Project 60 - "The First Fight Against Fascism" - Archives
May, 1943
May 1, 1943
The US II Corps takes Hill 609 in "Mousetrap Valley." Axis forces begin to withdraw from the area.
May 2, 1943
Japanese bombers based in Salamaua, New
Guinea strike Darwin Australia.
RAF Mosquito fighter-bombers raid the
railway yards at Thionville in France.
German Dornier bombers lay mines off
the Thames and Humber estuaries.
May 3, 1943
US forces break out of “Mousetrap Valley, and the US 1st Armored Division captures Mateur, 20 miles from Bizerte.
After sailing for a week through raging
storms, westbound convoy ONS-5 makes contact with the German wolf pack sent to
destroy it. As German submarine U-630 was starting its attack run, a Canadian
RAF plane depth charged the boat, sinking it.
Japanese forces continue to press the
British defenders, this time infiltrating between Buthidaung and Maungdaw,
threatening the British supply lines.
In an act of purest desperation, the Italian merchant ship Campobasso, attempted to deliver desperately needed fuel and military supplies to the Axis forces in Tunisia. It was intercepted and sunk by British destroyers.
The Axis make one more attempt to
supply Tunisia, sending the San Antonio to her doom, this time at the
hands of American bombers. There would be no more attempts to supply Tunisia.
Convoy ONS-5, now being dogged by over
20 German submarines, begins to take serious losses. However, German submarine
U-192 is sunk.
After taking and then losing the town in very heavy fighting, British forces recapture Djebel Bou Aoukaz late in the day. This action secured the left flank for the final drive on Tunis. he British 5th Corps is now commanded by Horrocks and includes the 6th and 7th Armored Divisions and the 4th Indian Division.
The British 5th Corps, consisting of 6th,
Armored, 7th Armored, and 4th Indian Divisions led by
Horrocks, breaks through the Axis
front, taking Massicault, and advancing toward Tunis. The attack is heavily
supported by air and artillery support and succeeds in destroying the remnants
of the German 15th Panzer Division. is Meanwhile, the US II Corps advanced
toward Bizerta, Ferryville and Protville and the Free French 19th Corps
approached Pont du Fahs.
The convoy battle with ONS-5 comes to
an end. In the week long battle, the convoy of 42 merchants and 9 escorts were
attacked by 51 U-boats. The convoy lost 13 ships but the escorts and land based
Catalina planes sank 7 U-boats, seriously damage 5 more. Despite the serious
losses, the Allies considered this a great success.
British forces capture Tunis and while
American forces take Bizerta. Fighting in Africa is coming to a speedy
conclusion as von Arnim’s Axis forces retreat into the Cape Bon Peninsula. The
last remnants of the Luftwaffe, abandon their airfields and fly off for Sicily.
Japanese forces in Burma continue to press the British as the town Buthidaung is abandoned.
The British 6th Armored Division drives from Hammam Lif toward Hammamet, preventing the Germans from making an orderly withdrawal.
Axis forces facing the US II Corp in
Tunisia, surrender. Six generals were among those who capitulated.
British intelligence agents manage to steal a German Ju-88 night fighter armed with the new Liechtenstein BC radar set and land it in Scotland. The analysis of this new night-fighter equipment assists the British strategic bombing effort.
Organized resistance in the Warsaw
Ghetto ends. SS-Brigadefuehrer Stoop declares “The Warsaw Ghetto is No
More.”
All
organized resistance in northeast Tunisia ends as Axis forces begin to
surrender. Over the course of the next two days, 238,243 Axis unwounded soldiers
would become prisoners of war.
