(Britain)
Nineteen Lancaster bombers from the newly formed 617 Squadron took off from their base at RAF Scampton on the night of 16th/17th May 1943. Originally the plan was for twenty-one bombers to fly but two were withdrawn owing to illness amongst their crews. The mission was to attack the industrial area of the Ruhr valley in Germany. Officially known as Operation Chastise or more commonly referred to as “The Dambusters Raid”, their aim was to breach the Möhne and Sorpe Dams. Any aircraft with bombs remaining would continue on to attack the Eder Dam. Two separate formations were required, one consisting of nine bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, was to attack the Möhne Dam. The second formation, consisting of five bombers, was to attack the Sorpe Dam. American Flt. Lt. Joe McCarthy (serving with the RCAF) was the only member of the second formation to actually attack the Sorpe Dam, three of the reserve formation also attacked the Sorpe Dam. McCarthy, of the second formation, was late taking off owing to an engine cooling problem. He switched to a reserve aircraft and took off 34 minutes late for his attack on the Sorpe Dam. The four remaining bombers of the second formation either had to return to base or were shot down on the outward journey. Five additional Lancaster bombers flew as a reserve formation in readiness to assist where needed.
The “Dambusters Raid” concept was to use a special bouncing bomb designed by Barnes Wallace, an English scientist and engineer. The raids were different to most bombing raids, in as much that the planes would be flying below 100 ft. (30 m) over water and in the darkness of night.
Only eight of Gibson’s nine Lancaster bombers designated to attack the Möhne Dam, reached the target, one having been shot down on the outward journey. Five of the eight aircraft attacked the dam before it was finally breached. Gibson and the following two crews failed to hit the target. The forth hit the structure and the fifth finally breached the dam. The three bombers which had released their bombs returned to England but two failed to arrive.
Gibson and Sqd, Ldr, “Dinghy” Young, who had also attacked the Möhne Dam, led the remaining three Lancaster bombers on to the Eder Dam. The hills surrounding the Eder Dam were thought, by the Germans, to make an attack impossible and therefore was undefended. After numerous attempts in the misty conditions the dam was successfully breached. One of the aircraft was shot down on the return journey. Of the nine crews who attacked the Möhne and Eder Dams only five returned to England. One was lost on the outward journey, one whilst attacking the dam and two on the homeward journey.
The Sorpe Dam had a different construction, Instead of a concrete and steel dam wall it had an earthen retaining wall. The five reserve bombers of the third formation were diverted to the Sorpe Dam. Two of the five were shot down on the outward journey, and one couldn’t find the target because of mist and flew back to Scampton and landed with the bomb still on board. Of the two remaining bombers, one attacked the Sorpe Dam piloted by Flt. Sgt. Ken Brown (RCAF), who attacked the dam at a separate time from McCarthy. Upon reaching the Sorpe Dam both the two attackers found the approach attack more difficult than was expected. McCarthy released his bomb on his tenth approach, like-wise Young on his eighth approach against the undefended dam. The last Lancaster piloted by Flt. Sgt. Townsend (RAF) flew on to Ennepe Dam and hit the target but failed to breach the dam.
On the return journey two more Lancaster bombers were lost despite flying at low level. The first of the surviving eleven aircraft landed at Scampton at approximately 3.00 am and the final one landing at 6.15 am with engine problems. Of the eleven who returned safely, three had not attacked any targets.
Eight RAF Lancaster bombers were destroyed, 53 airmen killed and two captured. The breaching of the two dams caused catastrophic damage which disrupted German production until September 1943. Approximately 1,600 civilians were killed, 600 German and 1,000 mainly Soviet slave labourers.
Fifty three decorations were awarded to the survivors of whom Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross.
For further information see the separate article “The Dambusters Raid – Operation Chastise”.
