Friday, 16 June 1944

  • On the night of June 15-16, 244 V-1 rockets are fired on London, the largest number launched against the British capital during the Battle of Normandy.
  • George VI, the King of England, visits British troops in Normandy.
  • U.S. Navy Seabees finish construction of the first pier of Mulberry A, the American artificial harbor, off Omaha Beach, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, and the first ship begins unloading. Meanwhile, at Mulberry B at Arromanches in the British sector, two more piers are opened.
  • On the Cotentin Peninsula, the American advance continues. Lawton Collins’ 7th Corps progresses eastward while the 82nd Airborne Division moves north. The 9th Infantry Division, attached to the 7th Corps, liberates Orglandes. Two other U.S. infantry divisions, e.g., the 47th and 60th, begin moving east of the Cotentin toward Brittany. The 225th will soon follow.
  • Elements of the U.S. First Army takes Ste. Colombe and St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte, with the latter falling to the 746th Tank Battalion and the 82nd Airborne’s 325th Glider Infantry Regiment.
  • In the Pacific Theater, the U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division lands on Saipan, joining the Marines who landed the day before. Among the 27th men is Samuel Belmont, Jr., the brother of Skylighter Lawrence P. Belmont.