The following events occurred in July 1944:
July 1, 1944 (Saturday) A counterattack by the German II SS Panzer Corps failed to dislodge the British Second Army around Caen. When Gerd von Rundstedt phoned Berlin to report the failure, Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel purportedly asked, "What shall we do?", to which Rundstedt replied, "Make peace, you fools! What else can you do?" The U.S. 133rd Infantry Regiment in Italy captured Cecina. The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference began in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to regulate the international monetary systems of the post-war world. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Public Health Service Act and the Renunciation Act of 1944 into law. "I'll Be Seeing You" by Bing Crosby topped the Billboard singles charts. Died: Carl Mayer, 49, Austrian screenwriter (cancer)
July 2, 1944 (Sunday) The Battle of Noemfoor began between Allied and Japanese forces in Netherlands New Guinea. The day after his telephone outburst, Gerd von Rundstedt was sacked as Oberbefehlshaber West and replaced by Günther von Kluge. German submarine U-543 was sunk southwest of Tenerife by a Grumman TBF Avenger. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers list.
July 3, 1944 (Monday) The Battle of Imphal ended in Allied victory. Minsk, the last big German base on Soviet soil, fell to the 3rd Belorussian Front. German submarine U-154 was depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by two U.S. destroyer escorts and aircraft. The Allies enter Siena. Born: Michel Polnareff, singer-songwriter, in Nérac, France
July 4, 1944 (Tuesday) The Minsk Offensive and Polotsk Offensive ended in Soviet victories. Canadian forces began Operation Windsor, an offensive to take Carpiquet. The Battle of Vuosalmi began. No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked V-1 flying bomb facilities in a large cave at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent north of Paris. Japanese submarine I-10 was sunk east of Saipan by destroyer USS David W. Taylor and destroyer escort USS Riddle. Johannes Frießner replaced Georg Lindemann as commander of Army Group North. To celebrate American Independence Day, General Omar Bradley ordered all artillery units in the US First Army to open fire on the German lines precisely at noon. Some units fired red, white, and blue smoke shells at the Germans.
July 5, 1944 (Wednesday) The Soviets began the Belostock Offensive, Šiauliai Offensive and Vilnius Offensive as part of Operation Bagration. Operation Windsor ended in Allied victory. The Kriegsmarine lost three submarines (U-233, U-390 and U-586) to enemy action in a single day. Japanese destroyer Usugumo was torpedoed and sunk in the Sea of Okhotsk by the U.S. submarine Skate.
July 6, 1944 (Thursday) The Polish Home Army began Operation Ostra Brama, an armed uprising against Nazi occupiers in Wilno as part of Operation Tempest. Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy ordered a halt to the deportation of Hungarian Jews. The Hartford circus fire occurred when a fire broke out in a tent during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance in Hartford, Connecticut. 167 people died in one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history. Winston Churchill gave a speech in the House of Commons about the V-1 campaign, revealing government figures that 2,752 had been killed and 8,000 injured by the flying bombs. Jackie Robinson was placed under arrest in quarters for refusing to move to the back of a military bus. He would be court-martialed but eventually acquitted in a trial on August 2. Died: Andrée Borrel, 24, Vera Leigh, 41, Sonya Olschanezky, 20, and Diana Rowden, 29, French Resistance fighters (killed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp); Chūichi Nagumo, 57, Japanese admiral (suicide)
July 7, 1944 (Friday) Regent of Hungary Miklós Horthy ordered a stop to the deportation of Jews from the country. Even so, the Nazis declared all of Hungary except for Budapest free of Jews. Japanese destroyer Tamanani was torpedoed and sunk off Manila by the American submarine Mingo. German submarine U-678 was sunk in the English Channel by Allied warships. The horror film The Mummy's Ghost starring Lon Chaney Jr. was released. The largest banzai charge on 7 July 1944 at the Battle of Saipan Died: Georges Mandel, 59, French journalist, politician and French Resistance leader (executed by the Milice)
July 8, 1944 (Saturday) British and Canadian forces launched Operation Charnwood with the goal of at least partially capturing the city of Caen, which remained in German hands despite repeated attempts to take it over the past month. With the Red Army approaching, SS authorities began liquidating the Kovno Ghetto. About 8,000 Jews would be transferred to Stutthof and Dachau. German submarine U-243 was depth charged and sunk in the Bay of Biscay by a Short Sunderland patrol bomber of No. 10 Squadron RAAF. Born: Jeffrey Tambor, actor, in San Francisco, California Died: George B. Seitz, 56, American playwright, actor, screenwriter and director; Takeo Takagi, 52, Japanese admiral
July 9, 1944 (Sunday) The Battle of Saipan ended in U.S. victory. Operation Charnwood ended in Allied victory. The Battle of Tali-Ihantala ended in Finnish defensive victory. The Battle of Saint-Lô began.
July 10, 1944 (Monday) Because of the danger of the German flying bombs, over 41,000 mothers and children left London in the second wartime exodus from the city and returned to their former wartime billets in the country. The Battle of Vyborg Bay ended in defensive victory for the German/Finnish forces. The Battle of Driniumor River began near Aitape in New Guinea. The Axis troopship SS Duilio was sunk at Trieste by Allied aircraft.
