This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Hugh Spencer]

29th June 1943
16 Wellingtons were sent to lay mines off Lorient and St Nazaire, 1 aircraft lost.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: RAF No. 315 (Polish) Sqdrn provided rear cover for 16 Group Beaufighters attacking a convoy off Hague.
....'U-518' shot down an RAAF 10 Sqn Sunderland. 'U-518' was then strafed and attacked with four depth charges by the British Sunderland aircraft W6005 (201 Sqdn RAF/P, pilot F/O Brian E.H. Layne, RNZAF) west of Cape Finisterre. 'U-518' was damaged so badly that she had to return to base and subsequently survived another air attack 3 days later while inbound.

MEDITERRANEAN: USAAF bombers attacked German airfields at Eleusis and Hassani, near Athens. B-24s hit airfields at Kalamaki and Eleusis, Greece, damaging buildings, runways, and parked airplanes and claimed 7 fighters shot down. During the night, Wellingtons bombed the marshalling yard and port area of Naples, Italy.
....US HQ 57th Fighter Group and it's 64th, 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons transferred with P-40s from Tunisia to Malta.
....RFA 'Abbeydale' damaged by 'U-73'. 'U-73' was then depth charged in the Mediterranean by escorts. Due to heavy damage, the boat had to return to base.
....'U-81' fired a spread of two torpedoes at the 'Michalios' and hit her with one torpedo in the stern. The stern broke off, causing the ship to sink within two minutes three miles west of Latakia. The U-boat had missed the vessel, misidentified as the Greek steam merchant 'Livathos' (1667 tons), at 1457 hours with a first spread of two torpedoes. The U-boat was then attacked by shore-based guns in the Mediterranean off Latakia

ENGLAND: The British Chiefs of Staff circulated the paper "German Long-Range Rocket: Evidence Received from All Sources", concluding that German rocket development was taking place at Peenemünde, with manufacturing to start soon in the nearby factory area.

EASTERN FRONT: One of the last great Jewish ghettoes in Poland at Lwow has now been destroyed. S Lt-Gen Fritz Katzmann rounded up the remainder of this city's Jews, an estimated 20,000, and shipped them off to camps, mainly to the extermination centres of Auschwitz and Belzec. But the SS came up against stiff resistance from those Jews strong enough to fight. They fought back with smuggled Italian handguns, and in the end 500 of them took to the sewers. The Germans were unaware of the Jews' secret weapon. In the last days, they released thousands of lice infected with deadly spotted fever, which they had saved up for the final reckoning.
....'U-18' encountered a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea, but neither boat attacked.

[Njaco]

ENGLAND: A change in the design of the US National Star Insignia applied to US aircraft added white rectangles on the left and right sides of the blue circular field to form a horizontal bar, and a red border stripe around the entire design. This replaces the white star in blue circle insignia.
....The prototype Hawker Tempest MK II (LA 602) flies today. With a 2,526-h.p. Bristol Centaurus engine it will be the RAF's most powerful piston-engined fighter. With extra fuel tanks it has a range of 1,640 miles.

MEDITERRANEAN: During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons bombed the Messina, Sicily marshalling yards and Villa San Giovanni. The following day, 97 B-17s hit Leghorn with 261 tons of bombs severely damaging industrial and railway installations; B-25 Mitchells with 25 P-38s for escort, hit airfields near Olbia, Sardinia and Alghero, Sicily, B-26 Marauders attacked the landing ground at Milis, Sardinia, and fighters hit the airfield at Decimomannu, Sardinia.
....The US 27th and 71st Fighter Squadrons, 1st Fighter Group transferred with P-38s from Chateaudun-du-Rhumel, Algeria to Mateur, Tunisia. The US 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Group transferred with P-40s from Menzel Temime, Tunisia to Pantelleria Island.

WESTERN FRONT: The US VIII Bomber Command flew Mission Number 69. 185 B-17s and six YB-40s were dispatched against the locks and submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, France; 158 hit the target between 1655 and 1713 hours local; they claimed 28-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; eight B-17s were lost and 57 others were damaged. This mission was escorted partway to the target by 130 P-47s. Fifty other B-17s were dispatched against Beaumont-le-Roger Airfield; 43 bombed the target between 1736 and 1740 hours local; six B-17s were damaged.
.... 'U-172' fired a spread of two torpedoes at SS 'City of Vernon' (Master Malcolm Douglas Loutit),from convoy OS-49, and observed a hit in the forward hold. The ship settled and sank by the bow at 07.07 hours south-southeast of St. Paul Rocks. The U-boat misidentified her victim as 'Cornish City'. The master, 43 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by the Brazilian coastal tanker 'Aurora M'. and landed at Recife on 4 July.
....Eight aircraft of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn did convoy patrol from early morning. At 1825 hours eleven aircraft, again led by S/LDR. KORNICKI, F. took off to take part in a Circus 40.
....Hptm. Walter Hoeckner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1, taking over command from acting Gruppenkommandeur Hptm. Robert Olejnik.

