30 May 1939

May 30th, 1939 (TUESDAY)

GERMANY: The liner Wilhelm Gustloff arrives in Hamburg carrying the men of the Condor Legion who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

Along with Panzerschiffe Admiral Scheer, Aviso Hamburg, 3 Zerstorer and a number of Torpedo boats, Graf Spee escorted the transport fleet of the Legion Condor arriving from Spain. The transport fleet consisted of the ships Wilhelm Gustloff, Robert Ley, Der Deutsche, Stuttgart, Sierra Cordoba, and the Oceania. The ships were escorted into the harbour at Hamburg.

CANADA: King George VI Visits City Hall, Victoria.

30 May 1940

May 30th, 1940 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: Winston Churchill is determined that the grim news from France, as the battered BEF retreats towards Dunkirk, should not deflect Britain from its absolute opposition to Germany whatever the cost. But he needed the support of the two Labour Party members of his five-man war cabinet to sustain his position.

At a secret meeting in the Prime Minister’s room at the House of Commons last night the war cabinet is understood to have debated Italy’s offer to mediate towards a negotiated peace. Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, believes that Britain might secure better terms now, before, as seems likely, France is forced to surrender.

Chamberlain, ousted as premier earlier this month, was sympathetic to the Halifax line; Churchill, predictably, was hostile. He turned to the Labour men, for so long his political opponents. Clement Attlee said that if negotiations ever began the morale of the people would suffer a disastrous blow. His deputy, Arthur Greenwood, agreed - and the two-hour meeting ended with Britain still defiantly at war.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Attacks on the perimeter of the troops at Dunkirk, in the Dixemude, Furnes, Ypres, Thourout region, 67 sorties mounted by 6 squadrons.

Destroyer HMS Wheatland laid down.

WESTERN FRONT:

FRANCE:

Operation Dynamo: French destroyer Bourrasque is sunk.

53,820 men are taken off, amongst them Lt-Gen Alan Brooke whose 2 Corps has played a large part in the successful withdrawal to the Channel.
Montgomery describes an emotional scene: "He arrived at my headquarters to say goodbye and I saw at once that he was struggling to hold himself in check, so I took him a little way into the sand hills and then he broke down and wept."

Brooke arrives at Montgomery's headquarters at LaPanne to turn over command of 2 Corps to Monty before returning to the UK to reform the army as it returns from France. As Monty describes the scene the two walked into the sand hills where Brooke broke down and wept on Monty's shoulder. Probably putting on his psychologist hat Monty felt that Brooke's behavior was more than a momentary lapse of self-control. Monty wrote, "When the reserve of the English heart is broken through, most of us like to be alone. And so when Alanbrooke broke down and wept on my shoulder, I knew it meant his friendship was all mine - and I was glad to have it that way." (Far better than Monty breaking down on Brooke's shoulder.) "That scene on the sand-dunes on the Belgian coast is one that will remain with my all my life."

(Hamilton, Monty's biographer, doubts that Brooke's lowering of his impassive mask was the symbol of friendship that Monty took it to mean. In any case, there is no mention of this lowering of the mask in that portion or Brooke's diary that is in Bryant's work.) The scene was witnessed by Brian Horrocks, the commander of the machine gun battalion in Monty's 3rd Division, who had been called to the divisional headquarters to take over a brigade. (Jay Stone)

All the British troops are within the Mardick, Bergues, Colme Canal and Furnes perimeter.

General Alexander’s corps took up positions by the side of the French to defend the perimeter.

Destroyer FS Bourrasque sunk near Nieuport after being mined and finished off by German artillery fire. The ship was participating in the evacuation off Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.

ASW trawler HMS St Ahilleus mined and sunk off Dunkirk.

The Wehrmacht High Command announced:-

‘On the afternoon and evening of May 29, strong formations from two air corps under the command of Generals Grauert and von Richtofen, attacked British war and transport vessels in the port and sea territory of Dunkirk and Ostend, as they were trying to evacuate the remains of the British Expeditionary Force.’

F.Y.I., the "General von Richthofen" mentioned here was Wolfram, a cousin of Manfred (the famed "red baron" of WW I). Indeed, Wolfram served under Manfred in Jagdsgeschwader I. Unlike Manfred, Wolfram survived WWI, went on to earn a doctoral degree in engineering and cap his career as a Generalfeldmarschal near the end of WW II.

He developed a brain tumor and was in a coma in a German hospital in Austria when U.S. forces took custody of him at war's end. GFM von Richthofen never regained consciousness and died in hospital. (Peter Kilduff)

GERMANY: U-100 and U-123 commissioned.

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN: HMS Ark Royal, fully stocked to return to the fight, departs Grennock at 0545, escorted by DDs HMS Acasta, HMS Ardent, and HMS Acheron. Meanwhile, HMS Glorious, escorted by DDs HMS Highlander and HMS Wren, finally enters Scapa at 1515 to refuel. (Mark Horan)

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine SC-216 launched.

ITALY: Rome: Mussolini decides that Italy will enter the war on June 5, and forewarns Hitler.

U.S.A.: Cordell Hull, the U.S. Secretary of State, responds to William C. Bullitt, the U.S. Ambassador to France, regarding Bullitt's 28 May request to send the U.S. fleet to the Mediterranean. Hull says, "The presence of the fleet in the Pacific at this time is a very practical contribution to the maintenance of peace in the Pacific."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Stanhall sunk by U-101 at 48.59N, 05.17W.

30 May 1941

May 30th, 1941 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill to Wavell: "It would be convenient to have [Djibouti] in the near future, and I shall be glad if you will consider what forces would be necessary to break the French resistance."

The tenth and last Lake-class U.S. Coast Guard cutter, USCGC ITASCA is transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS GORLESTON. Itasca was present at Howland Island in 1937 during the Amelia Earhart around-the-world flight. (Keith Allen and Jack McKillop)

Corvette HMS Myosotis commissioned.

Submarine HMS P-33 commissioned.

ÉIRE: The Luftwaffe bomb Dublin killing 34 people, wounding 90 and destroying or damaging 300 buildings. "High Winds" are again blamed by the Germans for the mistake.

GERMANY:

Grand Admiral Raeder renews his proposal to Hitler that there should be a 'decisive Egypt-Suez offensive for the autumn of 1941which would be more deadly to the British Empire than the capture of London.'

Hitler decides that this can wait until the collapse of the Soviet Union which should happen no later than October.

GREECE: CRETE:

2nd Lt Charles Hazlitt Upham (b. 1908), 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, displayed great valour many times from 22-30 May. (Victoria Cross; only VC and bar of the war)

Early in the day more troops are lifted from the southern port of Sphakia by another cruiser force. Well to the south the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth is bombed and damaged.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: HMS Calcutta was bombed and sunk by two German Ju-88 bomber aircraft in the Mediterranean north-west of Alexandria, Egypt, during the Battle of Crete. Calcutta was from the third group of the 'C type’ cruisers that were based on the WWI-vintage Arethusa Class light cruiser. They were intended to serve as leaders for destroyer flotillas and as scouts for the battle fleet in the North Sea. Several were converted into AA cruisers in the late 1930’s. Their low endurance and relatively poor seakeeping characteristics limited their utility outside of ‘small sea’ operating areas.

EGYPT:

Cairo: The British Middle East Air Force announced:-

In Iraq our fighter squadrons flew patrols throughout the day in support of our advancing troops while Italian aircraft tried to prevent them. One of these aircraft was shot down ar Khanugh (Iraq). A number of British reconnaissance planes and bombers operated in cooperation with motorised units. We have destroyed the hangars on the airfield at Deir ez Zor in Syria. In Abyssinia, South African aircraft attacked Italian troops still fighting near Gimma. Direct hits were observed on buildings, as were a number of fires. Several Italian motor trucks went up in flames north of Algeh. Forts Azozo and Digya were bombed at Gondar (Ethiopia). In Libya, an enemy bomber wing yesterday undertook an assault on Tobruk; antiaircraft succeeded in shooting down four of them and severak others were damaged. Five of our own aircraft failed to return from these operations.

IRAQ:

British troops of the 4th Cavalry Brigade of 1st British Cavakry Division stood at the gates of Baghdad after travelling 500 miles across the desert from Palestine. Rashid Ali, the German and Italian diplomats in Iraq and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, all fled to Persia. A cease-fire agreement was signed.
The main British forces are at Ur, the force from Habbaniyah has advanced slightly.

PALESTINE:

Jerusalem: The American Associated Press News Agency reported:

British and Indian troops are continuing their non-stop advance toward Baghdad and encountering no major resistance anywhere. It is now known that two motorised columns are carrying out the operation. Other British forces supported by tanks are operating against Iraqi troop positions at Ramadi about 12 miles northwest of Habbaniya.

NEWFOUNDLAND: HMCS Restigouche and Ottawa arrived in St John’s, Newfoundland, and became the first destroyers to join the newly formed Newfoundland Escort Force.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

At 0036, the unescorted Silveryew was hit in the stern by one of two torpedoes from U-106 and sank west of the Cape Verde Islands. One crewmember was lost. The master, 49 crewmembers and three gunners made landfall at San Antonio, Cape Verde Islands.

At 1311, the unescorted Empire Protector was torpedoed and sunk by U-38 southwest of Freetown. Five crewmembers were lost. The master, 29 crewmembers and three gunners were picked up by the Dutch merchantman Arundo and landed at Freetown.

30 May 1942

May 30th, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: During conferences with RAF Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles F Portal, Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, presents "Programme of Arrival of US Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom" providing for 66 combat groups, exclusive of observation squadrons, by March 1943.

Escort carrier HMS Activity launched.

Corvette HMS Balsam launched.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser HMS Royalist launched.

Frigate HMS Test launched.

BELGIUM: F/O Leslie Thomas Manser (b.1922), of No. 50 Squadron flew his badly-shot-up Avro Manchester bomber as far as he could from Germany before telling his crew to bale out; he went down with his plane. (Victoria Cross)(22)

GERMANY:

U-743 laid down.

U-759 launched.

U-445 commissioned.

ARCTIC OCEAN: Three Russian destroyers joined up with convoy, PQ-16 today to help escort it through the last stage of what has been the most hazardous Arctic journey so far.

The convoy - with 35 ships - the biggest yet on this run, set sail on 21 May for Murmansk and Archangel. For the last three days it has been hammered by no fewer than 260 German aircraft.

The convoy was joined on 25 May by a force of four British cruisers, HMS Norfolk, HMS NIGERIA, HMS KENT and HMS LIVERPOOL, for the earliest part of its journey. The cruisers left early on 27 May, before the main attacks, led by Heinkel He-111 torpedo-bombers and Junkers JU87 dive-bombers, began. Only one ship has been sunk by U-boat, but six have succumbed to air attack.

At this time of year there is virtually 24-hour daylight in the Arctic, and there has been no respite from the devastating air attack for 72 hours. Nevertheless, 93,000 tons of new war material have been delivered to the USSR, including 320 tanks, 125 aircraft and 2,500 military vehicles.

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel pulls his panzers into a tight defensive position that becomes known as the "Cauldron", a small area between Sidra and Aslagh, and continues to fight.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane, Allied Code Name "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Diego Suarez, Madagascar.

The Harbor of Diego Suarez: Nightfall on with the sky clear, bright and a full moon. Some reports suggest that the midget submarine from I-16 was unsuccessful in getting into the harbour. This statement is not supported by eyewitness reports from crewmembers on both the British Loyalty and HMS Ramillies. Both reported seeing the conning towers of two small submarines in the harbour around the time of the attack. The midget submarine from I-20 was definitely in the harbour and at 2025 hours started a torpedo attack. It almost immediately scored a hit on HMS Ramillies, which blasted a 30ft by 30ft hole in her port bulge.

It caused severe flooding to a number of decks as well as power and communication failures within the vessel. In spite of HMS Ramillies' severe damage there were no fatalities on board and injuries were limited to one broken arm and some bumps, bruising and concussion. The torpedo had passed very close to the stern of the tanker British Loyalty on its path to the Ramillies.

Having witnessed the attack on the Ramillies, the Master of the British Loyalty ordered her crew to get all the boats out and heave up the anchor. He then rang the Engine Room Telegraph signalling "standby". It was now nearly an hour since the first attack and the Loyalty was just beginning to move aft, away from her original forward anchor point.

Signalman Harry Barnet was watching from the deck of HMS Ramillies and was horrified to see the track of a second torpedo, which appeared to be

heading directly towards his ship. As he looked out he could see British Loyalty, just underway, going astern and directly into the torpedo's path. It was now 2120 hours and the tanker was hit in the after part of the engine room and caught the full blast of the weapon that had been intended for the Battleship. The crew on the midget from I-20 had fired their second torpedo.

The stern of British Loyalty began to sink rapidly and her Master, R. Wastell, gave the order to "Abandon Ship". If this second torpedo had hit the already badly damaged Ramillies, this elderly battleship would have certainly sunk.

Nearly all the Ramillies' crew were engaged in stemming the flow of water through the damaged hull and pumping out the flooded decks.

They also had the delicate task of removing bombs, shells and bullets from the flooded ammunition stores.

In the meantime the British Loyalty had sunk to the bottom of the harbour in around 67 feet of water with only part of her funnel visible above the surface. Her stern was now firmly embedded in the harbour mud.

After the attack, the two-man crew of the midget submarine from I-20 attempted to leave the harbour, but in their haste and due to defective steering, grounded the midget on a reef. They abandoned their craft, swam ashore and started to walk across the barren countryside of Northern Madagascar in an attempt to reach the agreed rendezvous point with their mother submarine I-20 near the thickly wooded hills of Cape Amber. They also knew I-20 would wait for two days at the pick up point before finally departing. (Denis Peck)

JAPAN: A Japanese task force consisting of two light aircraft carriers and two troop transports departs northern Honshu Island for the Aleutian Islands.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: U.S. Navy Task Force 17, consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), departs Pearl Harbor to join Task Force 16 northeast of Midway Island. The Yorktown Air Group consists of Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) with Douglas SBD Dauntlesses, VB-5 with SBDs, Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3) with Grumman F4F Wildcats, and Torpedo Squadron Three (VT-3) with Douglas TBD Devastators.

The USAAF's 7th Air Force in the Territory of Hawaii dispatches six B-17 Flying Fortresses to Midway Island to reinforce the fifteen that are already there.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Brantford arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Minesweeper HMCS Noranda arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Fred T. Korematsu, a welder from Oakland, California, is jailed in San Leandro for refusing to join family members who had reported to a nearby racetrack that is being used as a temporary detention centre. He will later take the United States' government to court over internment of Americans of Japanese descent.

Submarine USS Runner launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: An unarmed U.S. merchant freighter is sunk by the submarine U-404.

At 0651, the unescorted Baghdad was hit by a torpedo from U-155, the gun fell over and eight men were killed and several badly injured. Shortly after two lifeboats had been lowered, another torpedo hit in the middle of the ship and she sank within minutes east of Martinique. One of the injured men died later in a lifeboat.

At 1024, lookouts on the unarmed and unescorted Alcoa Shipper spotted the U-404 surfacing about 500 miles east of Cape Charles, Virginia. Despite using two different zigzag patterns, just then one torpedo struck the starboard side at the fireroom and caused the boiler to explode. The vessel immediately stopped and settled within five minutes, so fast that the two lifeboats being launched became fouled and went down with the ship. Three men were killed on the watch below and four others drowned. 25 out of a total crew of eight officers and 24 crewmen abandoned ship on three rafts that released themselves. The U-boat approached the survivors; the Germans questioned them and then gave several bottles of rum, cigarettes and a pair of dungarees for a man who had escaped with little clothing. 56 hours later five officers and 20 men were picked up by the Norwegian SS Margrethe Bakke and landed in New York on 3 June.

The Canadian Markland Shipping coastal freighter Liverpool Packet (1,188 GRT), Captain N.E. Smith, Master, was torpedoed and sunk west of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, in position 43.20N, 066.20W, by U-432, OLtzS. Heinz-Otto Schultze, Knight's Cross, CO. Two men were lost from her crew of twenty-three men. Liverpool Packet was proceeding alone from New York City for Newfoundland with a cargo of ‘US Government supplies’ when she was torpedoed. The ship broke in two and sank quickly. The crew was questioned about their cargo and destination by the bridge staff of U-432, which derisively sang ‘There’ll Always Be An England’ as they departed. The survivors rowed to Cape Sable Island, where they were rescued.

