May 31st, 1942 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The Lockheed Ventura light bomber enters service with No. 21 Squadron of the RAF. (22)FRANCE: Paris: A demonstration by housewives protesting about food shortages in the rue de Buci leads to the death of two policemen and the wounding of three others. The demonstration is believed to have been organised by the Communists. Several of the organisers are arrested, three will later be executed.
GERMANY: Last night was the
first RAF 1,000 plane raid. The target was Cologne.
The de Havilland Mosquito makes it first operational flight on the raid, when
four Mosquitoes of No. 105 Squadron made a lightning daylight attack on Cologne
a few hours before the main force. (22)
1,047 aircraft are used to shatter Cologne in the largest raid in the history of
aerial warfare. The planes, crewed by 6,500 young men, jostled for position over
the city to drop 1,455 tons of bombs. Two-thirds of them were incendiaries, and
the fires could be seen from 150 miles away.
The raid, codenamed Operation Millennium, was designed by Air Marshal Arthur Harris not only to saturate the defences of this important industrial city but also as a coup de theatre to demonstrate the power of his bombers.
He gathered every possible aircraft, from modern Lancasters to obsolete Whitleys. His five first-line bombing groups put every serviceable bomber into the air. 599 Wellington's formed the backbone of the force.
The raid was planned to take 90 minutes from start to finish, and the crews were ordered to set course for home at zero hour + 90 whether they had bombed or not to avoid having stragglers caught over Germany in daylight. In the event 868 aircraft actually bombed Cologne.
The danger of collision in a sky filled with flak and aircraft taking violent evasive action was obvious. One pilot said it was like being at Piccadilly Circus. In the event only two of the bombers collided over the target although 41 are missing from the raid. The results of the raid have been devastating. Around 480 people died, 5,027 were injured and 45,132 made homeless. In this historic city 2,500 seperate fires were started and 3,330 buildings destroyed, with 2,090 seriously damaged and a further 7,420 partly damaged. The great cathedral is among the victims. With dense smoke still rising from the shattered ruins, reconnaissance planes have been unable to take photographs today. However, the city's chemical works are believed to have been crippled.
Berlin: Hitler told a group of newly-commissioned German officers that he had no doubt of ultimate victory. "Fate has not led me this far for nothing," he said. "She has not done this simply to mock at me and snatch away what had to be gained after so bitter a struggle."
Yet as he was speaking the signs of stiffening resolve against
the Nazi tyranny were mounting. In the Soviet Union a central staff for the
partisan movement has been set up to direct operations behind the German
lines.
News of the 1,000 bomber raid caused rejoicing in the Warsaw Ghetto.
"Cologne is an advance payment", Emmanuel Ringelblum wrote in his
diary, "on the vengeance that must and shall be taken on Hitler's Germany
for the millions of Jews they have killed. After Cologne I walked around in a
good mood, feeling that even if I should perish at their hands, my death is
prepaid."
Death camps and "special actions" have killed 130,000 Jews in
Nazi-occupied territory this month, including 36,000 at Sobibor.
U.S.S.R.: Kharkov: The fighting south of Kharkov which started so brightly for the Red Army has ended in disaster. The Germans, who launched their counter-thrust, Operation Fridericus, at the base of the Soviet breakthrough, have destroyed the five Russian armies caught in their pincer movement.
They claim to have captured 241,000 Russian soldiers plus 1,250 tanks and 2,000 guns. Only 23,000 of the trapped Russians were able to break out and cross the Don river to safety. Their commander General Kostenko, and three other generals were killed. The encircled men fought bravely, and Marshal Timoshenko launched three major assaults to try to break them out, but he could not pierce the Germans "ring of iron".
An analysis of the battle shows a number of basic faults in the Russian conduct of the battle. Their tanks were not deployed to exploit the initial breakthrough; they did not widen and strengthen the shoulders of the breakthrough; and the control of the counter-attacks was badly co-ordinated.
Throughout the battle the Russians were poorly supported by their air force, and the Germans had complete supremacy over the battlefield. They now hold a line along the Donets and are preparing to launch further offensives against their badly mauled enemies.
LIBYA: The whole RAF strength
attacks Axis armoured transport for the third day running.
Rommel has launched his long awaited offensive in the Western Desert, but is
tonight apparently trapped. His tanks, supported by Stuka dive-bombers, began
the offensive by attacking British positions in the north with the aim of
cutting the coast road at Gazala and driving on to Tobruk.
Another large armoured force swung southwards to attack Bir Hakeim. This desert post is held by the Free French, including Foreign Legion units. A fierce battle developed in front of the French positions between tanks of the Eighth Army and Rommels Panzers.
The offensive began on 26 May and initially surprised the British. But more than a third of the German tanks were lost on that first day, many to the powerful American Grant tank newly-delivered to the Eighth Army. After two days Rommel, still more than 20 miles from thesea, ordered his forces to adopt a defensive position beyond the fortified Gazala Line and cut off from the rest of his army.
Allied air forces are now bombing Rommel's beleaguered men in area nicknamed the "Cauldron". However, German and Italian airmen are joining an air battle every bit as fierce as that raging on the ground, with supply columns and communications the prime targets for bombing attacks. Although the German attempt to reach Cairo appears to have backfired, this desert battle is far from over.
MADAGASCAR: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-10 again launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane, Allied Code Name "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Diego Suarez, Madagascar for the second day.
Japanese midget submarines last night sank the tanker British Loyalty and damaged the battleship HMS RAMILLIES in Diego Suarez harbour. A Japanese reconnaissance aircraft had prepared the way for the attack; the two submarines were launched ten miles from the harbour entrance. At 8.29pm a torpedo hit the RAMILLIES causing some damage. An hour later another torpedo sank the British Loyalty. The British have been concerned about the Japanese taking over Madagascar from Vichy France. On 5 May a British force invaded Diego Suarez which surrendered on 7th May.
AUSTRALIA: Sydney Harbour: A force of Japanese midget submarines (The Japanese submarines HIJMS I-22, HIJMS I-24 and HIJMS I-27, each launch a Type A midget submarine) which penetrates the harbour defences of Sydney and attack shipping. They fire torpedoes that miss the heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29), sink the accommodation ship HMAS Kuttabul and damage the Dutch submarine HNMS K 9 beyond economical repair.
All the attackers die. Later two submarines, Midget 21 and Midget 14 where recovered by the Australians. The six Japanese seaman where given funerals with full military honours and their ashes returned to Japan via red cross. This action by the Australians is said to have greatly surprised the Japanese military leaders. (James Paterson and Jack McKillop)
MIDWAY ISLAND: B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF's 7th Air Force on detached service at Midway Island begin search operations. U.S. Navy PBY Catalinas concentrate their searches to the northeast from which the Japanese invasion fleet is expected to approach from.
U.S.A.: US Battleships Colorado and Maryland sail to San Francisco to reinforce the Pacific Fleet.
A Panamanian freighter is sunk by the German submarine U-107 in the Caribbean.
Light cruiser USS Savannah laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
The unescorted Fred W Green was sunk by gunfire by U-506 SE of Bermuda. Four crewmembers and one gunner were lost. Destroyer USS Ludlow picked up the master, 32 crewmembers and three gunners.