EASTERN FRONT: A rigger named Stahlsmeier was sent to 14(Jabo)./JG 5 in Finland. He was to fit ETC 501 bomb racks to the unit's Fw 190s. SC 250 and SC 500 bombs were used by aircraft of 14(Jabo)./JG 5. A reasonably simple modification was done to convert the Fw 190 fighters to fighter-bombers. They were given the ETC 501 rack under the fuselage, round peices of metal were installed inside the inner edges of the wheel walls to secure the rack and the wheel doors were removed. Some of the Jabos were fitted with the exhaust of the Fw 190A-5. All of 14(Jabo)./JG 5's Fw 190s had the mid-wing MG FF cannon and associated underwing bulges removed. There were never more than 3 Fw 190A-2s on strength.

[Hugh Spencer]

30th June 1943
During June approximately 1,801 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were lost, either POW's or killed in action.

[Hugh Spencer]

1st July 1943
12 Lancasters went minelaying in the Frisian Islands, no losses.

[Njaco]

GERMANY: After making a tour of fighter stations in the West, Reichsmarschall Goering reported, "To achieve any decisive success against American formations of between 100 and 200 four-engined bombers, the fighter forces must out-number the enemy by 4 to 1. Successful defense against such formations, therefore, requires the commitment of 600 to 800 fighters on each occasion....The morale of the pilots is excellent; their performance, considering their numerical weakness, cannot be stressed too much and the leaders are well up to their task. Provided they recieve new reinforcements, the prospects of the day-fighter can be viewed with complete assurance."

MEDITERRANEAN: Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers hit the airfield at Reggio di Calabria, Italy. Wellingtons during the night raid ferry slips and marshalling yard at Messina, Sicily.

WESTERN FRONT: VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 70: 108 B-17s were dispatched against the air depot at Villacoublay, France and another 40 against the airfield at Tricqueville, France. Neither groups hit the target due to heavy cloud cover and returned to base. They claimed 0-3-3 Luftwaffe aircraft and 14 B-17s were damaged. Another 84 B-17s were dispatched against the aeroengine works at Le Mans, France. 76 hit the target between 1959 and 2003 hours local. Both of the 2 YB-40s dispatched as escorts were forced to abort. The lack of success of the YB-40's in this and previous missions in Jun 43 convinced Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker, Commanding General Eighth Air Force, that if the escort bomber was to succeed it must be able to carry bombs and must be endowed with the same flight performance as the B-l7.
....The USN and USAAF finally got their acts together and issued a joint instruction, Army-Navy Aeronautical Specification AN-1-9a, dated 29 June, with the effective date of 1 September 1943, specifying the addition of white horizontal triangles to the national star insignia. The whole insignia was to be outlined in red.

ENGLAND: The US 548th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Great Ashfield, England from the US with B-17s. The squadron will fly it's first mission on 17 Jul 43.
....The Defence Committee of the British War Cabinet ordered Peenemünde, Germany to be bombed on the heaviest scale. Recent aerial reconnaissance had identified the area to be a center of rocket research and development.
.....London reports that Germany is reported to have recalled all U-boats in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Europe.
....The award of the Albert Medal was gazetted in London to AB Eynon Hawkins (b.1920), RN, who organized a group of fellow survivors in the water pending their rescue, keeping them from their blazing merchantman and helping two men in trouble.

[Njaco]

ENGLAND: Aircraft of RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn which took part in the mining operation of the previous night were flown form Harwell to base. Fourteen sorties of RAF No. 317 (Polish) Sqdrn were made for convoy patrol from early morning.
....In the evening the Polish Army Choir gave a concert in Lincoln, by kind permission of his worship the Mayor.
....The US VIII Fighter Command became independent of Royal Air Force (RAF) operational control. All fighter groups were placed under control of the 4th Air Defense Wing.
....Signposts were to be re-erected in rural areas of Britain, now that the danger of invasion has receded. Tank traps, anti-tank trenches and barbed wire entanglements would be removed where they were no longer necessary. Lord Mottisone said that on a windy day at least ten young women had had their frocks ripped on barbed wire within 300 yards of the House of Lords. Anti-tank blockades in the streets were the cause of accidents.
....War production in Britain was at its highest since hostilities began. There were now nearly five million men and women employed in the munitions industries, and output of weapons was at its peak. The biggest of all was the aircraft industry, expanded to 1,600,000 workers, 40% of them women, which was turning out 26,000 planes a year, including 7,000 bombers. Fighting vehicles were being produced at the rate of 7,400 tanks and 24,000 armoured cars this year. It is calculated that 90% of single and 80% of married women of working age are in industry or the auxiliary forces. Over one million people over 65 are working. Average weekly wages reached £7/8/7 in aircraft factories and £6/18/3 for men (£3/9/10 for women) in engineering. But highly skilled piece-workers fitting aero engines can be earning up to £20 a week or more. Hours worked have been reduced from the 70 or more a week in 1940, as accidents and fatigue lowered productivity. The maximum recommended was 55 hours a week for men, 50 for women, with one day off a week and one week's paid holiday a year. Committees were set up to increase efficiency. Twice-weekly broadcasts of Music While You Work raised production by 15% for the next hour.
....The British published aircraft losses incurred to date, with Axis losses of 18,031 aircraft and RAF losses of 9,906 aircraft.

