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WWII On This Day: July 2

What happened on July 2 during World War II? This date brings together 2 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
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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