July 11, 1944 (Tuesday) The new German Tiger II heavy tank saw frontline combat for the first time during the Normandy campaign. German submarine U-1222 was sunk west of La Rochelle by a Short Sunderland patrol bomber of No. 201 Squadron RAF. The 12th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The National League beat the American League 7-1. Died: Gerald L. Endl, 28, American soldier and posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor (killed in action near Anamo, New Guinea)
July 12, 1944 (Wednesday) The Soviet 1st Baltic Front captured Idritsa. The U.S. 88th Division in Italy took Lajatico. Died: Theodore Roosevelt Jr., 56, American politician, business leader and brigadier general (heart attack)
July 13, 1944 (Thursday) The Vilnius Offensive ended in Soviet victory. Soviet forces began the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive. The Allied Raid on Symi began during the Mediterranean Campaign. The Nazis burn down the hospital in the Kovno Ghetto, killing hundreds of patients, among them Avraham Grodzinski Born: Ernő Rubik, inventor and architect, in Budapest, Hungary Died: Avraham Grodzinski, Polish Rabbi, mashgiach ruchani of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania
July 14, 1944 (Friday) Operation Ostra Brama ended in victory for the Polish Home Army when the German occupiers in Wilno were defeated, but the following day the Soviet NKVD entered the city and proceeded to intern the Polish fighters and arrest their officers. Soviet forces captured Pinsk. 28 prisoners revolted at La Santé Prison in Paris. All were shot. German submarine U-415 struck a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay off Brest. Born: Aad Mansveld, footballer, in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1991) Died: Asmahan, 31, Arab Druze singer and actress (drowned after a car accident in a canal in Mansoura, Egypt)
July 15, 1944 (Saturday) The Raid on Symi ended in Allied victory. The Second Battle of the Odon began as part of the Battle of Normandy. The Battle of Nietjärvi began. German submarine U-319 was depth charged and sunk in the North Sea by a B-24 of No. 206 Squadron RAF. Born: Jan-Michael Vincent, actor, in Denver, Colorado (d. 2019) Died: Joseph Sadi-Lecointe, 53, French aviator (died from torture by the Gestapo)
July 16, 1944 (Sunday) Adolf Hitler departed Berchtesgaden for what would be the final time as he flew to the Wolf's Lair. Soviet forces captured Grodno. The British Eighth Army in Italy captured Arezzo. Born: Angharad Rees, actress, in Edgware, England (d. 2012)
July 17, 1944 (Monday) The Second Battle of the Odon ended in operational Allied success. The Battle of Vuosalmi and Battle of Nietjärvi both ended in Finnish victory. Action of 17 July 1944: The Japanese submarine I-166 was sunk in the Strait of Malacca by the British submarine Telemachus. The Port Chicago disaster occurred when a munitions explosion on a cargo vessel in Port Chicago, California killed 320 people. German field marshal Erwin Rommel was seriously wounded when a Spitfire strafed his staff car near Livarot. Numerous Allied pilots claimed credit for the attack that knocked Rommel out of the war, but following the 2004 publicization of a Canadian historian's research into the incident, the Canadian Forces officially attribute the feat to Charley Fox of the RCAF. The British executed Operation Mascot, a British carrier air raid against the German battleship Tirpitz anchored in northern Norway. but the attempt was unsuccessful. German submarine U-347 was depth charged and sunk in the Norwegian Sea by a B-24 of No. 86 Squadron RAF. German submarine U-361 was depth charged and sunk west of Narvik by a PBY Catalina of No. 210 Squadron RAF. The British government announced plans to build between 3 and 4 million houses in the decade following the end of the war. Born: Mark Burgess, cricketer, in Auckland, New Zealand Died: William James Sidis, mathematical prodigy, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
July 18, 1944 (Tuesday) Soviet forces began the Lublin–Brest Offensive as part of Operation Bagration. German submarine U-672 was depth charged and sunk north of Guernsey by the British frigate Balfour. Born: William Harrison Courtney, American professor and retired diplomat Died: Rex Whistler, 39, British artist (killed in action in Normandy)
July 19, 1944 (Wednesday) The Battle of Verrières Ridge began as part of the Battle of Normandy. The U.S. Fifth Army captured the Italian port city of Livorno. Japanese cruiser Ōi was torpedoed and sunk in the South China Sea by American submarine Flasher. The 1944 Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago, Illinois.
July 20, 1944 (Thursday) An annular solar eclipse was visible in Asia, and was the 35th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 135. 20 July Plot: An attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, perpetrated by Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators within the German military. At 12:42 p.m. during a conference at the Wolf's Lair, a bomb that Stauffenberg had concealed inside a briefcase went off, killing a stenographer and leaving three officers with fatal injuries. The others in the room, including Hitler himself, were wounded but survived. Stauffenberg flew to Berlin to carry out the next step of the military coup, but the plan stalled when he was unable to get confirmation that Hitler was dead. A radio broadcast at 6:30 p.m. reported that Hitler had survived and the situation became increasingly confused. By the end of the day the coup had failed and Hitler loyalists began arresting the conspirators. A few minutes past four in the afternoon, Benito Mussolini arrived at the train station of the Wolf's Lair as scheduled and was surprised to see Hitler with his right arm in a sling. After learning of what had happened Mussolini was unsure of what he should do and considered leaving immediately, but he went ahead with his requests that included two Italian divisions to be sent from Germany and a pardon for four Italian naval officers who had just been condemned to death. Hitler, convinced that his remarkable escape was a sure sign of victory, was in a gracious mood and agreed to grant Mussolini almost everything he'd asked for. It would be the final meeting between the two dictators. The Battle of Auvere began as part of the larger Battle of Narva on the Eastern Front.