This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

RUSSIA: The Germans capture 90,000 Russian prisoners against losses of 24,000 as the siege of Sevastopol comes to an end. The Russian death toll is impossible to estimate.

BARENTS SEA: Two U.S. freighters in Convoy PQ-17 (Iceland to Murmansk, USSR) are sunk by German submarines about 115 nm (209 km) southeast of Spitsbergen Island; the first is sunk by U-457 in the morning, after it had been damaged by a Luftwaffe He 115, and the second by U-334 is sunk before midnight after if had been damaged by Luftwaffe He 111s.
British Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord, orders the convoy to scatter believing the German capital ships will attack sooner or later. He believes that the Home Fleet cannot protect it since it is in range of land based German aircraft. The truth is that ALL Russian convoys are going to be within range of land based German aircraft at some point.
The significant feature of PQ-17 being ordered to scatter, and its RN escort ordered away, was that Admiral Pound believed that the German battleship Tirpitz, in company with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, might have put to sea, and that they would been able to destroy the entire naval escort and the merchant convoy before the Home Fleet could reach the scene. It was only on the evening of the 4th July that Bletchley Park cracked the German Naval messages for the 24 hour period ending at midday, and knew that Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper had been due to enter Altenfjord, Norway, located about 400 nm (740 km) south southeast of Spitsbergen Island, that same morning, and their accompanying destroyers ordered to refuel immediately. Admiral Pound calculated that if the German fleet sailed out within a few hours of their arrival, and made 28 knots, they would be able to reach the convoy within six hours, that is by 0200 hours on 5 July.
However, the issue depended on whether Tirpitz and her support had sailed or not. British Naval Intelligence maintained that Tirpitz had not sailed because of absence of any messages or reports to the contrary;
(1) no radio traffic between Tirpitz and Naval command had been heard, as might be expected if the ships had put to sea,
(2) messages to the shadowing U-Boats had not warned of the presence of German surface forces in the area,
(3) RN submarines watching the approaches to Altenfjord had not reported the German fleet sailing and
(4) the Norwegian coast watcher had not reported any enemy movement. Admiral Pound, however, asked his intelligence officer not for the reasons behind his presumption, but rather, if he could "assure him that Tirpitz was still at anchor in the Altenfjord", which he could not do, as he would have no information until the ships had actually sailed out.
At around 2000 hours, Admiral Pound called a meeting of the naval operations staff (about a dozen officers), and asked each of them to make a recommendation for the convoy. The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff recommended that if it was to be dispersed, that it should be done immediately, whilst all others present said that they did not recommend dispersal. After a period of consideration, Admiral Pound then made the decision that PQ-17 should scatter, and this action was taken by 2215 hours on 4 July. The merchant ships fanned outwards to scatter, whilst the RN escort withdrew at high speed to the west, under the impression that the Tirpitz was about to appear over the horizon, although in fact, the German fleet was impatiently awaiting the order to sail.
The subsequent mauling of the unescorted convoy was performed by aircraft and submarines, and of the 35 ships that sailed from Hvalfjord, Iceland on 27 June, only 11 reached Archangelsk with their cargo. Tirpitz had won a victory, without firing a shot.

HOLLAND: Six USAAF bombers join a RAF attack on airfields in Holland. This is the first operation of the USAAF. The aircraft were actually RAF Boston III's of RAF No. 226 Squadron based at Swanton Morley, Norfolk flown by members of the Eighth Air Force's 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light).
AMPLIFYING THE ABOVE:
The USAAF's 8th Air Force in England flies the first USAAF air operation over western Europe. Aircrew of the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) flying six American-built Bostons (A-20s) belonging to the RAF's No. 226 Squadron, join an RAF low-level attack on De Koog (2 aircraft), Bergen/Alkamaar, Haanstede and Valkenberg (2 aircraft) Airfields in the Netherlands; two aircraft are lost and six airmen are MIA. The aircraft flown by Captain Charles C Kegelman, Squadron Commander, is severely damaged, but Kegelman succeeds in bringing it back to base at Swanton Morley, Norfolk.

UK: The second 8th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress arrives in the UK via the North Atlantic ferry route.

[syscom3]

BARENTS SEA: Fifteen merchant ships of convoy PQ-17 (Iceland to Murmansk, USSR), eight American, five British, one Dutch and one Panamanian, are sunk by German submarines U-88 (1 ship), U-251 (1 ship) U-255 (4 ships), U-334 (1 ship), U-355 (1 ship), U-376 (1 ship), U-456 (1 ship), U-457 (2 ships) and U-703 (3 ships). Seven of the ships had been previously damaged by Luftwaffe He 111s and Ju 88s. All are sunk between 144 nm (267 km) southeast of Spitsbergen Island and 161 nm (298 km)east of Murmansk.

NORTH ATLANTIC: Westbound Convoy QP-13 sails into an Allied minefield in the Denmark Strait and loses 4 ships. These two convoys had passed on July 2.

USSR: The German 4th Panzer Group reaches the Don near Voronezh.

[Njaco]

NORTH / BARENTS SEA: The German Naval force was ordered to sea, but following reports of the successes of the Luftwaffe and U-Boats, it was soon ordered back to port. Meanwhile, with the majority of the escorts ordered to return to Scapa Flow, leaving only the AA auxillary and a few armed trawlers, the scattered merchant ships became easy prey for both U-Boat and aircraft. With no fighter cover for the stricken ships, the attacks on PQ-17 became a free-for-all. All 3 Gruppen of KG 30 under the command of Konrad Kahl, Erich Stoffregen and Hajo Hermann attacked the convoy all day. First to sink was the freighter SS "Peter Kerr" with bombs from a Ju 88 flown by Lt. Clausener. By the end of the day five more ships were sunk and many others damaged. 12 vessels were lost - 6 sunk by the Luftwaffe, including SS "Fairfeild City" and SS "David Morgan" and 4 different U-boats sunk the remaining six. Five German planes bombed the SS "David Morgan". Her Armed Guard shot down 2 planes, but the ship was so damaged by bombs that she sunk. Among the losses that day were US merchant ships SS"Pan Kraft", SS"Washington", SS"Carlton" and SS"Honomu". The men of the "Washington" spent almost 10 days before being rescued. After 7 days in the bitter cold weather, they went ashore at Novya Zemlya and made seagull soup.

The U-334 had sunk the SS"Earlston" and had taken its captain aboard. As it moved away on the surface it was attacked by a Ju 88 from III./KG 30. 2 bombs came close the submarine damaging the steering and making it impossible to submerge. It was then escorted back to Neidenfjord by U-456 arriving on 7 July. U-334 was later sunk with all hands on 14 June 1943 by HMS "Pelican" and HMS "Jed" off Iceland.

GERMANY: Hptm. Heinz-Gunther Amelung of 5./StG 77 was awarded the Ritterkreuz for victories in Poland, France The Balkans and Russia.

EASTERN FRONT: Armoured units of 4. Panzerarmee (Hoth) reached the Don at Voronezh.

[Njaco]

BARENTS / NORTH SEA: Two more ships were sunk from convoy PQ-17; SS"Pan Atlantic" by the Luftwaffe with the loss of 25 men, and SS"John Witherspoon" by U-255. Part of the Armed Guard and "John Witherspoon's" crew were in a boat for 53 hours before being rescued by the "El Capitain". The remainder were in an open lifeboat even longer before a British warship picked them up.

EASTERN FRONT: An Hs 129 belonging to 4.(Pz)./SchG 1 was reported lost in the Koblya-Sterya area.

NORTH AFRICA: The Afrika Korps was holding on to its positions before El Alamein against continuous attacks by the British 8th Army.

[Njaco]

BARENTS / NORTH SEA: Five more ships were sunk from convoy PQ-17 - two by U-255 - including SS"Olapana" and SS"Alcoa Ranger". The SS"Bellingham" took a torpedo, but this failed to explode and she was able to reach Archangel by 10 July. The remaining escort vessels withdrew into the Artic Ocean but the merchant ships suffered no more that day.

EASTERN FRONT: Units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) captured Voronezh on the Don.

