May 21st, 1945 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Blackpool: The Labour Party votes to withdraw its support from the coalition government.
Corvette HMCS Stellarton and frigate HMCS Sea Cliff departed Londonderry to join Convoy ON-304.
HMC MTB 727 and 797 paid off.
Minesweeper HMS Michael commissioned.
GERMANY: Belsen: By order of the British, the last remaining hut of the concentration camp is burnt to the ground.
Göring is transferred from Augsburg PoW camp to the Palace Hotel at Mondorf, where he joins other senior Nazis awaiting interrogation.
SOUTH AFRICA: Frigate SAS Transvaal commissioned.
SYRIA: Damascus: Fresh violence in the Middle East seems likely in the wake of decisions today by Syria and Lebanon to break off negotiations with France. Arab nationalists are attempting to assert their claims for independence, but France has so far seemed to determined to maintain its hold on the Levant through indirect rule. In 1941, when the Free French liberated Syria and Lebanon from Vichy, they offered independence. Since then limited self-government, with France controlling defence and external affairs, has been permitted, but attempts to attain full independence have been countered by French imperial troops.
JAPAN: The US III Corps pushes hard on Okinawa. The Japanese begin to pull back from the Shuri Line.Bonin Islands; Iwo Jima: Three United States' serviceman are killed and eleven injured when two Japanese bombers raid the island at night. Both aircraft are shot down by flak.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Dyess commissioned.
Destroyer USS William C Lawe launched.