30 May 1943

May 30th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Torquay: German raiders bomb a church, killing 20 children and 5 adults.

FRANCE: Vichy broadcast announcement that French naval squadron at Alexandria had gone over to the Allies.

GERMANY: Rühr: More than 90% of the Barmen district of Wuppertal, the hub of the Rühr's chemical industry was obliterated by 1,900 tons of bombs last night. Civilian casualties included 3,400 dead (German figures); 118,000 lost their homes.

The raid was notable both for the accuracy of the Pathfinders, the vanguard of pilots who mark the targets for the main wave, and for the light flak over the target. Only 33 of the 719 bombers are missing, many shot down during the 20-mile run through the guns of the Kammhuber Line, ground-controlled "boxes" patrolled by Luftwaffe fighters. The attack is part of an air war of attrition promised as Casablanca.

U-921 commissioned.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The first new aircraft carrier to arrive in the Pacific in a year, USS Essex (CV-9) with Carrier Air Group Nine (CVG-9) arrives at Pearl Harbor.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The American North Pacific Island of Attu, seized by the Japanese in June 1942, is back in American hands. American assault troops of the US 7th Infantry Division swept ashore against light resistance on 11 May. The 20-day campaign that followed ended with howling groups of cornered Japanese breaking out of their final positions in a wild charge towards the American lines, where they were mown down by murderous automatic fire.

In a final weak attack yesterday, all the Japanese who were not killed appear to have committed suicide. Total Japanese deaths were 2,622, with just 29 who had been taken prisoner earlier. Of the 15,000 Americans in the campaign, 549 lost their lives and 1,148 were wounded. About 2,100 Americans are taken out of the action by disease and non-battle injuries. Trench foot is the most common affliction. Most of the non-battle cases are exposure, victims of the weather and inadequate clothing and boots.

The men of the 7th Infantry Division were issued standard field jackets and leather boots which got wet and froze during the cold nights on the island. For the upcoming invasion of Kiska Island, the assault troops would be equipped with clothing and footwear better suited for the cold weather, i.e., parkas instead of field jackets and arctic shoes instead of leather boots. The landing force would consist of combat veterans of Attu or troops trained at Adak in the type of fighting encountered on Attu.

The USAAF's Eleventh Air Force dispatches two B-24s and twelve P-38 Lightnings to fly air cover missions over Attu and patrol the area. On Kiska Island, three air-ground support missions to Attu by seven B-24 Liberators and twelve B-25 Mitchells drop no bombs there and instead bomb Kiska installations while three F-5A Lightnings fly photo reconnaissance and eight P-40s attack and strafe tents and troops and blast the runway at Kiska. Later in the day, eight P-40s fly four reconnaissance missions to Kiska. The Japanese submarine I-21 lands nine tons of weapons and ammunition and six tons of food and evacuates 44 sailors and 16 soldiers.

U.S.A.: Submarines USS Hackleback and Devilfish launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2157, the Flora MacDonald, escorted by armed trawler HMS Fandango, was hit by one torpedo from U-126. The torpedo struck on the port side in the engine room, killing the third assistant engineer and a fireman. The explosion opened a large hole that immediately flooded the engine room, stopped the engines and caused the ship to settle by the stern. A fire started in the #3 hold and flames, shooting 40 feet in the air, quickly trapped some of the men in their quarters. The surviving crewmembers of the eight officers, 36 men, 24 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and nine 20mm guns) and two passengers abandoned ship in six lifeboats and two rafts. Five of these men suffered severe burns. The fire raged out of control and spread to the #2 and #4 holds and the entire midships house. The armed trawler picked up the survivors and decided to head to Freetown, so the badly burned men could be treated. Three of them died on board and the other two died in the hospital in Freetown from their burns. 20 men were hospitalized. At 1430 the next day, tug HMS Zwarte Zee, escorted by sloop HMS Milford and corvettes HMS Woodruff and Tamarisk, took the still burning vessel in tow for Freetown at 5.5 knots. At 1800 on 1 June, they beached the ship in Freetown Harbor where the cargo of rubber was salvaged. The Liberty ship burned for 16 days and was later declared a total loss.

