UNITED KINGDOM: The Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
- Mission 458: 1,129 B-17s and B-24s and 756 fighters are dispatched to attack synthetic oil plants, aircraft assembly plants and engine works, airfields and an equipment depot, marshalling yards, railway station and railway repair shops in Germany; 37 bombers and 6 fighters are lost.

1. Of 373 B-24s, 102 hit Lutzkendorf and 64 hit Halle oil plants, 90 hit Bernburg and 73 hit Aschersleben aircraft plants and eight hit targets of opportunity; they claim 39-5-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 28 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 224 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs; they claim 46-1-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; a P-38 and three P-51s are lost.

2. Of 303 B-17s, 64 hit Bohlen and 51 hit Merseburg oil plants, 67 hit Kolleda and 32 hit Lutzkendorf Airfields, 22 hit targets of opportunity and 16 hit Gottingen marshalling yard; two B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 185 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 9-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-1 on the ground; a P-47 and a P-51 are lost.

3. Of 453 B-17s, 114 hit Leipzig/Taucha, 79 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 35 hit Leipzig/Heiterblick and 15 hit Leipzig/Abtnaundorf oil plants, 46 hit Leipzig bearing industry, 35 hit Kolleda Airfield, 19 hit Leipzig Station and seven hit Nordhausen; seven B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 247 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground.

- Mission 459: 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.

- 19 B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER operations during the night.

Frigate HMS Loch Achray launched .

Frigate HMS Pitcairn commissioned

Minesweeper HMS Tanganyika commissioned.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: German submarine U-678 is sunk about 19 nm (36 km) south-southwest of Brighton, England, by RCN destroyers HMCS Ottawa and Kootenay and RN corvette HMS Statice. All hands on the U-boat (52-men) are lost.

US VIII, VII and XIX Corps are up against heavy opposition on a line from Haye du Puits to just east of the Vire River.

Battleship HMS Rodney bombards German positions around Caen.

RAF Bomber Command drops 6,000 bombs on the northern areas of Caen in support of Operation CHARNWOOOD. The bombs are fuzed to explode six hours later just before British I Corps is due to attack. The I Corps attack will seize the northern portion of Caen to the banks of the River Orne. (W Jay Stone)

100+ Ninth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-26 Marauders bomb a rail bridge near Tours, and targets of opportunity in the Lisieux and Beuzeville areas; 500+ fighters fly escort and area cover, carry out armed reconnaissance of communication and troop activity, and bomb railroads, rolling stock, marshalling yards, ammunition dumps, and bridges in frontline areas and wide areas of western France.

475 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets:

- 233 bomb the U-boat base at Toulon; 4 aircraft are lost.

- 146 hit the marshalling yard at Montpellier.

- 89 attack the marshalling yard at Beziers; 1 aircraft is lost.

- 6 bomb the marshalling yard at Marseilles.

- 1 bombs the marshalling yard at Sete.

GERMANY: 453 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack five targets; the bombers and fighter escorts claim 50+ aircraft shot down during fierce battle with 275-300 fighters mainly in the Vienna-Budapest area:

- 162 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer South; 10 aircraft are lost.

- 122 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North; 8 aircraft are lost.

- 106 bomb the Deschowitz synthetic oil facility at Odertel; 8 aircraft are lost.

- 62 bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil facility at Blechhammer North using radar; 1 aircraft is lost.

- 1 hits the city of Ober Gloglau.

U-2332, U-2333, U-2371, U-4701, U-4702, U-4703, U-4704, U-4705, U-4706, U-4707, U-4709, U-4710, U-4711, U-4712 ordered

U-778 commissioned

U-2511 laid down.

HUNGARY: One USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bomber bombs Lakesa.

ITALY: 85 RAF Liberators of No. 205 Group bomb the marshalling yard at Verona.

YUGOSLAVIA: 97 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers based in Italy attack three targets:

- 53 attack the airfield at Zagreb.

- 43 bomb the marshalling yard at Zagreb.

- 1 hits the airfield at Banja Luka.

