7 May 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

May 7th, 1939 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

POLAND: Warsaw: The Polish government rejects a Russian alliance.

7 May 1940

May 7th, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Westminster: Debate begins today and continues through tomorrow in the British House of Commons on the "Conduct of the War" especially in Norway. Chamberlain is unable to explain why time was wasted landing troops at Namsos and Åndalsnes rather than attacking Trondheim.

The pacifist George Lansbury, Labour Party leader from 1931 to 1935, died today aged 81. Lansbury had many critics but no enemies. He was the "Cockneys’ MP" for Bow and Bromley for 30 years and a former Mayor of the East End borough of Poplar. As first Commissioner for Works in the first Labour government in 1924 he introduced swings and sandpits for children in London parks. He resigned the leadership in 1935 after Ernest Bevin, the union leader, attacked him for "hawking his conscience" around the land when preaching against war and rearmament.

The first production Shorts Stirling flies from Rochester (N 3635).

Submarines HMS Trooper and Una laid down.

ASW trawler HMS Gavotte launched.

Destroyer ORP Piorun (ex-HMS Nerissa) launched.

NETHERLANDS: The mobilisation programme is completed.

GERMANY: Jodl’s diary: Fuhrer railroad train is scheduled to leave Finkenkrug at 16.38 hours. But weather remains uncertain and therefore the order [for the attack] is rescinded...Fuhrer greatly agitated about new postponement as there is danger of treachery. Talk of the Belgian Envoy to the Vatican with Brussels permits the deduction that treason has been committed by a German personality who left Berlin for Rome on April 29...

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN: HMS Glorious is anchored at Greenock taking on provisions, ordnance, stores, and supplies. HMS Furious remains in dockyard hands.

Off Narvik: HMS Ark Royal in position 70.17 N, 16.98 E, recovered the Walrus from Harstad at 0610. Per instructions, she implemented standing section fighter patrols over the Harstad area, the first patrols leaving 0800 and 0830. One of them later crashed on landing, the aircraft requiring a major overhaul. At the same time, two Swordfish were dispatched on a photo-reconnaissance mission in the Bogen area. After a period of inactivity due to poor weather, a further fighter patrol of two Skuas of 801 Squadron (Lt. T. E. Gray, RN) was dispatched at 1330 with another trio from 803 ( Lt. W. P. Lucy, RN). They clashed with two pairs of He-111s over Ofotfjord, claiming two probably downed, though in reality only one 8/KG 26 machine was damaged though it managed to make it back to Vaernes and make a crash landing. One FAA pilot, Lt.(A) G. F. Russell of 803 was wounded by return fire.

Reports placed German troop carrying aircraft in the area, so two further fighter patrols were dispatched at 1700 and 1900, but nothing was sighted. Finally, the days activity was ended when the Walrus was dispatched to Harstad to be transferred to HMS Effingham.

U.S.S.R.: Aeroflot opens a new ‘internal’ air route between Moscow and L’vov (Lwow) in occupied Poland.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the U.S. Fleet to remain in the Territory of Hawaii indefinitely as a deterrent to the Japanese.

7 May 1941

May 7th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Liverpool and Hull are bombed. For the seventh successive night Liverpool and Merseyside are ablaze. The raids began on 1 May under cloudless moonlit skies and since then the fires, especially in the docks, have never gone out. In the city the Custom House, Corn Exchange, Museum and Central Station were destroyed. Lewis's department store was gutted and a wing of Walton jail was demolished killing 22 prisoners. A Mersey Ferry, the Royal Daffodil, was sunk and a school shelter was hit, killing 160. Sixty patients and staff of a hospital died in a direct hit. One of the worst fires occurred at the Bryant and May match factory.

Troops have been brought in to help clear the streets of wreckage. Cars have been banned from entering the centre, and so many telephone cables and exchanges are out of action that people have been unable to get through.

There have been 1,450 killed in this "May Week".

Westminster: In a speech to the House of Commons Churchill says: "Some have compared Hitler’s conquests with those of Napoleon. It may be that Spain and Russia will shortly furnish new chapters to that theme. It must be remembered, however, that Napoleon’s armies carried with them the fierce, liberating and equalitarian winds of the French Revolution, whereas Hitler’s empire has nothing behind it but racial self-assertion, espionage, pillage, corruption and the Prussian boot." (Peter Kilduff)

Corvette HMS Mignonette commissioned.

GERMANY: U-260, U-662 laid down.

U-352 launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Units of the Mediterranean fleet shell Benghazi during the night.

Operation Tiger, an attempt to get a British convoy to North Africa, begins.

Minesweeper HMS Stoke is bombed and sinks in Tobruk harbour during an air attack. (Alex Gordon)(108)

CHINA: Japanese troops assault Shansi in an attempt to occupy the Chungtiao mountains.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Summerside launched.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Woolsey commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A cruiser force tries to capture the weather trawler München off Iceland. It yields an Enigma cipher machine and codebook when captured by the British destroyer HMS Somali.

On U-93, three crewmembers were wounded in an accident with the machine gun.

Between 2310 and 2312, U-94 fired four torpedoes at Convoy OB-318 about 200 miles SW of Reykjavik and reported four ships sunk, but U-94 interpreted depth charges dropped by destroyer HMS Bulldog and sloop HMS Rochester immediately after the torpedoes had detonated on Ixion and Eastern Star as hits on other ships. The both escorts dropped together 67 depth charges on the U-boat, damaging it slightly. The master and 18 crewmembers from the Ixion were picked up by corvette HMS Marigold and landed at Greenock. 68 crewmembers and nine gunners were picked up by the British merchantman Nailsea Moor and landed at Sydney. The Eastern Star was hit by one torpedo and sank some hours later in 61°25N/24°18W. All crewmembers abandoned ship in the lifeboats and were picked up by armed trawler HMS Daneman shortly thereafter.

7 May 1942

May 7th, 1942 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Escort carrier HMS Striker launched.

Destroyer HMS Tickham commissioned.

GERMANY:

U-224 launched.

U-281, U-344 laid down.

U-519, U-621 commissioned.

MADAGASCAR: Diego Suarez: The destroyer HMS ANTHONY ran through the Vichy-French batteries at full speed and came to a halt at the quay. 50 Marines leapt ashore. Behind the port were flashes from guns supporting the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Royal Scots Fusiliers and East Lancashire Fusiliers. The Marines pushed through the European town, where they met up with the Royal Welch. Diego Suarez surrendered today. The Allies believed that if Japan had taken the port first, it could control the Indian Ocean. In fact, Japan seems surprised by the invasion which is still being resisted by Vichy Forces elsewhere on the island.

INDIAN OCEAN: Submarine FS Le Heros sunk off Diego Suarez, Madagascar by aircraft from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Battle of Coral Sea begins. USS Sims, a destroyer is escorting the oiler USS Neosho. Both ships are sunk by Japanese aircraft. The US carrier planes find and sink the Shoho a smaller Japanese carrier.

While searching for the American task forces, an IJN search plane sights the oiler USS Neosho (AO-23) and its escort, the destroyer USS Sims (DD-409) at 0736 hours local. The USS Neosho had refuelled the American task forces on 5 and 6 May and were detached to continue to the next fuelling point. The Japanese search plane crew reports sighting a carrier and a cruiser and an all-out attack is launched from the Japanese carriers. At 0930 hours local, fifteen high level bombers attacked the two ships but did no damage; at 1038 hours, ten attacked the USS Sims, but skilful manouvering evaded the nine bombs that were dropped. A third attack against the two ships by 36 dive bombers was devastating. USS Neosho was soon a blazing wreck as the result of seven direct hits and one plane that dived into her. USS Sims was attacked from all directions. The destroyer was hit by three 500-pound (227 kg) bombs; two exploded in the engine room and, within minutes, the ship buckled amidships and began to sink, stern first.

As Sims slid beneath the waves, there was a tremendous explosion that raised what was left of the ship almost 15 feet (4.6 m) out of the water; there were only 16 survivors. The Neosho remains afloat for four days until the crew is rescued by aUSNdestroyer which then sinks the hulk with gunfire.

