May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

Thursday 28 May 1942

Kittyhawk fighters of the American Volunteer Group flying near the Salween River Gorge on the Chinese-Burmese border, 28 May 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: Two US Navy carriers, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8), leave Pearl Harbor on 28 May 1942 for the vicinity of Midway Island. A third carrier, Yorktown, continues to under frantic repairs in dry dock to damage caused at the Battle of the Coral Sea and is scheduled to follow them on within the next two days. Yorktown's air units, depleted by casualties, are replaced by fresh units (Bombing Three (VB-3), Torpedo Three (VT-3), and Fighting Three (VF-3)).

Naval Intelligence has determined from decoded Japanese transmissions that the Japanese intent to invade Midway on June 4th, and American Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is planning to give them a hot welcome by all of his carrier forces. Taskforce commander Vice Admiral William Halsey has been replaced by Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance due to illness. Unfortunately, carrier Saratoga remains on the West Coast for repairs and is unavailable for the battle, but some of its aircrews wind up on Yorktown. Admiral Nimitz has ordered 25 submarines to patrol around Midway.

The US 11th Air Force has secretly constructed an airfield on Unmak, Aleutian Islands, in preparation for the anticipated Japanese invasion in conjunction with the Midway operation. The field becomes operational today when a B-17 flies armed reconnaissance over the Aleutian chain. The Japanese are not there yet, so the bomber crew spots nothing amiss. 

USS Salmon (Lt.Cdr. E.B. McKinney) torpedoes and sinks 4382-ton Japanese freighter Ganges Maru 250 nautical miles southeast of Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina. There are seven deaths.

B-26 bombers of the 5th Air Force attack the airfield at Lae, New Guinea.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: After a long journey across the Indian Ocean, a Japanese naval force composed of submarines designated "Divine Dragon Operations No. 2" nears Madagascar. Its mission is to launch midget submarines against the British Far Eastern Fleet in the vicinity of East Africa. Training for this mission has taken place throughout 1942 and has had the attention of top Japanese leadership, including Admiral Yamamoto. This is one of the few Japanese military activities designed specifically to aid their German allies, though how much aid attacks on the British Far Eastern Fleet would be to the Reich is an open question.

German tanks crossing a river on the Russian Front, World War II. Illustration from Illustrierte Zeitung (Leipzig, 28 May 1942).

Eastern Front: In a crushing defeat, the Soviet 6th and 57th Armies and 21st Tank Corps are annihilated southeast of Kharkov by defending German forces after being encircled. Red Army General Timoshenko still has not grasped the true state of play and only today orders a halt to Soviet offensive operations. Scattered and sporadic attempts by individual units continue, but very few succeed. Mass surrenders by an estimated 250,000 men begin today and continue for several days. The Germans, meanwhile, have lost perhaps 20,000 casualties all told. 

A Soviet salient to the southwest by Red Army forces attempting to reach Kharkov from the northeast is eliminated with help from the Luftwaffe first group of Schlachtgeschwader 1. It is flying the new Henschel HS-129 ground attack aircraft, which have proven quite durable and effective. During May, SchG 1 has flown 1467 sorties, with 1,028 Bf 109 missions, 259 by Hs 123s and 180 by the Hs 129s

At Fuhrer Headquarter in East Prussia, General Franz Halder writes in his war diary: 

The battle at Kharkov and on the Donets is brought to a close with a large take of prisoners and booty. Army Group South has issued the orders for the next phase of the offensive "Volchanak" and "Izyum."

The stage is now set for the opening stages of the grand German offensive that Hitler has decided will "sweep the deck" of the remaining Soviet forces and finally bring a successful conclusion to the campaign in the USSR. This, however, will take some time to prepare and is subject to the whims of the weather.

European Air Operations: Weather on the Channel Front remains unsettled, with winds from the southwest gusting to 40-45 mph and visibility poor, especially in the morning. This obviously is not good flying weather, so it is mainly an "off" day for the RAF. The men spend such days entertaining themselves during the day and then often attending Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) shows in the evening.

HMS MTB-77 - Vosper 72 feet-type Motor Torpedo Boat, British Navy. Commissioned 28 May 1942, Bombed by German aircraft off Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Italy on 8 September 1943.

Battle of the Atlantic: After losing half a dozen ships to Luftwaffe attacks south of Bear Island on the 27th, Convoy PQ 16 is joined by a Soviet escort composed of three destroyers and four minesweepers. These warships enable the convoy to proceed toward the Soviet Union without losing any more vessels.

U-502 (Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel), on its fourth war patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 6759-ton US freighter Alcoa Pilgrim about 150 miles south of the Mona Passage (southwest of St. Thomas). The ship, carrying 9500 tons of bauxite ore, sinks within 90 seconds and the crew has no time to launch lifeboats. There are 31 dead and 9 survivors, who are picked up by US freighter Thomas Nelson.

U-106 (Kptlt. Hermann Rasch), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7383-ton British freighter Mentor north of Cabo Catoche, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Rasch surfaces and questions the crew, who misinform him that the ship was the Bengloe. There are four dead and 82 survivors, who are rescued after three days by British freighter Antilochus.

U-103 (Kptlt. Werner Winter), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 6414-ton US tanker New Jersey 90 miles southwest of Grand Cayman Island. The crew is able to launch two lifeboats before Winter fires a coup de grace torpedo and then surfaces and uses his deck gun to finish off the tanker. All 42 crewmen survive, picked up by USS Tattnall (DD 125) and Biddle (DD 151) within a few days.

U-155 (Kptlt. Adolf Cornelius Piening), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1928-ton Dutch freighter Poseidon east of Barbados. Piening engages in a somewhat unusual night surface attack. After firing four torpedoes, one finally hits and sinks the ship quickly. All 32 men on board perish.

Panamian 7797-ton tanker Sylvan Arrow, torpedoed on 20 May by U-155, finally sinks. There are 43 survivors and one dead.

British freighter Yorkmoor, sunk by U-506 on 28 May 1942.

U-506 (Kptlt. Erich Würdemann), on its second war patrol out of Lorient, uses its deck gun to sink 4457-ton British freighter Yorkmoor northeast of the Bahamas. Würdemann uses his gun because he is out of torpedoes, having used them all in a successful patrol in the Gulf of Mexico. Yorkmoor has a 4-inch gun and eight machine guns, so an unusual gun battle emergest between the freighter and the U-boat. However, it is a night attack and the Yorkmoor's gunners have difficulty aiming at the submarine so they score no hits. The attack takes just over half an hour, during which the U-boat gunners fire 55 shells and score several hits at extreme range. The ship's crew abandons ship in four lifeboats after the radio operator has sent distress calls. All 45 crewmen survive, picked up within about a week by British freighter Laguna and a US Coast Guard cutter. U-506, although out of torpedoes and having used up a lot of shells, still has one more victory in store for it on the way back to base during an extremely successful patrol.

Italian submarine Barbarigo torpedoes, shells, and sinks 4836-ton British freighter Charlbury off the east coast of Brazil. There are two deaths.

German 1337-ton minesweeper Sperrbrecher-174 (Tindefjell) hits a mine and sinks west of Buoy 11W, west of Dunkirk. There is one dead.

Canadian 70-ton sailing vessel Carmen Nina runs aground and is wrecked off Sheet Harbor, Nova Scotia. Casualties are unknown.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Nicholas (DD-449) flying Bath Iron Works' house flag on acceptance trials off Rockland, Maine (USA), 28 May 1942, a week before she was commissioned (Naval History and Heritage Command 19-N-36881).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Fierce tank battles continue in Libya as German General Erwin Rommel continues his offensive into the British Gazala Line. The British 4th Armoured Brigade arrives at El Adem and stops the German 90th Light Division, pushing it back to the southwest.

While his forces have made impressive advances, Rommel's main headache is at the fortress of Bir Hakeim. There, the Italian IX Tank Battalion of the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment, Ariet Division, has failed to dent strong Free French fortifications and lost heavily in the attempt. 

Supplies are critical in the desert, as the panzers eat up fuel during Rommel's sweeping maneuvers and the men need water and rations. Italian supply vehicles operated by the Trieste and Ariete divisions are slowed by minefields near Bir Hakeim but continue to make progress toward the advancing panzers. 

While the Afrika Korps retains the initiative, quick British responses have blunted the attacks and ended chances of a quick German victory. The Desert Air Force (DAF) bombs the French at Bir Hakeim by mistake. The French under General Kœnig are surrounded at Bir Hakeim, so Kœnig attempts to break the encirclement by sending a column north toward the 150th Infantry Brigade. A fierce battle ensues during which the French destroy seven Italian half-tracks, but Italian artillery prevails and the breakout attempt fails.

The New York Times of 28 May 1942 notes that "Heydrich of Gestapo Hurt: Big Reward Up for Assailant."

Special Operations: German leader Reinhard Heydrich remains alive at a Czech hospital, kept alive by quick surgical intervention following the assassination attempt on 27 May 1942. The medical prognosis remains grim, but Heydrich's condition has stabilized. His two assassins, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, remain at large in a local safe house. SS-Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler has dispatched his personal SS physician, Karl Gebhardt, by plane to the hospital to supervise Heydrich's care.

Wojciech Biernat, was born in Jodłówka. A Catholic priest who perished at Auschwitz on 28 May 1942 (Auschwitz Memorial).

Holocaust: The first convoy of Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) detainees, composed of 43 men and 9 women, leave Paris from the Gare de l’Est. The male detainees are taken to a camp at Hinzert and the females to Aachen. While technically they are supposed to be taken before a German court and tried, this does not always happen. The Nacht und Nebel arrests stem from a 7 December 1941 directive issued by Adolf Hitler to arrest political activists secretly ("in the night and fog"), leaving their families and friends uncertain about their fates. Invariably aside from rare situations, those arrested were to be executed.

American Homefront: US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson issues a warning to the citizens of the West Coast to prepare for a Japanese bombing attack in retaliation for the Doolittle Raid.

Italian opera singer is released from FBI custody after three months of custody for being a suspected enemy alien. The FBI alleged that Pinza supported the Axis and have held him at Ellis Island since March 1942. A fellow opera singer, Norman Cordon, claimed to have told the FBI that Pinza was a fascist sympathizer, though there never was any proof of that. Why Cordon did that is unproven, though perhaps out of professional jealousy. Pinza quickly goes from captivity to singing onstage at the Metropolitan Opera.

