Diary May 24, 1945
Diary for Thursday, May 24, 1945: Okinawa 9 Japanese bomber-transports approach the island (8 lost); survivor crash-lands 12-man suicide squad on Yontan airfield, which destroys 8 planes, petrol and ammunition
Diary for Thursday, May 24, 1945: Okinawa 9 Japanese bomber-transports approach the island (8 lost); survivor crash-lands 12-man suicide squad on Yontan airfield, which destroys 8 planes, petrol and ammunition
Diary for Thursday, May 23, 1940: Western Front Germans cross river Scheldt at Oudenarde. BEF in Belgium put on half-rations following loss of supply depots. Sea War Six British destroyers
Diary for Wednesday, May 23, 1945: Occupied countries Germany: Members of Dönitz Government, German High Command and General Staff, taken into custody and interned aboard liner Patria in Flensburg harbor.
Diary for Wednesday, May 22, 1940: Air War RAF bomb German communications and dumps on river Meuse near Namur and north of river Aisne. Attempted raid on Leipzig power station
Diary for Tuesday, May 22, 1945: Okinawa Persistent heavy rain until early June seriously reduces mobility of US armor and gives Japanese respite, during which they evacuate wounded and equipment
Diary for Tuesday, May 21, 1940: Western Front British and French armor counter-attack Rommel’s 7th Panzer division at Arras. After initial success attacks fail and end May 23. Germans besiege
Diary for Monday, May 21, 1945: Home Fronts Japan: 2 million students mobilized in ‘Student Defense Corps’. USA: Humphrey Bogart marries Lauren Bacall. Okinawa Americans capture Sugar Hill – exposing
Diary for Monday, May 20, 1940: Western Front Guderian’s 1st and 2nd Panzer divisions race to the Channel Coast, despite gallant but ineffectual resistance by troops from British 12th and
Diary for Sunday, May 20, 1945: Okinawa Chocolate Drop Hill secured by US infantry after savage fighting around maze of interconnected tunnels. Japanese counter-attack on ‘The Horseshoe’ (200 killed).
Diary for Sunday, May 19, 1940: Western Front GAMELIN DISMISSED. WEYGAND MADE ALLIED C-IN-C. De Gaulle’s tanks make second counter-attack on Guderian‘s Corps, in Laon-Montcornet sector; some French tanks threaten
Diary for Saturday, May 19, 1945: Sea War Pacific: British submarine Terrapin depth-charged.
Diary for Saturday, May 18, 1940: Western Front Guderian‘s tanks reach Peronne, on river Somme. Hoth’s tanks reach Cambrai (scene of first British tank attack in 1917). Germans capture Antwerp.
Diary for Friday, May 18, 1945: Okinawa Sugar Loaf Hill captured by US Marines. Home Fronts Britain: Avro Lancaster ‘Aries’ flies over North Magnetic Pole for first time in history
Diary for Friday, May 17, 1940: Western Front Germans enter Brussels. Colonel de Gaulle‘s 4th Armored Division counter-attacks Guderian‘s XIX Panzer Corps at Montcornet, but is repulsed. General von Kleist
Diary for Thursday, May 17, 1945: Okinawa Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., commanding general of US 10th Army, takes personal command of operations. Marines reach crest of Sugar Loaf Hill,
Diary for Thursday, May 16, 1940: Western Front By nightfall Guderian‘s leading tanks are 60 miles (ca. 97 km) west of Sedan. Anglo-French-Belgian armies commence withdrawal from Dyle Line to
Diary for Wednesday, May 16, 1945: Occupied countries Channel Islands: British forces liberate Alderney. Okinawa US 6th Marine Division suffers heavy casualties.
Diary for Wednesday, May 15, 1940: Western Front Hoth’s tanks defeat French 1st Armored Division west of Dinant; latter loses 125 of its 175 tanks. By nightfall, shattered French 9th
Diary for Tuesday, May 15, 1945: Sea War Japanese cruiser Haguro trapped and torpedoed by 5 British destroyers in Malacca Strait (night May 15-16). Occupied countries Yugoslavia: Surrender of last
Diary for Tuesday, May 14, 1940: Air War DESTRUCTION OF ROTTERDAM. In attempt to crush stubborn Dutch resistance – and bring tentative ceasefire negotiations to a speedy conclusion – 100