June 26, 1944. Cherbourg surrenders.

The Germans surrendered at Cherbourg.

Karl-Wihelm Schlieben and Admiral Walter Hennecke at the surrender of Cherbourg.  In captivity, Schlieben remarkably noted regarding Dachau; “Everybody knew, happen that terrible things there – not what, but that terrible things happen because, knew each of us, even then 1935”.  Neither of these senior German officers reappeared in the German forces of the Budesrepublik in spite of their relative youth, which is interesting.

The British launched Operation Epsom to take Caen and seize Fontenay-le-Pesnel, Cheux and the airfield at Saint-Manvieux-Norrey.  Rommel orders SS units at Saint-Lô to disengage and to the aid of the 12th SS Panzer at Caen, but Allied air cover makes that impossible.

The Germans prevailed at the Battle of Osuchy against the Polish Home Army.

The Red Army kills or captures most of the German 53d Corps and also captured Orsha and Mogilev.  

Brigadier General Mike Calvert (left), Lieutenant-Colonel Shaw, with (right) Pakistani born Major James Lumley after the capture of Mogaung.  The General is armed with a SMLE and the Lt. Col. with a bayonet fixed SMLE.  The Major with a M1 Carbine.  Gen. Calvert is a particularly tragic figure. This battle was his most significant, and it was significant.  After the war, he began drinking heavily and was reassigned to a command in Germany.  In 1951, he was accused of improper sexual contact with three young German men, at a time at which that was fully illegal, and was court-martialed and convicted.  He never got back on his feet after that and maintained his innocence for the rest of his life.  Work by his biographer after his death indeed demonstrated that he was most likely innocent of what he had been accused of.

After 20 days of hard fighting, the Chindits, in the latter stages assisted by the Nationalist Chinese, took Mogaung in Burma.

The U.S. Navy bombarded Japanese positions on Matsuwa in the Kuriles.

The Republican National Convention opened in Chicago.

All three New York baseball team played at the Polo Grounds in a round-robin experiment to raise money for war bonds.

General Hap Arnold called Governor Lester Hunt and requested that UW President James Morill be given a leave of absence to assist with the War Education Program. (UW History Calendar).

The trustees refused the request.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, June 25, 1944. The Battle of Tali–Ihantala commences.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Tali–Ihantala, British Army, Caen France, Canadian Army, Diplomacy, Finnish Army, German SS, Operation Epsom, Operation Martlet, Operation Overlord, Red Army, Waffen SS, World War Two