London: This morning the BBC reported:

‘The Germans have suffered heavy losses near Abbeville. Several hundred German soldiers have been taken prisoner, and the Germans left behind considerable war material. The Allies have reconquered the area around Abbeville and crossed the Somme at one point. The disembarkation of British and French troops is continuing on English seaports. The majority of contingents of the northern Allied armies have been successfully transported to England. The troops who have stayed behind, are fighting on with undiminished courage.’

FRANCE: As the Dunkirk evacuation continues under heavy air attack, destroyers HMS Keith, HMS Basilisk and HMS Havant and the French 'Le Foudroyant' are bombed and lost off the beaches. 64,429 men are evacuated (17,000 from the beaches, the rest from the mole in Dunkirk Harbour). The RAF sorties 8 large patrols over Dunkirk. But they  decide that the air battles are becoming too dangerous for continued evacuation operations during daylight hours.

B class destroyer leader HMS Keith is suffers air attacks in the English Channel off Bray at 51 06 02 32E. Her steering is jammed, her engine room damaged and she lists to port. The Admiral transfers to MTB 102 and then Keith is sunk by further bombing.36 of the crew become casualties in the air attacks, and an additional 100 when the rescue tug is lost.  

Destroyer HMS Basilisk is overwhelmed in a series of air attacks and loses all steam power. She is finally sunk in the English Channel off La Panne at 51 08N 02 35E in shallow water and her hull destroyed by depth charges dropped by HMS Whitehall. There are 131 survivors.

Just after departing Dunkirk, HMS Havant receives two bomb hits in her engine room and another as she passes over it. Is anchored and the soldiers transferred to other craft whilst under airattack. She is then abandoned, rolls over and sinks in the English Channel off Dunkirk at 51 04N 02 35E. There are 8 casualties.

The perimeter is drawn in, the British withdrawing from the Colme to the line Bergues, Uxem, Ghyrelde, Bass-Plaine.

Leading Seaman Ernest Frederick Eldred was on the destroyer HMS Harvester during the evacuation from Dunkirk. The crew members thought they were simply on patrol; then they saw the boats steaming across the Channel.

"I suppose you would call it more of a holiday scene with every type of boat and craft, an endless line across the Channel; some being towed by larger boats. It was a fantastic sight." As a destroyer, the Harvester was responsible for fighting off German air attacks as well as picking up as many men as possible from the beach. "I don't think the destroyers have ever carried so many men as we did, there must have been hundreds, literally crammed in every space you could think of; you could hardly have got a cat aboard each time."

He recalls that they just "set them down anywhere we possibly could ... down the stokehole, engine room, mess decks were full, upper deck was crowded, everywhere. The only place we couldn’t have them was by the guns."

Paris: This morning the French Army reported:

‘The French and British land, sea and air forces at Dunkirk are continuing, in full accord, their stubborn fight against the impressing German troops, and at the same time are trying to secure the evacuation.’

Paris: Leopold III, the King of the Belgians, is struck off the Order of the Legion of Honour.

NORWAY: A week after deciding to withdraw from Norway, the Allies announce the evacuation of all troops.
Both carriers and their escort continue their passage to Norway. (Mark Horan)

SWITZERLAND: Bern: The Swiss Army Staff reported:

‘This afternoon in the Jura mountains, Swiss sovereign territory was violated by foreign aircraft. The Swiss Alarm Patrol immediately took up pursuit, engaged in aerial combat with a German bomber and shot down the aircraft near Lignieres (Ger. Tassenberg). One hour later another Swiss fighter plane engaged in aerial combat with a second German aircraft over the Freiburg region (Fr. Franches-Montagnes). The burning German plane crashed onto French territory near Oltingen, on the other side of the Swiss border.’

CHINA: Hsiangyang falls to the Japanese.

Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Tedder is appointed C-in-C air forces in the Middle East.

People were taken completely by surprise by today's announcement that clothes are now rationed and that they must give up their margarine coupons to buy them until special ration cards have been printed. Each man, woman or child will be given 66 coupons to last until a year from today.

The number of coupons to be given up varies according to the garment and the consumer; for example a man's raincoat or overcoat requires 16 coupons, a woman's 14, and a child's 11. Men need 13 coupons for a jacket, eight for trousers and five for a waistcoat, so a three-piece suit takes 26. A woman can get a woollen dress for 11 coupons, and one in any other material for a skirt or a skirt for seven, a blouse for five, stockings for two, and shoes or boots for five. Men's shoes need seven, and a pair of socks three. Even a tie or two handkerchiefs need a coupon. So do two ounces of knitting wool.

