This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

12 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarines sink two U.S. merchant tankers, the first off Louisiana and the second east of Barbados.

EASTERN FRONT: Russian attacks near Kharkov begin. They are attempting to trap German forces against the Sea of Azov.

The Soviet Navy lists submarine K-23 Northern Fleet off Nordkinn Cape (lost off Oske Fjord)

Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 became the 7th pilot in history to reach 100 victories.

The first mass-killing of Jews in Auschwitz Birkenau. The victims are some 1500 Polish Jews.

MEDITERRANEAN: A formation of fourteen Ju 52s from III./KGzbV 1, escorted by 2 Bf 110s, departed Maleme/Crete for Derna/Cyrenaica, each loaded with some 20 soldiers. The formation was intercepted 80km off the North African coast by 14 RAF Beaufighters and Kittyhawks and in the running battle, nine of the Junkers were shot down and another 2 had to make forced landings on the shore. All 9 Junkers were from 11. Staffel.

UNITED KINGDOM: The first aircraft of the USAAF 8th Army Air Force arrived in Britain.

 

[syscom3]

13 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-506' attacks three U.S. merchant vessels off the coast of Louisiana sinking a tanker and a freighter; a second tanker is damaged.

In the Atlantic, a U.S. freighter is sunk by 'U-69'.

 

[syscom3]

14 May 1942

NORTH AMERICA: The German submarine 'U-213' sows mines off St. John's, Newfoundland, then lands a German spy near the town of St. Martins, New Brunswick. The spy, Lieutenant M.A. Langbein, has documents identifying him as "Alfred Haskins" of Toronto, Ontario and his task is to monitor convoy traffic leaving Halifax, Nova Scotia. Upon landing, he buried his uniform and supplies, and made his way to Ottawa, Ontario, where he lived on the funds he had been provided. In late 1944, he turned himself into Canadian authorities but was not punished since he had not conducted any spying.

NORTHERN FRONT: The damaged British escort cruiser "Trinidad", returning from Murmansk, was sunk by Luftwaffe dive-bombers off the northern Norwegian coast.

 

[syscom3]

15 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The German 11. Armee (von Manstein) captured Kerch in the eastern Crimea, forcing the Soviet forces to withdraw across the straits to the Taman peninsula. At Kharkov, the German 6. Armee (von Paulus) repulsed heavy Soviet attacks.

NORTH AMERICA: Gas rationing begins with the amount set for non essential vehicles at 3 gallons per week. There are 17 states in the US, with rationing in effect, at this point.

The U.S. star insignia applied to aircraft is modified on all military aircraft by eliminating the red disc in the center of the star. The USN also orders that the red and white rudder stripes be eliminated.

U.S. President Roosevelt signs the bill authorizing the formation of the Women's Army Auxillary Corps. (WAAC). By the end of the war, this Corps will become part of the Army as the WAC, utilitzing the skills
of 150,000 women to do non-combat jobs, both in the states and overseas.

WESTERN FRONT: A Bf 109F belonging to 9./JG 11 made a belly landing in a field 2km from Tarm at 14:50hrs The pilot was unharmed and there was no serious damage to the aircraft. It was soon dismantled and transported back to base by the Luftwaffe.

 

[Njaco]

16 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Following a brief attachment to the Stabschwarm of JG 54, Major Gordon Gollob returned to southern Russia as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77.

 

[Njaco]

17 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Russian advance on Kharkov grinds to a halt as German resistance stiffens. Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) began a counter-offensive against Soviet forces heading toward Kharkov and the Donbas.

MEDITERRANEAN: 1(F)/122 lost a Ju 88 while on an early morning recon mission to Malta, shot down by Spitfires over Valetta.

UNITED KINGDOM: Bristol: Sir Stafford Cripps, formerly British ambassador in Moscow and now a member of the war cabinet, told his constituents in Bristol tonight that the government, like the public generally, wanted to see a second front in Western Europe.

