June 12, 1942: First US Air Raid On Occupied Europe

Friday 12 June 1942

Free French on the attack near Bir Hackeim, 12 June 1942 © IWM E 13313.

Eastern Front: On vacation in Berchtesgaden, Adolf Hitler is full of hope and secret dread for the coming "decisive" summer offensive in the Soviet Union. The whole point of the attack, he muses, is to "clear the table" and win the war. "If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny, then I must end this war," Hitler admits to his cronies.

The current attacks are not going well, let alone ones in the future. The assault on entrenched Russian defenses at the Crimean port of Sevastopol continues on 12 June 1942 without much progress by either side. The Soviets receive reinforcements when cruiser Molotov and destroyer Bditel'nyy evade the Axis blockade and deliver 2,314 soldiers, 190 tons of ammunition, and 28 artillery pieces to the besieged garrison.

German ground attacks continue without much success. In the critical northeast sector, LIV Corps continues its relentless attacks and loses 1957 men in the fighting of 11-12 June, but the Soviet defenders also are in bad shape. 

The Germans, though, are determined. Super-heavy artillery piece "Dora" and eleven 420 mm mortars open fire on Fort Stalin, which guards the approaches to Severnaya Bay but have little impact. Finally, a dive-bombing attack by Junkers  Ju-87 Stukas of StG 77 knocks out three of the fort's main 76.2 mm guns, and General Erich von Manstein's 11th Army assembles an attack force to take the fort for early on the morning of 13 June.

Resistance to superior orders is fairly common within the Wehrmacht, but everyone in uniform knows that it must be done "the right way." An example occurs today in Crimea. Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richtofen has forbidden all air attacks in the Black Sea for fear of hitting Axis naval vessels. The local German naval commander, Vizeadmiral Gotting, vehemently disagrees, but von Richtofen's order is final and he will not listen to any complaints.

Accordingly, Gotting meets today in private with von Richtofen's naval liaison, Koneradmiral von Eyssen - who gives von Richtofen all of his naval information. Together they secretly agree that the order prohibiting Luftwaffe operations at sea is counterproductive and they jointly limit the order to a very small restricted zone directly off Crimea - without, of course, telling von Richtofen. Von Eyssen then coordinates this with Luftwaffe Oberst Wolfgang von Wild, who commands Lufftwaffe forces (Fliegerfuhrer Sud) operating over the Black Sea. Von Wild also agrees that von Richtofen's order is nonsense, and all three men subvert von Richtofen's direct order. This is the "right" way to disobey orders in the Third Reich and is done by different commanders throughout the war.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia (Hitler is on vacation on the Obersalzberg), General Franz Halder has a disturbing conference with Vice Admiral Fricke and his aide. It is disturbing because, as Halder records in his diary, "Those people are dreaming in terms of continents." He writes that they "assume without another thought" massive German land victories that will obtain ports on the Persian Gulf and on the East African coast. "The problems of the Atlantic," Halder notes with incredulity, "are treated with off-hand superiority and those of the Black Sea with criminal unconcern."  Halder, of course, has first-hand information on just how precarious the Axis position in the USSR really is.

Battle of the Pacific: Both sides are heading for home following the decisive American victory at Midway Island. Admiral Frank Fletcher, in command aboard USS Saratoga, is one day's sail from Pearl Harbor, while Admiral Nagumo is still two days' sail from Hashirajima. the Americans are eagerly publicizing their victory, while the Japanese are keeping their losses a guarded secret known only to the Emperor and a small number of high-ranking naval personnel.

USS Swordfish (Lt. Cdr. Chester C. Smith SS-193), operating northwest of Poulo Wai in the Gulf of Siam (later Gulf of Thailand), torpedoes and sinks Japanese freighter Burma Maru. The wreck is discovered in February 2017.

Japanese submarine I-21, operating off the east coast of Australia, torpedoes and sinks 5527-ton Panamanian coke freighter Guatemala while on the surface. The freighter is traveling in an eight-ship convoy from Newcastle to Whyalla, such convoys having been organized only recently due to the recent submarine assault on Sydney Harbor. HMAS Doomba picks up the crew, all of whom survive.

In China, the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) has a big day. At dawn, the 1st Squadron shoots down four Ki-27 Nate bombers and five other twin-engine plans over Kweilin (Guilin, on the west bank of the Li River).

B-17s of the 5th Air Force bomb Lakunai Airfield and Vunakanau at the Japanese main overseas base of Rabaul.

NY Times, 12 June 1942.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese submarine I-10 shells and sinks 2052-ton Panamania freighter Hellenic Trader in the northwestern Mozambique Channel near Bahla de Cruz. Later in the day, I-10 torpedoes and sinks 5064-ton British freighter Cliftonhall.

Japanese submarine I-16 torpedoes and sinks 3748-ton Yugoslav freighter Supetar in the Mozambique Channel near Cabo de Sao Sebastiao.

Japanese submarine I-20 shells and sinks 5063-ton British freighter Clifton Hall in the Mozambique Channel off Angoche, Mozambique.

European Air Operations: A small force of a dozen U.S. Army Air Force B-24 Liberators flying from northeast Egypt bomb the Ploesti, Romania, oil fields after taking off at 22:30 on 11 June. The bombing is extremely inaccurate due to poor weather and no appreciable damage is caused. The bombers encounter flak and a few enemy fighters. Altogether, the planes drop 24 tons of bombs, with a thirteenth bomber attacking the port of Constanta. The bombers then proceed on to Habbaniyah, Iraq, making this an early example of shuttle bombing. Four bombers make it to Habbaniyah, while the others land at other fields in Iraq and Syria. Four of the bombers land in Turkey and their crews are interned. 

This is the first offensive mission by U.S. planes over Europe during World War II. General Dwight D. Eisenhower comments drily that the failed attack "did something to dispel the illusion that big planes could win the war." The bombers are from the Halverson Project 63, or HALPRO and have flown across the Atlantic for the mission. This small force forms the genesis of the 1st Provisional Bombardment Group (PBG) and the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group, completing another 450 missions.

The poor weather of spring 1942 continues and gets worse throughout the day on the Channel Front, but it is mild enough in the morning and early afternoon for some operations.

Group Captain Ken Gatward and navigator Flight Sargeant George Fern conduct The Beaufighter Raid on Paris, or Operation Squabble. This has been delayed for a month due to poor weather. This is a daring propaganda strafing run on a German parade down the Champs-Élysées that includes dropping Tricolor flags on prominent monuments (the Arc de Triomphe and the French Naval Ministry, currently being used as Kriegsmarine headquarters).

The two men take off from RAF Thorney Island in rain and clouds, but the weather clears sufficiently to carry out the mission. Flying at an extremely low altitude, the Beaufighter circles the Eiffel Tower at 12:27 and then heads for the Champs-Élysées. It turns out there is no German military parade (it hasn't begun yet), but the men drop the flags as intended. After strafing the Ministry building, the men return to RAF Northolt at 13:53. During the strafing run, the plane suffers a birdstrike, and the French crow is found in the starboard radiator. Gatward receives the DFC and Fern the DFM for their efforts.

RAF aircraft of Coastal Command engage in routine convoy patrols. They bomb and sink 1497-ton Swedish freighter Senta 30 nautical miles Cuxhaven, Germany (near the Weser River). There are no casualties.

Beaufighter Mk IC T4800 code ND-C of No. 236 Squadron RAF on the ground at Wattisham Suffolk 12 June 1942.

Battle of the Baltic: Swedish 1046-ton Bojan hits a mine and sinks off Saßnitz, Germany.

Battle of the Atlantic: German cruiser Michel, operating off the coast of Brazil, on 6 June had spotted the disabled 7176-ton U.S. freighter George Clymer and launched its MTB Esan. The MTB torpedoed the freighter and the crew abandoned ship. However, the ship remained afloat, and the crew re-embarked. British armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara has remained in the vicinity of the badly damaged ship since arriving on the scene on 8 June, but today departs, leaving the freighter still afloat. It is assumed that George Clymer eventually sinks.

U-158 (Kptlt. Erwin Rostin), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks US 8192-ton tanker Cities Service of Toledo 20 miles east of the Trinity Shoal Buoy in the Gulf of Mexico. There are 15 deaths.

U-124 (Kptlt. Johann Mohr), on its ninth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 4093-ton British freighter Dartford south of Cape Race. There are 17 survivors and 30 deaths.

U-129 (Kptlt. Hans-Ludwig Witt), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 9005-ton refrigerated cargo freighter Hardwicke Grange 120 nautical miles (220 km) north of Puerto Rico. There are three deaths and 78 survivors. The survivors are in four lifeboats for two weeks, and each lifeboat lands in a different country: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Haiti.

German 125-ton minesweeper M-4212 (formerly Belgian trawler Marie-Frans) hits a mine and sinks south of Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains, France. The mine was laid previously by French submarine Rubis.

Map of North African campaign, 12 June 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British in the El Adem "box" are under intense pressure by General Erwin Rommel's 15th Panzer Division and give ground as the Germans attempt to break out of  "the Cauldron." The 2nd and 4th Armoured Brigades retreat 6 km (3.7 miles) in disarray, leaving only the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade holding its ground. Rommel orders the 21st  Panzer Division to join the attack on the 13th. A breakthrough here would open a pathway to Tobruk.

The Allies are only in as good a situation as they are due to the previous stout Free French defense at Bir Hakeim. Now that the fortress has fallen, the Germans can bring much greater pressure to bear on the British. Today, General Auchinleck praises the French, saying, "The United Nations need to be filled with admiration and gratitude in respect of these French troops and their brave General Kœnig."

While the intense Luftwaffe air campaign against Malta has eased in recent weeks, it remains in a precarious position due to supply shortages. Today, the Royal Navy begins Operations Harpoon and Vigorous, typical convoy missions to the embattled island. Harpoon sets out from Haifa, Palestine, while Vigorous begins at Gibraltar.

Convoy MW4 leaves Gibraltar heading east with six merchantmen (the British Troilus, Burdwan and Orari, the Dutch Tanimbar, the American Chant, and the tanker Kentucky) carrying 43,000 short tons (39,000 t) of cargo and oil. It is protected by Force X, which includes distant cover by battleship HMS Malaya and aircraft carriers Argus and Eagle.

The westward operation is a little more complicated. Convoy MW-11a embarks from Haifa with five merchantmen (British Ajax, City of Edinburgh, City of Pretoria, City of Lincoln, and Elizabeth Bakke) heading west. It is escorted by the 7th destroyer flotilla. This convoy has trouble immediately when Elizabeth Bakke is ordered back to port because it cannot maintain station due to overloading and its poor condition. Convoy MW11b departs from Alexandria, Egypt, with a tanker (Bulkoil), a merchantman (Potaro), and a decommissioned battleship (Centurion) being used as a freighter. It is escorted by five destroyers, four corvettes, and two rescue ships (Antwerp and Malines). There also is a third convoy from this direction that departs from Port Said, MW-11C, composed of freighters Aagtekirk, Bhutan, City of Calcutta, and Rembrandt.

The objective is to confuse and disperse the Axis defenses with all of these simultaneous convoys. In theory, this should enable maximum resupply of the island despite inevitable losses.

Unknown to the British, the Axis knows all about these operations already due to a major security breach by the US Military Attaché in Egypt, Colonel Bonner Fellers. Italian military intelligence (Servizio Informazioni Militare) has broken the American code and thus has deciphered Fellers' detailed reports to Washington. While not strictly Fellers' fault, better precautions could have avoided this. In any event, this incident proves that codebreaking during World War II was not just a one-way street that benefited only the Allies.

With the Axis ready and waiting, the attacks begin almost immediately. In the evening, 15 Junkers Ju 88 bombers of I Kampfgeschwader 54 based in Crete attack MW-11c. They score a near-miss on City of Calcutta, which slows it and forces the freighter to divert to Tobruk along with its towed MBT, escorted by two escorts. During the night, MW-11c slows to arrange a rendezvous with the other two convoys off Mersa Matruh.

Separately, U-77 (Kptlt. Heinrich Schonder), on its sixth patrol out of La Spezia, torpedoes and sinks the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Grove (L77) off Sollum, Egypt. The ship sinks in 14 minutes with 110 deaths and 79 survivors. Escort destroyer HMS Tetcott picks up the survivors.

British refrigerated freighter Hardwicke Grange, sunk by U-129 on 12 June 1942.

Spy Stuff: U-202 (Kptlt. Hans-Heinz Linder), on its sixth patrol out of Brest, arrives off the south coast of Long Island, New York, in early-morning darkness and disembarks four German spies/saboteurs. The four men land at Amagansett. This is Operation Pastorius, one of a series of such operations planned to disrupt the economy of the United States. They are wearing German Navy uniforms to avoid being shot as spies if captured during the landing. However, upon landing and finding themselves alone on the beach, they quickly change into civilian clothes and bury their uniforms and other equipment.

A problem quickly develops when Coast Guardsman John C. Cullen spots the men posing as fishermen on a raft. Cullen also notices the submarine and sees that the men are armed. He approaches them, and the spies give Cullen $200 to keep quiet. Cullen takes the money but alerts his superiors later in the day, by which time the four spies have taken the LIRR into Manhattan.

The first page of Anne Frank's diary, written on 12 June 1942.

