Air Operations, Carolines

• 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at the Mamote airfield on Los Negros attack the Woleai Atoll.
• During the night, VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 10th Air Force B-25s attack Indainggyi, the road at Hpaungzeik, and a bridge at Sibong (India).
• 6 B-25s and 18 10th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese Army ground forces at Mawlu.
• 3 B-25s and 4 P-51s attack Japanese Army positions at Nalong.
• More than 40 A-31s attack the Thaungdut area and Japanese Army troop concentrations near Palel.
• 24 A-31s attack Japanese Army positions near Buthidaung.
• More than 90 B-25s, A-31s, P-51s, and P-40s attack numerous targets in the Mogaung Valley.

• 14 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 28 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack the airfield at Hankow.
• 5 B-25s and 61 P-40s attack numerous targets throughout southern China and northern French Indochina.
• 449th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters in an engagement over Hankow at 1210 hours.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack Penfoei, Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

• 149 aircraft including 77 Halifaxes, 64 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups, attack railway installations at Gassicourt suburb of Mantes La Jolie, to the west of Paris. The Bomber Command report states that stores depots and locomotive sheds are severely damaged, but reports from the ground say that some of the bombing falls outide of the railway target area. The western part of the town including old 'Mantes', the Gassicourt suburb and the hamlet of Dennemont, are all bombed.
• 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax are lost.
• 54 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack an ammo dump at Sable Sur Sarthe which is destroyed by tremendous explosions.
• There are no losses.
• 52 Lancasters of No. 1 Group hit an ammo dump at Aubigne accurately and the entire target is destroyed. The only Lancaster lost on this raid, from No 576 Squadron, contains a senior officer who is flying as second pilot. This is Air Commodore R. Ivelaw-Chapman, who is commanding a 'base' (usually 3 airfields) in No. 1 Group. Ivelaw-Chapman has only just taken up this position after a staff job in which he has had access to details of the coming invasion. There is great anxiety in England that, if he becomes a prisoner of war, the Germans might hand him over to the Gestapo for questioning. He is taken prisoner but the Germans never realize his importance and he is treated in the normal manner.

• 28 Mosquitos are sent to Ludwigshafen, 5 to Leverkusen and 2 to Châteaudun, 8 Halifaxes and 6 Stirlings lay mines off Biscay ports, 33 aircraft are involved in Resistance operations, there are 9 Serrate and 5 Intruder patrols, 9 RCM and 6 OTU sorties.
• 1 Mosquito is lost on the Leverkusen raid.

• 70 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack the V-weapons sites at Siracourt, but 90 1st Bomb Division B-17s dispatched against V-weapons sites in the Pas-de-Calais area abort in the face of heavy cloud cover over the target.
• Escort for the heavy bombers is provided by 185 USAAF fighters.

• The 9th Air Force's 10th Photographic Recon Group, in F-5s, begins an intense two-week effort to fully photo-map the OVERLOAD invasion beaches and adjacent areas using the low-level oblique technique.
• 1 F-5 and its pilot is lost in the course of 11 single-plane sorties

• XII TAC A-20s attack storage dumps.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack numerous rail and road targets, and several gun emplacements.

• 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack aircraft-industry targets around Brasov
• B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Turnu Severin.
• 15th Air Force B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Campina, near the Ploesti oil complex.
• The 1st, 14th, and 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilots are credited with downing 7 Luftwaffe fighters while escorting the heavy bombers on these various missions.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Biak Island.
• V Bomber Command B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount more than 150 sorties throughout the day against numerous targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.

Allied Preparations

Operation FABIUS, the dress rehearsal for D-Day, takes place on 4 beaches from Sussex to Devon.

Arctic

From now until June 1 there is a series of 6 operations by the British Home Fleet off the Norwegian coast. Various air attacks on the Tirpitz are planned but are prevented by bad weather. As well as the inherent value of these raids they are designed to support one of the deception plans for D-Day, FORTITUDE NORTH. This scheme principally involves false radio activity designed to suggest a coming landing in Norway.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-473 is spotted on May 5 and endured depth charge attack for fifteen hours. The attacking British ships are the sloops HMS Wren and HMS Wild Goose and the destroyer HMS Starling expending 345 depth charges. Having been shot to pieces, the U-boat surface early on May 6 and is abandoned by her crew after setting scuttling charges.

U-473 Class Type VIIC CO Kapitänleutnant Heinz Sternberg Location Atlantic, W of Cape Clear Cause Depth charge Casualties 23 Survivors 30

U-66 Class Type IXC CO Oberleutnant zur See Gerhard Seehausen Location Atlantic, W of Cape Verde Islands Cause Ramming/gunfire Casualties 24 Survivors 36

• The German submarine U-66 is sunk by aircraft (VC-55) from the US escort carrier Block Island (CVE-21) and the destroyer escort Buckley (DE-51) in the mid-Atlantic area.
• A sighting report of U-765 by Swordfish 'X' of 825 NAS from the British escort carrier HMS Vindex causes the British frigated Keats to be sent to the area. After an hour of fruitless searching, Keats is joined by the British frigates Bligh, Aylmer and Bickerton. A creeping attack is carried out by the British ships which causes the U-boat to surface. While the submarine is engaging in gunfire, Swordfish 'V' drops two more depth charges which blows the ship in half.

U-765

Burma

The Chinese and Americans attack the village of Ritpong, northeast of Kamaing, without success.

CBI

After marching 65 miles over a 6,000-foot-high mountain trail, the Marauders reach Ritpong, where patrols encounter Japanese forces.

Eastern Front

During the night the final Soviet assault on Sevastopol opens, preceded by the customary devastating bombardment. The southeast sector is most heavily attacked. In the last 3 weeks there have been intensive convoy operations in the Black Sea. Generally the Germans have managed to get sufficient supplies through as well as evacuate 40,000 men.

The 2nd Guards Army resumes its attack, but still the XLIX Mountain Corps stands fast. However, German strength is rapidly dwindling, the hard-pressed divisions nearing the end of their abilities.

India, Home Front

(5/5?) Gandhi is released from imprisonment on medical grounds.

Japan, Home Front

The Mitsubishi A7M is tested for the first time. It is designed to replace the Zero. Technical problems and Allied bombing raids prevent mass production.

New Guinea

Rear-Adm Daniel E. Barbey has advised that the start of the operation to land at Sarmi and on Wadke Island, in the northwest of New Guinea, be put back from May 15 to May 21. MacArthur counters with a change to the original plan.

The operation against Wadke Island, from which the air forces will be able to cover the future landing on Biak Island, will take place on the original date, but the landing at Sarmi can be temporarily postponed. The 41st Infantry Divisioin is ordered to Wadke Island to support the attack on the Japanese base at Sarmi.

Pacific

• A Japanese troopship convoy (Aden Maru (4824t), Tenshinzan Maru (6886t) and Tajima Maru (6995t)) is destroyed by the US submarine Gurnard (SS-254).
• The US submarine Crevalle (SS-291) attacks a Japanese convoy off northern Borneo and sinks the fleet tanker Nisshin Maru (15,801t) about 40 miles west of Kalutan Island.
• The US submarine Spearfish (SS-190) attacks a Japanese convoy in the East China sea west of Kyushu and sinks the merchant cargo ship Toyoura Maru (2510t).

Images from May 6, 1944

Beach Defenses, France

Carrier Pigeons Settling in the Loft

Frontal Assault on Japanese Bunkers

Members of the American Field Service

British Troops Wade Ashore

Photographic Unit during Exercise 'Fabius'