Air Operations, Europe

The last operation by RAF Bomber Command is an attack by a Mosquito force on Kiel on the night of May 2-3. Many Allied aircraft are involved in food drops in Holland and in the evacuation of prisoners of war back to Britain.

Air Operations, Far East

The Superfortresses drop 24,000 tons of bombs on targets in Japan. Nagoya is the target for two very heavy raids on the 14th and 16th, both times by over 470 bombers. Tokyo is hit by 502 planes on the 25th. Otaka, Oshima and Tokuyama are also heavily attacked. The Pacific Fleet carriers also attack many targets in Japan.

Air Operations, CBI

• As Japanese forces begin withdrawing entirely from southern China, the 14th Air Force opens an offensive aimed at reducing their mobility by concentrating the bulk of its attacks against road, river, and rail targets. 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 16 14th Air Force P-51s attack bridges Kiensiu and Taiku, locomotives near Shihkiachwang, and various military and transportation targets in the Loning area. Lt-Gen George E. Stratemeyer is selected by Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer to command Army Air Forces, China Theater, which will oversee the 10th and 14th air forces.

Air Operations, East Indies

• Though delayed by bad weather, 5th and 307th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Tawau and support an amphibious landing by Australian Army forces at Tarakan Island.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack airfields and other targets at Jesselton, Kudat, Sandakan, and Tarakan. Close support is provided by RAAF and XIII Fighter Command fighters and fighter-bombers.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Weathered out of their primary target, V Bomber Command B-24s attack several small towns.
• B-25s attack Kagi and a sugar refinery at Heito.

Air Operations, Pacific

• The Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, equipped with P-47s, arrives at Manila.
• 8 tons of emergency food supplies are dropped to the civilian population in the Netherlands by US aircraft. The special flights will continue through the 8th with German cooperation.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 5th and 13th Air Force bombers and fighter-bombers attack targets on Luzon and Negros.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-398 went on patrol in April and disappeared either in the North Sea or the North Atlantic for reasons unknown.

U-398

Burma

The British attacks in the Sittang Valley have now reached nearly to Pegu. The monsoon begins in southern Burma. As an alternative in case the land attacks have not made sufficient progress before this break in the weather, an amphibious operation, Operation DRACULA, to take Rangoon has been prepared and now goes into action, with parachute landings by 2 Gurkha (Nepalese) battalions at the mouth of the Irrawaddy on the east bank south of Rangoon. There is little Japanese opposition.

Dutch East Indies

A naval attack force, commanded by Vice-Adm V. E. Barbey, lands a contingent of troops of the Australian 26th Brigade Group and the Royal Australian Air Force on Tarakan Island, Borneo. The 17,000 Australians have the objective of seizing the 15-mile island, which contains major oil resources and an air base which the Allies wish to use for operations over Borneo. Resistance is fierce from the start, and the campaign to take the island will be one of Australia's bloodiest battles of the war.

Eastern Front

Gen Hans Krebs is received by Gen Zhukov and asks for a truce. The Russian general demands unconditional surrender, and Krebs returns to the Bunker to report. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels want to go on with the struggle, but Gen Helmuth Weidling, the Berlin garrison commander, decides on surrender. Goebbels has himself, his wife and his 6 children killed, Krebs commits suicide, Bormann escapes. After signing the surrender Weidling issues an order to the army and the people of Berlin for the immediate cessation of resistance of any kind. However, there are still a number of fanatical groups who hold out in the heart of the city. In the north the 2nd Belorussian Front spreads out along the Baltic coast and in Mecklenburg, taking Stralsund. Tito's forces, who enter Trieste on the previous day, make contact with the New Zealand 2nd Division on the Isonzo, near Monfalcone. The position of th 150,000 Germans in Alexander Löhr's Army Group E, left behind in Yugoslavia, is hopeless.

The Soviets capture the Reichstag, the 5,000 defenders suffering 50 percent losses. Gen Krebs, Chief of the General Staff, asks the Soviets for terms, but Stalin wants unconditional surrender and so the fighting goes on. However, the Germans are out of ammunition and they begin surrendering anyway.

Tito's partisans link up with the 2nd New Zealand Division at Montefalcone, thus cutting off the 150,000 troops of Army Group E in Croatia and Slovenia.

The citizens of Prague revolt against the German occupiers.[MORE]

Germany, Home Front

It is announced on Hamburg radio that Hitler has died in Berlin, fighting for Germany, and that Adm Dönitz. is his successor.

The 'Flensburg government' of Germany under Adm Dönitz is announced.

Hamburg radio announces that Hitler is dead and that Dönitz is the second Führer of the Reich. Dönitz himself broadcasts, announcing rather pathetically that 'it is my duty to save the German people from destruction by the Bolshevists.'

Air Operations, CBI

• 38 C-46s and C-47s from the 1st Combat Cargo Group and 1st and 2nd Air Commando groups drop 800 Ghurka paratroopers near Rangoon as part of the final assault on the city.

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines along several stretches of the Yangtze River.
• More than 20 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 130 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-51s down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers in a morning engagement over Suchow Airdrome.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• US Navy carrier aircraft attack the Kudat airfield on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• There have been no offensive operations by Bomber Command since the evening of April 26 and most squadrons thought that their war in Europe was over, but it is feared that the Germans are assembling ships at Kiel to transport troops to Norway in order to carry on the war there. A last raid by No. 8 Group Mosquitos is organized to deal with this possibility, with a large supporting effort being provided.
• 16 Mosquito bombers of No. 8 Group and 37 Mosquitos of No. 100 Group are first sent to attack airfields in the Kiel area.
• A Mosquito of No. 169 Squadron, No. 100 Group, is lost while carrying out a low-level napalm attack on Jagel airfield. Its crew, Flying Officer R. Catterall, DFC, and Flight Sergeant D. J. Beadle, are killed.
• 126 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group then attack Kiel in 2 raids, 1 hour apart. The target area is almost completely cloud-covered but H₂S and Oboe are used. Large fires on the ground are seen through the cloud. No Mosquitos are lost on these raids. Toward morning, a large column of military vehicles depart in the direction of Flensburg on the Danish frontier. 'The upsurge in the population's morale was indescribable', comments the town diary. 'There was a final spasm of fear when explosions were heard from the harbor but these turned out to be all the flak guns and warships in the harbour firing off their ammunition.' After this, Kiel is declared an open, undefended town. As soon as this happened, all the military stores and some of the civilian ones containing rationed goods are thrown open to the public before Allied troops arrive 36 hours later.
• Meanwhile, there is a final small tragedy for Bomber Command. 89 RCM aircraft of No. 100 Group is sent to support the Mosquito bomber force and 2 Halifaxes from No. 199 Squadron, each with 8 men on board, are lost. The Halifaxes are part of the Mandrel screen and are also carrying 4,500lb bombs and large quantities of Window. The 2 aircraft crash at Meimersdorf, just south of Kiel, and it is probable that they collide while on their bomb runs. They are the last Bomber Command aircraft to be lost in the war. There are only 3 survivors. 13 airmen, 12 from the United Kingdom and one from the Irish Republic, mostly second-tour men, die. They are: Warrant Officer W. F. Bolton; Flight Sergeant A. A. Bradley; Flight Lieutenant W. E. Brooks; Sergeant F. T. Chambers; Flying Officer K. N. J. Croft; Warrant Officer K. A. C. Gavin; Flight Sergeant D. Greenwood; Flying Officer A. S. J. Holder, DFC; Flight Sergeant J. R. Lewis; Flight Sergeant J. Loth; Pilot Officer W. H. V. Mackay; Warrant Officer R. H. A. Pool; and Flight Sergeant D. Wilson.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 5th and 13th Air Force bombers and fighter bombers attack various targets and support US Army ground forces on Cebu and Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Baltic Sea

• U-1007 is sunk with cannon and rocket fire by Typhoon aircraft of No 245 Squadron. The U-boat is then beached so the crew could get ashore.

U-1007 Class Type VIIC/41 CO Oberleutnant zur See Ernst von Witzendorf Location Baltic, off Lübeck Cause Air attack Casualties 1 Survivors 48

U-2359 Class Type XXIII CO Oberleutnant zur See Gustav Bischoff Location Kattegat Cause Air attack Casualties 12 Survivors 2

• U-2359 is sunk by Mosquito aircraft on an anti-submarine patrol in the Kattegat.

Battle of the Atlantic

Over the next few days 23 out of 60 U-boats are sunk by the RAF while attempting to escape from northwest Germany to Norway.

Burma

The British carry out Operation DRACULA, the amphibious attack on Rangoon. Rear-Adm Benjamin Martin leads the 4 escort carriers and other naval units involved. The 26th Indian Div lands at the mouth of the Rangoon River and advances on Rangoon without meeting any enemy resistance, just as the paratroopers had done when they were dropped the previous day. The city, heavily bombed by the Allies on April 26, has been evacauated by the Japanese. Adm Walker leads TF 63 with the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Richelieu and 2 escort carriers as well as cruisers and destroyers in covering operations in which Port Blair and Car Nicobar are bombed and shelled.

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 20th Indian Division is at the gates of Prome, on the Irrawaddy, north of Rangoon, cutting off the last route by which the Japanese can retreat from the Arakan. The 17th Indian Division, British IV Corps, completes the capture of Pegu, northeast of Rangoon.

Diplomatic Relations

Ireland's Prime Minister Eamon de Valera calls at the German legation in Dublin to express condolences for Hitler's death.

Eastern Front

In the north, the German forces are driven back to a line running from Rostock to Lake Müritz and Neuruppin.

In Berlin, the 28th Army of the 1st Ukraine Front and the 2nd Army of the 1st Belorussian Front join up on the Charlottenberg Chaussee and carry on with the liquidation of the last nests of resistance. Following the armistice in Italy, the British advance toward the Alpine passes leading to Styria and Carinthia, in the rear of Army Group E. Lothar Rendulic takes over command of Army Group South, until now under Otto Wöhler. German resistance continues in Breslau and on the tongue of land near Pillau, Bay of Danzig. In Czechoslovakia, the Russians advance southwest of Moravska-Ostrava and east of Brno.

Stalin announces the fall of Berlin in Order of the Day No. 359: 'Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Zhukov . . . have today May 2 completely captured Berlin . . . hotbed of German aggression.' The Order mentions 131 general and confers on their units honorary designation of 'Berlin' divisions.

The only large German forces which remain in contact with the Soviet armies are those isolated in Latvia and those in Austria and Czechoslovakia. These last are now under pressure from all sides, by forces from the Eastern and Western Fronts and from Italy.

Gen Helmuth Weidling, commander of the Berlin garrison, surrenders. The Battle of Berlin has cost the Germans 500,000 killed and captures; Soviet losses are 81,000 killed and 272,000 wounded. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide, but not before killing their six children. Gen Krebs also kills himself.[MORE]

Air Operations, CBI

• With the fall of Rangoon this day to Allied ground forces (following the Japanese withdrawal from the city), 10th Air Force offensive operations in Burma are effectively brought to a close. USAAF aircraft will continue to operate against pockets of resistance in the country, but regional aviation headquarters begin planning for the transfer of the 10th Air Force to China, where it will serve as a tactical air force in support of Allied ground forces.

• 9 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 6 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack rail lines and bridges at 3 locations and motor-vehicle convoys in the Hsiang Valley and near Changsha, Hengyang, and Pauching.
• More than 90 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• 47 90th and 380th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack shipyards and oil stores at Saigon.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Manggar airfield on Borneo.
• B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and Fleet Air Wing 10 PVs mount numerous small attacks against targets on Borneo and Celebes.
• B-25s and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s and US Navy carrier aircraft attack warehouses in the Brunei Bay area.

Air Operations, Japan

• 59 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack airfields on Kyushu.
• 5 B-29s attack other targets.
• One B-29 is lost.
• During the night 88 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s sow mines in Shimonoseki Strait while 3 B-29s mine other waters.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-24s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• In a single attack in the Ipo River area, several hundred P-38, P-47, and P-51 sorties are flown against a heavily fortified area, 5 miles square, with napalm and high-explosive bombs dropped from altitudes ranging from 50 to 100 feet. US X Corps ground troops capture the Kibawe airfield on Mindanao, which is put to immediate limited use as a forward supply terminus.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VF-12 F6F downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter over the Wan airfield on Kikai Shima 0525 hours.
• A VF-23 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near Yoron Shima at 1620 hours.
• A VC-96 FM downs a Ki-51 'Sonia' bomber near Kerama Retto at 1815 hours.
• VMF-311 and VMF-323 F4Us down a Ki-84 'Frank' fighter, a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber, and a Ki-48 'Lily' bomber at sea off Okinawa between 1900 and 1910 hours.
• During a sunset attack, kamikaze aircraft based on Kyushu sink a US radar picket destroyer and a landing ship. Also a US radar picket destroyer is damaged beyond repair and 4 other ships are damaged in varying degrees. 86 officers and men are killed aboard the lost and damaged vessels.

Burma

The 20th Indian Division enters Rangoon and Syiram, on the opposite bank of the river; both have been evacuated by the Japanese. Allied paratroopers and amphibious forces converge on the city. Farther north on the Irrawaddy, Prome is taken by XXXIII Corps. The war in Burma is effectively ended with the re-capture of Rangoon. The campaign to retake Burma cost 4,115 British and Indian dead, 13,764 wounded, in addition to smaller numbers of US and Chinese casualties. Japanese losses in the campaign were about 100,000.

Baltic Sea

U-2503 is sunk by Beaufighters of Nos 236 and 254 Squadrons. The U-boat is hit with rockets and cannon fire. It caught fire and exploded leaving survivors in the water.

U-3028

Denmark

The German cruiser Admiral Hipper is scuttled in Kiel Bay, having been previously damaged by an air raid.

Eastern Front

Russian forces wipe out last nests of resistance in Berlin. Advancing into Mecklenburg and Brandenburg on a wide front, Konstantin Rokossovsky's armies, 2nd Belorussian Front, reach the line Wismar-Wittenberg, linking up with units of the Allied 21st Army Group under Montgomery. Southeast of Wittenberg forces of the 1st Belorussian Front are met on the Elbe by units of the US 9th Army. In Czechoslovakia the 2nd and 4th Ukraine Fronts advance northeast of Brno and southwest of Moravska-Ostrava.[MORE]

Holland

The Queen and Princess Juliana return.

Ireland

Prime Minister De Valera calls at the German Legation to offer his condolences on the death of Adolf Hitler.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 180 14th Air Force fighter-bombers, operating in flights of 2 to 4 aircraft, attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• V Fighter Command P-38s attack Itu Aba Island.

• 47 90th and 380th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack shipyards and oil stores at Saigon.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Mandai airfield on Celebes and the Masamba airfield on Borneo, Kota Baru in Malaya, and Sandakan.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island. Australian Army ground forces clear the last Japanese Army defenders from the vicinity of Tarakan Airdrome.

Air Operations, Japan

• 47 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack the Matsuyama airfield on Shikoku, the Oita and Omura airfields on Kyushu, and the Saeki airfield. 2 B-29s attack other targets.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• FEAF B-25s attack the Tuguegarao area.
• B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers attack support US Army ground forces on Cebu and Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• In a single mission in the Ipo River area, several hundred P-38, P-47, and P-51 sorties are flown against a heavily fortified area, 5 miles square, with napalm and high-explosive bombs dropped from altitudes ranging from 50 to 100 feet.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• Japanese artillery bombards Okinawa's Kadena Field at 0225 hours, but damage is negligible.
• A VMF(N)-543 F6F downs an A6M Zero 30 miles north of Okinawa at 0345 hours.
• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• The only Japanese Army land counteroffensive to take place on Okinawa is preceded by heavy air attacks, but attempted amphibious landings behind US 10th Army lines during the night of May 3–4 fail in all their objectives.
• Kamikaze aircraft sink 2 US picket destroyers and 2 picket support landing vessels, and damage 14 others ships, including a US cruiser and the escort carrier USS Sangamon. These attacks cost the Japanese 131 aircraft expended or downed, but a staggering 370 US officers and men are killed this day by the kamikazes.
• Shortly after Task Force 57 returns from a replenishment run to Leyte, and while the Royal Navy surface warships are away shelling targets in the Sakishima Islands, the carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Indomitable are struck between 1131 and 1134 hours by kamikazes that get through the inadequate anti-aircraft defense. The ships are saved from serious damage by their armored flight decks.
• VF-9 F6F downs an H8K 'Emily' flying boat and 3 G4M 'Betty' bombers at sea between 0156 and 0455 hours.
• US Navy carrier based F6Fs, F4Us, and FMs down a total of 101 Japanese aircraft at sea and over the Ryukyu Islands between 0730 and 0950 hours.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down 61 Japanese aircraft between Kyushu and Okinawa in numerous engagements from 0800 to 1925 hours.

Arctic

U-711 is lying alongside the depot ship Black Watch at Harstad, Norway when she is sunk by Royal Navy aircraft from escort carriers Queen, Seacher and Trumpeter.

U-711

Baltic Sea

U-236, U-393 and U-2338 are caught on the surface by a Beaufighter Strike Wing of aircraft from Nos 235 and 245 Squadrons. All three U-boats are subjected to repeated cannon and rocket attacks. They are all sunk so close to land that the majority of their crews survived.

U-2338

Burma

Adm Mountbatten gets the headquarters of the British Pacific Fleet to promise him, in addition to the ships already allocated to him, the support of 3 aircraft carriers for Operation ZIPPER, the recapture of Malaya. The advance of the British XV Corps north of Rangoon, and that of the IV and XXXIII Corps coming down from the north, threatens to cut off the Japanese 28th Army under Gen Shoso Sakurai, from the rest of the Japanese forces in Burma under Gen Hyotaro Kimura. The great Irrawaddy River is between the 2 armies.

Eastern Front

German headquarters admit the end of the struggle for Berlin. Fighting continues, mostly rearguard actions against the Russians, while the bulk of the German units try to reach the British-American lines, in the north between Wismar and Schwerin, in Czechoslovakia, southeast of Moravska-Ostrava and in Austria in the St Pölten sector. In Dalmatia, Tito's forces enter Fiume and threaten Pola.

Schwerin falls to the 70th Army as the rearguards of the 3rd Panzer Army are destroyed. The revolt in Prague breaks out in force. The Germans are attacked by Czech partisans and civilians.

Guam

The US Navy establishes a major air operating base on Guam known as Fleet Air Wing 18. The aircraft stationed there will be capable of major air operations over the central and western Pacific.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail targets of opportunity at Kaifeng.
• 3 B-25s attack a bridge at Singtai, rail traffic around Sinsiang, and various targets of opportunity.
• 76 14th Air Force fighter-bombers, in flights of 2 to 4 aircraft, attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack oil stores and an airfield near Amoy.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack port facilities at Kuching.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• P-38s attack the Keningau airfield on Borneo and port facilities at Miri.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Shinchiku airfield.
• 11 B-25s attack alcohol plants at Taito and Shoka.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the airfields at Giran and Matsuyama and rail yards at Shoka.

Air Operations, Japan

• 148 58th and 73rd Very Heavy Bomb wing B-29s attack the naval aircraft factory and arsenal at Kure with 578 tons of bombs, and 4 B-29s attack other targets.
• 55 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack the Chiran, Kanoya, Oita ant Tachiarai airfields, all on Kyushu. 4 B-29s attack other targets.
• 5 B-29s are lost.
• 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s mount their first mission, against Kure, since displacing from India to the Tinian.
• During the night, 86 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s sow mines in Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay, and the Inland Sea, and 4 B-29s mine other waters.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• Rounding out 673 effective sorties in the Ipo River area in three days, several hundred P-38, P-47, and P-51 sorties are flown against a heavily fortified area, 5 miles square, with napalm and high-explosive bombs dropped from altitudes ranging from 50 to 100 feet.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy, US Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Baltic Sea

• U-534, a weather-reporting boat, is attacked by Liberator 'G' of No 86 Squadron. Ten depth charges are dropped in two attack runs resulting in the sinking of the U-boat.

U-534 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Herbert Nollaur Location Kattegat, N of Helsingor Cause Air attack Casualties 2 Survivors 50

U-579 Class Type VIIC CO Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Dietrich Schwarzenburg Location Baltic, Little Belt Cause Air attack Casualties 24 Survivors 25

• U-579 is sunk in a depth-charge attack by Liberator 'K' of No 547 Squadron.

• U-2367 sinks following a collision with an unidentified U-boat.

U-2367 Class Type XXIII CO Leutnant zur See Heinz Schroder Location Baltic, Great Belt Cause Collision Casualties Unknown Survivors Unknown

U-2365 Class Type XXIII CO Oberleutnant zur See Fritz-Otto Korfmann Location Kattegat Cause Air attack, scuttling Casualties None Survivors 14

• U-2365 is damaged so severely in an attack by Liberator 'S' of No 224 Squadron that she is scuttled.
• U-2521 is sunk in an air attack by Liberator 'K' of No 547 Squadron.

U-2521

Class	Type XXI
CO	Oberleutnant zur See Joachim Methner
Location	Baltic, SE of Aarhus
Cause	Air attack
Casualties	11
Survivors	46

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Battle of the Atlantic

The last U-boat success off America is attained by U-853 which sinks the SS Black Point (5353t), but is in turn sunk by the USS Atherton. 1 of the 5 Armed Guard sailors and 11 of the 41-man crew of the Black Point are killed in the U-boat attack.

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Burma

With the recapture of Rangoon by the 26th Indian Division, the objectives set by Adm Mountbatten may be thought to have been achieved. But thee are still huge Japanese forces to be eliminated in the middle of the country.

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Eastern Front

Adm Dönitz orders German troops to cease all resistance in northwest Germany, Holland and Denmark, following the signature of the surrender of the previous day. But resistance to the Russians continues. There is fierce fighting in Czechoslovakia, near Olmütz, while the Army Group Center carries out a fighting withdrawal southeast of Moravska-Ostrava. There is a rising in Prague. Fighting is also raging near Trieste, Abbazia and Fieume, and in East Prussia on the Frische Nehrung (Baltijskaya Kosa), the strip of shore between Danzig and Königsberg.

At Haar, in Bavaria, representatives of Army Group G under Gen Paul Hausser, 1st and 19th Armies, sign the unconditional surrender demanded by the Allies.

CENTRAL SECTOR


The 2nd Shock Army destroys isolated elements of the 3rd Panzer Army at Swinemunde and Peenemunde. German forces in East Prussia and Breslau come under fierce attack while Army Group Center is pressed around Olomouc and southeast of Moravska Ostrava. A limited counterattack by the 17th Army around Wansen is easily repulsed by the 1st Ukrainian Front.

In Prague the revolt gathers pace, Vlassov's Cossack army defecting to the rebels.

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European War Zone

In Prague resistance forces rise against the Germans and a very fierce battle begins with SS units in the city. The Soviets are closing in on Prague from the north and east but are not yet in striking distance. Other Soviet units take Swinemünde and Peenemünde on the Baltic coast. The German Army Group G surrenders to the US forces with the surrender being concluded at Haar in Bavaria.

In Denmark fighting breaks out in Copenhagen but is brought to an end when British units arrive by air in the evening.

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Indian Ocean

Over the next two days there are attacks by aircraft from four British escort carriers on Japanese bases between Mergui and Victoria Point in southern Burma and on the 6th the battleships and cruisers of TF 63 shell Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.

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Air Operations, CBI

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 14th Air Force P-51s attack a bridge near Hsihhsiassuchi.
• 111 fighter-bombers, in flights of 2 to 4 aircraft, attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack warehouses at Dong Hoi.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Keningau and Kudat airfields on Borneo and Limboeng on Celebes.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack the Labuan airfield and the Ranau airfield on Borneo.

Air Operations, Formosa

• Weathered out of the Matsuyama airfield, 9 V Bomber Command B-24s attack Taihoku with the aid of radar, and other B-24s attack Kiirun, Koshun, and Taito.
• 23 22nd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack port facilities and warehouses at Kiirun.
• 53 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s attack the town area at Mato.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount numerous missions in support of US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Panay.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• US Army artillery and 5th Air Force aircraft break up a major Japanes counterattack on Luzon before it can begin.
• US 6th Army ground forces open their final assault against the last major Japanese pocket of resistance in southern Luzon, an operation that will require nearly 700 V Fighter Command fighter-bomber ground-support sorties through May 18.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• VMF-224 F4Us down a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter northeast of Okinawa at 0845 hours.

• A VC-97 FM downs a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber at sea at 0906 hours.
• A VMF-224 F4U downs a B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber southwest of Okinawa at 1915 hours.

Baltic Sea

• U-3523 is sunk in an air attack by Liberator 'G' of No 86 Squadron. The explosion of six depth charges blew the U-boat to the surface leaving much wreckage and oil on the water.

U-3523 Class Type XXI CO Oberleutnant zur See Werner Müller Location Baltic, SE of Aarhus Cause Air attack Casualties 57 Survivors 8

U-2534 Class Type XXI CO Kapitänleutnant Ulrich Drews Location Baltic, Kattegat Cause Air attack Casualties 1 Survivors 56

• U-2534 is sunk in an air attack by Liberator 'K' of No 86 Squadron RAF.
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Battle of the Atlantic

• The German submarine U-853 is sunk by the US destroyer escort Atherton (DE-169) and the frigate Moberley (PF-63) near Cape Cod, Mass.