MEDITERRANEAN: During the night over 60 Wellingtons hit the area NW of Cape San Marco, Italy and the marshalling yard and surrounding area at Messina, Sicily. In Sicily the following day, B-17s bombed the airfields at Palermo and Boccadifalco, B-25s hit the airfield at Sciacca, and B-26s struck the airfield at Bo Rizzo. Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) airplanes sank 2 schooners off of Sardinia and damageed a vessel off the W coast of Italy.
....Thirty six B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off to bomb aircraft on the Sciacca airdrome. The visibility was very poor and a number of the crews were unable to see the target. Some hits were reported on the west and east dispersal areas with a large billow of smoke in the southeast area. Four enemy aircraft were seen which did not attack. One was destroyed by the escort. 1Lt Charles D. Lungren of the 447th BS reported, "A funny thing happened on our way out. We were to bomb our target after the 310thy---a difference of some 45 minutes in target times. We were just off the Tunisian coast when the 310th, coming back, flew under us. An ME -109 was trailing them — probably to spot their field if he could. The poor guy didn’t see us coming and the first thing he knew he was headed for the big middle of a whole flock of B-25s and P-38s! You could almost hear his tires squealing as he threw on his brakes and made a quick turn around. Last we saw of him, he was leading a big whirlpool of P-38s out to catch him. I never found out if they got him, but his chances were pretty slim!”
....Worried that Italy might defect from the Axis after its defeats in North Africa, the Luftwaffe moved two operational command stations from the Russian front to southern Italy. The move followed Allied air raids on Messina, in Sicily, and Livorno, on the Italian mainland. In London, Winston Churchill talked in a broadcast of Italian speculation about where the coming invasion would land. "It is no part of our business to relieve their anxieties," he said.

WESTERN FRONT: Total German submarine sinkings of merchant shipping in the Atlantic during the month amounted to 18,000 tons. German submarine losses during the month were 17.
....Ju 88A-4 belonging to 4./KG 30 crashed in a field belonging to Thomas Petersen of Perbøl Mark north of Krusaa and was 50% damaged.
....RAF Serrate operations - fighter interception by homing onto enemy transmissions, combined with airbourne interception radar to give range indications - began against German night-fighters.

EASTERN FRONT: The commander of the Polish Home Army, Gort-Rowecki was arrested by the Germans in Warsaw. Bor-Komorowski replaced him.
....Preparations were being made in the Ukraine for a massive test of strength between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. Hitler had planned Operation 'Citadel' to break the stalemate on the eastern front by pinching out the huge Russian salient around Kursk. He amassed a vast army with nearly a million men and 2,500 tanks under the command of General Model and General Hoth. But Stalin, alerted by the "Lucy" spy-ring, built a deep web of defensive positions.

[Hugh Spencer]

2nd July 1943
3 Mosquitoes went to Cologne and 2 to Duisburg. 32 aircraft went minelaying in the Frisians and off Brittany ports without loss.

[Njaco]

WESTERN FRONT: Due to the success of 1./SAGr 128, there had been a proposal by the General der Luftwaffe beim ObdM for another Fw 190 equipped See-Jagd-Staffel, to be designated 3./128. However, this proposal was never carried out, and 1./SAGr 128, occasionally supported by 8./JG 2, remained the only long-range single-engined German fighter unit operating over the Bay of Biscay.
....With only a token force of seven U-boats remaining in the North Atlantic now that the "air gap" has been closed, British naval and air forces were being deployed to tackle the enemy in the Bay of Biscay. Substantial damage had been inflicted, and two weeks ago Admiral Dönitz ordered submarines to cross the bay submerged and in pairs. More effective U-boat detection devices, plus Allied ability to read German codes, was still putting the German navy on the defensive, however. A particular target for the Allies were the "milch cows", U-boat tankers which were used for refuelling other boats.
....Over Holland, the fighters of I./JG 1 met American P-47 Thunderbolts for the first time. Lt. Eberhard Burath commented; "The days passed with defensive patrols, sea recon and repeatedly alarms without contact with the enemy. But on 1 July there was something new in the sky; in the vincinity of Hoek von Holland we met up for the first time with Thunderbolts. From a distance they looked disconcertingly similar to the Fw 190. What they were able to fire from their 8 squirters I frequently came to feel later on." During the combat, Fw. Martin Lacha destroyed one of the P-47s, piloted by Col. Arman Peterson, the C/O of the US 78th FG, who had led the group since its formation in the US in May 1942. The American group claimed four Fw 190s, probably got another and damaged five others for the loss of one man.
....8./KG 101 based at Cognac was redesignated as the Erg.Sta.(Nacht) SKG 10.
....The US 3d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, based at Ft. Dix Army Air Base, New Jersey with B-24s, ceased flying ASW missions. The 16th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy), 25th Antisubmarine Wing, based at Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina with B-25s, ceased flying ASW missions.
....In the night on 1 Jul, 1943, the unescorted SS 'Tutoya' (Master Acácio de Araújo Faria) was hit by one torpedo from 'U-513' and sank by the bow in a few minutes off the coast of São Paulo. The master and six crew members were lost. 17 survivors in a lifeboat and 6 men on a raft made landfall at the coast and a second boat with 7 occupants was towed into the harbour of Santos by a motorboat.

EASTERN FRONT: In preparation for Unternehmen 'Zitadel', many Luftwaffe units were moved into the Ukraine. The fighters of the Stab, I. and III./JG 52 were one of the first ordered from the Black Sea coast.

GERMANY: Messerschmitt designer Kurt Tank at Hannover-Langenhagen flew the first prototype of a specialized two-seat night-fighter of a wooden construction, The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 'Moskito'. Without any armament or equipment, the aircraft reached a speed of 635km/h at 6,000 meters.
....Major Werner Streib became Geschwaderkommodore of NJG 1 replacing Oberst Wolfgang Falck.
....Hitler addressed his major commanders at his Wolf's Lair headquarters in Rastenburg, briefing them on the upcoming offensive against the Kursk salient. He set July 4 for the offensive to begin. German objectives were to take high ground in front of start positions prior to main attack on the 5th.

ENGLAND: Great Britain enjoyed her sixth day without sighting an enemy plane, while Mustangs and Typhoons shot up twenty locomotives in sweeps over Northern France to cap a record month of aerial warfare in which the Royal Air Force alone dropped at least 13,500 tons of explosives on German targets.
.....This day marked the 3rd Anniversary of the formation of the RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn, and a celebration was held on the station for the occasion. A presentation of awards was made to flying personnel, a communal lunch was held in No. 3 Hangar, followed by an Exhibition of the work of the Squadron`s mechanics. Following this at 16.00 hours, a performance of “Wloszka Fala” took place in the Airmen`s Institue, and at 18.00 hours a Garden Fete was held on the playing field. No flying took place whatever.
....RAF No. 309 (Polish) Sqdrn were drawn up on parade on the airfield to await the arrival of the Polish Air Force Colours made secretly by Polish women in Poland and smuggled by undergrounds service to Britain, and due to be held by the Unit for three months. Colours and escort arrived by air at 1530 hrs and were received with due ceremony. The escort with Colours took up position on the runway, and the Squadron marched past and paid compliments. The colours were then escorted to Squadron Headquarters to be placed in safe custody. Four shipping Recce. sorties carried out along Dutch coast.
....A memo by Major General Barney Mc Giles for General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General, USAAF, stressed great need for more fighter escort for strategic bombing missions. The present ratio of less than 1 fighter group to 4 heavy bomber groups was held to be completely insufficient and a minimum ratio of 1 to 2 was suggested.
....Eden announced that Empire casualties in first three years of war were 92,089 killed, 226,719 missing, 88,294 wounded and 107,891 captured.

MEDITERRANEAN: Royal Air Force (RAF) Halifaxes hit Catania, Sicily railway yards. During the night Wellingtons bombed barracks and a railway station at Cagliari, Sicily.

