June 1
Air War, Germany
Britain launches a '1000 Bomber' raid against Essen and the Ruhr industrial area.

An aerial photograph of the Japanese carrier Hiryu
during the Battle of Midway. The ship was set
ablaze by a US air attack and subsequently scuttled

The Japanese cruiser Mogami after sustaining an
attack by US aircraft during the Battle of Midway

June 4
Sea War, Pacific
The Battle of Midway begins. Japan's Admiral Chuichi Nagumo aims to seize the US base at Midway and then destroy the US Pacific Fleet commanded by Admiral Chester Nimitz. Japan deploys 165 vessels, including eight carriers, but they are too widely dispersed to provide mutual support. US codebreakers are able to warn the Pacific Fleet, which then converges to repel the Midway attack and is not diverted by a raid on the Aleutian Islands. The US Navy has a smaller force but has managed to gather three carriers.

The reconnaissance operation by Japan's 29 large cruiser submarines fails to establish the movements of the Pacific Fleet. Nagumo has no idea of US deployments when he first strikes Midway. Japan's I Carrier Striking Force is decimated by US aircraft and three heavy carriers are lost. Japan's fourth carrier, Hiryu, then cripples the US carrier Yorktown before herself being fatally hit. Japan's attempt to destroy the enemy with its superior forces by luring it into a surface battle has failed. The loss of half of its carrier strength, plus 275 aircraft, puts Japan on the defensive in the Pacific.

June 7
Eastern Front, Ukraine
The siege of Sebastopol intensifies with massive assaults by Germany's Eleventh Army. Sebastopol is under heavy shelling from German siege artillery, which includes the Dora gun, the world's largest mortar. The Soviet defenders continue to hold out, despite the intense bombardment.

June 10
Home Front, Czechoslovakia
Reinhard Heydrich, the deputy governor of occupied Czechoslovakia and architect of the Nazi genocide program, dies after an attack by Czech agents on May 27. In retaliation, over 1000 Czechs accused of anti-Nazi activities are murdered, 3000 Czech Jews are deported for extermination, and 150 Berlin Jews are killed. The Czech village of Lidice is leveled. Its men are executed; its women and children are sent to concentration camps.

prev | next