Air Operations, AleutiansBad weather prevents all but 2 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s from supporting US 7th Infantry Division troops battling Japanese Army defenders on Attu Island. 4 B-24s diverted from Attu attack Kiska, and 8 343rd Fighter Group P-40s sent to attack Kiska are diverted by bad weather to Little Kiska. | ]Air Operations, Bismarcks
Air Operations, EuropeBOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
Air Operations, New Guinea
Air Operations, Solomons
AleutiansThe American forces are still being contained virtually in their landing areas although they now outnumber the Japanese by about 4 to 1. Bad weather has been hindering the US air support and the terrain is very difficult. The Japanese have recovered from their surprise and are putting up a vigorous, well co-ordinated defense. In the northern part of the island they have gone over to the attack, trying, but without success, to dislodge the invaders from a hilltop called Hill X. [ | ]Allied PlanningThe Trident Conference approves the final version of the plans for the landing in Sicily, called Operation HUSKY, including the date, July 10, and the areas chosen for the landings. [ | ]
Britain, Home FrontBritish Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee formally announces the end of the campaign in North Africa. [ | ]Japan, PolicyJapan's powerful lord keeper of the privy seal, Marquis Koichi Kido, confides to the foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, that the war can be ended only by the royal family's assistance in bringing the military under control. Shigemitsu had joined the Tojo cabinet in an effort to conclude a peace in China honorable to the Chinese and to avert what is increasingly perceived as a disastrous military outlook in the war against the US. Kido, Shigemitsu and other Japanese leaders, however, can never overcome the destructive momentum of the military's actions until it is too late. The emperor was by no means the ultimate decision-maker. [ | ]
New GuineaJapanese aircraft begin another series of raids on Allied positions. [ | ]North AfricaTUNISIAField-Marshal Messe orders the surrender of the remaining German and Italian troops. Altogether 250,000 have been captured in the last few days, half of them German. Gen Alexander sends the following message to Churchill: 'It is my duty to report that the Tunis campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.' With the surrender of Gen Messe, Rommel's successor, who is notified on this date of his promotion to marshal, the Tunisian Campaign ends. [ | ]PacificAn accidental explosion damages the US light cruiser Nashville (CL-43) and the US destroyer Nicholas (DD-449) in the Solomon Islands area. [ | ]United States, Home FrontCzech Pres Benês addresses Congress. [ | ] |
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[May 12th - May 14th] |