[Njaco]

MEDITERRANEAN: The US 15th Air Force launched a series of heavy raids against airfield in southern Italy in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. US 9th Air Force dispatched B-24 Liberators to bomb airfields at Lecce, Grottaglie and San Pancrazio Salentino. Jafu Sud-Italien responded by sending fighetrs from 10./JG 3 and II./JG 27 to intercept. Engaging the bombers near Lecce, several Experten added to their scores. From 10./JG 3, Lt. Otto Wessling destroyed 2 Liberators to bring his score to 64, Oblt. Franz Daspelgruber gained his 46th kill and getting their first kills were Uffz. Hans-Ulrich Jung and Lt. Hans Zwick. Another B-24 was destroyed by Fw. Uwe Krais for his 15th. Hptm. Ernst Boerngen of 5./JG 27 reached a score of 25 after bringing down 2 Liberators while single victories were credited to Lt. Karl-Heinz Kapp of Stab II./JG 27, Fw. Heinrich Steis and Lt. Josef Torfer from 4./JG 27, Lt. Willy Kienrsch of 6./JG 27 and Uffz. Karl Kampe of 5./JG 27. Despite all this claiming, only 4 bombers were lost.
....In Sicily, Ninth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit the airfield and surrounding area at Sciacca. P-40s, escorting the bombers to Sciacca, shot down a fighter and damaged one. The fighters of 5./JG 77 engaged the escorting Kittyhawks in the morning near Sciacca. Two P-40s were lost. Claiming credit for destroying the P-40s were Lt. Egon Graf von Beissel for his 2d kill and gaining first kills were Uffz. Friedrich Walter and Uffz. Schubert. At about the same time, Lt. Armin Kohler shot down a B-25 for his 23d kill.
....Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons hit Palermo and Cagliari during the night and Northwest African Tactical Air Force B-25s hit Castelvetrano during the day.

WESTERN FRONT: The US 8th Air Force was ready to start operating over 1000 heavy bombers from English air fields for the first time in the war.
....The unescorted 'Empire Kohinoor' was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-618' about 250 miles SW of Freetown. Six crewmembers were lost. The master, 72 crewmembers and eight gunners were rescued. The first boat was rescued by destroyer HMS 'Wolverine' and landed at Takoradi. The second boat was rescued by the British merchantman 'Gascony' and the third landed at Lumley Beach, Sierra Leone on 7 July.
....At 0008, the unescorted 'Bloody Marsh' was on her maiden voyage, when the ship´s torpedo indicator sounded after detecting the approach of a torpedo from 'U-66'. The master ordered a course change to hard left, but 30 seconds later the torpedo struck the port side at the engine room, destroying the room completely, flooding the compartment and killing one officer and two men on watch below. The hull was ruptured on the port side from midship to the engine room. As the tanker settled slowly by the stern, gradually losing headway, the after gun crew reported a conning tower but could not open fire because the explosion had jammed the gun. The forward gun did not get into action because it could not be brought to bear. Most of the ten officers, 40 men and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) left the ship in four lifeboats and three rafts, with the exception of the armed guard commander and three of his men. 20 minutes after the attack, a second torpedo struck the port side amidships, broke the ship in two and immediately sank the tanker about 75 miles east of Savannah, Georgia. The four armed guards jumped overboard as the water reached the after gun platform. At 06.00 hours, a Navy blimp sighted the survivors and signaled that help was on the way. USS SC-1048 picked them up at 0900 and landed them at Charleston, South Carolina.
....'U-543' (Type IXC/40) was sunk in the mid-Atlantic SW of Tenerife by depth charges and a homing torpedo from an Avenger aircraft (VC-5 of the US escort carrier USS 'Wake Island'.

EASTERN FRONT: Submarine "Sch-422" of the Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla was mined and then finished by surface ASW ships, close to Maakur lighthouse, in Varde area.
....A Ju 88 of 4.(F)/122 suffered problems with one engine (cause unknown) and was escorted while over the Black Sea by a Do 24. Another Ju 88D-1 of 4.(F)/122 crashed in the Kerch area due to engine failure.
....The pilots and crew of III./JG 54 gave up their airbase at Taman and moved to the airfield at Ugrim.
....Among the losses for the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front was Harald Frenzel (8 victories) of JG 3.

[Hugh Spencer]

3rd July 1943
293 Lancasters, 182 Halifaxes, 89 Wellingtons, 76 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitoes attacked Cologne, 30 aircraft lost.
The aiming point for this raid was that part of Cologne situated on the east bank of the Rhine. Much industry was located there. Pathfinder ground marking was accurately maintained by both the Mosquito Oboe aircraft and the backers-up, allowing the Main Force to carry out another heavy attack on Cologne. 20 industrial premises and 2,200 houses were completely destroyed. 588 people were killed, approximately 1,000 were injured and 72,000 bombed out.
The night saw the first operations of a new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300, equipped with single-engined fighters using the Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) technique. In this, a German pilot used any form of illumination available over a city being bombed - searchlights, target indicators, the glow of fires on the ground - to pick out a bomber for attack. Liaison with the local flak defences were supposed to ensure that the flak was limited to a certain height above which the Wild Boar fighter was free to operate. RAF crews were not used to meeting German fighters over a target city and it was some time before the presence of the new danger was realised. The reports on this night from 4 bombers that they had been fired on over the target by other bombers were almost certainly the result of Wild Boar attacks. The new German unit claimed 12 bombers shot down over Cologne but had to share the 12 available aircraft found to have crashed with the local flak, who also claimed 12 successes.
4 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 4 to Hamburg. 14 Stirlings went minelaying in the Frisians, 2 Stirlings lost.

