Sevastapol in World War II. The region is still in contention, even today. Click here to read further commentary. Click on photo to enlarge.
By: Phil Kohn. Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who have answered the country’s call in time of need. Phil can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.
The Battle of the Coral Sea concludes on May 8, 1942. The U.S. loses the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, but the Japanese lose two carriers and large numbers of aircraft. In Europe, Lt. Gen. Erich von Manstein begins “Operation Bustard,” an attempt to retake Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula and clear it of Soviet forces. Success would again allow the Germans an unhindered approach to the strongly fortified city of Sevastopol. In Asia, the Japanese take the northern Burmese city of Myitkyina.In the Mediterranean, the aircraft carriers USS Wasp and HMS Eagle on May 9 deliver a second contingent of 61 Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters to Malta. Instead of being left on the ground to be destroyed by Axis air raids (as were the planes of the first shipment brought by Wasp on April 20), these fighters are refueled quickly and launched into the air to intercept incoming German and Italian planes. The Spitfires turn the tide in the skies above the island, intercepting nine air raids, damaging or destroying 47 Axis aircraft in exchange for the loss of only three British planes. The lop-sided British victory in the so-called Battle of Malta forces the Axis to abandon daylight bombing of the island. Off Morehead City, North Carolina, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Icarus depth charges and sinks German sub U-352.
The British hospital ship Ramb IV — captured from the Italians at Massawa, Eritrea, on April 10, 1941 — is bombed by the Luftwaffe and sinks off Alexandria, Egypt, on May 10. The Japanese occupy Palawan Island in the Philippines. Knowing that the American and Filipino prisoners of war on Corregidor could be slaughtered if his force on Mindanao in the southern Philippines continues fighting, U.S. Brig. Gen. William F. Sharp surrenders his men to the Japanese. Many of his soldiers, however, are Filipinos and refuse to surrender. Instead, they slip away into the jungle and join various guerrilla groups.
The British armed trawler HMT Bedfordshire — assisting the U.S. Navy by performing anti-submarine patrols along the East Coast of the U.S. — is torpedoed and sunk on May 11 off Ocracoke Island, N.C., by German sub U-558, with the loss of all 37 British and Canadian crewmen. In the Mediterranean, the British Royal Navy loses three destroyers to the Luftwaffe: HMS Jackal, HMS Kipling and HMS Lively. Pursuant to a referendum held in April, the Canadian Parliament passes legislation authorizing full conscription.
German submarine U-553 sinks the British freighter Nicoya near the mouth of Canada’s St. Lawrence River on May 12. In eastern Ukraine, Soviet forces initiate a major offensive to capture Kharkiv from the Germans.
Gen. Stilwell and his party — now completely on foot, having had to abandon their vehicles due to impassable mud — on May 13 reach the Chindwin River in Burma, a tributary of the country’s main river, the Irrawaddy. Farther south, Japanese troops cross the River Salween, driving toward Kengtung, Burma. In the English Channel, British Royal Navy motor torpedo boats attempt to stop the German auxiliary cruiser Stier from reaching port at Gironde, France. The action lasts about an hour, with the Stier making it through. However, two German torpedo boats escorting the larger vessel are sunk, as is one British vessel.
In response to the Soviet offensive around Kharkiv, Ukraine, Hitler on May 14 orders elements of the Luftwaffe located south of the city to head north and fly ground-support missions. By the end of the day, the Germans are gaining air superiority in the area. British forces retreating from Burma reach Tamu, near the border of the eastern Indian state of Manipur.
