Air Operations, CBI

• More than 50 10th Air Force B-25s and fighter-bombers attack a rail bridge at Pinbaw, Japanese Army positions in the Kazu area and supply dumps and artillery batteries at Myitkyina.
• 4 B-25s attack a bridge at Myothit.
• 4 B-25s attack a bridge at Daga.
• 2 B-25s attack a bridge at Taungbaw.
• 4 B-25s attack the Tiddim road near Tonzang (India).
• 24 A-31s attack Japanese Army positions at Labawa and near Maungdaw.
• 8 459th Fighter Squadron P-38 fighter-bombers attack Kyaukye.
• 21 P-51s attack the airfields at Heho and Meiktila.
• P-51s of the 311th Fighter Group’s 530th Fighter Squadron down 8 Japanese fighters over over the Meiktila airfield between 1210 and 1220 hours.

• 11 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 16 14th Air Force P-40s attack various targets in southern China and northern French Indochina.
• 76th Fighter Squadron P-51s down 5 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over and near Suichwan during a morning engagement.
• A 76th Fighter Squadron P-51 and a 5th CACW Fighter Group P-40 each down 1 Ki-48 'Lily' bomber over Suichwan during an afternoon engagement.

• 36 10th Air Force A-31s attack the Bishenpur area.

Air Operations, East Indies

380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack various targets on Amboina, Ceram, and Timor.

Air Operations, Europe

800 8th Air Force bombers with heavy fighter escort attack the synthetic oil plants at Leuna-Merselburg, Böhlen, Zeitz, Lutzkendorf and Brüx northwest of Prague. 46 bombers are lost along with 10 fighters, but the Americans claim 150 German fighters are shot down.

• 120 aircraft of Nos. 6 and 8 Groups are sent to Louvain. In this total are 96 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos. The bombing is more accurate than on the previous night and considerable damage is caused in the railway yards.
• 3 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters are lost.
• 111 aircraft of NOs. 4 and 8 Groups are sent to Hasselt. Included in the total are 100 Halifaxes, 7 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos. Only a few bombs hit the railway yards as most of the bombing falls in open fields.
• 6 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.
• 22 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attempt to block the Kiel Canal by laying mines from a low level. Intelligence sources have reported that flak defenses on part of the canal had been removed. 20 Mosquitos lay their mines in this stretch of the canal.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 12 Mosquitos are sent to BrunsBüttel as a diversion to the Kiel Canal mine-laying operations, 8 to Châteaudun, 43 aircraft lay mines off the French coast and in the Frisians, and there are 12 Serrate and 9 Intruder patrols and 10 RCM and 8 OTU sorties.
• 1 Intruder Mosquito is lost.

Air Operations, Japan

1 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24 reconnoiters and bombs Matusuwa Island.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Mokmer airfield on Biak.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the airfield at Boram and numerous targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.
• 1 B-24 is downed over Biak by antiaircraft fire.

Algeria

French Admiral Edmond Derrien is given a life sentence after being found guilt of collaborationist activity by a French court in Algiers.

Britain, Home Front

The death of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch ('Q'), novelist and editor of 'The Oxford Book of English Verse' is reported. He was 82.

Burma

One of the Chinese-American units finds its advance halted when engaged by numerically superior forces near Tingkrukawng. The 113th Regt of the Chinese 38th Div advances towards West Wala and Maran. On the Salween River front the Chinese 198th Regt attacks the Japanese forces manning Mamien Pass. The Chinese 36th Div attacks Japanese positions east of Tatangtzu Pass and is driven back to the Salween River by a night counterattack.

China

Japanese forces gain full control of the Peking-Hankow railroad.

Diplomatic Relations

In a joint statement, the US, Britain and the Soviet Union call upon the Axis satellites of Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria to withdraw from the war or face the consequences of rigorous peace terms.

Eastern Front

The last of the German troops in the Crimea are evacuated.

Having been under sustained attack for two days, the German defense collapses on the Khersonnes Peninsula. The German 17th Army has ceased to exist, having lost 80,000 troops in the Crimea. It has managed to evacuate 130,00- troops from the area. The 4th Ukrainian Front has lost 13,000 killed and 50,000 wounded: the Independent Coastal Army, 4,000 killed and 16,000 wounded.[MORE]

Italy

Although the Allied attack is only 1 hour old at the beginning of the day even before dawn some gains have been recorded. South of Sant'Ambrogio, on the upper Garigliano, the French Corps of Gen Alphonse Juin finds only the 71st German Div opposite its 4 and at 3:00a.m. the 4th Moroccan Sharpshooter Regt of the 2nd Moroccan Div quickly seizes Monte Faito. Elsewhere the defense is more successful. Gen Wladyslaw Anders' Polish units reach positions below the ruins of the abbey, but are beaten back with heavy losses by the swift reaction of the German paratroopers who wreak havoc on the attacking forces. In consequence of the heavy losses suffered by his ment, Gen Anders is forced to withdraw his 5th Div to its start line, and Sant'Angelo hill, north of Monte Cassino, remains firmly in German hands. To their left the British XIII Corps takes 2 small bridgeheads over the Rapido opposite Cassino. The 2 US divs on the coastal flank to the left of the French can only make a little ground.

New Guinea

Heavy fighting continues around the American beachheads at Hollandia and Aitape. The persistent counterattacks, carried out by men with no supplies and many of them weakened by tropical diseases, bring the Japanese no success.

Sweden

The Swedish Defense Staff announces an investigation is being made into a mysterious 'flying torpedo' which has crashed at Brösarp, flying from Bornholm, 40 miles away, where the Germans are conducting 'secret weapon' experiments.

Images from May 12, 1944

12 May 1944 – The 8th AF Takes on the Oil Targets - Lutzkendorf under Air Attack

German Me 410 aircraft attacking a B-17G bomber of US 562nd Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group over Brüx, Czechoslovakia, 12 May 1944. Photo taken from B-17G "Lady Godiva." (US Army photo)

B-17 Bomber Under Attack from Me-410

British 99th Light AA Regiment, Cassino, Italy, 12 May 1944

New Zealand Officers Watching the Kiwi Concert Party, Volturno Valley, Italy, 12 May 1944

French Moroccan Mountain troops in this tank destroyer are pounding German positions in the Castelforte Sector where the new Allied push began.' Castelforte, Italy. 12 May 1944

French Moroccan Mountain Troops in a Tank Destroyer

US soldier Is Bandaged in Santa Maria Infante, Italy, 12 May 1944

US Troops Moving up toward Santa Maria Infante, Italy, 12 May 1944

M4 Sherman medium tanks of the 764th Tanks Battalion, Fifth Army, paused along the road outside of Turo, Italy, 12 May 1944.

M4 Sherman Medium Tanks

British 4.2-inch Mortars in Action at the Start of the Final Offensive on Cassino, Italy, 12 May 1944

3 North American Mitchell Mark IIs of No. 226 Squadron about to bomb railway yards in northern France on the evening of 12 May 1944

North American Mitchell Mark IIs