5 May 1942
  • German government ruled that deaths of concentration camp prisoners no longer had to be reported to the next of kin. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
  • USS Yorktown made rendezvous with USS Lexington south of Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
  • USS Lexington made rendezvous with USS Yorktown south of Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Lexington (Lexington-class) | CPC]
  • British troops invaded French Madagascar in Operation Ironclad, landing in Courrier Bay at 0430 hours and Ambararata Bay shortly after. French and British troops clashed at Antsirane and Diego-Suárez. From the sea, carrier aircraft from HMS Indomitable and HMS Illustrious attacked the airfield and the port of Diego-Suárez, sinking French submarine Bévéziers, armed merchant cruiser Bougainville, and colonial sloop D'Entrecasteaux. British corvette HMS Auricula struck a mine in the entrance to Diego-Suárez Bay, suffering heavy damage. ww2dbase [Madagascar Campaign | CPC]
  • German submarine U-108 sank US freighter Afoundria between Cuba and Haiti. Off Bermuda, U-106 sank Canadian passenger ship Lady Drake (12 were killed, 256 survived) and U-103 sank British ship Stanbank. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
  • German submarine U-125 sank US ship Green Island and British ship Empire Buffalo off the Cayman Islands. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
  • 680 Japanese-American internees, mostly from Oregon, arrived at the Portland Assembly Center in Oregon, United States. ww2dbase [Portland Assembly Center | CPC]
Australia Australian Papua
  • A B-25 Mitchell bomber spotted Shoho during the day. After dark, 3 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were brought up from Australia to Port Moresby, Australian Papua and were loaded up with 600-pound bombs for an attack on Shoho. ww2dbase [Battle of Coral Sea | Port Moresby | CPC]
  • Tenryu arrived at Deboyne Islands 200 kilometers east of the tip of Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Deboyne, Louisiade | CPC]
Caroline Islands
  • Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Truk | CPC]
Germany Japan Philippines Russia
  • The German 16th Army broke through to Kholm, Russia, relieving the survivors of Gruppe Scherer which had been surrounded since 23 Jan 1942. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Kholm, Novgorod | CPC]
  • Soviet patrol ship Rubin, Soviet patrol ship Brilliant, British minesweeper Harrier, British minesweeper Niger, and British minesweeper Gossamer set sail from Polyarny, Russia; they made rendezvous with Allied convoy PQ-15 in the Kola Inlet at 2300 hours. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Polyarny, Murmansk | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • Garland completed her refitting at Middlesbrough, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Garland | Middlesbrough, England | CPC]
  • Ira Eaker was made the commanding officer of US Eight Bomber Command in Britain. ww2dbase [Ira Eaker | England | CPC]
  • Brigadier General Frank Hunter was made the commanding officer of US Eighth Fighter Command in Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]
United States
  • USAAF Fifth Air Force, under the command of Major General Carl Spaatz and based at Bolling Field, Washington DC, United States, was renumbered as Eighth Air Force. ww2dbase [Carl Spaatz | Washington | AC]

5 May 1942 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Famous WW2 Quote
"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."

General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944


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