Air Operations, CBI

• 15 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack targets in the Kangaung area.
• 4 P-40s attack targets of opportunity between Kamaing and Nanyaseik.
• 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 3 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the airfield at Kangaung at 1600 hours.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Chahsien and, with 4 14th Air Force P-40s, attack motor vehicle concentrations near Hsiangcheng.
• 8 P-40s attack tanks and motor vehicles between Loyang and Yenshih, and from Yehnsien to Paofeng.
• 8 P-40s attack Japanese Army troops near Luchou.

• 4 14th Air Force P-40s attack targets of opportunity at Lang Son.

• 35 10th Air Force A-31s attack the Bishenpur area.

• 4 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines in the Gulf of Siam near Sattahib.

Air Operations, Europe

The 8th Air Force dispatches 1,500 planes to Berlin. 9th Air Force Marauders and P-38s attack the Mézières-Charleville railway yards. 15th Air Force and RAF bombers attack the Bucharest railway yards by day and night leaving the target area in flames.

• 93 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of Nos. 3 and 8 Groups are sent to bomb the airfield at Nantes. Accurate bombing hits the runways and hangars.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 56 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group and 8 Pathfinder Mosquitos attempt to bomb a coastal gun position at St Valery near Dieppe. They just miss the target, but no planes are lost.
• 58 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attack an ammo dump at Salbris. The bombing is accurate and causes a lot of damage, but 7 Lancasters are lost.
• 53 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group bomb the airfield at Tours and cause much damage.
• 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito are lost.
• 55 Lancasters of No. 1 Group bomb the airfield and ammo dump at Rennes. The force is not able to locate and mark the target accurately. Most of the bombs fall on a nearby village.
• There are no losses.
• 28 Mosquitos are sent to Leverkusen, 4 to Châteaudon, 42 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and the Gironde River, 39 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 5 RCM sorties and 12 Intruder patrols.
• 2 Halifaxes are lost dropping supplies on Resistance operations.

Wrecked Hangars and Facilities at Tours/Parcay Airfield after the visit by Bomber Command Aircraft

This Ammunition Dump at Salbris Was Completely Flattened by Bomber Command during the Night of 7/8 May

Air Operations, Marianas

6 US Navy PB4Ys photograph Guam, after which 10 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 escorts bomb 2 airfields and a town. The aircraft all fly on to the Momote airfield on Los Negros.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5th and 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, escorted by 49th Fighter Group P-40s, attack Biak Island.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack coastal targets between Hollandia and the Wakde Islands, the Maffin Bay area, and Urarom.
• Many B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets of opportunity between Hansa Bay and Wewak.
• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack the airfield at Urarom and reconnoiter Geelvink Bay.
• 49th Fighter Group P-40s down a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber and 7 Japanese fighters over Biak Island between 1150 and 1210 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-548 sinks the Canadian frigate Valleyfield 50 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland with the loss of 125 of her crew. 38 survivors are picked up by the Canadian corvette Giffard.

Burma

The Chinese and Americans block all the ways out of Ritpong, halting an attempt by the Japanese to withdraw during the night.

Eastern Front

At Sevastopol, the XLIX Mountain Corps is almost spent. The Soviet 51st Army attacks V Corps on the Sapun Heights and breaks into the Inkerman Valley.

With the XLIX Mountain Corps on the verge of collapse, the 51st Army unleashes its attack against the V Corps. After overwhelming arty fire the 51st floods forward, crushing the positions of the V Corps on the Sapun Heights. By mid-afternoon the German line has collapsed and Soviet troops break into the Inkerman Valley. The road to Sevastopol lies wide open.

India

14th Army counterattacks around Imphal lose force in the face of ferocious Japanese resistance.

New Britain

Units of the US 40th Div occupy Cape Hopkins Airfield without meeting any resistance.

Images from May 7, 1944

Low-level oblique aerial photograph taken by one of two De Havilland Mosquitos of No. 21 Squadron RAF during a daylight attack on Gael airfield near St Malo, France, showing the second aircraft flying away with bomb doors still open as its 500-lb bombs explode on the hangars

Attack on Gael Airfield, St Malo

A USAAF A-20 Havoc over an unidentified airfield, 1944