 (aircraft carriers Bataan, Belleau Wood, Hornet and Yorktown) attack Pagan Island in the Mariana Islands as a diversion. From radio intercepts, the US Navy learns that the Japanese are concentrating about 100 aircraft on Iwo Jima and orders are issued for Task Group 58.1 to sail north and attack the Bonin and Volcano Islands.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 33 remaining P-47s are launched from USS MANILA BAY.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Merrittonia (ex HMCS Pointe Claire) commissioned.

LCdr Gordon Wilson Stead RCNR awarded Bar to DSC. Lt Cornelius Burke RCNVR, A/LCdr Digby Rex Bell Cosh RCNVR, LCdr Rein Boulten Wadsworth RCNVR awarded DSC. Lt Thomas Ellis Ladner RCNVR, A/LCdr Charles Anthony Law RCNVR, Lt Frederick John Boyer RCNVR, LCdr Jeffry "Jeff" Vanstone Brock RCNVR, A/LCdr Digby Rex Bell Cosh RCNVR, Lt James William Gladwell RCNVR, A/LCdr John Davis Maitland RCNVR, Lt Herbert Marquis Pickard RCNVR, Lt John Parmeter Robarts RCNVR, Lt Harry Parks Wilson RCNVR awarded Mention-in-Dispatches.

Corvette HMCS Bowmanville (ex HMS Nunney Castle) commissioned. Built by Wm. Pickersgill and Sons Ltd., Sunderland, UK. Corvette, Castle Class, 1,060 tons, 251.75x36.6x10ft, 16kts, crew 7/105, 1-4in, 6-20mm(2xII, 2xI) Squid. Gunshield art, a Naval crown over three maple leaves, over Two bows represent her Canadian heritage, over a castle tower and chevron reflecting her RN Heritage as the former HMS Nunney Castle. Post WW.II, sold mercantile 1947, renamed Ta Shun (Chinese flag) later renamed Yuan Pei, 1949 rearmed and renamed Kuang Chou (China Communist).

U.S.A.: Martha Tilton's record of "I'll Walk Alone" makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The song is from the motion picture "Follow The Boys" starring Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Orson Welles, Dinah Shore, W.C. Fields, Jeanette MacDonald, The Andrew Sisters and Sophie Tucker. This is her first single to make the charts and it stays there for 24 weeks reaching Number 4.

CINCPAC COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 62,

1. Carrier aircraft of the fast carrier task force swept Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands on June 23 (West Longitude Date). Sixty or more enemy aircraft of a force which attempted to intercept our fighters were shot down. Twelve of the enemy planes found our carriers and all of these were shot down by our combat air patrols.

We lost four fighters. There was no damage to our surface ships.

2. Pagan Island in the northern Marianas was attacked by carrier aircraft on June 22. The following damage was inflicted on the enemy Four small cargo ships and one sampan, sunk. Two small cargo ships and 12 sampans, damaged. Four enemy aircraft destroyed and two probably destroyed on the ground. A flight consisting of one twin-engine bomber and five Zero fighters Intercepted some distance from our carrier force was shot down.

A wharf and fuel dumps at Pagan were destroyed and buildings and runways were damaged.

We lost one Hellcat fighter and one pilot.

3. United States Marines and Army troops are pushing ahead on Saipan Island and have made new gains along the northern shore of Magicienne Bay. Booby traps and land mines are being extensively employed by the enemy. Two enemy aircraft detected in the Saipan area were shot down by carrier aircraft of the fighter screen on June 21.

Coastal guns on Tinian Island have intermittently shelled our ships at anchor of Saipan, but have done little damage. On June 23 the airfields on Tinian Island were heavily bombed and shelled.

4. The airstrip and buildings at Rota Island were attacked by carrier aircraft on June 22. A medium cargo ship at Rota was sunk by an aerial torpedo. Our planes received no damage.