May 11, 1943
The US 7th Infantry Division
lands on Attu Island in the Aleutians. The landings were made in dense fog which
assisted in giving the Americans complete tactical surprise. Despite this, the
2500 Japanese defenders put up a very stiff resistance.
May 12, 1943
AXIS FORCES SURRENDER IN NORTH
AFRICA – After three years of
struggle, Allied forces liberate all of North Africa from the Axis powers. A
quarter of a million troops 130,000 Germans and 120,000 Italians) surrendered in
Tunisia, ending the campaign. General Jurgen von Arnim and 25 other generals
were included in the tally of prisoners. General Gustav Fehn, the last commander
of the vaunted ‘Afrika Krops’, sent this final message to higher authorities
… “Ammunition exhausted. Equipment destroyed. In accordance with orders
received, the Afrika Korps has fought to the last man”. General Alexander, in
a message to Churchill wrote, “It is my duty to report that the Tunis campaign
is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African
shores.”
May 13, 1942
British officials announce that for the
first time in the war, there are more German prisoners of war in the hand of the
Allies than British prisoners in the hands of the Axis.
The British and American Chiefs of
Staff at the TRIDENT Conference approved operation Pontblank, the systematic
strategic bombing of Germany. That very night, British bombers struck the Skoda
munitions factory near Pilsen. The terror bombing did little real damage, but 9
bombers were lost in the raid.
Operation Mincemeat, the deception
operation for the invasion of Sicily, bares fruit as the Germans reinforce their
forces in Greece against the upcoming invasion, which, of course, would never
come.
The clearly marked hospital ship Centaur,
is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. 268 of those on board, many of
them with severe wounds from previous combat, were killed.
The US 8th Air Force
launches a large 125 bomber raid against the submarine pens at Kiel. The attack
succeeded in destroying 3 U-boats.
German forces in the Leningrad area
attempt to cut the land bridge to the city, but the operation falls apart
quickly.
May 15, 1943
Hitler, worried over the potential for
an Allied invasion of Italy (and the subsequent fall of Mussolini’s regime),
removes troops earmarked for the eastern front and Operation Citadel and sends
them to Italy.
General Slim, one of the best in the
British Army, takes command of the 14th Army in Burma.
May 16, 1943
THE DAMBUSTER RAID – After
6 weeks of intensive training, 617 Squadron, lead by Wing Commander Guy Gibson,
raids the power generating dams in the Ruhr.
Despite flying at extremely low level to avoid German night fighters,
five bombers were destroyed and one other turned back with flak damage before
reaching the target. One bomber turned back when a high wave tore the bomb from
the belly. The twelve remaining planes headed for their targets. Five Lancaster
hit and breached the Mohne Dam while three bombers struck and breached the Eder
damn. Two planes hit the Sorpe Dam and one the Schwelme Dam but neither was
breached. Three more bombers were downed on the return flight. The subsequent
flooding caused severe damage and disrupted transportation routes. Civilian
losses were estimated at 1,294 (859 people of Neheim-Husten were killed when the
entire town was wiped out). Power supplies were disrupted to the local industry,
and water was rationed in the area until the next winter, but little damage was
done to factories. Gibson would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry
during the mission.
The Germans declare operations in the
Warsaw Ghetto at an end with the destruction of the Warsaw synagogue.
May 17, 1943
A convoy of ships successfully
traversed the Mediterranean Sea without meeting any enemy submarines or air
attacks. This was the first convoy to do this since Italy joined the war in
1940.
The Germans launch Operation Schwarz,
the fifth major attack on Tito’s partisans. In all, 120,000 Axis forces are
sent against 20,000 of Tito’s troops.
The 17th Army continues
it’s attacks in the Kuban. Soviet defenses hold firm.
The ‘Memphis Belle’ returns from a
raid on Lorient, France, finishing her 25th bombing mission with an intact crew.
This was a first for a plane in the 8th Air Force. During the
Belle’s 10 months of combat, her crew shot down eight enemy fighters, probably
destroyed five others, and damaged at least a dozen more, dropped more than 60
tons of bombs over Germany, France and Belgium, flew 148 hours, 50 minutes, and
covered more than 20,000 combat miles. Although there were no major injuries in
the crew, the plane had five engines shot out and on one mission, her tail was
nearly shot away.
A new Japanese offensive began along
the Yangtze River. The goal of the offensive was nothing less than the Chinese
capital of Chunking 250 miles distant.
