May 1942

May

• 01

  • The Japanese take MandalayOn 1 May 1942 the Japanese entered burnt-out Mandalay and took Monywa on the Chindwin, threatening to cut Slim's corps off from its only road to India.
• 03

  • The Japanese on TulagiOn 3 May 1942 the Japanese took Tulagi, abandoned by the Australians, without a fight. Next day aircraft from Yorktown attacked the ships in the harbour.
  • Killing begins at SobibórOn 3 May 1942, according to the USHMM, regular transports of Jews began to reach the Sobibór camp. By autumn 1943 some 170,000–250,000 people were killed there.
• 04

  • The second raid on ExeterOn the night of 3/4 May 1942 the Luftwaffe returned to Exeter and burned the city centre. About 160 people died and a bomb destroyed a cathedral chapel.
• 05

  • The landing on MadagascarOn 5 May 1942 the British landed on Vichy Madagascar. After two days of fighting and a dash by the destroyer Anthony, Diego Suarez fell on 7 May.
• 06

  • The fall of CorregidorOn 6 May 1942, after a Japanese landing, Wainwright surrendered Corregidor. Homma forced him to extend it to all US and Filipino forces in the islands.
  • Stilwell's walk out of BurmaOn 6 May 1942 General Joseph Stilwell abandoned his vehicles and led 114 people on foot from Burma to India. Two weeks later all reached Imphal alive.
• 07

  • The sinking of ShōhōOn 7 May 1942 the Japanese sank the destroyer Sims and wrecked the oiler Neosho, mistaking them for a carrier. The Americans sank the carrier Shōhō.
• 08

  • Key eventThe carrier clash in the Coral SeaOn 8 May 1942 US and Japanese carriers struck at each other. Lexington sank, Shōkaku was damaged and the landing at Port Moresby was called off.
  • Operation TrappenjagdOn 8 May 1942 Manstein's 11th Army attacked the Crimean Front. In under two weeks it routed three Soviet armies and retook the Kerch Peninsula.
• 09

  • The Cocos Islands mutinyOn the night of 8/9 May 1942 Ceylonese gunners on Horsburgh Island mutinied, hoping to hand the Cocos Islands to the Japanese. Three were executed.
  • Operation BoweryOn 9 May 1942, 64 Spitfires flew off Wasp and Eagle for Malta. This time they went straight into action and the defenders began to win back the skies.
• 10

  • Churchill's ultimatum to AuchinleckOn 10 May 1942 Churchill, for the War Cabinet, ordered Auchinleck to fight in Libya no later than the time of the June convoy to Malta.
• 12

  • The Battle of the St Lawrence beginsOn the night of 11–12 May 1942 U-553 sank the Nicoya and the Leto off the Gaspé Peninsula. The U-boat war had reached Canada's inland waters.
  • The Kharkov offensiveOn 12 May 1942 Timoshenko's armies struck at Kharkiv from two sides. Within days the attack bogged down, while Kleist's counter-stroke loomed in the south.
• 15

  • The creation of the WAACOn 15 May 1942 Roosevelt signed the act creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Women could now serve with the US Army, though not yet in its ranks.
• 16

  • A US armored division in Northern IrelandOn 16 May 1942 the US 1st Armored Division arrived in Northern Ireland. It was to train there for war in Europe and help defend the province.
• 18

  • Kleist's counter-offensiveFrom 17 May 1942 Kleist's tanks struck the base of the Izium salient from the south; on 19 May Paulus attacked from the north. The Stavka halted too late.
• 20

  • The end of the Burma campaignOn 20 May 1942 the remnants of Burma Corps came under IV Corps in India. After the longest retreat in British Army history, Burma was lost.
  • Molotov in LondonOn 20 May 1942 Molotov landed in Scotland. In London he demanded recognition of the 1941 Soviet borders; when talks stalled, Eden offered a treaty without them.
• 21

  • Operation Herkules postponedOn 21 May 1942 General Student presented Hitler with a plan for landings on Malta. Hitler ordered it prepared only on paper, and the invasion never came.
• 22

  • Mexico declares war on the AxisAfter U-boats sank the tankers Potrero del Llano and Faja de Oro, Mexico declared itself at war with Germany, Italy and Japan from 22 May 1942.
• 23

  • The Barvenkovo pocketOn 22–23 May 1942 the German pincers closed south of Balakliia. In the Barvenkovo pocket the Red Army lost three armies and more than 200,000 men.
• 25

  • Preparations for MidwayAt the end of May 1942 Japanese forces sailed for the Aleutians and Midway, while the Americans, knowing their plan, repaired the Yorktown in three days.
• 26

  • The Anglo-Soviet TreatyOn 26 May 1942 Eden and Molotov signed in London a treaty of wartime alliance and twenty years of co-operation. It said not a word about the Soviet borders.
  • The Battle of Gazala beginsOn 26 May 1942 Rommel struck the Gazala Line. At night his panzer divisions swung round Bir Hakeim and on 27 May smashed 3rd Indian Brigade and 7th Armoured HQ.
  • The Free French on Wallis and FutunaIn late May 1942 the aviso Chevreuil from Nouméa landed a Free French party on Wallis. The Vichy resident gave in without a fight; then the Americans came.
• 27

  • Key eventThe assassination of HeydrichOn 27 May 1942 in Prague the Czechoslovak parachutists Gabčík and Kubiš gravely wounded Reinhard Heydrich. He died on 4 June; the Germans answered with terror.
  • The Star of David in Belgium and FranceOn 27 May 1942 the German military administration in Belgium, and on 29 May in occupied France, ordered Jews aged six and over to wear a yellow Star of David.
• 29

  • The Zhejiang–Jiangxi campaignIn reprisal for the Doolittle Raid the Japanese struck in Zhejiang in May 1942 to destroy its airfields. On 28 May they took Jinhua and Lanxi.
• 30

  • Key eventThe thousand-bomber raid on CologneOn the night of 30/31 May 1942 the RAF sent 1,047 bombers to Cologne. In 90 minutes they started thousands of fires; about 470 died and 45,000 lost their homes.
• 31

  • The attack on Sydney HarbourOn the night of 31 May/1 June 1942 three Japanese midget submarines broke into Sydney Harbour. They sank the depot ship Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors.
  • The Cauldron at GazalaAt the end of May 1942 Rommel, cut off from supplies, dug in in “the Cauldron” at Gazala, forced gaps through the minefields and on 31 May struck 150th Brigade.