26 Jul 1943
  • Marshal Badoglio replaced the Fascist government in Italy and began negotiations with the Allies in secret. Upon his first actions as the head of state was to dissolve the Fascist Party. ww2dbase [Pietro Badoglio | TH]
  • Adolf Hitler ordered an operation to be commenced to rescue Mussolini from his arrest. ww2dbase [Operation Eiche | CPC]
  • USS Mingo fired four torpedoes at a Japanese tanker; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Mingo | CPC]
  • Hubert Lanz stepped down as the commanding officer of XXXXIX Gebirgskorps. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]
  • Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman of Task Force 36 broke his flag aboard USS Saratoga. ww2dbase [Saratoga | CPC]
  • Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman of Task Force 36 broke his flag aboard USS Saratoga. ww2dbase [Saratoga | CPC]
  • USS Bailey departed San Diego bound for San Francisco, California. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]
  • USS Nicholas departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides escorting a convoy to the Guadalcanal area, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]
Australian Papua
  • Fighters of US 35th Fighter Group began to arrive at Tsili-Tsili Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Tsili-Tsili | CPC]
Germany
  • Adolf Hitler called for Otto Skorzeny to discuss the rescue of Benito Mussolini, but Skorzeny missed the initial call as he was drinking with a friend at Hotel Eden on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Otto Skorzeny | Berlin | CPC]
  • Joseph Goebbels traveled to Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany to coordinate some news regarding the capture of Benito Mussolini. In the evening, he noted in his diary the details of the devastation of Hamburg, Germany by Allied bombing. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | Rastenburg, Ostpreußen | CPC]
  • The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Hanover, Germany with the group experiencing heavy losses. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hanover | DS]
Hawaii New Caledonia
  • USS S-31 arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia, ending her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Nouméa | CPC]
Pacific Ocean
  • USS Haddock fired 2 torpedoes at a convoy in the Pacific Ocean; both torpedoes missed. Depth charges drove off Haddock temporarily. ww2dbase [Haddock | CPC]
  • USS Portland fired on radar contacts south of Kiska Island in the Aleutians that were later determined to be false radar echoes and would become known as the Battle of the Pips. ww2dbase [Portland | DS]
South Africa
  • Suffren disembarked two survivors of British merchant ship City of Canton at Durban, South Africa. ww2dbase [Suffren | Durban | CPC]
United States Photo(s) dated 26 Jul 1943
24-foot self-righting rescue motor launch dropped from an RAF Hudson rescue aircraft to the crew of a US B-17 Fortress that ditched in the North Sea, 26 Jul 1943.

26 Jul 1943 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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