5 May 1939

U.S.A.: The Douglas DC-4E Skymaster transport receives its certificate of airworthiness.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The Norwegian defence and foreign ministers arrive for talks.

FRANCE: Paris: The newspaper of the exiled German Social Democratic Party, ‘Neuer Vorwarts’ [New Way Forward], closes down after key members flee to London.

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:
German forces continue their advance north from Trondheim, Norway.

Submarine HMS Seal successfully lays mines in the southern Kattegat on the 4th before being damaged by a German mine herself. Trying to make for neutral Sweden on the surface, she is attacked and captured off the Skaw by German air and sea patrols. Lt Günther Mehrens, piloting an Ar 196A-3 from Ku.Fl.Gr.706, spotted HMS Seal. Mehrens attacked with his cannon and bombs, forcing the submarine's surrender. Mehrens then alighted, picked up the commander Lieu-Cdr R. Lonsdale and flew him to Aalborg, the Seal being towed into Frederikshavn. There are no casualties, the entire crew being made PoWs. Two escape during captivity and reach Switzerland. HMS SEAL is recomissioned as U-B and put into service for the Kriegsmarine. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The German commander, Major General Valentin Feurstein, begins marching the 2nd Division northward without even waiting for all his troops to reach Trondheim.

Greenock: HMS Ark Royal proceeding to Norway, HMS Glorious and Furious embarking provisions, ordnance, stores, and supplies form the two RAF Squadrons. (Mark Horan)

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: In response to appeals by Petain's government, the US delivers 14,000 tons of flour.

GERMANY: Hitler inspects the interior of U-57, a U-boat which had been raised after sinking near Brünbuttel, as part of an inspection visit to the Kriegsmarine base at Gotenhafen.

NORTH AFRICA: A destroyer supply run to besieged Tobruk tonight is successful. These runs will continue weekly for reinforcement and the evacuation of wounded.

ETHIOPIA: Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, has returned to his capital in triumph. The streets of the city were lined with black and white African troops. After being welcomed with a 21-gun salute he spoke of his gratitude "to Almighty God that I stand in my palace from which the Fascist forces have fled."

U.S.A.: Washington: The White House announced: We can offer no official confirmation that 26 American merchant ships loaded with tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and other war material landed in the Suez Canal. We can only say that we do not rule out the possibility.

MEXICO: The Mexican news agency OFJ reported:
A report from Tampico [Mexico] says that the National Bureau of Petroleum has brought up the entire oil production of the independent American and Mexican oil fields, and then sold it all to Britain. The oil will soon be loaded onto tankers for transport.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-69 (Jost Metzler) departed Lorient for the first long range mission by a Type VIIC U-boat. She headed into the Central Atlantic to operate off the West Coast of Africa and to lay mines. Metzler received a Knight's Cross for this voyage on return to base.

The North American Mustang Mk. I enters combat for the first time today flying with the RAF's No. 26 Squadron, Army Co-operation Command, from Gatwick, Surrey. The Mustang has excellent low-altitude performance but unsatisfactory high altitude and the RAF has equipped the aircraft with cameras to fly low-level tactical reconnaissance missions. In this role it will supplant the Tomahawk squadrons.

FRANCE: Paris: At a conference in the Ritz between Heydrich, Oberg and René Bousquet, (who three weeks earlier has been appointed by Laval secrétaire général of the police, Georges Hilaire, the secrétaire général at the Ministry of the Interior, de Brinon and Darquier de Pellepoix, on his very first day as the new head of the Commissariat aux Questions Juives. In order to suppress resistance and deport Jews for the "Final Solution," Heydrich demands that the French police forces should be subordinated directly to Oberg. A precedent for such a step existed in Belgium.

VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Petain sent a message to the Governor-General of Madagascar calling on him to resist the British attack. The Vichy Government handed a note to the American charge d'affaires protesting against British landing at Madagascar.

FINLAND: Four Italian MTBs (MAS 525-529) join the Finnish Navy today. They are renamed JYLHÄ, JYRY, JYSKE and JYMY (J1-J4). (In Spring 1943 Finland had also purchased directly from Italy five Bagliatto-class MTBs.) The boats were transferred to Gulf of Finland and became part of Lt. Cdr. Orvo Peuranheimo's MTB Flotilla. They operated there in 1943 and 1944, and after the end of the war were changed into motor gun boats by removing the torpedo tubes in 1950. They served in the Finnish Navy until 1961.