An American aircraft spots the small aircraft carrier HIJMS Shoho off Misima Island in the Louisiade Archipelago and 93 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses and TBD Devastators and Grumman F4F Wildcats are launched by the aircraft carriers USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5). The Japanese carrier is sunk and one of Lexington's pilots reported this victory with the radio message, "Scratch one flattop." That afternoon, the two IJN fleet carriers supporting the Japanese Port Moresby Invasion Force, HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku, still unlocated by the Americans, launched 27 bombers and torpedo planes to search for the U.S. ships. Their flight proved uneventful until they ran into fighters from Yorktown and Lexington, who proceeded to down nine enemy planes in the ensuing dogfight. Near twilight, three Japanese planes incredibly mistook Yorktown for their own carrier and attempted to land. The ship's gunfire, though, drove them off; and the enemy planes crossed Yorktown's bow and turned away out of range. Twenty minutes later, when three more enemy pilots made the mistake of trying to get into Yorktown's landing circle, the carrier's gunners splashed one of the trio.

After receiving the news of the sinking of HIJMS Shoho, the Japanese Port Moresby Invasion Force reverses course and sails back to Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

NEW GUINEA: The Japanese occupy Hollandia.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: General Wainright in Japanese custody announces the surrender of Corrigedor Island. The planned 50 day campaign by General Homma has taken over 150 days. The Filipino loyalty to the US has been a surprising development to the Japanese.

CANADA: AMC HMCS Prince Henry arrived Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Canadian fishing vessel Mildred Pauline (300 GRT) sunk south of St John's by gunfire from U-136. There were no survivors.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer USS Sims sunk by Japanese aircraft during the Battle of the Coral Sea, there were only 14 survivors

Destroyers USS Maddox, Nelson, Philip, Renshaw, William D Porter and Young laid down.

Minesweeper USS Oracle laid down.

Destroyer USS John Rodgers launched.

Destroyer USS Beatty commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Between 0227 and 0335, the unescorted and unarmed Ontario was shelled by U-507, while steaming a zigzag course at 12 knots. The day earlier, the ship was ordered to proceed to the nearest port after receiving a distress signal from the Alcoa Puritan, which was attacked and sunk by the same U-boat. The U-boat attacked from the port quarter and destroyed the bridge, wheelhouse and the mainmast, after a distress signal was sent and soon left the burning and sinking vessel. All 32 Americans, 11 Hondurians, one Dane and one British of the crew abandoned ship in three lifeboats and were picked up after six hours by patrol yacht USS Onyx and landed at Burwood, Louisiana. The burning ship was last seen at 0440 and a salvage crew returned later, but apparently she was gone down. The master Anders Weesgaard survived this sinking, but died when his next ship the San Blas was sunk by U-158 on 17 Jun 1942.

At 0800, the unescorted Frank Seamans was struck by one torpedo from U-162. After all crewmembers had abandoned ship in lifeboats, a second torpedo was fired which sank the ship. All hands were picked up by a Dutch ship the next day and taken to Paramaribo.

U-157 was attacked in the North Atlantic by the British submarine HMS P 44 with two torpedoes, but both missed.

U-371 was depth charged by two sub chasers. The boat was heavily damaged and had to return to base.

7 May 1943

May 7th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Solent laid down.

Sloop HMS Amethyst launched.

Frigate HMS Bann commissioned.

FRANCE: Paris: German television starts broadcasting from studios in the old Magic City theatre.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Unrivalled sinks Italian sailing vessel Albina (223 BRT).

NORTH AFRICA: Thousands of civilians lined the streets of Tunis to pelt British troops with spring flowers bestowing kisses on embarrassed troops of the Derbyshire Yeomanry as their tanks rolled in. Even then, however, the fighting was not over, as small pockets of fanatical Germans continued to snipe from vantage points on public buildings and mosques.

It was at 3.15am when the order was given to drive into the city. Armoured cars of the 11th Hussars were the first - as they had been in every major town or city captured since Alamein - followed almost immediately by the tanks.

The final assault on the Djebel Bou Aoukaz kills overlooking the city had involved an artillery barrage of an intensity no known since Alamein; the technique was to use a concentration of fire, centrally controlled, on all known enemy positions. Shells landed on every two yards of front, causing total havoc. A huge air attack began at dawn, with the RAF flying more than 200 sorties. By 9.30am the 4th Indian Division had cleared a pathway for IX Corps tanks.

Simultaneously, the US II Corps began its final assault towards Bizerta, in the north. After some tough fighting yesterday, the US 9th Infantry Division drove into the city on the late afternoon; but formal entry is reserved for the French Corps Franc d'Afrique.