U-853 Class Type IXC/40 CO Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Fromsdorf Location W Atlantic, off Long Island Cause Hedgehog Casualties 55 Survivors None

U-881 Class Type IXC/40 CO Kapitänleutnant Heinz Frische Location Atlantic, SE of Cape Race Cause Depth charge Casualties 53 Survivors None

• The US destroyer escort Farquhar (DE-139) sinks the German submarine U-881 in the North Atlantic area.
• U-1008 is seriously damaged in an air attack by Liberator 'K' of No 86 Squadron RAF. The damage is such that the U-boat is scuttled.

U-1008

Burma

The 76th Brigade of the 26th Indian Division, XV Corps, advancing north from Rangoon, link with units from the 17th Indian Division, IV Corps, at Hlegu. As a result the Japanese 28th Army is cut off from the rest of the Japanese forces in Burma. Although many scattered Japanese forces remain in Burma west of the Sittang toward Thailand and in the southwest of the country, the campaign is virtually over. Mopping up operations will continue as far as the monsoon weather permits, but British attention will be directed more to preparations for the campaign in Malaya which is to be the next major move. This, of course, will never take place because of the Japanese surrender.

Diplomatic Relations

Portugal severs diplomatic relations with the Dönitz Government.

Dutch East Indies

The Japanese are forced to evacuate the town of Tarakan on the island of that name, near the northeast coast of Borneo.

Eastern Front

Fighting continues in Czechoslovakia, near Olmütz, in East Prussia, on the Frische Nehrung, and in Croatia against Tito's troops.

Breslau surrenders to the Soviet 6th Army, the 40,000-strong garrison having suffered, 30,000 killed.

The Soviets launch the Prague Offensive with the 1st Ukrainian, 2nd Ukrainian, 3rd Ukrainian and 4th Ukrainian Fronts

more than 2 million Soviet and Polish troops against Army Group Center. The 1st Ukrainian Front attacks the 4th Panzer and 17th Armies and is soon in the rear of the German 7th Army. The 4th Ukrainian Front shatters the 1st Panzer Army, and the 2nd Ukrainian Front cuts through the 8th Army.

The German XCVII Corps, part of Army Group E, surrenders to the Yugoslav 4th Army.[MORE]

Air Operations, CBI

• 3 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a bridge and targets of opportunity along the Yellow River.
• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 14th Air Force P-47s attack a bridge near Singtai.
• 131 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• 14 V Bomber Command B-25s attack rail targets between Cap Batangan and Cap Varella.

Air Operations, East Indies

• In a 17-hour, 2,600-mile round-trip mission, 10 868th Heavy Bomb Squadron SB-24s attack the Bingkalapa airfield on Java and port facilities at Soerabaja.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack a Japanese Army headquarters and artillery positions on Tarakan Island.
• P-38s attack Bintula, Kudat, and Ranau.

Air Operations, Japan

• 41 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack airfields at Ibusuki, Kanoya, Oita and Usa on Kyushu.
• 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets and support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands. A VBF-12 F6F downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber 20 miles from Task Force 58 at 1100 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

• Two merchant ships, the Avondale Park and the Sneland, sunk by U-2336 off the Firth of Forth are the last U-boat victims of World War II.
• U-320 is sunk by an RAF Catalina of No 210 Squadron off Bergen and is the last U-boat sunk by Allied forces in the war.

U-320

]

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Eastern Front

Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reach the Elbe north and southeast of Magdeburg. In Silesia the resolute defense of Breslau finally comes to an end after 82 days, and the city is taken by the 1st Ukraine Front. 40,000 Germans are captured. In Czechoslovakia fighting still continues north of Olmütz and in the town itself. On the Frische Nehrung, in East Prussia, the remaining German forces still hold out against the Russians near the village of Vogelsang.

Army Group Center is rapidly crushed as the Ukrainian fronts advance. In East Prussia fierce fighting rages at Vogelsang.

European War Zone

At Rheims, at 1:41am Adm Hans Friedeburg and Gen Alfred Jodl sign the unconditional German surrender at Gen Eisenhower's HQ. British, French, Soviet and American representatives are all present. Operations are to end at 2301 on May 8 (1 minute past midnight May 9).

Air Operations, CBI

• 1 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attacks a bridge.
• Nearly 100 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack shipping and port facilities at Taku and numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• 13 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack bridges at 5 locations, including Kaifeng, China.
• 20 51st Fighter Group P-51s attack coastal rail and road traffic.
• 12 P-51s and P-38s attack targets of opportunity in several cities.
• 48 V Bomber Command B-24s operating in 8 6-plane formations attack facilities and bridges throughout the coastal area.
• 16 B-25s sweep rail lines between Phanrang and Binh Dinh.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Mandai airfield on Celebes.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Labuan airfield and Kuching.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack airfields at Jesselton, Kudat, and Sengkawang on Borneo.

Air Operations, Japan

• 40 313th Very Heavy Bombt Wing B-29s attack the Kanoya, Miyakonojo and Oita airfields on Kyushu and the Matsuyama airfield on Shikoku. 1 B-29 attacks a target of opportunity.
• 94 VII Fighter Command P-51s attack the Kisarazu airfield on Honshu.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack targets on Mindanao.
• V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Atlantic

The Liberty ship Horace Binney hits a mine off Flushing and almost breaks in two, but a remarkable salvage operation saves the ship and its cargo.

Baltic Sea

• The final German evacuation convoys leave from Courland, Latvia. 126 small craft are involved. 1,420,000 people have been evacuated from Pomerania and East Prussia since January 25.
• U-3503 is attacked and damaged by Liberator 'K' of No 86 Squadron on May 6. The U-boat sustained such damage that it was decided to scuttle the boat and seek internment in Sweden for the crew.

U-3503

Eastern Front

The remains of the German 16th and 18th Armies, cut off for months in northern Latvia, surrender to the Leningrad Front. South and southeast of Berlin, Dresden and Görlitz surrender to the armies of the 1st Ukraine Front, some units of which cross the Czechoslovak frontier and advance south toward Prague, where the patriots in revolt are already attacking the Germans. Units of the 4th Ukraine Front take Olmütz and Sternber, north of Olmütz.

In Croatia the Germans are till fighting against Tito's troops, who liberate Zagreb.

Army Group Kurland, 189,000 troops, begins to lay down its arms.

The Soviet 5th Guards Army captures the ruins of Dresden, as the 4th Ukrainian Front takes Olomouc.[MORE]

Europe

The British and Americans celebrate VE-Day (Victory in Europe). Truman, Churchill and King George VI all make special broadcasts.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s, 14 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and 26 14th Air Force P-51s attack Paoching and nearby targets of opportunity.
• Several fighter-bombers attack Hengyang.
• 41 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the White Cloud airfield at Canton.
• 44 B-24s attack the Tienho airfield at Canton.

• 4 51st Fighter Group P-51s attack rail targets between Hue and Tourane.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Brooketon, Sarawak, and targets on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Japan

12 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack a convoy in the Kurile Islands through heavy cloud cover with the use of radar.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s attack various targets on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• Following intense air and naval bombardment, US 8th Army troops land without opposition at Macajalar Bay, Mindanao. Support is provided by XIII Bomber Command B-24s.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• VMF-224 F4Us down 3 K5Y 'Willow' biplane trainers off northeastern Okinawa at 1845 hours, and a VMF-441 F4U downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber southwest of Okinawa at 1900 hours.
• For the first time, Royal Navy carrier aircraft from Task Force 57.2 attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands. The Royal Navy strikes against these and similar targets will alternate on a daily basis with US Marine Corps carrier-based aircraft. On opposite days, the Royal Navy and US Marine Corps carrier aircraft will be available for ground-support missions against Okinawa.
• 1654 and 1705 hours, kamikazes evade Task Force 57’s poorly deployed anti-aircraft defenses and crash into HMS Formidable and HMS Victorious, whose armored flight decks prevent serious damage. (Beginning on May 14, Task Force 57 will deploy a US Navy-style anti-aircraft defense based on fighter control teams aboard picket destroyers operating well ahead of the carriers.) Altogether, 3 are killed and 19 are wounded, but HMS Formidable’s air group loses enough aircraft to force her to retire for replenishment, and the Victorious also retires to refuel.

• A US Navy destroyer-escort on anti-submarine patrol is damaged beyond repair by a kamikaze, and a destroyer, also on anti-submarine patrol, is severely damaged by a kamikaze. In all, 43 are killed and 80 wounded aboard the 2 ships.

Baltic Sea

U-2538 hits a mine, but despite the damage she is driven ashore and abandoned.

U-2538

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-249 surrenders to PB4Y (FAW 7) off the Scilly Islands, becoming the first to do so after hostilities cease in Europe.

Britain, Home Front

Many defense regulations are revoked.

Burma

Advancing south from Taungup along the Arakan coast, the 82nd West African Division occupies Sandoway.

Eastern Front

At one minute past midnight, hostilities in Europe officially come to an end. But German resistance persists in Czechoslovakia, Austria and Croatia. The 1st Ukraine Front liberates Prague, with the collaboration of the Czechoslovak insurgents. Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front liberate the island of Bornholm in Denmark. On the northern front, the German troops left in East Prussia and around Danzig surrender to the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. The 3rd Ukraine Front, advancing westward in Austria, reaches Graz and Amstetten and near the latter town makes contact with the American troops.

The Soviet 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies are fighting inside Prague, isolating the German 1st Panzer and 17th Armies. The German 8th Army has been largely annihilated.[MORE]

Europe

The German surrender is ratified in Berlin. For Germany Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Friedeburg and Stumpff sign, and for the Allies Spaatz, Tedder, Zhukov and de Lattre. The Soviets celebrate VE-Day.

The last German forces holding out in East Prussia and Pomerania capitulate.

Air Operations, CBI

• 19 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 14th Air Force P-47s attack the Paoching airfield, Chingshuping and Yungfengshih, and bridges at 4 locations including one in northern French Indochina.
• Nearly 120 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack airfields in the Canton area.

Air Operations, East Indies

FEAF B-24s attack the Limboeng airfield on Celebes, Balikpapan, and shipping in the Makassar Strait area.

Air Operations, Formosa

38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s attack a sugar refinery and the town area at Kari, as well as various communications targets.

Air Operations, Japan

• 42 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack the Kanoya, Matsuyama and Usa airfields on Kyushu and the Matsuyama airfield on Shikoku.
• 54 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack fuel stores at Tokuyama.
• 56 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack coal facilities at Tokuyama.
• 112 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack an oil refinery at Otake.
• 80 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack oil-industry targets at Amami O Shima.
• 35 B-29s attack various other targets.
• 1 B-29 is lost.
• In coordination with Fleet Air Wing 4 bombers, 12 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping at the Kataoka naval base. 15 of 16 B-25s dispatched attack other shipping targets. 1 B-25 is lost to anti-aircraft fire, and 1 B-24 and 1 B-25 land in the USSR, where they and their crews are interned.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack targets on Mindanao.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.
• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets and support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• US 8th Army ground forces landed at Macajalar Bay recapture Mindanao's Del Monte Field.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa. Marine Carrier Air Group 1 from the USS Block Island mounts its first combat missions of the war, a 4-plane TBM strike against a target on Okinawa and a strike by 8 TBMs, 4 F4Us, and 4 F6F night fighters against 2 airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• 1 TBM is lost and another with battle damage makes a safe water landing.
• A VMF(N)-543 F6F downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter off Okinawa at 0530 hours.
• 2 VMF-312 F4Us down a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter north of Okinawa at 0800 hours.
• 2 VF-85 F4Us down a D4Y 'Judy' dive bomber 40 miles from Task Force 58 at 0830.
• A VF-9 F6F downs an N1K 'Rex' floatplane fighter over the airfield on Tokuna Shima at 0915 hours.

Burma

British 14th Army units from Arakan link up with Allied forces west of the Irrawaddy.

Eastern Front

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukraine Fronts join up when they reach Klagenfurt and Linz in Austria, and also make contact with the Americans.

Germans in Prague begin to surrender. The Soviets have lost 10,800 killed.

German forces in the Prague pocket begin to surrender.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 4 14th Air Force P-47s attack bridges at 2 locations.
• 2 B-25s attack motor-vehicle convoys at 3 locations.
• More than 60 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Boeloedowang and Mandai airfields on Celebes and the Keningau airfield on Borneo.
• 42nd Medium Bombt Group B-25s attack the Brunei Bay area.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 56 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Toshien town area.
• B-24s attack the airfield at Toshien and 5 cities and towns.
• 48 38th and 345th Medium Bomb group B-25s attack the town area at Kagi.
• 4 Fleet Air Wing 17 PVs attack a butanol plant at Kagi with rockets.

Air Operations, Japan

• 92 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack an aircraft plant at Kobe.
• 50 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack airfields at Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, Nittagahara, and Oita on Kyushu, and the airfield at Saeki.
• 9 B-29s attack targets of opportunity.
• One B-29 is lost.
• The XXI Bomber Command’s campaign against Japanese airfields supporting kamikaze missions to Okinawa is concluded.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets on Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.
• Starting at about 0800 hours, heavy kamikaze and bombing attacks are launched against the US Navy radar picket line north of Okinawa. 2 US picket destroyers are severely damaged, one by an MXY7 suicide missile, with the loss of 58 killed and 96 injured.

• US carrier-based F6Fs and F4Us down 10 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters, 26 A6M Zeros, 8 Ki-27 'Nate' fighters, 2 F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance planes, 4 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters, 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters, 5 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters, 1 G4M 'Betty' bomber, 1 C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane, 4 P1Y 'Galaxy bombers, 1 D3A 'Judy' dive bomber, 2 B6N 'Jill' torpedo bombers, and 4 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissances at sea and over the Ryukyu Islands between 0730 and 1100 hours.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down 2 Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance planes, 2 G4M 'Betty' bombers, 1 P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber, 1 B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber, 3 D3A 'Val' dive bombers, 7 Ki-27 'Nate' fighters, 5 A6M Zeros, and 2 Ki-44 'Tojo' fighters in the Okinawa area between 0800 and 1030 hours.
• The Task Force 58 flagship, USS Bunker Hill, is very nearly mortally damaged by 2 bomb-armed kamikazes. 389 crewmen and Fleet Carrier Air Group 84 airmen killed. The ship is immediately detached from Task Group 58.3, and the task force commander, Vice-Adm Marc A. Mitscher, and his staff transfer to the USS Enterprise.

China

The Chinese armies hold up the Japanese offensive against Chihchiang, threatening the flanks of the enemy columns and putting up a firm resistance in the Paima Shan area.

Eastern Front

Units of the 1st and 2nd Ukraine Fronts wipe out the last German resistance in Czechoslovakia and make contact with the Americans at Pilsen. In Austria too the Russians force some German units to surrender. In Croatia the German Army Group Southeast, formerly Army Group E, under Alexander Löhr, continues to hold out against Tito's forces.

Army Group Center is breaking up as its forces surrender by the thousand. The remnants of German forces in East Prussian alos surrender in large numbers.

The final campaign around Prague cost the 1st Ukrainian Front 6,000 killed and 17,000 wounded, the 2nd 2,500 killed and 11,800 wounded and the 4th Ukrain 2,300 killed and 9,200 wounded.

Army Group Ostmark begins to lay down its arms. Army Group E fights on but is also breaking up.

Europe

Friedrich Schörner's Army Group Center, now confined to a pocket east of Prague, surrenders to the Soviets. Some German units in Yugoslavia keep fighting for a few more days, but gradually they too give in. The war in Europe is over.

German forces on the Aegean Islands surrender.

Air Operations, CBI

• 17 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 8 14th Air Force P-51s attack barracks and stores at Loyang, a bridge near Hengyang, and several regional rail lines.
• More than 150 fighter-bomber attack transportation targets and supply lines across southern and eastern China.

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack rail and road bridges at 6 locations, a rail yard at An Trach, and various other rail targets.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the Limboeng airfield on Celebes and shipyards at Makassar.
• B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack the Brooketon and Jesselton airfields on Borneo, the Labuan airfield, and troops on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

82 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the town area, rail yard, government buildings, and factories at Shinchiku.

Air Operations, Japan

• During the night 16 VT(N)-90 TBMs mount the first carrier-based night heckler mission of the war against bases on Kyushu.
• VF(N)-90 F6Fs down 2 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters, 4 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance planes, and an F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance plane over and near Kagoshima Bay between 0410 and 0533 hours, and a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near the Kanoya East airfield on Kyushu at 0545 hours.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets on Negros.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao. Resistance by the main Japanes Army force on Mindanao breaks in the face of incessant air and artillery attacks over the course of six days.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands. 2 VMF-323 F4Us down a Ki-46 'Dinah' off Okinawa at 1930 hours.
• In the evening, the battleship USS New Mexico is moderately damaged by a kamikaze that kills 53 and injures 119.
• During the night, Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.3 steam northward in order to mount strikes against Japanese air bases on Kyushu and Shikoku.

Arctic

The last Arctic convoys, JW.67 (eastbound) and RA.67 (westbound), sail. On May 16 the convoy escort accepts the surrender of 14 U-boats and escorts them to Lock Eriboll.

Czechoslovakia

Gen Andrei Vlasov, commander of the anti-communist ROA and KONR, is reluctantly handed over to Russian troops by the Americans. He is executed in August 1946.

Germany

The US 7th Army captures the Japanese ambassador Gen Hiroshi Oshima and his 130-member staff.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines in the Yangtze River.
• 10 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 5 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack bridges at Hankow, Hengyang, and Siokan.
• More than 130 fighter-bombers mount attacks to disrupt Japanese troop movements through southern and eastern China.

• 43 V Bomber Command B-24s attack various bridges in coastal areas.

Air Operations, East Indies

• B-24s attack the Oelin and Tabanio airfields on Borneo.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Sandakan and support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Bomber Command B-25s attack an alcohol plant at Byorutsu.

Air Operations, Japan

• Task Group 58.1 and Task Group 58.3 carrier aircraft attack targets throughout Kyushu and Shikoku.
• VF-83 F6Fs down a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter and 2 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance planes at sea between 0245 and 0445 hours.
• A VT(N)-90 TBM downs a A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter near Kyushu at 0545 hours.
• A VF-12 F6F downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plande 35 miles from Task Force 58 at 0645 hours.
• VMF-112 carrier-based F4U downs an N1K 'Rex' fighter over Kagoshima Bay at 0745 hours.
• A VF-82 F6F downs a Ki-84 'Frank' fighter and 2 N1K 'Rex' fighters over the Izumi airfield on Honshu at 0830 hours.

• A VMF-123 carrier-based F4U downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane at sea at 1015 hours.
• A VF(N)-90 F6F downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane 90 miles from Task Force 58 at 2300 hours.
• During the night, 12 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in Shimonoseki Strait.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Bomber Command bombers and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground troops on Luzon. Following protracted heavy fighting, US 6th Army ground forces capture Balete Pass on Luzon—in large measure due to close air support provided by 5th Air Force combat aircraft.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A kamikaze severely damages a US radar picket destroyer, killing 41 and injuring 32.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down 5 F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance planes, a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance planes, 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers, 2 K5Y 'Willow' trainers, and an A6M 'Zero' in the Okinawa area in several engagements between 1820 and 1920 hours. A VMF(N)-542 F6F downs a P1Y 'Galaxy' bober just off the island at 2030 hours.

Britain, Home Front

A Thanksgiving Service is held at St Paul's Cathedral. The Royal Family attends.

Burma

In the Arakan area, the 82nd West African Division takes Gwa unopposed.

Eastern Front

Tito's forces occupy Trieste. In Yugoslavia most of Alexander Löhr's forces surrender, but some units still resist in Upper Slovenia, west of Maribor, near the Austrian frontier. In Czechoslovakia, German units are still trying to escape from the Russians to hand themselves over to the Americans. But all resistance is finished.

Air Operations, CBI

• 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines in the Yangtze River.
• 15 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 6 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack river shipping, bridges, and rail targets at 12 locations.
• More than 120 fighter-bombers attack the Liping and Tungtow areas and various targets of opportunity across southern and eastern China.
• A 5th CACW Fighter Group P-51 downs a D3A 'Val' dive bomber during the early morning near Yangchi.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s attack the harbor at Makassar, warehouses at Parepare, and the Jesselton and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo, and the Sidate airfield on Celebes.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Bintula and the Jesselton and Kudat airfields on Borneo.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the supply center at Hozan.
• B-24s and B-25s attack an alcohol plant at Kizan.

Air Operations, Japan

• In the first attack by all 4 XXI Bomber Command wings against a single target, 472 B-29s attack Nagoya with 2,515 tons of incendiary bombs while 8 B-29s attack targets of opportunity.
• 11 B-24s are lost.
• The Task Force 58 flagship, the venerable and oft-damaged USS Enterprise, is severely damaged yet again by a kamikaze.
• A VF(N)-90 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber 24 miles from Task Force 58 at 0100 hours.
• A VF(N)-90 F6F downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Kushira at 0530 hours.
• A VF(N)-90 F6F downs an A6M Zero 18 miles from Task Force 58 at 0615 hours.
• US carrier-based F6Fs down 15 A6M Zeros, 2 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters, 2 D4Y 'Judy' dive bombers, a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane, a P1Y 'Galaxy' bomber, and a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter over and near Task Force 58 between 0700 and 0900 hours.
• a VBF-83 F4U downs a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance near the Usa airfield on Kyushu at 0910 hours.

• 2 VF-12 F6Fs down a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane near the Usa airfeild on Kyushu at 1000 hours.
• A VBF-12 F6F downs a biplane at sea at 1100 hours.
• A VMF-123 carrier-based F4U downs a Ki-21 'Sally' medium bomber off Kyushu during a morning mission.
• A VF-83 F6F downs a Ki-45 'Nick' fighter at sea at 1245 hours.
• VMF-112 carrier-based F4Us down 4 Japanese fighters over Kagoshima Bay at 1430 hours. VF-17, VBF-17, and VF-83 F6Fs down 7 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters and 2 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters over Kagoshima Bay at 1445 hours.
• A VF-17 F6F downs an A6M Zero over the Kanoya airfiedl on Kyushu at 1615 hours.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a J2M 'Jack' fighter near the Kokura airfield on Kyushu/Kokura Airdrome at 1615 hours.
• VBF-83 F4Us down an E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance pland and an A6M Zero over Honshu at 1645 hours.

Air Operations, Malaya

FEAF B-24s attack the Bima airfield.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Negros.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.

Air Operations, Pacific

The Japanese mainland is further devastated after 472 B-29 bombers drop 2,500 tons of incendiary bombs on Nagoya. Nearly 6 sqare miles of the city are incinerated, and the Aichi and Mitsubishi aircraft works practically destroyed. In the air, 20 Japanese fighters are shot down by the bombers' fighter escorts.

Air Operations, CBI

• 1 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 and 2 14th Air Force P-51s attack 3 bridges.
• 20 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack troops, horses, road and rail targets, and targets of opportunity at 16 locations.
• 150 fighter-bombers attack bridges and transporation targets at Liping, Tungkow, and across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• FEAF B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the Kudat and Miri airfields on Borneo, and support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Shinchiku.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack an alcohol plant at Shoka.

Air Operations, Japan

13 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kataoka and Kashiwabara areas. 1 B-24 damaged by ground fire force-lands in the USSR.

Air Operations, Pacific

There is a daylight fire raid on Nagoya. In order to further undermine Japanes morale and industrial output, following the severe psychological blow of the German collapse, the 21st Bomber Command of the US 20th Air Force, launches daylight saturation bombing attacks on 4 cities, Nagoya, Yokohama, Osaka and Kobe, between now and June 15. A total of 4,700 sorties drop 16,647 tons of napalm and oil bombs and wipe out 36 sq km of built-up area. 77 B29s are lost during this period.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Fighter Command P-38s attack troops and artillery positions on Luzon. Due to a marked decrease in air-support requirements in the Visayan Islands, Marine Air Group 14, based at Samar's Guinan airfield, terminates combat operations pending its transfer to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing on Okinawa.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.
• VF-40 F6Fs down 3 D3A 'Val' dive bombers 70 miles from Task Force 58 at 1900 hours.
• VMF-224 VMF-322, and VMF-323 F4Us down 5 Japanese aircraft off Okinawa at 1930 hours.

Austria, Home Front

The Republic of Austria is proclaimed, restoring the situation which existed before the Anschluss.

Burma

The 26th Indian Division, advancing from Rangoon toward Prome, joins up with the 20th Indian Division as it comes south.

Burma, Politics

With the defeat of the Japanese Army in Burma essentially complete, the Burmese nationalist leader, Aung Sun, gives full cooperation to the Allied war effort.

Eastern Front

In Yugoslavia, near Slovenigradesk, 150,000 German soldiers surrender to the Yugoslav and Russian forces. The German Army Group Center, 1,200,000 men strong, has completely disintegrated. All who can have managed to surrender to the Americans; the rest are in the hands of the Russians.

The troops of Army Group E, 150,000 in total, surrender at Slovenigradesk.