[Njaco]

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet air attacks on German airfields caused heavy damage and disrupted preparations for the coming offensive against the Kursk bulge. German leaders delayed the opening of the attack by an additional day to recover from the attacks.
....On the night of the 3rd July German Army sappers cleared and taped paths through some of the minefields, in preparation for Unternehmen 'Zitadel', the Battle of Kursk. Testimony to the expertise of the Großdeutschland engineers was the fact that ten men of the 2nd Engineer Company lifted and made safe a total of 2,700 mines which worked out at a rate of a mine a minute by each man! On the same night the Red Army captured a sapper of the 6th Infantry Division - Private Fermello - after a skirmish, who informed the Soviets of the start time of the offensive which was to be at 3am on 5 July.
....The Germans’ goal during 'Zitadel', was to pinch off a large salient in the Eastern Front that extended 70 miles toward the west. Field Marshal Günther von Kluge’s Army Group Center would attack from the north flank of the bulge, with Colonel General Walther Model’s Ninth Army leading the effort, General Hans Zorn’s XLVI Panzer Corps on the right flank and Maj. Gen. Josef Harpe’s XLI Panzer Corps on the left. General Joachim Lemelsen’s XLVII Panzer Corps planned to drive toward Kursk and meet up with Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Army Group South, Col. Gen. Hermann Hoth’s Fourth Panzer Army and the Kempf Army, commanded by General Werner Kempf.
....Opposing the German forces were the Soviet Central Front, led by General Konstantin K. Rokossovsky, and the Voronezh Front, led by General Nikolai F. Vatutin. The Central Front, with the right wing strengthened by Lt. Gen. Nikolai P. Pukhov’s Thirteenth Army and Lt. Gen. I.V. Galinin’s Seventeenth Army, was to defend the northern sector. To the south, the Voronezh Front faced the German Army Group South with three armies and two in reserve. The Sixth Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. Mikhail N. Chistyakov, and the Seventh Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. M. S. Shumilov, held the center and left wing.
....Stalin was intent on attacking the Germans in a pre-emptive strike but General Zhukov insisted on letting the Germans attack first and wearing themselves down on the defenses he had planned. These defenses were of a scale never seen before for a battle and the Russians immediately had put the military and 300,000 of the local civilian population to work laying a massive array of tank traps, minefields, anti-tank guns and dug in tanks and other defensive positions in anticipation of the German attack. The minefields were specially designed to channel the armored formations into dug in antitank defenses and it was hoped that the Germans would burn themselves out trying to break through the defenses.
.....The Russians without a doubt knew of the impending German offensive with the massive build up of German armor and troops around the salient and through their "Lucy" spy network in Germany and also from ULTRA codes intercepted by the British and passed on to Stalin. It was obvious anyway that this would be the next German point of attack as the "bulge" presented too tempting a target for the Germans to ignore and the Russians saw this as a catalyst to start their own summer offensive.

MEDITERRANEAN: B-25s hit the airfield at Comiso, Sicily. P-40s flew escort over Sicily and over Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean, claiming the destruction of 1 fighter. During the night, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons attack Olbia, Sardinia and Trapani, Sicily. The following day, B-17s and B-25s hit Chilivani, Italy, and the airfields at Monserrato and Alghero, Sardinia. In Sardinia, fighters hit radar stations at Pula and Alghero, while B-26's bomb the airfields at Milis and Capoterra. In Sicily, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-20's hit the area around Marsala and airfields at Sciaccay and Trapani.
....Thirty six B-25s (12 of the 445th) took off to bomb the airdrome at Alghero. Four large buildings on the west and east perimeter were hit. One fire north of the landing ground and one large fire and column of black smoke were seen at the southeast corner of the field. Two twin engine aircraft in front of the hangar were destroyed by direct hits. Forty two P-38s from the 82nd fighter group were our escorts. The flak was heavy, slight and inaccurate. The formation was attacked by 10 to 12 enemy fighters after leaving the target. Three Bf 109’s and one RE-2001 was shot down by the bombers.
....Despite their dwindling numbers, the Luftwaffe continued to fight heroically in the Med theatre. During the day, fighters from I./JG 77 destroyed 5 P-40s while II./JG 77 attacked B-17s and a roving recon Mosquito. Intercepted by Bf 109s led by Siegfreid Freytag, the Mosquito was shot down, becoming the first of its kind to be destroyed by the Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean.

