CBI - China: Day 356 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 17 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , June 27
CBI - China: Day 721 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 14 of 68 of the Battle of Tianjin.
Day 7 of 7 of Operation SWATOW. The Japanese capture Shantou in southern China.
CBI - Mongolia: Day 48 of 129 of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan.
1940 — , June 27
Atlantic: All French ships in British ports are seized by the Royal Navy.
Atlantic: German sub U-47 shells Norwegian merchant ship LENDA off southwest Ireland. Later in the same area, U-47 shells Dutch tanker LETICIA. With the crews in lifeboats, U-47 gives them first aid materials, sausages and wine before leaving.
ETO: German troops reach the Franco-Spanish border.
Russian Front: Romania cedes Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union.
Middle East: The French Commander-in-Chief in Syria accepts armistice terms.
East Africa: Day 18 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,087 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 226 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi. Japanese troops occupy part of the Hong Kong peninsula.
1941 — , June 27
USA: The FBI raids the offices of the Socialist Workers Party in Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, seizing large quantities of Communist literature.
ETO - Germany: The RAF bombs Bremen.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 6 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko.
Russian Front: Day 6 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - Lithuania: Day 5 of 5 of the Battle of Raseiniai. German Army Group North captures Raseiniai.
Russian Front - Lithuania: In Kaunas, a group of local Lithuanians gather more than 50 Jewish men into a horse stable and beat them violently with iron bars in public view. None of the victims survive in what becomes known as the Lietukis Garage Massacre.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 12 of the Battle of Minsk. German troops capture Bobruisk (Belarus) and Przemysl (Poland).
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 8 of the Battle of Brest, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 5 of 8 of the Battle of Brody, Poland.
Hungary: Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union and agrees to send troops to help German Army Group South.
MTO - Libya: Day 79 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
Middle East: Day 20 of 37 of the Battle for Syria and Lebanon.
East Africa: Day 383 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,452 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1942 — , June 27
USA: The "original 29" Navajo recruits of the 382nd Platoon, USMC, begin eight weeks of basic communications training, followed by development of an unbreakable code based on the Navajo language, the only truly unbreakable code in the history of warfare.
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The "Original 29" all-Navajo recruits of the 382nd Platoon, USMC
A total of 32 men appear in this photo. Who the other three might be is unknown. The original 29 had to first learn to survive the harsh environment they would encounter in the Pacific before work began on creating their Navajo code. Upon completion, it was tested on some Navajos who weren't Code Talkers and they were unable to understand it. The Marines then decided to start training 200 more Code Talkers.
It is hard to estimate the number of American lives that the Code Talkers saved, but it was certainly way up there.
Navajo Code Talkers related dates...
04 May 42: Original 29 Navajo recruits leave Ft Defiance for San Diego
27 Jun 42: Original 29 begin 8 weeks of communications training
Related WWII Store items...
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
USA: The FBI announces the capture of eight German saboteurs who had been put ashore from a submarine on Long Island, New York.
Atlantic: Day 165 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
Day 1 of 14 of Germany's Hunt for Allied Convoy PQ-17. During this hunt, U-boats and the Luftwaffe will sink 24 merchant ships. Today, the Allied convoy leaves Iceland.
Germany: Dr Heinisch, the German administrator in the Przemysl area in occupied Poland, publicly declares that anyone interfering with the deportation, looting of Jewish homes or helping Jews hide will be shot.
Russian Front - North: Day 293 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 54 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
Russian Front - Center: Day 30 of 31 of Operation KREMLIN, a German diversion to trick the Soviets into thinking Moscow is their main objective instead of Stalingrad and the Caucasus.
Russian Front - South: Day 241 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. The Axis captures all the Soviet defensive lines east of the Chernaya River.
MTO - Egypt: The Germans cut off the Allied forces at Mersa Matruh. The British begin to fall back toward the El Alamein line at Fuka.
MTO - Libya: US HALPRO B-24s night bomb the harbor at Tobruk in an effort to disrupt the movement of supplies.
East Africa: Day 54 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,817 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 44 of 124 of Japan's Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, launched to punish anyone suspected of aiding the Doolittle raiders in China. Roughly 250,000 Chinese will be killed.
PTO - Alaska: Day 21 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 129 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - New Guinea: US 5th Air Force bombs at Lae and Salamaua.
1943 — , June 27
ETO - UK: British Chiefs of Staff circulate the "German Long-Range Rocket: Evidence Received from All Sources" report with details of the German V-2 rocket.
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V-1 related dates...
12 Mar 44: Swedes investigate crashed V-1 from station 40 miles away
13 Jun 44: First V-1 Flying Bomb attack on England, 4 of 11 hit targets
16 Jun 44: V-1 offensive begins in earnest as 244 flying bombs strike England
19 Jun 44: Air Ministry releases the first official V-1 details
04 Aug 44: First RAF pilot destroys a V-1 flying bomb by tipping its wing
02 Sep 44: Allied advance forces V-1 rocket bases in France to cease
06 Sep 44: Battle of London ends after 80 days of V-1 rocket attacks
V-2 related dates...