Air Operations, CBI

• 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines in the Yangtze River.
• 33 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 16 14th Air Force P-47s and P-51s attack barracks, rail targets, bridges, river shipping, and Japanese headquarters facilities at 20 locations.
• More than 100 fighter-bombers harass Japanese Army units withdrawing from southern China and attack numerous other targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Balikpapan, Manggar, and Tondano.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Bintula, Brooketon, Fort Brook, and Miri.
• P-38s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

V Bomber Command B-24s attack Taichu while B-25s attack rail yards and 3 alcohol plants.

Air Operations, Japan

• During the night, 457 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack the Nagoya city area with 3,609 tons of incendiary bombs. 11 B-29s attack targets of opportunity; and 29 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Strait and the harbors at Maizuru and Miyazu.
• 3 B-29s are lost.
[ | ]


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Air Operations, Pacific

US planes begin one of the most intensive napalm bombing operations of the war, against Japanese units defending the Ipo Dam, east of Manila, which provided the main source of water for the capital of the Philippines. 5th Fighter Command drops 110,000 gallons of napalm on the well-entrenched Japanese in a 3-day period, and the US 43rd Div is able to take control of the dam when the bombing had destroyed most of the defending positions.

Air Operations, Philippines

Nearly 100 V Fighter Command P-38s attack the Ipo Dam area of Luzon with napalm. Royal Australian Air Force fighter units relieve the 347th Fighter Group at the Sanga Sanga airfield and will now take primary responsibility for providing fighter support to Australian Army ground forces on Borneo.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VMF(N)-533 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Kume Shima at 0300 hours.
• A VMF(N)-542 F6F downs an unidentified airplane near Kikai Shima at 2315 hours.
• The 7th Air Force’s 163rd Liaison Squadron, in L-5s, enters combat over Okinawa under the operational control of the 10th Army Tactical Air Force.
• As part of a plan to thwart kamikaze attacks on the US radar picket line, construction begins on a new long-range radar station on an island 20 miles north of Ie Shima.

Channel Islands

British forces liberate Alderney.

Air Operations, CBI

• 16 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and nearly 100 14th Air Force fighters harass Japanese Army units withdrawing from southern China and attack numerous other targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Manggar and Sepinggang airfields on Borneo, and the Sidate airfield on Celebes.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfields at Matsuyama and Nanseiho.
• B-25s and V Fighter Command P-51s attack bridges, rail yards, and alcohol plants while sweeping the island.

Air Operations, Japan

• 41 VII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Atsugi airfield on Honshu.
• During the night 318th Fighter Group P-47s based on Ie Shima mount the first group attack in a series of ongoing heckling missions over Kyushu.

Air Operations, Marshalls

Fleet Carrier Air Group 87 (USS Ticonderoga) attacks Taroa Island in Maloelap Atoll—a training mission.

Air Operations, Pacific

USAAF P-51 Mustang fighters make a low-level attack on Atsugi airfield, Tokyo, and destroy or damage 42 Japanese aircraft with the loss of 1 of their number to anti-aircraft fire.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers mount more than 130 effective sorties against the Ipo Dam area of Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy and Marine Corps and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A US radar picket destroyer is moderately damaged by a kamikaze at 1930 hours.
• A VMTB-232 TBF downs an unidentified airplane over Okinawa at 0305 hours.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down a K5Y 'Willow' trainer and a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane off Okinawa during the morning.
• VMF-323 F4Us down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers north of Okinawa between 1900 and 1910 hours.

Marshall Islands

The carrier Ticonderoga attacks targets on the Japanese held islands of Taroa and Maleolap in what is virtually a training exercise in view of the weakness of the defense. The damage by the attack is immense.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack supplies at Siangtan.
• 8 B-25s and 7 14th Air Force P-51s attack rail targets and targets of opportunity at 4 locations.
• 75 fighter-bombers harass withdrawing Japanes forces and attack other targets throughout southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Fort Brook and Sarawak.
• B-24s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Japanese Army defensive positions on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack Taichu and Tainan.
• B-25s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers sweep the island.

Air Operations, Japan

• 8 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield and naval base at Kataoka.
• 8 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack radar sites and other targets at Kume Jima (Ryukyu Islands) and Amami Gunto with machine guns, bombs, and rockets.
• During the night 30 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Strait.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack numerous targets on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Negros.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.

Britain, Home Front

An Avro Lancaster 'Aries' flies over the North Magnetic Pole for the first time in history during a series of trans-Polar proving flights.

China

The Chinese forces re-occupy Foochow, in Fukien province. 3 Chinese divisions fighting in Burma are about to return to China.

Air Operations, CBI

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack warehouses and rail facilities at Kaifeng.
• 1 B-25 attacks Shanhsien.
• Nearly 90 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack withdrawing Japanese Army units and numerous other targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Oelin airfield on Borneo.
• B-24s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 102 V Bomber Command B-24s attack shipping and port facilities at Kiirun, but many bombs strike residential neighborhoods.
• B-25s sweep western Formosa.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Giran, Heito, and Tainan areas.

Air Operations, Japan

• 272 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack aircraft-industry targets at Tachikawa. 14 B-29s attack other targets.
• 4 B-29s are lost.
• Only 1 of 8t 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s dispatched is able to attack targets in the Kurile Islands.
• 1 B-25 is lost and another lands in the USSR.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 6th Army ground forces throughout Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s support US 8th Army ground forces on Cebu.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa.

China

Japanese forces abandon the port of Foochow on the Chinese coast. Japanese-occupied Chinese ports have become untenable since the US capture of the Philippines, putting US air bases within striking range of Chinese coastal towns such as Amoy and Swatow, which have also been deserted by the enemy.

Diplomatic Relations

Stalin denies the Polish leaders in Moscow were arrested for political reasons.

Eastern Front

The Red Army annihilates the last pocket of German Army resistance in Bohemia. The war on the Eastern Front is over.

The Soviet Army destroys the last pocket of organized German resistance in Bohemia.

Germany, Home Front

Dr Alfred Rosenberg, the unofficial 'philosopher' of the Nazi party, is arrested in Flensburg.

Four years of brutal fighting had finally come to an end. During the various campaigns Germany, one of Europe's foremost military powers, had been absolutely destroyed and the Soviet Union, a fledgling military state in 1941, had risen to be a world super-power.

It can reasonably be argued that the campaign in Russia was the most decisive campaign of the Second World War. In losses alone the scale of the conflict is overwhelming. Germany lost 1,001,000 killed, 1,287,000 missing and 3,968,000 wounded while 1,500,000 surrendered to the Red Army at the end. Some 98 German divisions were wiped out during the fighting 56 surrendered between 1941 and 1944 and 93 at the close of hostilities. Germany's allies suffered equally severe casualties, the Hungarian military losing 136,000 killed and 250,000 wounded, while 300,000 civilians lost their lives. Romania lost 71,000 killed, 310,000 missing and 243,000 wounded fighting alongside the Ostheer and another 170,000 killed, wounded and missing fighting for the Soviets. More than 340,000 Rumanian civilians lost their lives. Bulgaria suffered 32,000 military and 50,000 civilian casualties.

The Soviet Union suffered by far the greatest lost of any combatant, 13,500,000 military personnel being killed or captured. Of 6,000,000 captured a fraction survivied. Ever after liberation their ordeal was not over, many being imprisoned by Stalin for surrendering to the Germans. Another 18,000 were wounded while the civil population lost more than 10,000,000. The successful Soviet campaigns during the late stages of the war still cost the Red Army dear. More than a million men were killed or wounded, 140,000 losing their lives in Hungary, 70,000 in Rumania, 140,000 in Czechoslovakia, 26,000 in Austria, 102,000 in Berlin and 10,000 in Yugoslavia. The Polish 1st and 2nd Armies lost 40,000 men fighting alongside the Russians.

Air Operations, CBI

• 55 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• As Japanese Army ground forces are withdrawn to defend Japan, a city in Kwangsi Province is simply abandoned, and other cites will also be abandoned in coming days and weeks.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack shipping and other targets around Balikpapan.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Keningau, Sandakan, and Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

Despite bad weather, V Bomber Command B-25s are able to attack an alcohol plant at Meiji and several communications targets.

Air Operations, Japan

• 32 318th Fighter Group P-47s attack rail targets, airfields, radar sites, and buildings on Kyushu.
• During the night 30 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Strait, the anchorage at He-Saki, and the harbor at Maizuru.
• 3 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack several targets on Luzon.
• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Piso Point.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s support US 8th Army ground forces on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• Among many other strike missions, 12 Task Force 58 TBM light bombers mount a pinpoint bombing attack against the formidable Japanese defensive positions at Okinawa’s Shuri Castle. The bombs are dropped with complete accuracy only 50 yards from US 10th Army ground troops, and the defenders are dislodged from the position.
• A VBF-83 F4U downs a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane 50 miles from Task Force 58 at 1445 hours.
• VMF-311 F4Us down 5 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters, a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter, and a Ki-44 'Tojo' fighter off Okinawa between 1850 and 1900.
• 2 VMF(N)-542 F6Fs down 2 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance planes off Okinawa at 1940 and 2030 hours.
• Several transports and cargo ships in the Kerama Retto anchorage are damaged by kamikazes.

China

The Japanese leave Hochih, in Kwangsi province. The threat hanging over Japan induces the Japanese Imperial General Staff to redistribute the available forces within a defensive perimeter nearer to the homeland.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 9 14th Air Force P-51s attack rail lines and bridges at several locations.
• More than 50 fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.

• V Fighter Command P-38s attack rail lines and yards in Saigon.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Brunei, the Melak airfield, shipyards at Samarinda, and Japanese Army troops on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-51s attack numerous targets on Luzon.
• V Fighter Command P-38s support US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon with napalm attacks.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Japanese Army defenses on Negros.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Britain, Politics

The British coalition ends as the Labor party rejects Churchill's proposal to continue the alliance with the Conservatives. Churchill is forced to call for general elections, Britain's first in 10 years.

Germany

Himmler is arrested by British troops at Bremervörde, disguised as a commercial traveller.

Japan, Home Front

2 million students are mobilized in the 'Student Defense Corps'.

Okinawa

On the American right the 6th Marine Division goes ahead with operations for the total elimination of Japanese from the Horseshoe and for the capture of the Sugar Loaf. The 1st Marine Division attacks in the direction fo Shuri Ridge after taking Wana village and driving off Japanese counterattacks. Beyond Shuri Ridge is Shuri Castle, site of the Japanese headquarters. Meanwhile the 77th Infantry Division of the XXIV Corps also advances north of Shuri and the 96th Division east of the same village, threatening to surround Shuri. Aware of the danger, the Japanese decide to withdraw from Shuri.

Air Operations, CBI

• 15 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 7 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack bridges at 2 locations and various other targets.
• 55 fighter-bombers attack targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Bintula, Kudat, Jesselton, and Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Formosa

• 89 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the town areas at Koshun, Okayama, and Toshien.
• B-25s attack an oil plant near Kagi and various targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, Japan

• During the night 30 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Strait.
• 1 B-29 is lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Bomber Command B-25s and A-30s, and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack various targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VMF(N)-543 F6F downs an A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bomber off Okinawa at 2020 hours.
• A VMF(N)-542 F6F downs a Ki-61 'Tony' fighter off Okinawa at 2052 hours.

Britain, Home Front

In rationing there are new cuts affecting fats, bacon, meat and soap.

Germany

Montgomery is appointed CinC of British Forces of Occupation.

Okinawa

Heavy rains begin pounding the area, hampering opeations for almost two weeks. The 7th Division occupies the ruins of the town of Yonabaru, on the left of the American line. On the right, the 6th Marine Division reaches the north bank of the Asato River and sends patrols over to the south bank. The Japanese withdraw all the forces they can from the Shuri line and Shuri village. The US forces occupy Yonabaru.

Pacific

• US carrier-based aircraft sink the Japanese submarine chasers Nos. 37 and 58 and the transport No. 173 off southeastern Japan.
• Mines sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ships No.25 Uwajima Maru (744t) off Moji and Sagami Maru off Wakamatsu.

Air Operations, CBI

• 14 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 6 14th Air Force P-51s attack bridges motor-vehicle convoys, rail targets and artillery positions at 7 locations.
• 30 fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity at 9 locations.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Bintula, Miri, Samarinda, and Tawau.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Fort Brook and Weston.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Japan

• 7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kataoka naval base with the aid of radar.
• During the night, in the largest B-29 mission of the war, 520 of 562 XXI Bomber Command B-29s dispatched attack Tokyo urban areas with a record 3,646 tons of incendiary bombs. More than 17 square miles of the city area is burned out. 5 B-29s attack targets of opportunity.
• 17 B-29s are lost.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-38s and P-51s attack various targets on Luzon.

Air Operations, Pacific

1,000 B-29s partcipate in two climactic night raids on Tokyo this night and the night of the 25th. There is determined fighter opposition and heavy flak. 30 bombers are lost but the total burned-out area is up to 90 sq km.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Britain, Politics

The Labour Party has decided not to maintain the coalition government until the end of the war and Churchill, therefore, resigns in order to prepare for the election. He forms a new caretaker government to hold office until after the election.

Germany

Members of the Dönitz Government, the German High Command and General Staff are taken into custody and interned aboard the liner Patria in Flensburg harbor. Adm Hans-Georg von Friedeburg commits suicide.

Julius Streicher, a notorious Jew baiter, is captured in Bavaria by a Jewish officer from New York. Ostracized during most of the war and hated by even his fellow Nazis, Streicher had turned to farming in his final years and pursued his hobby, collecting pornography.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a rail bridge at Anyang.
• More than 30 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s and 42d Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack various targets on Borneo.

Air Operations, Japan

• 120 VII Fighter Command fighter-bombers based at Iwo Jima abort in the face of bad weather while on the way to attack targets in Japan.
• A 318th Fighter Group P-47 downs a J2M 'Jack' fighter near Kyushu at 1545 hours.
• VF-47 F6Fs down 2 A6M Zeros near the Kushira airfield at 1600 hours.
• During the night, 25 9th Very Heavy Bomb Group B-29s sow mines in the Shimonoseki Strait and off Fushiki, Nanao, and Niigata.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-24s, B-25s, A-20s, and V Fighter Command P-51s attack numerous targets on Luzon.

• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Negros.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• VMF-311 and VMF-312 F4Us down 5 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 4 fighters off Okinawa between 1920 and 1935 hours.
• VF-17 F6Fs down 2 E16A 'Paul' reconnaissance float planes near Tokuno Shima between 1930 and 1945 hours.

Air Operations, Pacific

520 US bombers drop 3,646 tons of bombs on central Tokyo and industrial districts in the south of the city.

Austria

Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim, the last CinC of the Luftwaffe commits suicide in a hospital at Salzburg at age 50.

New Guinea

Australians encircle Wewak, the last Japanese coastal stronghold.

Air Operations, CBI

• 5 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 2 14th Air Force P-51s attack bridges at 2 locations and rail targets.
• 16 fighter-bombers attack various targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Fort Brook, Oelin, and Tarakan Island.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Kudat.
• P-38s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Japan

• 73 VII Fighter Command P-51s based on Iwo Jima attack Matsudo and Tokorozama.
• 15th Fighter Group P-51s down a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane and 8 fighters over Honshu between 1300 and 1330 hours.
• During the night, 464 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack Tokyo urban areas with 3,262 tons of incendiary bombs. 6 six B-29s attack other targets.
• 26 B-29s are lost, the largest loss of B-29s in a single day.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command support of US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Cebu.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a Ki-84 'Frank' fighter near Amami O Shima at 0710 hours.
• VF-49 F6Fs down a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane and an A6M Zero over US picket destroyers at 0755 and 0805, respectively.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s down 8 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 26 Japanese fighters over Ie Shima and northwest of Okinawa between 0743 and 0925.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down 6 Japanese bombers and 36 fighters between Kyushu and Okinawa in several large engagements between 0745 and 1130 hours.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Task Force 58 at 1040 hours.
• Air attacks throughout the Ryukyus from about 0030 hours and on throughout the day by an estimated 165 kamikaze aircraft result in the sinking of a transport and a large landing ship and damage to 3 destroyers, 2 destroyer-escorts, 2 transports, and 2 minesweepers.

Allied Planning

The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the general directives for Operation OLYMPIC, the invasion of metropolitan Japan. The date fixed for its start is November 1.

Burma

Bassein, 87 miles from Rangoon, is occupied by Allied forces.

Air Operations, CBI

• 12 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 6 14th Air Force P-51s attack 2o bridges near Hankow.
• 4 B-25s attack rail targets near Lohochai and between Kinkiang and Koishan.
• 3 B-25s attack several motor-vehicle convoys.
• More than 80 fighter-bombers harass withdrawing Japanese Army units and lines of communications across southern and eastern China.

Air Operations, East Indies

XIII Bomber Command B-24s, 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s, and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack several targets on Borneo.

Air Operations, Formosa