"The only difference between us is that the public can talk freely about it, whereas we cannot, because we have two responsibilities - to organise it at the proper time and place, and secondly not to give the enemy any information of our intentions. Already the Germans are getting uneasy at the militant offensive spirit of the British and Americans in this matter."

WESTERN FRONT: 'Ramrod 33' is flown by RAF No. 226 Sqn. against Boulgne Docks. Forty 500-lb bombs fall on shipping, the quayside, nearby railway station and south end of tidal basin. Boston III (W8368 'K') flown by Plt. Off. O'Malley is hit by flak and has to belly-land near RAF Manston. After the bombing, over 15 enemy fighters are spotted near Le Touquet. Kenley Wing giving top cover for the Bostons is vectored to Guines where 602 Sqn. dive upon ten Fw 190s only to be bounced by another fifteen. Sqn. Ldr. Finucane claimed one enemy destroyed while eight RAF fighters were lost. One lost was in the sea of Cap Gris Nez, the pilot Flt. Lt. Major died in the sea before the rescue launch could reach him. (contributed by plan_D )

 

[syscom3]

18 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three more unarmed U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines. 'U-156' sinks a freighter east of Barbados while 'U-125' sinks a tanker and a freighter in the Gulf of Mexico.

EASTERN FRONT: A corridor was established into the Demyansk pocket, ending the mission for the Luftwaffe transport units. The Demyansk airlift was a success as the Luftwaffe kept the German army supplied for the past three months with 24,303 tonnes of supplies. Aircraft losses for this period amounted to 265 aircraft, most from the harsh Russian winter. After the ground breakthrough, KGzbV 8 was disbanded and its planes returned to the training schools.

GERMANY: The RAF launched a major attack against Mannheim.

MEDITERRANEAN: After delivering 64 Spitfires on 9 May, the Royal Navy carrier HMS "Eagle" returned to Malta with 17 Spitfires in an operation codenamed "Operation LB". With a total of 76 Spitfires now available for operations, the island was heavily reinforced and marked a turning point for control of the skies over Malta.

Admiral Harwood assumes command of the British Mediterranean Fleet.

NORTH AMERICA: The US and Panama sign an agreement concerning the use of Panama defense areas by US forces.

 

[syscom3]

19 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three more armed U.S. merchant ships are sunk by German submarines. Two freighters are sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, one off Louisiana by 'U-506' and the second near the Yucatan Channel by 'U-103'. The third freighter is sunk south of Navassa Island Light in the Caribbean by 'U-751'.

While at anchor at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, some of the crewmen of the U.S. freighter SS 'Ironclad' break into a cargo of liquor that is being shipped to the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow resulting in fights among the crew. The officer in command of the Armed Guard reports the incident to the battleship USS 'Washington' and a detachment of Marines board the ship and restore order.

EASTERN FRONT: A strong counterattack at Kharkov in the Ukraine againt the Russians begins.

NORTH AMERICA: (6th Air Force): 31st Fighter Squadron, 37th Fighter Group, transfers from Chorrera, Panama to Albrook Field, Canal Zone with P-39's and P-40's.

UNITED KINGDOM: 168 tonnes of bombs were dropped in a Luftwaffe night attack on Hull. 50 people were killed and 58 seriously injured, with much damage done to the dock area and elsewhere in the city. The Blackburn aircraft factory at Brough (west of Hull) suffered blast damage, with further attacks taking place at Hedon (east of Hull), Hornsea and Withernsea. The attacks cost the Luftwaffe 2 Ju 88s and a Do 217. Heavily attacked areas of the city included Scarborough Street, Westborourne Ave., Sutton, Southcoates Lane and Alexandria dock. 4 IB clusters and 74 HE bombs of varying weights, including one 1,000 kg bomb and one 1,800kg were dropped. Fires were started on the dock and Southcoates lane and there was extensive damge in Scarborough street, a densely populated area near Fish dock, where the 1,800kg bomb fell. Elsewhere in the city, industrial, residential and railway properties suffered damage.

 

[syscom3]

20 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Four U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. In the Gulf of Mexico, an unarmed tanker is sunk 50 miles off Louisiana by 'U-506' and an armed freighter is sunk by 'U-752' near the Yucatan Channel. U-103 sinks two armed freighters in the Caribbean; the first is sunk about 40 miles off the south coast of Cuba and the second is sunk north of the first sinking.

 

[syscom3]

21 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-588' sinks an unarmed U.S. merchant freighter off the coast of New Jersey. The Germans provide the Americans with rum and cigarettes and help righting a capsized lifeboat.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler postpones the planned invasion of Malta until after Egypt has been conquered by the Axis.

 

[syscom3]

22 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-558' torpedoes an unarmed U.S. tanker south of Jamaica in the Caribbean but the ship makes port under her own power.

EASTERN FRONT: Two Soviet armies attacking toward Kharkov were stopped and destroyed by the German 6. Armee (von Paulus); 241,000 prisoners were taken.

NORTH AMERICA: Last year, Ted Williams batted .406. Today, after the Red Sox return to Boston from a road trip, Williams enlists in the U.S. Navy Air Corps to train to become a fighter pilot. He passes the complete physical examination (his eyesight is 20-15) and is sworn into the service, immediately becoming Seaman Williams, second class. Upon his call to active duty, he will automatically become Air Cadet Williams. Behind him are the months of wonder and indecision that followed his deferment from the draft by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February on the grounds that he is the sole support of his mother. The $32,000-a-year ballplayer will become a cadet at the salary of $106 a month. This won't happen for a while, though. Williams won't be called to active duty until after the baseball season ends. He will win the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .356 average, 36 homers and 137 RBI. He will miss the next three seasons as well as most of the 1952 and 1953 seasons, serving as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War.

Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.

 

[Njaco]

23 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Three Hs 129B-1s belonging to II./SchG 1 were shot down by Russian flak, a severe blow at this relatively early stage of the war for this newly formed unit.

Major Gordon Gollob, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77, was awarded the Schwertern (Swords to his Knights Cross, No.# 17) for achieving 107 aerial victories.

NORTH AFRICA: Two of the twelve Tomahawks and Kittyhawks claimed by II./JG 27 this day were credited to the new Gruppenkommandure, Oblt. Gustav Rodel, taking Rodel's total to 41 kills. I./JG 27's Oblt. Marseille was also regularly scoring daily doubles during this period. The two bombers he downed southeast of Tobruk on 23 May - victories 63 and 64, claimed as Douglas DB-7s - were in reality, a pair of No. 223 Sqdn Martin "Baltimores" flying that unit's first operational mission with the new aircraft.

UNITED KINGDOM: Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 100 which, was re-designated Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 17, was still undertaking experimental daylight attacks in addition to its nocturnal duties. Typical of these was the attempt against Avonmouth docks by 7 He 111s, using both X- and Y-Verfahren, in poor weather on the afternoon of 23 May. Although the operation was not a great success - one aircraft being lost and the nearest bombs falling at Severn Tunnel Junction, some six miles from the objective - it was the first occassion when the British first definately detected supersonic modulation on the X- signals allowing countermeasures to be immediately put into action.

 

[syscom3]

24 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Another unarmed U.S. merchant tanker is sunk in the Caribbean south of the Yucatan Channel by German submarine 'U-103'.

EASTERN FRONT: The Russian 6th and 57th Armies are being encircled west of the Donets by the German 6th, 17th and 1st Panzer Armies.

 

[Njaco]

25 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine 'U-558' fires a torpedo at an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Caribbean but it fails to explode and the sub surfaces to sink the ship by gunfire. The crew abandons the freighter but a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina arrives and the sub submerges. The freighter sinks the following morning. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of 5./JG 77 was awarded the Ritterkreuz. He has 51 victories at this time. Lt. Gerhard Krems of 2./KG 27 was also awarded the Ritterkreuz becoming the first KG 27 pilot so honored.

 

[Njaco]

26 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-106' attacks two U.S. merchant ships in the Gulf of Mexico. The first is an unarmed tanker which is sunk by a torpedo. Later in the day, the sub surfaces and begins shelling an armed freighter but the freighter's Armed Guard drives the sub off with gunfire before much damage is done. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: Generaloberst Erwin Rommel launched the offensive that would take his Afrika Korps all the way to El Alamein. But first he had to smash a breach in the Allied lines, which were stretched from Gazala, on the coast, some 40 miles (65km) inland down into the desert to the fortress of Bir Hacheim. From Gazala, Rommel started his advance toward Egypt with a main attack against the British Gazala line (Unternehmen Theseus) but was held up at Bir Hacheim, which was defended by Free French forces. Heavy fighting broke out between there and Gazala; around areas that were to be known as the "Cauldron" and "Knightsbridge".

Released from their Gefechtsverband "Woldenga" duties, JG 27's fighters -reinforced by Gerlitz's III./JG 53 - played a decisive role in the first six weeks of chaotic fighting that was the battle of Gazala.

NORTH AMERICA: The feasibility of jet-assisted takeoff is demonstrated in a successful flight test of a Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo at NAS Anacostia, D.C., using five British antiaircraft solid propellant rocket motors. The reduction in takeoff distance is 49 percent. (Syscom)

UNITED KINGDOM: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF; Rear Admiral John H Towers, USN, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics; and RAF Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal attend an Anglo-American air conference in London. Topics of discussion include allocation of aircraft and the establishment of US air forces in the UK. The meeting begins at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Winston S Churchill. (Syscom)

 

[Njaco]

27 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German Operation Drumbeat continues as 'U-502' sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Caribbean enroute from Trinidad to Mobile, Alabama.

GERMANY: The Nazi Reichsprotektor of Bohemia-Moravia, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich is mortally wounded in an attempted assassination at Prague. He will die on 4 June from infected wounds.

NORTH AFRICA: The position at Bir Hacheim came under attack from the Italian "Ariete" armoured division and was engaged in fierce fighting that even reached into the interior of the stronghold. Rommel's panzers defeat the British 3rd Infantry and 7th Motor Brigades. For the first time the British were using the Grant (M3 medium) tank from America with its useful, though limited, 75mm gun. In this battle 21.Panzerdivision nearly succeeded in taking the key "Knightsbridge" box, but lost too many tanks due to the unexpected encounter with the Grants. The British however are better able to sustain the armor losses than the Germans.

NORTHERN FRONT: Off the northern coast of Norway, Luftwaffe bombers sank 5 ships from Convoy "PQ-16".

 

[syscom3]

28 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-103', part of Operation Drumbeat, sinks an armed U.S. merchant tanker southwest of the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.

EASTERN FRONT: I./SchG 1 transferred north to Konstantinovka to stem a Soviet offensive launched from the Izyum Salient and directed at Kharkov. The Gruppe was heavily engaged in ground attacks against Soviet armour, troop concentrations and supply columns until the salient was eliminated on 28 May. 4(Pz)./SchG 1 moved north to Konstantinovka with the rest of II Gruppe and took part in the heavy fighting against Soviet incursions in the Barvenkovo-Izyum-Chuguyev-Kupanysk sector to the south and southeast of Kharkov.

NORTH AFRICA: As supplies, especially fuel, run low the German attack is disrupted, but fighting continues on Rigel Ridge, and dear Bir Harmat, North Africa.

 

[syscom3]

29 May 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Germans complete encirclement west of the Donnets. 250,000 Russian soldiers are lost.

NORTH AFRICA: British fail to develop a coordinated attack in North Africa today. The German antitank guns are very effective.