Future History: Tien Chun is born in Guangdong, China. As James Tien, he becomes a prominent actor in 70 Hong Kong martial arts films such as "Hands of Death" (1976) until retiring in 1996. 

Stanley Benjamin Prusiner is born in Des Moines, Iowa. He goes on to win numerous awards and accolades in the fields of neurology and biochemistry, including the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology for prion research. As of this writing in 2021, Prusiner is director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases research laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco.

Vought Test Pilot team, 28 May 1942 -Lt-Rt Boone Guyton, Charlie Sharpe, Dick Burroughs, Bill Boothby & Lyman Bullard with SB2U.

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

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

Wednesday 27 May 1942

The car, bearing license plate SS-3, in which Reinhard Heydrich was attacked in Prague on 27 May 1942. Incidentally, the current whereabouts of this particular vehicle are hotly disputed among historians (Federal Archive Image 146-1972-039-44T).

Battle of the Pacific: USS Yorktown arrives at Pearl Harbor on 27 May 1942, requiring extensive repairs in a hurry if it is to participate in the anticipated Japanese attack on Midway Island in early June. This begins a frenzied, around-the-clock repair job in drydock on the carrier. Her flight deck must be repaired and whole sections of the internal frame cut out and replaced. Fortunately, the elevators are undamaged, which makes it possible for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to return Yorktown to operational status within 72 hours.

The Japanese, meanwhile, cannot use two of their aircraft carriers, Zuikaku and Shōkaku, due to their damage at the Battle of the Coral Sea. However, Admiral Yamamoto is confident that his four large carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu with a total of 229 embarked aircraft will suffice. The First Mobile Carrier Force/Carrier Strike Force (Kido Butai) under Admiral Nagumo departs for Midway from the Inland Sea today, and other units depart from Saipan and Guam, effectively beginning the operation.

In a mishap that is a sign of things to come, the crew of Japanese submarine I-19 is preparing to launch its "Glen" scout plane for reconnaissance over Bogoslof Island in the Aleutians when a US destroyer on patrol enters the area. The Japanese have to dive immediately, destroying the plane. However, I-25 successfully launches its plane for an overflight of Kodiak Island without incident.

The USAAF continues beefing up its air forces in the Aleutians, with Patrol Wing 4 commander arriving in Kodiak Island from Seattle.

B-17s of the Fifth Air Force bomb the Japanese overseas headquarters at Rabaul. P-39s fo the 8th Fighter Group fight Japanese Zeros attacking Port Moresby, losing two P-39Fs.

US Marines and Navy Seabees of the 8th Defense Battalion move southwest from Samoa to occupy the Wallis Islands, a French possession. They will remain there through 1943. While unbelievably dull, the stay will be broken up by a visit by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during her tour of the Pacific.

Subhas Chandra Bose with Adolf Hitler (right) at Wolfsschanze, East Prussia, on 27 May 1942. Bose is an Indian nationalist who the Axis leaders hope will stir up an uprising in India against the Allies.

Battle of the Indian Ocean:  While the Burma campaign "officially" concluded on 26 May, Japan and its allies are still busy occupying bypassed areas. Today, Thai forces capture Kengtung, Burma.

The Tenth Air Force transfers the B-17s of the 11th Bombardment Squadron of the 7th Bomber Group from Karachi to Lahabad, India.

Eastern Front: The Soviet armies southeast of Kharkov are trapped in a ten-mile by two-mile pocket but are still fighting hard to escape. The Luftwaffe proves deadly over the pocket, with  Ju 87s, Ju 88s, and He 111s raining down SD-2 cluster bombs and SC250 bombs on the milling masses of Red Army troops and their T-34 tanks clogging the roads. There is no refuge in the pocket, and three Soviet generals perish in the 26th-27th May fighting.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Franz Halder notes:

At Izyum, an attack from outside was repelled. Reduction of the pocket is progressing; the enemy has been split into smaller groups, which are dwindling as our prisoner take mounts.

Unusually, and in a sign of the importance he places on the Kharkov victory, Halder returns to this situation later in his report:

Army Group intends to develop the success west of Izyum into further offensive operations east of Kharkov and east of the Donets, at Izyum, in order to gain further successes in the area before the start of operation "Blau."

Red Army General Timoshenko, meanwhile, is still ordering offensive operations for the trapped men to break out. However, the Germans have a clear advantage now and mass surrenders are beginning.

European Air Operations: It is another quiet day on the Channel Front in unsettled weather. The RCAF does an anti-shipping sweep over the North Sea and along the Dutch Coast. RAF No. 121 Squadron badly damages two minesweepers off Flushing Harbor, destroys one Bf 109 fighter (shot down by Jimmy Daley), and damages four others. 

British freighter Empire Purcell of PQ-16, on fire after being bombed in the Arctic. Shortly after this picture was taken, ammunition in the hold exploded, destroying the ship.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a brutal day for the Allies in the Arctic. The Luftwaffe has been reinforced in northern Norway at Hitler's orders, and today that decision pays dividends. Convoy PQ-16, spotted by a reconnaissance plane on 25 May, comes under fierce air attack about 100 miles southeast of Bear Island. The convoy, bereft of air cover, suffers horribly in three major attacks, one at mid-day (three ships sunk, one damaged), the second in mid-afternoon (one sunk and one damaged), and then in the evening under the midnight sun (two ships sunk, one damaged. The only good news for the Allies is that the convoy suffers no more losses after today due to the arrival on the 28th of three Soviet destroyers and four minesweepers that enhance anti-aircraft protection.

The ships hit today that sink include:

• 5689-ton US freighter Alamar (all 45 men survive) (later sunk as a navigation hazard by US submarine USS Trident).
• 7457-ton British freighter Empire Lawrence (19 dead)
• 7049-ton British freighter Empire Purcell (8 dead)
• 5481-ton US freighter Mormacsul (3 dead) (later sunk as a hazard to navigation by USS Trident).
• 6167-ton US freighter City of Joliet (all survive) (actually sinks on 28 May)
• 5171-ton British freighter Lowther Castle (sunk by an aerial torpedo).

U-753 (KrvKpt. Alfred Manhardt von Mannstein), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 6578-ton Danish tanker Hamlet off Morgan City, Louisiana. Everyone survives, picked up in their lifeboat by fishing vessels.

U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its seventh patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 2622-ton US Army transport USAT Jack 100 miles southwest of Port Salut, Haiti. The ship sinks quickly, within four minutes, and the suction swamps a lifeboat. Another, damaged, lifeboat contains 16 survivors, who are picked up by submarine USS Grunion (SS-216) on 31 May. Another seven men spend 32 days on a raft before being found, while five others on a raft disappear. There are 37 deaths, including 8 US Army personnel traveling as passengers.

U-172 (Kptlt. Carl Emmermann), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 8940-ton British tanker Athelknight southeast of Bermuda. This is U-172's first sinking of the war. Athelknight had been part of Convoy OS-28, but the convoy was dispersed. There are nine dead and 43 survivors. The crew spends about a month before being saved, 25 men picked up by British freighter Empire Austin after 28 days, and the remaining 18 men in a lifeboat that manages to sail 1200 miles to St. Bartholomew Island, Leeward Islands on 23 June.

U-578 (KrvKpt. Ernst-August Rehwinkel), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 6269-ton Dutch freighter Polyphemus off Bermuda. The ship, with a crew of 61, is also carrying 14 survivors of the Norwegian freighter Norland. Rehwinkel surfaces and gives the survivors some cigarettes and directions to land. There are 60 survivors of the 75 men on board, most of whom make it to Nantucket Island. Along the way, U-566 (Kptlt Borchert) also spots one of the lifeboats, also surfaces, and also gives the men some supplies and directions.

British 710-ton minesweeper HMS Fitzroy sinks from unexplained causes, likely from hitting a British mine, 40 nautical miles east of Great Yarmouth. There are 13 deaths.

British 501-ton trawler HMS Arctic Pioneer sinks after colliding with battleship King George V off Portsmouth. It is later raised, refloated, repaired, and returned to service.

US 37-ton scow K No. 12 founders and sinks eight miles west of Cape Saint Elias, Alaska. Everyone survives.

Dutch 482-ton coaster Oorlogschip hits a mine and sinks off Hoek van Holland. Casualties are unknown.

M/V Athelknight, shown here in a pre-war photo as a "modern tanker," was sunk by U-172 off Bermuda on 27 May 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: A day after launching a feint against the center of the British Gazala Line in Libya, General Erwin Rommel launches his main attack from the south. The attack has been meticulously planned out so that Allied minefields will provide cover for the Axis flank and rear.

Rommel splits his forces to accomplish multiple objectives at once. The 90th Light Division at the far right of the attack has the most success, capturing British supply dumps at El Adem. The 15th Panzer Division in the center, runs into the British 4th Armoured Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division and, after a terrific fight, pushes the British M3 (Grant) tanks back toward El Adem. The Italian Ariete Division of XX Motorized Corps blasts through the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade of 7th Armoured Division, which loses 23 tanks and 440 men killed and about 1000 prisoners, but the Italians then run into trouble. The 21st Panzer Division finds a gap and advances without opposition.

The key issue for Rommel today is at Bir Hakeim. There, the 1st Free French Brigade under General Marie-Pierre Kœnig defends an old fort and is well dug in. Rommel has placed too much confidence in the Ariete Division and underestimated the Free French. The Italians are stopped cold at the fort with the loss of 31-41 tanks of the IX Tank Battalion. Although the Axis forces surround it, Bir Hakeim with its effective French fortifications remains a problem for the Afrika Korps well into June. Overall, Rommel's attack today is a success, achieving complete surprise and smashing into the Allied defenses.

USS Yorktown (CV-5) arrives in Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1942, escorted by tug Hoga (YT-146). Yorktown proceeds directly to drydock for repairs, The tip of the sunken USS Arizona's mast can be seen just to the right of Yorktown (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-21931). 

Special Operations: Two specially trained soldiers of the Czechoslovak army-in-exile, Jan Kubiš and Warrant Officer Jozef Gabčík, have been hiding out in occupied Czechoslovakia since 28 December 1941 on a unique mission. They are there to carry out Operation Anthropoid, which is an assassination operation against Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of the provinces the Reich calls Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia) Reinhard Heydrich.

A devoted supporter of Adolf Hitler's agenda and a key instigator of the Holocaust, Heydrich is widely feared throughout Czechoslovakia for his brutal and uncompromising methods. In addition to his duties in Czechoslovakia, Heydrich remains chief of the Reich Security Main Office. He was the leader of the infamous "Wannsee Conference" on 20 January 1942 that formulated the master plan for the Holocaust. In fact, the plan to establish killing centers at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka is codenamed "Operation Reinhard" (Aktion Reinhard) in his honor. He is a true celebrity throughout Occupied Europe.

Heydrich has been Deputy Reich Protektor (the actual Protektor is a figurehead, Konstantin von Neurath) of Bohemia and Moravia since 27 September 1941. This appointment is widely seen as a reward for his slavish devotion to Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler and the Third Reich. Tellingly, Neurath has been on "leave" since Heydrich's appointment because he has been too "soft" on the Czechs, whose labor is badly needed for the war effort.

Today, the two agents, trained by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), spring into action. After a quiet morning, at around 11:00 Heydrich has his driver take him from his home to the airport to fly to Berlin. He has an appointment for a meeting with Hitler, who may have a new assignment for him. The agents ambush Heydrich's open-top Mercedes 320 Cabriolet B chauffeur-driven limousine at Prague 8-Libeň near Bulovka Hospital. This is a fairly crowded area with tram stations nearby.

A view of the location of the Reinhard Heydrich assassination, with the death car. The assassins chose this spot because Heydrich's car had to slow down to make a turn here.

Gabčík steps forward and attempts to use a Sten submachine gun, which he has concealed under a raincoat, to fire at Heydrich. However, the gun jams. Incredibly, Heydrich, apparently believing that Gabčík is a lone attacker, tells the driver to stop. He then, stands up in the rear of the limo and draws his Luger pistol to fire at Gabčík. If Heydrich had just told his driver to proceed, he would have suffered no consequences from the attack.

Instead, events now take a deadly turn. Kubiš is nearby and throws a modified anti-tank grenade (concealed in a briefcase) at Heydrich. However, Kubiš makes a poor throw and the bomb falls short, landing against the limo's rear wheel. When it explodes, shrapnel and pieces of the car hit Heydrich, badly injuring him, though he does not realize how badly immediately. Kubiš himself also is lightly wounded by shrapnel.

At that point, Heydrich and his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Johannes Klein, leap out of the Mercedes. Heydrich heads toward Gabčík, standing with his jammed gun, while Klein (whose own gun has jammed) chases Kubiš, who pedals away on a bicycle through crowds of people taking the trams nearby.

A gunfight then erupts between Gabčík and Heydrich, both using pistols. Heydrich soon collapses, apparently from his bomb injuries, while Klein turns and pursues Gabčík, who also flees on a bicycle. Gabčík escapes after shooting Klein in the leg.

Two people, a Czech woman and an off-duty policeman, flag down a passing delivery van and have it drive Heydrich, who is conscious but in severe pain, to nearby Bulovka Hospital. Surgeons there, primarily Dr. Walter Diek, Dr. Slanina, and Professor Hollbaum, do what they can, but Heydrich is in very bad shape (he passes away on 4 June 1942).

Adolf Hitler and Himmler are furious when they hear the news of the attack. Himmler sends his top SS doctor, Karl Gebhardt, to care for Heydrich, while Hitler ponders sending notorious SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, currently serving in anti-partisan duties in the occupied USSR, to Prague to conduct reprisals. Zelewski is well known throughout the SS for his brutal methods and complete lack of human sentiment when such would conflict with his orders, so Hitler's desires are obvious.

Himmler, however, talks Hitler out of this, claiming Zelewski can't be spared from the Front. He also dissuades Hitler from his most brutal planned reprisals, namely, simply exterminating 10,000 Czechs known to be "politically unreliable." Himmler is not being a "nice guy," he simply knows that Czech labor is important to the war effort and is thinking strategically.

As the day ends, Heydrich remains barely alive, while Kubiš and Gabčík, who think they have failed in their mission to kill Heydrich and know they are being hunted down, are sheltering at a local safe house. Hitler appoints Kurt Daluege, chief of the national uniformed Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), to replace Heydrich. Daluege turns out to be just as bad as Zelewski might have been, destroying entire towns such as Lidice in an orgy of bloodshed. Daluege quickly issues a deadline of 18 June for the two agents to be caught or, he warns, the people of Czechoslovakia will face extreme reprisals. However, Daluege doesn't wait until that date to begin a campaign of terror against any Czechs and Czech municipalities that he thinks have anything remotely to do with the two agents.

"Troops wade ashore from a tank landing craft during a combined operations exercise at Thorness Bay on the Isle of Wight, 27 May 1942." © IWM H 20202.

Partisans: Near Bryansk, the German anti-partisan Operation Hannover makes some ground as the heavy rains ease up. A German pincer movement has its points meet at Furtsevo. However, Soviet General Below has escaped with his men. Overall, the results are disappointing for Fourth Army, which thought it could trap Belov and end the threat he and his men pose. On the bright side for the Germans, about 2/3 of the Soviet volunteers it had sent into the pocket as spies return (or are caught in the pincer) and provide some useful information.

