8 May 1884
- Harry Truman was born.
» In-depth article
8 May 1914
China
China
- Rear Admiral Masaki Nakamura was named the chief of staff of Vice Admiral Reijiro Kawashima (Ryojun Military Port, northeastern China).
8 May 1918
India
India
- John Birch was born in Landour, northern India.
» In-depth article
- Joseph Rochefort was activated by the United States Navy with the rating of Electrician 3rd Class at San Pedro, California, United States.
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8 May 1928
- Cornwall was commissioned into service.
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8 May 1929
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
- The Bristol Bulldog biplane fighter entered service with No. 3 Squadron at RAF Upavon in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom.
8 May 1936
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1936
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1936
8 May 1937
- Stalin authorized the reintroduction of political officers in all military units above the size of a division.
» In-depth article - Street fighting broke out in Barcelona, Spain with the CNT (Confederacion Nacional de Trabaja [the Anarcho-Syndicalist Trades Union]) and POUM battling with the Communists, who are supported by the Generalitat. The fighting would last until 8 May.
8 May 1939
- The United Kingdom rejected what would be the last Soviet request to form a British-French-Soviet pact to contain German aggression.
» In-depth article
- The Japanese advance in Hubei Province, China was briefly halted by a counterattack conducted by 31st Army Group of the Chinese 5th War Area and the 2nd Army Group of the Chinese 1st War Area.
» In-depth article
8 May 1940
- The opposition party in the United Kingdom, the Labour Party, called for a vote of no confidence for Prime Minister Chamberlain's government. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister David Lloyd George called for Chamberlain to step down for the good of the country.
» In-depth article - Adolf Hitler pushed the decision date for the invasion of France to the following day.
» In-depth article
- American river gunboat Tutuila ran aground on a reef and became stranded in the Yangtze River at Chongqing, China.
- Garland exited drydocks at Malta.
» In-depth article
- Semyon Timoshenko was appointed the Soviet commissar for defense.
» In-depth article
8 May 1941
- German aircraft conducted the last of the two consecutive nightly raids on Hull, England.
» In-depth article - A Walrus seaplane from British cruiser HMS Cornwall spotted German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin 400 miles off British Somaliland. The two ships fired on each other at 1714 hours; Pinguin was fatally damaged by Cornwall's superior firepower, but Cornwall was also hit, killing 1 and wounding 3. Shortly after Pinguin's commanding officer gave the abandon ship order, an eight-inch shell hit Pinguin, detonating her store of 130 naval mines and sinking her; 341 crew and 214 prisoners were killed, 66 crew and 22 prisoners survived.
- German submarine U-97 sank British ship Ramillies in the North Atlantic; 29 were killed, 12 survived.
- Indian troops attacked Amba Alagi, Abyssinia at dawn, taking the Falagi Pass and three hills east and south of the city, respectively. Later in the morning, Italian troops counterattacked and recaptured two of the hills.
» In-depth article
- 359 British RAF bombers attacked Hamburg and Bremen in Germany.
» In-depth article
8 May 1942
See all photos dated 8 May 1942
- Between 0907 and 0915 hours, Shokaku was severely damaged by three bomb hits. One tore open the port bow and started a fire in the forecastle. The second struck the end of the flight deck to starboard. The third hit the starboard side of the rear of the island, damaging gun tubs and the mainmast. Large fires broke out. She was able to evade all torpedoes successfully. Escorted by Ushio and Yugure, she was detached and was able to evacuate the battle area at full speed. 108 officers and men were killed by the fires and explosions, and another 40 wounded.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Japanese and US carrier fleets at Coral Sea discovered each other in the morning, each closing in to attack. Japanese carrier Shokaku was damaged by 3 bombs at 1057 hours (223 casualties), while American carrier USS Lexington was hit by two bombs at 1120 hours (191 killed; would soon be lost) and American carrier USS Yorktown was hit by a bomb (66 casualties). Meanwhile at Port Moresby, an Australian cruiser force successfully defended itself against land-based aircraft attack as it blocked the Japanese invasion fleet for Port Moresby, New Guinea. As both sides withdrew due to damage and losses, the Japanese scored a tactical victory, but lost strategic momentum as the Port Moresby must now be delayed.