Holocaust: In Amsterdam, Anne Frank is gifted a red-and-white plaid diary on her thirteenth birthday. The Franks, German Jewish refugees, have not yet gone into hiding. Her first entry begins, "On Friday, June 12th, I woke up at six o’clock and no wonder; it was my birthday." Later in the entry, she says, "I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support."

US Military: The US Army activates the 100th Infantry Battalion, composed of Japanese-Americans from Hawaii.

German Military: Oblt. Egon Albrecht becomes Staffelkapitaen of 1./ZG 1.

George Bush during World War II.

Russian Homefront: Russian revolutionary Anna Yakimova dies in Novosibirisk, aged 86. She was a prime early agitator against the Tsar around the turn of the 20th Century.

American Homefront: In the evening, a tornado hits the southwest section of Oklahoma City near Will Rogers Airfield. Local sources (the Ada Evening News) report 21 dead, 25 critically injured, and 250 made homeless.

Future President George Herbert Walker Bush graduates from high school and immediately enlists in the U.S. Navy despite already having been admitted to Yale University.

Future History: Bert Sakmann is born in Stuttgart, German Reich. He grows up to become a noted cell physiologist who wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Erwin Neher in 1991. As of this writing, Sakmann leads an emeritus research group at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Heidelberg, Germany.

Brothers in Valor Monument in Honolulu, Hawaii, commemorating the 100th Infantry Battalion and other Japanese-American units in World War II (Photo: Sarah Sundin).

2022

June 8, 1942: Japanese Submarines Shell Australia

Monday 8 June 1942

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli lying beached near Santander, Spain, on 8 June 1942. The submarine commander beached it after suffering damage from Allied aircraft on 6 June 1942 using Leigh Lights. It is ultimately repaired and restored to service.

Battle of the Pacific: In a coordinated attack in the early morning hours of 8 June 1942, two Japanese submarines fire their 140 mm deck guns at Sydney and Newcastle, Australia. The purpose is more symbolic than militarily effective, but it certainly catches the attention of a lot of people.

I-24 opens the attack by firing ten shells targeting the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They land in the suburbs of Bellevue Hill, Rose Bay, and Woollahra, with one shell landing in the harbor. One person is injured by falling masonry and debris even though only one of the ten shells explodes. There is no response from shore batteries due to the brevity of the attack.

Two hours later, Japanese submarine I-21 (Cdr Matsumura Kanji) shells the Australian city of Newcastle, New South Wales, on 8 June 1942 from a distance of 9 km (5.6 miles) northeast of Stockton Beach. The target this time is the BHP steelworks. It fires 34 shells, including 8 illumination rounds, but once again only one shell detonates. The attack does no significant damage, aside from destroying a house on Parnell Place. Fort On the alert due to the previous Sydney attack, Scratchley gunners respond with four shells but have little chance of scoring a hit on the submarine in the dark.

The only fatality from these attacks is a US Army Air Force pilot, Lieutenant Georg Cantello, who disobeys orders and takes off from Bankstown airport in a P-39 Aircobra to attack the submarines. He perishes when his plane crashes due to mechanical issues in Hammondville paddock. There is a memorial park, Lt. Cantello Reserve, in the City of Liverpool with a monument in his honor.

Australian "Action" magazine, the Official Journal of the National Emergency Services, has photos and a description of the 8 June 1942 shelling of Sydney in its July issue.

In response to the Japanese offensive in Australian waters that began with the attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, the Australian government begins convoy operations on the east coast. Today, the first one, Convoy CO 1, departs from Newcastle bound for Whyalla.

The crew of a US Navy PBY-5A Catalina based at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, spots two destroyers and four transport ships in Kiska Harbor. The crew then fly on to Attu and spot the Japanese presence there, too. This is the first news that the Japanese have invaded Alaska. An LB-30 of 11th Air Force also spots the Japanese.

In Hawaii, Admiral Chester Nimitz has ordered USS Enterprise and Hornet, now free due to the victory at Midway, to sail north to the Aleutian Islands in response to the attacks on Dutch Harbor. However, he quickly countermands this order when informed of the invasions at Attu and Kiska, fearing attacks on his carriers by land-based aircraft. The Japanese, meanwhile, are digging in on the islands and building airfields. Admiral Frank Fletcher, now aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, resumes command of the three-carrier task force northwest of Hawaii from Raymond Spruance. His carriers and the 11th Air Force in Alaska search for the remaining Japanese fleet but the planes spot only open water.

General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) in Melbourne, submits his first proposal for an Allied counteroffensive in the Pacific. He lists New Guinea, New Ireland, and New Britain as the initial objectives. It receives immediate opposition from Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH), and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), who, among other objections, does not like the idea of an Army general commanding an amphibious force. Negotiations over a compromise plan begin shortly. Another issue is that the Japanese remain on the offensive despite their recent defeat at Midway and that will affect operational choices.

The Boston Daily Globe of 8 June 1942 is full of cheery news about the US victory at the Battle of Midway. The very careful wartime manipulation of war news is evident in the header "American Destroyer Is Sunk, Crew Saved." That is absolutely true, but there is no mention of the far more consequential sinking of the USS Yorktown. 

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese submarine I-16 uses its deck gun to sink 4847-ton Greek freighter Aghios Georgios IV between Aden and Table Bay in the Mozambique Channel. There are seven deaths.

I-20 torpeoes and sinks 5209-ton Greek freighter Christos Markettos off Mombassa. There are two deaths.

I-10 (Cdr Otani) torpedoes and sinks 5224-ton British freighter King Lud in the Mozambique Channel 350 miles east of Beira. All 39 people on board perish. This is I-10's third victory in the vicinity.

I-10 also uses its deck gun to sink 2158-ton Norwegian freighter Wilford in the Mozambique Channel in the same general vicinity east of Beira. There are nine deaths. Some sources place this sinking on 7 June 1942.

Norwegian freighter Wilford, sunk by I-10 in the Mozambique Channel on 8 June 1942.

Eastern Front: German General Erich von Manstein's 11th Army continues its attack on Sevastopol in Crimea but makes little progress. Soviet counterattacks also fail, leading to a virtual stalemate. The German LIV Corps, aided by strong artillery fire and furious Luftwaffe attacks, do make some progress in the northern sector where the largest artillery batteries are located. Already the corps has lost 1700 casualties in exchange for a shallow bulge into the Red Army lines that is 3 km deep and 5 km wide. German 30 Corps in the south has suffered 496 casualties for minor penetrations into the out Soviet defensive line.

There are fierce dogfights over Sevastopol, with both sides represented by veteran ace fighter pilots. The Luftwaffe gets the better of the encounters. Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 downs 2 Soviet fighters and Oblt. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77 destroys three Russian planes to bring his score to 57 victories. Hptm. Kurt Ubben of Stab III./JG 77 brings his score to 70 victories after he downs a Russian fighter.

