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• The Austrian Republic was reformed, free of German influence, and the Anschluss was declared null and void. ww2dbase [TH]
• Heligoland Island, Germany was occupied by British troops. ww2dbase [TH]
• The Norwegian resistance group Milorg was formally dissolved. ww2dbase [TH]
• Japanese special attack aircraft damaged USS Enterprise off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Enterprise | CPC]
• Australian troops landed on Borneo. ww2dbase [Borneo Campaign | CPC]
• 472 American B-29 bombers conducted a raid on Nagoya, Japan as part of the first of two days of saturation bombing on Japanese cities. The Americans would drop 16,000 tons of napalm and oil bombs during the campaign; vast areas were burned out but 77 B-29 bombers failed to return. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | CPC]
• Adolf Galland was captured by the US Army. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | CPC]
• Alan Brooke reprimanded Oliver Leese for his intention to dismiss William Slim. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | CPC]
• Fleet tender Carl Peters struck a mine and sank. ww2dbase [Carl Peters | CPC]
• HMS Cumberland detached to escort carriers during air search for shipping off Sumatra. (Operation Mitre. This ship was not involved in the later sinking of Japanese cruiser Haguro which was 50 miles away from the position in which she was intercepted by fleet destroyers.) ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

• USS Chub departed Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Chub | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands on and remained there until 24 May 1945. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Ulithi | DS]
• USS Shangri-La arrived at Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Shangri-La | Ulithi | CPC]

• Chinese guerrilla fighters (who had been trained by the staff of Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization (SACO) Camp Four) under the tactical command of US Navy officer Donald Wilcox attacked a Japanese armored force 130 miles south of Xamba, Suiyuan Province, China. The attackers made use of a unusual weapon, a horse-mounted bazooka. They killed 60 Japanese soldiers and destroyed 2 tanks, while suffering 2 killed. ww2dbase [Suiyuan | CPC]

• USS Tunny departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her ninth war patrol. ww2dbase [Tunny | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Maizuru, Japan. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Maizuru, Kyoto | CPC]
• US Navy carrier aircraft strafed targets in Nagasaki, Japan. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | Nagasaki | CPC]

• Submarine USS Tinosa shelled a possible radio and radar station on Ulul Island northwest of Truk. ww2dbase [Tinosa | Ulul Island | DS]

• USS Alabama shot down two of the several Japanese aircraft that attempted to attack US warships; she also shared credit with anti-aircraft crews of other ships for the downing two other aircraft during the attack. ww2dbase [Alabama | CPC]
• USS Springer's crew observed a dogfight between a Japanese fighter and four US fighters. After seeing the Japanese fighter fall into the water, the crew recovered the body of the dead Japanese pilot, retrieved papers for intelligence, took some equipment and personal items, and dumped the body back into the water. ww2dbase [Springer | CPC]

• Kamikaze began an escort assignment for cruiser Haguro out of Singapore. ww2dbase [Kamikaze | Singapore | CPC]

• Two PV-1 aircraft of US Navy squadron VPB-137 from Clark Field in the Philippine Islands conducted a reconnaissance mission over Taiwan, two of which fired eight and six 5-inch rockets, respectively, at the Ujitsu sugar plant, which was misidentified as a Butanol plant, in Ujitsu (now Wuri). The facility was hit by eight of the rockets and suffered some damage. ww2dbase [Ujitsu, Taichu | CPC]
• Two PV-1 aircraft of US Navy squadron VPB-137 from Clark Field in the Philippine Islands conducted a reconnaissance mission over Taiwan, one of which dropped three 250-pound bombs on a pair of bridges over Daito River (now Dadu River) in Shoka (now Changhua); both bombs missed. ww2dbase [Shoka, Taichu | CPC]
• At dawn, two B-25J bombers of USAAF 38th Bombardment Group took off from Lingayen Airfield in the Philippines for Taiwan. Only one of them was able to observe the target, the Kibi Sugar Refinery in Kizan, Takao Prefecture (now Qishan District, Kaohsiung), through the thick cloud cover. It dropped its four 500-pound parachute bombs, scoring at least two hits. The other aircraft dropped its four bombs en route home, targeting an unidentified warehouse, but two of the four fell in a residential district in Empo (now Yanpu, Pingtung County), causing fires. ww2dbase [Kizan, Takao | CPC]

• British Admiral Sir Max Horton (Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches) formally accepted the surrender of a token force of eight U-boats at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The U-boats which had been escorted from Loch Alsh, Scotland, United Kingdom by destroyer HMS Hesperus, Canadian Frigate Thetford Mines, and USS Paine had their torpedoes and two-thirds of their crew removed before their journey up the Foyle. The German crews were mostly very young men. Some were sullen and many were arrogant but the morale among the officers was unbroken. They were convinced that Hitler had died in action and their first question was "When do we start fighting the Russians?" One or two were so convinced that war with Russia was imminent that they had retained their confidential books and secret equipment to be ready when the war faced east. ww2dbase [Londonberry, Northern Ireland | AC]

• USS Rock arrived at San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Rock | San Francisco, California | CPC]
• William Donovan met with the new US President Harry Truman at the White House in Washington DC, United States. Truman only granted him 15 minutes as he did not value the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). ww2dbase [William Donovan | White House | Washington | CPC]
• The United States Department of Censorship partially lifted the blackout on information about the Japanese balloon bombs. In the regions where balloons were landing, a "word of mouth" campaign was launched at public gatherings and meetings of civic organizations to verbally brief residents. The continuing ban on printed press coverage or radio news reports was emphasized. ww2dbase [Fu-Go | DS]

14 May 1945 Interactive Map