Husbands can give up their coupons to their wives (and vice-versa), and both can give them up for their children. Second-hand clothes are unrationed. There was a run on second-hand shops today. None of the traders in Petticoat Lane market were taking coupons.

MALTA: Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Lloyd appointed Air Officer Commanding in succession to Air Commodore F. H. M. Maynard.

CRETE: The British Air Ministry announced:-

After twelve days of the bitterest fighting of the war so far, it has been decided to withdraw our forces from Crete. Although the enemy has suffered massive losses of men and material, we would not in the long term have been able to continue successful troop operations on the island without substantial support from the aerial and naval forces.

Approximately 15,000 British troops have already left Crete and arrived in Egypt. However, it must be mentioned that the battle on Crete has taken a heavy toll of our forces. It is believed in London that General Freyberg has left Crete altogether with our troops. An official report confirms that General Freyberg is still alive.

British Commonwealth losses amount to 1,742 dead and 1,737 wounded, while the German have lost 3,985 dead and missing and 2,131 wounded. The Germans have lost 220 planes to the RAF's 46. The Royal Navy has taken a severe pounding - three cruisers and six destroyers sunk and 17 ships crippled, with the loss of 2,011 lives.

As the last troops are carried from Crete, cruisers HMS Calcutta and HMS Coventry sail from Alexandria to provide AA cover. HMS Calcutta is struck by two bombs from a Ju. 88 and sinks within a few minutes 100 miles northwest of Alexandria at 31 55N, 28 05E. There are 255 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Some 15,000 troops are saved but at a cost to the RN of 2,000 men killed. Total warship casualties are

Battleships - 2 badly damaged;

Carriers - 1 badly damaged;

Cruisers - 3 sunk and 5 badly damaged;

Destroyers - 6 sunk and 5 badly damaged.

NORTH AFRICA: The balance of the 15th Panzer Division is now present in North Africa.

IRAQ: British forces enter Baghdad and the king is returned to power when Emir Abdul Illah for King Faisal returns.

U.S.A.: The First Issue of US Technical and Tactical Trends is published. (Bill Howard)

Japanese companies still hold approved licenses to purchase 7.1 million barrels of ordinary petroleum (gasoline) and 21.9 million barrels of crude oil. (Edward S. Miller)

Dallas Morning News headline: Darlan Accuses British of Piracy, Indicates Full Confidence in Axis. (Bernard de Neumann)

New York Times headline: "Darlan Threatens to Resist British -- Assailing Bombings, He Says French Will Force Respect -- Sfax is Raided Again" While it only includes excerpts of the Darlan's nearly 2,500 word statement, the article does note Darlan's anger at British actions against French interests including vessels seized while at sea, supposedly enumerating ships seized that totaled 792,00 tons and worth 120 billion francs. (Daniel Ross)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US Coast Guard begins patrolling off Greenland with 4 cutters. The U.S. Coast Guard establishes the South Greenland Patrol consisting of the Coast Guard cutters USCGC Modoc (CGC-39) and USCGC Comanche (CGC-57); yard tug USCGC Raritan (CGC-72); along with the U.S. Navy's unclassified auxiliary vessel USS Bowdoin (IX-50), a schooner. The ships will patrol from Cape Brewster to Cape Farewell to Upernivik.

UNITED KINGDOM: Hatfield, Hertfordshire: The prototype de Havilland Mosquito MK VI, fighter bomber and night intruder, makes its maiden flight. (22)

GERMANY: Tonight another 1,000 plane raid by the RAF is launched against Essen.

POLAND: A third camp is set up at Auschwitz, to build the Buna synthetic rubber factory.

Warsaw: "Bloodcurdling news has reached us about the slaughter of the Jew," says Liberty Barricade, the underground magazine published by the illegal Socialist Party today. The report publishes details of grisly killings by gas and mass burials in open graves at Chelmno, based on the account of Yakow Grobanowski, a man who miraculously escaped from the slaughter and has now reached Warsaw.

Meanwhile, in France and the Netherlands, the Nazis have ordered all Jews to identify themselves by wearing yellow stars.

U.S.S.R.: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. MS "TSch-91" (ex-"Ijorets N91") mined at North Kronshtadt far water.