Churchill addressed a joint session of the US congress saying that, “The enemy is still proud and powerful. He is hard to get at. He still possesses enormous armies, vast resources and invaluable strategic territories. But, there is one grave danger, the undue prolongation of the war … No one can tell what new complications and perils might arise in four or five more years of war. And it is in the dragging-out of the war at enormous expense, until the democracies are tired or bored or split, that the main hopes of Germany and Japan must now reside.”
The US 10th Fleet is formed to contend with the German submarine threat in the Atlantic.
Admiral Rene Godfroy, after having his
crews back pay made good by the British, formally announces that his French
naval units, interned at Alexandria, would join the Allied cause.
Heavy fighting continues between the
Germans and Russians in the Kuban, and American and Japanese forces on Attu.
Heavy fighting continues between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban, and American and Japanese forces on Attu.
As part of the ongoing series of
nightly terror bombing raids against cities in the Ruhr, British bombers dropped
2000 tons of explosives on Dortmund. 826 planes were involved in the raid which
came off as planned. In all 2000 buildings were destroyed, gutting the Hoesch
steelworks. Six hundred people were killed and 1275 injured.
Heavy fighting continues between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban, and American and Japanese forces on Attu.
THE BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC
ENDS – In the first three weeks
of May, 31 German U-boats were sunk. Because of these mounting losses, Admiral
Donitz orders all U-boat patrols in the north Atlantic to break off
operations against the convoys, ending the battle of the Atlantic. The improved
anti-submarine tactics, better weapons and the breaking of the German Navy
Enigma code, along with the bravery and perseverance of the Allied sailors and
seamen, lead to this great Allied victory.
Dr. Josef Mengele takes up his new
position at Auschwitz concentration camp. His sickening and grotesque “medical
research” would lead to the death of several thousand Jews.
RAF Bomber Command reached the dubious
milestone of dropping 100,000 tons of bombs on Germany.
Heavy fighting continues between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban and American and Japanese forces on Attu.
The TRIDENT Conference between
Churchill and Roosevelt ends in Washington. The decision to invade northern
France was concluded with May 1, 1944 being selected as D-Day. Decisions were
also made regarding knocking Italy out of the war early, increasing aid to China
and beginning offensive operations in the Pacific. Churchill’s plan to invade
the Balkans was rejected.
Heavy fighting continues between the Germans and Russians in the Kuban and American and Japanese forces on Attu.
Roosevelt and Churchill agree to
collaborate on the development of the atomic bomb after a year of working
separately.
Albert Speer, Germany’s armaments minister agrees to fund a new program to develop pilotless planes. The project would lead to the development of the V1 ‘buzz bomb’ and the V2 ballistic missile.
American forces on Attu clear the
Japanese from ‘Fish Hook Ridge’ and begin work on an airfield at Alexai
Point.
The German 17th Army
suspends offensive operations after making no progress. The Soviets begin their
own operations in the Kuban, and also meet stiff resistance.
For the first time in the war, a small parties of British troops are para-dropped into Yugoslavia to coordinate sabotage and guerrilla activities with Tito’s partisans. The partisans have been in heavy fighting now for ten days and prepare to breakout how that the British have arrived.
Chinese troops defending Ichang stop
the Japanese advance along the Yangtze River.
Japanese forces on Attu, concluding the
end was near for their defense, launched a final desperate attack that was
quickly and easily destroyed. The survivors chose suicide over capture.
The US 15th Air Force attacked the Italian oil refineries at Livorno with 100 B-17 bombers.
US forces secured Attu Island in the
Aleutians. US losses were 512. Only 28 wounded Japanese remain of the 2,350 man
Japanese garrison.
Twenty children are killed when a bomb hit a church in Torquay, England.
May 31, 1943
In heavy fighting in the Ichang area,
Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalist Chinese forces counterattack the stalled
Japanese and succeed in surrounding three divisions.
The US 15th Air Force hit the Italian airfields at Foggia, destroying large numbers of aircraft.