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May 1944

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The following events occurred in May 1944:

May 1, 1944 (Monday)

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May 2, 1944 (Tuesday)

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May 3, 1944 (Wednesday)

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  • Soemu Toyoda was made Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, replacing Mineichi Koga who was killed March 31.[3]
  • The American destroyer escort USS Donnell was torpedoed and heavily damaged in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-473. Donnell was towed to Scotland and declared a total loss.
  • German submarine U-852 was beached and scuttled on the Somali coast after being heavily damaged by British aircraft.

May 4, 1944 (Thursday)

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May 5, 1944 (Friday)

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May 6, 1944 (Saturday)

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  • Soviet forces began their final attack on Sevastopol with a massive artillery bombardment.[5]
  • The Biltmore Conference opened at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City, with 600 delegates and Zionist leaders attending to discuss an official Zionist policy on the Jews and Palestine.
  • British authorities announced that Mahatma Gandhi had been unconditionally released from custody on medical grounds after being interned at Aga Khan III's palace at Pune since August 1942.[5]
  • The Japanese Mitsubishi A7M fighter plane had its first flight, but only nine would ever be manufactured.
  • American submarine USS Gurnard attacked the Take Ichi convoy and sank three freighters.
  • German submarine U-473 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Ireland by British sloops.
  • German submarine U66 was rammed and sunk by the USS Buckley (DE-51) off Cape Verde.[6]
  • Pensive won the Kentucky Derby.[7]
  • "I Love You" by Bing Crosby topped the Billboard singles charts.

May 7, 1944 (Sunday)

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May 8, 1944 (Monday)

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May 9, 1944 (Tuesday)

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May 10, 1944 (Wednesday)

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May 11, 1944 (Thursday)

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May 12, 1944 (Friday)

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May 13, 1944 (Saturday)

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  • The Battle of the Tennis Court ended in Allied victory.
  • Action of 13 May 1944: A U.S. destroyer escort sank the former German U-boat U-1224, which had been given to the Japanese Navy and renamed RO-501. It was the first of two times a Japanese ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean during the war.
  • The Germans completed their withdrawal from the Crimea, having evacuated more than 150,000 men by air and sea over several weeks.[12]
  • Near Cassino, Italy, British Captain Richard Wakeford killed a number of the enemy and took 20 prisoners while armed with only a revolver. The following day he organized and led a force to attack a hill despite taking wounds to his face, arms and legs. Wakeford would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.[14]
  • Pensive won the Preakness Stakes.[15]
  • Born: Armistead Maupin, novelist, in Washington, D.C.

May 14, 1944 (Sunday)

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May 15, 1944 (Monday)

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  • The Battle of Wakde began in Netherlands New Guinea.
  • The first of three days of British Commando reconnaissance raids known as Operation Tarbrush began in northern France.
  • Hungarian officials under the guidance of SS officials began deporting Jews from Hungary. By July 9 a total of about 440,000 Jews would be deported from the country, mostly to Auschwitz.[17]
  • In Algiers, French Vice-Admiral Edmond Derrien was sentenced to life in prison for handing over units of the French Fleet to the Germans in December 1942, after the Allied landing in North Africa.[18]
  • German submarine U-731 was depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Allied planes and warships.
  • Clyde Shoun of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves.[19]
  • Born: Ulrich Beck, sociologist, in Stolp, Germany (d. 2015); Gunilla Hutton, actress and singer, in Gothenburg, Sweden

May 16, 1944 (Tuesday)

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  • Japanese submarine I-176 was depth charged and sunk off Buka Island by three American destroyers.
  • German submarine U-616 was damaged in the Mediterranean Sea east of Cartagena, Spain by American warships. She was consequently scuttled the next day.
  • Died: George Ade, 78, American writer, newspaper columnist and playwright; Filip Mișea, Aromanian activist, physician and politician

May 17, 1944 (Wednesday)

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May 18, 1944 (Thursday)

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May 19, 1944 (Friday)

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May 20, 1944 (Saturday)

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May 21, 1944 (Sunday)

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May 22, 1944 (Monday)

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  • Japanese destroyer Asanagi was torpedoed and sunk northwest of Chichijima by American submarine Pollack.
  • Japanese submarine Ro-106 was hedgehogged and sunk north of the Admiralty Islands by American destroyer escort USS England.
  • This week's issue of Life magazine published a photo of a young American woman with a Japanese skull sent to her by her boyfriend in the U.S. Navy.[21] Letters sent to the magazine widely condemned the publishing of the photo, and the Army directed its bureau of Public Relations to inform U.S. publishers that "the publication of such stories would be likely to encourage the enemy to take reprisals against American dead and prisoners of war."[22]

May 23, 1944 (Tuesday)

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May 24, 1944 (Wednesday)

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May 25, 1944 (Thursday)

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May 26, 1944 (Friday)

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  • Allied forces continued to advance toward Rome as American troops took Cori, the Canadians captured San Giovanni and the British took Monte Cairo.[20]
  • 717 French were killed by an Allied bombing raid on Lyon.[1]

May 27, 1944 (Saturday)

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May 28, 1944 (Sunday)

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May 29, 1944 (Monday)

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May 30, 1944 (Tuesday)

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May 31, 1944 (Wednesday)

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  • The Government of India announced the formation of a Department of Planning and Development to plan for the postwar period.[20]
  • German submarine U-289 was depth charged and sunk in the Barents Sea by British destroyer HMS Milne.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "1944". MusicAndHistory. Retrieved March 1, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Auschwitz: Chronology". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  3. ^ "Conflict Timeline, April 27-May 6 1944". OnWar.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  4. ^ "Events occurring on Friday, May 5, 1944". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Events occurring on Saturday, May 6, 1944". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  6. ^ "1944: May 6: Sinking of German U-boat, U-66".
  7. ^ Shevlin, Maurice (May 7, 1944). "Pensive Wins $86,700 Derby Before 80,000". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago: Part 2, p. 1.
  8. ^ "Events occurring on Sunday, May 7, 1944". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 600. ISBN 978-0-582-03919-3.
  10. ^ "War Diary for Tuesday, 9 May 1944". Stone & Stone Second World War Books. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  11. ^ "1944". World War II Database. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d Davidson, Edward; Manning, Dale (1999). Chronology of World War Two. London: Cassell & Co. pp. 190–191. ISBN 0-304-35309-4.
  13. ^ "Single Handed Attack Overcomes German Position". World War II Today. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "Attack Continues After 100 Casualties in 2 Minutes". World War II Today. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  15. ^ "Pensive Takes $80,075 Preakness; Platter Second". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago: Part 2, p. 1. May 14, 1944.
  16. ^ "French Cardinals Plead for Humane Air War". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: 1. May 15, 1944.
  17. ^ "1944: Key Dates". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  18. ^ "Life Imprisonment for French Leader". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, N.S.W.: 1 May 16, 1944.
  19. ^ "Major league no-hitters". NoNoHitters.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938–1945. Research Publications. 1990. pp. 262–264. ISBN 978-0-88736-568-3.
  21. ^ "Picture of the Week". Life. Time Inc. May 22, 1944. pp. 34–35.
  22. ^ Weingartner, James J. (February 1992). "Trophies of War: U.S. Troops and the Mutilation of Japanese War Dead, 1941–1945". Pacific Historical Review. 61 (1): 58, 60. doi:10.2307/3640788. JSTOR 3640788. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  23. ^ "War Diary for Thursday, 25 May 1944". Stone & Stone Second World War Books. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  24. ^ "Events occurring on Sunday, May 28, 1944". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2016.