24 Jun 1941
  • German Armeegruppe Nord moved into Lithuania and Byelorussia, seizing Vilnius and Kaunas. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | TH]
  • Japan asserted pressure on France for Indochina. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Large demonstrations began in Madrid, Spain in support of the German invasion of the Soviet Union; demonstrations soon spread to other parts of Spain. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Hungary broke relations with the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [TH]
  • British House of Commons voted for the second £1,000,000,000 war credit of the year as war expenditure now exceeded £10,250,000 per day. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • British bombers attacked Düsseldorf, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
  • In Russia a Council of Evacuation was set up with emergency powers to oversee the evacuation of machinery, skilled workers and food stuffs on a large scale, away from the German advance. ww2dbase [AC]
  • The German E-Boat S35 discovered the Soviet submarine S3 (N. A. Kostromityev) off Steinort, Germany and fired several torpedoes which all missed. S3 was then sunk by depth charges and hand grenades. ww2dbase [AC]
  • Adolf Hitler arrived at the Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia, Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Leonardo da Vinci, while searching for survivors of German supply ship Alstertor in the Atlantic Ocean, came across a German aircraft; they exchanged recognition signals. At 1248 hours, she came across British carrier HMS Furious escorted by light cruiser HMS Hermione, destroyer HMS Legion, and destroyer HMS Lance; the Italian submarine submerged, but could not get in a good attack position. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Furious | CPC]
China Malta
  • Scirè launched manned torpedoes into Grand Harbour, Malta; they failed to damage any enemy vessels. ww2dbase [Scirè | Grand Harbour | CPC]
Mediterranean Sea
  • At about 0200 hours, the 3,805-ton Turkish steam merchant Refah, which was hit by a torpedo from an unidentified submarine about 3 hours prior, snapped in two and sank about 19 kilometers east of Cyprus. 28 of the survivors landed near the Karatas lighthouse on the Turkish coast at the end of the day. The fate of the remaining 172 remained unknown at this time. ww2dbase [HM]
Russia
  • Soviet Air Force Directorate chief Pavel Rychagov, as well as his wife Maria Nesterenko, a famed aviatrix, were arrested during the purge of the Soviet Air Force. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Soviet Deputy Defense Commissar General Kirill Meretskov was arrested by agents of the 3rd NKO Directorate. He would later be cleared of suspicion in Sep 1941 and was given front line command once again. ww2dbase [Kirill Meretskov | CPC]
Ukraine
  • Ivan Bagramyan attempted to launch a counterattack against German advances in Ukraine, but it would fail to achieve much due to the unprepared state of his troops. ww2dbase [Ivan Bagramyan | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 24 Jun 1941
Conscripts of the Soviet Army, Moscow, Russia, 24 Jun 1941Byelorussian children in a bomb shelter, Minsk, Byelorussia, 24 Jun 1941Citizens of Leningrad, Russia running as the air alarm sounded, 24 Jun 1941German vehicles in a town in the Soviet Union, Jun 1941; note Soviet BA-10 armored car on the side of the road

24 Jun 1941 Interactive Map

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




Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this article with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds

Search WW2DB
Famous WW2 Quote
"Goddam it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!"

Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!