BURMA: British troops are forced to retreat after the Japanese take Buthidaung.

NEW GUINEA: Australian commandos attack Bobdubi Ridge (immediately west of Salamaua). There they encounter 40 men of the Japanese 102nd Regiment, who flee. The Japanese then counter-attack with a force of "70 naval men" (presumably part of 7th Naval Base Force); 80 men from 115th Regiment (moved from Markham Point); and one infantry company, one infantry gun platoon and one MG platoon, all from 102nd Regiment. [Dexter p. 46] (Michael Alexander)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The waters around New Georgia are mined. Task Group 36.5 consisting of the destroyer USS Radford (DD-446) and the light minelayers USS Gamble (DM-15), USS Preble (DM-20) and USS Breese (DM-18), lay mines across Blackett Strait, the western entrance to Kula Gulf and directly in the favourite route of the "Tokyo Express."

CANADA: Ottawa: Canadian MPs vote towards an additional CDN$ 1,000 million towards the war effort.

Tugs HMCS Glendevon and Glendon ordered.

U.S.A.: USN representatives witness landing tests of the Sikorksy XR-4-SI helicopter aboard the merchant tanker SS Bunker Hill in a demonstration sponsored by the U.S. Maritime Commission and conducted in Long Island Sound. The USAAF pilot makes about fifteen flights, and in some of these flights he lands on the water before returning to the platform built on the deck of the tanker.

Submarine USS Pintado laid down.

Submarine USS Bonefish launched.

Destroyer USS Purdy launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy ONS-5 has just survived more than three days of battering from the biggest U-boat pack assembled in the war so far. The pack, codenamed "Fink" [Chaffinch], comprised 51 boats. The 42-ship ONS-5 was hove to in gales when the pack found it. The U-boats sank 13 merchant ships, but the escort hit back using two new devices: Hedgehog, which projects depth charges ahead of the attacking ship, and, in its greatest success so far, Type 271 M radar equipment. Seven U-boats were sunk, two lost in collision and five badly hit. Fink had been called off.

U-214 was attacked by an RAF 10 Sqn Wellington. The U-boat commander was badly wounded, and the boat suffered severe damage as well, forcing a return to base.

U-228 was attacked by an aircraft, resulting in two crewmembers wounded.

U-209 reported missing in the North Atlantic in approximate position 52N, 38W. Possibly lost in a diving accident after damages suffered on 4 May in an attack by an RCAF Catalina. 46 dead (all hands lost).

U-447 sunk west of Gibraltar, in position 35.30N, 11.55W, by depth charges from two RAF 233 Sqn Hudsons. 48 dead (all hands lost).

A Lancaster attacked U-228 wounding the II WO and a seaman. The boat escaped without serious damage and also shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax.

At 1200, U-89 attacked Convoy SL-128, observed a hit with a T-3 torpedo on a freighter and later heard sinking noises. Laconikos was sunk in this attack.

At 0137, the unescorted Samuel Jordan Kirkwood was hit by one torpedo from U-195 about 125 miles SE of Ascension Island. The U-boat had missed the ship that was zigzagging at 12 knots already with two torpedoes about 20 hours before and since then chased the ship. The third torpedo had been spotted by a lookout on the port beam, but could not be avoided and struck on the port side just aft of the #5 hatch. The explosion opened a 20 feet hole, destroyed the shaft alley and steering gear and caused the aft gun platform to collapse. The engines were secured and the six officers, 36 crewmen, 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and four passengers (repatriated seamen) abandoned ship in four lifeboats and one raft. The ship immediately sank after a coup de grâce hit at 0352. The lifeboats were spotted on 17 May by a US Army crash boat and taken in tow for Ascension Island.

7 May 1944

May 7th, 1944 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: Berlin: The US 8th Army Air Force, attacks the city for the second time in three days.
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force flies two missions during the day.

- Mission 342: In the morning, 922 bombers and 764 fighters are dispatched to bomb targets in Germany; 9 bombers and 4 fighters are lost; 1 Luftwaffe aircraft is claimed shot down:

1. 600 B-17s are dispatched on a PFF attack on Berlin; 514 bomb the primary and 39 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 265 damaged.

2. Of 322 B-24s dispatched, 147 bomb Munster and 165 bomb Osnabruck; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged.

Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 317 P-47s and 284 P-51s; 2 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 5 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged.

In the afternoon, 29 of 67 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Liege, Belgium without loss; escort is provided by 24 P-47s and 51 P-51s without loss.

- Mission 343: 3 of 4 B-17s drop 1.6 million leaflets on 16 towns in central France without loss.

- 14 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions during the night without loss.

INDIA: The Allies call off their attack in the Imphal area, having achieved little.

CHINA: Japanese forces link up at Suiping, on the Peking to Hankow railway.

NEW BRITAIN: US 46th Division takes Cape Hopkins Airfield.

CANADA: Frigates HMCS Magog and Stettler commissioned.

U.S.A.: The first Beechcraft A38 Grizzly, makes its maiden flight.

Corvette HMCS Sackville completed forecastle extension refit Galveston, Texas.

Submarines USS Blueback and Sea Owl launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Frigate HMCS Valleyfield takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-548 (Kapitanleutnant Eberhard Zimmermann) and sinks 40 miles East of Cape Race at 46 03N 52 24W. Valleyfield was part of escort group C1, escorting convoy ON-234 from Liverpool to New York City. Valleyfield sank so quickly that other ships in the group did not immediately realize what had happened. A combination of the ship's quick sinking, the delay in rescue efforts, and the cold water resulted in only 38 survivors; with 121 casualties. The survivors are rescued by HMCS Giffard. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

7 May 1945

May 7th, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: U-2336, a type XXIII U-boat, sinks the British coasters Avondale Park and Sneland off the Firth of Forth.

Canadian freighter SS Avondale Park torpedoed and sunk in the Firth of Forth in position 56.10N, 002.32W, by U-2336, Kptlt Emil Klusmeier, CO. Avondale Park was Canadian-owned but British-manned merchantman and was the last British ship to be sunk during WW.II. The ship was part of Convoy EN-91 bound for Belfast and was two miles south-east of May Island, in the Firth of Forth, when she was torpedoed at 2240. The ship sank in ten minutes. The chief engineer and a donkeyman from the AVONDALE PARK Park (Master James Wilson Martin Cushnie) died. The master, 31 crew members and four gunners were rescued by the escorts. The coaster Sneland was also sunk in this attack. Neither U-boat had received the message to cease hostilities on May 4.

D/S Sneland I NS * Rich. Amlie & Sverre Amlie, Haugesund 1791 gt Built Stettin-Grabow, Germany, delivered in Sept.-1922 as Ingeborg until 1925.

Captain Johannes L¾gland. Sneland I was commodore ship in the outward bound convoy EN 91 from Methil (voyage from Blyth to Belfast with a cargo of about 2800 tons coal) when she was torpedoed by U-2336 (Klusmeier, who had just taken over the command of the boat on Apr. 1) in the evening of May 7-1945 and sunk 56 09 36N 02 31 24W. This position is according to Lloyd's War Losses, Hocking simply says "about 160 miles east of the Firth of Forth" - incorrect.

The convoy consisted of 5 ships escorted by the armed trawlers Angle, Wolves and Leicester City, having departed Methil shortly after 8 o'clock that night. The initial attack took place just before 11 o'clock when the convoy was about 1.5- 2 miles south of the Isle of May. The first victim was the Canadian S/S Avondale Park which lost 2 men out of a crew of 28 and 4 gunners, namely Chief Engineer Anderson and Donkeyman William Harvey who were in the engine room. Just a few minutes later Sneland I was hit (starboard side. I've also seen the time given as 22:45 for the torpedo strike, and the time 22:47 for the actual sinking). These were the last ships to be sunk by U-boat before the war officially ended.

