Air Operations, Aleutians

14 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 17 B-25s, 16 343rd Fighter Group P-38s, 32 P-40s (including a number of RCAF P-40s), and 5 F-5s mount 4 separate missions against Attu and 6 separate missions against Kiska.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

1 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 attacks the Cape Gloucester and Gasmata airfields on New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

The Germans accuse the RAF Bomber Command of dropping explosive pencils and fountain pens, 'with the intention of killing German children'.

• 5 Mosquitos attack a railway works south of Brussels. Only 1 plane is believed to have hit the target.
• There are no losses.

Although not listed as a target, this photo (dated for this day) shows a low-level attack by Mosquitos on a power station at Lille in Northern France.

Low-Level Attack on Lille

• 21 Stirlings lay mines in the Frisians.
• 1 Stirling is lost.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• NASAF B-17s attack Axis ships at sea off Capo San Vito, Sicily.
• NASAF B-25s and B-26s attack Axis ships at sea east of Cape Zebib and off Marettimo Island.
• NAAF fighters attack Axis ships at sea in the Gulf of Tunis.
• In a single action at 0745 hours, 7 P-38s of the 82nd fighter group's 95th Fighter Squadron down 6 Italian SM-82 transports, 2 Bf-109s, and 1 Mc-200 near Marettimo Island.
• During the early afternoon, a 79th Fighter Group P-40 downs 1 Bf-109 over the Gulf of Tunis.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Toeal.

Air Operations, Solomons

USAAF P-38s and USN F4Fs strafe Nyanga.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• NASAF B-17s attack port facilities and ships at Tunis and port facilities at La Goulette.
• NASAF B-25s, B-26s, and fighters attack two Axis landing grounds in northeastern Tunisia.
• NATAF bombers and fighters mount six separate missions against Axis defensive positions in support of a ground attack by a British Army infantry division.
• IX Fighter Command P-40 fighter-bombers attack shipping, warehouses, and port facilities at Nabeul.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The British corvette Pink is escorting a group of five merchant ships which had straggled away from convoy ONS-5 when she came across U-192 and depth-charged her to destruction.

U-192 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Werner Happe Location N Atlantic, S of Greenland Cause Depth charge Casualties 55 Survivors None

U-638 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Oskar Staudinger Location N Atlantic, N of Cape Race Cause Depth charge Casualties 44 Survivors None

• U-638 is caught on the surface while attempting to penetrate the screen of convoy ONS-5 by the British corvette Loosestrife, which sinks her with depth charges.
• In Convoy ONS-5, the US freighter West Madaket (5565t) is torpedoed by U-707 and abandoned. The British frigate Pink rescues the 39-man crew and the 22-man Armed Guard before finishing the ship with depth charges.

CBI

Japanese forces in central China begin a huge offensive into Hunan Province in an attempt to extend territorial gains and seize additional rice fields. Since 1941, the China conflict has been a mixture of savage localized campaigns by the Japanese, often involving the slaughter of whole village populations, and de facto truces between the Japanese, the Chinese Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Communists under Mao Tse Tung. US commanders wanting to station air bases in China have been particularly disappointed by the intermittent Chinese co-existence with the Japanese invaders.

Eastern Front

In the Kuban the Soviets advance once more, capturing Krymsk and Neberjaisk, 10 miles from Novorossiysk.

Stalin and Polish leader Gen Sikorski agree to work together to defeat Nazi Germany.

Krymsk and Neberjaisk fall to the North Caucasus Front as the fighting in the Kuban continues.

A Damaged German Henschel Hs 129B of 5.(Pz)/Schlachtgeschwader 1 at El Aouiana airport, Tunis, Tunisia, in May 1943.

Damaged German Henschel Hs 129B

North Africa

Late in the day Djebel Bou Aoukaz, south of Tunis, is recaptured by the British 1st Div. The left flank is now secure for the attack on Tunis. The V(IX?) Corps is now commanded by Gen Brian Horrocks, who has taken the place of Gen John T. Crocker wounded a few days earlier, and includes 6th and 7th Arm Divs and 4th Indian Div. To the south Gen Alphonse Juin's French XIX Corps attack toward Pont du Fahs, the last line of defense before Tunis.

In the US II Corps area, the 47th Regimental Combat Team, 9th Div, paves the way for a direct assault on Djebel Cheniti by clearing the hilly region northwest of it. The 81st Reconnaissance Squadron, 1st Armored Div, gainst control of Djebel Achkel, but the enemy remains on its eastern slopes until the 11th. The 1st Div moves forward to the west bank of the Tine facing Djebel Douimiss. The 34th Div reconnoiters toward Eddekhila in force against strong opposition.

In the British 1st Army's V Corps area, the 1st Div, with effective air and artillery support, attacks Djebel Bou Aoukaz, on the east bank of the Medjerda River between Medjez el Bab and Tebourba, in order to cover the left flank of the IX Corps as it drives on Tunis on the 6th. The position is secured during bitter and costly fighting.

A Tiger I tank from the 5th Panzerarmee, captured by Allied forces in Tunisia. British forces broke through the defenses of the 5th Panzerarmee to the South of Tunis on this day in 1943.

Tiger I Tank of 5th Panzerarmee

Pacific

• The US submarine Sawfish (SS-276), despite the proximity of an escort vessel, sinks the Japanese gunboat Hakkai Maru (2921t) off Ise-an, Honshu, Japan.
• The US submarine Snook (SS-279) attacks Japanese merchant shipping in the Yellow Sea and sinks the cargo ships Kinko Maru (1263t) and the Daifuku Maru (3194t).