This day in military history..

May 8th

1941: The German raider Pinguin is sunk by HMS Cornwall off the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.
1945: VE-DAY (Victory-in-Europe Day). - In deference to the Soviet victors, the surrender ceremony at Rheims of the previous day is repeated before Marshall Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin. The last convoys of German refugees from the East arrive in western Baltic ports, ending the largest rescue operation by sea in history. Since January 25, a total of 420,000 civilians and wounded soldiers have been evacuated - besides the U-boat campaign, it is the Kriegsmarine's most memorable feat of WWII. The remnants of AOK Ostpreussen have held their positions in the Vistula delta and the Frische Nehrung to the last. In recognition of their valor, their commander, General der Panzertruppen von Saucken, is awarded the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross by Grossadmiral Dönitz.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915:Battle of Krithia - The Australian 2nd Brigade and New Zealand Brigade took part in this predominantly French and British battle against the Turks on Cape Helles. None of the objectives set for the allies during the battle were achieved.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1821 - Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks in Gravia.
1846 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto – Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
1942 - World War II: Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_8

:rambo:
 
May 9th

1940: Hitler orders Fall Gelb (Operation Yellow), the great offensive in the West, to begin at 5:35 a.m. the next day. The French submarine Doris is sunk by U-9 (Oblt. Lüth) off the Dutch coast.
1941: The Luftwaffe launches a massive night raid (507 bombers) against London which causes many fires and cripples the rail system in the city, while the RAF attacks Hamburg with little effect. U-110 is forced to the surface by depth-charges of HMS Aubretia; a top-secret Enigma cipher machine is recovered.
1942: In the East, the Red Army launches a counter-offensive toward Charkov.
1944: Allied air forces begin a campaign of large scale raids against German airfields and rail communications in France in preparation for D-Day.
1945: German forces in Kurland, the Greek islands and the still undefeated garrisons of St. Nazaire, La Rochelle, Lorient, La Pallice and the British Channel Islands surrender.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1943: Point Stuart bombed - Point Stuart, Northern Territory, bombed by Japanese aircraft for the 1st time.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1915 - World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
1920 - Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army under GeneralEdward Rydz-Śmigły celebrated their capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreschatyk.
1942 - Belgrade becomes the first Axis-conquered city to murder or eliminate its Jewish Population, largely with the help of Serbiancollaborators.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_9

1915: Festubert France - First Canadian Division sees action at Festubert.
1916: England - General Julian Hedworth George Byng, Lord Byng of Vimy 1862-1935 appointed commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Europe; succeeding General Alderson; takes post May 28; Byng will wisely leave the detailed soldiering to Canadian commander Arthur Currie.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=09

1940: Hitler orders 'Operation Yellow', the great offensive in the West, to begin at 5.35am the next day.
1941: A peace treaty is signed between Vichy France and Thailand, which cedes back portions of Indochina that had been lost by Thailand 40 years earlier. A British Brigade sized column (Habforce), moves across the Iraqi border from Palastine. Liverpool has its 7th consecutive night air raid. Belfast, Clydeside and Humberside also suffer in a heavy week of raids. The RAF attacks Bremen and Hamburg, but with little effect.
1942: Another 60 Spitfires are landed in Malta by the aircraft carriers USN Wasp and HMS Eagle.
1943: The unconditional surrender of all axis troops in Tunisia takes place at 11am.
1944: Allied air forces begin a campaign of large scale raids against German airfields and rail communications in France in preparation for D-Day. The Russians capture Sevastopol as Hitler finally changes his mind and orders evacuation of the city.
1945: A British naval squadron arrives in Copenhagen harbour to receive the surrender of the remains of German fleet. Stalin announces the end of war. German forces of Army Group Kurland surrender. Reich Marshal Goring and his wife, children and staff, surrender to Brigadier General Stack, of the U.S. 36th Division, near Salzburg. Field Marshal Kesselring, C-in-C West, is captured by U.S. troops at the village of Saalfelden, in western Austria. The German garrison in the Channel Islands agree to surrender to British troops after five years of occupation. The surrender terms are signed aboard the destroyer HMS Bulldog, which is moored off St. Hellier.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1926 - LCDR Richard Byrd and Chief Machinist Mate Floyd Bennett make first flight over North Pole; both receive Congressional Medal of Honor.
1942 - USS Wasp in Mediterranean launches 47 Spitfire aircraft to help defend Malta.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1813: U.S. troops under William Henry Harrison take Fort Meigs from British and Canadian troops.
1864: Union General John Sedgwick is shot and killed by a Confederate sharpshooter during fighting at Spotsylvania. His last words are: "They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist–"
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=5&tihDay=9&tdih=GO

:salute:
 
May 10th

1940: At 5:35 a.m. CET, the Wehrmacht begins Operation Yellow, the invasion of Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg, employing Heeresgruppe A (von Rundstedt) and B (von Bock), with Heeresgruppe C (von Leeb) in reserve. The attacking forces comprise 10 armored, 5 motorized, and 75 infantry divisions. The 3 Panzerkorps - XIX. (Guderian), XX. (Hoth) and XLI. (Reinhardt) - field 2,445 tanks, most of which are of the light Marks I, II, 35(t) and 38(t) type, against 3,373 French and British tanks. Airborne troops seize airfields and strategic bridges near Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Holland. The Luftwaffe, using hundreds of level and dive bombers, attacks Allied airfields, troop assembly areas and rear communications.
1941: Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy and former WWI fighter pilot, flies from Augsburg to Scotland to persuade anti-Churchill politicians that England should stop the war with Germany, adopt a neutral attitude and allow Germany to eliminate the Bolshevik menace and gain Lebensraum in the East.
1945: The Red Army occupies Prague.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1900: Zand River -New South Wales Mounted Rifles in action at Zand River, South Africa
1943: Point Stuart bombed -Point Stuart, Northern Territory, bombed by Japanese aircraft for the 2nd time.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men. 1801 - The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
1864 - ColonelEmory Upton leads a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth" assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania.
1940 - The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent. 1969 - The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_10

1972: Intense air war continues over North Vietnam - President Richard Nixon's decision to mine North Vietnamese harbors is condemned by the Soviet Union, China, and their Eastern European allies, and receives only lukewarm support from Western Europe. In the continuing air war over North Vietnam, the United States lost at least three planes and the North Vietnamese 10, as 150 to 175 American planes struck targets over Hanoi, Haiphong, and along rail lines leading from China. Lt. Randy Cunningham and Lt. Willie Driscoll, flying a Navy F-4J Phantom from the USS Constellation knocked down three MiGs in one combat mission. This made Cunningham and Driscoll the first American aces of the Vietnam War.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1775 - Force under Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold cross Lake Champlain and capture British fort at Ticonderoga, New York.
1800 - USS Constitution captures Letter of Marque Sandwich.
1862 - Confederates destroy Norfolk and Pensacola Navy Yards.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1941: The Luftwaffe launches a massive attack against London, the heaviest so far received by the capital. A record 1,436 people are killed and 1,792 are seriously injured.
1942: General William Sharp, commanding the Central Philippines orders the surrender of the remaining US and Filipino forces to the Japanese, thus ending resistance throughout the whole of the Philippines. Winston Churchill warns that Britain will use poison gas on Germany if the Germans do so on the Soviet Union. The battle for Sevastopol rumbles on, with the Russian Coastal Army fielding 106,000 men, 600 guns, 100 mortars, 38 tanks, and 55 planes. The Germans hurl 204,000 men, 670 guns, 450 mortars, 720 tanks, and 600 aircraft at Sevastopol. The Germans also move in 19 motor torpedo boats, 30 patrol boats, eight ASW boats, and a unit of 150 bombers trained in anti-shipping operations. German artillery ranges from 76mm field guns to mammoth 800-mm railway-mounted super-heavy siege mortars. Kesselring declares that Malta has been neutralised. However, that same day the Axis airforces found themselves outnumbered for the first time in the sky over Malta, losing 12 aircraft in return for 3 RAF Spitfires. This marked a definite turning point in the fortunes of Malta with Axis air activity slackening noticeably as aircraft were drawn off to Russia.
1943: The British First Army reaches Hammamet.
1945: The Fourteenth Army moves South in central Burma and links up with troops from Arakan in the west, trapping all Japanese to the west of the river Irrawaddy. The first U-boat to surrender, U-249 puts in at Portland. Russians troops are now in control of Prague after five days of fierce street fighting between German troops and Czech Partisans comes to an end, during which 5,000 civilians have been killed.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:army:
 
May 11th

1940: In the West, German troops occupy the Duchy of Luxemburg. A glider-borne parachute detachment of 1.Fallschirmjäger-Rgt. led by Hptm. Koch and Lt. Witzig capture the "impregnable" Belgian border fortress of Eben-Emael.
1941: German troops complete the ocupation of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
1944: In Italy, the US Fifth (Clark) and the British Eighth Armies begin an offensive against the Gustav Line at Cassino.
1945: The Red Army launches a final assault against the remnants of Heeresgruppe Mitte (Schörner) still holding out in Moravia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1945: Wewak captured - Wewak was captured by the 6th Division in a combined land and amphibious operation. Its capture marked the beginning of the end of the Aitape Wewak campaign, the last major campaign on mainland New Guinea in the Second World War.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1745 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern – ConfederateGeneralJEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.
1943 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_11

1942: Anticosti Quebec -German submarine U-S53 torpedoes British steamer Nicoya and Dutch ship Leno near Anticosti Island; Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence begins between the Royal Canadian Navy and German U-Boats.
1944: Cassino Italy - Canadian tanks see action near Monte Cassino as Allies launch major offensive south of Rome.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=11

1689 : Battle of Bantry Bay, French & English naval battle
1690 : English troops of W Phips conquer Port Royal Nova Scotia
source: http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/events11.htm

1961: President Kennedy approves sending 400 Special Forces troops and 100 other U.S. military advisers to South Vietnam. On the same day, he orders the start of clandestine warfare against North Vietnam to be conducted by South Vietnamese agents under the direction and training of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces troops. Kennedy's orders also called for South Vietnamese forces to infiltrate Laos to locate and disrupt communist bases and supply lines there.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?

1940: Allied troops land in Dutch West Indies.
1941: The RAF launches a heavy raid against Hamburg.
1942: British retreat across Chindwin completed. The Luftwaffe sinks three British destroyers, Lively, Kipling and Jackal to the South of Crete. German troops continue their attack at Sevastopol, surrounding some defenders at Ak-Monay. The Luftwaffe is making about 1,800 sorties per day.
1943: The British evacuate Maumgdaw before the monsoon arrives in the Arakan. All ground gained since September 1942 for the loss of 5,000 battle casualties is lost.
1944: 72,000 Chinese begin an advance along the Burma Road.
1945: In a new offensive, the U.S. Tenth Army reaches the suburbs of Naha, the capital of Okinawa. The Red Army launches a final assault against the remnants of Army Group Centre, which is still holding out in Moravia. The German garrison at Dunkirk surrenders to Czech troops.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
 
May 12th

1940: In the West, French forces withdraw behind the Meuse river between Dinant and Sedan.
1942: The first aircraft of the US 8th Air Force arrive in Britain.
1943: Surrender of all German and Italian forces in Tunisia (130,000 German and 120,000 Italian prisoners), marking the end of the three-year North African campaign.
1944: In Italy, fierce German counter-attacks along the Gustav Line at Cassino. The US 8th Air Force (800 bombers) carries out attacks against the synthetic fuel plants at Leuna-Merseburg, Lützkendorf, Zeitz and Brüx.
1945: General Vlasov, commander of the anti-Bolshevist Russian Liberation Army (ROA) is handed over by the Americans to the Soviets to be tortured and executed for treason in August, 1946.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1917: Lieutenant R.V. Moon, VC - Lieutenant R.V. Moon, 58th Battalion, of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Bullecourt
1945: Corporal J.B. Mackey, VC - Corporal J.B. Mackey, 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion, originally from Leichhardt, Sydney, wins the Victoria Cross on Tarakan. (Posthumous award)
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1264 - The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
1588 - French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.
1689 - King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
1780 - American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
1862 - U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1864 - Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".
1942 - Second Battle of Kharkov – In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle the Soviets will capture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_12

1082 : Battle at Mailberg: Vratislav II of Bohemia beats Leopold II of Austria
source: http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/events12.htm

