Air Operations, Aleutians

6 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s and 11 B-25s mount 3 ground-support missions to Attu.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Gasmata airfield on New Britain while 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount individual attacks against Gasmata.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10th Air Force bombers and fighter-bombers continue their three-day all-out pre-monsoon effort against Japanese lines of communication in western Burma.

Air Operations, East Indies

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

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Venturas are sent to bomb the airfield at Morlaix but are recalled.

• 6 Mosquitos are sent to Berlin, but only 2 bomb there, and there are 5 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

• The Kiel U-boat yard is attacked about 1330 hours by 103 1st Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s which drop 237 tons of bombs despite heavy fighter opposition.
• 6 B-17s are lost, 28 damaged; 1 crewman killed, 7 wounded, 60 missing
• In a separate but coordinated attack, 55 4th Heavy Bomb Wing B-17s attack the Flensburg U-boat yard with 134 tons of bombs.
• 9 B-17s are damaged; 2 crewmen are killed, 4 wounded
• A diversionary mission by 24 379th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 117 VIII Fighter Command P-47s fails to attact any Luftwaffe fighters.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• Me-109s intercept US formations bombing airfields on Sicily and Sardinia, but are driven off with loss.
• Pantelleria is again subjected to a heavy bombing raid.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Salamaua area and targets of opportunity on the Huon Peninsula.

Air Operations, Sardinia

• While escorting a force of NASAF B-26s against Cagiliari, 325th Fighter Group P-40s are engaged over land and sea with many Bf-109s. During a series of dogfights, the P-40s succeed in downing 6 Bf-109s.
• In a second action about the same time, 82nd Fighter Group P-38s are challenged by Axis fighter as they escort a force of NASAF B-25s against Villacidro Airdrome. In this action, 6 Bf-109s and 1 Mc-200 are downed.
• NASAF medium bombers also attack Elmas, Milis, and Monserrato Airdromes.

Air Operations, Sicily

14th Fighter Group P-38 are engaged by Bf-109s while escorting NASAF B-17s on a midday attack against Trapani/Milo Airdrome, but no confirmed victories are credited.

Air Operations, Solomons

• An estimated 9 G4M 'Betty' bombers attack Guadalcanal during the evening. An 18th Fighter Group P-38 brings down 2 'Bettys' off Guadalcanal at 2102 and 2316 hours, respectively.
• During the night, 4 XIII Bomber Command B-17s and 2 B-24s mount light harrassing attacks against the airfield at Ballale and the Kahili area to mask a mine-sowing operation off Buin by 30 AirSols TBFs.
• 2 TBFs are lost to unknown causes.

Aleutians

On Attu the Americans attack before dawn to open Clevesy Pass which would clear a way to the Sarana Valley. Fighting continues until sunset, with the Japanese forces apparently dislodged.

Americans with A6M2-N Rufe 7134 abandoned at Holtz Bay on Attu Island Credit: May 19, 1943

Americans with A6M2-N Rufe

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-boats attack Convoy SC-130, but on this occasion come up against supporting B-24 Liberators deploying homing torpedoes. Since early April, 14 of 22 convoys have crossed the North Atlantic without loss. No longer can the ageing U-boats cope with the advanced tactics employed by the Allies on sea and in the air. More than 30 U-boats have been sunk in the first 3 weeks of May.
• Flying support of convoy SC-130, Hudson 'M' of No 269 Squadron sights 273, but the U-boat dives before an attack can be made. The aircraft then carries out baiting tactic and the U-boat is again sighted. Four depth charges are dropped and perfectly straddle the conning tower. Several men in the conning tower begin to shoot at the aircraft which in turn makes a strafing run after which the U-boat is seen sinking.<
• The corvette HMS Snowflake, escorting convoy SC-130, detects a U-boat, U-381, on her asdic coming in to attack the convoy from the starboard side of the convoy. Snowflake drops a depth charge pattern, but is soon relieved by the destroyer Duncan whose first pattern went down as the convoy's ships passed by. The next attack is with a Hedgehog which produces a hit and a large oil slick.

• U-954 is sunk by hedgehog attacks from the Banff-class sloop HMS Sennen and the River-class frigate HMS Jed, both escorting Convoy SC-130. One of those killed in the sinking was Adm Karl Dönitz's son Peter Dönitz.

U-954

Germany, Home Front

Goebbels announces that Berlin is completely free of Jews.

Finnish leader of the Lotta Svärd organization Fanni Luukkonen receives the Order of the German Eagle with Star from Adolf Hitler on May 19, 1943. Under Luukkonen's leadership, Lotta Svärd, a voluntary auxiliary organisation for women, grew to 232 000 members, the largest women's organisation in Finland, and even in the world.

Finnish Leader Lott Svärd and Hitler

Pacific

The US submarine Gar (SS-206) sinks the Japanese guardboat Asuka Maru (37t) in Makassar Strait.

United States, Home Front

Churchill addresses a joint meeting of Congress.

Watching Buses Arrive

Watching the buses arrive with new incarcerees, photographer Dorothea Lange, May 19, 1943, Stockton Assembly Center, California. (Photo - NARA) The Stockton Assembly Center was built at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds site, just a few blocks southeast of the Stockton city center. The detention facility was populated from May 10 to October 17, a total of 160 days. The site included 125 barracks in the racetrack infield, along with forty more east of the fairgrounds. The population of the Stockton Assembly Center came almost mostly from the surrounding San Joaquin County area. The total population was 4,390, with a maximum of 4,271. Upon the closing of the camp, nearly all of the inmates were transferred to the Rohwer, Arkansas camp for long-term confinement, with a handful being sent to Gila River, Arizona.