U-418 fought off an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina aircraft. The aircraft made it home but was so "holed" that she sank on landing. Later salvaged. The boat was most probably U-418, which was lost shortly afterwards.

U-459 shot down an RAF 10 Sqn Whitley.

30 May 1944

May 30th, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF's Eighth Air Force based in England flies Mission 380: 928 bombers and 672 fighters in six forces are dispatched to hit aircraft industry targets in Germany and marshalling yards in France and Belgium; they claim 65-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; twelve bombers and nine fighters are lost:

1. 268 B-17s are dispatched to attack aviation industry targets at Dessau (83 bomb), Halberstadt (107 bomb) and Oschersleben (51 bomb); five other hit targets of opportunity; they claim 8-5-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; nine B-17s are lost.

2. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit aviation depots at Oldenburg (135 bomb), Rotenburg (147 bomb) and Zwischenahn (71 bomb); one other hits a target of opportunity; one B-24 is lost.

3. 46 of 91 B-24s hit Munster/Handorf Airfield and 36 others hit Diepholz Airfield; two B-24s are lost.

4. 122 of 126 B-17s hit French marshalling yards; 62 hit Reims and 60 hit Troyes without loss.

5. 39 of 40 B-17s hit Brussels/Schaerbeck marshalling yard, Belgium without loss.

6. 76 of 84 B-17s hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais, France without loss.

Escort is provided by 186 P-38s, 184 P-47 Thunderbolts and 302 P-51 Mustangs; P-47s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft with one aircraft lost;

P-51s claim 48-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 7-0-3 on the ground with the loss of eight P-51s (pilots are MIA); 637 Ninth Air Force fighters support the mission; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground for the loss of three aircraft.

100 P-47s are dispatched to bomb 4 rail bridges in northwestern France; 37 hit Longueil bridge, 26 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise bridge, 23 hit Canly-le-Jouque bridge and 12 hit the Creil bridge; one P-47 is lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 320+ B-26 Marauders to attack airfields at Denain/Prouvy and Mantes/Limay, and highway bridges at Meulan and Rouen, all in France. Nearly 400 P-47s dive-bomb targets in northwestern Europe.

Corvette HMS Bamborough Castle commissioned.

Frigates HMS Bigbury Bay, St Austell Bay and St Brides Bay laid down.

FRANCE:

D-Day Countdown

The German Perspective

Tuesday, 30 May, 1944

May 30th. Rommel has assembled most of his corps and army commanders at Caen to attend a weapons display at Riva Bella, just west of Ouistraham. Even Admiral Krancke and General von Funk. Featured in the show are some of Major Becker's multiple rocket launchers. The whooshing missiles impress everyone there. Becker also takes the opportunity to sow off some the armored assault guns that he has fashioned onto captured French armored chassis. Also displayed are a number of smoke launchers.

After the presentation, General Marcks has a chance to talk to Fifteenth Army Commander General von Salmuth.

He mentions to him the problems that he has on his Calvados coastline. Both the 352nd and the 716th Division each had a 30-mile stretch of beach to defend.

"It's the weakest sector of my whole corps," he admits worriedly.

They dine off a small but adequate field mess, sitting at tables under a lovely canopy of trees. It is just as well.

Enemy air activity is, as usual these days, bustling.

Rommel is surprised that the Mantes bridges are still functional.

Rommel closes the proceedings by addressing all of his commanders. He pleads with them to stay alert, and to be ready at all times. "You shouldn't count on the enemy coming in fine weather, and by day," he tells them.

Sadly for him, he will end up ignoring his own advice.

After the demonstration, Rommel, Buhle and Jakob ride off to tour the defensive barriers along the coast.

It will be Rommel's last tour of the invasion area before D-Day.

Eventually, Rommel, his staff, and the two visiting generals head back to the chateau. They stops at some deployment areas of the 21st Panzer Division.

