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WWII On This Day: June 28

What happened on June 28 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1941, 1942 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
War damage in Minsk during the German advance, June 1941.
War damage in Minsk during the German advance, June 1941. Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-137-1008-09A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source
Operation Barbarossa

The central panzer groups close east of Minsk

Second and Third Panzer Groups closed east of Minsk after sweeping around Soviet forces deployed farther west. Large parts of Western Front were trapped in overlapping Białystok and Minsk pockets while German infantry armies marched forward to form tighter inner rings. Soviet groups continued attempting to break east as German infantry reduced the pockets. The panzer groups meanwhile began preparing to move toward the Berezina, Dvina and Dnieper, creating a widening distance between the spearheads and the forces securing their rear. German headquarters read the encirclement as confirmation that the…

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1942
Armoured personnel carriers on the march across the steppe.
Armoured personnel carriers on the march across the steppe. Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-268-0167-33A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source
Case Blue and the Drive to the Caucasus

Case Blue opens

At daylight on 28 June Fourth Panzer Army, Second Army and Hungarian Second Army opened the offensive east of Kursk after a short artillery preparation. German armour crossed the Tim and Kshen and moved rapidly toward the land bridge leading to Voronezh. Resistance varied sharply from sector to sector. Soviet tank corps were being ordered into counterattacks, but command, fuel and deployment problems prevented them from arriving as one coherent armoured mass. Rain began before the first day ended and clogged roads behind the spearheads. The contrast was already visible:…

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1944
German personnel captured on D-Day embarking for England.
German personnel captured on D-Day embarking for England. Library and Archives Canada · Public domain Source
Operation Overlord

Seventh Army loses its commander

Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann, commanding Seventh Army, died at his headquarters as the Epsom battle reached its height, officially of a heart attack, though suicide has long been suspected. He had been facing a court-martial inquiry over the loss of Cherbourg. Paul Hausser took over, the first Waffen-SS officer to command a German field army. The command turbulence came at the moment the Odon salient most needed a single directing hand.

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German prisoners of war captured during the Soviet summer offensive march through Moscow on 17 July 1944.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-696-0426-14A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Operation Bagration

Fourth Army retreats as Model is appointed

Fourth Army began pulling west from the Dnieper after its flanks had already been opened, but the withdrawal was funnelled toward the Berezina on a small number of roads and bridges. Orders from above had repeatedly delayed movement, and columns of infantry, vehicles, artillery and headquarters traffic were now competing for the same routes while Soviet mobile forces were advancing toward the crossings. Hitler removed Ernst Busch and appointed Walter Model to Army Group Centre. The appointment was announced on 28 June and Model took over a situation in which…

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