Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, B-25s, and 343rd Fighter Group P-38s and P-40 mount attacks against Attu and Kiska.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Dili, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

In a series of tactical air strikes Russian bombers raid German troop concentrations and railways in Novgorod and the Bryansk-Orel areas and the Ukraine. Fierce air battles result.

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the harbor at Reggio di Calabria and claim hits on several ships.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• Heavy Allied air attacks on Sicilian harbors continue. Reggio Calabria, the mainland terminal of the ferry system to Sicily, is devastated in the severe raids. NASAF B-25s and B-26s attack numerous Axis ships at sea between Sicily and Tunisia and claim the sinking of 6 ferries and 5 small boats laden with Axis military evacuees.
• IX Fighter Command P-40s also attack Axis ships at sea in the Gulf of Tunis.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Manokwari and Toeal.
• V Bomber Command A-20s attack Japanese Army ground troops around Green’s Hill.
• B-24s mount individual attacks against Finschhafen and Madang.

Air Operations, Sicily

NASAF B-17s attack the Marsala and Milo/Trapani Airdromes.

Air Operations, Solomons

• USN SBDs and F4Fs, and USAAF P-40s attack the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.
• During the evening, XIII Bomber Command B-24s mount harassment attacks against the Kahili airfield on Bougainville, and against Ballale and Fauro.
• On or about this date, AirSols SBDs begin carring 50-gallon auxiliary fuel tanks to extend their range.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• Operation VULCAN, the Allied final offensive in Tunisia, opens at dawn with massed artillery fire and the largest air offensive of the North African Campaign. Following attacks by NATAF aircraft during the night of May 5 against Tunis/El Aouina and Le Sebala Airdromes, the landing ground at Ariana, NATAF and IX Fighter Command mount more that 1,400 fighter, bomber, and fighter-bomber sorties atainst all types of targets throughout northeastern Tunisia.
• In several morning aerial engagements over land and sea near the coast, pilots of the 1st, 31st, 52nd, 82nd, and 325th Fighter Groups down 10 Luftwaffe fighters and 1 Ju-52 transport.
• During the afternoon, 31st Fighter Group Spitfires down 7 Bf-109s, 1 FW-190, and 1 Mc-202 near Tunis.

Battle of the Atlantic

• In the fog that descended on this evening the destroyer Oribi comes across U-125 and rams her. The U-boat was able to limp away, but maybe unable to dive because of damage from the collision. Some time later U-125 is caught by the British corvette Snowflake and is sunk by gunfire.

U-125 Class Type IXC CO Kapitänleutnant Ulrich Folkers Location N Atlantic, E of Newfoundland Cause Ramming,gunfire Casualties 54 Survivors None

U-531 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Herbert Neckel Location N Atlantic, NE of Newfoundland Cause Depth charge Casualties 54 Survivors None

• U-531 endures a severe depth-charge attack from the British corvette Snowflake and is forced to surface and is able to make off in the poor visibility. The destroyer Vidette sweeps back to her reported position. After assessing the U-boat's approximate location, the destroyer engages with the Hedgehog. Nothing further is heard from the U-boat.
• U-438 is detected by another of convoy ONS-5's escorts, the British sloop Pelican. The sloop sinks the U-boat with depth charges.

U-438

Class	Type VIIC
CO	Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Heinsohn
Location	N Atlantic
Cause	Depth charge
Casualties	48
Survivors	None

• The US freighter Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (7191t), bound for Bahia, Brazil, is torpedoed and sunk by U-195 in the South Atlantic and abandoned.

New Guinea

The Australians capture Mubo.

North Africa

Supported by a massive artillery barrage by 600 guns and an air bombardment, V Corps destroys what is left of 15th Pzr and breaks through the Medjerda Valley defenses in the Medjez-el-Bab sector toward Tunis. 6th and 7th Arm Divs of the British IX Corps succeed in reaching the plain behind Djebel Bou Aoukaz, throwing Axis communications and supply lines into disorder. The 2 armored divisions manage to reach Massicault. Farther north the Americans are also on the move, with the 9th Div heading for Bizerta, the 1st Arm Div by-passing Mateur is heading for Ferryville to the north and Protville to the east. The French XIX Corps is approaching Pont Du Fahs.

German troops surrender to the crew of a Stuart tank near Frendj, 6 May 1943.

German Troops Surrender near Frendj

The 18th Army Group opens if final assault, Operation Vulcan, before dawn. The offensive is supported by massed artillery fire, which at dawn is supplemented with the most intensive air bombardment yet employed in North Africa.

In the US II Corps area, while the 47th Infantry, 9th Div, continues to clear the hills north of Djebel Cheniti, the 60th Infantry passes throught the Corps Franc d'Afrique for a frontal assault on Djebel Cheniti and clears most of it. Combat Command A, 6th Armored Infantry, reinforced, of the 1st Armored Brigade, begins an attack on the hills east of the Mateur-Ferryville road, takes the first ridge, Djebel el Messeftine, but loses it in a counterattack. Combat Command B, 13th Armored infantry, reinforced, to the right, protects the flank of Combat Command A and starts eastward along the Mateur-Djedeïa road. The 1st Div, employing the 18th and 26th Regiments and with Company H, 1st Armored Regt in support, attacks across the Tine to clear Djebel Douimiss hills but is forced to withdraw to the west bank, during the night, where it conducts a holding action.The 3rd Div, lest the 7th Regimental Combat Team, upon its arrival from Morocco, assembles behind the 1st Div for possible commitment. The 34th Div's 168th and 133rd Regiments drive beyond Eddekhila.

A Captured German Tiger I Tank, 6 May 1943

Troops from 6th Armoured Division gather round a road sign during the advance on Tunis, 6 May 1943.

6th Armored Division Troops in Tunis

In the British 1st Army area, the IX Corps opens its attack toward Tunis with the British 4th and the Indian 4 Divs abreast, the latter on the left, on a narrow front. After the enemy line is breached, the 6th and 7th Armored Divs pass through the infantry and push on to Massicault, about half way to Tunis. The enemy attempts unsuccessfully to establish a new line from Djedeïda to St Cyprien.

Axis aircraft are still active. British convoy caught during deployment for the final British offensive in Tunisia. Note M3 Grant tank of 7th Arnoured Division on transporter.

British Convoy Under Air Attack

Pacific

The US submarine Gar (SS-206) sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Kotoku Maru near Tarakan, Borneo.

Southwest Pacific

Allied headquarters sends out further instructions for the preparation of Operations CARTWHEEL, the plan for the recapture of Rabaul.