July 5
Politics, Poland
General Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, is killed in an air crash. His deputy, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, replaces him.

July 5-6
Pacific, Solomons
The US 43rd Infantry Division leads the main landing on New Georgia. That night US and Japanese destroyers clash at the Battle of Kula Gulf. One Japanese destroyer is sunk.

Both sides lost heavily at Kursk. This Soviet tank
crew fell foul of a German antitank gun and
panzergrenadiers

July 6
Eastern Front, Ukraine
Soviet intelligence has uncovered the plans for the offensive by 900,000 German troops against Kursk. The Germans believe that a victory on the Eastern Front will bolster domestic morale and preserve the Axis coalition, while also demonstrating to the Allies that the Nazis can still achieve victory. From March to July, they gather 900,000 troops but the Red Army succeeds in establishing numerical superiority in men (1.3 million) and equipment.Consequently, German units are exposed to aerial and land bombardment while the Red Army prepares for the attack. The German Army Group Center's Ninth Army, south of Orel, and Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's Fourth Panzer Army, north of Kharkov, open Operation Citadel with an offensive against the salient. The Ninth Army under Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge only penetrates six miles (9 km) and loses 250,000 men. Over 6000 German and Soviet tanks and assault guns take part in the war's greatest armored battle. Special attention is given by the Soviets to antitank guns and obstacles. The Germans deploy 200 aircraft for the operation and the Soviets 2400.

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