Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force B-25s attack the rail line between Myingatha and Saye.
• 16 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack the airfield at Nawnghkio.
• B-25s and fighter-bombers complete more than 140 sorties against targets in the Mogaung Valley, especially Myitkyina.
• 2 14th Air Force P-40s attack a bridge at Shweli.
• 1st Air Commando Group P-51s down a Ki-48 'Lily' bomber and 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Indawgyi at 0810 hours.
• 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscars' over Nawnghkio at 1420 hours.

• 2 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping at Hong Kong.
• 31 14th Air Force fighters support Chinese Army forces on the Salween River front.
• 16 P-38s and P-40s attack military targets at Yangsin and a bridge at Tayeh.
• 13 P-40s attack the Puchi area.
• 11 P-51s attack an occupied village near Anking.
• 16 CACW P-40s attack troops, tanks, motor vehicles at Ichang, Loyang, and Tangyang, and Yangtze River traffic at Itu.

• 10 Air Force A-31s complete more than 60 sorties against occupied villages near Bishenpur and artillery positions at Kanglatongbi.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

In an effort to test new target-briefing procedures and aerial rockets against ground targets, aircraft from 2 (USS Essex and USS Wasp) of 3 Task Group 58.6 carriers attack Marcus Island.

Air Operations, Europe

• 143 aircraft of Nos. 4 and 8 Groups are sent to hit the railway yards at Boulogne. In this total are 106 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos. Only 1 of the Oboe Mosquitos is able to mark the target but the bombing is accurate. A local report states the main station is badly damaged and 33 civilians are killed.
• There are no losses.
• 118 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 8 Groups carry out an accurate attack on the railway yards at Orleans.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 112 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of Nos. 5 and 8 Groups find their railway target at Amiens covered in cloud and the Master Bomber orders the bombing to stop after 37 aircraft have dropped their loads.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.
• 113 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group attempt the difficult task of attacking the railway installations in the center of Tours. Both the marking and the bombing force are ordered to carry out their particular tasks with great care and be prepared to wait until the Master Bomber is satisfied that the surrounding housing areas are not hit. The raid continues until well after the planned period, but no fighters appear and no aircraft are lost. Much damage is caused to the railways, but some bombs do fall to the west of the target.
• 112 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of Nos. 3 and 8 Groups are sent to Le Mans. The majority of the bombs hit the railway yards and cause serious damage. The local report says that the locomotive sheds were destroyed, an ammunition train (or some ammunition wagons) blew up, 2 main lines were destroyed and all other lines blocked because overhead power lines were brought down across the tracks.
• Unfortunately the Lancasters of the Master Bomber and his deputy collide over the target and crash. The Master Bomber was a brilliant young New Zealander, Wing Commander J. F. Barron, DSO and Bar, DFC, DFM, and the Deputy Master Bomber was Squadron Leader J. M. Dennis, DSO, DFC. They were both killed, both were from No. 7 Squadron. 1 other Lancaster is lost.
• 58 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitos attack a coastal gun positions at Le Clipon, but there is haze and the results are no known.
• There are no losses.
• 63 aircraft including 42 Halifaxes, 15 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos, bomb a gun position at Merville near Dunkirk. Some bombs do hit the area despite the haze.
• There are no losses.
• 39 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group attack a radar station at Mont Couple. The Mosquitos are not able to use their Oboe equipment, but 31 Lancasters use their H₂S sets to make a timed run from the coast. The approximate position of the target area is bombed.
• 1 Lancaster is lost to flak.

• 29 Mosquitos are sent to Cologne, 24 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings lay mines off the French coast, and there are 8 Serrate and 23 Intruder patrols and 10 RCM and 12 OTU sorties.
• 1 OTU Wellington is lost.

• 495 1st and 3rd Bomb Division B-17s using H2X radar guidance attack the city of Berlin through very heavy cloud cover.
• 49 1st Bomb Division B-17s unable to locate the primary attack the port facilities at Kiel.
• 272 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack aircraft-industry targets at Brunswick.
• 16 B-17s and 12 B-24s are lost
• Escort for the heavy-bomber formations is provided by a total of 700 VIII Fighter Command fighters and 264 IX Fighter Command fighters. The escort pilots down a total of 71 Luftwaffe over Germany and the Baltic Sea between 1220 and 1615 hours.
• 19 fighters and 17 pilots are lost

• Despite a thick haze over many targets that results in well over a hundres aborts, 300 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s, along with nearly 300 P-47 dive-bombers, attack coastal-defense positions, railroad guns, port facilities, and V-weapons sites.
• A P-47 pilot with the IX TAC's 404th Fighter Group downs 1 Bf-109 near Rouen at 2040 hours.