INDIAN OCEAN: Submarine FS Beveziers sunk off Diego Suarez by British aircraft. Raised by the Allies in April 1943 but not repaired. Stricken on 26 December 1946.

MADAGASCAR: Operation Ironclad: British forces land near Diego Garcia, to capture the island; with open US support of an objective controlled by Vichy France.

Whilst engaged in minesweeping Flower class corvette HMS Auricula runs over a mine and breaks her back. There are no casualties as she remained afloat and anchored by her sweep gear, until the following day when she broke in half and sank in Courier Bay on the NE coast of Madagascar at 12 12S 49 19E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Colonial sloop FS D'Entrecasteaux damaged and beached at Madagascar. Later salvaged.

CHINA: Japanese troops enter Yunnan Province via the Burma Road. This forces General Stilwell to retreat towards India. Meanwhile Chiang Kai-shek launches a surprise attack on Nanking.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Japanese Imperial General HQ issues the order for the Navy to prepare an attack on Midway Island.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Japanese land on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay just before midnight. They sustain heavy losses in consolidating their landing.

The Japanese troops were members of the 61st Infantry Regiment and supporting units. They were initially opposed by the 1st Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment.

Off Corregidor, the submarine rescue vessel USS Pigeon (AS-6) is bombed and sunk while the tug USS Genesee (AT-55) and harbour tug USS Vaga (YT-116) are scuttled.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Imperial Japanese carriers commanded by Admiral Takagi enter the Coral Sea. Admiral Fletcher's US carriers are also there and are refueling.

In the Coral Sea, Task Force 17, built around the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), and Task Force 11, built around the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), join south of the Louisiade Archipelago southeast of New Guinea.

Aircraft of the Lexington and Yorktown Air Groups fly reconnaissance missions between Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, and Port Moresby, New Guinea searching the sea between Port Moresby and Rabaul, New Britain Island searching for the Japanese fleet. This invasion fleet consisted of 11 troop-laden transports escorted by destroyers and covered by the light carrier HIJMS Shoho, four heavy cruisers, and a destroyer. Another Japanese task force formed around the carriers HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku, and screened by two heavy cruisers and six destroyers provided additional air cover. A USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell sights an IJN aircraft carrier off Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands but this report is not forwarded to the U.S. Navy. At 0815 hours, three VF-42 F4F pilots shoot down a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft near the American carriers.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Grandmere arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.. Required engine repairs at Sydney , Nova Scotia. and boiler repairs at Pictou , Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Quail scuttled off Corregidor after damage from Japanese bombs and gunfire.