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As part of the Ruhr Valley bomber offensive by RAF Bomber Command, the night time attack on the city of Wuppertal on the 29th May 1943 was particularly heavy. 719 British bombers, guided by their Pathfinder markers located the Barmen half of Wuppertal. They dropped 1,500 tons of bombs on the chemical works which rapidly turned into a firestorm. Being a Saturday night only emergency fire officials were in attendance, and they were totally unprepared and ill equipped for the developing fires in the narrow streets. 90% of the town was destroyed and approximately 2,500 people, mostly civilians, died in the firestorms.
(Atlantic)
On the 24th May1943 Karl Dönitz ordered the U-boats operating in the mid-Atlantic to withdraw from the area. When Dönitz replaced Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy and Grand Admiral of the Naval High Command in January 1943 the U-boats enjoyed success in attacking Allied convoys. However, by March 1943 the Allies employed new techniques, tactics and technology, which began to stem the tide. By May 1943 three separate convoys were attacked and the battles reached a climax. Long range Liberator bombers and radar assisted aircraft carrier escorts began to decimate the U-boat fleet. With the suppression of the U-boat operation it brought an end to the period known as Black May. Dönitz did continue to use U-boats in the Atlantic but in far smaller numbers. The Allies still needed to combat the smaller U-boat threat. This denied the Allies the opportunity for their escort aircraft to attack Germany direct
(North Africa
The Axis Army had withdrawn to Tunisia after the Battle of El Agheila ended in December 1942. What remained of the Axis Army following the “Palm Sunday Massacre” and Operation Flax in April 1943 halted and held the high peaks known as “Longstop Hill”. The Allies were in pursuit and engaged in conflict at “Longstop Hill” where they attacked and counter-attacked. By the end of April/early May Allied Churchill tanks had negotiated the slopes of “Longstop Hill” and secured the barrier blocking the advance to Tunis. British armour captured Tunis on the 7th May 1943 taking the Axis forces by surprise. On the same day the Americans advanced and took Bizerte, located to the east of Tunis. By the 15th May 1943, with all their forces cut off, the Axis army surrendered. 250,000 Axis troops were taken prisoner and Nazi leaders admitted the defeat was on the same scale as the disaster of the Battle of Stalingrad.
(Eastern Front)
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising officially ended on the 16th May 1943 when the Jews housed within the ghetto were finally suppressed. In 1939 when Germany invaded and occupied Poland they began to concentrate over three million Jews into crowded ghettos in large Polish cities. Warsaw was the largest with approximately 300,000-400,000 Jews packed into an area of 3.3 km2 in the city centre. By the time the uprising began on the 19th April 1943 approximately 254,000-300,000 residents had either died of disease and starvation or mass deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp. The Germans began another round of deportations of the Jews on the 18th January 1943 which led to a revolt being planned by the remaining Jews. Two resistance groups had joined together to support the remaining Jewish population, knowing they couldn’t win against the Germans but were determined to fight. The left-wing Jewish Combat Organisation and the right-wing Jewish Military Union engaged the Germans in direct clashes. They suffered heavy losses and inflicted casualties on the Germans which resulted in the halting of Jewish deportations. The main Jewish Uprising began on the 19th April 1943, on the eve of Passover. German police and S.S. auxiliary forces entered the ghetto and were confronted by the Jewish resistance. The uprising finally ended on the 16th May 1943 when SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop personally pushed the button to demolish the Great Synagogue of Warsaw. During the uprising, 13,000 Jews were killed, of whom 6,000 died from smoke inhalation or were burnt alive. Almost all of the remaining 56,000 residents were captured and deported to Treblinka. During the uprising the Germans suffered losses of 17 killed and 93 wounded.
Josef Mengele was a German Schutzstaffel (S.S.) officer and physician who was known as the “Angel of Death”. On the 24th May 1943 he was appointed as Chief Medical Officer in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Prior to the war, Mengele had qualified as a doctor specialising in Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. In 1937 he joined the Nazi Party. In 1942 having been posted to the Ukraine, he joined the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking as battalion medical officer. He was seriously wounded, and upon recovery, was deemed unfit for active service and eventually transferred to Auschwitz. As chief medical officer he was responsible for overseeing who were to be workers for the regime, with the remaining Jews sent to the gas chambers. He was also responsible for horrific experiments on Jews who were operated on without the aid of anaesthetics. At the end of the war he managed to leave Auschwitz ahead of the Soviet Army. By various means he was able to relocate in Argentina but died in Brazil in 1979.
(Pacific)
As part of the Aleutian Island Campaign, the Island of Attu off the west coast of the Territory of Alaska, was one of the strategic links between the North American and European Continents. The Territory of Alaska was purchased from the Russians by the Americans in October 1867. The island is located in the North Pacific Ocean and south of the Berring Sea. The Battle of Attu was fought from the 11th to 30th May 1943 between American and Canadian invaders and Japanese defenders. Six months after America entered the war the Japanese National Army landed unopposed on Attu in June 1942. The U.S. military were aware whomever controlled the Aleutian Islands had access to America’s west coast for air attacks. By the 11th May 1943, 2,900 Japanese Imperial Army troops were entrenched in defensive positions when the 7th U.S. Infantry Divisions made their amphibious attack on the island. Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support assisted the U.S. Army. The Japanese were subjected to heavy naval bombardments but despite this they remained entrenched. When the 15,000 U.S. troops landed, Arctic weather conditions hindered their progress. However, after two weeks of fighting the Americans had pushed the Japanese defenders back to a small area around Chichagof Harbour. On the 30th May 1943 the Japanese army, led by Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, made a surprise banzai charge where they broke through the American front line positions. Rear line U.S. troops were fighting hand-to-hand combat with Japanese forces as a consequence. The battle for the island ended with the death of most of the Japanese soldiers including Yamasaki. In the meantime, the Japanese navy had assembled a fleet in Tokyo Bay to recapture Attu. Before they were ready to depart, the Americans had secured the island. The Americans lost 549 troops killed and more than 1,200 injured. The Japanese lost 2,872 men killed and 28 were taken prisoner. The loss of the Aleutian Islands combined with the death if Admiral Isoroko Yamamoto in April 1943, had a demoralising effect on the Japanese High Command. However, Japanese propaganda attempted to present Aleutian Island campaign as an inspirational epic to compensate for the loss of Yamamoto.
(Other Theatres)
The Trident Conference began in Washington D.C. on the 12th May 1943 and lasted until the 25th May 1943. The conference was a strategic meeting between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also at the meeting were the heads of government of the United Kingdom and the United States.
The two leaders met every other day at the White House but the British and American military leaders met daily. On the 17th May 1943 Churchill addressed the U.S. Congress and the subject of the discussions were:-
(A) The Italian Campaign
He persuaded the American leaders to endorse the Allied invasion of Sicily which would force the Germans to release troops from the eastern front. By fighting in and removing Italy from the war would reduce the Allies debt to the Soviet Union.
(B) Extent of military force
Both Britain and America agreed maximum military force should be used against Germany ending in their defeat at the end of 1944. They would then concentrate on defeating Japan in 1945.
(C) The Normandy Landings
To enable the Allies to successfully invade Europe they would need to build up troop strength and produce more equipment. For this reason the Normandy Landings were to be postponed until May 1944.
(D) Aid to China
The only practical way to assist China would be to relieve Burma. Air attacks rather than ground attacks were considered to be best option owing to the problems of jungle warfare.
The outcome of the conference was that America would become the world’s leader. Previously Britain had been the world leader.
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In May 1943 the French people in Vichy-France formed a resistance movement. During January 1943 two major resistance groups were persuaded to unite to form the United Resistance Movement. It took time for the Marquis and the Milice groups to integrate. The Marquis were from the island Corsica, off the south coast of France, and renowned for their isolation. The Milice wereFrench gendarmes who were enemies of the Marquis, who desperately wanted to eliminate them. Following the defeat at Stalingrad, many gendarmes began to doubt an Axis victory and were unwilling to hunt down the Marquis. When the National Council of the Resistance was formed on the 26th May 1943 resistance activities began to become more co-ordinated.
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The Bay Museum & Research Facility 