20 Aug 41: Adolf Hitler authorizes the development of the V-2 missile
18 Mar 42: First A-4 rocket explodes during combustion chamber test
23 Mar 42: Von Braun's team launches first successful test of an A-4 rocket
22 Apr 43: A British Mosquito photographs German rockets at Peenemunde
27 Jun 43: British Chiefs of Staff circulate V-2 rocket report
28 Jun 43: RAF reconnaissance plane identifies Peenemunde V-2 launch site
13 Aug 43: Factory making V-2 parts bombed, setting program back
20 May 44: Polish underground captures, dismantles V-2 intact, sends to UK
08 Sep 44: First of over 3,000 German V-2 rockets hit Paris and London
27 Mar 45: The 1,115th and last V-2 rocket reaches England
02 May 45: Wernher von Braun surrenders in Austria to US troops
Rocket Man: Robert H Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age
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Germany: Heinrich Himmler orders a new procedure for testing the children born of Eastern European forced laborers. Those tested racially inferior are to be left in inadequately supplied centers for foreign children, where many of whom will die from malnutrition and lack of care.
Russian Front - North: Day 658 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 419 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
MTO - Greece: US 9th Air Force hits the airfields at Kalamaki and Eleusis.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force RAF Wellingtons night bomb the marshalling yard and port area of Naples.
CBI - China: Day 2,182 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO: Day 32 of 47 adrift in a raft for the survivors of B-24 GREEN HORNET that crashed 850 miles from Hawaii.
PTO - Alaska: Day 386 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force bombs the Main Camp area and the vicinity north of Salmon Lagoon.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 67 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 8 of 67 of the Battle of New Georgia. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1944 — , June 27
Atlantic: The HMS PINK is hit by a torpedo fired from German sub U-988 off the Normandy beaches in France. Although she is not sunk, she is declared a total loss.
ETO - UK: Day 15 of 86 of the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" offensive on Britain.
ETO - France: American fighter Ace Francis "Gabby" Gabreski gets his 27th kill to tie with current "ace race" leader Bob Johnson who has already been sent home. Gabby has now passed Eddie Rickenbacker's record from WWI and has matched the current record in the Pacific held by Dick Bong.
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Gabby Gabreski related dates...
03 Feb 43: First aerial combat (RAF), too excited to make a kill
24 Aug 43: Flying with the US, gets first credited kill
26 Nov 43: His 4th and 5th kills earn him status of Ace
27 Mar 44: Victory credits total 18 with 6 multi-kill missions
22 May 44: Shoots down 3 Luftwaffe Fw-190s in single mission
27 Jun 44: Ties record with Bob Johnson in "ace race"
05 Jul 44: Becomes America's leading Ace with 28 confirmed kills
20 Jul 44: Flies "just one more" and crash lands in Germany
25 Jul 44: After five days on the run, Gabby is taken POW
Related WWII Store items (Fighter Aces of WWII)...
Douglas Bader Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader, Legless Ace of the Battle of Britain
George Beurling Malta Spitfire: The Diary of an Ace Fighter Pilot
Dick Bong Ace of Aces: The Story of Fighter Pilot Dick Bong
ETO - France: Day 22 of 49 of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, known forever simply as D-Day. D-Day+21: Allied Air Forces provide air support.
ETO - France: Day 22 of 62 of the Battle of Caen. British troops take Hill 112.
ETO - France: Day 22 of 25 of the Battle of Cherbourg. US troops liberate Cherbourg, but it will take a couple of days to mop it up.
Germany: Members of the Polish underground send a message to the UK, telling them that the Germans are developing a rocket about 40 feet long and 6 feet wide.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 3 of 15 of the Battle of Tali-Ihantala. This becomes the largest battle in Scandinavian history.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 7 of 50 of the Battle of Karelia. Soviet troops continue their offensive against the Finns in eastern Karelia between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in northern Russia.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 5 of 5 of the Battle of Lake Ladoga. The Finns retreat from this area leaving Russia the entire lake.
Russian Front - North: Day 147 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops remain locked in their defensive positions.
Russian Front - Center: Day 5 of 6 of the Battle of Orsha, Belarus. The German troops are trapped.
Russian Front - Center: Day 5 of 6 of the Battle of Mogilev, Belarus. The Germans are losing ground.
Russian Front - Center: Day 4 of 6 of the Battle of Bobruysk, Belarus. The Soviets have a massive number of Germans trapped.
MTO: US 15th Air Force attacks targets in Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia.
MTO - Italy: Day 12 of 34 of the Battle of Ancona (north of Rome). Allied Air Forces provide air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 115 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY.
CBI - Burma: Day 110 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 88 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,548 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 72 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
Day 6 of 48 of the Battle of Hengyang.
CBI - India: Day 112 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. The Japanese continue retreating back into Burma.
PTO - Caroline Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs targets in the Truk Atoll.
PTO - Mariana Islands: Day 13 of 25 of the Battle of Saipan. US 7th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 32 of 83 of the Battle of Biak. There are still 3,000 Japanese soldiers on the island who won't give up.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 196 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 67 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 14 of 80 of the Battle of Lone Tree Hill.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 240 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , June 27
CBI - China: Day 2,913 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 88 of 91 of the Battle of Zhijiang. US 14th Air Force provides air support. Japanese troops continue pulling out of China.
PTO - Borneo: Day 18 of 67 of the Battle of North Borneo. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Caroline Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs the airfield on Moen Island, Truk Atoll.
PTO - Japan: Japanese kamikaze planes strike the USS BUNKER HILL, killing 373.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 548 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 432 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 250 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 195 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support. The US 6th Army reaches Aparri, effectively ending the campaign on Luzon, but hold-outs will continue fighting for a few more months.
PTO - Philippines: Day 110 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 102 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. US 5th and 7th Air Forces provide air support.
Day-By-Day listings for June 27 were last modified on Tuesday, February 2, 2016
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