CARIBBEAN SEA: Two U.S. ships are torpedoed by German submarines. An unarmed freighter is sunk while an armed tanker is abandoned but is later reboarded and towed to port.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Canadian National Steamships Company passenger-freighter SS Lady Drake apt Percy Kelly, Master, was sunk at 2100, about 90 miles north of Bermuda, in position 35.43N, 064.43W, by U-106, KptLt Hermann Rasch, Knight's Cross, CO. Twelve passengers and crew were lost from the 272 people onboard. Lady Drake was sailing independently from Hamilton, Bermuda, to Boston and then to Saint John, New Brunswick. RMS Queen Mary passed a collection of her lifeboats at high speed on the 6th of May but her master dared not to stop the huge ship in a known submarine danger area or even to break radio silence to send a signal. She reported the sighting upon her arrival in New York on the 7th and at 0630 an a/c spotted the lifeboats, which were under sail and proceeding southward for Bermuda. USS Owl, a minesweeper, recovered five lifeboats containing 260 survivors, after three days adrift. The master, who only three months earlier had been the senior surviving officer from the sinking of C, Nova Scotia. S Lady Hawkins, was awarded the MBE and the Lloyd's Medal for heroism during both events. U-106 was a long-range Type IXB U-boat built by AG Weser, at Bremen. She was commissioned on 24 Sep 40. U-106 conducted eight patrols and compiled an impressive record of 22 ships sunk for a total of 138,578 tons and four ships damaged for a further 51,980 tons. U-106's first two commanding officers were very successful - KptLt Jürgen Oesten, Knight's Cross, (18 ships sunk for a total of 96,071 tons and four ships damaged for a further 51,668 tons) and KptLt. Hermann Rasch, Knight's Cross, (12 ships sunk for a total of 78,553 tons and two ships damaged for a further 12,885 tons). On 23 Oct 41 the entire tower watch of four men was washed overboard in rough seas. On 27 Jul 42 a 'Wellington' a/c from RAF 311 Sqn attacked U-106, killing the first Watch Officer OLtzS Wissman and wounding the commander, KptLt. Rasch. The boat had only left Lorient two days earlier and was forced to return, arriving on 28 Jul. U-106 was sunk on 02 Aug 43 north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 46.35N, 011.55W by depth charges from British and Australian 'Sunderland' a/c from 228 and 461 Sqns. OLtzS. Wolf-Dietrich Damerow was the commanding officer at the time of her loss. Twenty-two members were lost from her crew of 58, including the commanding officer. Hermann Rasch was born in 1914, at Wilhelmshaven. He joined the navy 1934. He was serving in the sail training ship Albert Leo Schlageter when the war began. In Aug 39 he was appointed as the Flag Lieutenant to the commander of the North Sea area. He transferred to the U-boat force in Apr 40 and, after conversion training, in Sep 40 became the First Watch Officer in the Type IXB boat U-106, KptLt. Jürgen Oesten, Knight's Cross, CO (19 ships sunk for 101,000 tons). In Jul 41, he was selected for command. Three months later, at the age of 27, he relieved KptLt. Jürgen Oesten, who became commander of the 9th U-Flotilla in Brest. In six patrols, mostly in the North and Western Atlantic, Rasch sank 11 ships. On his second patrol he achieved notable success, in three days sinking two large ships of 10,354 and 15,355 tons. On 29 Dec 41 Rasch was awarded the Knight's Cross. In total, Hermann Rasch compiled a record of 12 ships sunk for a total of 78,553 tons and two ships damaged for a further 12,885 tons, making him the 52nd ace of the U-boat force. He left U-106 in Apr 43. For the next year he was an Admiral's staff officer in the OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine). In Oct 44 he became a commander in the KdK (Kommando der Kleinkampfverbände, Command of Midget Battle Units), where he was responsible for the midget U-boats (Seehund, Biber) until the end of the war. Despite his distinguished service and broad experience he was not promoted to Kapitänleutnant until Mar 45. He spent over a year in allied captivity and then worked as a journalist in Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf until his death in 1974.

At 2240, the unescorted and unarmed Afoundria was hit by a torpedo from U-108, which was spotted by the Lookouts just before it struck between the #4 and #5 holds on the starboard side. The explosion ripped a large hole and immediately flooded the after holds. The ship began to settle, could not be manoeuvred and sank after 50 minutes about eight miles north of Le Male Light, Haiti. The radio operator had sent distress signals and received a reply from Guantanamo. The USS Mulberry was sent from there and picked up all 38 crewmembers and 8 passengers from three lifeboats 17 hours after the attack and took them to Guantanamo, where they arrived on 9 hours after they were picked up. The master William Arthur Sillars died on his next ship, the La Salle, which was sunk by U-159 on 7 Nov 1942.

At 0415, the unescorted and unarmed Joseph M. Cudahy was torpedoed by U-507 about 125 miles west of Naples, Florida. Lookouts on the tanker had spotted the burning Munger T. Ball, which had been torpedoed by the same U-boat at 0132, 74 miles NW of the Dry Tortugas Light and the master changed course for Tampa and steered a zigzag pattern at 11 knots. One torpedo struck at the waterline on the starboard side at the #4 main tank, just after the third officer had spotted the conning tower and saw the torpedo track about 20 feet from the tanker. The explosion blew a large hole in the side and started a fire in the midships house. The master steered into the wind to allow the crew of eight officers and 29 crewmen to abandon ship. The master and eight men on the forepart of the tanker left in one lifeboat and were sighted by a US Navy PBY flying-boat. A fishing schooner offered to help the men, but they declined. These men were picked up by a PBY 12 hours after the attack and taken to Key West, Florida. One other survivor was picked up by another PBY the same morning and also taken to Key West. Three officers and 24 crewmen were lost. On 7 May, the gutted and still burning Joseph M. Cudahy was sighted by patrol yacht USS Coral in 24°57N/84°10W and was sunk by gunfire, because she was beyond salvage and a menace to navigation.

