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WWII On This Day: July 2

What happened on July 2 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1941 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
German engineers prepare to demolish a Soviet bunker on the Dniester during the fighting in Bessarabia, July 1941.
German engineers prepare to demolish a Soviet bunker on the Dniester during the fighting in Bessarabia, July 1941. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F016196-10 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source
Operation Barbarossa

Romanian and German forces open the Bessarabian offensive

Romanian Third and Fourth Armies, operating with the German Eleventh Army, opened the main offensive across the Prut into Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. Romania entered the campaign with objectives rooted in territories ceded to the Soviet Union in 1940. The southern wing advanced on a different timetable from the central panzer groups. Strong Soviet formations, river crossings and the coordination of German and Romanian armies shaped operations from the Prut toward the Dniester. As the front moved east, Romanian forces carried a substantial share of the Axis southern flank while…

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1944
U.S. Navy LCVPs on a Baie de Cavalaire invasion beach during Operation Dragoon, 15 August 1944, with German prisoners passing behind them.
Baie de Cavalaire invasion beach, 15 August 1944 · U.S. Navy / Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-59475 · Public domain · Source
Operation Dragoon

The Combined Chiefs Set 15 August for ANVIL

On 2 July the Combined Chiefs of Staff directed the Mediterranean command to prepare the southern France assault for 15 August. The initial landing was to use three U.S. divisions, followed by a larger build-up that included the French army assembling in the Mediterranean. Port capacity had become a central argument for the operation. Allied armies in France were expanding faster than the northern ports could support, and Marseille offered a second major entry route connected to the Rhône valley and the rail network leading toward eastern France.

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German prisoners assembled and searched at Thiberville.
German prisoners assembled and searched at Thiberville. IWM ART LD 4625 · IWM Non-Commercial Licence Source
Operation Overlord

Rundstedt is relieved

Rundstedt was dismissed as Commander-in-Chief West and replaced by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge. Asked by Keitel what should be done, he is widely reported to have answered: make peace, you fools. Kluge arrived convinced the situation was being mishandled by defeatists, spent a fortnight at the front, and came round to precisely the view that had cost his predecessor the job.

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