FINLAND: Ihantala: This morning a Soviet attack against the I/IR 35 at Pyöräkangas is repulsed with the aid of artillery. The enemy stages another attempt at 3 pm. (a prisoner claimed that this attack was launched by a whole division), but is also repulsed. A few more Soviet attacks are prevented in the evening by Finnish artillery.
Vuosalmi: unsuccessful Finnish counterattacks to capture back the lost ground in the Finnish bridgehead. Finnish troops in northern Karelia (north of Lake Ladoga) get new orders to withdraw to defend the U-position. This is the position where the deciding battles in northern Karelia will be fought later in the month. The commander of the VI Corps, Maj. Gen. Blick is transferred to Isthmus to command the 2nd Div. His immediate superior, Lt. Gen. Talvela, the commander of the Aunus Group, thinks Blick has withdrawn too hastily. Blick's successor as the commander of VI Corps is Maj. Gen. Martola.

LITHUANIA: The Red Army enters Vilna.

ITALY: The US 34th Division liberate Pignano. 

CHINA: 14 B-29s of the XX Bomber Command, operating out of Chengtu, China during the night of 7/8 July, bomb Sasebo, Omura, and Tobata, Japan (most of the planes hitting the Sasebo area); 3 others attack secondary and last resort targets at Laoyao and in the Hankow area of China.

MARIANAS ISLANDS, SAIPAN: The Japanese garrison is now down to 3,000 soldiers. They mount an attack on the US lines south of Makunsha Village. The better armed US forces suffer terrific losses in holding this attack, some of which is fought at close quarters.

During one of these close attacks Japanese soldiers attack the battalion aid station of the 27th Infantry Division. A dentist serving as a surgeon at the station, Dr. (Capt.) Benjamin L. Salomon, killed several enemy soldiers as they tried to enter the aid station from different directions. As the attacks continued, he ordered comrades to evacuate the tent and carry away the wounded. He then went out to face the enemy alone and was last heard shouting, "I'll hold them off until you get them to safety. See you later." 

Salomon replaced a dead machine gun crew and begin firing on the attackers. When American troops retook the ground, they found his body still at the machine gun and surrounded by 98 dead Japanese soldiers. (MOH)

Another Medal of Honor will be awarded to Pfc Harold Christ Agerholm, US Marine Corps Reserve, who single-handedly evacuated 45 US casualties before being himself mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper.

From the 19 June to today, Sgt Thomas A. Baker, US Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division, has displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small arms fire from strongly fortified Japanese positions, he took a bazooka to within 100 yards of the Japanese and knocked out their strongpoint. He dies with an empty pistol having killed 8 Japanese. MOH

US Navy carrier based aircraft of Task Group 53.7 and Task Force 58 begin daily preinvasion air attacks against ground targets on Guam. During the night, eight "Betty" bombers from Truk Atoll and three from Guam attack US Navy ships but damage is negligible; two "Bettys" are shot down by Navy night fighters and one by a destroyer. Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Woleai Airfield on Yap during the day and Seventh Air Force B-24s bomb Truk Atoll during the night in an attempt to stop the air attacks.

- Task Group 53.7, the Southern Carrier Support Group, consists of the

following aircraft carriers:

- Carrier Division Twenty Two (CarDiv 22)

USS Chenango (CVE-28) with Escort Carrier Air Group Thirty Five (CVEG-35)

USS Sangamon (CVE-26) with CVEG-37

USS Suwanee (CVE-27) with CVEG-60

- Carrier Division Twenty Four (CarDiv 24)

USS Coral Sea (CVE-57) with Composite Squadron Thirty Three (VC-33)

USS Corregidor (CVE-58) with VC-41  

U.S.A.: Submarines USS Tench and Thornback launched.

Minesweeper USS Device commissioned.

CANADA: HMC MTB 463 sunk by mine. Crew taken off by HMC MTB 466. No lives lost

Corvette HMCS Moncton completes forecastle extension refit in Vancouver.

Tug HMCS Glencove commissioned.