Air Operations, EuropeBOMBER COMANDIn minelaying operations, 33 Wellingtons and 15 Stirlings are sent to the Biscay ports, but poor weather allows only 18 aircraft to lay mines. There are no losses. [ | ]Air Operations, New Guinea22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the airfield at Lae. [ | ]Battle of the AtlanticThe unarmed US freigher Plow City (3282t), en route from Trinidad to New York, is torpedoed and sunk by U-588 with the loss of one of her crew. [ | ]Diplomatic RelationsJapan agrees to a request by the International Red Cross for a representative to visit British PoWs. [ | ]
Eastern FrontSOUTHERN SECTORThroughout the day the 57th Army fights a fierce defensive battle, preventing its isolation by the German armor. The III Panzer Corps, however, has unexpectedly turned north, away from the smaller encirclement of the 57th to the larger isolation of the entire Izyum groupont, Meanwhile, the 3rd and 23rd Panzer Divisions prepare to attack from Balakleya in order to link up with the III Panzer Corps. By the end of the day, the corridor to the east has been halved. The fate of the Soviet troops in the Izyum salient appears bleak. [ | ]Germany, PlanningOperation Herkules, the planned German airborne invasion of Malta, put forward by the Axis commanders, is postponed by Hitler until after the capture of Egypt. The Axis forces in North Africa are now preparing for an offensive to take Egypt. [ | ]India, Home FrontIn an attack like 4 days earlier Hurs stop a bus at Mirpukhas and slaughter 13 passengers. (see June 1, 1942) [ | ]PhilippinesThe Japanese land in Leyte Gulf. [ | ] |
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[May 20th - May 22nd] |