» In-depth article - The German 11.Armee began its Crimean offensive.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-564 sank US freighter Ohioan 10 kilometers north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, killing 15 of 37 aboard. On the same day, U-136 sank Canadian sailing ship Mildred Pauline with the deck gun off Nova Scotia, Canada.
» In-depth article - Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Rabaul.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - The US 3rd Marine Brigade convoy arrived off Apia, American Samoa; its commander assumed military control of Western Samoa.
- Japanese troops captured Myitkyina, Burma.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-507 sank Norwegian ship Torny in the Gulf of Mexico.
» In-depth article - USS Lexington was damaged by bombs at 1120 hours during the Battle of the Coral Sea, killing 191. At 1247 hours, the leaking gasoline was detonated by fire, killing a further 25. At 1707 hours, the 2,735 survivors abandoned ship, and the carrier was scuttled by 5 torpedoes from destroyer USS Phelps at 1915 hours.
» In-depth article - French submarine Monge attacked British carrier HMS Indomitable off Diego-Suárez, Madagascar at 0756 hours; all torpedoes missed. British destroyers HMS Active and HMS Panther counterattacked and sank Monge.
» In-depth article - USS Grenadier sank Japanese freighter Taiyo Maru 140 miles southwest of Japan. Taiyo Maru was carrying geologists and oil experts to the Dutch East Indies to survey sites for oil production.
» In-depth article - British minelayer HMS Welshman, disguised as a French destroyer, departed Gibraltar with RAF personnel and 240 tons of supplies for Malta.
» In-depth article - British submarine HMS Olympus departed Malta ferrying crews of sunken submarines HMS Pandora, HMS P36, and HMS P39, sailing for Gibraltar; HMS Olympus struck a mine and sank later on this date; 89 were killed, 9 survived.
- USS Skipjack attacked a small Japanese convoy, sinking Japanese transport Bujun Maru and damaging transport Taiyu Maru in the South China Sea 140 miles northeast of Cam Rahn Bay, French Indochina; six torpedoes were expended in this attack, three of which found their targets.
» In-depth article
- 193 British bombers (98 Wellington, 27 Stirling, 21 Lancaster, 19 Halifax, 19 Hampden, 9 Manchester) attacked Warnemünde, Rostock, Germany; the primary target was the nearby Heinkel aircraft factory; 19 British bombers were destroyed during this attack.
» In-depth article
- Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii detected hints that Japanese Navy fleet carriers and battleships were being attached, suggesting a large operation was being planned.
» In-depth article
- Light cruiser Voroshilov bombarded German troop positions near Tash-Alchin, Ukraine.
» In-depth article
- German bombers attacked Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
» In-depth article
See all photos dated 8 May 1942
8 May 1943
- German government issued the order that deaths of Eastern European workers in the concentration camps only need to be reported to labor offices.
» In-depth article - Admiral Bruce Fraser replaced Admiral John Tovey as the head of the Royal Navy Home Fleet.
- USS Gar reported sinking a Japanese ship in daylight with her deck gun.
» In-depth article - USS Scorpion arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her first war patrol.
» In-depth article - Japanese troops captured Maungdaw, Burma despite being outnumbered and being surrounded throughout most of the offensive.
» In-depth article
- Yamato departed Truk, Caroline Islands for Yokosuka, Japan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- In Operation BG 6, Italian auxiliary ship Olterra launched three manned torpedoes against Gibraltar, sinking three cargo ships.
- Destroyer Yukikaze arrived at Kure, Japan.
» In-depth article
- Guy Gibson, together with Harold Martin and John Hopgood, made a number of successful practice drops of "Upkeep" bombs at Reculver off southeastern England, United Kingdom. Low level training, which had now been consolidated at the Uppingham reservoir and a dam on the Colchester reservoir, was reduced from 150 feet to just 60 feet.