General Halder sees the glass as half full:

The attacks against Cav. Corps Belov resulted in a gratifying success. Here, too, the enemy has been split into smaller groups; some still are putting up stubborn resistance.

Halder obviously does not yet know that Belov has escaped, and is relying on overly optimistic reports from field commanders. It will take five days to sort things out and figure out who was captured and who escaped.

Holocaust: The requirement that began in the Balkans that Jewish residents wear a yellow identification badge extends to Belgium.

Preparations begin for Operation Fahndung nach deutschem Blut (roughly, "Find German Blood"). This is a German plot to kidnap Polish children deemed "racially German" and raise them in Germany. Planning for Operation Zamość, an operation to clear all Poles from the Zamość region of Poland and replace them with Germans, also begins.

Guards at Auschwitz shoot 168 prisoners against the execution wall in the courtyard of Block 11. The victims are members of the group of Polish painters, artists, and actors who were arrested at the Artists' Cafe in Krakow on 16 April 1942. The reason they are chosen is due to the fact the executions are done in reprisal for the murder of a Luftwaffe commander in Krakow.

A Churchill tank leaves a tank landing craft (TLC 121) during combined operations exercises at Thorness Bay on the Isle of Wight, 27 May 1942.

Japanese Government: Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, leader of the "War Party," addresses the Diet. The speech is notable for his encouragement of Indians to follow Subhas Chandra Bose and rise up against the Allies and assert independence. This is not just a product of wishful thinking, as many Indian troops, such as those in Singapore, already have changed sides.

American Homefront: "Prelude to War," an official US Government film stating who the enemies of the United States are and why they are being fought, receives national release after premiering in New York City on 13 May 1942. It also was shown as an army training film before this release. "Prelude to War" features Walter Huston as the narrator and includes footage of top German leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Goering, and Rudolf Hess. This film is marketed with the tagline, "Your boy wants to see it!"

There is nothing subtle about this film, directed by Frank Capra. It is proud to serve as obvious propaganda and does a very good job of it. "Prelude to War" is now in the public domain. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress mandated that this film be included among "culturally significant" films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

A gun-coupled camera aboard a British RAF Spitfire plane made this record of a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft getting shot down in May 1942, over an unknown location. The Fw 190 was still a mystery plane to the RAF at this point. Note the pilot bailing out (AP Photo).

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 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

Monday 25 May 1942

Panamanian tanker Persephone, torpedoed by U-593 off New Jersey on 25 May 1942, splits in half and sinks while watched by a US Navy blimp. Notice the large oil slick.

Battle of the Pacific: Aboard the Japanese flagship Yamato in the Hashirajima Anchoring Area located 30-40 km (16-22 nautical miles, 19-25 miles) south of the Kure Naval Base, Admiral Yamamoto's staff conducts wargames aboard a tabletop on 25 May 1942. Both the Aleutians and Midway campaigns are checked and rechecked for flaws, but none are found. Submarine I-9 launches its "Glen" reconnaissance seaplane to fly over Kiska and Amchitka Islands in the Aleutian Islands without incident.

On the Allied side, there also is growing confidence. Commander Joseph Rochefort, head of the US Navy intelligence branch Hypo in Hawaii, has a staff meeting with Admiral Chester Nimitz to discuss the latest decoding of Japanese radio transmissions. While the Japanese changed their codebook on the 24th and the US has not yet cracked the new code, Rochefort's team has been decoding hundreds of messages a day from a pile that has stacked up.

Rochefort informs Nimitz that the attack on Midway Island is scheduled for 4 June 1942. Furthermore, he reveals the date and actual launch time of the attack and the Japanese aircraft carriers that will be used. This data comes directly from the lengthy Operational Order 14 sent to his commanders by Admiral Yamamoto on 20 May and just decoded by Rochefort's codebreakers.

Largely due to this intelligence information, Nimitz orders US submarines from Hawaii to patrol the seas around Midway Island. Light cruiser USS St. Louis arrives at Midway and disembarks Companies C and D of the Second Marine Raider Battalion along with a 37mm gun battery of the Third Defense Battalion. The 11th Air Force transfers its P-40s of the 11th Fighter Squadron, 28th Composite Group, from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska, to Cold Bay. 

This Yamamoto intercept is controversial because somehow it never makes it into the National Archives. However, several of the people involved later remember it vividly, such as Rochefort and one of his subordinates, Jasper Holmes, who writes about it in his memoir "Double-Edged Secrets." This may be the best military intelligence coup of the entire war, for it enables Nimitz to plan out his entire battle strategy with certainty for what will turn out to be the decisive battle of the war in the Pacific.

USS Salmon at sea.

US Navy submarine USS Salmon (SS-182), on its third war patrol out of Fremantle, torpedoes and sinks Japanese 11,441-ton submarine tender Asahi in the South China Sea. Some sources date this sinking as 3 May 1942. I place it here out of an abundance of caution and because this seems like the more likely attack date. There are 16 dead and 583 survivors.

US Navy submarine USS Drum (SS-228) torpedoes and sinks 2379-ton Japanese freighter Kitakata Marueast of Nojimazaki, Honshu, Japan.

US Navy submarine USS Tautog (SS-199) torpedoes and sinks 4467-ton Japanese freighter Shokwa (sometimes spelled Shoka) Maru 385 miles southwest of Ulithi Atoll (190 miles south of Woleai), Carolines. There are two dead and 63 survivors (though only 62 survive until landfall as they sail to Faraulep Island).

US Navy submarine USS Pompano (SS-181) torpedoes and sinks 902-ton Japanese tanker Tokyo Maru 70 miles west of Naha (East China Sea), Okinawa.

US Navy submarine USS Permit (SS-178) torpedoes and damages Japanese freighter Senko Maru in the Makassar Strait east of Bontang.

B-17 Bombers of the 5th Air Force bomb Vunakanau Airfield, while B-25 bombers of the 3rd Bomber Group return to Lae. Four B-25s are lost in action and one is forced to crash-land near Port Moresby. The sole remaining A-24 at Aiyary Airfield, meanwhile, is lost when it crashes on takeoff.

Panamanian tanker Persephone, sunk off the coast of New Jersey on 25 May 1942.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Blocked from returning to China by Japanese control of the Burma Road, the Chinese 38th Infantry Division begins to cross the border from Burma into India. Four B-17 bombers based in India bomb Rangoon, Burma, in the early morning hours.

Eastern Front: Soviet forces within the pocket south of Kharkov make their first and most ferocious attempt to break through the thin German line (roughly ten miles deep) on the Donets River. The attack is a classic attack à la russe, a frontal assault made by waves of Soviet soldiers charging across fields directly at Wehrmacht machine guns. According to German sources, the Soviets have their arms linked (similar to Sassanid Empire soldiers of the 7th Century who chained themselves together as a sign of determination) and shout "Urray" as they run and fall. The desperate Red Army soldiers, facing elite panzer units, almost make it to the key road junction of Petrovskoye before being turned back with massive losses. 

The Luftwaffe uses its complete air superiority to drop SD2 anti-personnel cluster bombs among the masses of Soviet men advancing in the open, dissipating the attacks. Ultimately, the breakout attempt achieves nothing beyond decimating the Soviet attackers. It leaves the Red Army pocket even more confined than ever. However, the trapped Soviet soldiers have not given up yet.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, everything appears to be going perfectly. General Franz Halder cannot contain his delight with the situation south of Kharkov as he writes in his understated way:

The battle around the pocked west of Izyum continues to evolve satisfactorily. The enemy's desperate and resolutely directed attempts to break out eastward were repelled, as were the feeble attacks with tanks from the east through Savintai.

Halder also is sanguine about the attacks from the failed northern Soviet pincer, noting that the Soviets there have made only "some negligible local gains." German operations further north in the Moscow sector (apparently Halder is referring to Operation Hannover, see below) are making "only slow progress" due to "bad weather," but that is a minor point beside the unbelievable success at Kharkov.

Soviet troops attempting to break out from the Kharkov pocket ca. 25 May 1942. Western news agencies are full of positive reports about Red Army successes in this area even as its position disintegrates.

However, there is bad news in Halder's daily summary that he does not comment on, perhaps because it conflicts with his jubilant mood over the brewing victory at Kharkov. A casualty summary from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa through 20 May 1942 shows 1,214,827 total army losses, 37.96% of the average army strength. Of these, 9610 officers and 247,410 others of all ranks are killed and 879 officers and 56,687 others are missing and can be presumed dead or captured. These are staggering losses, particularly in light of the relatively light losses suffered in previous campaigns. The German army is being bled white and replacements are not coming anywhere near to making up all the casualties. Interestingly, Halder does not report on the total army manpower strength, which is steadily declining.

There is also another disquieting note in Halder's diary entry. He summarizes a meeting with a Colonel Abberger who has visited the Headquarters of the Second Army. Abberger reports that the command there "has not yet grasped the importance of making preparations for speedy construction of fortifications on the northern wing of "Blau."" Since Operation Blau is the make-or-break summer offensive as repeatedly stated by Adolf Hitler, the failure of some commands to adequately prepare is ominous, and Halder seems genuinely concerned. Perhaps it is an indication that the troops are tired after a long, hard winter of constant fighting and cannot be pushed harder.

Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of 5./JG 77 is awarded the Ritterkreuz for his 51 victories, while Lt. Gerhard Krems of 2./KG 27 receives the same award, making him the first KG 27 pilot so honored. Hackl winds up with 192 official victories, but this is a very shaky number with many different estimates of his actual victory total. He passes away in 1984.

European Air Operations: During a morning RAF fighter patrol off Dunkirk (Operation Ramrod 51) by No. 222 (Natal) Squadron, an RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb is shot down near Gravelines by Focke Wulf Fw 190As of JG 26. The pilot, Squadron Leader Jerzy Jankiewicz, is killed.

Panamanian tanker Persephone sinking off the coast of New Jersey, 25 May 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-593 (Kptlt. Gerd Kelbling), on its second patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 8426-ton Panamanian tanker Persephone off Barnegat Light, New Jersey. Because the tanker splits in half and sinks in very shallow water, the bow half is refloated and towed to New York. Unusually, 21,000 of the 80,000 barrels of oil it is carrying are saved via this maneuver. The US Coast Guard later blows up the stern half of the ship due to it being a hazard to navigation. There are nine dead and 28 survivors.

U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its seventh patrol out of Brest, sinks 3451-ton US sugar freighter Beatrice at 01:34 southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. The sinking is unusual because a torpedo hits the freighter but fails to explode. The U-boat then must surface and sink the freighter with gunfire. Krech barely escapes when a PBY Catalina appears at 03:05 and drops depth charges. 21 of the survivors sail their lifeboat to Pigeon Island, Jamaica, while others are picked up by British patrol boat HMS Hauken. There are one dead and 30 survivors.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and damages the 1190-ton US destroyer USS Blakeley (DD 150) off Martinique, West Indies. The destroyer loses 60 feet of its bow but makes it to Port de France, Martinique. Later repaired with a bow taken from sister ship USS Taylor (DD 94), Blakeley returns to service in the Caribbean in September 1942. There are six dead and 116 survivors, including 21 wounded.

U-103 (Kptlt. Werner Winter), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5588-ton US freighter Alcoa Carrier about 125 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica. Winter surfaces and shells the ship when it takes its time sinking, fires another torpedo into it, and then gives the survivors in two lifeboats some cigarettes. The ship doesn't actually sink until the 26th - there are conflicting dates about when the attack actually takes place, the 25th or 26th. All 35 crewmen survive after being picked up by a Cuban gunboat (33 men) and a US Navy seaplane (2 men).

Greek 3895-ton freighter Emmy runs aground at Morien Bay, Cape Breton Island, and is wrecked. Salvage companies eventually cut up the wreck for scrap. Pieces of the wreck can still be seen when diving. There are no casualties.

Mexican freighter Oaxaca rescues three survivors of US tanker Halo, sunk by U-506 on 20 May. Two of the men later perish from exposure and their wounds.

Luftwaffe planes attack Convoy PQ 16 as it sails from Reykjavik, Iceland, toward Murmansk, USSR. They damage US freighter Carlton, which is towed back to Reykjavik by British trawler HMS Northern Spray. Carlton is attacked again on the 26th.

Colonel-General Erwin Rommel, leader of the Afrika Korps, photographed with the 15th Panzer Division near Bir Hakeim, 25 May 1942 (Zwilling, Ernst A., Federal Archive Image 101I-443-1551-10A).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica resume their attacks on Malta airfields with a vengeance today. The planes bomb all three military airfields at dusk. The attack appears to target RAF bombers that have been attacking Axis convoys to reinforce Colonel-General Erwin Rommel's forces in North Africa and Sicilian airfields.

Things finally are heating up in North Africa after a long winter break. Rommel spends the day with the 15th Panzer Division, which today makes a wide arc to the southeast of Bir Hakeim to position itself for an attack on the 26th. Rommel has roughly 90,000 German and Italian troops and 560 tanks facing 110,000 British imperial and allied troops with 840 tanks along the Gazala Line in Libya south and west of Tobruk. Free French General Koenig, under the overall command of British General Neil Ritchie, commands 40,000 men of the 1st Free French Brigade at the southern end of the line at the old fort of Bir Hakeim. 

Rommel is planning to attack Koenig's force after a feint further north. It is a common tactic of both sides to attack allied forces and avoid frontal confrontations with the opposing major power forces (German or British). While the French force sounds imposing due to its numbers, it is in fact a mixture of French Marines, Legionnaires, and soldiers of French African colonies including Senegal, Madagascar, and central Africa. This brave force lacks cohesion and modern weapons.

Italian torpedo boat Groppo is lost in the Strait of Messina due to unknown causes. No casualties are known.

Chevrolet 30-cwt trucks of the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) in the western desert, 25 May 1942. Lt. Graham, © IWM E 12385.

Partisans: A major German anti-partisan operation comes to an abrupt halt in the Bryansk sector due to heavy rain. The Ugra River is so full that it spawns a second channel twenty meters wide, preventing panzers from advancing to close a projected encirclement. This situation continues for two days.

German Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Kluge asks Fourth Army commander General Heinrici to head further west than originally intended on the assumption that the partisans under Soviet General Belov would be able to cross the river anyway to evade capture. However, the German troops are not going anywhere at this time and plans have to be constantly revised. Operation Hannover now is in disarray not because of enemy action, but solely due to the weather and partisan demolitions of vital bridges. This is a massive operation, though, involving multiple Wehrmacht divisions to eliminate a lingering threat and the Germans refuse to abandon it.

American Homefront: The Warner Bros./Michael Curtiz film "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, begins filming in Hollywood. Producer Hal Wallis is so enthusiastic about the project, based on an unproduced play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, that he has spent the most ever paid in Hollywood for those kinds of rights, $20,000. The entire picture is shot in the studio aside from brief stock footage of Paris and of a plane landing. Many of the minor roles and extras are played by European refugees, lending poignancy to the main plot about people exiled due to German conquests. The city of Casablanca, of course, is currently governed by the Vichy French who are grudgingly collaborating with the Reich. It will be liberated by the Allies shortly before the film's release on 26 November 1942. One of the film's more subtle achievements is its understated but consistent delivery of anti-Axis propaganda. "Casablanca" goes on to win numerous awards, turns a healthy profit, and is often acclaimed as one of the best films ever made.

Life magazine features "Spring Planting" on the cover of its 25 May 1942 issue. The lad driving the tractor suggests a growing manpower crisis on farms as older men enlist or are drafted.

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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