3rd July 1944 – Soviet forces capture Minsk (now the capital city of Belarus), trapping the German 4th Army between the city and Berezina.
Japan finally calls off the Imphal offensive in India. Matagachi's 15th Army has lost 55,000 men (half due to starvation or disease). Allied casualties from the battles of Imphal and Kohima amount to 17,587 killed or wounded. (From ‘The Second World War’ by Antony Beevor, published by Weidenfield and Nicolson 2012)
In Italy French troops with the US 5th Army take the city of Siena and forces of the British 8th Army capture Cortona, both in Tuscany south of Florence.
In Normandy ‘The Battle of the Hedgerows’ begins as the US Army edge south through Normandy’s dense bocage country towards the strategic crossroads at St-Lô, losing many men. After heavy fighting 82nd Airborne take the hill of Monte Castre near Haye-du-Puits.
Not only hedges blocked the Allies' progress. Anthony Rampling of Dick’s No 5 troop, ‘B’ Squadron, remembers:
“As we approached a cross road before Caen the whole road was blocked with dead horses in their carts. The Germans did this to make it difficult to get past.
One horse with a broken leg, still alive, was standing among the debris. I tried to shoot this with my Sten gun, fired several times but didn’t kill it. This upset me – still does.” (From Anthony Rampling’s account of 61st Recce - pers comm.)
Eric Brewer got back to base on 4th July and wrote home that he was “sending on these two French notes which were issued to us on Invasion day. We are getting issued with different ones now so perhaps you would like these two for souvenirs...”. (Extract from letter included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)
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