http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/19.htm
July 19th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
1,596 AA guns have been moved to the south coast to combat V-weapons.
The USAAF’s Eighth Air Force in England flies two missions.
Mission 482: 1,082 B-17s and B-24s and 670 P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, operating in five forces, attack targets in western and southwestern Germany including two plants producing hydrogen peroxide (an ingredient in V-weapon fuels), a chemical plant, two aircraft factories, four ball bearing plants, six marshalling yards, four airfields, and a river dam; 17 bombers and seven fighters are lost. Attacks in the Munich area are followed, within 90 minutes, by Fifteenth Air Force attacks. 731 fighters, operating in 19 separate units support the bombers; eight of these units afterwards strafe ground targets, including parked aircraft, locomotives and rolling stock, and road vehicles. The bombers claim 6-4-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; the fighters claim 17-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 38-0-14 on the ground.
During the night, Mission 483: 5 B-17s fly Mission 483 dropping leaflets in France and Belgium. Also during the night, 5 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
Minesweeper HMS Mameluke launched.
Destroyer HMS Saintes launched.
FRANCE: The Goodwood battles continue east of Caen, France. Large numbers of tanks are involved on both sides. The defensive postions and better armament of the Germans make up for their lack of superiority.
Canadian forces clear the Caen suburbs of Vaucelles, Louvigny and Flery-sur-Orne.
During the afternoon 262 USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-20 Havocs bomb bridges on the Loire and Seine Rivers and a fuel dump at Bruz; fighters provide escort and, though limited by bad weather, hit rail lines and scattered enemy installations and movements in the Amiens-Tours-Chartres area and along the Ghent-Brussels, Belgium railroad.
ITALY: The US 34th Div. captures Leghorn [Livorno]. The Germans have demolished the port and laid 25,000 booby-trap bombs.
GERMANY: 400+ USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s based in Italy bomb an ordnance depot, an aircraft factory, a motor works, and an airfield in the Munich area; P-51s and P-38s fly 300+ sorties in support; enemy fighter opposition is weak but flak is heavy and accurate; 16 USAAF aircraft are shot down and several are missing.
U-2502 is commissioned.
U-2513, U-3507 laid down.
EASTERN FRONT: Russian units enter Latvia.
ARABIAN SEA: At 1703, the unescorted King Frederick was torpedoed and sunk by U-181 in the Nine Degree Channel in the Arabian Sea. The wreck was later dispersed. 20 crewmembers, five gunners and two passengers (military personnel) were lost. The master, 27 crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by the American Liberty ship Shamshee and landed at Aden.
GUAM: In support of the upcoming invasion of Guam, Seventh Air Force P-47s, based on Saipan, continue to bomb and strafe Tinian Island while Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-24s, striking in 2 waves, attack the airfield on Yap Island; several of the B-24s become separated from the formations and bomb Ngulu and Sorol Atolls in the Caroline Islands.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-5 is sunk 360 miles east of Guam by the USS WYMAN (DE-38) a destroyer escort. (Marc James Small)(220, 221 and 222)
U.S.A.: The top pop songs are
(1) “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Bing Crosby;
(2) “Long Ago and Far Away” by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes;
(3) “Amor” by Bing Crosby; and
(4) “Straighten Up and Fly Right” by The (Nat) King Cole Trio.
Minesweeper USS Minivet laid down.
Destroyer USS Zellars launched.
Destroyer escort USS Kenneth M Willet commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: One Anti-Aircraft gunner was killed (Bootsmaat Werner Hahne) and six wounded onboard U-968 during a battle with an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator.