World War II calendar
What happened on July 4 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1942, 1943 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.
German troops eliminated the remaining organized resistance around Cape Khersones. Eleventh Army's final count recorded more than 90,000 prisoners from the collapse of the fortress. The victory released German forces only after the 1942 summer campaign elsewhere had already begun. Elements of Eleventh Army and its supporting formations were subsequently redistributed to other sectors.
Continue in Sevastopol and the Crimea →
Believing a German heavy-ship attack to be imminent, the Admiralty ordered the covering forces west and instructed PQ 17 to scatter. The merchant ships broke formation and proceeded independently toward Soviet ports, giving up the mutual anti-aircraft fire, escort concentration and organised anti-submarine screen that the convoy system was designed to provide. German surface ships did put to sea but were recalled without reaching the convoy. Luftwaffe aircraft and U-boats instead found the dispersed merchantmen over the following days. Twenty-four of the thirty-five ships that had sailed were sunk and…
Continue in The Arctic Convoys →
German formations on the southern face began preliminary attacks during the afternoon of 4 July to seize forward positions and observation ground before the main Citadel assault. Fighting around Butovo and nearby localities brought the two armies into direct contact before the general offensive opened. Captured German personnel and the visible forward movement confirmed that the main attack was imminent. Voronezh Front responded with a planned artillery counter-preparation at about 22:30 against assembly areas and forward positions. The fire disrupted parts of the German deployment while leaving the offensive intact…
Continue in Battle of Kursk 1943 →
The Canadian 3rd Division attacked Carpiquet and its airfield on the western edge of Caen, held by 12th SS Panzer Division. The village fell; the airfield hangars and their concrete strongpoints did not, and held out several more days. It was among the hardest small actions of the campaign, and it fixed the pattern of the Caen fighting: ground taken at close range, at heavy cost, in yards.
Continue in Operation Overlord →
