May 3
Politics, United States
General Frank Andrews, US commander in the European theater, is killed in an air crash. General Jacob Devers is named as his replacement.

May 5-7
Africa, Tunisia
Reinforcements sent by the Eighth Army help the First Army recapture Djebel Bou Aoukaz and enable the British 7th Armored Division to advance into open 'tank country.'; General Sir Harold Alexander can now exploit the numerical and material superiority of his armies against the Axis forces defending Tunis. Massicault is reached on the 6th, and tanks enter Tunis on the 7th. The US III Corps reaches Bizerta the same day. The Axis forces in North Africa are facing imminent defeat, with no chance of escaping the Allies.

May 11-29
Pacific, Aleutians
A US 12,000-man amphibious force attacks Attu Island, one of Japan's fortified positions in the northern Pacific. During the bitter offensive, only 29 of the 2500 Japanese survive. US forces sustain 561 fatalities and have 1136 men wounded.

May 12-25
Politics, Allies
The Allied Trident Conference is held in Washington. Churchill and Roosevelt reinforce the 'Germany First'; strategy by agreeing to intensify bombing raids in Europe. A date is set for the cross-Channel invasion (May 1, 1944) and Britain urges that the Sicilian attack is extended to the Italian mainland. The British feel that the United States is committing increasing resources to the Pacific at the expense of European military operations.

May 13
Africa, Tunisia
Axis forces officially surrender. Some 620,000 casualties and prisoners have been sustained by Germany and Italy. Allied campaign losses: French 20,000; British 19,000; and US 18,500.

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