WESTERN FRONT: Two German submarines were sunk by RAF aircraft: Type IXC submarine 'U-126' was sunk about 385 nm (713 km) west of the German submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France by depth charges from a Wellington Mk. XII, aircraft "R" of No. 172 Squadron, based at RAF Limavady, County Derry, Northern Ireland. All hands (55 men) in the U-boat were lost. Type VIIC submarine 'U-628' was sunk about 331 nm (613 km) west-southwest of the German submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France by depth charges from a Liberator Mk. IIIA, aircraft "J" of No. 224 Squadron, based at RAF St. Eval, Cornwall, England. All hands (49 men) in the U-boat are lost.
....'U-199' shot down a USN VP-74 Mariner. Around 18.15 hours, 'U-359' and 'U-466' were attacked by a USAAC Liberator west of Oporto, Portugal. The aircraft strafed them and dropped 3 bombs that fell between the boats, which both fired at the aircraft and crash-dived undamaged at 18.26 hours. The Germans had observed AA hits on the bomber and it apparently crashed shortly after the attack, killing its entire crew of 10.
....'U-420' was attacked by an RCAF 10 Sqn Liberator and two men were killed (Bootsmann Heinz Grosser, Matrosengefreiter Willi Noeske) with one more wounded when the boat was hit with a Fido homing torpedo. She was severely damaged and arrived at Lorient on 16 July.
....Twelve crews of RAF No. 300 (Polish) Sqdrn were briefed for the operations over Cologne, eleven completing the mission, and one aircraft Captained by F/L STADTMULLER, had to abandon the mission due the loss of oxygen through a leak in the distributor, and his bomb load was brought back to base. The remainder pressed home their attacks, and under very favourable weather conditions, reported many fires in the target area on their return to base, the glow of which could be seen for 70/80 miles on the return journey. Another aircraft piloted by F/S LECH, unfortunately had to jettison the bomb owing to the bomb doors not opening when over the target.

ENGLAND: Lieutenant General Jacob L Devers, Commanding General European Theater of Operations, US Army (ETOUSA), in a report to General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, praised the proficiency of the VIII Bomber Command bombardiers but stressed a dire need for high-altitude gunnery training.
....Comedian Bob Hope and singer Frances Langford visited the US 78th FG at Duxford.
.... 2 Ju 88D-1s of 3(F)./122 failed to return from a night recce to the area between Eastbourne and the Isle of Wight.

[Hugh Spencer]

4th July 1943
3 Mosquitoes went to Duisburg and 13 Stirlings went minelaying off La Pallice and in the River Gironde without loss.

[Njaco]

GERMANY: Just after midnight of 3/4 July Major Herrmann led his new 'Wilde Sau' commando unit, Stab./Nachtjagdversuchskommando Herrmann, on its first night mission against RAf bombers heading for Cologne. Taking off with 12 Fw 190s equipped with 66 gal. drop tanks for endurance to intercept bombers heading for the Ruhr, Herrmann realized that the bombers were actually headed for Cologne. This was unfortunate as part of the 'Wilde Sau' plan was to have a flak-free zone over which the fighters could operate - this night's area being over the Ruhr and not over Cologne. Despite this setback, Herrmann ordered his unit to attack the bombers anyway. Flying through heavy flak from friendly ground units, the 'Wilde Sau' destroyed 12 heavy bombers while losing only one of their own. The new tactic was a success.

