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• Ludwig Beck passed away. ww2dbase [Ludwig Beck | CPC]
• French troops began withdrawing from Italy in preparation for the invasion of southern France. ww2dbase [Invasion of Southern France | TH]
• The British Operation Goodwood in France was stalled by heavy weather; thus far, over 400 tanks were lost. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | TH]
• USS Hoe fired 4 torpedoes at a Japanese freighter, scoring no hits. ww2dbase [Hoe | CPC]
• USS Astoria arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Astoria (Cleveland-class) | CPC]
• Benito Mussolini met with Adolf Hitler at Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]
• The US Army formed the Pearl Harbor Board to analyze the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii of 7 Dec 1941. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Detailed Timetable | CPC]
• Allied aircraft attacked German submarine U-965 in the Atlantic Ocean, killing 1 and wounding 1. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-861 sank Brazilian troop transport Vital de Oliviera off Brazil. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Austrian-born Oberfeldwebel Hermann Buchner was awarded the Knight's Cross medal for 600 combat sorties and 456 aerial victories. Buchner would survive the war with a combined total of 58 kills (four of these whilst flying Me 262 jet fighters), plus 46 tanks and one armoured train destroyed. ww2dbase [AC]

• Flight Officer Micheal Williams and the Navigator Flight Officer Arthur Waples failed to return to their base at Castle Camps. The last report from their Mosquito XVII aircraft was over the sea near Dover, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [English Channel | HM]

• Canadian corvette HMCS Cobalt completed its forecastle extension work at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [CPC]

• US Far East Air Force B-24 bombers attacked Yap, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yap | CPC]

• Togo departed Nötö, Finland. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Nötö | CPC]

• 6 US B-17 bombers were launched after sundown to drop propaganda leaflets over France while 12 B-24 bombers dropped supplies to resistance fighters. ww2dbase [The French Resistance | CPC]
• British destroyer HMS Isis was sunk, either by a German naval mine or by a German Neger manned torpedo off Normandy, France. ww2dbase [Basse-Normandie | CPC]
• Canadian frigate HMCS Matane was damaged by a glider bomb off Brest, France, killing 2. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Brest, Bretagne | CPC]
• Bombers of British No. 617 Squadron attacked the German V2 rocket site at Wizernes, France. ww2dbase [La Coupole | V-Weapons Campaign | Wizernes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]

• Operation Valkyrie was launched to assassinate Hitler and to overthrow the Nazi German government. It failed, leading to the arrest and execution of many who became implicated in the plot. ww2dbase [July Plot | TH]
• Bombers of US 8th Air Force in Britain and US 15th Air Force in Italy attacked Dessau, Kothen, Leipzig, Nordhuasen, Rudolstadt, Merseburg, Bad Nauheim, Koblenz, and many other targets across Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | CPC]
• German submarine U-3001 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of German submarine U-2335 was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Francis Gabreski completed a bomber escort mission to Russelheim, Germany. On the return trip, he observed He 111 aircraft on an airfield at Niedermendig, Germany and decided to strafe them. His first pass failed to achieve the results he wanted, and dove for a second pass. During the second pass, he flew far too low, causing his propellers to hit the ground, thus forcing him to crash land. He ran into nearby woods and eluded immediate capture. ww2dbase [Francis Gabreski | Niedermendig, Mosselland | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the Junkers aircraft engine factory at Köthen, Germany but factors required striking a target of opportunity instead, a railway bridge at Rudolstadt, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Rudolstadt | DS]

• Light carrier Ryuho completed her flight deck repairs and exited the drydocks at Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Ryuho | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers of US Navy Patrol Bomber Squadron 109 from Saipan, Mariana Islands attacked Iwo Jima, Haha Jima, and Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Landing ship No. 107 was completed and was transferred to the Japanese Army as SB No. 123. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 137 was launched. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• P-47 aircraft of US 7th Air Force continued to attack Japanese positions on Tinian while US Navy warships bombarded Guam in the Mariana Islands. Meanwhile, underwater demolition teams conducted their final missions to remove obstacles on the invasion beaches at Asan and Agat on Guam. ww2dbase [Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot | CPC]

• British destroyer HMS Crescent was launched at Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Glasgow, Scotland | CPC]
• British minesweeper HMS Jewel was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British boom defense vessel HMS Precise was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Vengeful was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Whirlwind was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Zest was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• A farmer was surprised when a V-1 bomb impacted in woodland by his house in Gipping, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. It was thought that the automatic pilot system had failed to make the bomb go so far off course. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | Gipping, England | HM]

• The staff at the Los Alamos site of the Manhattan Project shifted focus to work on the implosion mechanism for the atomic bomb. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | Los Alamos, New Mexico | CPC]
• US escort carrier Gilbert Islands was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US submarine USS Tigrone was launched. ww2dbase [Tigrone | CPC]
• USS Marcus Island embarked US Navy squadron VC-21 at San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | San Diego, California | CPC]

20 Jul 1944 Interactive Map