Manstein, the German commander in the Crimea, boards an Italian MAS boat to get a view of Soviet defenses from the sea. While at sea, they are surprised by two YAK-1 fighters and badly shot up. The MAS caught fire and was left dead in the water, one Italian petty officer is killed and three crew wounded, the German commander and Manstein's long time driver also died. Manstein afterwards describes the performance of the Italian boat's skipper as "beyond all praise." (Mike Yaklich)(278)

ARCTIC OCEAN: Soviet submarine "D-3" of the Polar fleet and White Sea Flotilla is sunk - supposedly mined, at Tana-fjord. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

AUSTRALIA: Three Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbour last night. They fired torpedoes, one of which sank the depot ship KUTTABULL, killing at least 19 sailors. The midget subs were launched from a flotilla of Japanese submarines now operating off the Australian coast.

on 30 May a float plane was launched from one of the submarines. It carried out a reconnaissance of Sydney Harbour. Burning navigation lights, the float plane twice circled the American cruiser USS CHICAGO, but no special defence measures were ordered.

The full moon was obscured by mist when the Japanese sent three midget submarines into the harbour the next night. A maritime services board watchman reported "a suspicious object" in the antitorpedo net. Before the submarine could be attacked the crew blew her up.

The USS CHICAGO sighted a submarine periscope at 500 yards and opened up with red tracer pom pom. A torpedo passed under a Dutch submarine and struck the harbour bed beneath the KUTTABULL, where it exploded. Concussion blew out the bottom of the KUTTABULL and she sank at once. A third submarine was attacked in Taylor Bay. Her crew shot themselves before they could be captured. All three submarines were lost.

Canberra: Yesterday's audacious raid by Japanese midget submarines on Sydney Harbour may have failed militarily, but that fact that it happened at all has reinforced Australian fears of a full-scale Japanese invasion. For six months Japanese forces have been triumphant everywhere except for the Coral Sea Battle.

Despite this neither London nor Washington believes that there is a serious danger of Australia being invaded. The Australian public are not so confident and seems prepared to accept any government action to combat the threat. A constant theme of the Australian government is the urgent need of reinforcements for the south-west Pacific and an insistence that more attention should be given to the war against Japan. MacArthur too, has expressed bitter disappointment at the meagre allocation of military resources to his command.

It was not until May that the Australian government learnt of the "beat Hitler first" grand strategy which gave second place to the Pacific war. The government found it "surprising" that it had not been told of this strategic decision by Britain and the USA. After the Battle of the Coral Sea General MacArthur, commanding the Pacific forces, sent John Curtin, the Australian prime minister, an appreciation in which he urged haste in the development of the Australian "defensive bastion".

He told Curtin that there were "most dangerous possibilities" because Japan could now call on troops from the Philippines, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies to strike anywhere.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 25 US submarines are in position off Midway Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: At 1300 hours local, the Japanese Kiska Invasion Force departs Kashiwabara on Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands en-route to Kiska Island in the Aleutians. The U.S. Navy's Task Group 8.6 built around the light cruiser USS Nashville (CL-43) enters the Gulf of Alaska intending to position themselves about 400 miles (741 km) south of Kodiak Island to "exploit opportunities." Unfortunately, they will be too far away for the upcoming action.

In Alaska, the USAAF's 11th Air Force has a B-17E Flying Fortress, six B-26 Marauders and 17 P-40s at Cold Bay on the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula and 12 P-40s, six B-26 and a B-17E at Otter Point on Umnak Island.

CANADA: Trawler HMS Campeaia launched Collingwood, Ontario.

German submarines sink four merchant ships off the U.S. coast:

- U-404 sinks an armed U.S. freighter off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by gunfire.

- U-172 torpedoes and sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter off the Bahamas.

- U-106 and U-158 each torpedo and sink an unarmed U.S. freighter in the Yucatan Channel in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fear of an attack on the west coast causes suspension of the movement of USAAF aircraft and crews from the U.S. to the U.K.

The 147 Nisei students of the second class of the MISLS graduates. These students were recruited from various military organizations within the Continental U.S. MIS personnel, checking documents. (Gene Hanson)

Corvette HMCS Trillium completed forecastle extension refit Galveston, Texas.

MEXICO: President Manuel Avila Camacho of Mexico declared that a state of war had existed between Mexico and Germany, Italy, and Japan as of May 22, 1942.

ÉIRE: Dublin: The Irish people today gave Eamon de Valera the vote of confidence denied him by the Dail and returned him to power with a majority of 14 over the combined opposition. His Fianna Fail party increased its representation from 67 deputies to 76. Political commentators think that one reason for the result is de Valera's strict neutrality policy, maintained to the point of defying Allied attempts to dislodge Axis missions from the Irish capital. The negative result of that policy is Eire's increasing economic isolation. This will be a priority for the new government; the poll followed a defeat over transport proposals.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The BBC transmits the first of two quotations from the poetry of Verlaine as a message to the French Resistance that invasion is imminent. Some German units go on alert.

