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• The Mobile Fleet, including Yamato, arrived at Nakagusuku, Okinawa. The destroyers were refueled before the Mobile Fleet departed again. ww2dbase [Yamato | CPC]
• 60 Luftwaffe aircraft made a night raid on the USAAF base in Poltava, Ukraine, destroying 44 bombers and large quantities of fuel. ww2dbase [TH]
• Soviet forces launched Operation Bagration, a major offensive against German forces in Byelorussia, with 1.2 million men, 31,000 heavy guns, 5,200 tanks, and 6,000 aircraft. The plan was to smash through Warsaw, Poland and East Prussia, Germanny to the Baltic coast; in doing so, they would trap German and Finnish forces in the north and isolate the German, Romanian, and Bulgarian armies in the south. ww2dbase [Operation Bagration | AC]
• The Americans launched a major attack on Cherbourg, France. Allied aircraft dropped over 1,000 tons of bombs on the city during the attack. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | TH]
• The Danish Civil Partisan group, BOPA, attacked the Riffelsyndikatet arms factory in Copenhagen, Denmark. ww2dbase [TH]
• Prisoners of the Alderney Concentration Camp in the Channel Islands were deported to Sollstedt in Germany. They would arrive in Sep 1944, where they would be transferred to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• USS Rock departed Majuro, Marshall Islands for her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]
• Franklin Roosevelt signed the G. I. Bill of Rights which provided education and other assistance to veterans of the US military. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• USS Tunny set sail for home from the Philippine Sea. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]
• Japanese Emperor Showa, in conversation with his younger brother Prince Takamatsu, gave approval "in principle" to the use of special attacks. ww2dbase [Showa | AC]
• Frank Merrill radioed Joseph Stilwell to warn him that Louis Mountbatten was intriguing to replace Stilwell with another American commander who was more likely to be subject to Mountbatten's authority. ww2dbase [Frank Merrill | CPC]
• Light carrier Ryuho arrived at Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Ryuho | CPC]
• Floating drydock USS ABSD-2, in 10 separate sections, arrived at Manus, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [ABSD-2 | CPC]

• The German schnellboot S-32 sank after a mine hit in the English Channel near Dungeness, southern England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | English Channel | HM]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against rail facilities in Ghent, Belgium. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Ghent | DS]

• Roza Shanina, with the rest of female snipers in her platoon, received orders to be withdrawn from front line combat. She disobeyed her orders and continued to fight with an infantry unit in Byelorussia. ww2dbase [Roza Shanina | CPC]

• Soviet troops reached the villages of Tali (now Paltsevo) and village of Ihantala (now Petrovka) near Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia). ww2dbase [Battle of Tali-Ihantala and Battle of Vuosalmi | CPC]
• German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visited Finland, offering German reinforcement against the recent Soviet offensive, but also demanding Finland to fight until the very end. Finnish President Risto Ryti agreed. ww2dbase [Joachim von Ribbentrop | Battle of Tali-Ihantala and Battle of Vuosalmi | CPC]
• M18 supported the unsuccessful attempt to land Finnish forces on Narvi island. ww2dbase [M18 | Narvi | CPC]

• Claus von Stauffenberg met with representatives from the German communists in eastern Berlin, Germany, not knowing one of them was a Gestapo spy. ww2dbase [Claus von Stauffenberg | Berlin | CPC]

• USS Sunfish departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• In India, Indian 6th Brigade from Kohima made contact with Indian 9th Brigade from Imphal on the Imphal-Kohima Road that had been held by the Japanese. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Kohima, Assam | CPC]

• A group of Italian Navy commandos loyal to the co-belligerent government in the south raided La Spezia, Italy using British Chariot manned torpedoes; they succeeded in capsizing Italian cruiser Bolzano. ww2dbase [Bolzano | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

• USS St. Louis entered the anchorage at Saipan for replenishment before putting to sea again. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Saipan | DS]

• USS Flier gave pursuit to a large Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, scoring hits with 4 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Flier | South China Sea | CPC]

• He 111 bombers from various units of German Luftwaffe KG 4 (pathfinders), KG 53, and KG 55 were launched to attack US bombers at Poltava and Mirgorod (Myrhorod) Airfields in Ukraine; navigation errors led to all bombers attacking Poltava, starting from 2355 hours on the previous date into this date. 44 US B-17 bombers and 15 various other US and Soviet aircraft were destroyed; 26 US B-17 bombers were damaged. All German bombers returned to their bases safely. ww2dbase [Poltava | CPC]
• Because of the attack on Operation Frantic B-17s at Poltava, Ukraine the night before, the B-17s at Myrhorod and P-51s at Pyriatyn were moved farther east to be returned before departing to bases in Italy once the weather permitted. The move was fortunate as German bombers struck both Pyriatyn and Myrhorod during the night. ww2dbase [B-17 Flying Fortress | P-51 Mustang | Operation Frantic | Pyriatyn | DS]

• Nicholas Winton was promoted to the brevet rank of acting pilot officer. ww2dbase [Nicholas Winton | CPC]
• V-1 flying bombs continued to fall on London, England, United Kingdom. A V-1 bomb killed 11 residents of Clapham in Stockwell Park Road, two hours later another impacted nearby killing one of the emergency workers. The worst incident was in Peckham killing 23 of the women working in an under garment factory in Nunhill Lane. 3 Squadron brought down another 9 bombs, one pilot was very upset when the bomb he shot down hit a cottage and killed the elderly couple living there. The New Zealanders of 486 Squadron were getting the hang of having to dive from high to get enough speed to catch up with the V-1 bombs; they brought down 9 in the sky above Hastings, Sussex. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | HM]

22 Jun 1944 Interactive Map