Air Operations, CBIBURMA
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, East Indies
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, EuropeRAF BOMBER COMMANDEvening Ops:
ITALY:
ROMANIA:
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, Japan2 28th Composite Group B-25s sink a ship in the Kurile Islands during the day, and 2 other B-25s sink a second vessel just before midnight. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Air Operations, New Guinea
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Admiralty IslandsThe 6th Army announces that the campaign is over. The fortified bases at Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain are entirely surrounded by Allied forces. They will remain this way until the end of the war, escaping invasion owing to the US policy of avoiding Japanese strongholds if they can be bypassed and isolated instead. The Americans have lost 326 dead and 1,189 wounded, the Japanese 3,820 dead and 73 prisoners. [![]() ![]() Battle of the AtlanticCatalina 'S' of No 210 Squadron sights U-241 on the surface and attacks with 6 depth charges placing them perfectly across the submarine. A large oil slick began to form as the boat sinks stern first.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() CBIBURMABrig-Gen Merrill suffers a heart attack and is relieved of command of the Marauders. Col John E. McCammon, Merrill's assistant, takes temporary command. The Myitkyina Task Force is formed and includes two regiments of the Chinese 30th Division, elements of the Chinese 50th Division, and the remainder of the Marauders under command of Col Charles N. Hunter. In the Myitkyina area the Chinese and Americans defend the airfield against Japanese counter-attacks, while units of the Chinese 30th and 50th Divisions begin the assault on the city and capture the railway station. The 1st Battalion of the Marauders overruns Zigyun, south of Myitkyina. The 150th Regiment, Chinese 50th Division, attacks from the north seizing the railway station. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Diplomatic RelationsThe UK and the USSR agree that Rumania will be in the Soviet sphere of influence while Greece will be in the British sphere. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Germany, CommandBerlin announces that Field Marshal von Rundstedt is to be Commander-in-Chief West with Field Marshals Erwin Rommel and Johannes Blaskowitz his subordinates at Army Groups B and G in the north and south respectively. This arrangement is by no means ideal as Rommel and von Rundstedt quickly develop diverging views on the necessary strategy and both put them to Hitler, who establishes a poor compromise. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ItalyThe Monte Cassino abbey is finally taken by the Polish 12th Podolski Regiment of the 3rd Carpathian Division. At 1030 hours the Polish flag flies from what remains of the Benedictine monastery. The improvised Polish flag was hastily sewn with pieces of it coming from a Red Cross flag and soldiers' handkerchiefs. Men from 15 nations participated in the 4-month long battle. About 20,000 were killed and another 100,000 wounded. Southwest of Monte Cassino in the Liri Valley Gen E.L.M. Burns' Canadian I Corps is now up to the Senger Line before Pontecorvo. The Senger Line, or Senger Bolt, is formerly the Hitler Line which is a series of fortified positions on the line Piedmonte-Aquino-Pontecorvo. On their left the French advancing in the direction of Pico, and on the coast the Americans, are meeting equally solid opposition.[MORE] [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() MediterraneanIn sinking a ship from the convoy HA-43, U-453 records the last success by a German submarine in the Mediterranean. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() New GuineaAfter a powerful air and artillery preparation, the main body of the 163rd Infantry Regiment (Gen Jens Doe) is landed on Insoemar Island, where Wadke airfield is sited. Supported by tanks, the 163rd RCT fight nearly 800 Japanese defending Wakde Island in caves, concrete pill boxes, and log bunkers. After a bloody struggle that lasts all day, in which nearly every foot of ground is contested, the Americans kill all but 4 of the defenders, suffering 40 killed and 107 wounded. On the mainland, the 3rd Battalion, 163rd Infantry, begins a westward advance across the Tor River, establishing a small bridgehead. [![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Pacific
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() TurkeyMartial law is declared after fascist disturbances. [![]() ![]() Images from May 18, 1944
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[May 17th - May 19th] |