Britain: Operations Fortitude North and Fortitude South, to convince the Germans that the invasion force will strike at both Norway and the Pas-de-Calais, come to an end.

Britain: Crucial to the success of "Ultra" the operation at Bletchley Park, are the Bombes, the machines that do the deciphering of the German Enigma codes. Initially these were wholly mechanical, but earl in 1943 an electro-magnetic version came into service. And today a new all-electronic model, codenamed Colossus, became operational. This has been developed at the Post Office Research Laboratory at Dollis Hill, in North London, and will radically speed up deciphering.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches about 100 B-26 Marauders to bomb airfields and coastal defence batteries from the Belgian border to the Cherbourg Peninsula.

FRANCE:

Field Marshal Kesselring orders a fighting withdrawal north of Rome.

U.S.S.R.: A Russian counterattack near Jassy begins to get results despite strong German resistance.

CHINA: Japanese troops capture Pingchien and Changshouchie in a fourth attempt to take Changsha.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Narwhal (SS-167) lands 16-men and 25 tons of supplies on the southwest coast of Mindanao Island. The sub takes out two men to help plan future missions.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: 2 B-24s from Shemya (Aleutian Islands) photograph and bomb installations at Buroton Bay, in the Kurile Islands, including a suspected seaplane base and the harbor area. Of 2 B-25s and 4 P-38s staking off for guardship cover mission, 3 aircraft abort with engine trouble. 2 other B-25s fly a negative antishipping sweep. (Edward S. Miller)
 

At 1300 hours local, the Japanese Kiska Invasion Force departs Kashiwabara, Paramushiru Island, Kurile Islands bound the Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands.

Rear Admiral Theobald, USN, in the light cruiser USS Nashville (CL-43), enters the Gulf of Alaska to join Task Group 8.6 (the heavy cruisers USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and USS Louisville (CA-28) and the light cruisers USS St. Louis (CL-49) and USS Honolulu (CL-48). They will position themselves 400 miles (644 km) south of Kodiak Island to "exploit opportunities." Unfortunately they are too far away, and with the policy of radio silence are effectively out of the upcoming invasion of Attu and Kiska and the air attacks on Dutch Harbor.

The submarine USS Herring (SS-233), Commanding Officer David Zabriskie, Jr., is lost. Possibly sunk by a Japanese shore battery -Kurile Is. All hands are lost. (Joe Sauder)

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 428, Shimushu Island in the Kuriles was bombed by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four before dawn on May 30 (West Longitude Date). Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered. Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters bombed and strafed enemy positions in the Marshalls on May 29. Runways, piers, and antiaircraft batteries were hit. Meagre antiaircraft fire was encountered.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 429, Guam Island was bombed by Liberators of the Seventh Army Air Force during daylight on May 28 (West Longitude Date). Approximately ten enemy fighters attempted to intercept our formation. One fighter was probably shot down. Antiaircraft fire ranged from moderate to intense.

Truk Atoll was attacked by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators at night on May 30. The airstrips were hit, and a fire started which was visible one hundred fifty miles. One enemy plane was in the air over the target. Anti- aircraft fire was meagre.

Wake Island was bombed on May 30 by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators, which obtained hits on Peacock and Wilkes Islands and Heel Point. Moderate antiaircraft fire was encountered.

Ponape Island was raided by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells during daylight on May 30. Gun positions, runways, and defence installations were hit. Antiaircraft fire was meagre and no interception was attempted.

Enemy positions in the Marshall Islands were bombed and severely strafed on May 30 by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two, Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing and Navy Hellcat fighters. Blockhouses, barracks and coastal guns were hit. Antiaircraft fire was meagre. (Denis Peck)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Airships of the U.S. Navy's Airship Patrol Squadron Fourteen (ZP-14), assigned to antisubmarine operations around Gibraltar, completed the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by non-rigid airships. The flight of these K-Class airships began 29 May from Naval Air Station (NAS) South Weymouth, Massachusetts, and ended at NAS Port Lyautey, French Morocco, covering a distance of 3,145 nautical miles (5,825 km) in 58 hours. Including time for stop overs at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland and Terceira, Azores Islands, the airships moved their area of operations across the Atlantic Ocean in 80 hours.

CANADA: