May 1944

May

• 06

  • The bombing before the invasionIn early May 1944 Allied aircraft pounded railways, bridges, batteries and radars in France and Belgium day and night, preparing the ground for Normandy.
• 08

  • The D-Day date setOn 8 May 1944 Eisenhower fixed the invasion for 5 June. The date was dictated by the moon, the tides and dawn, and the final word was to rest with the weather.
• 09

  • Key eventThe liberation of SevastopolOn 9 May 1944 the 4th Ukrainian Front took Sevastopol, two days after storming Sapun Ridge. The remnants of the German 17th Army fell back to the Chersonese.
• 11

  • Key eventThe fourth battle of Monte CassinoAt 11 p.m. on 11 May 1944 the Allies struck the Gustav Line, opening Operation Diadem. On 12 May the Polish II Corps assaulted the Monte Cassino massif.
• 12

  • The Chinese cross the SalweenOn the night of 10/11 May 1944 General Wei Lihuang's Chinese Expeditionary Force began crossing the Salween in Yunnan to reopen the Burma Road.
  • The end of the fighting in the CrimeaOn 12 May 1944 the last 17th Army units on the Chersonese surrendered. The Crimea was in Soviet hands; many Axis troops were evacuated, thousands drowned.
• 13

  • The breakthrough on the GariOn 13 May 1944 engineers finished the Amazon bridge over the Gari under fire, and tanks reinforced the Liri valley bridgeheads. The French took Monte Maio.
• 15

  • The St Paul's School briefingOn 15 May 1944, at St Paul's School in London, the King, Churchill and the invasion commanders heard the last joint presentation of the Normandy landing plan.
• 18

  • Key eventThe capture of Monte CassinoOn 18 May 1944 a patrol of the 12th Podolian Uhlans entered the ruins of the abbey, abandoned by the Germans overnight. The battle of Monte Cassino was over.
  • The Myitkyina airfieldOn 17 May 1944 Merrill's Marauders and the Chinese 150th Regiment seized the airfield at Myitkyina by surprise. The town held out for almost three more months.
  • The end of the fighting in the Admiralty IslandsOn 18 May 1944 General Krueger declared the Admiralty Islands operation over. Japanese stragglers still hid in the jungle; Seeadler Harbour became a fleet base.
• 21

  • The locomotive huntOn 21 May 1944 hundreds of Allied fighters attacked trains in France, Belgium and Germany. Before the invasion, aircraft were also destroying the Seine bridges.
• 23

  • The breakout from the Anzio beachheadOn 23 May 1944 General Truscott’s US VI Corps struck out of the Anzio beachhead towards Cisterna and Valmontone to cut off the German Tenth Army’s retreat.
• 25

  • The link-up with the Anzio beachheadOn 25 May 1944 the Anzio beachhead linked up with the Fifth Army from the south, and Clark turned VI Corps on Rome instead of trapping the Tenth Army.
• 27

  • The landing on BiakOn 27 May 1944 the US 41st Division landed on Biak off Dutch New Guinea. The Japanese let the landing through and defended the airfields from caves.
• 31

  • The retreat from KohimaOn 31 May 1944 Lt Gen Kōtoku Satō began, against orders, to withdraw his starving 31st Division from Kohima. The retreat from Imphal was ordered only in July.