8 Jul 1932
United States
United States
- Tatsuta Maru departed San Francisco, California, United States.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
8 Jul 1937
China
China
- At 0330 hours, four Japanese mountain gun crews and a machine gun company were ordered to prepare for an invasion of China. At 0500 hours (still 7 Jul 1937 for the western world on the other side of the International Date Line), the Japanese opened fire, starting the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe held a cabinet meeting in an attempt to find a solution to de-escalate the situation, but the Japanese Army was working in the opposite direction, planning to move the Japanese Chosen Army and Kwantung Army units to the contested region.
» In-depth article - The Chinese Communist Party urged its members over a radio announcement to cooperate with the Nationalist Party in the war against Japan.
8 Jul 1940
- Expanding on their previous agreement, Sweden allowed Germany to transport war materiel across their rail lines.
- British Metropolitan Police was ordered to be armed when guarding important locations.
- Tea went on ration in Britain at two ounces per person per week.
- Operation Catapult: British Swordfish torpedo bombers from carrier HMS Hermes hit French battleship Richelieu at Dakar, French West Africa for the second consecutive day, despite that Richelieu had already touched bottom from the attacks on the previous day. At Casablanca, French Morocco, British motor torpedo boats attacked French battleship Jean Bart, causing damage. In England, General Charles de Gaulle denounced these attacks by the British.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-99 sank British ship Humber Arm of Allied convoy HX-53 60 miles south of Ireland at 0753 hours; 42 crew members and 1 passenger were later rescued by destroyer HMS Scimitar. The submarine was attacked with 107 depth charges from various escorting vessels for the following 14 hours, but the German boat under the command of Otto Kretschmer would be able to escape harm.
» In-depth article - Italian submarine Marconi torpedoed and damaged destroyer HMS Escort southwest of Minorca, Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 2 and wounding 13; HMS Escort would sink later while under tow by destroyer HMS Forester. On the same day, Italian aircraft bombed cruiser HMS Gloucester, hitting the compass platform of the bridge, wounding 9 and killing 12; the commanding officer was among those killed.
- British bombers attacked German heavy cruiser Lützow in dock at Kiel, Germany. Lützow, under repair for extensive torpedo damage to her stern caused by HMS Spearfish on 11 Apr 1940, was hit by a bomb that failed to detonate.
» In-depth article - The British RAF Fighter Command established the 10 Group for the defense of southwestern Britain.
- USS Wichita and USS Quincy departed Santos, Brazil for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
» In-depth article - USS Phoenix departed Valparaiso, Chile for Callao, Peru.
» In-depth article - The US Joint War Planning Committee completed a plan calling for an expeditionary force to be dispatched from New York, New York, United States to the French colony of Martinique; the US 1st Marine Brigade was earmarked for the initial landing force.
- Historical document written: Details of the Tommy-Gun; Report on British Anti-Invasion Measures
» In-depth article - Historical document written: ZhEROM and MARTA; DIK Requests Repeat of Telegram
» In-depth article
8 Jul 1941
- British B-17 bombers were deployed on a combat mission for the first time as three of them were ordered to attack Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
» In-depth article - Jews in the Baltic states were forced to wear the Star of David.
» In-depth article - German troops captured Pskov, Russia.
» In-depth article - USS Arizona arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - Before dawn, British bombers attacked Münster, Germany. During the day, German anti-aircraft guns began arriving at the city in response to the recent successive night bombings.
» In-depth article - Rationing of basic foodstuff begins in Moscow, Leningrad and other major Soviet Union cities.
- After sundown, German bombers conducted a light attack on Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom.
» In-depth article
- Kaga departed Yokosuka, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- A Soviet military mission arrived in London, England, United Kingdom.
8 Jul 1942
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Ambon, Molucca Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - In southern Russia and Ukraine, 4.Panzearmee began to push down the Don River, attempting to meet with 6.Armee coming from Kharkov; meanwhile, 1.Panzerarmee crossed the Donets River.
» In-depth article - Valetta harbor, Malta was attacked by air.
» In-depth article - Winston Churchill urged Franklin Roosevelt to agree to Operation Gymnast, a plan to jointly invade North Africa, since "[n]o responsible British general, admiral, or air marshal is prepared to recommend [a cross channel attack] as a practicable operation in 1942."
» In-depth article - Japanese carrier task force withdrew from Alaskan waters after the completion of the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian islands.
- British General Claude Auchinleck ordered an attack on Tel el Eisa and Tel el Makh Khad near El Alamein, Egypt.
» In-depth article - Chester Nimitz issued the final plan for the lower Solomon Islands offensive scheduled to be launhed in Aug 1942.
» In-depth article - Survivors of German submarine U-701, sunk by a US Hudson aircraft on the previous day off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States, spotted American aircraft and ships in search of them.
» In-depth article - Japanese submarine I-10 sank British ship Hartismere in the Mozambique Channel at 0748 hours; all aboard survived. I-10 struck again at 1800 hours, sinking Dutch freighter Alchiba in the same area, killing 5.
» In-depth article - USS S-37 sank Japanese transport Tenzan Maru 20 miles northwest of Rabaul, New Britain.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-255 sank US ship Olopana of Allied convoy PQ-17 at 0100 hours; 7 were killed, 34 survived).
