Air Operations, Carolines

VII Bomber Command B-24s attack Ponape Island on the return flight from the Momote airfield on Los Negros to Eniwetok.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Homalin and the marshalling yard at Indaw.
• 32 10th Air Force A-31s attack Kalewa, Tiddim, and Kohima (India).
• 16 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s attack the Kangaung airfield at Meiktila.
• 12 P-38 fighter-bombers attack targets along the Tiddim road.
• 23 P-40s and 4 A-36s attack troops, artillery positions, and dumps in the Myitkyina area.
• 459th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over the Kangaung airfield at Meiktila at 1500 hours.

Air Operations, Europe

• 24 Mosquitos are sent to Dortmund, 16 to Berlin and 6 to a railway junction at Lison, France, 30 aircraft lay mines off various coasts, 4 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 2 Serrate patrols and 2 RCM and 8 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

• During the afternoon, 75 359th and 361st Fighter Group P-51 fighter-bombers attack and demolish a rail bridge at Hasselt.
• 1 P-51 is lost with its pilot

• The 8th Air Force dispatches 1,045 B-17s and B-24s - a record number launched for a single mission - against marshalling yards at Chaumont, Epinal, and Metz, and the Avord, Bourges, Chateaudun, Etampes/Mondesir, and Orleans/Bricy Airdromes. In all, 814 heavy bombers actually attack these primary targets as well as four briefed secondaries - marshalling yards at Bayon, Neunkirchen and Saarbrucken (Germany), the Caen/Carpiquet Airdrome, and sevral targets of opportunity.
• 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 are downed by enemy fire, 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 are lost in operational mishaps
• Escort for the heavy bomers is provided by a record 1,206 USAAF fighters - 562 from VIII Fighter Command and 644 from the IX Fighter Command.
• 4 IX Fighter Command fighters are lost

• 15 IX Bomber Command B-26s mount a predawn attack against the Beaumont-le Roger Airdrome.
• During the afternoon, 58 IX Bomber Command B-26s attack the coastal batteries at three locations.
• More than 120 9th Air Force P-38s attack locomotives and rail cars throughout central France.

• XII TAC A-20s attack communications targets.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack numerous transportation targets, and provide direct and close support for Allied ground forces at Anzio as well as those advancing in the Liri River valley.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack the marina and a marshalling yard at Frascati.
• 15th Air Force B-17s attack marshalling yards at Avezzano and Ferentino.
• 15th Air Force p-38s strafe Ferrara Airdrome.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Manokwari.
• B-24s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-38s attack Biak Island.
• P-40s attack targets along the Biri River.
• B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and P-39s attack numerous targets between Hansa Bay and Wewak.

China

The Chinese launch a counteroffensive in Honan Province.

Italy

Operation BUFFALO begins as the Anzio beachhead bursts into new activity with a fierce bombardment from more than 500 Allied guns along with a raid on Cisterna by 60 light bombers. This is followed by an attack on Cisterna by 3 divisions of US VI Corps, the 45th, 3rd and 1st Arm. Also involved in the Anzio breakout is the 100th Japanese Infantry Battalion, make up of Americans of Japanese descent.

The German defense of Gen Eberhard von Mackensen's 14th Army is strong and casualties are heavy but some gains are made. The Americans reach the Cisterna-Rome railway line and take about 1,500 prisoners, but their losses are extremely high. The 3rd Div alone has 950 dead, wounded and missing. Advance guards of the US 85th Div of the II Corps reach Terracina while inland both the French and Canadians break into the 'Senger' Line.

In the British 8th Army sector under Gen Leese, the Canadian I Corps pushes forward to the Azuino-Pontecorvo road, breaching the 'Senger' Line. The Canadian 5th Arm Div bursts through the corridor.

New Guinea

The US forces advance from the Tor estuary toward Sarmi but meet heavy resistance only a short way from their start line. At Aitape the Japanese continue to force slight withdrawals back to Tadji, where the airfield is situated..

Occupied France

Paris radio announces the railway system is in chaos (see May 20).

Pacific

The Japanese submarine RO-104 is sunk by the US destroyer escort England (DE-635) north of the Bismarck Archipelago.

Wake Island

The destroyer bombardment of the previous day is followed up by heavy air attacks from the carriers of Adm Alfred Montgomery's TG 58.2.

Images from May 23, 1944

Column of American Medical Vehicles

During the Drive towards Rome

Valentine Bridgelayer Tank

Knocked Out German Reconnaissance Car

LST-480 Burning Again

US Tank Unit Mobilizes at Anzio

Unidentified Canadian Infantrymen Advancing towards Melfa

Medium Armored Car of Royal Armored Corps

Prisoner of War Collecting Point

Building on Fire in Gaeta, Italy

Maj-Gen B. M. Hoffmeister, CO 5th Canadian Armored Division

German Shells Bursting near Cisterna