There is growing frustration in Manstein's headquarters with the pace of the offensive. Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richtofen observes that his planes fly 1200 sorties during the day without achieving much and lamely explains, "We hope gradually to beat down the enemy by mass bombing."  He complains that flying so many missions is 'extremely strenuous." Conditions are made worse on both men and equipment by sweltering  105° Fahrenheit (40° Celsius) heat.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Halder is okay with the progress, but there is a hint of concern in his diary entry:

Assault of Sevastopol makes satisfactory progress on the first day against stiff opposition; high ammunition expenditures and severe losses. All other fronts quiet. Successful counterattacks at Kirishi.  

Kirishi, meanwhile is a town 115 kilometers (71 mi) southeast of St. Petersburg on the Volkhov River that defends Lyuban. The front has stayed stagnant there since the fall of 1941, a sign of the stalled German offensive into the USSR.

European Air Operations: The weather remains unsettled throughout the day, getting worse as time goes by. During RAF air patrols along the continent coast, they sink 7003-ton German patrol boat Sperrbrecher 15 Taronga off Scharhörn. The ship makes port but is a complete loss and written off.

Polish teacher Władysław Dobija, executed at Auschwitz on 8 June 1942 (Auschwitz Memorial). 

Battle of the Atlantic: U-135 (Kptlt. Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius), on its third patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 4549-ton Norwegian freighter Pleasantville 200 miles northwest of Bermuda. There are two dead and 45 survivors, 10 of whom who are picked up about 24 hours later by freighter Chickasaw City while the remaining 35 are picked up by freighter Paderewski on 11 June.

U-504 (KrvKpt. Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske), on its third patrol out of Lorient, uses its deck gun to sink 3901-ton Honduran freighter Tela in the Gulf of Mexico near Rio Bravo. The ship sinks by the stern within five minutes There are 11 dead and 43 survivors, who abandon ship in two lifeboats and two rafts and are picked up twelve hours later by freighter Port of Montreal. Their adventure is not over, as U-68 sinks Port of Montreal in turn on 10 June 1942, during which two of the Tela survivors perish.

U-504 also uses its deck gun to sink 1512-ton British freighter Rosenborg in the same general area east of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is after Poske misses with two torpedoes. He must use 60 shots to sink the ship. There are four dead and 23 survivors, who are picked up by Norwegian freighter Geisha.

U-172 (Kptlt. Carl Emmermann), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1654-ton US freighter Sicilien 10 miles south of Cape Beata, Dominican Republic. There are 46 dead and 31 survivors, who get in rafts and make it to Barahona, Dominican Republic.

U-128 (Kptlt. Ulrich Heyse), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 9234-ton Norwegian tanker South Africa 400 miles east of Trinidad. The ship breaks in two and sinks within two minutes. Survival is made difficult due to the tanker's full load of 9614 tons of lube distillate and 4146 tons of diesel oil. Heyse surfaces and points out a man in the water that the lifeboats then pick up, gives the men some cans of bread and two bottles of rum, and directs them toward land. There are six dead and 36 survivors in two lifeboats. The subsequent sequence of events almost defies belief. One lifeboat (14 men) is spotted by freighter Plaudit, but the men refuse rescue after getting some supplies because it is heading to Pernambuco on 12 June and sail on toward Trinidad. They then decline another rescue offer from sailing vessel Minnie M. Mosher before making landfall at Galara Light (Toko Bay) on 16 June. The other lifeboat (25 men) is spotted by tanker Acastra on 12 June, but the men also refuse rescue after taking on supplies because it is heading for Freetown. They also decline an offer on the 13th from Argentinian tanker 13 de Diciembre after taking on supplies. They are picked up by an American seaplane tender on 14 June 45 miles east of Trinidad.

U-107 torpedoes and sinks 3249-ton US freighter Suwied 140 miles southeast of Cozumel Island. the ship sinks within three minutes, preventing a distress call. There are six dead and 33 survivors, who are picked up by USCGC Nemesis (WPC 111) after 19 hours. Some sources place this sinking on 7 June 1942, where I also discuss this sinking.

British patrol boat HMT Catherine founders off Scapa Flow. Casualties are unknown.

Admiral Chester Nimitz (second from left) and his party await the arrival of survivors of USS Yorktown aboard Fulton (As-11), 8 June 1942. Also visible are Rear Admiral William L. Calhoun in the right front and Rear Admiral Lloyd J. Wiltse, of Nimitz' staff, in the center background (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-312025).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The situation in Libya remains unchanged today. The Germans continue their attack on the fortress of Bir Hakeim but make no progress, while the British 7th Motor Brigade and 29th Indian Infantry Brigade attempt raids on the Axis supply lines.

Time is on General Erwin Rommel's side because the Free French at Bir Hakeim cannot be resupplied and they are running low on everything. Today, Rommel personally leads an attack on the fortress from the north beginning at 10:00, supported by a massive Luftwaffe assault by 45 Ju 87 Stukas, 3 Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers, and ten Messerschmidt Me-110 fighter-bombers escorted by 54 Bf-109 fighters (3 losses two German and one Italian).

While the attack continues throughout the afternoon supported by another attack by 60 Stukas, the defenses hold. The British Desert Air Force (DAF) flies 478 sorties (8 fighter losses) during the day and drops supplies to the garrison after dark. The Italian Macchi C 202 fighters are particularly effective, shooting down three RAF planes.

In a friendly fire incident, the Italian submarine Alagi (Cdr Serio Puccini) spots a convoy 20 nautical miles north of Cape Bon, Tunisia. Captain Puccini assumes it is an Allied one, but it is a typical Axis convoy from Naples to Tripoli. Puccini fires three torpedoes and sinks 5085-ton Italian destroyer Antoniotto Usodimare. There are 141 killed and 165 survivors. This sinking is sometimes listed as occurring on 8 August 1942.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), on its eighth patrol out of Salamis, gets two victories today. First, it uses its deck gun to sink 100-ton Palestinian sailing ship Esther six miles northwest of Sidon, Lebanon. There are no survivors.

U-83 then uses its deck gun to sink 231-ton Egyptian freighter Said 15 miles southwest of Jaffa. This is after U-83 missed with two torpedoes, and it takes 50 rounds to sink the ship. There are five dead and nine survivors.

US Navy blimp L-1. This is of the same class as L-2, which crashed in a fatal accident on 8 June 1942. It is shown above Panamanian freighter Musa.

US/Soviet Relations:  Soviet Ambassador to the United States Maxim M. Litvinov informs Harry Hopkins that the Soviet Union is agreeable to the establishment of a Lend-Lease air corridor between Alaska and Siberia. Since Japan is not at war with the USSR, it could not interfere with such flights without instigating a conflict with the Soviets.