At 0132, the unescorted and unarmed Munger T. Ball was hit by one torpedo from U-507 about 80 miles NW of Dry Tortugas Island, while steaming on a nonevasive course at 10 knots. The torpedo struck on the port side amidships, followed by a second torpedo 30 seconds farther aft near the engine room. The tanker burst into flames after the first hit and prevented the launching of lifeboats. Only four crewmen of the eight officers and 26 crewmen on board managed to abandon the ship by jumping overboard and swimming away before burning gasoline spread on the water, trapping many men on the tanker. The burning tanker sank about 15 minutes after the second hit. The four survivors swam to a life raft, were picked up about four hours later by the Katy and landed at Key West, Florida.

At 0453, the unescorted and unarmed Delisle was hit by one torpedo from U-564 about 15 miles off Jupiter Inlet in 27°06N/80°03W (grid DB 9762), as she was proceeding on a non-evasive course at 9 knots from Baltimore, Maryland to San Juan, Puerto Rico with a 2800 tons of general cargo, including a deck cargo of camouflage paint in steel drums. The wake of the torpedo was seen by the first mate but it was too late to take evasive action and it struck amidships on the starboard side. The explosion created a hole of 20 feet by 30 feet at the engine room, about five feet below the main deck. The crew of eight officers, 24 men and four stowaways abandoned ship in one lifeboat and a raft. The third assistant engineer and the fireman were killed on watch below. They reached the shore at Stuart, Florida about 30 miles north of West Palm Beach two hours later. The crew reboarded the Delisle the next day and she was towed into Miami by a Navy tug. After repairs she went back in service.

U-406 encountered a British submarine off St Nazaire that fired a torpedo but didn't hit the U-boat.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Just over a week after Stalin broke with the exiled Polish government he and General Sikorski have patched up their quarrel in the interest of defeating Germany. But Sikorski insists that certain "facts" divide them, probably a reference to the cause of the split: the German discovery at Katyn, in eastern Poland, of a mass grave of Polish officers, allegedly massacred by Soviet troops in 1940.

BALTIC SEA: U-421 hit a mine in the Baltic Sea during exercises and was badly damaged.

FINLAND: Four boats of XII Squadriglia MAS purchased and they join the Finnish Navy as the Jymy-class.

BULGARIA: Sofia: During the two-day curfew in Sofia, the authorities have seized 1,000 people, including 400 said to be communists. The Bulgarian capital was sealed off while troops conducted a house-to-house search for the killers of Colonel Georgi Pantev, the chief of police, who was shot down as he entered his house two nights ago. Pantev is the third senior official to be assassinated this year. Only relatives, military officers and state officials are to be allowed to attend the police chief's funeral.

NORTH AFRICA: General Horrocks takes command of the British V Corps which now includes the 6th and 7th Armored and 4th Indian Division.

CHINA: Changsha: A large force of Japanese troops stormed the beaches on the southern shores of Tungting Lake today as Japan launched a new two-pronged offensive in central China. The landings out the Japanese within 50 miles of the war torn capital of Hunan province, Changsha, where the Chinese Nationalists have managed to repulse three previous attacks.

At the same time as the landings an estimated 7,000 - 8,000 Japanese troops, heavily supported by air force bombers, struck southward from southern Hupeh, capturing four towns on the Hunan border, north of the lake.

The combination of the two attacks has left Allied strategists unsure as to whether this new offensive is intended to take Changsha, or if the invaders are planning to encircle Chinese forces to the west, enabling the Japanese to ruin or seize the ripening rice crop in one of China's most fertile regions.

U.S.A.: Three Boeing XF8B-1s are ordered by the USAAF. Although classified as a fighter, this aircraft should have been classified as a bomber torpedo (BT) aircraft like the Douglas BT2D (later AD) Skyraider and the Martin BTM (later AM) Mauler. It had a bomb bay that could accommodate four 500-pound (227 kg) or two 1,600-pound (726 kg) bombs or a torpedo plus bombs on external wing racks. Armament consisted of six wing guns, either 50-calibre (12.7 mm) or 20 mm.

