Spain: Day 7 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War. The Committee of National Defense for the Spanish Nationalist Government meets for the first time in Burgos.
1937 — , July 23
Spain: Day 372 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 17 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 17 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Hebei.
Day 10 of 22 of the Battle of Tainjin-Beijing.
1938 — , July 23
Germany: Nazis order Jews over age 15 to apply for identity cards from the police, to be shown on demand to any police officer.
Spain: Day 737 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 382 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 43 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan. The Namita Detachment of the Japanese 11th Army Group lands east of Jiujiang.
1939 — , July 23
CBI - China: Day 747 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 40 of 68 of the Battle of Tianjin.
CBI - Mongolia: Day 74 of 129 of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan.
1940 — , July 23
UK: The Secretary of War announces that the Local Defence Volunteers will now be called the Home Guard, with more than the 1,300,000 currently enrolled.
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14 May 40: Call goes out to create the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV)
23 Jul 40: Local Defence Volunteers renamed Home Guard
01 Feb 41: Home Guard spots German spy parachuted into England
20 Apr 43: Home Guard allows limited recruitment of women
03 Dec 44: Home Guard of 1.5 million volunteers stands down
UK: Britain announces its third War Budget, with a higher income tax, a higher tax on beer and, for first time, a 33% luxury sales tax is introduced.
ETO - UK: Day 14 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe sinks the British sub HMS NARWHAL 125 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland.
USSR: As per the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, the Soviets officially absorb Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Soviet Union.
East Africa: Day 44 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,113 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 252 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , July 23
South America: Day 19 of 27 of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War, a territorial dispute between Peru and Ecuador.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 25 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 23 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 32 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 14 of 18 of Finland's reconquest of Ladoga, Karelia. The Finns continue their offensive on Lake Ladoga northeast of Leningrad.
Russian Front: Day 32 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - North: German and Soviet troops continue fighting near Lake Peipus outside Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 18 of 31 of the 1st Battle of Smolensk, Russia. German troops capture Brest-Litovsk.
Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 12 of the Battle of Zhlobin, Belarus.
Russian Front - South: Day 9 of 25 of the Battle of Uman, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 22, Russia. German and Romanian troops continue their attack at Bessarabia to take the land and city that Romania was forced to cede to the USSR a year ago.
Russian Front - South: German and Romanian troops keep pushing toward Vinnitsa and the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine.
MTO - Libya: Day 105 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 409 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,478 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Indochina: The Japanese extend their occupation across the whole of Indochina, as agreed with Vichy France.
1942 — , July 23
Germany: Hitler orders that the Slavic population in occupied Eastern Europe is to be nothing more than laborers of Germany, thus they are not to get more food than what's absolutely necessary and they are not to be educated.
Russian Front - North: Day 319 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 80 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
Russian Front - Center: Day 22 of 22 of Germany's Operation SEYDLITZ. The Germans successfully trap and capture numerous Soviet troops while securing the vicinity between Bely and Kholm. However, this offense isn't a total success as Zubtsov is liberated by the Soviets.
Russian Front - South: Day 26 of 27 of the Battle of Voronezh, Russia. German Army Group South captures Rostov-on-Don (Rostov on the Don River).
Russian Front - South: Day 26 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields. Hitler changes his plans again, sacking and replacing his commander. His new orders are to proceed on Stalingrad.
Russian Front - South: Day 1 of 20 of Germany's Operation EDELWEISS. With Rostov taken, German Army Group South heads to the coastline along the Black Sea and then on to the Caucasus to capture the oil fields of Baku.
MTO - Egypt: Day 23 of 27 of the 1st Battle of El Alamein. Indian troops launch an attack on Deir el Shein, but are stopped cold.
MTO - Libya: US B-24s bomb at Benghazi.
East Africa: Day 80 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,843 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 70 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 47 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 155 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 3 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1943 — , July 23
Germany: German leader Fritz Sauckel orders improvements in the living conditions for Eastern European workers who have performed their functions well.
Russian Front - North: Day 684 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 445 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
Russian Front - Center: Day 19 of 50 of the Battle of Kursk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 12 of 38 of the Battle of Orel, Russia. Soviet troops launch an attack into the Orel salient.
Russian Front - South: Day 1 of 23 of the Battle of Belgorod, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 11 of 48 of the USSR's Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive.
MTO - Italy: Day 15 of 40 of the Battle of Sicily. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support. The British 8th Army runs into stiff resistance as they move east from Leonforte.
CBI - China: Day 2,208 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 412 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 93 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 34 of 67 of the Battle of New Georgia. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
1944 — , July 23
ETO - UK: Day 41 of 86 of the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" offensive on Britain.
ETO - France: Day 48 of 49 of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, known forever simply as D-Day. D-Day+47: Allied Air Forces provide air support.
ETO - France: Day 48 of 62 of the Battle of Caen.
ETO - Germany: At night, the RAF bombs attacked Kiel.
Germany: The "Deutsche Gruss," the Nazi form of salute, is introduced into the Wehrmacht in the wake of the July 20th bomb plot against Adolf Hitler.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 33 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 - North: Day 173 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 19 of 27 of the Battle of Siauliai, Lithuania. The Soviets take Pskov near the Estonian border.
Russian Front - Center: Day 19 of 23 of the Battle of Belostock, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 15 of the Battle of Lvov, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 15 of the Battle of Stanislav, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 16 of the Battle of Lublin, Poland. Heavy street fighting occurs in Lublin.
MTO - Albania: US 15th Air Force B-24s bomb the oil refinery in Berat.
MTO - Italy: The US 5th Army captures Pisa.
CBI - Burma: Day 141 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 136 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 114 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,574 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 98 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
Day 32 of 48 of the Battle of Hengyang. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Caroline Islands: US 7th Air Force bomb targets in the Truk and Wotje Atolls.
PTO - Dutch New Guinea: Day 22 of 61 of the Battle of Noemfoor. Although the island has been declared secured, bitter fighting from the Japanese continues. Although the Japanese 18th Army is unorganized, they put up a stiff resistance in the Aitape-New Hollandia area.
PTO - Mariana Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs on Tinian Island.
PTO - Mariana Islands: Day 3 of 21 of the 2nd Battle of Guam.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 58 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 222 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 93 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 40 of 80 of the Battle of Lone Tree Hill.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 14 of 47 of the Battle of Driniumor River, a failed Japanese offense on US troops near Aitape.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 266 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , July 23
France: Treason trial begins against Marshal Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of the Vichy France puppet government after the German conquest. He will be found guilty and sentenced to death, commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle.
Spotlight...
Marshal Philippe Pétain in Court on Trial
Pétain is regarded as an enigma to the modern French public. He was an outstanding military leader in the first World War and was viewed as a national hero. Upon the fall of France in 1940 he was appointed Prime Minister and immediately began collaborating with the German occupying forces in exchange for an agreement to not divide France between the Axis Powers. Much of the French public initially supported his new government despite its pro-Nazi policies, seeing it as necessary to maintain a degree of French autonomy and territorial integrity.
Vichy authorities under Pétain aided in the rounding-up of Jews and other "undesirables," and at times, Vichy French military forces actively opposed the Allies. The trial sought to determine whether he was merely trying to do the best for France in a bad situation, or if he was a collaborationist, traitor and saboteur of French democracy. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle. He will die in prison in six years on July 23, 1951, at age 95.
USSR: In Moscow, Russia, the Politburo approves the sentence of death by hanging of turncoat General Andrei Vlasov who had raised two divisions of Russian volunteers to fight for the Germans.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks targets in China and French Indochina.
CBI - China: Day 2,939 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
The USS SEA ROBIN sinks a small Japanese vessel in the East China Sea.
CBI - Malaya: The USS BLENNY sinks two small Japanese vessels in the South China Sea.
PTO - Alaska: US 11th Air Force bombs Kurabu Cape Airfield on Paramushiru Island.
PTO - Borneo: Day 44 of 67 of the Battle of North Borneo. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Japan: Men brought in by submarine USS BARB go ashore and destroy a train in Karafuto, Kurile Islands.
PTO - Japan: The Allies launch a massive 36-hour air and sea bombardment of Kure naval base and other ports on the Japanese coast running from Osaka to Nagoya.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 574 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 458 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 276 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 221 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
PTO - Philippines: Day 136 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
PTO - Philippines: Day 128 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting for several weeks.
Day-By-Day listings for July 23 were last modified on Sunday, January 31, 2016
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