5. Shimushu Island in the Kuriles was attacked by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four before dawn on June 23. In the Central Pacific, Army, Navy, and Marine aircraft continued neutralization raids on June 23 against enemy positions in the Marshall and Caroline Islands. (Denis Peck)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A TBM Avenger of Composite Squadron Sixty Nine (VC-69) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9), sinks the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-52 in the Atlantic, 800 miles (1,287 km) southwest of the Azores.

HMCS HAIDA (G63), Cdr. Harry George DE WOLF, DSO, RCN, CO, and HMS ESKIMO (G75), both Tribal-class destroyers, with a Czechoslovakian ‘Liberator’ 'O'patrol aircraft from Czech 311 Squadron, sank U-971, OLtzS. Walter ZEPLIEN, CO, in the English Channel north of Brest, in position 49-01N 05-35W. There was only one casualty from U-971’s crew of 53 men.
U-971 was a medium-range Type VIIC submarine built by Blohm and Voss, at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 01 Apr 43. U-971 was on her first operational patrol when she was lost and had not sunk or damaged any ships. U-971 had been attacked several times by patrol aircraft and had already suffered heavy damage while she was enroute from Bergen to the English Channel, where she was to operate against the invasion fleet. OLtzS. Zeplien had decided to abandon the patrol and head to Brest for repairs when a Czech ‘Liberator’ aircraft attacked them again. HAIDA and ESKIMO were summoned by the patrol aircraft and they carried out a series of depth charge attacks. U-971 had exhausted her batteries and the water was knee–deep in the control room when the decision to emergency surface and scuttle the boat was taken. However, before the final order was given, the commander first ordered that the last of the boat’s beer be issued. Eventually, U-971 burst to the surface between HAIDA and ESKIMO who immediately opened an intense fire upon her. The crew abandoned the boat in good order suffering only one casualty. The destroyers recovered the survivors.
Walter Zeplien was born in 1918, at Greifswald. He joined the navy in 1937. His first recorded service is as the commander of the 7th R-boat flotilla (coastal mine countermeasures craft) from Jan 41 to Jul 42. He transferred to the U-boat force in Jul 42 and, after conversion training, was assigned in Dec 42 as the First Watch Officer in the successful Type VIIC boat U-575, KptLt. Günther Heydemann, Knight’s Cross, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, CO (nine ships sunk). He was selected for command and after his U-boat commander’s course was assigned to commission U-971 on 01 Apr 43, at the age of 24. After U-971 was sunk, OLtzS. became a prisoner of war. There is no record of how long he was detained after the war or of his release date. (Dave Shirlaw and Alex Gordon)

U-1225 (Type IXC/40) is sunk northwest of Bergen, at position 63.00N, 00.50W, by depth charges from a Canadian Canso (Catalina) aircraft (RCAF-Sqdn 162/P). 56 dead (all crew lost). U-1225 is commanded by OLtzS. Ernst Sauerberg. -1225 was a long-range Type IXC/40 submarine built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 10 Nov 43. U-1225 was on her first patrol at the time of her loss and had not sunk or damaged any ships. OLtzS. Sauerberg was her only commanding officer. F/Lt. D.E. Hornell, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his conduct during the attack and afterwards while awaiting rescue in the dinghy, which did not occur until the afternoon of the next day. Three of the eight aircrew died of exposure. Although approximately thirty members of the U-1225’s crew were also seen in the water after the attack, they all died of exposure and drowning.
Ernst Sauerberg was born in 1914, at Heide, in Holstein. He joined the navy in 1934 and transferred to the U-boat force in Jul 41. After conversion training he was assigned for a time to the 26th U-Flotilla. In Feb 42, he was assigned at the Second Watch Officer in the successful Type IXC boat U-515, OLtzS. Werner Henke, Knight’s Cross, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, CO, (25 ships sunk). He was promoted to Oberleutnant on 01 Dec 42 and was selected for command. He underwent his U-boat commander’s course from Jul to Aug 43. Sauerberg was assigned to commission U-1225 on 10 Nov 43, at the age of 29. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)