1780 - Fall of Charleston, SC; three Continental Navy frigates (Boston, Providence, and Ranger) captured; and one American frigate (Queen of France) sunk to prevent capture
1846 - U.S. declares war against Mexico
1975 - SS Mayaguez seized by Khmer Rouge and escorted to Koh Tang Island.
1986 - Destroyer USS David R. Ray deters an Iranian Navy attempt to board a U.S. merchant ship.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1940: French forces withdraw behind the Meuse river between Dinant and Sedan as advance German panzer columns push out from the Ardennes. Germans troops continue their advance through Holland, crossing the Yssel and Meuse rivers at several points. Massive German artillery bombardments are maintained on western front, the Luftwaffe continues to reek havoc across Northern France and Belgium, causing refugees to stream west, clogging the roads for allied forces. Internment of Germans begins in Britain.
1942: A British convoy, codenamed 'Tiger', arrives at Alexandria with much needed tanks and aircraft. Timoshenko’s offensive grinds forward into Army Group South with two pincer attacks, one Northwest out of the Izyum bulge by the 6th Red Army and the other West then Southwest by the 28th Red Army from the Volchansk area, designed to converge west of Kharkov. The Red Army falls back towards Kerch in the Crimea.
1944: The Japanese attacks to the South East of Imphal are broken off. 800 bombers of the US 8th Air Force carry out attacks against the synthetic fuel plants at Leuna-Merseburg, Lützkendorf, Zeitz and Brüx. The remains of German Seventeenth Army in Crimea are destroyed, with the Russians taking 36,000 Axis troops prisoner. Fierce German counter-attacks are put in by the German defenders at Monte Cassino.
1945: Very heavy fighting continues on Okinawa, with 125 Japanese aircraft being reported as shot down. The German garrison in Crete under Major General Bentach surrenders.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm
 
May 13th

1940: Supported by waves of Luftwaffe Stuka dive-bombers, the two German Panzerkorps of Heeresgruppe B emerge from the Ardennes forests, advance to the Meuse and establish bridgeheads across the river, tearing a 50-mile gap in the French defenses between Dinant and Sedan. 7.Pz.Div. (Rommel) is the first division across. In the House of Commons, the new prime minister Churchill promises nothing but "blood, toil, tears and sweat."
1941: German aircraft are reported operating over Iraq in support of the rebellion by anti-British Iraqi forces.
1944: In the East, German troops of Heeresgruppe Ukraine belatedly complete the evacuation of the Crimea, suffering heavy casualties and leaving behind large quantities of heavy equipment.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1943: Axis forces surrender in Tunisia - The surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia meant the end of the three-year-long North African campaign.
1968: Fire support base Coral attacked - The partly-constructed base, north of Saigon, was defended by elements of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, when it was attacked by North Vietnamese troops. Eleven Australians were killed and 28 wounded before the attackers were driven back.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1568 - Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederacy of ScottishProtestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca – the battle begins with UnionGeneralSherman fighting toward Atlanta.
1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – In far south Texas, more than a month after ConfederateGeneralLee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
1940 - Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse River. Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13

1908 - Navy Nurse Corps established.
1908 - Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, later called Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, was officially established in the Territory of Hawaii as a coaling station for U.S. Navy ships transiting the Pacific Ocean.
1943 - Bureau of Navigation renamed Bureau of Naval Personnel
1945 - Aircraft from fast carrier task force begin 2-day attack on Kyushu airfields, Japan
1964 - Organization and deployment of world's first all nuclear-powered task group, USS Enterprise, USS Long Beach, and USS Bainbridge, to Sixth Fleet.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1940: The Hague Netherlands - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her daughter Juliana flee to London as the Nazis occupy Holland; Princess Juliana will bring her children to Ottawa for safety.
1942: Anticosti Island Quebec - Two more Canadian ships lost to German U-Boats in the St. Lawrence.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=13

:bravo:
 
May 14th

1940: In the West, 60 Luftwaffe He-111 bombers not having received the countermanding order attack besieged Rotterdam, devastating the center of the city. British and French aircraft are unsuccessful in destroying the German-built bridges across the Meuse; 50 bombers are shot down by AA fire.
1942: The damaged British escort cruiser Trinidad returning from Murmansk is sunk by Luftwaffe dive-bombers off the northern Norwegian coast.
1943: The US 8th Air Force attacks Kiel with 125 aircraft, destroying 3 U-boats in the harbor.
1944: The Red Army recaptures Tarnopol in the Ukraine.
1945: British troops ocupy the German island of Heligoland in the North Sea.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1943: Centaur sunk - The hospital ship Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine off the south Queensland coast. Only 64 of the 333 on board survived.
1956: Sungei Siput, Malaya - 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, attacks communist terrorists near Sungai Siput, Malaya.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
1747 - A British fleet under AdmiralGeorge Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.
1940 - World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the GermanLuftwaffe. The Netherlands surrender to Germany.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_14

1801 - Tripoli declares war against the United States
1836 - U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, first major scientific expedition overseas. LT Charles Wilkes USN, would lead the expedition in surveying South America, Antarctica, Far East, and North Pacific.
1845 - First U.S. warship visits Vietnam. While anchored in Danang for reprovisioning, CAPT John Percival commanding USS Constitution, conducts a show of force against Vietnamese authorities in an effort to obtain the release of a French priest held prisoner by Emperor of Annam at Hue.
1975 - Marines recapture Mayaguez, go ashore on Koh Tang Island and release the crew.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1943: U.S. and Great Britain chiefs of staff, meeting in Washington, D.C., approve and plot out Operation Pointblank, a joint bombing offensive to be mounted from British airbases. Operation Pointblank's aim was grandiose and comprehensive: "The progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people." It was also intended to set up "final combined operations on the continent." In other words, it was intended to set the stage for one fatal blow that would bring Germany to its knees. The immediate targets of Operation Pointblank were to be submarine construction yards and bases, aircraft factories, ball bearing factories, rubber and tire factories, oil production and storage plants, and military transport-vehicle factories and stores. Ironically, the very day planning for Pointblank began in Washington, the Germans shot down 74 British four-engine bombers as the Brits struck a munitions factory near Pilsen. Joseph Goebbels, writing in his diary, recorded that the biggest setback about the British raid on the factory was that the drafting room was destroyed.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

:m16:
 