» In-depth article
- USS S-43 departed Brisbane, Australia with RAAF Flight Officer Cecil John Trevelyan Mason aboard for New Ireland.
» In-depth article
- Before dawn, 30 Soviet patrol boats and torpedo boats disembarked troops on the island of Someri, Finland, immediately engaging the Finnish garrison on the island. After daybreak, Finnish gunboats and torpedo boats arrived, sinking three Soviet torpedo boats.
- 285 British bombers (137 Wellington, 52 Lancaster, 38 Halifax, 34 Stirling, 24 Hampden) attacked the docks at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, causing little or no damage to the docks, killing 25 civilians, and wounding 170; 5 bombers were lost on this mission.
» In-depth article
- Axis convoy Siena departed Suda Bay, Crete, Greece; it was consisted of 5 freighters, Italian destroyer Mitragliere, German destroyer ZG-3, Italian torpedo boat Sirio, Italian torpedo boat Cassiopea, German submarine chaser UJ-2104, and German submarine chaser UJ-2107.
- Soviet submarine ShCh-317 sank German ship Otto Cords 10 miles off of the Swedish coast.
» In-depth article
- The eight German saboteurs captured in the United States during the past several weeks were placed on trial before a special military commission at the Department of Justice in Washington DC, United States.
- German submarine U-571 damaged US tanker J. A. Moffett, Jr. 4 miles off of the Florida Keys, Florida, United States at 0616 hours, killing 1 of 42 aboard; the tanker ran aground to prevent sinking, but she would later be declared a total loss.
» In-depth article
8 Jul 1943
- The keel of submarine Blenny was laid down.
» In-depth article - Eight US Army B-24 bombers from Midway made the first land-based air strike against Wake Atoll.
- German submarine U-759 was reportedly to be lost, though later records show she might had not been destroyed until 23 Jul 1943.
» In-depth article - Casablanca was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article - Companies N and Q of USMC 4th Raider Battalion were dispatched on a patrol on Gatukai Island in New Georgia, Solomon Islands after reports on the possible presence of a 50-100 men Japanese garrison on the island.
» In-depth article - In the Kursk salient Walter Model's armour made three thrusts into the centre of the Soviet defences along the Central Front, the villages of Teploye, Olkhovatka and Ponyri in Russia. At Teploye, the main objective was Hill 272. Time and again the Germans assaulted it, after attacks by swarms of Stuka dive bombers which dropped 550-pound bombs on the anti-tank positions. But the Soviets were well dug in and camouflaged. They preferred to fight the Germans at close range, where their anti-tank rifles and dug in T-34 tanks took a devastating toll. The Germans took the hill three times, but the Soviets continued to recapture it.
» In-depth article
8 Jul 1944
See all photos dated 8 Jul 1944
- As Baranovichi, Byelorussia fell to the Soviets, German XII Corps surrendered its last 57,000 men. The German Armeegruppe Mitte alone had lost nearly 30 divisions in less than a month.
» In-depth article - British Second Army launched Operation Charnwood against Caen, France.
» In-depth article - Jewish ghettos in Kovno, Lithuania began to be evacuated by German authorities.
- Allied bombers conducted a raid on Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
- Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi withdrew the remnants of the Japanese 33rd Division from Imphal, India back into Burma.
» In-depth article - Takeo Takagi was killed in action on Saipan, Mariana Islands.
» In-depth article - Chuichi Nagumo was posthumously promoted to the rank of admiral.
» In-depth article
- Raoul Wallenberg landed at Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany and traveled to his sister's residence in the southwestern suburb of the city. He would experience his first air raid during that night.
» In-depth article
- Yamato departed Kure, Japan for Okinawa, Japan with the 106th Infantry Regiment of the 49th Division on board.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- Lieutenant General Haruki Isayama was named the chief of staff of the Taiwan Army.
- Franklin Roosevelt and Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd visited Shangri-La (now Camp David) near Thurmont, Maryland, United States.
» In-depth article
See all photos dated 8 Jul 1944
8 Jul 1945
- American prison guard Clarence Bertucci fired his machine gun at a tent full of sleeping German prisoners of war in Utah, United States, killing 8.
- RAF sergeant Simon Eden, son of British foreign secretary Anthony Eden, was listed as missing in action in Burma.
- 9 US carriers, organized into 3 task groups each complete with battleship and cruiser screens, refueled east of Iwo Jima, Japan.
- Over 100 American fighters struck eastern Honshu, Japan from their bases on Iwo Jima, Japan.
» In-depth article - USS Carbonero completed her first war patrol.
» In-depth article - Subhash Chandra Bose attended the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Indian National Army War Memorial in Singapore.
» In-depth article - USS Missouri set sail as an escort for carriers.
» In-depth article - The crew of light cruiser Voroshilov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
» In-depth article
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Maizuru, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- USS Bluefish sank a Japanese patrol boat in the South China Sea, hitting her with 2 of 12 torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article
8 Jul 1946
- Baltimore was decommissioned from service.
» In-depth article
8 Jul 1951
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1951
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1951
8 Jul 1952
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1952
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1952
8 Jul 1955
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1955
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 1955
8 Jul 2007
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 2007
Photo(s) dated 8 Jul 2007
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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