Chronology of World War II

May 1943

Tuesday, May 18


Air Operations, Aleutians

6 28th Comp Bombardment Group B-24s attack Kiska after being diverted from Attu by bad weather. 4 343rd Fighter Group P-40s strafe barges at Kiska.

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Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Gasmata, airfields in the Rabaul area, Arawe, and Cape Gloucester.

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Air Operations, CBI

BURMA
  • 10 Air Force bombers and fighter-bombers open a three-day all-out pre-monsoon effort against Japanese lines of communication in western Burma.
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Air Operations, Europe

BOMBER COMMAND
Daylight Ops:
  • 13 Bostons bomb the Abbeville airfield without a loss.
Evening Ops:
  • 13 Lancasters and 4 Wellingtons lay mines off Brest and in the southern part of Biscay.
    • There are no losses.
US 8th AIR FORCE
NORTHWESTERN EUROPE:
  • 100 VIII Fighter Command P-47s make sweeps over France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 2 4th Fighter Group P-47s down 2 Bf-109s over Belgium.
    • 1 4th Fighter Group P-47 is shot down at sea; pilot listed missing
USAAF
PANTELLERIA:

Allied warplanes open an all-out offensive against Axis forces on the island, with special emphasis on the port and Marghana Airdrome. At least 80 B-25s, B-26s, and their P-38 escorts attack these targets.

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Air Operations, Mediterranean

Allied attacks on Pantelleria are intensified, and the island is virtually cut off by a naval blockade. Heavy raids will continue until June 5.

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Air Operations, New Guinea

  • 1 V Bomber Command heavy bomber attacks Lorengau, Manus Island.
  • Japanese bombers attack Wau.
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Air Operations, Sicily

NAAF B-17s attack Trapani. 14th Fighter Group P-38s escorts down 6 Axis fighter during the return flight to their base in Tunisia.

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Aleutians

On Attu the American forces advancing from the north and south of the island link up and prepare to attack what they believe are the last Japanese positions on the approach to Chicagof Harbor. In the northern sector new units and supplies are landed.

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Date: Between April - May 1943 - Place: Nürnberg, Mittelfranken, Bavaria, Germany. Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf.D medium tanks on rail cars waiting to be shipped to the front, April - May 1943. The D model can best be recognized by the drum cupola. [MORE]

Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Tanks


<i>Panzerkampfwagen</i> V Panther Tanks

China

The Japanese launch an offensive across the Yangtze River in China. The ultimate objective is the Chinese capital of Chungking.

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Pacific

  • The US submarine Pollack (SS-180) sinks the Japanese gunboat Terushima Maru (3110t) southwest of Maleolap Atoll, Marshalls.
  • The US tanker H. M. Storey is torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-25 while en route from Nouméa, New Caledonia to San Pedro, California and abandoned by the 48-man crew, 2 passengers and the 15-man Armed Guard. 2 of the crew are lost in the attack and the survivors are rescued by the US destroyer Fletcher (DD-445) and taken to Vila, Efate.
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World Affairs

A United Nations Food Conference begins in Hot Springs, Va. It sits until June 3 and produces various resolutions calling for fairer distribution of resources in the post-war world.

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[May 17th - May 19th]