June 2, 1942: German Artillery Barrage on Sevastopol

Tuesday June 2 1942

"An infantryman takes the surrender of the crew of an enemy supply truck in the Western Desert, 2 June 1942." © IWM E 12810.

Battle of the Pacific: About 350 miles (648 km) northeast of Midway Island, US Navy Task Force 16 (carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8)) joins with Task Force 17 (Yorktown (CV-5)) on 2 June 1942. Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher aboard Yorktown assumes tactical command of the entire force, with Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance in charge of TF16. 

Altogether, the three US carriers carry 234 aircraft. There also are 110 fighters, bombers (including B-17s, though six of the sixteen there are sent back to Hawaii today), and patrol planes on Midway itself, giving the US a slight numerical advantage in planes over the approaching Japanese fleet. In the waters nearby are 25 US Navy submarines. Only a few key officers on Midway know of the presence of the US carriers. The Navy pilots stationed on Midway are told not to "expect any help from the U.S. carriers; they’re off defending Hawaii."

The 11th Air Force in Alaska has been moving assets toward the Aleutian Islands in preparation for an expected Japanese invasion. Today, two PBY-5A Catalinas of the USN's Patrol Squadron Forty One (VP-41) flying out of Dutch Harbor spot the incoming invasion force. They report Japanese aircraft carriers HIJMS Ryujo and Junyo about 210 miles (644 km) away from Dutch Harbor. The Japanese on the carriers also spot the PBYs, and Zeros quickly shoot them down. One crewman is taken prisoner while the rest on the two planes perish.

Admiral Kakuta in command of the two Japanese light carriers is preparing to raid Dutch Harbor, which is now alerted. However, this is only a feint, as the invasion force is heading for islands further west in the Aleutians.

Fifth Air Force raids the Japanese base at Rabaul.

Japanese 5822-ton freighter Kofuku Maru hits a mine and sinks off Rangoon, Burma.

The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1) moored at Naval Air Station North Island, California (USA), on 2 June 1942, shortly before she sortied with Task Force 1 (TF-1) under Vice Admiral William S. Pye. Aircraft on deck include six Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat and three Curtiss SOC-3A Seagull of Auxiliary Scouting Squadron 1 (VGS-1). Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-31839.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The two Japanese survivors of the attack on Sydney Harbour on 30 May 1942, Lt Akieda Saburo and PO1C Takemoto Masami, have traveled 48 miles on foot when they are intercepted and killed in a gunfight with Royal Marines Commando No. 5 at Amponkarana Bay. One Marine also is killed and four more wounded by a sword wielded by one of the Japanese. The two fleeing men were betrayed by a local in a village where they stopped to get food. I-20, submerged off Amber Bay, will wait for another 36 hours before giving up hope of picking up any of the men.

Eastern Front: Harko (Hoeheres Artillerie Kommando) 306, Eleventh Army's artillery command, gives the order today to open fire on the Red Army's Sevastopol defense with everything. And by everything, they mean everything. 

This includes 17-inch (420mm) GAMMA, known to the world as "Big Bertha" during World War I, and 21-inch KARL. The biggest gun of all, though, is DORA, a 31.5-inch (800mm) artillery weapon that fires a 7-ton shell and can penetrate 90 inches of steel. It has taken a month, a crane, and thousands of soldiers to get DORA ready. These artillery weapons are massive and extremely vulnerable to air attack, but they can be deployed because the Luftwaffe has complete control of the skies over Crimea. It is a one-off situation where there is no fear of retaliation and the biggest weapons ever made can just fire as many rounds as they are able (which isn't that many per day due to technical issues).

DORA finally ready to fire.

The firing of 600 large artillery pieces (1300 total) controlled by Harko 306 is joined by air attacks by VIII Air Corps, concentrating on Soviet forts to the north of the port. Luftwaffe General von Richtofen awakens at 03:30 and at daybreak flies over the cloudless combat zone in his personal Fieseler Storch observation plane. He is aloft when the artillery opens fire.

VIII Air Corps has been greatly reinforced by stripping South Air Corps based in Kerch. Its planes fly from airfields at Saki, Sarabus, and Simferopol, all within 70 km of the port. The planes arrive for their first sortie of the day between 06:00 and 06:30. The area of bombardment is scheduled to shift from one area to another each day to soften up the entire Red Army line. Today's area of attack is against barracks northeast of the city and mobilization points in the villages of Schabykina and Balossowa to the southeast. At 07:00, a full attack using everything in the arsenal begins and lasts for twelve hours. All told, the Luftwaffe flies 723 sorties today and drops 525 tons of high explosives while shooting down six enemy planes. The Red Army pilots are completely outmatched, and four of their planes are shot down while they are trying to flee from Crimea to airfields in the Caucasus. The Germans only lose one Junkers Ju 87 Stuka.