ENGLAND: A series of small Luftwaffe raids took place at Billingham, Middleborough, West Hartlepool, Gateshead and Seaton Carew, in addition bombs also fell near Scarborough. Oil storage tanks at Billingham Reach Wharf were hit by HE bombs and set on fire. 49 houses were destroyed or demolished and 45 were seriously damaged. A Do 217E-4 from 9./KG 2 was shot down by a Beaufighter from RAF No. 406 Sqdn and crashed in the sea off Middleborough. Oblt. G. Lanz, Fw. E. Loers, Uffz. A. Engler and Fw. J. Klatt were all missing. A Do 217 from 4./KG 2 crashed off the Dutch coast on its return from the raid.

NORTH AFRICA: The "Gladiator" claimed by 2./JG 27's Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt near El Daba on 7 July appears more likely to have been an Italian CR 42.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) at Voronezh began an offensive southeast along the west bank of the Don to meet up with 6.Armee (von Paulus) advancing east toward the Don from Kharkov with the objective of establishing bridgeheads across the river in the Kalach area and continuing on to capture Stalingrad on the Volga. Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 shot down 2 Russian Boston twin-engined bombers attacking a bridge west of Voronezh. But he was hit by AA fire and crash-landed his Bf 109F between the frontlines where a German patrol eventually found him. Another Hs 129 belonging to 4.(Pz)./SchG 1 was shot down by Russian fighters at Voronezh.

MEDITERRANEAN: Axis bombers carried out more raids on harbour facilities at Malta.

NORTH AFRICA: Lt. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of 2./JG 27 brought down a trio of Hurricanes, taking his score to 30.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Ofw. Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert of 3./JG 52 scored his 50th enemy aircraft destroyed.

NORTH AFRICA: Renewed attacks by the Afrika Korps against British defenses at El Alamein were bogged down in the face of stubborn British resistance. One of the 6 US aircraft sent to attack an Axis convoy, B-24D "Eager Beaver", went down into the sea in flames. The bomber was victory number 34 for Fw. Gunther Steinhausen of 1./JG 27, who was credited with JG 27's second Liberator.

[Njaco]

BARENTS / NORTH SEA: What was left of convoy PQ-17 reached the entrance to the White Sea where the remaining ships were continuously attacked by 5. and 6./ KG 30. The Luftwaffe attacks sank 2 more Allied ships, the last losses being SS"Hoosier" and SS"El Capitain". Two surviving ships made port at Archangel. Another 9 arrived there or at Murmansk over the following week. The Luftwaffe had flown 202 sorties against the convoy. PQ-17 lost 13 ships (of 35 that began the journey) sunk from air attack (the Luftwaffe lost 6 aircraft in the exchange) and a further 10 sunk by U-Boats. Thus for a loss of 3% of its force, the Luftwaffe claimed fully 37% of PQ-17 with U-Boats claiming another 29% of the convoy for no loss of their own crews. The sunken ships carried, among other cargo, 430 tanks, 210 aircraft and 3,350 vehicles and 93,316 tonnes of other cargo. Two of the surviving ships were sunk on the return journey, SS"Silver Sword" and SS"Bellingham". One of them became the 5th victim of U-255. Without firing a gun, without even getting within 480km (300 miles) of the convoy, "Tirpitz" had achieved one of the outstanding naval successes of the war. The convoy was virtually wiped out.

EASTERN FRONT: Armoured units of 4.Panzerarmee (Hoth) and 6.Armee (von Paulus) of Heersgruppe B (von Weichs) joined up north of Kalach, while 17.Armee (Ruoff) and 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) of Heersgruppe A (List) continued their advance towards Rostov.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Fw. Anton "Toni" Hafner of 8./JG 51 shot down his 50th enemy aircraft. The longest range daylight raid to date was carried out by aircraft of RAF Bomber Command, when they attacked the shipyards at Danzig in Poland.

