Air Operations, Carolines

• In the heaviest strike to date against the target, 39 VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Ponape Island.
• During the night, VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 24 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Maymyo and marshalling yards and barracks at Mandalay.
• 12 A-31s attack Kaladan.
• 12 490th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack Tiddim and a bridge at Kalemyo.
• 2 P-51s attack a bypass bridge at Shweli.

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s strafe 12 troop-filled sampans near Hong Kong.
• 8 14th Air Force P-40s attack artillery batteries at Pailochi.

• 24 10th Air Force A-31s attack Kohima.

Air Operations, Europe

There is an RAF night raid on Budapest rail installations.

• 28 Mosquitos are sent to Ludwigshafen, 4 to Leverkusen, and 20 Halifaxes lay mines off Channel and Biscay ports.
• There are no losses.

• 360 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 231 2nd Bomb Division B-24s are thwarted by heavy clouds from reaching assigned targets at Berlin and central Germany, but 40 of the B-17s are able to attack the Bergen/Alkmaar Airdrome (Netherlands) through holes in the clouds during their return flight to England.
• 516 USAAF fighter escort the 8th Air Force heavy bombers to Germany and back. 11 Luftwaffe are downed in aerial engagements along the bomber routes.
• 3 USAAF fighters are lost in action and 5 are written off following various accidents

• Approximately 170 IX Bomber Command B-26s and 36 A-20s attack German Army gun emplacements and troop concentrations at six locations.

• 12th Air Force B-25s and B-26s attack rail kines, marshalling yards, and rail bridges.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack gun emplacements and a radar station near Anzio, marshalling yards at two locations, shipping at Leghorn, dumps, rail lines, a bridge, troop concentrations, and numerous other targets.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 26 5th Heavy Bomb Group (XIII Bomber Command) B-24s attack the Mokmer airfield on Biak in the Schouten Islands.
• More that 60 5th Air Force B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and P-47s attack roads, bridges, airfields, barges, and shipping throughout the Wewak area.
• A-20s attack bridges spanning the Awar River and targets of opportunity around Hansa Bay.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity in the Ramu Valley and coastal targets around Hansa Bay.
• During the night, several Japanese bombers mount an ineffective raid against ground targets in the Hollandia area.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-846 is sunk by Wellington 'M' of No 407 Squadron RCAF. Radar contact finds a U-boat fully surfaced and the aircraft drops six depth charges. Upon returning for a second attack, the aircraft only sees an oil slick forming on the water.

U-846

CBI

In Burma, the Chinese 22nd Division captures Inkangahtawng. Chinese forces halt on the road to Kamaing after capturing Inkangahtawng.

Eastern Front

The Soviet attack at Targul Frumos has been defeated.

India

The British 4th Bde retakes GPT Ridge to the south of Kohima. Over the next few days, Allied troops of the 6th and 33rd Bdes attacking Japanese positions between Jail Hill and the Tennis Court experience less success, and are beaten back with heavy casualties.

Marshalls

A US naval base and naval air facility is established on Majuro Atoll, providing another logistics center for US operations in the central Pacific.

Mediterranean

The German submarine U-371 is sunk by the US destroyer escorts Joseph E. Campbell (DE-70) and Pride (DE-323) and British and French surface craft in the western Mediterranean area.

U-371

New Guinea

There is no action in the Aitape sector. Since April 22, the date of the landing, the Japanese have lost 525 dead and 25 prisoners in fighting around Aitape, the Americans about 20 dead and 40 wounded.

Maj-Gen William H. Gill, the 32nd Infantry Division commander, takes control of the Aitabe Task Force, relieving the 163rd RCT for the Wakde-Biak operation.

Pacific

• The US submarines Bang (SS-385), Parche (SS-384) and Tinosa (SS-283) attack a Japanese convoy of merchant ships in Luzon Strait. Bang sinks Kinrei Maru (5947t); Parche sinks Shoryo Maru (6475t) and Taiyoku Maru (5244t); and Tinosa sinks Taibu Maru (6440t) and Toyohi Maru (6436t).
• The US submarine Pargo (SS-264) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Eriyo Maru (758t) east of Mindanao.
• The US submarin Tuna (SS-203) sinks the Japanese guardboat Tajima Maru

United States, Home Front

All meats are taken off the ration with the exception of steaks and certain choice cuts of beef for roasting.

Images from May 4, 1944

Soldiers Get Tea from a YMCA Tea Car

Exercise Fabius I at Slapton Sands