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• The German synthetic fuel plants at Brüx in southern Germany (post-war Most, Czechoslovakia) and Lüna-Merseburg, Lützkendorf, and Zeitz in eastern Germany were hit by 800 US bombers. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]
• Kamal Ram of Indian 8th Punjab Regiment single-handedly took out two German defensive positions and joined another against a third near the Gari River in Italy. Later in the same day, he charged at a house held by the Germans, capturing two and killing one. He was later awarded the Victoria Cross, with King George VI pinning the medal onto his uniform in Jul 1944. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Anglo-Indian troops counterattacked at Tengnoupal, India, regaining territory lost during the Japanese attacks between 6 and 8 May 1944. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Shokaku departed Lingga, Dutch East Indies for the Tawi-Tawi anchorage in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze departed Lingga, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Near Cassino, Italy, engineers of Indian 8th Division successfully established a bridge to allow tanks of Canadian 1st Armoured Brigade to cross the Rapido River, while Polish troops engaged in fierce fighting with troops of German 1st Parachute Division at Point 593. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Landing ship No. 129 was completed. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• The keel of landing ship No. 157 was laid down by Hitachi Zosen. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• 39 German Sinti children, 20 boys and 19 girls, arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. They were separated from their parents as a part of Eva Justin's dissertation "The fate of Gypsy children and their offspring raised in alien environments". She became a professor at Berlin University in 1943 and the paper was published in 1944. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | CPC]

• The remains of German 17.Armee surrendered in the Crimea in Russia. ww2dbase [TH]

• USS Wake Island arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

12 May 1944 Interactive Map