May 13th, 1944 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: USAAF bombers continued their attacks on Germany's oil supplies yesterday with a massive raid by 621 Fortresses and 265 Liberators of the US 8th Air Force. They seriously damaged synthetic oil plants at Zwickau, Brux, Merseburg, Luna, Lutzkendorf and Bohlen.
An armada of American and British fighters accompanied the bombers and a tremendous air battle developed. The Americans lost 46 bombers and 12 fighters. It is known that 21 German pilots were killed and 26 wounded.
The German pilots fought skilfully, but "Tooey" Spaatz's plan to deprive them of fuel is evidently working, for fewer than 100 fighters came up to protect these most important targets. They failed, and "Ultra" intelligence reveals that there will be still less fuel for them after today's raids. The Luftwaffe will also find it increasingly difficult to replace the pilots lost.
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 355: 749 bombers and 737 fighters hit targets in Germany; 12 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; they claim 58-5-13 Luftwaffe aircraft:
1. 289 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil targets in western Poland but clouds force 215 to bomb Stettin and 57 to hit Stralsund; ten B-17s are lost.
2. 199 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Osnabruck; 178 hit the primary and one bombs a target of opportunity; one B-17 is lost.
3. 261 B-24s are dispatched to hit aviation industry targets at Tutow; 228 hit the primary and 12 hit targets of opportunity; one B-24 is lost.
Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 238 P-47s and 346 P-51s; the P-47s claim 14-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft, the P-51s claim 33-1-4; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost.
An initial contract for 120 de Havilland Vampire, single-jet fighters, is placed with English Electric at Preston, Lancashire. (22)
ENGLISH CHANNEL: Admiral Dönitz loses his second son, Klaus, when the Free French destroyer La Combattante and the British frigate HMS STAYNING sink the E-boat S-147. It was his 24th birthday and he had hitched a ride with his friends on the fast boat during an attack on Selsey on the English coast. There were six survivors.
FRANCE: A Resistance attack halts production of Self-Propelled guns at the Lorraine-Dietrich Works at Bagneres de Bigorre.
In Clermont-Ferrand city (France), one of the leaders of
"Resistance", Jacques Bingen is jailed by Gestapo agents. Bingen tries
to escape without success. Finally he takes the decision to kill himself.
In the south of France, an important police operation against FTP (communist) "Resistance" leaders is organised by the German services.
(Yannis Kadari)
GERMANY: One man was killed in an accident onboard U-183 working in a diving cell while preparing for its next patrol in the Far East. The boat left for the patrol from Penang on 17 May. [Obermaschinenmaat Erich Adelsheimer].
ITALY: Fierce fighting rages around Cassino.
Three major assaults have failed to dislodge the Germans from the Gustav Line at
Cassino. But today, the biggest army yet - British Polish, American, Canadian
and French Colonials - is advancing on a narrow front and pushing northwards
against stiff German opposition.
Today the French Moroccan soldiers of General Juin's Corps Expeditionaire Français took Monte Faito - where the German 71st Division had obeyed orders to fight to the last man. On their right flank, the 8th Indian and 4th British Divisions launched assault boats into the fast-flowing Rapido river and established bridgeheads under fierce German fire. The Polish II Corps is attacking Monte Cassino from the east and north. The US II Corps is pushing forward along the coastal plain.
Intensive planning has gone into this crucial offensive - timed to coincide with the invasion of France. The 8th Army has been regrouped westwards under the cover of darkness and huge smokescreens. The Germans were fooled into moving two divisions in anticipation of a new seaborne landing north of Rome.
Two days ago, at 11pm, the silence of the Liri valley was broken by 1,600 heavy guns. At sunrise yesterday, the tanks began their attack, supported by 3,000 aircraft.
USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers continue interdiction in support of the ground forces. 670+ B-17s and B-24s, mostly with fighter escort, attack marshalling yards at Trento, Bronzola, Fidenza, Piacenza, Faenza, Imola, Cesena, Modena, Parma, San Rufillo, Borgo San Lorenzo, Castel Maggiore and Bologna and hit railroad bridges at Bolzano and Avisio; while fighters sweep the Bologna-Modena area.
Capt. Richard Wakeford (1921-72), Hampshire Regt, with his orderly, cut through the enemy and took 20 PoWs; next day he led an attack and, wounded, stormed the objective. (Victoria Cross)
U.S.S.R.: Fighting in the Crimea ends. 130,000 Germans have been evacuated by sea plus 21,500 by air. Since April 12 the Germans have sustained 78,000 KIA and POW.
Among the prisoners are Generals Dehmut and Kruger. Those who tried to escape from Cape Kherson by sea were harried from the air, and from the sea where MTBs and submarines sank 191 vessels, including 69 heavily-laden transports; over 8,000 men died in the evacuation. The Germans were also attacked by marine commandos who raided behind their lines. A tremendous amount of booty fell into Russian hands, including 111 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,304 guns and 49 aircraft; much more was destroyed.
It was a complete disaster for the Germans, and the swiftness of their
collapse reflects the deep divisions in the German high command after Hitler had
ordered his troops to fight to the last man, against he advice of his generals.
CHINA: Chinese forces oust the Japanese from Suiping, regaining control of the Peking to Hankow railway.
U.S.A.: "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" sung by Ella Mae Morse from the movie "Broadway Rhythm" is released.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Japanese submarine RO-501 is sunk by the destroyer escort USS Francis M. Robinson (DE-220) in the mid-Atlantic northwest of Cape Verde Islands, in position 18.08N, 33.13W. The submarine had been built in Germany as the Type IXC/40 U-boat, U-1224, and turned over to the Japanese on 15 February 1944. She was enroute to Japan when attacked and sunk.
On U-107,
some crewmembers were stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning.