July 14
Middle East, Syria
General Henri Dentz defies the Vichy French authorities and surrenders Syria to the Allies. British forces begin occupying the colony and pro-Allied administrations are formed in Syria and neighboring Lebanon. The Allies have sustained about 2500 casualties in the campaign, while the Vichy French forces have suffered some 3500 casualties defending their colonies in the region.

July 16
Eastern Front, Soviet Union
Following the crossing of the Dniepr and Dvina Rivers, the encirclement of Smolensk by Germany's Army Group Center commences. The city falls after 300,000 Red Army troops and 3200 tanks are trapped in the vicinity of the city but, despite this, the surrounded Soviet forces are not finally defeated until August.

July 18
Politics, Czechoslovakia
Britain recognizes the Czech government-in-exile led by Edouard Beneö. The Czechs also make a mutual assistance agreement with the Soviet Union and promise to form an army.

July 19-29
Eastern Front, Soviet Union
General Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group, plus supporting infantry, leading the advance toward Moscow, receives orders to swing south and help tackle the Soviet Fifth Army, which is situated in the Pripet Marshes. This Soviet force vastly outnumbers the opposing German units and poses a serious threat to Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau's southern operations. Army Group Center's remaining panzer unit, the 3rd Panzer Group, is assigned to assist Army Group North take Leningrad. Guderian and other commanders are hostile to this decision and attempt to persuade Adolf Hitler not to halt the Moscow advance, but to no avail.

July 21
Sea War, Mediterranean
Operation Substance, the British transportation of supplies from Gibraltar to Malta, begins. Besieged Malta, a naval base, occupies a key location across the short sea and air route between North Africa and Italy.

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