US Military: The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) is formed by the Department of War, though it doesn't begin operation officially until 4 July 1942. Its organizational divisions are Army Ground Forces (AGF), United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and Army Service Forces (ASF) operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. It replaces United States Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) and its first commander for a brief period of time is Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney. The AGF currently has the 34th Infantry Division in Northern Island, which has released British troops from duties by patrolling the border between British Northern Ireland and the neutral Irish Free State.

Brigadier General Howard C Davidson, commander of VII Fighter Command, is promoted to Commanding General, 7th Air Force.

Canadian Military: Royal Canadian Air Force's No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron flies its Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters to Elmendorf Field, Alaska. This is part of the RCAF effort to reinforce Allied defenses on its western flank.

German Homefront: Following the elaborate funeral of Reinhard Heydrich on 7 June 1942, the Prague authorities embark on vicious reprisals. The Gestapo, with little to go on, receives a spurious report that the small town of Lidice is the hiding place of Heydrich's assassins and plans an operation to destroy it. This report is based on nothing but the town's reputation as the home of some Czech army officers who are now in hiding in Great Britain. A radio transmitter belonging to the Silver A team (a three-man Allied infiltration team that supported Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Heydrich) is found in the village of Ležáky and so it, too, is targeted. Heydrich's two assassins, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, remain at large shuttling between safe houses in Prague. A second Heydrich funeral is scheduled for Berlin on 9 June.

"Mountbatten of the Commandos" is on the cover of the 8 June 1942 Time magazine (cover credit: Ernest Hamlin Baker).

British Homefront: The Guardian publishes an editorial today noting increasingly harsh living conditions in the Reich "since last winter." Its main theme is that "since last autumn’s clear failure to “annihilate” the Russians, the German civilian front has been increasingly tired and dispirited." This reflects the wishful thinking of RAF Bomber Command led by General Arthur"Bomber" Harris, who believes that his forces can crush the Reich from the air by destroying its people's will to fight. In this sole and strict sense, the Allied bombing campaign is proving to be a massive failure, as people in Germany may be down but the bombing is not making them demand surrender as they did in 1918.

US Navy Airship G-1, involved in a fatal crash on 8 June 1942. It is shown dropping a parachutist.

American Homefront: During the night, two U.S. Navy airships (G-1 and L-2) collide five miles north of Manasquan, New Jersey, while performing experimental visual and photographic reconnaissance at 400 feet. Twelve men, naval personnel and civilian technicians, perish. The blimps fall into the sea and only the co-pilot of L-2, Ensign Howard Fahey, survives. Only three bodies are recovered.

Due to the victory at the Battle of Midway, the US government cancels the invasion alert for the West Coast.

Bing Crosby makes a new recording of "Silent Night," which he first recorded on 21 February 1935, for his holiday compilation album "Merry Christmas." This is one of four recordings Bing makes of the "Silent Night." One of the reasons Crosby keeps returning to the song is that the recordings are so popular that the music label, Decca, complains that repeated stampings quickly wear out the master tapes.

Model Jane Greer models women's uniforms in the 8 June 1942 issue of Life magazine (see below), posing in a "Nurse's Aide" uniform on the cover. Movie producer and inventor Howard Hughes spots her and decides to make her an actress. He signs her to a personal services contract, which was somewhat customary for actresses at the time but gave him inordinate control over her career which he fully exploited. This begins Greer's decades-long Hollywood acting career and a very turbulent relationship with Hughes wherein he alternately helps and hurts her career and personal relationships. Greer is best known for film noirs, particularly with RKO, such as "Out of the Past" (1947), "The Big Steal" (1949), "Run for the Sun" (1956), and "Man of a Thousand Faces" (1957). Greer passes away on 24 August 2001.

Future History: Peter Grimwade is born in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. he becomes a noted television director, particularly on the Doctor Who series in the early 1980s. He passes away on 15 May 1990.

Life magazine, 8 June 1942, features a "Nurse's Aid" on the cover. It is actually model Jane Greer, who parleys this break into a memorable acting career.

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May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

Friday 29 May 1942

USS Yorktown in Dry Dock #1 of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 29 May 1942 (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-13065).

Battle of the Pacific: Frantic repairs on USS Yorktown in a Pearl Harbor drydock continue on 29 May 1942 as two other US aircraft carriers, Enterprise and Hornet, approach Midway Island. The US Navy has only one other aircraft carrier in the Pacific, Saratoga, but it is undergoing repairs at San Diego and is unavailable for the expected battle about to occur at Midway.

US Navy submarine tender Thornton (AVD-11) arrives at the French Frigate Shoals to relieve minelayer Preble (DM-20). The Americans know that the Japanese have been using this location as a staging location for attacks on Hawaii. Japanese submarine I-123 arrives late in the day with fuel for a reconnaissance plane that is scheduled to arrive soon but is unable to set up the operation due to the US presence.

US Navy seaplane tender Ballard (AVD-10) arrives at Midway with eleven motor torpedo boats (PT boats) of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron MTBRon 1 (Lt. Clinton McKellar Jr.). They are there to supplement the local defense forces, which are under the command of Captain Cyril T. Simard.

Japanese naval intelligence (COMINT) is monitoring US naval communications and suspects from radio chatter there that a US naval task force has departed recently (TF 16 recently left for Midway). Admiral Yamamoto's strict radio silence order, however, prevents this information from being forwarded to Admiral Nagumo, whose carriers are approaching Midway.

Admiral Yamamoto sails out of the inland sea today with a support force for the Midway operation. His radio intelligence has identified six US Navy submarines nearby, but none are spotted.

US Navy submarine USS Swordfish (Lt Cdr Chester C. Smith SS-193) attacks a Japanese army convoy at the southwestern entrance to Balabac Strait, Philippines. It sinks 1946-ton freighter Tatsufuku Maru. Swordfish also damages freighter Rio de Janeiro Maru.

PBY-5 Catalinas based at Noumea, New Caledonia join RAAF Catalinas in bombing Tulagi Island, the site of a Japanese seaplane base near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

Japanese submarine I-21 launches its E14Y "Glen" seaplane for an uneventful reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia.

"The aircraft carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS is seen ahead of HMS WARSPITE." The photo was taken in the Indian Ocean on 29 May 1942. (© IWM A 10655).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: A large Japanese submarine force takes up station off Madagascar after a long and arduous journey across the Indian Ocean. They are there to launch mini-submarines to attack the British Far Eastern Fleet. This is "Divine Dragon Operation No. 2."

I-10 launches its E14Y "Glen" floatplane (crewed by Lt. (j.g.) Araki Toshio and Ito Yoshiharu) for a reconnaissance mission above the harbor at Diego Suarez. The men spot numerous targets in the harbor, including battleship HMS Ramillies and numerous destroyers, corvettes, troopships, a tanker, an ammunition ship, a freighter, and a hospital ship. Three submarines - I-16, I-18, and I-20 - attempt to launch a mini-sub attack today, but only two of the mini-submarines are launched properly. The other two proceed toward the harbor.

