Hess says that he decided on his flight after astrologers told him he was destined to bring peace between Germany and Britain.

Hess was greeted by a ploughman armed with a pitchfork, who took him home. "My old mother got out of bed and made tea," David Maclean said. "But the German said he did not drink tea at night." After treatment for a broken ankle, the Deputy Fuhrer was taken to a secret hideout near London to be questioned by Ivone Kirkpatrick, a former first secretary at the British embassy in Berlin. Hess said that Hitler would give Britain a free hand in running the empire in return for Germany being given a free hand in Europe. Kirkpatrick declined the offer. Hess says that he flew to Scotland to see the Duke of Hamilton who he believes heads the anti-war party in Britain. Hess claims that they met at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but the duke has no recollection of this. In a letter to Hitler, Hess said that if his mission failed, no great harm would be done, for Hitler could simply deny all responsibility by saying that Hess had gone mad. Hitler used this to say in an official communiqué that Party Member Hess had for some years suffered from mental disturbances and frequented astrologers and mesmerists.

RAF Headquarters announced:

Last night a Dutch bomber squadron was deployed for the first time. Up to now Dutch air crews in the Dutch aerial formation, served as reconnaissance fliers. Shipments from the USA have now made it possible to set up the first Dutch bomber wing, which flew its mission last night against a German Luftwaffe base in Kristiansund, southern Norway.

London: Heavy raids take place during the night on the City and docks. 570 German bombers release 700 metric tons of HE bombs and 2,393 incendiary bomb bins that caused more than 2,000 fires. This raid inflicts more damage than previous raids with more than 3,000 people killed or injured. At the same time the Luftwaffe suffers its heaviest night-raid losses. 27 German aircraft are shot down, a toll which had previously only been reached during day raids.

London: The heaviest air-raid of the Blitz is in progress tonight. Over 2,000 fires are raging, nine of them classed as "conflagrations" requiring 100 pumps, but there is little water. Countless mains have been broken and the ebb tide of the Thames is very low.

The House of Commons, the roof of Westminster Hall and the top of Victoria Tower are alight. In the City of London, the Mint and the Tower are both ablaze.

GERMANY: A rocket engine (RII-203) for the Messerschmitt Me163 reaches a test speed of 623mph. The engine is not yet mounted and flying but in a test rig on the ground.

U-86, U-374 launched.

IRAQ: British led forces from the Jordanian Arab Legion take Rutba, Iraq.

The Germans in Athens set Operation Iraq in motion when several Me110s and a number of troop transports flew to Baghdad via Rhodes-Aleppo-Damascus-Mosul. The aim of this operation was to provide aid to the rebel Iraqi generals so as to threaten the flank of the British forces in North Africa. Churchill said later that at that time the Germans actually had an airborne landing troop strong enough to have enabled them to seize Syria, Iraq and Persia with their precious oilfields. No. 4 Squadron of the German 76th Destroyer Wing (Zerstorergeschwader 76 under Lt. Col. Holbein), formed part of the "Junck Special Aerial Force" which was to initiate the planned operation in Iraq. All the German aircraft carried Iraqi national emblems. Colonel Junck reported later: "The force was deployed overhastily with aircraft that were not equipped with tropical kits. Some of them did not even have the maps and charts which were indispensable for such missions."

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bendigo commissioned.

CANADA: Submarine HMS Tribune departed Halifax with escort for Convoy HX-126 to UK.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0442, U-556 attacked Convoy OB-318 SE of Cape Farewell in 59°23N/35°25W (grid AK 1470) and reported two ships of 10.000 tons sunk. The xB-Dienst assumed from a SOS message that one of the ships was the Dutch SS Hercules, but in fact the torpedo missed the British steam merchant Chaucer. In fact, only the Aelybryn was hit and damaged. The ship was towed to Reykjavik by HMS Hollyhock, arriving on 17 May. One crewmember was killed. ASW trawler HMS Daneman picked up the master and 43 crewmembers.

At 0752, the Empire Caribou, dispersed from Convoy OB-318, was torpedoed and sunk by U-556 about 465 miles SW of Reykjanes. The master, 31 crewmembers and two gunners were lost. Nine crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by destroyer HMS Malcolm, landed at Reykjavik and brought to Greenock by destroyer HMS Scimitar.