The machine was powered by a 3,000 hp (2237 kW) Pratt and Whitney XR-4360-10 28-cylinder, 4-row, air-cooled radial engine. In order to keep the propeller diameter and landing gear size within limits, two 3-bladed contra-rotating propellers were used. Speaking of the landing gear, it rotated 90 degrees and folded back into the wing so that the wheels lay flat, ala the Curtiss P-40. Boeing had developed this type of landing gear and licensed it to Curtiss in the 1930s.

This aircraft had tremendous range, 3,500 miles (5,633 km), but cruised at 190 mph (306 km/h) which means the pilot would have been exhausted by the time he got there.

With an empty weight of 14,190 pounds (6436 kg), it was the heaviest USN carrier-based aircraft of WWII.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1120, the unescorted Holmbury was torpedoed by U-123 about 170 miles west of Cape Palmas. The vessel was sunk by 26 rounds of 10.5cm gunfire. Two crewmembers were lost. The master was taken prisoner, landed at Lorient on 8 June and taken to the POW camp Milag Nord. 37 crewmembers and six gunners landed at Tradetown, Liberia.

At 0302 and 0303, U-264 fired two spread of two torpedoes at Convoy ONS-5 about 500 miles south of Cape Farewell and observed the sinking of two ships with two hits each. The ships sunk were the West Maximus and Harperley. At 0305, U-264 fired a single torpedo and observed a hit on another ship, but this is not confirmed by Allied sources. The Harperley later sank in 55°03N/42°56W. Nine crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 32 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up by armed trawler HMS Northern Spray and landed at St John's. Harperley suffered six killed.

At 2150, U-266 fired four torpedoes at Convoy ONS-5 and reported one ship sunk, one probably sunk and that two detonations had been heard. In fact the three ships Selvistan, Gharinda and Bonde on stations #91, #101 and #84 were hit within three minutes and all sank. The Bonde was the smallest ship in the convoy and was hit by one torpedo and sank slowly. Eleven survivors were picked up from a lifeboat and a raft by frigate HMS Tay one hour later. The master was allowed to go back to his ship and found another survivor. The master Rodney Rosbrook Stone, 81 crewmembers and ten gunners from the Gharinda were picked up by frigate HMS Tay and landed at St John's, Newfoundland. One crewmember and five gunners from the Selvistan were lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by HMS Tay and landed at St John's.

At 0422 and 0428, U-358 fired torpedoes at Convoy ONS-5 south of Cape Farewell and observed two ships sinking. In fact, the Bristol City sank after 20 minutes and Wentworth remained afloat and sank later that morning. Eleven crewmembers and four gunners from the Bristol City were lost. The master, 26 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up by HMS Loosestrife and landed at St John's. Wentworth was scuttled by HMS Loosestrife.

Between 0243 and 0246, U-628 fired six torpedoes at Convoy ONS-5 about 500 miles south of Cape Farewell and reported one ship sunk, one ship probably sunk, one ship burning and two end-of-run detonations. However, only the Harbury (Master Walter Edward Cook) was hit. Six crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 33 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by HMS Northern Spray and landed at St John's. It is possible that Hasenschar thought that the ships sunk by U-264 (Looks) at the same time were his own victims. At 0502, U-628 fired her last torpedo against a corvette and observed a huge tongue of flame after 28 seconds and a heavy explosion afterwards, the target disintegrating. However, Allied sources do not report the loss of any escort vessel. At 1651, U-628 finished off the wreck of the Harbury with 40 rounds of 88-mm and 100 rounds of 20-mm gunfire. The vessel capsized to starboard at 1737 and sank in 55°10N/42°58W (grid AJ 6453).

At 1400, the Dolius in Convoy ONS-5 was torpedoed and sunk by U-638 NE of Belle Isle. Three crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 57 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by HMS Sunflower and landed at St John's. The corvette had sunk the U-boat after the attack.

At 0222, the North Britain, a straggler from Convoy ONS-5 (about five miles behind), was hit by one of three torpedoes fired by U-707 and sank by the bow within two minutes south of Cape Farewell. The master, 27 crewmembers and seven gunners were lost. Ten crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by HMS Northern Spray and landed at St John's.

U-358 was depth charged in the North Atlantic by destroyer escort HMS Pink. The boat was damaged so badly that she had to return to base.