EASTERN FRONT: In preparation for the offensives at Kursk to start the next day, German forces launched a series of "reconnaissance in force" to drive in the Russian outpost lines. The 2.SS Panzerkorps, 3.Panzerkorps, and the 11.Panzerdivision stormed the Russian positions, making advances through the rest of the day, but the Russians resisted fiercely and slowed the German advances. Hoth's 3.Panzerkorps advanced on the Soviet positions around Savidovka, Alekseyevka and Luchanino. At the same time at Butovo the Soviet 199th Guards Rifle Regiment were attacked by 3rd Battalion Panzer Grenadier Regiment in torrential rain and the high ground around Butovo was taken by 11.Panzerdivision. To the west of Butovo the going proved tougher for the 3.Panzerdivision who met stiff Soviet resistance and did not secure their objectives until midnight.
....Meanwhile 2.SS Panzerkorps were launching preliminary attacks to secure observation posts for the next days fighting and again were met with stiff resistance until assault troops equipped with flame-throwers cleared the bunkers and outposts. At 22.30 hrs the Soviets hit back with a fierce artillery bombardment which, aided by the torrential rain, slowed the German advance. At this time Georgi Zhukov had been briefed on the information about the start of the offensive gained by German prisoners and decided to launch a pre-emptive artillery bombardment on the German positions.
....German aerial preparations for the Kursk offensive began at 03:00 hours on the morning of the 4 July as the Luftwaffe began its bombardment of the Russian positions followed by an artillery bombardment. At 14.45 hrs Stukas belonging to the five Ju 87D Gruppen of Luftflotte 4 bombed an area around Butovo two miles long and 500 yards deep. The attack lasted ten minutes and as the dive bombers turned for home German artillery and Nebelwerfers opened up on the Red Army positions.
....The Luftwaffe's participation in Unternehmen 'Zitadel' entailed VIII Fliegerkorps under General Hans Seidemann with 1,000 bombers, fighters and ground-attack aircraft, supporting the thrust from the Byelgorod region to the south. The Luftwaffe planned to screen the Wehrmacht's panzers from the Soviet Il-2 armoured tank-busting aircraft. The thrust from the north would be assisted by 1.Fliegerdivisionen at Orel, led by Generalleutnant Paul Deichmann, with about 700 aircraft. As the panzers advanced, Ju 52s would fly in supplies. Fighetr cover would be four Gruppen of Fw 190s on the northern bulge around Kursk - I./JG 51, III./JG 51, IV./JG 51 and one Gruppe from JG 54. On the southern front would be four Gruppen of Bf 109s, mainly II./JG 3, III./JG 3, I./JG 52 and III./JG 52.

MEDITERRANEAN: Prime Minister-in-Exile General Wladyslaw Sikorski and other members of Poland's ruling elite die when their plane crashes immediately after takeoff from the airport at Gibraltar. With the Soviet Union and Axis alike potentially benefiting from Sikorski's demise, there would be no shortage of conspiracy theories in the aftermath.
.... Royal Air Force (RAF) Halifax aircraft bombed the Catania, Sicily, railroad yards during the night. Also during the night, Wellingtons hit Trapani, Sicily and Lido di Roma, Italy. In Sicily, B-17s and B-26s hit the airfields at Catania and Gerbini. B-25's bombed 2 satellite airfields near Gerbini and hit the airfield at Comiso, Sicily. Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) A-20 and medium bombers hit airfields at Comiso, Trapani, Sciacca, and Castelvetrano. P-40s escorted bombers and convoy and flew sea-search for a missing pilot. Allied fighters claimed 3 Bf 109's shot down. 4 P-40's were lost.
....The following is an eye witness account of the mission by one of the crew members of the 446th BS: "For our Fourth of July celebration we were assigned to bomb the Gerbini A/D in Sicily. We had some trouble finding the target and the Germans and Italians sent up plenty of flak. We dropped our bombs and started away from the target, lagging because our plane had been shot up. 10-12 enemy fighters came in to finish us off, but instead of our being finished we got two of them. A 20 mm shell exploded in the pilot’s compartment and injured Lt. Axson, our pilot, who fell forward putting the plane into a steep dive. Everybody and everything that wasn’t tied down fell in a heap on the floor. The co-pilot, Lt. Coffey, straightened the plane out and brought it to an emergency field on Cape Bon. When we got there we had practically no gas left and we then found out that Lt. Coffey had also been hit and injured, but he had said nothing about it. All in all it was an exciting Fourth." James A. Shields, T/Sgt.
....There was a successful British commando raid on German military airbases on Crete.
....'U-375' attacked Convoy KMS-18B 10 miles north of Cape Tenez, Algeria and sank the 'St Essylt' and 'City of Venice'. The 'City of Venice' was carrying 292 troops of the 1st Canadian Division for the Operation 'Husky', the invasion of Sicily. The master, ten crewmembers and ten troops were lost. HMS 'Honeysuckle', 'Rhododendron', 'Teviot' and 'Restive' rescued 147 crewmembers, 22 gunners, 282 troops and ten naval personnel.

WESTERN FRONT: The Eighth Air Force in England hit three targets on Mission 71. 192 B-17s were dispatched against aircraft factories at Le Mans and Nanes, France. 166 made a very effective attack and claimed 52-14-22 Luftwaffe aircraft. US loses were 7 B-17s with 1 damaged beyond repair and 53 others damaged. Eighty three other B-17s were dispatched against submarine yards at La Pallice, France. 71 hit the target between 1201 and 1204 hours and claimed 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft. 1 B-17 was lost and 1 was damaged. Bombing was extremely accurate.
.... The 'Pelotaslóide', escorted by the Brazilian submarine chasers 'Jacuí' and 'Jundiaí', was hit by two torpedoes from 'U-590' and sank fi