Again he gives the `stay alert' speech. Major Hans von Luck is present here again, as he was at the conference. He expresses his anxiety over the fact that the enemy has not yet come. Would they ever?

This long period of no activity is starting to have an effect on his men, even the new recruits, fresh from Germany. The peaceful French countryside and good wine is not helping matters.

Rommel, Buhle, and Jakob head back. It is none too soon. By evening the Mante bridges are gone, as is the one at Gaillon, about 20 km downriver from Vernon. In fact all the bridges along the Seine between Elbeuf * and Paris are down.

=======

* Located on the Seine River, about two-thirds of the distance between Paris and Le Havre.

Pete Margaritis

GERMANY: Allied pilots who are shot down over Germany can no longer expect any mercy from the people. The Reichsleiter Martin Bormann has today issued a directive to all district and regional National Socialist leaders to the effect that lynch law is now approved by the government in Berlin.

This directive from Bormann, who is also Hitler's secretary, follows a newspaper article by the Reich propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, which was published on 27 May. Under the headline "Comments on the Enemy Air Terror", Goebbels concluded that, in view of the "criminal combat methods" now employed by the Allied air forces, pilots had no right to prevent the German people, in their "seething rage", from acting in their own defence and rewarding murder with murder. Bormann's directive has given the government seal of approval to Goebbel's incitement to mob justice.

U-3001 launched.

U-683 commissioned.

ROMANIA: Jessy: A long lull on the whole front is broken by powerful German Attack on Koniev's Front in Romania.

U.S.S.R.: USS Herndon (DD-198), commissioned as HMS Churchill (I-45) on 9 Sep. 1940; is transferred to Russia as Dyatelnyi today. She will be torpedoed and sunk by U-956 on 16 Jan. 1945 while escorting a White Sea convoy; the last war loss of the class and the only one of the destroyers transferred to Russia to be lost. (Ron Babuka)

ITALY: The British 8th Army takes Arce.
The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches nearly 500 bombers to attack targets in Austria and Yugoslavia; B-17s attack the marshalling yard at Zagreb, Yugoslavia; B-24s attack aircraft factories at Wels, Ebreichadorf, Pottendorf, Neudorfl and Neunkirchen, Austria; P-38s and P-51s provide escort and many of the fighters strafe targets of opportunity in areas around Zut, Brod, Susak, Bihac, Medak, and along the Karlovac-Livno road, Yugoslavia.

NEW GUINEA: Minor skirmishes on Biak where the Americans are re-grouping. In the Wadke-Sarmi area the US 158 Infantry Regiment Combat Team establishes a new defensive line along the river Tirfoam. Japanese mount night attacks along the perimeter of the Arare mainland beachead opposite Biak. (Michael Kiddell)

U.S.A.:

Submarine USS Mapiro laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Hemminger commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Sentry commissioned.

ECUADOR: President Carlos Arroyo del Rio of Ecuador and his cabinet resigned after a revolutionary junta seized power in Guayaquil.

30 May 1945

May 30th, 1945 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Salvage vessel HMS Salvigil launched.

U-985 (Type VIIC) which had been heavily damaged on 15 Nov, 1944 at Lister by mine, returned to Kristiansand and taken out of service, is on this day in 1945, transferred from Kristiansand-S to Loch Ryan, Scotland for Operation Deadlight. U-4706 (Type XXIII) is on this day in 1945 transferred from Kristiansand Süd, Norway to Loch Ryan, Scotland and given a British pennant number. Subsequently transferred to Norway in October 1948, to become KNM Knerter. Used for storage by the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club from 14 Apr 1950. Stricken in 1954 and broken up.

IRAN: Tehran: Iran asks Britain, the US and the USSR to withdraw their troops.

JAPAN: Okinawa: US forces advance to Shuri.
Mines previously laid by B-29 Superfortresses of the USAAF's Twentieth Air Force sink a Japanese transport and three freighters off Japan.

CANADA:

HMCS Capilano departed Londonderry for tropicalization refit in Shelburne , Nova Scotia.

HMCS Westmount returned to Halifax from workups at Bermuda.

HMCS Ettrick paid off and returned to RN at Southampton.

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