Water gushes from the damaged Möhne dam
following the successful raid by the British Air Force

May 16-17
Air War, Germany
The dams on the Möhne and Eder Rivers are attacked by 19 British Lancaster aircraft, which are carrying specially-designed 'bouncing bombs.'; The dams generate electricity and supply water to the Ruhr region. The squadron led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson loses eight aircraft. The raid causes some disruption to industry, and boosts morale in Great Britain. German casualties are high, particularly among forced foreign workers.

May 16
Home Front, Poland
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising ends. Some 14,000 Jews have been killed, 22,000 sent to concentration camps, and 20,000 to labor camps.

May 22
Sea War, Atlantic
Admiral Karl Doenitz suspends patrols in the northern Atlantic. Some 56 submarines have been destroyed since April alone in a campaign of attrition the Germans cannot afford.

Escalating losses of both vessels and experienced crews force him to redeploy his remaining forces to less hazardous Caribbean waters and the Azores. Improved tactics, radar, code-breaking, air cover, and the increased building of escorts have combined to strengthen convoy defenses.

May 23-29
Air War, Germany
A massive British raid is made on Dortmund. Another offensive against Wuppertal on the 29th kills 2450 people. British bombers are intensifying their large-scale night attacks against industrial centers.

May 26
Balkans, Yugoslavia
An Axis force of 120,000 men attacks 16,000 communist partisans in Montenegro. A British military mission arrives on the 27th to meet partisan leader Joseph Tito, who confirms their intelligence reports that the rival Chetnik resistance group now supports the Axis forces. Since the fall of 1941, Tito has led a full-scale campaign in the province of Serbia but has since endured several major attacks from the Axis occupiers. Partisan forces have been preserved by withdrawing to the mountains and are now to be strengthened by large quantities of Allied aid.

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