DORA does not have to make many direct hits to achieve results, because every single one that does hit the target completely destroys the pillbox or fort. At Fuhrer Headquarters, General Franz Halder simply notes in his war diary, "Artillery assault of Sevastopol has started... On the whole, a day without important events or changes on the front."

While it is a quiet day at Fuhrer headquarters, Halder does have several meetings today. One of them is with Major Count Stauffenberg. They discuss issues with the troops that just won the victory southeast of Kharkov near Izyum, which includes a disturbing shortage of horses in a place where the great summer offensive is to be launched within a few weeks.

"Aerial photograph of Beaulieu airfield, looking north 2 June 1942. Photograph taken by No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, sortie number RAF/HLA/567. English Heritage (RAF Photography)." American Air Museum in Britain.

European Air Operations: It is a fairly quiet day on the Channel Front at first as both sides recuperate from their recent bombing missions (RAF Bomber Command to Cologne and Essen, the Luftwaffe to Canterbury). At first light, there are RAF patrols along the French coast between Gravelines and Dunkirk at 20-25,000 feet without incident. A second sweep at 09:30, however, turns into a massive dogfight over Le Touquet, where the Luftwaffe has an airbase. RAF No. 403 Squadron finds itself facing 40-50 enemy Focke Wulf 190s. The Allies (Canadians) lose six out of twelve pilots. The Luftwaffe also loses planes but seems to have gotten the better of the encounter. In a sign of the resiliency of the RAF, the six lost planes are replaced by nine new Spitfires by dinner time.

Battle of the Atlantic: In one of the more unusual events of the Battle of the Atlantic, U-213 (Oblt. Amelung von Varendorff), on its second patrol out of Lorient, spots 6826-ton Norwegian freighter Berganger southeast of Cape Cod at 03:32. Varendorff has bad luck, however, and all five torpedoes that he fires miss. However, the freighter also has very bad luck, as during the evening U-578 (KrvKpt. Ernst-August Rehwinkel), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, also spots the freighter and pumps a torpedo into the ship at 20:27. Rehwinkel then pumps a coup de grâce into the freighter, whose gunners have begun firing at his submarine. After the ship sinks Rehwinkel surfaces, questions the survivors, and takes pictures of them. There are 4 dead and 43 survivors, who occupy three lifeboats and are rescued by several different ships on 4 June.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 5970-ton Brazilian freighter Alegrete between St. Lucia and St. Vincent. All 64 aboard the ship survive. This sinking is sometimes listed as happening on 1 June because it happens right around midnight on 1 June, so I mention it on both dates.

U-158 (Kptlt. Erwin Rostin), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5686-ton US freighter Knoxville City 50 miles southeast of Cape Corrientes, Cuba. There are two dead and 53 survivors. This sinking also is sometimes listed as occurring on 1 June 1942.

U-159 (Kptlt. Helmut Friedrich Witte), on its second patrol out of Lorient, sports 5403-ton U.S. transport Illinois 400 miles northwest of Puerto Rico. Witte hits the freighter with two torpedoes that cause the ship to capsize and sink within 40 seconds. The time is too short for a distress call or for the crew to launch any lifeboats. There are only six survivors and 32 dead. The survivors find a capsized lifeboat and manage to right it, then sail to the southwest until picked up on 8 June by US tanker Esso Montpelier.

Free French Navy Admiral Aboyneau's barge coming alongside the Free French ship Amiens at Porsmouth for an inspection, 2 June 1942. © IWM A 8804.

U-553 (Kptlt. Karl Thurmann), on its seventh patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 6019-ton British freighter Mattawin 190 miles southeast of Nantucket. The U-boat chased the freighter for three and a half hours and missed with two torpedoes before finally having success with one (of two) at 07:18. All 71 men aboard the freighter survive, including a sailor blown off the forecastle and into the water when the torpedo hit. Thurmann fires a coup de grâce at 07.30 that sinks the ship in five minutes. The rescue of the survivors is a bit unusual in that the crews in three lifeboats turn down offers of rescue from Norwegian freighter Torvanger because it is heading to Capetown. However, the master of the vessel then discusses the matter with his own crew, who claim they are fearful of traveling independently with U-boats around. The master agrees to take the survivors to Halifax. Incidentally, the crew of the Torvanger is right to be fearful, as U-84 (Horst Uphoff) later sinks Torvanger west of the Azores while it is on its way to Capetown.