 

[Njaco]

30 May 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German Operation Drumbeat continues. An unarmed U.S. merchant freighter is sunk by the submarine 'U-404' in the Atlantic. Clarification: Strictly speaking the continued attacks by German submarines on US shipping was no longer "Operation Paukenschlag" . Here is a comment from U-Boatweb: "The Drumbeat boats ended operations of the coast of America on Feb 6 and headed home. They sank 25 ships for a total of 156,939 tons. America operations continued. This may surprise many of you but Operation Drumbeat really was just the inital wave of 5 large U-boats, Paukenschlag was meant to be a fast and surprise attack on the eastern seaboard of the US, and it succeeded as such. Then there were several other "waves" of U-boats that went into American waters but those don't really count as Drumbeaters." (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: Boris Safonov of 72 SAP and a Hero of the Soviet Union, went missing in action after pursuing a group of II./KG 30 Ju 88s over the convoy PQ-16 off Murmansk. Leonid Ivanovich Rodionov, former Northern Fleet warrant-officer, witnessed the death of Safonov (at that moment he was at his post on the ship's bridge;

"We listened to the radio chatter between our planes and convoy HQ. We could clearly hear Safonov reporting: "Got One!" and a bit later "Got another one!". All of the sudden, "Crippled the third, but I am damaged, heading towards the ships". Everyone could see how his plane fell into the sea. A.I. Gurin, the Brigade commander, requested permission of the convoy commanding officer to send one of the vessels to the plane's crash site. That it was Safonov's plane was known not only to the Soviet sailors but to the convoy CO as well, since his radio was always on. Nonetheless, permission never came. In the second request it was mentioned that it was Safanov's plane that had crashed but permission was still refused. As we arrived at the base, the Northern Fleet commander, Admiral Golovko, visited us. A.I. Gurin reported to him the details of Safonov's death and that the convoy CO refused his request to approach the crash site. Golovko couldn't hold his tears. "I wish you would have told that American to go as far as possible," he squeezed the words out of himself, "Even if you couldn't save him you could at least pass the place where he crashed. I would have felt much better."

GERMANY: The Allies mounted the first 1,000 bomber raid in history when 1,046 aircraft were sent to attack the city of Cologne. Over a period of one and a half hours, the bombers dropped 1,455 tons of bombs and incendiaries on the city, causing an enormous firestorm. 3,300 buildings were destroyed and 474 civilians were killed. The Luftwaffe destroyed 41 of the attacking RAF bombers and another 116 were damaged from fighters and flak.

MEDITERRANEAN: A Bf 109 (F6+YH) of 1(F)./122 crash landed at Catania on return from a recce sortie.

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel pulls his panzers into a tight defensive position that becomes known as the "cauldron" and continues to fight. (Syscom)

UNITED KINGDOM: During conferences with RAF Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal, Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, presents "Programme of Arrival of US Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom" providing for 66 combat groups, exclusive of observation squadrons, by March 1943. (Syscom)

 

[Njaco]

31 May 1942

GERMANY: The RAF launched another "1,000 bomber" raid against Essen, but with minimal results. The operational debut of the deHaviland "Mosquito" in Bomber Command, soon to be the scourge of Goering, was made when 4 aircraft of No. 105 Sqdn undertook a combined bombing and recon sortie to Cologne.

MEDITERRANEAN: General Kesselring gave his plan for an invasion of Malta to the Italian Commando Supremo.

NORTH AFRICA: In Lybia, the attack by the Afrika Korps against the British Gazala line was still stalled at Bir Haekim. Despite the most intense artillery fire and aerial bombardment, the Free French 1st Brigade held off every German attack, gave not an inch of ground and inflicted heavy casualties on the Afrika Korps.

Obfw. Erich Krenzke of 6./JG 27 was forced to belly-land after aerial combat in the area of Acroma/El Adem, with his Bf 109F-4 trop. At the time of the loss, the area around El Adem was still in British hands and he was captured.

UNITED KINGDOM: Although the Luftwaffe "Baedecker Raids" were slowly losing steam due to heavy losses from the improving British defenses, some cities were still hit hard. Tonight's raid was against the ancient city of Canterbury which suffered heavy damage from the fires.