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• James Johnson shot down a German Bf 109 fighter. ww2dbase [James Johnson | CPC]

• Finland issued declaration of war against the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [Operation Silver Fox | TH]

• Tomahawk fighters of No. 3 Squadron RAAF destroyed 5 French D.520 fighters and damaged a further six on the ground at Homs Airfield in Syria. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler officially named Hermann Göring his successor. ww2dbase [Hermann Göring | TH]
• U-576 was commissioned into service under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Dieter Heinicke. She was assigned to the 7th Submarine Flotilla. ww2dbase [U-576 | CPC]

• German 56th Panzer Corps reached Daugava River (Western Dvina); 8th Panzer Division and 3rd Motorized Division established bridgehead near Daugavpils, Latvia. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | CPC]

• German Panzer units closed the Bialystok pocket in Poland. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | TH]

• The Leningrad-class destroyer leader Moskva was lost during Soviet Black Sea Fleet commander Vice-Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky's raid on the Romanian port of Constanta. Damaged by return fire from Romanian destroyers Regina Maria and Marasti and from German coastal batteries, she attempted to withdraw but sank after running into a Romanian minefield. The mines were probably laid by the Romanians about 7 to 10 days prior, and the Soviet captains were not given precise charts of the minefields. 7 officers and 62 men were rescued and interned by the Romanians. ww2dbase [AC]

• Aircraft of the German Luftwaffe began to bomb Leningrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | TH, CPC]
• In the Soviet capital of Moscow, Joseph Stalin visited the General Staff headquarters twice, voicing frustration at the heavy losses that the Red Army was suffering against the invading German forces. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | TH, CPC]

• Spain officially began to organize a unit of volunteers to fight in Russia on the side of the Axis. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The mixed Marine-Army I Corps (Provisional), which was attached to the US Navy Atlantic Fleet, was redesignated Task Force 18 of the Atlantic Fleet. ww2dbase [CPC]

26 Jun 1941 Interactive Map