May 16th

1940: Troops of the German 6.Armee break through the Allied Dyle line in Belgium.
1941: With a raid by 111 German aircraft on Birmingham, the Night Blitz campaign against England comes to an end. Most Luftwaffe bomber formations in France and Belgium are being transferred to airfields in eastern Germany and occupied Poland.
1943: The uprising in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw is brought to a bloody end by German police and SS units.
1944: Aircraft of RAF Coastal Command sink 5 U-boats off the Norwegian coast.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1760: Quebec Quebec - François, Duc de Lévis abandons siege of Quebec when a British fleet commanded by Robert Swanton (d.1765) approaches up the St. Lawrence.
1943: Mohne Germany - British and Canadian Lancaster pilots of the Dambusters Squadron succeed in breaching the Mohne and the Eder dams in Germany's industrial Ruhr basin using a bouncing bomb dropped at low level; only 8 of the 17 planes return; 13 of the 53 dead are Canadians.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=May&day=16

1901: Lieutenant F.W. Bell, VC - Lieutenant F.W. Bell, 6th West Australian Mounted Infantry, of Perth, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Brakpan, South Africa.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1771 - The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called "The Regulators" occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
1811 - Peninsular War - Allies (Spain, Portugal & Britain) defeat French at the Battle of Albuera.
1822 - Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_17

1820 - Congress becomes first U.S. warship to visit China
1919 - Three Navy flying boats begin 1st trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland
1965 - First US gunfire support in Vietnam by USS Tucker
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1862: The Union ironclad Monitor and the gunboat Galena fire on Confederate troops at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia.
1918: Pfc. Henry Johnson and Pfc. Needham Roberts receive the Croix de Guerre for their services in World War I. They are the first Americans to win France’s highest military medal.
1968: U.S. Marines relieve army troops in Nhi Ha, South Vietnam after a fourteen-day battle.
1988: Soviets forces begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

:rambo:
 
May 17th

1940: In the West, troops of 6.Armee occupy Brussels. French prime minister Pierre Laval is replaced by Paul Reynaud who forms a new government.
1941: The German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Gotenhafen in the Baltic to begin operations against British convoys in the Atlantic (Operation Rheinübung).
1942: In the East, Heeresgruppe Mitte (von Bock) begins a counter-offensive against Soviet attacks toward Charkov and the Donbas.
1943: The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid (89 aircraft) against Cardiff in Wales.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1917: Bullecourt captured - After two failed attempts to capture the village of Bullecourt, the allies were finally successful, though the victory had cost 7,000 casualties.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1940 - World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1940 - World War II: The old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_17

1940 - FDR announces plans to recommission 35 more destroyers
1942 - USS Tautog (SS-199) sinks Japanese sub, I-28; while USS Triton (SS-201) sinks I-164
1951 - Aircraft from carriers attack bridges between Wonsan and Hamhung, Korea
1962 - Naval amphibious ready group lands Marines to guard Thailand's borders from Communist probes
1966 - Naval Support Activity Saigon established
1973 - First woman to hold a major Navy command, Captain Robin Lindsay Quigley assumes command of Navy Service School, San Diego, CA.
1987 - USS Stark (FFG-31) struck by Iraqi Exocet missile in Persian Gulf, killing 37 Sailors. 21 were wounded.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1863 : Battle of Big Black River, Mississippi - The Union army defeats the Confederates on the Big Black River and drives them into Vicksburg in part of a brilliant campaign by General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had swung his army down the Mississippi River past the strong riverfront defenses, and landed in Mississippi south of Vicksburg. He then moved northeast toward Jackson and split his force to defeat Joseph Johnston's troops in Jackson and John C. Pemberton's at Champion's Hill.
1972 : South Vietnamese reinforcements near An Loc - Preceded by five B-52 strikes, which reportedly killed 300 North Vietnamese to the south, South Vietnamese forces arrive by helicopter to within two miles of An Loc in continuing efforts to relieve this besieged city. It had been surrounded by three North Vietnamese divisions since early April. The North Vietnamese had been holding An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisors and American airpower, they managed to hold An Loc against vastly superior odds until the siege was finally lifted on June 18.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1943: A specially trained and equipped Royal Air Force squadron destroys two river dams in Germany.
1951: Korea- Chinese Communist Forces launch second step, fifth-phase offensive and gain up to 20 miles of territory.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history
 
May 18th

1940: In the West, XIX.Panzerkorps (Guderian) in its rapid advance toward the Channel coast reaches Peronne. German troops occupy Antwerp.
1942: The RAF launches a major attack against Mannheim.
1944: In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) captres Gaeta S of Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1885:Sudan contingent departs Suakin - New South Wales troops of the Sudan contingent depart Suakin for Sydney having a little over two months in the Sudan without seeing any serious action.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1775 - Benedict Arnold captures British sloop and renames her Enterprise, first of many famous ships with that name
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1811 - Las Piedras Battle first great military triumph of the liberating revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay leaded by Jose Artigas.
1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins, ending on July 4
1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
1944 - World War II: SS troops burn down six villages in the Brkini hills in south western Slovenia.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_18

1943: Hitler gives the order for Operation Alaric - Adolf Hitler launches Operation Alaric, the German occupation of Italy in the event its Axis partner either surrendered or switched its allegiance.
1969: Communists attack Xuan Loc - More than 1,500 communist troops attack U.S. and South Vietnamese camps near Xuan Loc, located 38 miles east of Saigon. After five hours of intense fighting, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces were driven off. At the U.S. camp, 14 Americans were killed and 39 wounded; 24 enemy soldiers were killed in the action. At the South Vietnamese camp, 4 South Vietnamese were killed and 14 wounded, with 54 communist soldiers reported killed and 9 captured.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp

1940: Germans take Antwerp, Belgium’s second city. Allied forces are seriously split as German tanks of 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) reach Peronne and Rommels 7th Panzer Division reaches Cambrai during their rapid advance toward the Channel coast. Amiens is occupied. Regions ceded to Belgium in Treaty of Versailles (1919) re-incorporated into Germany.
1941: General Dentz tells the French Army in Syria to "match force with force". The 5th Indian Division captures the Italian fortress of Amba Alagi after 18 days of fighting. The British column from Palastine (Habforce), arrives at Habbaniyah and relieves its garrison. Italy annexes the Yugoslavian territory of Dalmatia.
1942: The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm attacks and hits the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen off Norway, but she makes it back to Kiel. Despite increasing losses, Churchill remains determined to continue the Artic convoys to Russia. The New York Times reports on an inside page that Nazis have machine-gunned over 100,000 Jews in the Baltic states, 100,000 in Poland and twice as many in western Russia. The RAF launches a major attack against Mannheim. German forces finally halt the Russian summer offensive just short of Kharkov and let loose Group von Kleist’s with a strength of 15 Divisions (1st Panzer Army and 17th Army), of which two are Panzer and one Motorised. The Germans aim for Izyum to the South of Kharkov in order to pinch off the Russian salient. The Germans attack with their usual skill, technology, and ferocity and drive through the Russian defenses. The Germans have a 4.4-1 edge in tanks, 1.7-1 edge in artillery, and 1.3-1 edge in infantry on the battlefield. Russian co-ordination is poor and the Germans quickly gain local air superiority. Russian officers lack adequate combat experience to handle the fast pace of the German blitzkrieg, and their divisions literally come apart.
1943: The Japanese launch a new offensive along the Yangtze river, 250 miles north east of the Nationalist capital of Chunking.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1792: Russian troops invade Poland.
1944: The Allies finally capture Monte Cassino in Italy.
1969: Two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division assault Hill 937 but cannot reach the top because of muddy conditions.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=5&tihDay=18&tdih=GO

:salute:
 
May 19th

1940: German troops of XX.Panzerkorps (Reinhardt) capture St. Quentin. General Gamelin, C-in-C of Allied Forces, is replaced by General Weygand.
1944: In Italy, British troops capture Aquino airfield in the Liri valley SE of Rome.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915: Turkish counter-attack on Gallipoli - The Turkish counter-attack sought to drive the Australians and New Zealanders from ANZAC Cove. The attack failed and over 10,000 Turks were killed or wounded in their greatest disaster of the entire campaign.
1918: Sergeant W. Ruthven, VC -Sergeant W. Ruthven, 22nd Battalion, originally from Collingwood, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Ville-sur-Ancre, France.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1643 - Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_19

1882 - Commodore Shufeldt (USS Swatara) lands in Korea to negotiate first treaty between Korea and Western power
1912 - Navy establishes North Atlantic Ice Patrol following RMS Titanic disaster
1965 - 30th Naval Construction Regiment activated at Danang, Vietnam
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1863: Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s first attack on Vicksburg is repulsed.
1967: U.S. planes bomb Hanoi for the first time.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=5&tihDay=19&tdih=GO

:rambo:
 
May 20th

1940: In the West, units of XIX. Panzerkorps (Guderian) capture Amiens and advance to the Channel coast at Abbeville, separating the British Expeditionary Force (Gort) and the Belgian Army from the French forces to the south.
1941: Taking off from airfields in Greece, German paraptroops of the 7.Fliegerdivision (Süssmann) carried in 490 Ju-52 transports of XI.Fliegerkorps (Trettner) and supported by Stuka dive-bombers of VIII.Fliegerkorps (von Richthofen) begin Operation Mercury, the capture of the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. Encountering heavy ground fire from British Commonwealth troops (total of 30,000 men under New Zealand Gen. Freyberg) in prepared positions, casualties are high: of 8,000 men landed nearly 6.000 are killed, and 151 Ju-52s destroyed before air and sea-borne mountain troops arrive to turn near disaster into victory.
1943: The US Tenth Fleet is formed for anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic.
1944: Nearly 5,000 Allied aircraft attack airfields and rail communications in France and Belgium.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915:Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, VC - Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, 14th Battalion, 4th Brigade, New Zealand and Australian Division, of Winchelsea, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Courtney's Post, Gallipoli. Jacka's was the first VC to be awarded to an Australian in the First World War. Jacka also went on to win the Military Cross and bar.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the VirginiaBermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_20

1778: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania - British forces from Philadelphia attempt to trap 2,200 Continentals defending Valley Forge led by Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette, through skillful maneuvering, avoids the entrapment and the destruction of his forces. The encounter takes place at Barren Hill, now known as Lafayette Hill, just northwest of Philadelphia.
1915: British renew attacks in Battle of Festubert - British, Canadian and Indian troops launch a new round of attacks against a reinforced German line around the village of Festubert, located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front.
1953: French see "light at the end of the tunnel" in Vietnam - Using a phrase that will haunt Americans in later years--"Now we can see [success in Vietnam] clearly, like light at the end of a tunnel"--Gen. Henri Navarre assumes command of Frennch Union Forces in Vietnam. The French had been fighting a bloody war against communist insurgents in Vietnam since 1946. The insurgents, the Viet Minh, were fighting for independence and the French were trying to reassert their colonial rule in Indochina.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp

1801 - Four warships sent to Mediterranean to protect American commerce
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur ( Frigate Guerriere) sails with 10 ships to suppress Mediterranean pirates' raids on U.S. shipping
1844 - USS Constitution sails from New York on round the world cruise
1943 - Establishment of Tenth Fleet in Washington, DC, under command of ADM King to coordinate U.S. antisubmarine operations in Atlantic
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1941: Churchill announces the end of Abyssinian campaign as the Duke of Aosta signs the formal Italian surrender. The British took just 94 days to win the East African campaign. The Royal Navy Minesweeper Widnes is sunk by Luftwaffe planes near Suda Bay in Crete.
1942:The rearguards of the 1st Burma Corps cross the border from Burma into India. Once this is complete, the 1st Burma Corps is disbanded. Admiral Yamamoto issues his orders for Operation 'Mi'. 2nd Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Hosogaya (2 small aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers) was to mount an air-strike on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians on the 3rd June, this was designed to decoy part of the American force northwards. If this happened then they would be met by a Guard Force of 4 battleships, 2 cruisers and 12 destroyers, which would position themselves between Pearl Harbor and the Aleutians. Then on the 5th June, the transports carrying the Japanese assault force would land on Attu and Kiska Islands on the 5th June. Meanwhile the 1st Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Nagumo, which included the Carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, plus 2 battleships, 2 cruisers and 11 destroyers, would sail from Japan for Midway on the 4th June. Following this would be Transport Force which was commanded by Admiral Kondo with the invasion troops, additionally protected by 3 cruisers from Guam. Finally the Main Support force, commanded by Admiral Yamamoto onboard the super battleship Yamato and including a further 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and escorting destroyers would be ready to move up to engage the American Fleet if required. In order to be sure of the position of the American Fleet, 3 cordons of submarines were positioned north and west of Hawaii and 2 flying boats were stationed at French Frigate Shoal, about 500 miles north-west of Hawaii. The Crimea is finally cleared of the Red Army. 170,000 Russians taken prisoner. Manstein's gaze now turns fully towards Sevastopol.
1943: The Chinese launch a counter offensive on Yangtze River.
1944: The U.S. Fifth Army captures Gaeta to the South of Rome. The first orders from Eisenhower are broadcast to European underground armies.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:salute:
 
May 21st

1940: In the West, an attack by a French armored brigade under General de Gaulle against 7.Panzer-Division (Rommel) at Arras fails after initial success. The French Ninth Army is surrounded and destroyed, its commander, General Giraud, taken prisoner.
1941: In the battle for Crete, 80 Ju-52s crash-land a regiment of 5.Gebirgsjäger-Division (Ringel) to support the hard-pressed paratroopers at Maleme airfield. In the south Atlantic, against strict orders not to attack American vessels, the US merchant ship Robin Moor is sunk by U-69 (Kptlt. Metzler). This sinking of a neutral American vessel is publicly denounced by President Roosevelt and becomes yet another argument for him in his secret desire for bringing the United States into war against Germany.
1943: The Luftwaffe carries out a raid by FW-190 fighter bombers against Malta.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1968: HMAS Sydney leaves Brisbane - HMAS Sydney left Brisbane on its tenth voyage to Vietnam with 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, embarked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1850 - Washington Navy Yard begins work on first castings for the Dahlgren guns
1917 - USS Ericsson fires first torpedo of war
1944 - During preparations for the invasion of Saipan an accidental ordnance blast on LST 353 sets off cataclysmic ammunition explosions at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, killing 163 and injuring 396. Six tank landing ships (LST-39, LST-43, LST-69, LST-179, LST-353, LST-480), three tank landing craft (LCT-961, LCT-963, LCT-983), and 17 track landing vehicles (LVTs) are destroyed in explosions and fires.
1964 - The initiation of the standing carrier presence at Yankee Station in the South China Sea.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1969 : Military spokesman defends "Hamburger Hill" - A U.S. military command spokesman in Saigon defends the battle for Ap Bia Mountain as having been necessary to stop enemy infiltration and protect the city of Hue. The spokesman stated that the battle was an integral part of the policy of "maximum pressure" that U.S. forces had been pursuing for the prior six months, and confirmed that no orders had been received from President Nixon to modify that basic strategy. On May 20, the battle, described in the American media as the battle for "Hamburger Hill," had come under attack in Congress from Senator Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), who described the action as "senseless and irresponsible." On May 22 in Phu Bai, South Vietnam, Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division that took "Hamburger Hill," responded to continuing media criticism by saying that his orders had been "to destroy enemy forces" in the A Shau Valley and that he had not received any other orders to reduce casualties by avoiding battles.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
1941 - 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a GermanU-boat.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_21

1940: British forces attack German General Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division at Arras, slowing his blitzkrieg of France.
1941: The first U.S. ship, the S.S. Robin Moor, is sunk by a U-boat.
1951: The U.S. Eighth Army counterattacks to drive the Communist Chinese and North Koreans out of South Korea.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=5&tihDay=21&tdih=GO

:rambo:​
 
May 22nd

1940: In the West, XIX.Panzerkorps (Guderian) strikes from Abbeville toward Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk along the Channel coast. British cipher experts at Bletchley Park break the Luftwaffe Enigma code.
1941: Off Crete, Stuka dive-bombers of Luftflotte 4 (Lühr) sink the British cruiser Gloucester and the destroyer Greyhound, damaging the battleship Warspite and the cruiser Fiji. On the island, fierce fighting continues for Maleme airfield.
1942: In the East, the Soviet forces (two armies) attacking toward Charkov are stopped and destroyed by the German 6.Armee (von Paulus); 241,000 prisoners are taken.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1940: Decision to form 8th Division made - Most of the 8th Division was lost in the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The Division never took the field as a complete Division because the battalions of the 23rd Brigade were sent to Ambon, Timor and Rabaul.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1882 - Commodore Shufeldt signs commerce treaty opening Korea to U.S. trade
1958 - Naval aircraft F4D-1 Sky Ray sets five world speed-to-climb records, 22-23 May
1967 - New York City reaches agreement to purchase Brooklyn Navy Yard, ending 166 years of construction and repair of naval vessels.
1968 - USS Scorpion (SSN-589) lost with all hands
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1455 - Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
1762 - Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
1939 - World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
1942 - Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_22

1940: British cipher experts at Bletchley Park break the Luftwaffe Enigma code.
The 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) strikes from Abbeville toward Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk along the Channel coast.
1941: British forces capture the last Italian stronghold in southern Abyssinia. Heavy German air attacks on Crete sink the cruisers Fiji, Gloucester and York and the destroyer Greyhound. The Battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant are damaged, but the Royal Navy manages to break up a German supply convoy. British blockade of Vichy France made complete. Himmler establishes Norwegian SS on German lines. Fierce fighting continues in Crete as British troops begin to pull back from Maleme airfield towards Suda Bay in order to regroup and protect their main point of supply.
1942: The 6th Army and Kleist's Panzer’s meets thereby pinching of the Russian salient Southeast of Kharkov.
1945: Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa is finally taken by U.S. troops after changing hands 11 times in the last few days. Montgomery is appointed as C-in-C of the British force of occupation in Germany and a British member of the allied control commission.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

:salute:
 
May 23rd

1940: In the West, units of 6.Armee (von Reichenau) cross the Scheldt river at Oudenarde in Belgium.
1941: In waters off Crete, the Luftwaffe sinks the British destroyers Cashmir and Kelly.
1943: The RAF launches a heavy raid on Dortmund, dropping 2,000 tons of bombs.
1944: In Italy, the US Fifth Army (Clark) begins an offensive from the Anzio bridgehead toward Rome, while the British Eighth Army (Alexander) attacks the Dora Line further East.
1945: By order of SHAEF, British troops arrest the members of the post-Hitler government of Grossadmiral Dönitz as well as of the OKW at Flensburg; they are flown to a secret American camp in Luxemburg and held there pending their indictment in an Allied war crimes trial scheduled to be held at Nuremberg.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1942: Kanga Force moved to Wau, New Guinea - Kanga Force was formed in April 1942 to reinforce the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. Kanga force was primarily involved in reconnaissance work, but did stage some raids against Japanese positions in the Wau–Bulolo area.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944: Pontecorvo Italy - First Canadian Corps starts breaking through Hitler Line across Liri Valley, near Monte Cassino; British and Canadians occupy Pontecorvo.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=23

1850 - Navy sends USS Advance and USS Rescue to attempt rescue of Sir John Franklin's expedition, lost in Arctic.
1939 - USS Squalus (SS-92) sinks off Postsmouth, NH, with loss of 26 lives.
1962 - Launch of Aurora 7 (Mercury 7), piloted by LCDR Malcolm Scott Carpenter, USN, who completed 3 orbits in 4 hours, 56 minutes at an altitude up to 166.8 statute miles at 17,549 mph. He was picked up by HSS-2 helicopters from USS Intrepid (CVS-11). The capsule was recovered by USS John R. Pierce (DD-753).
1962 - USS Valcour (AVP-55) provides medical care to a merchant seaman from tanker SS Manhattan in the Persian Gulf.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1568 - Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, brother of William I of Orange, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.
1706 - Battle of Ramillies - the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeats a French army under Marshal Villeroi.
1900 - American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner.
1915 - World War I: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_23

1777 : Meigs Expedition claims sole Patriot victory on Long Island - At Sag Harbor, New York, Patriot troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs capture several British vessels and burn Redcoat supplies. With the help of two local men, Meigs and his Connecticut raiders grabbed the British commander from his bed in the wee hours of the morning, firing only one gunshot. Instead of guns, the Patriots used silent but deadly bayonets to capture the British fort, successfully avoiding announcing their presence with gunfire.
1864 : Fighting begins on the North Anna River, Virginia - The campaign between Union commander Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, continues southward to the North Anna River around Hanover Junction. In early May, Grant crossed the Rapidan River with the Army of the Potomac and then clashed with Lee's forces in the Wilderness on May 5 and 6 before racing to Spotsylvania Court House for an epic 12-day battle. Grant's continuous pressure on Lee would ultimately win the war, but he was racking up casualties at a rate that was difficult for the Northern public to stomach.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1862: Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson takes Front Royal, Virginia.
1864: Union General Ulysses Grant attempts to outflank Confederate Robert E. Lee in the Battle of North Anna, Virginia.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=5&tihDay=23&tdih=GO

:rambo:
 
May 24th

1941: Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood. The Bismarck was the most modern of Germany's battleships, a prize coveted by other nation's navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession during the days of the Hitler-Stalin neutrality pact). The HMS Hood, originally launched in 1918, was Britain's largest battle cruiser (41,200 tons)-but also capable of achieving the relatively fast speed of 31 knots. The two met in the North Atlantic, northeast of Iceland, where two British cruisers had tracked down the Bismarck. Commanded by Admiral Gunther Lutjens, commander in chief of the German Fleet, the Bismarck sunk the Hood, resulting in the death of 1,500 of its crew; only three Brits survived.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1940: In the West, infantry units of XIX.Panzerkorps storm the citadel of Boulogne and take 5,000 British and French prisoners. The French fortress of Maubeuge surrenders, while 6.Armee captures Ghent and Tournai in Belgium.
1943: Grossadmiral Dönitz, C-in-C of the Kriegsmarine, orders suspension of all U-boat operations against Allied convoys after the loss of 56 boats in April and May.
SOURCE: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1915: Formal truce on Gallipoli - A formal truce was declared on Gallipoli during which the Turkish dead of the 19 May attacks were buried.1966: Private Errol Noack killed in Vietnam - Private Noack, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, was the first of 202 Australian conscripts to be killed in the Vietnam War.1969: Warrant Officer Class 2 K. Payne, VC - Warrant Officer Class 2 K. Payne, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally from Ingham, Queensland, wins the Victoria Cross in Kontum Province.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1940: Halifax Nova Scotia - Four Canadian destroyers sent to Britain.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=May&day=24

1917 - First U.S. convoy to cross North Atlantic during World War I leaves Hampton Roads, VA
1918 - USS Olympia anchors at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during Russian Revolution
1939 - First and only use of VADM Allan McCann's Rescue Chamber to rescue 33 men from sunken USS Squalus (SS-192)
1941 - Authorization of construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for Navy
1945 - Fast carrier task force aircraft attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan
1945 - 9 US ships damaged by concentrated kamikaze attack off Okinawa
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1846 - Mexican-American War: GeneralZachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
1900 - Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_24

:army:
 
May 25th

1940: In the West, the British garrison of Calais rejects a German call for surrender.
1944: Yugoslav partisan leader Tito narrowly escapes capture by German paratroops supported by Stukas in his HQ in Bosnia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1968: Fire Support Base Balmoral reinforced - Fire Support Base Balmoral in Vietnam is reinforced with Centurion Tanks just hours before two North Vietnamese Army battalions attacked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944: Melfa River Italy - Canadian Army Major J. K. Mahony wins VC for holding bridgehead over Melfa River.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=May&day=25

1952 - USS Iowa bombards Chongjin, Korea.
1973 - Launch of Skylab 2 mission, which was first U.S. manned orbiting space station. It had an all Navy crew of CAPT Charles Conrad, Jr., USN. (commanding), CDR Joseph P. Kerwin, USN and CDR Paul J. Weitz, USN. During the 28 day mission of 404 orbits, the craft rendezvoused with Skylab to make repairs and conduct science experiments. Recovery by USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deaths.
1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
1982 - HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_25

1862: First Battle of Winchester, Virginia - Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson notches a victory on his brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson, with 17,000 troops under his command, was sent to the Shenandoah to relieve pressure on the Confederate troops near Richmond, who were facing the growing force of George McClellan on the James Peninsula.
1944: Germany launches Operation Knight's Move, in an attempt to seize Yugoslav communist partisan leader Tito. Using parachute drops and glider troops, German forces landed in the Yugoslavian village of Drvar, where Josep Broz Tito, leader of the anti-Axis guerilla movement, was believed to be. The village was decimated: Men, women, and children were all killed by German troops in search of Tito, who escaped.
1968 : Communist launch new offensive - The communists launch their third major assault of the year on Saigon. The heaviest fighting occurred during the first three days of June, and again centered on Cholon, the Chinese section of Saigon, where U.S. and South Vietnamese forces used helicopters, fighter-bombers, and tanks to dislodge deeply entrenched Viet Cong infiltrators. A captured enemy directive, which the U.S. command made public on May 28, indicated that the Viet Cong saw the offensive as a means of influencing the Paris peace talks in their favor.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?
 