U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its seventh patrol out of Brest, uses its deck gun because it is out of torpedoes and sinks 2078-ton Dutch freighter Triton 470 miles southeast of Bermuda. The first shot destroys the ship's stern gun and the German radio operator jams the ship's distress signals. There are 6 dead and 30 survivors, who are picked up after three days by US freighter Mormacport.

Italian submarine Da Vinci (Capt Luigi Longanesi-Cattani) uses its deck gun and torpedoes to sink 1087-ton Panamanian four-masted freighter Reine Marie Stewart 40 miles southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone. All 11 crewmen survive after being picked up by the British freighter Afghanistan.

A Luftwaffe bomber finds 903-ton Irish freighter City of Bremen en route from Lisbon to Holyhead, Wales, and bombs it. While the City of Bremen does not sink immediately, the blast causes enough damage for the crew to abandon the ship at 23:30. Nobody sees the ship sink. Everybody survives.

Dutch 197-ton freighter Antares hits a mine and sinks. There is one death.

German 341-ton flak ship V 1510 Unitas 6 hits a sunken wreck and sinks near Dieppe in the English Channel.

"British 25 pounder guns fire at Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps on the night of 2 June 1942 during the battle of Gazala, Libya." © IWM E 12789.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Axis forces resume their blockade of the French fortress at Bir Hakeim after the Free French there briefly broke it to receive badly needed supplies. The Afrika Korps begins shelling the fortress at 10:00, accompanied by attacks from Axis planes. This includes twenty attacks by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. The Italian Ariete division then launches an attack on the fort, which the French repel.

The British Desert Air Force also is active. It bombs the easily observed Axis forces surrounding the fortress in the desert, blowing up a lot of vehicles and leaving them burning wrecks. The Allies launch small-scale raids by the 7th Motor Brigade and the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade that cause more destruction but can't end the blockade. The military draw at the fort, however, is bad news for the Free French, who are rapidly running low on essential supplies such as water.

U-652 (Oblt. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its ninth patrol out of Pola, sustains heavy damage in the Gulf of Sollum from depth charges dropped by British Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Naval Air Squadron. The submarine is able to surface and the entire crew survives, but it is a total loss. U-81 (Kptlt. Friedrich Guggenberger ) happens to be nearby and torpedoes it to ensure the Allies don't come into possession of the hulk. U-652 ends its career with a total of 34,907 of Allied tonnage to its credit. After this, U-81 breaks off its own patrol and takes the survivors to Salamis.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine SHCH-214 continues its string of successes against neutral Turkish vessels, sinking 100-ton sailing ship Kaynarea. It does this by ramming the sailing ship east of Rezovo, Bulgaria. Why the Soviet sub destroys so many Turkish vessels is a mystery, but there are many suspicions that Turkish war profiteers are transporting cargo in violation of neutrality.

Luftwaffe aircraft bomb and sink 836-ton Soviet transport Mikhail Gromov near Yalta while it is en route from Tuapse to Sevastopol to supply the trapped Red Army soldiers there.

German Military: Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler visits Reinhard Heydrich in the hospital at Prague. Heydrich appears to be recovering satisfactorily but is not out of the woods yet. He tells Himmler that he is ready for whatever happens, saying, "The world is just a barrel-organ which the Lord God turns Himself. We all have to dance to the tune which is already on the drum."

An article in the Asahi Shimbun on 2 June 1942 describes "a gift from the front." Soldiers in southeast Asia have sent home this leopard for Ueno Zoological Garden, a Tokyo zoo. Captain Shigetaka Yoshimura is shown petting the leopard.

Australian Government: Apparently stung by the recent attack on Sydney Harbour, Prime Minister John Curtin defiantly says, "I defy the enemy to land large forces in Australia."

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives a speech in the House of Commons primarily about the ongoing German attack in Libya. "From captured documents, it is clear that Rommel's object was to defeat our armored forces and capture Tobruk," he says. He gives an estimate that 260 enemy tanks have been destroyed or captured, and mentions that "we have retained control of the battlefield." Churchill also states that General Claude Auchinleck, in charge of North Africa, has complimented "the excellent performance of the American Grant tanks."

Churchill also gives a brief update on the air war, noting that "no fewer than 1,130 British-manned aircraft" attacked Cologne on the night of 30/31 May, and "1036 machines of the Royal Air Force" attacked Essen on the following night. "[T]hese two great night-bombing raids mark the introduction of a new phase in the British air offensive against Germany."

While it is all well and good for Churchill to crow about British successes, this speech also makes it quite awkward later in June when it turns out that the British in fact have not "retained control of the battlefield" and Rommel's forces capture Tobruk in a lightning assault. His government almost falls due to the heightened expectations and depressing results. To save face, Churchill has to fire Auchinleck. This shows the danger of being too overconfident and self-congratulatory. But that is looking ahead and I try not to do that too often.

American Homefront: There are 89 known US war dead today, a "quiet" day in the war.

The Western Defense Command warns citizens on the west coast to be on the alert for Japanese infiltrators wearing U.S. Army uniforms.

Actress Veronica Lake on the cover of Look Magazine, 2 June 1942. 

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

2021

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

2021

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

Saturday 23 May 1942

Jewish residents of Stropkov, Slovakia, being deported to concentration camps (Majdanek and Auschwitz) on 23 May 1942. Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3132/1.

Battle of the Pacific: Following US Naval Intelligence descriptions of Japanese communications, both sides on 23 May 1942 know that a major confrontation soon will occur at Midway Island. The key difference is that the Japanese don't know that the Allies know about their invasion plans. In fact, the Japanese believe that they sunk two US Navy carriers, USS Lexington and Yorktown, at the Battle of the Coral Sea and that the Midway operation will be fairly routine. In fact, only the Lexington sank and the Yorktown has joined up with USS Enterprise to return to Pearl Harbor at high speed in preparation for the battle.

There is still some Allied resistance in the occupied Philippines, though it is gradually dying out. During one of these incidents, Lt. Comdr. Ryland Dillard Tisdale, 47 (who had retired in the 1930s but returned to service in July 1940 due to the contingency of war) perishes at Tamparan. He dies in an action against the Moros, who are collaborating with the Japanese. He receives the Silver Star posthumously. The citation notes that Tisdale was offered passage out of Corregidor on the last plane out but offered up his seat to another. Tisdale escaped from the island along with a few others shortly before the surrender. Tisdale falls today in a "last stand" near Dansalan (Marawi, Lanao del Sur, Philippines, since 1956) along with a small group of officers and enlisted men, including civilians, that includes Lieutenant Colonel Vesy of the Philippine Army.

Five B-25 bombers of the 3rd Bomber Group attack Lae, New Guinea. They damage the airfield and buildings there. Two bombers fail to return.

US Navy patrol boat USS YP-277 hits a mine and sinks at the French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The US Navy is keeping a close eye on this area due to Japanese attempts to use them to bomb Hawaii.

Japanese submarine I-29 launches its Yokosuka "Glen" seaplane for an uneventful reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia. This is one of a continuing series of Japanese reconnaissance flights over Allied areas in the southwest Pacific that are rarely noticed.

Curtiss Hawk P-40 Tomahawk with pilot Robert T. Smith at the controls in Kunming, China, 23 May 1942. Photo: akg-images / Robert T. Smith.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese and Chinese troops clash in inconclusive fighting along the Hsipaw-Mogok road in northern Burma. The Japanese have no intention of invading China from this direction, though the Chinese do not know this. The Japanese in Burma already have achieved their main objectives of closing the Burma Road and establishing a defensive front along the Indian border.

Eastern Front: A carefully laid German trap south of Kharkov springs shut as the Soviet 6th and 57th Armies desperately try to avoid being surrounded near Izyum. Early in the morning, the 16th Panzer Division (Hube) and the 23rd Panzer Division meet ten miles west of Balakleya. This forms a ten-mile wide German corridor from north to south to the east of the Soviet offensive forces. This is generally considered to be the activity that surrounds the Soviets and traps them, though technically the 14th Panzer Division already has formed a thin line to the east.

Soviet Marshal Timoshenko has staked everything on a breakout attempt by these two armies today south of Kharkov, but it fails. At Fuhrer Headquarters, General Franz Halder writes confidently in his diary that "The Izyum pocket is firmly closed." However, things are still a bit more tentative than that.

The Soviets outnumber the Wehrmacht troops at the key points, but the Red Army breakout effort is dissipated today in multiple counterattacks to relieve surrounded formations to consolidate their overall defensive position. In addition, the German forces may be relatively small, but they include elite panzer units hemming the Soviets in on a narrow corridor to the east. The Soviets have by no means given up and are preparing more breakout attempts during the coming days. Halder notes that "Pressure from within [the Izyum] pocket seems to be preparing and will be felt from 24 May onwards." 

German soldiers on the scene remain puzzled that the Red Army forces to the east haven't tried a strong relief effort. Stalin does not like to retreat, especially from such a massive offensive operation. Plus, he tacitly is putting the onus on Timoshenko to prove his worth and regain the initiative - or suffer the consequences personally.

Meanwhile, the other prong of the Soviet offensive north of Kharkov has ground to a complete halt. Halder notes that "the enemy has withdrawn his tanks behind the Donets, but is still holding the western bank with its strong forces." The Soviets are only mounting local thrusts in this area that the Wehrmacht easily parries. Halder concludes this diary entry with a rare dash of emotion, writing, "The bulges shrink!" 

The overriding Wehrmacht concern remains the preparation for the upcoming "decisive" summer offensive on the southern third of the front, Operation Blau. Halder confers with Luftwaffe Colonel Meister about air preparations for this today and with others (including Colonel Balck, a top field commander) about training and personnel issues. All is calm and serene in East Prussia.

Soviet flak on the southern front downs three Henschel Hs 129B-1 ground attack planes belonging to II./SchG 1. The Hs 129B-1 have only arrived in Crimea within the past two weeks and each is equipped with a 30 mm (1.2 inch) MK 101 cannon.

Following a dramatic run of victories during the Crimea campaign, Major Gordon "Mac" Gollob, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77, receives his reward. He is awarded the Knights Cross (no. 17). Gollob continues to shoot down Red Army planes seemingly at will from his base near Kerch and now has 107 victories.

European Air Operations: Luftwaffe experimental unit Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 17 (formerly Erg.u.Lehr. Kdo 100) mounts an afternoon daylight raid on the Avonmouth docks using 7 He 111s. The weather is poor, providing some cover, and the real purpose of the missions is to test out planes guided by both X- and Y-Verfahren direction-finding equipment. The raid is not very successful, as one plane is lost and the bombers drop their loads six miles from the target at Severn Tunnel Junction. From the British perspective, the Luftwaffe raid is very meaningful. For the first time, RAF technicians detect the Luftwaffe's X-signals. The RAF immediately begins developing countermeasures.

The Saturday Evening Post for 23 May 1942 features the beginning of a new serial featuring Perry Mason by Erle Stanley Gardner.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-588 (Kptlt. Victor Vogel), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 4545-ton British freighter Margot southeast of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There are one death and 44 survivors. Swedish freighter Sagoland picks up the survivors. After this sinking, U-588 returns to port after a successful cruise during which it has sunk or damaged 27,106 tons of Allied shipping. As things turn out, this is U-588's final victory because it is sunk early on its next patrol.

U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its seventh patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and damages 7061-ton US tanker William Boyce Thompson (en route from New York to Curaçao in ballast) at 00:53 about 120 miles south of Kington, Jamaica. While the torpedo opens a hole of 20 feet on the starboard side, tankers are famous for survivability due to their compartmentalized construction. The fact that the tanker is carrying no cargo further helps it. The tanker escapes northward zigzagging at full speed with a smokescreen. There are no injuries, and the tanker makes it to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze), on its fifth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 4455-ton British freighter Zurichmoor 400 nautical miles (740 km) east of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All 45 men on board perish.

U-155 (Kptlt. Adolf Cornelius Piening), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 2220-ton Panamanian Design 1049 freighter Watsonville in Saint Vincent Passage (in the Caribbean between Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent). Everyone survives.

U-103 (Kptlt. Werner Winter) torpedoes and badly damages 6625-ton US tanker Samuel Q. Brown about 100 nautical miles (190 km) south of Cape Corrientes, Cuba (extreme western tip of Cuba). There are two deaths when the torpedoes hit and 53 survivors. The crew gathers in two lifeboats and the U-boat surfaces to question them. A US Navy seaplane based at Upham, Canal Zone, locates the damaged ship and quickly and lands to pick up five injured crew. The rest have to wait a couple of days to be rescued by USS Goff, which scuttles the flaming tanker.

German 4626-ton freighter Asuncion hits a mine and sinks off the coast in the extreme north of Norway in the general vicinity of Sandland.

