Air Operations, Carolines

VII Bomber Command B-24s mount an early-morning attack against the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• More than 30 10th Air Force B-24s, B-25s, P-51s, and A-36s attack Indaw, Mohnyin, and Taungbaw.
• 11 B-25s attack Monywa.
• Nearly 100 10th Air Force fighter-bombers support Allied ground forces and attack bridges and artillery batteries in the Mogaung Valley.
• 12 A-36s attack Maungdaw.

• 19 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge at Hsenwi (Burma), tanks and motor vehicles near Loyang, the town area at Lungling, and warehouses at Lungling and Mangshih.
• 39 14th Air Force P-40s attack motor vehicles at Yingyangchen, a village near the Kaitou bridge, and Japanese Army facilities at Mengta and Tating.

• 19 10th Air Force B-25s and 46 A-31s attack road targets and Japanese Army troop concentrations in the Bishenpur area.

Air Operations, Europe

Synthetic oil plants at Luna, Brux, Lutzkendorf, Zwickau and Bohlen are attacked by the US 8th Air Force with 621 B-17s and 265 B-24s. The bombers are protected by RAF and USAAF fighters.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V and XIII Bomber command B-24s and V Bomber Command B-25s attack airfields in and around the Wakde Islands.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Sorido airfield on Biak, Japen Island, and antiaircraft batteries at Bosnik.
• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack the Namber airfield on Noemfoor and the airfield at Moemi.
• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount more than 200 sorties throughout the day against numerous targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.

Battle of the Atlantic

One of the few Japanese submarines to operate in the Western Hemisphere, the Ro-501 formerly U-1224, is sunk in the mid-Atlantic by the American destroyer escort Francis M. Robinson (DE-220). This submarine had been presented to the Japanese by the Kriegsmarine.

Burma

Having unsuccessfully tried to take Tinkrukawng by a frontal attack and an attack on the flank, the Chinese and Americans push on to by-pass the Japanese positions. On the Salween River front the Japanese succeed in almost wiping out a Chinese battalion, but the situation is restored when reinforcements are sent, and the Japanese have to withdraw. Fresh Chinese regiments cross the Salween and recapture the positions lost on Tatangtzu Pass.

Eastern Front

The campaign in the Crimea is over. Altogether 130,000 Germans and Rumanians have been evacuated by sea and another 21,500 by air since April 12, but a further 78,000 have been killed or captured and many of those evacuated have been wounded.

Italy

The US and British forces continue to push forward doggedly. The 4th Div of the British XIII Corps succeeds in broadening its bridgehead on the north bank of the Rapido River in the face of bitter enemy resistance. Sant'Angelo is taken by the British. The Poles are again bloodily repulsed by the paratroopers defending Cassino.

The French, however, are still doing well. The 2nd Moroccan Div captures Monte Girofano and Monte Maio(Majo?) taking 1,000 prisoners, destroying the southern hinge of the Cassino line and opening the road to Rome. By the evening the 1st Moroccan Div reaches the Liri to the north. In the sector of Sant'Apollinare village the left wing German 71st Div suddenly gives way, and the French also gain some ground in the south.

The 4th Moroccan Div and 3rd Algerian Div have broken through the 'Gustav' line, taking Castelforte and Damiano and, later on, Monte Ceschito.

In the southern sector the American 88th Div of the US II Corps, captures Santa Maria Infante.

1Repeated attacks against Monte Cassino by Gen Anders' Polish forces during the night are skilfully repulsed by the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regt of the German 1st Parachute Div.

Occupied France

A Resistance attack halts production of SP guns at the Lorraine-Dietrich works, Bagnères de Bigorre.

Images from May 13, 1944

A Sherman Tank Waiting to Move Forward duirng the Battle for Cassino in Italy, 13 May 1944

Moroccan Soldier with Captured German POW in Castelforte, Italy, 13 May 1944

German Tank Buried in Rubble in Castelforte, Italy, 13 May 1944

Allied Tanks Move through Santi Cosma e Damiano, Italy, 13 May 1944

French and American Vehicles Move through Santi Cosma e Damiano, Italy, 13 May 1944

German POWs Being Driven to a US Post in Monte Maio, Italy, 13 May 1944

Air Force Personnel Talking over Performance of a Night Bomber at an Airfield at Caserta, Italy, 13 May 1944

German Prisoners Being Searched during the Attack across the River Gari on the Gustav Line, 13 May 1944