• 12th Air Force B-25s and B-26s attack rail bridges in north-central Italy.
• XII TAC A-20s attack an ammo dump.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers provide direct and close support for Allied ground forces advancing in many areas of central Italy.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack port facilities at Leghorn and La Spezia.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack oil-industry targets at Porto Marghera and rail bridges at three locations.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack beach defenses on Biak Island.
• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-38s attack shipping and airfields on and around Noemfoor Island.
• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in Australia attack the airfield on Manokwari with escorts based at Hollandia.
• 12 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack shipping at Manokwari and strafe the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor.
• 5th Air Force bombers, fighter-bombers, and fighters complete more than 270 sorties against numerous targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.
• A 475th Fighter Group P-38 downs an F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance float plane near the Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor Island at 1000 hours.
• 49th Fighter Group P-40s and a 475th Fighter Group P-38 down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Manokwari between 1315 and 1340 hours.

Baltic Sea

U-1015 sinks following a collision with U-1014, the exact circumstances of which are unknown.

U-1015

Burma

The Japanese garrison in Myitkyina is partly surrounded by the Chinese and Americans, who occupy several positions south and north of the town. The Chinese 38th Div, having obtained Chiand Kai-shek's authority, advances toward Kamaing and Magaung, important road junctions.

CBI

The Marauders K Force captures the Mogaung Road. Chinese units arrive by air to reinforce the Allied forces.

Germany, Policy

It is publicly announced that 47 RAF officers had been executed by the Germans when they were recaptured after escaping from Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Silesia. Only 3 of the escaped prisoners, 2 Norwegians and a Dutchman, reach England.

Italy

In the extreme southern sector of the front, on the Tyrrhenian Coast, units of the US 85th Div reach Gaeta, abandoned by the Germans; not much more that 45 miles now separate the forces of the US II Corps from the perimeter of the Anzio beachhead.

Further north, still opposite the 'Gustav' Line, the 88th Div - the other formation in the US II Corps - reaches Monte Grande. The French Expeditionary Corps are near Pico after having reached and by-passed Campodimele.

British armor and infantry overrun the Aquino airfield in the Liri Valley, but German anti-tank guns repulse the attempted seizure of Aquino town.

Marcus Island

2 days of heavy air attacks are put in by the carriers Essex (CV-9), Wasp (CV-18) and San Jacinto (CVL-30) of Adm Albert Montgomery's TG 58.2.

Mediterranean

The German submarine U-960 is sunk by the US destroyers Niblack (DD-424), Ludlow (DD-438) and British aircraft in the western Mediterranean.

U-960

New Guinea

On Insoemar the remnants of the Japanese forces retire to the northeast corner. Allied forces begin work on re-opening the airfield.

Occupied Poland

50 Allied airmen who escaped from Sagan prison camp are shot by the Gestapo at Gorlitz. Only 3 escapees reach England.

Pacific

• 6 Japanese submarines are sunk by the American destroyer escort England (DE-635) in the southwest Pacific during the next 12 days. I-16 is sunk this day in the Solomon Islands area 140 miles northeast of Cape Alexander.
• The US submarine Skate (SS-305) sinks the Japanese guardboat Meisho Maru off Ogasawara-Gunto, Bonins.

United States, Politics

James V. Forrestal becomes Secretary to the US Navy. He has been under-secretary since June 1940 under James Knox. Forrestal will prove himself a tough and capable naval administrator, and even experience combat by landing under fire on Iwo Jima when visiting US forces in April 1945.

Images from May 19, 1944

8th Air Force Mission to Berlin

Destroyed Monastery in Cassino

Talking to Paratroopers

Princess Elizabeth Watching Paratroopers

Talking to a Camouflaged Sniper

Appian Way Passing Formia

Adding a Canadian Formation Sign

American Engineers Clear the Appian Way

Moving Through Formia

Moving Toward Gaeta and Itri

Looking at Damaged Tanks

Marching German POWs Through a Rifle Company

Bulldozer Clears Debris in Cassino

British Troops with Captured Gun

Mechanized Equipment Pushes on to Gaeta and Itri

Damage in Cassino