U-406 and U-600 had a collision in the North Atlantic. Both boats were damaged so badly that they had to return to base.

General Alexander orders Allied units to break through the Gustav Line on 11 May.

YUGOSLAVIA: Marshal Tito's partisan army, now numbering nearly 300,000 well-armed men and women has fought its way into the Croatian capital of Zagreb, it was learned today. A huge cache of German weapons was captured with lorryloads of prisoners, before the partisans "melted away" in typical fashion.

Tito's National Liberation Front now controls almost every town in mountainous Montenegro. It also took four German divisions to drive them from Slovenia; even so few main roads of railways there are safe for troop transport. Twelve divisions of General Rendulic's Second Panzerarmee are being kept fully occupied by Tito's fiercely determined irregulars.

Although the Germans have retaken most of the Adriatic Islands between Fiume and Split - captured by partisans when the Italian army collapsed last year - their garrisons are under constant harassment.

The head of the British military mission, Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean, has selected the outer island of Vis as a base for organizing British commando operations in Nazi-held Yugoslavia.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet launch an attack on the German defenders of Sevastopol. (Gene Hanson)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 0354, U-967 fired a Gnat at Convoy GUS-38 about 120 miles NW of Oran, Algeria and reported a hit on a medium-sized ship after 11 minutes 58 seconds, but this was probably an end-of-run detonation. Destroyer escort USS Laning located the U-boat after the unsuccessful attack and started an attack run, but U-967 fired a Gnat at the escort ships at 0441, hitting the USS Fechteler amidships. The explosion lifted the ship out of the water and broke her in two. Most crewmembers abandoned ship before both parts sank. 29 crewmembers died and 26 were injured. USS Laning then picked up the survivors together with other escort ships.

BURMA: Having taken the strategically vital Point 551, the Fourteenth Army counter-attacks at Imphal.

Air Commando Combat Mission N0. 53 3:00 Flight Time. Went back and did it again. [3:05 Flight Time Hailakandi, Assam to Hopin, Burma. Bombed Japanese supply dumps.] (Chuck Baisden)

Destroyer escorts USS Snyder and Cronin commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Measure commissioned.

Destroyer minelayer USS Aaron Ward launched.

Destroyer USS Bristol laid down.

Frigate USS Long Beach launched.

USS Comfort is commissioned in San Pedro, CA; first ship to be manned jointly by Army and Navy personnel.

ICELAND: Three Allied forces agents, named Miller, Hoan and Frick are having dinner in their hotel in Seydisfjordur this evening when they get wind of a German plan to send three spies to Iceland to monitor troop movements in a bid foil Allied attempts to liberate France.

A seal hunter had spotted three strangers behaving suspiciously near Borgarfjordur.

The agents try to alert an Allied ship anchored off the coast but are told it could take hours before it got up enough steam to sail, by which time the men could be deep inside the Icelandic wilderness. (More) (Scott Peterson)

EIRE: A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88G-6 night fighter of I/NJG-3 lands in Eire. According to the pilot, the squadron CO, based in Denmark, told his pilots that each man could fly his aircraft, with full tanks and any friends who were willing, to any country he chose. The CO and some pilots headed for Sweden, others for Spain. Four crews chose Ireland and flew in formation. Over Manchester one was shot down, and in foul weather, the other two disappeared.

GERMANY: German Army Group G, under General Hausser, surrenders unconditionally to US forces in at Haar in Bavaria.

Third US Army's 11th Armored Division liberates Mauthausen concentration camp. (Greg Canellis)

One of the prisoners freed today is Simon Wiesenthal, a Jew, he is found lying helplessly in a barracks surrounded by the dead and weighing less than 45Kg. Wiesenthal barely survived to be liberated by an American armoured unit. Wiesenthal's first documentation of the atrocities committed by the Nazi guards survives in volumes of sketches he drew while imprisoned. "I drew what I was seeing every day," said Wiesenthal. "I wanted to leave something behind to document the horrors I saw every day."

On the Baltic coast Swinemunde and Peenemunde, the site of the rocket-weapon research centre that was supposed to win Hitler the war, are captured.