German 254-ton trawler/Vorpostenboot V 1808 Dortmund hits a mine and sinks in the southern North Sea. It sinks in an area south of the Dogger Bank off the coast of The Netherlands known as the "Broad Fourteens" due to its consistent 14-fathom (84 feet, 26 m) depth.

A new movie palace, The Midland Theater, opens on 23 May 1942 in Midland, Michigan. The first film is "Captain of the Clouds" starring James Cagney.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Activity is stirring along the North African front as the temperature rises. Gruppenkommandure of  I./JG 27 Oblt. Gustav Rodel downs two planes to bring his total to 41 kills. His unit downs a total of a dozen RAF Tomahawks and Kittyhawks.

Oberlieutenant Hans-Joachim Marseille also downs two bombers today southeast of Tobruk. This brings his own victory total to 64 planes. His victims are a pair of No. 223 Sqdn Martin "Baltimore" bombers on their first flights with their unit. While unit commands in the Luftwaffe generally go to the most successful pilots, Marseille is considered "trouble" by his superiors despite his obvious talent. Thus, Marseille remains an ordinary pilot who simply continues racking up victories without having to worry about administrative duties.

On Malta, things have quieted down considerably since the arrival of numerous defensive RAF Spitfires recently. There is a raid at 07:16 by five Cant 1007 Italian bombers with a large escort of Italian RE2001s, Macchi 200s, and Luftwaffe Bf 109s. The planes come in from the north and are met by a dozen Spitfires of Nos. 126 and 601 Squadrons based at Luqa. The RAF planes down two Re 2001s, two Bf 109s, one Cant bomber (probable). Two other Cant 1007s are damaged along with a Re 2001 and a Bf 109. The only RAF damage is to a Spitfire that returns safely to base. The Italian bombers do get through, however. They drop ten 100kg bombs apiece on Ta Qali airfield, causing craters.

Abbott and Costello grace the cover of Liberty magazine, 23 May 1942. This apparently is to promote their film "Rio Rita," released on 11 March 1942, about wartime spies on the Mexican border.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine ShCh-205 torpedoes and sinks Turkish 330-ton freighter Safak off Burgas, Bulgaria. This obviously is a military mistake, as the USSR is not at war with Turkey and has no wish to antagonize it at this time. Then again, there are historical enmities between the two powers that date back centuries and continue after this war.

US Military: The 7th Air Force transfers the 31 Bombardment Squadron's B-17s and B-18s from Hickam Field to Kipapa.

German Government: Adolf Hitler gives a speech to the Reichsleiters and Gauleiters in Berlin in which he justifies the concentration camps. According to Hitler, these are necessary to prevent an uprising. This is part of a very gradual and almost indiscernible trend in Hitler's 1942 speeches toward a defensive, paranoid, and almost fearful tone. British Intelligence has a pioneer social scientist, Mark Abrams, watching Hitler's speeches closely and he notes this tendency in a report marked "Secret." The aim is ""to reconstruct, if possible, what was in Hitler's mind when he composed and delivered the speech."

Abrams asks a fellow academic, Joseph McCurdy, to write up a report on these findings. McCurdy concludes that Hitler's speeches now have a "dull flatness of the delivery" and show "a man who is seriously contemplating the possibility of utter defeat." Hitler also is developing a "Jew phobia" and increasingly sees them as a "universal diabolical agency" versus himself, who represents "the incarnation of the spirit of good."

US Government: Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg meets with President Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. before returning to her wartime home in Montreal.

The New Yorker, 23 May 1942. Painting by Ilonka Karasz.

American Homefront: Japanese are not the only enemy aliens being imprisoned at internment camps in the United States. Today, Lt. Colonel Horace Rogers writes a letter to the Provost Marshal General in Washington, D.C., confirming the arrival of 13 new internees, mostly German, at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. The internees will be at Camp McCoy for the duration of the war.

"Grand Central Murder" opens today, starring Van Heflin and Virginia Grey.

Future History: Peter Frederick Wedlock is born in Bristol, England. He gets some singing experience in the church choir at St. Mary Redcliffe. After becoming a teacher, Fred Wedlock becomes a regular performer on the folk circuit. This leads him to record albums beginning with "The Folker" (1971), "Frollicks" (1973), and, most notably, "The Oldest Swinger in Town" (1981) (the title track becomes a hit single). Fred Wedlock passes away on 4 March 2010 in Bath, Somerset, with his funeral held at St. Mary Redcliffe where he had begun singing.

Collier's magazine, 23 May 1942.

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