2 Jul in WW2 History | World War II Database

2 Jul 1898

Anthony McAuliffe was born.
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2 Jul 1925

HMS Effingham was commissioned into service.
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The installation of a hydraulically-operated crash barrier was completed on light carrier Hosho.
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2 Jul 1926

Under the Air Corps Act, the US Army Air Service (USAAS) became the US Army Air Corps (USAAC).

2 Jul 1932

At Chicago, Illinois, United States, Franklin Roosevelt accepted to be the Democratic Party's candidate for the US Presidency.
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2 Jul 1934

German President Paul von Hindenburg expressed appreciation for Adolf Hitler's decisiveness in executing the measures to put down the putsch by the Nazi Party SA organization before it took shape.
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2 Jul 1937

Sunfish (S-class) was commissioned into service.
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2 Jul 1940

Hitler ordered the planning to begin for Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain.
The British government canceled the Aug 1940 bank holiday.
The US Congress passed the Export Control Act, giving the US President the power to control the export of military equipment whenever he thought it was "necessary in the interest of national defense".
German submarine U-47 sank the British liner Arandora Star off the coast of Ireland; the liner was carrying 1,500 Italian and German prisoners of war to Canada.
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2 Jul 1941

Romanian Third Army, Romanian Fourth Army, and German Eleventh Armies attacked out of Moldavia towards Vinnitsa and Odessa, Ukraine. To the north, 4.Panzergruppe breaks through near Ostrov, Russia.
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The Japanese Army ordered a conscription of one million men.
RAF bombed the German cities of Bremen and Köln overnight.
Riots broke out in Lvov, Ukraine against racist laws.
The British Military Application of Uranium Detonation (MAUD) Committee assigned the responsibility of writing its final draft of the report of its findings on the development of atomic weapons to James Chadwick.
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The local police in Riga, Latvia was organized by a German commander to murder 400 Jews and burn down all Riga's synagogues.
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While flying against a formation of British Blenheim bombers, Adolf Galland's fighter was damaged by 20-millimeter shells fired by an escorting British Spitfire fighter. Though injured, his life was saved by a recently-installed armor plating in the cockpit.
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French Lieutenant Pierre Mairesse Lebrun, a prisoner of war at Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, Germany, escaped the camp by leaping the wire fence and scaling outer brick wall. He would eventually successfully make it to Switzerland.
Douglas Bader was awarded the Bar to his Distinguished Service Order. Later on the same day, he claimed one Bf 109 fighter destroyed and another damaged.
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While in the dock at Brest, France, Prinz Eugen was hit by a bomb during an Allied air raid.
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2 Jul 1942

The New York Times reported via the London Daily Telegraph that over 1,000,000 Jews had already been killed by Nazis.
US Joint Chiefs began to plan invasions of the general New Britain-New Ireland-New Guinea region; invasions for Santa Cruz and Tulagi were scheduled to be on 1 Aug 1942.
A group of Jews from Berlin were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp.
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Churchill easily passed a "no confidence" vote in the House of Commons; there were 475 votes in his favor compared to 25 against.
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Large numbers of Soviet units were surrounded in the link-up of 4.Panzerarmee and 2.Armee near the city of Stary Oskol in Russia, but many of them manage to escape across the Don River.
Rommel abandoned the southward tank sweep to have the tanks assist on the direct assault of El Alamein, Egypt.
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Generaloberst Alexander Löhr was named the commanding officer of the German 12th Army.
The US 1st Marine Division's intelligence officer departed Wellington, New Zealand for Australia as part of the preparation efforts for the upcoming Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings in the Solomon Islands.
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Benito Mussolini cabled Adolf Hitler in regards to the future administration of Egypt, in which he recommended Erwin Rommel as the military governor and a yet-unnamed Italian as the civilian administrator.
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Operation Rösselsprung: Tirpitz departed Bogen near Narvik, Norway with the first of two battle groups dispatched to intercept two Allied convoys. She was attacked by Russian submarine K21, which claimed a hit which in actuality did not occur.
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Photos dated 2 Jul 1942

2 Jul 1943

Japanese physicist Yoshio Nishina met his with army liaison officer Major General Nobuji and reported that he expected to be successful with the nuclear research project. He noted that 10 kilograms of uranium-235 of at least 50% purity to create an atomic bomb, but he needed a large cyclotron to conduct experiments to confirm this theory. Nobuji promised further funding.
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Greek guerrillas were placed under direct operational control of Allied Middle Eastern Command.
Major General Noboru Sasaki assumed sole command of all Japanese garrisons on New Georgia, Solomon Islands.
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Troops of US Army 43rd Division began to move from Rendova to New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, covered by gunfire from US Marines 9th Defense Battalion and US Army 192nd Field Artillery aimed at Munda Airfield; Japanese bombers attempted to interfere by attacking supply dumps on Rendova, causing heavy casualties.
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Subhash Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore.
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USS Flying Fish sank a Japanese cargo ship off Taiwan, hitting her with 3 of 4 torpedoes fired.
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USS S-35 was ordered to sail to waters off Paramushiro, Hokkaido, Japan.
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Photos dated 2 Jul 1943

2 Jul 1944

Germans evacuated Sienna, Italy.
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Feldmarschal Günther von Kluge replaced Gerd von Rundstedt as the commanding officer of the German forces in the West (Oberbefehlshaber West).
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General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson (Supreme Commander, Mediterranean) received orders from London, England, United Kingdom to organize the invasion of Provence, France. The name of this operation was changed by British Prime Minister Churchill to "Dragoon".
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The US coastal minesweeper YMS-350 struck a mine and sank off Utah Beach, Normandy, France.
Submarine Bugara was launched, sponsored by the wife of US Navy Captain Lyman S. Perry.
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A TBM Avenger aircraft from USS Wake Island sank German submarine U-543 between the Canary and Cape Verde Islands.
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Destroyer Yukikaze arrived at Kure, Japan.
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Photos dated 2 Jul 1944

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2 Jul 1945

Okinawa, Japan was declared secure.
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USS Barb launched rockets on Japanese shore installations; she was the first American submarine to fire rockets in combat.
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Photos dated 2 Jul 1945