Unlike many other such flights, the British spot this one and sound the alert. The British battleship quickly changes its anchorage in the harbor. After the floatplane returns, I-10 Captain Ishizaki orders a mini-submarine attack of his own for 0230 on 31 May.

Four B-17 bombers of the 10th Air Force bomb Myitkyina Airfield in Burma.

Eighteen Japanese Zeros and 17 P-39 Aircobras have a furious dogfight over Hood Bay southeast of Port Moresby. The Japanese lose four planes to one P-39F. One of the Japanese pilots crash-lands and is shot and killed while resisting arrest.

Heavy cruiser USS Quincy (CA-39) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 29 May 1942.

Eastern Front: The German victors at Kharkov count Soviet prisoners as mass surrenders continue. At Fuhrer Headquarters, General Franz Halder writes simply, "All quiet along the entire front (including Byeloi)."

European Air Operations: Despite continued poor weather, the RAF sends planes on patrols late in the day. RAF planes bomb and sink 1839-ton Danish (German) freighter Niels R. Finsen, carrying a load of coke, west of Borkum. They also sink 750-ton German minesweeper Sperrbrecher-150 (Viriato) near the Dutch West Frisian island of Ameland. The RAF planes also sink 285-ton German patrol boat V-1103 off Ameland (three deaths). An RCAF sweep over Cap Gris-Nez to Dunkirk encounters heavy flak.

British banana boat Allister, sunk on 29 May 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: As it continues toward the Soviet Union, Convoy PQ-16 divides in half with six ships making for Archangel and the rest for Murmansk. The Germans, having sunk seven of its ships, have no more success against it.

U-504 (KrvKpt. Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1597-ton British banana boat Allister 54 miles south of Grand Cayman Island. The ship breaks in half and sinks quickly. There are 15 dead and 8 survivors, who spend eight days at sea before being picked up by an unidentified passing ship and landed at Port au Prince, Haiti.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1913-ton British freighter Norman Prince 70 miles west of Martinique. Hartenstein chased the ship for eight hours before getting into firing position. There are 16 dead and 33 survivors, who are picked up by Vichy French freighter Angoulême and interned at Martinique. While on the island, they meet Lt.z.S Dietrich von dem Borne, who was injured in a gun explosion on U-156 in February and put ashore for humanitarian reasons. One survivor clings to a door for three days before being picked up by USCGC Unalga (WPG 53).

U-107 (Kptlt. Harald Gelhaus), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 2599-ton British freighter Western Head in the Windward Passage 50 miles east of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are 24 deaths and six survivors, who are picked up by a US Navy patrol ship and taken to Guantanamo Bay.

Italian submarine Barbarigo, on patrol in the South Atlantic near Brazil, torpedoes and uses its deck gun to sink 4836-ton British freighter Charlbury.

German 750-ton Sperrbrecher (literally, mine barrage breaker, or minesweeper)  150 Viriato hits a mine and sinks off Dunkirk.

Kansas City Star, 29 May 1942. One of the headlines states, "Smash Deep Axis Thrust" at Tobruk, which is a bit of an overstatement.

Battle of the Mediterranean: With the Afrika Korps advance into the British Gazala Line stalled at Bir Hakeim, badly needed supply trucks of the Trieste and Ariete divisions reach the Axis forces after clearing a path through minefields. The British Desert Air Force (DAF) is active, intercepting two raids by Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and also attacking Axis supply vehicles.

The Free French men in the fortress of Bir Hakeim also need supplies. However, the Axis forces have them surrounded and one breakout attempt already has failed. A detachment led by Capitaine Gabriel de Sairigné sorties out and destroys three German tanks today.

General Erwin Rommel, having lost the initiative and still facing supply issues, cleverly uses Allied minefields to protect his flanks and assumes a defensive posture even as his forces continue to reduce Bir Hakeim. Uncoordinated British attacks achieve nothing. A British armored brigade attacks the Ariete Division near the fortress, but the Italians beat them off. This becomes known as "The Cauldron."

British destroyers HMS Hero, Eridge, and Hurworth, after being alerted to a U-boat's presence by a patroling Blenheim bomber of RAF No. 203 Squadron, use depth charges to sink U-568 (Kptlt. Joachim Preuss), on its fifth patrol out of La Spezia, northeast of Tobruk. All 47 crewmen survive.

British submarine Turbulent has a big day, sinking two ships. It torpedoes and sinks 3175-ton Italian freighter Capo Arma 70 miles northwest of Benghazi. Casualties are unknown.

Turbulent also torpedoes and sinks Italian destroyer Emanuele Pessagno 85 miles northwest of Benghazi. There are 140 deaths and 85 survivors.

Italian 1160-ton freighter Penelope, torpedoed on 19 May 1942 by British submarine Thrasher, finally sinks.

"A Supermarine Walrus taxiing up to WARSPITE after returning from anti-submarine patrol. In the background are HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and the destroyer HMS LOOKOUT, 29 May 1942." Note the crewman on top of the plane to attach the hook to lift it.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine SHCH-214 rams and sinks 90-ton Turkish sailing vessel Hudavendiar east of Cape Igneada, Turkey. This is one of several sinkings of neutral Turkish vessels in the Black Sea during 1942, but they do not provoke a diplomatic crisis.

Soviet submarine A-3 torpedoes and sinks 3595-ton Romanian freighter Sulina off Odessa.

Partisans: Reinhard Heydrich remains in critical care in a Prague hospital following an assassination attempt by British/Czech agents. Heinrich Himmler's personal physician, Dr. Karl Gebhardt, assumes responsibility for Heydrich's care, which includes large doses of morphine for the pain. Gebhardt does not (according to his own account) administer the antibacterial drug sulfanilamide despite its recommendation by Hitler's personal doctor, Theodor Morell.

A newlywed, Mrs. Robert Cramer, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 29 May 1942 © The Ann Arbor News.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 42. This cancels Operation Isabella, a wishful plan to invade Spain and Portugal. It also refines a projected plan to invade Vichy France, Operation Attila, and replaces it with Case Anton (which ultimately is executed). Fuhrer Directive No. 42 is issued due to a "continual shifting of our forces in the West." It suggests that Spanish leader Francisco Franco's appeasement of Hitler by sending troops to the Eastern Front is working and that he views the lukewarm support offered by the Vichy government and French partisan activities as a growing nuisance.

The directive also states that "The Italians may also, if the situation requires, have to take action in Tunisia." The situation will require this later in 1942, but the Germans will take care of matters themselves.

Australian Military: Today is the first flight of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-12 Boomerang fight. It is the only Australian-produced plane of World War II.

Holocaust: The Germans extend their requirement that Jews over six years of age wear a yellow badge to Paris. This is the eighth German decree on the subject of anti-Jewish measures and comes into effect on 7 June 1942.