Five German U-boats, including four of the powerful XXI types, were sunk today in an Allied air strike on the Kattegat, just 24 hours after Admiral Dönitz had ordered the U-boats to cease hostilities and return to base. More air raids are planned to ram home the message that the six-year BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC is over; for the second time this century, Germany's attempt to defeat Britain by crippling its merchant fleet had failed. This time the U-boats sank more merchant ships, although their combined tonnage was less. Some 175 Allied warships, mostly British, were also lost; but so were 784 of Germany's 1,162 U-boats.

Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov informs U.S. Secretary of State Stettinius that the Red Army has arrested 16 Polish peace negotiators who had met with a Soviet army colonel near Warsaw back in March. When British Prime Minister Winston Churchill learns of the Soviet double-cross, he reacts in alarm, stating, "There is no doubt that the publication in detail of this event? would produce a primary change in the entire structure of world forces."

Starting yesterday and finishing today, the US Army's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, ("Curahee") of the 101st Airborne 'Screaming Eagles' Division, under Col. Robert Sink, capture Hitler's fortified military complex on the Obersalzburg, the 'Berghof'. (Jay Stone)

Jay adds: My battalion, the 321st Glider Field Artillery, in direct support of the 506th Parachute Infantry, entered Berchtesgaden on May 5, 1945. Captain Skinner was my battery commander when I joined the battalion. After Normandy there was a shakeup among the officers and he was assigned as a liaison officer. He was one of the many fine leaders in the battalion and did an excellent job in both assignments. In the early 80's he was fishing from his boat in the Cayman Islands and never returned.

http://www.eagles-nest-tours.com/page3.htm

When U-349 was scuttled, Obermaschinist Wilhelm Hegenbarth set the charges off and refused to leave the boat.

U-579 sunk in the Kattegat east of Aarhus, in approximate position 56.10N, 11.04E, by depth charges from an RAF 547 Sqn Liberator.

U-733 scuttled Flensburg Fjord, position 54.48N, 09.49E, after being damaged by bombs and gunfire. Broken up 1948.

U-2367 sank near Schleimünde, in approximate position 55.00N, 11.00E, after a collision with an unidentified German U-boat. Raised in August 1956. Renamed U-Hecht (pike) and served in the German Federal Navy from 1 Oct 1957. Stricken on 30 Sep, 1968 and broken up at Kiel in 1969.

U-2551 sunk near Flensburg Solitude, in position 54.49N, 09.28E Wreck broken up.

U-534 sunk in the Kattegat NW of Helsingör, in position 56.39N, 11.48E, by 10 depth charges from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 3 dead and 49 survivors. Earlier in the action, U-534 shot down an RAF 547 Sqn Liberator. U-534 raised 1995 and now a museum piece at Birkenhead.

U-955 shot down an unknown Liberator aircraft.

Two German submarines U 318 and U 992 broke the surface in Hopsfjorden, Norway late the night of the 4th of May 1945. They continued tor travel on the surface toward Hopseidet. 10 km away from the village the submarines put 30 men ashore, and they returned with a prisoner, a fisherman Ivar ÿye, who would be used as a guide further inland.

This operation was followed by Norwegians ashore. The local policeman in SjÂnes informed The Military Command about the subs approaching Hopseidet. An observation post was situated in the village, and the soldiers and some volunteer civilians got ready for a fight by taking station in a couple of places with view to the shore. (Torstein Saksvik) [Story Continues on the 6th]

Prague: Czech patriots rose against the Germans still occupying Prague today following several spontaneous revolts against the Nazis in other parts of the country. Street fighting is raging in the streets of the Czech capital. The situation tonight is that the patriots hold most of the city, but the Germans remain in control of several strongpoints while tanks and other Wehrmacht units move in from bases outside.

Among the positions held by the Germans is one of the radio stations which is broadcasting repeated claims that "all important military positions are in the hands of the Wehrmacht". The patriots also control a radio station, and they have been broadcasting desperate appeals to the Allies to come to their rescue.

General Patton's Third Army is now in Czechoslovakia, and could well make a dash for Prague, but the Russians insist that the Czech capital is their prize. The situation is complicated by the presence in Prague of General Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army (Russkaya Osvoboditel'naya Armiya, the POA). When the Allies make no reply to the Czech's plea they turn to General Bunyachenko of the 1st Division of the POA.

Despite yesterday's armistice resistance against the Russians continues. Army Group Centre conducts a fighting withdrawal in Czechoslovakia with bitter fighting near Olmutz.

JAPAN: Operation STARVATION, the mining of Japanese waters by Twentieth Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, continues. During the night, 86 B-29s plant mines in eight fields in the Inland Sea and off four ports. At Tokuyama, Aki-nada, Bingo-nada, and Shodo-shima-Bisan Seto, the patterns were good, but at four port areas -- Nagoya, Kobe-Osaka, Hiroshima-Kure, and Tokyo -- results were less satisfactory.

After a bombing mission over southern Japan, the crew of a B-29 bomber had to bale out after being rammed by a Japanese suicide plane. The B-29 crashed near the town of Takete. After landing, the crew were taken into custody and transported to Kyushu University in Fukuoka about one hundred miles north of Nagasaki.

In the university's anatomy department they were subjected to the most horrible medical experiments imaginable. One prisoner was shot in the stomach so that Japanese surgeons could get practice at removing bullets. Amputations on legs and arms were practised while the victims were still alive. One was injected with sea water in an experiment to find out if sea water could be substituted for saline solution.

One badly wounded American, thinking he was going to be treated for his wound, was anaesthetized and woke up to find that one of his lungs had been removed. He died shortly after. Others had part of the liver removed to see if they could still live.

Only one airman, the pilot of the B-29, Captain Marvin Watkins, was taken to Tokyo for interrogation but survived the war. The other eight all died at Fukuoka.

After the war, twenty three doctors and hospital staff were arrested, tried and found guilty on various charges by the Allied War Crimes Trials held at Yokohama. Five were sentenced to death, the others to terms of imprisonment. When the Korean war started in June, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur reduced most of the sentences. The death sentences were never carried out. All were released by 1958. This was the only instance where Americans were used in bizarre medical experiments in WW11, except perhaps at Mukden. (Denis Peck)

Okinawa: The destroyer USS Ingraham comes under concerted air attack, and shoots down four Japanese planes, before a fifth crashed into the ship above the waterline on the port side, its bomb exploding in the generator room. With only one gun operative, and with 51 casualties aboard, Ingraham retires to Hunter's Point, California, for repairs. (Ron Babuka)

U.S.A.: In the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children. It exploded when a 13-year-old girl (Joan Patzke) attempted to pull the balloon from a tree during a church group picnic in the woods near Bly, Oregon. Having taken some local children on an outing, Reverend Archie Mitchell watched in horror as his pregnant wife, Elsie Mitchell, and five children who accompanied them (ages 11 to 14) were killed. The minister escaped by luck of being a short distance behind. (Dave Shirlaw & Tony diGuigno)

The US War Department announces that 400,000 troops will remain in Europe as occupation forces. 2 million will be discharged leaving 6 million for the attack on Japan.

San Francisco: British and American delegates to the "United Nations" conference were horrified today when Molotov revealed that 16 Polish negotiators had been arrested by the Russians on charges of "diversionary activities against the Red Army." The western Allies consider that most of these men - General Okulicki, the successor to General Bor-Komorowski as chief of the Polish Home Army, and the leaders of the main political parties - should have been brought from Poland for consultation on the formation of the new Polish government. Mr. Churchill is furious at what he describes as "the perfidy" by which the Poles were enticed in Russia.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1740, the unescorted Black Point was struck by a torpedo from U-853 in the stern, while proceeding in fog. The explosion carried away the aftermost forty feet of the ship aft of the #5 hold. The vessel quickly began to sink by the stern about five miles southeast of Point Judith, Rhode Island. The most of the eight officers, 33 crewmen and five armed guards (the ship was armed with one 6pdr and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in two boats and a raft. The Black Point capsized and all but the bow disappeared beneath the water 25 minutes after the torpedo struck. Eleven crewmen and one armed guard (W.L. Whitson Lloyd USNR) died. 17 men on a raft were picked up by the Yugoslavian steam merchant Karmen and two men by the Norwegian steam merchant Scandinavia. All were later transferred to a US Coast Guard patrol boat, which brought them to Point Judith. Crash boats from Quonset Point, Rhode Island rescued 15 survivors and landed them at Newport. The Black Point was the last American-flagged ship sunk by a German U-boat. Immediately after the sinking the US Navy searched for U-853 and sank her in the morning of 6 May.