Air Operations, CBI

• 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a concentration of sampans in Honghai Bay.
• 2 B-25s attack a cargo ship at Hong Kong.
• 22 14th Air Force P-51s attack Anking and targets near Nanchang.
• 24 P-40s attack targets in and around Sienning.
• 23 P-40s attack road targets and Yangtze River traffic around Itu, Loning, and Loyang.
• 5 P-40s attack Yangsin.
• In morning engagements, a 23rd Fighter Group P-40 downs a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter over Sienning.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-40s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the Yangtze River.

Air Operations, Europe

• 361 Lancasters and and 14 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups carry out the first large raid on Dortmund in a year. The attack falls mainly in the southeastern area of the city, mostly in residential areas.
• 18 Lancasters are lost.
• 225 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos. 1 and 5 Groups are sent to Brunswick. The raid is a failure. The weather forecast predicted a clear target but the marker aircraft find a complete covering of cloud. There is also interference on the Master Bomber's radio communications. The No. 5 Group method can not cope with these conditions and most of the bombing falls in the country areas around Brunswick. A reconnaissance aircraft flying through this area an hour later finds it completely free of cloud.
• 13 Lancasters are lost.
• 133 aircraft attack the railway yards at Le Mans. In this total are 112 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos. Reports from the ground say the bombing was accurate with much damage to the railways and the nearby Gnome and Rhone factory.
• 1 Halifax is lost.
• 128 aircraft including 108 Halifaxes, 12 Lancaster and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 4 and 8 Groups, are sent to Orleans. Most of the bombs fall on the passenger station and the railway repair shops.
• 1 Halifax is lost.

• 26 Mosquitos are sent to Ludwigshafen, 9 to Courtrai, 54 aircraft lay mines in the Frisians and off the French coast, and there are 21 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols and 9 RCM and 25 OTU sorties.
• 1 OTU Whitley is lost.

The railway bridge across the Loire at Orleans was almost completely destroyed in the two attacks on the French city.

Railway Bridge across the Loire

Air Operations, Japan

2 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s attack a Japanese Navy picket boat near Paramushiro Island.

Air Operations, Marianas

4 US Navy PB4Ys photograph Rota Island, after which 9e 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 escorts passing through Eniwetok attack ground targets on Rota and fly on to the Momote airfield on Los Negros.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s and B-25s attack Biak Island, Manokwari, and shipping near Cape Manggoear.
• B-24s, B-25s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.
• P-40s attack targets of opportunity in the Wakde Islands.

Iceland

A referendum is approved to break away from Denmark and to declare the island an independent republic.

India

The Japanese offensive against Imphal and Kohima slows down, while the British and Indian forces are reinforced daily.

Italy

In the Anzio and 8th Army sectors there is preliminary activity in advance of the general attack of May 23. Keyes' II US Corps continues to push north along the coast and by Route 7. The French forces take Pico. Inland the fighting in the Liri Valley is still fierce. Meanwhile, as the 'Senger' Line crumbles in the French Corps sector, Kesselring makes systematic plans for the withdrawal of Gen von Vietinghoff's 10th Army from the Liri valley across Volmontone and Palestrina.

New Guinea

In view of the ease with which Watke and the coast opposite have been occupied, Gen Walter Krueger, Commander of the US 6th Army, orders Task Force Tornado to extend its objectives and advance along the coast towards Sarmi, the Japanese base whose capture had been postponed. The American positions around Aitape come under new and unexpected attacks and some withdrawals are made.

Occupied France

The Resistance blows up the hydroelectric station at Bussy.

Pacific

• The Japanese destroyer Asanagi is sunk by the US submarine Pollack (SS-180) southeast of Japan.
• The US destroyer escort England (DE-635) sinks the Japanese submarine RO-106 north of the Bismarck Archipelago.

Sulu Sea

A US submarine reports the concentration of the Japanese Fleet around Tawitawi and in operations over the next 2 or 3 weeks various destroyers and tankers are sunk.

Wake Island

A strong US destroyer force bombards the island. The same units are in action against Mili in the Marshalls on May 26.

Images from May 22, 1944

Men of ‘D’ Company, 1st Battalion The Green Howards, 5th Infantry Division, occupy a captured German communications trench during the offensive at Anzio, 22 May 1944.

Green Howards during Offensive at Anzio

LST-39 and LST-480 Still Ablaze in West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 22 May 1944

The still smoldering hulk of LST-480 in the West Loch at Pearl Harbor, 22 May 1944, the result of the West Loch Disaster.

Still Smoldering Hulk of LST-480

US Troops Move Towards Rome in Fondi, Italy, 22 May 1944

Sunken Boat in Gaeta, Italy, 22 May 1944

Men of the 7th Cheshire Regiment, 5th Infantry Division’s machine gun battalion, in a captured German communications trench during the offensive at Anzio, Italy, 22 May 1944

Men of the 7th Cheshire Regiment During Anzio Offensive

Bombing of Kiel, Germany by the 303rd Bomb Group - Mission #157, 22 May 1944

9th Air Force A-20s return to the Pointe du Hoc coastal battery on 22 May 1944. This installation was one of the first objectives captured during the D-Day invasion.

9th Air Force A-20s Return to the Pointe du Hoc coastal battery