African-American US Army 2nd lts. Henry Harris, Frank Frederick Doughton, Elmer B. Kountze, and Rogers H. Beardon pinning on their new brass rank insignias, Ft. Benning, Georgia, US, 29 May 1942 (National Archives).

American Homefront: Warner Bros. premiere "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in New York City. Featuring songs by George M. Cohan and starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, and Walter Huston, the film is a huge success and the company's biggest box-office success to date. Cagney wins the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film wins other awards for its music and sound recording. Congress selects it for preservation in 1993. In a patriotic gesture, Warner Bros. sells war bonds for entrance to the premiere ranging in value from $25 to $25,000.

Future History: Actor John Barrymore, born John Sidney Blyth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (and buried there), passes away in Los Angeles, California from illness. Barrymore is known as one of the great stage and film actors of the early 20th Century and is sometimes referred to as "The Great Barrymore." However, he is probably best remembered most these days for his wildly eccentric life that involved alcoholism, bankruptcy, four marriages, and a life largely led in the pages of tabloid magazines. He also founds the "Barrymore family of actors" that continues down to the present day with his granddaughter, Drew Barrymore.

Yosano Akiko passes away in Tokyo, Japan, from a stroke. She is remembered as a poet and feminist. While sometimes called a pacifist, in fact, many of Akiko's later works support the wars against China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. One of her poems even praises Bushido, or the samurai code urging men to die in battle for the Emperor. Akiko has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years.

A traffic accident at Folsom and Army Streets in San Francisco, 29 May 1942 (San Francisco Police Department Photograph Bureau Negatives / Bureau of Accident Investigation and Prevention, San Francisco Police Department Records, via San Francisco Public Library).

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

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May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

Sunday 24 May 1942

Lt Cdr Lance E. Massey commander of VT-3 in the cockpit of his TBD-1 Devastator, at Naval Air Station Ford Island, Pearl Habor, 24 May 1942. Note that the plane has the marking for sinking one Japanese ship on it. Massey will lead his squadron of obsolete torpedo bombers into battle from the USS Enterprise at Midway and perish on 4 June 1942. He receives the Navy Cross posthumously and the Navy names destroyer DD-778 after him in 1944 (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-66074).

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese introduce a new codebook on 24 May 1942. This new code takes several days for US Naval Intelligence to crack. However, the new Japanese codebook comes a few days too late, as the Americans within the past few days have decoded several important Japanese messages that detail Japanese plans to invade Midway Island in early June.

Due to this codebreaking, the US Navy, led operationally by Admiral Chester Nimitz, already knows that the Japanese are going to divide their forces between Midway and the Aleutian Islands. The US also knows how many aircraft carriers the Japanese will deploy. Nimitz and his strategists decide to concentrate their only three aircraft carriers (once USS Enterprise and Hornet arrive from the southwest Pacific) at Midway and essentially abandon the Aleutians. At Midway, Nimitz figures, the three available carriers plus aircraft stationed on Midway itself should enable the US Navy to fight the battle on equal terms numerically.

Despite only having rough numerical parity, though, the advantage of knowing Japanese plans in advance gives the Allies an incalculable advantage. Enterprise and Hornet are expected back at Pearl within the next few days and will barely have time to turn around to get to Midway in time.

US Navy submarine USS Pompano (Lt Cdr L.S. Parks) spots Japanese fishing boat Kotoku Maru northeast of Taiwan and sinks it with gunfire.

The US Fifth Air Force sends B-25 and B-26 bombers of the 3rd Bomber Group to attack the airfield at Lae, New Guinea. The Japanese respond promptly with 15 Zero fighters and accurate anti-aircraft fire and down at least two B-25s while successfully disrupting the attack.

Japanese submarine I-21 sends a "Glen" reconnaissance plane over Auckland, New Zealand, without incident.

US Marines complete their training at Parris Island, South Carolina, May 1942 (colorized, Alfred T. Palmer/The Library of Congress).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: General Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell arrives in Assam, India, after a 140-mile walk through jungles. Stilwell leads his 117-member staff of men and women using the "Stilwell stride," which is a consistent 105 paces per minute. He holds a press conference where he states:

I claim we got a hell of a beating. We got run out of Burma and it is as humiliating as hell. I think we ought to find out what caused it, go back and re-take it.

Stilwell aide Frank Dorn and war correspondent Jack Belden later write books about the grueling but successful retreat, one of the few where a general leads his troops on foot.

New Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross bearers Obstlt. Horst Griese, Goedicke, Sturmführer Hermann Fegelein, Major Rudolf Pannier in Berlin, 24 May 1942. Fegelein, who we will meet again in 1945, is currently Inspector of Cavalry and Transportation (Inspekteur des Reit- und Fahrwesens) in the SS-Führungshauptamt (SS Headquarters). His previous command, the SS Cavalry Brigade, was decimated during desperate defensive actions in the Moscow sector and disbanded in March 1942 (Federal Archive Picture 121-1397).  

Eastern Front: Southeast of Kharkov, the two sides spend the day concentrating their forces. In his war diary, General Franz Halder notes that the pocket "at last is solidly sealed." The large Soviet forces (9th and 57th Armies) trapped in a pocket prepare to launch a major breakout attempt on the 25th, while the Germans flood fresh new divisions into the thin corridor on the Donets River separating the Soviet forces to the east and west.

The German generals remain astounded that the Red Army to the east is mounting no major attacks to pierce the corridor and reconnect with their fellow soldiers trapped to the west. Halder mentions simply that "[a]ttempts from the east, through Izyum and Savintsi, to crack the ring from without were repelled." This suggests the attacks are not in any way massive or threatening. The decision to let the trapped armies battle their way out themselves seems to rest with Stalin, who is loathe to retreat. He also has a macabre tendency to want his generals to suffer the consequences of their poor previous decisions, perhaps to solidify his own moral ascendancy.

The moribund pincer to the northeast of Kharkov mounts a renewed attack toward the city. Halder speculates that this is "apparently to keep us from withdrawing forces from this sector" and sent them south to reinforce the corridor at Izyum. The Red Army attacks are unsuccessful.

Halder also notes Soviet radio silence in the area along the boundary line between Army Groups Center and South. These boundary lines are always prime areas of attack, and radio silence usually means the Soviets are planning something in this area.

Adolf Hitler observes the Gustav gun (Schwerer Gustav). This very real weapon has become a favorite of video game makers.

Looking ahead, Halder has a staff meeting about transferring artillery from the Sevastopol front to the Leningrad sector once Sevastopol is taken. The Wehrmacht has its largest guns at Sevastopol, including the massive Gustav (31.5 inch) railway gun. While they pose tempting targets and take far more resources to position and use than they are worth, these large guns are having an effect at Sevastopol by destroying some Soviet forts along the perimeter. As an indication of just how much logistics this gun requires, however, it is not even in a position to fire any shells yet at Sevastopol even as Halder is talking about transferring it north. It arrived there in early May and will not be ready until 5 June 1942.