May 26th

1940: Employing hundreds of naval, commercial and private vessels, the beaten British forces in France begin Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk. Calais fall to the Germans, and the advance toward Dunkirk, ordered stopped by Hitler 3 days previously, is resumed.
1941: In the Atlantic, British Swordfish torpedo planes from the carrier Ark Royal score hits on the German battleship Bismarck, disabling her steering gear and rendering her unmaneuvreable. On Crete, German paratroopers capture Canea.
1942: In Libya, the German Afrikakorps begins an attack against the British Gazala line (Operation Theseus), but is held up at Bir Hacheim which is defended by Free French forces.
1943: In the East, the Red Army begins an offensive against the German forces isolated in the Kuban bridgehead between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1940: Evacuation of Dunkirk - More than 338,000 British, French and other allied troops were taken off the beaches at Dunkirk during the fall of France.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/may.htm

1944 - USS England sinks fifth Japanese submarine in one week
1952 - Tests from 26-29 May demonstrate feasibility of the angled-deck concept conducted on simulated angled deck on USS Midway
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesmay.htm

1971 : North Vietnamese seize Snoul, Cambodia - In Cambodia, an estimated 1,000 North Vietnamese capture the strategic rubber plantation town of Snoul, driving out 2,000 South Vietnamese as U.S. air strikes support the Allied forces. Snoul gave the communists control of sections of Routes 7 and 13 that led into South Vietnam and access to large amounts of abandoned military equipment and supplies. On May 31, the Cambodian government called for peace talks if all North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces agreed to withdraw. The communists rejected the bid. Cambodia ultimately fell to the communist Khmer Rouge and their North Vietnamese allies in April 1975.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=5/26&categoryId=vietnamwar

1943: The Battle of Stalingrad in World War II ended with the surrender of German troops to the Soviets.
source: http://www.britannica.com/eb/dailycontent?month=2&day=2&go_button.x=10&go_button.y=10

1865: The Confederate Army surrendered in Texas, ending the American Civil War.
source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/onthisday.asp

:salute:
 
May 27th

1941: In the Atlantic, the crippled German battleship Bismarck is relentlessly bombarded by dozens of British warships, including the battleships Rodney and King George V. After all her guns are silenced, she is sunk by torpedos from the cruiser Dorsetshire; there are only 14 survivors out of a crew of 2,200. In Libya, the Afrikakorps recaptures Halfaya Pass.
1942: Off the northern coat of Norway, Luftwaffe bombers sink 5 ships of Convoy PQ-16.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/may.html

1965:HMAS Sydney's first voyage to Vietnam - HMAS Sydney departs on first voyage to Vietnam with 1RAR embarked.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1813 - War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
1940 - World War II: 97 out of 99 members of a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are massacred while trying to surrender at Dunkirk. The German commander, Captain Fritz Knoechlein, is eventually hanged for war crimes.
1941 - World War II: U.S.President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency".
1942 - World War II: Operation Anthropoid - assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.
1965 - Vietnam War: United States warships begin bombardments of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam for the first time.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_27

1940: British position in Flander’s worsens as King Leopold of Belgium surrenders the remnants of his Army.
1941: Having been reinforced by the 15th Panzer Division, Rommel retakes the Halfaya Pass on Egyptian border. The 10th Indian Division begins to advance north from Basra towards Baghdad. 400 miles west of Brest, the crippled Bismarck is relentlessly bombarded by dozens of British warships, including the battleships Rodney and King George V. After all her guns are silenced, she is sunk by torpedo's from the cruiser Dorsetshire. There are only 110 survivors out of a crew of 2,300. The convoy HX129, becomes the first to have continuous escort protection across the Atlantic. Germans paratroopers take Canea and with it the main British supply point of Suda Bay. This convinces Major General Freyberg VC, that the situation has gone against the British and that he must withdraw from Crete to save what he can.
1942: Japanese Combined Fleet lifts anchor and sets sail for Midway. On the same day, Admiral Nimitz, having been for warned of the impending Japanese attack against Midway by US intelligence who were intercepting Japanese naval signals, issues orders for Task Force 16 (Admiral Spruance) with the carriers Enterprise and Hornet, plus 6 cruisers, 11 destroyers, 2 tankers and 19 submarines, to sail for Midway the next day. The Afrika Korps, having pushed round the British defenses, move northeast. They are engaged by elements of the British 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions. Many tank losses were taken by both sides, although as the battle went on the British armour became increasingly scattered. The Italian Ariete Armoured Division continued to meet stiff resistance from the Free French at Bir Hacheim, while the Italian Trieste Motorised Division further north, found itself grinding through minefields under heavy fire as a result of a navigation error. The siege of Sevastopol rages on, becoming the only incident of a formal siege of a modern fortress being pushed through to final reduction. Sevastopol is the premier port on the Black Sea, and its defenses include three zones of trenches, pillboxes, and batteries. The strongest defenses lie in the middle zone, which includes the heights and the south bank of the Belbek River. Among these hills are "Fort Stalin" on the East and the massive western anchor of "Fort Maxim Gorki I," with its turret of twin 305 mm (12-inch) guns sweeping the length of the Belbek valley. 105,000 men defend this port. Against this the Germans and Romanians range 203,000 men and some of the most powerful siege artillery ever disposed by any army in World War II. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein aims 305 mm, 350 mm, and 420 mm howitzers at the Russians, along with two of the new, stubby "Karl" and "Thor" 600 mm mortars. Also on hand is the 800 mm (31.5-inch) "Big Dora" from Krupp, which has to be transported to position by 60 railway wagons. "Big Dora" is commanded by a major general and a colonel, protected by two flak regiments and periodically fed with a 10,500 lb. shell. Czech patriots shoot Reinhard Heydrich in the suburbs of Prague. His condition is described as critical.
1943: The first British ‘liaison’ team is dropped into Yugoslavia to join up with Tito’s partisans.
1944: Start of the monsoon season bogs down operations in Burma. 12,000 U.S. troops land on Biak in the Schouten Island Group, 350 miles West of Hollandia. MacArthur says, 'this marks the strategic end of the New Guinea campaign'.
1945: Chinese troops are now 25 miles North of Foochow and take Loyaun. The U.S. Sixth Army takes Santa Fe on Luzon.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1944: American General MacArthur lands on Biak Island in New Guinea.
source: http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

:army:
 
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