Out of Sneland I's crew of 26 and 3 gunners 7 died, including the captain, 1 died while being brought ashore. The 22 survivers were picked up by HM Trawlers Valse (T-151) and Leicester City (FY-223), later transferred to D/S Selvik (listed further up on this page) and taken to Methil. (Denis Peck)

(DS)

An order for another 300 de Havilland Vampire jet fighters is placed with English Electric at Preston, Lancashire. (22)

The 196th and final U-boat sunk by Coastal Command (U-320) is destroyed by a Consolidated Catalina of No. 210 Squadron 120 miles north-east of Sullom Voe.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: At 2145, KNM NYMS-382 was hit by a Gnat from U-1023 and sank within two minutes off Lyme Bay. The commander and 21 crewmembers were lost. Ten injured survivors were picked up by KNM NYMS-379 and NYMS-381 of the 3rd Minesweeping Unit stationed in Cherbourg, to which the minesweeper also belonged. (DS)

FRANCE: Rheims: At 2.40 this morning, in an upstairs room of the Rheims College Moderne de Garcons, where French children played table tennis before the war, Admiral von Friedeburg and General Alfred Jodl, of the German high command, today signed the surrender of "all forces on land, sea and in the air who are at this date under German control". Jodl said that the German people and the German armed forces had "achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. I can only express my hope that the victor will treat them with generosity."

The cease-fire covers the Soviet front as well as western Europe and comes into effect at 2301 hours tomorrow. It was witnessed by General Bedell Smith for Eisenhower's Allied Command, General Suslaparov for the USSR and General Sevez for France.

GERMANY: The German garrison at Breslau surrenders to the Red Army after an 82-day siege.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The US 97th Infantry Division is credited with firing the last official shot in the European Theatre of Operations by US troops tonight when, near Klenovice in the Pilsen area, Private First Class Domenic Mozzetta Company B, 387 Regiment, fires at a German sniper near Klenovice shortly before midnight. (Charles R. Gregory)

08:40: On a dirt road some 12 kilometres into Czechoslovakia, a reconnaissance platoon of the US Army's 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, Company C, is blindsided by a hail of enemy machine gun and small arms fire from concealed positions in the woods.
Soldiers from the German 11th Panzer Division fire off four rounds of panzerfausts, which explode around the lead American vehicle, an M-8 armoured car. The American GIs in the second vehicle, an open jeep, get the worst of it: Two take hits to the hands and face: Pfc Charley Havlat is killed.

"Charley... Well, he fired once at the enemy and then I guess he ducked down at the hood of the jeep. But he forgot to move in another direction and he peeked back up, I guess, at the same position and they apparently had a bead right on him, so... and he died instantly.
That's what I've been told, anyway."

Adolph Havlat, now in his early eighties, was one of three Czech-American brothers from the close-knit farming community of Dorchester, Nebraska, to serve in Europe during the Second World War. Rudolph Havlat passed away a couple of years ago. Their oldest brother Pfc Charles Havlat, was the last American GI killed in action on the 5th Division front, and is officially the last American KIA in the entire European Theatre. He was 34 years old.

The re-con men of the 803rd returned fire until their radio operator received word that, some nine minutes before the ambush, a cease-fire order had gone into effect, and an armistice was in effect. The company got orders to withdraw back into the town of Wallern, now known as Volary.
Less than six hours after the attack, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. Taken captive later, the German officer who led the ambush said he knew nothing of the cessation of hostilities until 30 minutes after their effective time and apologised for the incident.

Prague: General Bunyachenko of the 1st Division POA is informed that Prague is to be occupied by the Soviets. The incoming pro-Soviet government of Eduard Benes demands their surrender or abandonment of Prague.

NORWAY: Oslo: Germany announces a cease-fire.

CANADA:

Frigate HMCS Cap de la Madeleine completed repairs Quebec City, Province of Quebec and commenced tropicalization refit.

Corvette HMCS Dunvegan departed Halifax with escort for Convoy SC-175. (DS)

U.S.A.: San Francisco: The Big Four (China, UK, USA, USSR) nations reached agreement here today on all except the Polish and trusteeship questions. Tomorrow the smaller nations will finish the drafting of a charter for the new "United Nations". Two points of friction between the western Allies and the USSR were resolved here today. The General Assembly will have the power to arbitrate in international disputes which threaten to erupt into war, and the UN will be given jurisdiction over future alliances. Settlement of the Polish question is being held up by the unexplained arrest of 16 Polish delegates in Moscow.

In order to calibrate the instruments that will be used to record the Trinity atomic bomb test, a 100-ton test is performed today.

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100ton.jpg

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp1.jpg

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp2.jpg

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp3.jpg

(Drew Halevy)

Destroyer USS Leary commissioned. (DS)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Minesweeper HMCS Thunder accepted surrender of German m/s, FGi, Bay of Biscay. (DS)

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