- Allied troops commence a week-long artillery bombardment of German defensive positions along the Somme River in northern France, in preparation for a major British-led offensive on 1 July. More than 1.5 million shells are fired along a 25km front in an attempt to destroy German trenches and barricades, clearing the way for an infantry advance.
- French counter-attacks regain some ground in the Battle of Verdun; German troops occupy part of Fleury, their farthest point of advance to date
- Russian forces drive Austrian troops from Bukovina
- General Jacob Louis Van Deventer’s South African Mounted Brigade defeats German troops on Lukigura River in German East Africa
24 June 1916
