July 1
Politics, Britain
General Sir Claude Auchinleck replaces General Sir Archibald Wavell as the commander of British Middle East forces. Wavell's Middle East Command has achieved considerable success against numerically-superior Italian forces, despite supply shortages. However, subsequent commitments in Greece, Iraq, and Syria have overstretched his forces. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Winston Churchill wants a decisive offensive in the Western Desert and Wavell's failure to achieve this has led to his transfer.

July 1-11
Eastern Front, Belorussia/Ukraine
The German advance continues. Army Group North crosses the Dvina River. Army Group Center moves across the Berezina River and efforts now center on bridging the Dniepr River in order to prevent the Soviets forming any defensive line that would obstruct the Moscow advance. Army Group South overcomes Soviet fortifications on the Stalin Line and moves forward on July 10. The panzer divisions are just 10 miles (16 km) from Kiev, the Soviet Union's third-largest city, by the 11th.

Such armored units, however, are unsuitable for urban fighting and risk suffering heavy losses, especially as Kiev is strongly defended. General Gerd von Rundstedt plans to lure the Soviet units into the open steppes with the threat of encirclement. Once exposed, they might be annihilated.

July 3
Africa, Ethiopia
Italian resistance ends in the south after 7000 men surrender.

July 4
Politics, Yugoslavia
Joseph Broz, known as 'Tito,' emerges as the leader of the Yugoslavian resistance movement, although the government-in-exile does not support him. Tito, a communist, has popular support and proposes a Yugoslavian federation that overrides ethnic and national differences.

July 7
Sea War, Iceland
US troops garrison the country to protect shipping from U-boat attacks.

July 10
Politics, Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin, in an attempt to halt the advancing Germans, appoints a number of 'commander-in-chiefs of direction' in three command areas (Fronts - groups of armies). These are Marshal Semën Budënny (South and Southwest Front), Marshal Semyon Timoshenko (Central West Front), and Marshal Kliment Voroshilov (Northwest Front).

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