NORTH AFRICA: In a fierce engagement, fighters of I and II./JG 27 reported meeting a total of 40 to 45 British fighters. They were actually engaged by 12 Kittyhawks of 2 SAAF Sqdn and 12 Tomahawks of 5 SAAF Sqdn. Uffz. Josef Vavra of 5./JG 27 claimed a Spitfire at 16.03 hours east of El Alamein. Fw. Heinrich Stein of 4./JG 27 claimed a Hurricane south of El Alamein at 16.05 hours. At the same time, Lt. Werner Schroer of 8./JG 27 claimed one Spitfire 10km south-east of El Alamein. Oblt. Ernst Borngen of 5./JG 27 claimed a Spitfire south-west of El Alamein and 4 P-40s were claimed at 16.10 hours by Lt. Werner Schroer, Uffz. Walter Timmermann, Lt. Hans -Arnold Stahlschmidt, and Fw. Heinrich Stein. In total they claimed to have shot down 3 Spitfires, a Hurricane and 4 P-40s. British losses that day amounted to 2 Tomahawks of 5 SAAF Sqdn and 1 Kittyhawk destroyed with 2 more Kittyhawks being damaged.

[Njaco]

BARENTS / NORTH SEA: Colonel-General Stumpf, Commander-in-Chief of Luftflotte 5, reported to Reichsmarschall Goering the "annihilation of the major convoy PQ-17. On 10 July, reconnaissance of the White Sea, the western channel of the Kola coast and the sea area to the north, found no further merchant vessels left afloat....I claim for Luftflotte 5 the sinking of 22 merchant vessels, together comprising 142,216 tonnes..."

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Stavka (Red Army High Command) established a Stalingrad Front under Marschal Timoshenko. On the Leningrad front, troops of Heeresgruppe Nord completed the reduction of the Volchov pocket, taking 30,000 prisoners, including General Vlasov, commanding officer of the Second Guards Army and later to become Commander-in-Chief of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army.

WESTERN FRONT: Six Bostons of the US 15th Bombardment Sqdn, borrowed from the RAF, hit Abbeville/Drucat airfield in France. 2 aircraft were damaged.

[syscom3]

ATLANTIC: Operation Drumbeat continues as German submarines sink two armed U.S. merchant vessels. U-84 sinks a freighter 20 miles (32.2 km) off Cardenas, Cuba and U-129 sinks a tanker in the Caribbean. In the latter sinking, the survivors are interrogated and then provided medical assistance and directions to the nearest land.

[Njaco]

NORTH AFRICA: JG 27's Geschwader-Adjutant Hptm. Ernst Dullberg continued a tradition which had been started back in the campaigns of the Battle of Britain and the Balkans by claiming the Geschwaderstab's one and only kill for the entire North African campaign - a Hurricane southwest of El Alamein in the early evening.

[Graeme]

ENGLAND: In an attempt to to give the Russians information that would enable them to anticipate future moves, material culled from the German's own Enigma messages were sent to Moscow. These messages included on July 13, details of the precise defensive line which the Germans intended to hold in the Voronezh region, while pushing their armoured forces forward between the Donetz and the Don. On the following day, London sent Moscow further details of the objectives that had been laid down for three of the German armies then about to go into action.

MEDITERRANEAN: There was considerable relief for Britain on July13, with the announcement that, in the previous six weeks, a total of 693 German and Italian aircraft had been destroyed by British aircraft based at Malta.

EASTERN FRONT: Hitler decides to make Stalingrad the major objective of Army Group B. Von Bock is dismissed from the command of Army Group B and replaced by von Weich.

[syscom3]

ATLANTIC: Operation Drumbeat continues as German submarines sink two U.S. merchant vessels. U-166 sinks an unarmed freighter about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Cape Maysi, Cuba. U-67 sinks an armed tanker about 80 miles (130 km) from Southwest Passage, Louisiana.

[Graeme]

LONDON:The Free French are officially renamed the "Fighting French" today at the request of General De Gaulle.

CROATIA: The Nazis murder 700 people in reprisal for the murder of the local Gestapo chief SS Major Helm.

EASTERN FRONT: The Fourth Panzer Army joined in the German drive toward Rostov, while other Axis forces continued smashing toward Stalingrad.

NORTH AFRICA: British forces now began to turn the tide of Rommel's advance, not gaining very much ground, but inflicting heavy losses on German forces, which attacked the Ruweisat Ridge, and thereby ending once and for all Rommel's hopes of entering Cairo and Alexandria. 'My expectations for yesterdays attack were bitterly disappointed,' Rommel wrote to his wife on July 14,. 'It achieved no success whatsoever.' The battle on the Eastern Front, he added, 'is going splendidly, which gives us courage to hang on'.