July 11
Politics, UNITED STATES
President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces he will run for an unprecedented fourth term in the White House.

Eastern Front, BELORUSSIA
The Minsk area falls to the Red Army. The Germans have lost over 70,000 men killed and 35,000 taken prisoner, and their Fourth Army has ceased to exist.

July 15
Eastern Front, Finland
The battle for the Karelian Isthmus ends with a defensive victory for Finland. Three Soviet armies make excellent early progress, but are unable to achieve the objectives laid down in their orders of June 21. The Soviet military leadership orders its troops in Finland to go over to the defensive on the 11th.

July 17
Eastern Front, Ukraine
Units of the Soviet First Guards Tank Army cross the Bug River into Poland.

July 18
Far East, Burma
The Japanese high command calls off Operation U-Go.

July 18-22
Western Front, France
In the face of fanatical resistance, US troops enter St. Lô. The German 352nd Division is destroyed in the process. On the Eastern sector of the Front, the British and Canadians launch Operation Goodwood, a drive east of Caen to provoke heavier German concentrations in the area. The aim is to wear down German armor to such an extent that it is of no further value to them. The Allies lose over 100 Sherman tanks in the assault. By the 22nd, however, the British have cleared southern Caen.

July 19-21
Pacific, Marianas
US battleships begin the pre-invasion bombardment of Asan and Agat beaches on Guam, the most important island in the Marianas group. Two days later, troops of the 3rd Marine Division and 77th Infantry Division begin landing on the island. The Japanese fight back hard.

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