In a sign of looming German manpower shortages, Halder also has a conference with Lt. Colonel Gehlen about a "Russian Replacement Army." Using captured Soviet troops on the Eastern Front is still in the early formative stages. The idea is to form units using volunteers from the POW camps who are anti-Communist for one reason or another (for example, Ukrainians who resent Soviet domination of their country). This is an idea that will gradually pick up steam over the next couple of years.

As part of a continuing Luftwaffe air offensive against Leningrad, planes sink Soviet Leninets-class submarine L-21. The Soviet Navy later raises the submarine and returns it to service.

The NY Times, 24 May 1942. The headline is about the Soviet loss of the Kerch Peninsula, which happened several days ago - news travels slowly from the Eastern Front.

European Air Operations: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7 6413 has engine trouble and is forced to ditch 2 km north of Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The pilot survives.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kptlt. Werner Winter), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1828-ton Dutch freighter Hector about 50 miles northwest of Grand Cayman Island. Winter has to spend four hours positioning the U-boat for the attack because Hector's master, Johannes Lodewijk, has received a radio message of U-boats in the vicinity and is proceeding at top speed. One torpedo hits at 16:40 and sends Hector to the bottom in less than four minutes. Due to the quick sinking, only one lifeboat and a raft are launched. The radio operator remains at his post sending a distress call until the end and is lost with the ship, along with the cook. Despite the radio operator failing to send the ship's name or position, a passing ship, US tanker F.Q. Barstow, happens to be nearby and rescues the ship's crew within hours. There are 29 survivors.

U-502 (Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel), on its fourth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 4996-ton Brazilian freighter Gonçalves Dias about 100 miles south of Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo), Dominican Republic. Rosenstiel attacks this neutral ship because he sees a 120mm gun onboard and only learns that the ship is Brazilian after surfacing and questioning survivors. There are six deaths and 39 survivors.

Norwegian (under German control) 927-ton freighter Bør hits a mine and sinks off the coast of Holland. There are 17 survivors, picked up by Norwegian freighter Kong Sigurd.

Greek 5411-ton freighter Anna Mazaraki runs aground and is wrecked at East Bar, Sable Island, while en route to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Everybody aboard survives (some sources place this as occurring on 25 May).

After spending over ten days on a raft in the Caribbean, two survivors of US freighter Norlantic (sunk on 13 May) are rescued by passing freighter Marpesia. There are still three survivors on another raft from this ship who won't be rescued until 19 June.

Norwegian/German freighter Bør, sunk by a mine on 24 May 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: It is a quiet day on Malta, with no bombing raids. Patroling RAF Spitfire fighters down a Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft and two Italian Macchi fighters.

Battle of the Black Sea: Turkish 330-ton coaster Chefak is torpedoed and sunk off Cape Vassilicos, Bulgaria. This may be the same vessel as Safak sunk on 23 May by ShCh 205 off Burgas, Bulgaria.

Partisans: Three panzer divisions, three infantry divisions, and one security division began Operation Hannover. This is one in a series of anti-partisan operations in the central section of the Eastern Front. Partisans, forewarned of the attack, destroy bridges which are essential as streams and rivers in the vicinity remain swollen from the spring thaw (Rasputitsa). The reason so many German forces are involved is that many regular Red Army units have been trapped there since the winter Moscow counteroffensive in a failed attempt to take Bryansk. These roughly 17,000 soldiers are led by Major General P.A. Belov and are a formidable force. The German plan is to encircle Belov's men, but he has partisan spies everywhere and to a large extent is able to evade the German trap. When the Germans do capture "partisans," they tend to look just like every other local inhabitant, and thus whether they are actually partisans or not is difficult to tell.

Hannover has been delayed for several days by persistent thunderstorms in the area. They clear slightly now, enabling General Heinrici, commander of the 4th Army, to begin the operation. The 19th Panzer division advances from the south and makes almost ten miles before noon. However, the panzers are stopped there by the Ugra River, which is swollen from the thaw and recent rains. The partisans, watching the German tanks closely, know exactly which bridges to blow up as they retreat.

The Germans also have a trick up their sleeve. They are using several hundred specially trained Soviet POWs as spies. These POWs have volunteered for the mission and were trained at the Experimental Organization at Ostintorf near Orsha. Their mission is to advance across the lines, reconnoiter, and then return with information about the partisan whereabouts. The Germans do not expect much from this group, but any information collected from them would be a bonus. Overall, the first day of Operation Hannover is a success, though the rains continue, making progress difficult and sloppy.  

US Military: Major General John C.H. Lee forms the Headquarters, Services of Supply, US Army Forces in the British Isles (SOSO, USAFBI) at 28 Grosvenor Square, London.

"Request concert in the Berliner Rundfunkhaus on Whit Monday 1942 with the new knight's cross bearers Lieutenant Colonel Giese [Griese, standing with his back to the camera], Major Pannier and Standartenführer Fegelein." Berlin, 24 May 1942 (Federal Archive Picture 121-1404).

British Homefront: Perhaps incited by recent nebulous comments by the socialist politician Sir Stafford Cripps, separate London gatherings organized by the Daily Express and the UK Communist Party adopt resolutions calling for a second front in Europe. This, of course, is a constant demand by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin throughout 1942. However, the western Allies have no plans for a second front at this time.

Canadian Homefront: Canada orders rationing of tea and coffee.

Dutch freighter Hector, sunk by U-103 on 24 May 1942.

American Homefront: The Office of Civilian Defense conducts the first large-scale test blackout in the Midwestern United States. It begins at 22:00 centered around Detroit, Michigan, and lasts for fifteen minutes. Nearby communities including Pontiac and Windsor, Ontario join in. This is a major industrial region that is vital to the Allies' war effort, producing planes and tanks, among many other things. While this area is not in any imminent danger, it is a region that the Luftwaffe would love to attack once feasible. There are legends, likely false, that the Luftwaffe actually does plan to overfly this region later in the war. In any event, no enemy planes ever come anywhere remotely close to the Midwest.

Future History: Ichirō Ozawa is born in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a businessman and politician, Ozawa gravitates into politics as well. He is elected to the Japanese House of Representatives as a member of the CDP in 1969, representing the Iwate district, and, as of 2021, continues to serve there. Ozawa becomes Leader of the Opposition from 1995-1997 and again from 2006-2009 and is famous within Japanese political circles for his back-room influence, for which he acquires the nickname "Shadow Shōgun."

NY Times Magazine, 24 May 1942. The cover features the Director of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) Oveta Culp Hobby. 

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

2021