Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 3 10th Air Force B-25s attack the airfield at Thayaung. More than 80 B-25s and 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets in the Mogaung Valley. 3 B-25s and 6 fighter-bombers attack an ammunition dump near Mohnyin.
- More than 40 A-31s attack dumps, bivouacs, artillery batteries, and occupied villages at Kalewa and near Bishenpur (India).
- 18 A-31s attack Japanese Army troop concentrations near Buthidaung.
- 11 A-31s attack Naba.
- 15 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack targets along the Tiddim road.
- 12 P-38 fighter-bombers attack a warehouse near Monywa.
- 14 14th Air Force P-40 fighter-bombers attack bridges at Hsenwi and Wan Pa-Hsa, and a barracks at Kentung.
- 8 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 23 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack warehouses at Chiuchiang. 25 CACW B-25 and P-40s attack a marshalling yard and storage facilities at Sinyang.
- 10 P-40s attack Japanese Army troops and motor vehicles on the road between Loyang and Juchou.
- 3d CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 1 D3A 'Val' dive bomber and a twin-engine transport in the Luchow area at 0710 hours.
- 11 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the port and shipping at Haiphong.
- 6 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines in the harbor near Koh Si Chang Island.
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]Admiralty Islands
The US 8th Cavalry Regt begins the last phase of the mopping up of Manus Island.
[ | ]Air Operations, Europe
The Torre Dam in Italy is dive-bombed and smashed by RAF Mustangs and Australian and South African Warhawks.
RAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
- 16 Halifaxes and 12 Stirlings lay mines off Channel and Biscay ports, 30 aircraft are on Resistance ops, and there are 6 OTU sorties.
- There are no losses.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
5th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in the Admiralty Islands attack Biak Island. 1 B-24 is downed by a Japanese fighter and another is wiped out when it crash-lands. Scheduled attacks against the Wakde-Sarmi area are cancelled due to bad weather.
[ | ]Burma-India
While the Kohima-Imphal front is stabilized, in upper Burma the Chinese and Americans are fighting in the jungle against the Japanese in the area of Myitkyina. Slim's 14th Army counterattacks near Imphal. Throughout April and into early May, IV Corps has been defending the long perimeter around Imphal, with fighting particularly heavy around the Shenan Saddle, Torbung and Mapao Ridge. Both sides are increasingly exhausted and are running out of basic foodstuffs.
[ | ]Eastern Front
Tolbukhin launches the final attack against Sevastopol, throwing in the 51st Army, the 2nd Guards Army and the Independent Maritime Army. Russian forces enormously outnumber the Germans and Rumanians of the 17th Army. The Katyusha rocket-launcher, which the Germans call the 'black death', has its customary devastating and terrifying effect on the defenders.
SOUTHERN SECTORAfter a period of redeployment the 4th Ukrainian Front begins its final offensive against the 17th Army, some 470,000 Soviet troops, 600 tanks and 6,000 arty pieces facing 65,000 Germans and Rumanians. Elements of the 2nd Guards Army attack the Mackenzie Heights north of the city, pounding the XLIX Mountain Corps. Despite massive attacks and significant losses the XLIX maintains its positions.
[ | ]India, Home Front
Indian leader Gandhi is released from British custody because of ill health. He has been imprisoned since August 1942.
[ | ]Mediterranean
The US destroyer escort Fechteler (DE-157) is sunk by a submarine torpedo in the western Mediterranean area.
[ | ]Images from May 5, 1944
Shells Being Loaded into a Sherman Tank in the Anzio Bridgehead, Italy, 5 May 1944 |
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Preparing for Exercise 'Fabius' |
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Tanks as Artillery |
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Collecting Empty Shell Casings |
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Carrier Pigeion Training |
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