» In-depth article
8 May 1944
- Rudolf Höss returned to Auschwitz Concentration Camp to supervise Aktion Höss, the extermination of 430,000 Hugarian Jews.
» In-depth article - Eisenhower set the date for the cross-Channel invasion at 5 Jun 1944.
» In-depth article - USS Rock arrived at Majuro, Marshall Islands, ending her second war patrol.
» In-depth article - USS Hoe attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, damaging a tanker and a freigther with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article - USAAF fighter ace Robert Johnson scored his 27th victory, exceeding the 26 victories achieved by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, making him the second-highest scoring American fighter pilot in Europe.
- Brigadier William Lentaigne, commander of the Chindit, flew to the front lines in Burma to meet with Michael Calvert, repeating the order to abandon the Broadway and White City sites of Operation Thursday in order to build a new forward base, Blackpool.
» In-depth article
- Robert Johnson flew his final mission, shooting down a Bf 109G aircraft and a Fw 190 aircraft over Celle, Germany.
» In-depth article
- USS Ticonderoga was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States with Dixie Kiefer in command.
» In-depth article
8 May 1945
See all photos dated 8 May 1945
- Paul Giesler passed away.
» In-depth article - Britain marked VE (Victory in Europe) Day with scenes of great public celebration and services of thanksgiving. In France, the German garrisons in coastal strongholds finally surrendered. In Berlin, Germany, Marshal Zhukov accepted the German surrender, which was to take effect on 11 May. Also on this date, German troops in Czechoslovakia surrendered.
» In-depth article - Every gun present at Okinawa, Japan, including naval guns, fired one round at noon at the Japanese in celebration of V-E Day.
» In-depth article - Soviet troops liberated Theresienstadt Concentration Camp; about 30,000 prisoners were present at the camp at the time.
» In-depth article - Crown Prince Olav of Norway returned to Oslo aboard a British Royal Navy warship on the same day that the city was declared liberated.
- Canadian sailors looted shops in during VE-Day celebrations in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
- 92 German ships of various sizes departed Libau, Latvia with 18,000 German refugees onboard, sailing for Denmark and Germany. It would be the final convoy out of Latvia.
» In-depth article - US 83rd Infantry Division became part of the US XIII Corps.
- Bernhard Rust committed suicide.
» In-depth article
- Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim, Head of the Luftwaffe since Hitler's dismissal of Hermann Göring in the last days of the collapsing German Reich, was captured by the Americans in Austria.
» In-depth article
- Most aircraft of the Japanese 5th Kokugun in China began to withdraw to Korea. By the end of the month, over 10,000 personnel would successfully reach their new bases.
- German Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner escaped Prague, Czechoslovakia for Austria.
» In-depth article
- A special medical commission of Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front headed by Lieutenant Colonel Faust Shkaravsky performed an autopsy on the two bodies retrieved near the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, one of which was suspected to be that of Adolf Hitler's. He noted that a part of the skull on one of the bodies was missing, but the cause of death of that person was more likely cyanide poisoning.
» In-depth article - Lieutenant Robert C. Little of US 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron became the last pilot to shoot down a German Luftwaffe aircraft in combat over the Western Front when, shortly after 2000 hours, he destroyed an attacking Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft whilst on patrol over the Danube River.
- Allied convoy RA-66 arrived at Clyde, Scotland, United Kingdom.
» In-depth article
See all photos dated 8 May 1945
8 May 1948
- Former Burmese Prime Minister U Saw was hanged in Insein prison near Rangoon, Burma after his conviction for being complicit in the assassination of General Aung San.
8 May 1951
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1951
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1951
8 May 1956
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1956
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1956
8 May 1957
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1957
Photo(s) dated 8 May 1957
8 May 1959
- Filipp Golikov was promoted to the rank of general of the army.
» In-depth article
8 May 1961
- Filipp Golikov was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union.
» In-depth article
8 May 1964
- Kichisaburo Nomura passed away.
» In-depth article
8 May 1973
- Alexander Vandegrift passed away.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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"Since peace is now beyond hope, we can but fight to the end."Chiang Kaishek, 31 Jul 1937