World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Thursday May 14, 1942
Day 987

May 14, 1942: Front page of the News and Chronicle, London, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 5: "Second Ship Sunk in St. Lawrence"
(The unnamed ship was the 5,364-ton British freighter Nicoya, which was sunk by U-553 with the loss of six men. There were 82 survivors. The other unnamed ship was the 4,712-ton Dutch freighter Leto, also sunk by U-553. Twelve men were lost, forty-one survived. Both ships were sunk on May 12 off Grande-Vallée, Quebec, but they were sunk in the opposite order than reported. Nicoya was sunk first, with Leto being sunk 2 hours later.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Coral Sea Heavy Jap Defeat, Say Nazis"
(How the Germans got this wrong is not known to me. The Japanese did not suffer a heavy defeat, but they also did not deal the Allies a heavy defeat either.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Leeds, England.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Nerve Gas Report"
(A reporter was expelled from Germany for reporting that the Germans were using nerve gas in Russia. The Germans did not use poison gas in combat in World War II.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Will Not Use Poison Gas Germany Says"
(This was one promise that Adolf Hitler kept, at least as far as combat operations were concerned.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 5: "Nurses Buy Fighters"
(British nurses have collected £10,000 to pay for two night fighters to defend hospitals in Britain.)
Also note the report in column 1: "Proof Of Jap Lies"
(It is interesting to note that the Allies have not yet admitted to the loss of USS Lexington and USS Sims, but the Japanese did admit to the loss of Shoho.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline report: "Nazi Sub Trailed Victim For Six Miles" and the report in column 4: "Third Ship May Be Lost St. Lawrence"
(The first ship sunk was the Nicoya. According to the war diary of the commanding officer of U-553, Kapitänleutnant Thrumann, the ship was sighted off Grande-Vallée, Quebec at 0540 [U-boat time] at 0552 he fired one torpedo, which hit the ship after 40 seconds. He fired a second torpedo at 0611, which hit amidships and the ship sank at 0615. He sighted the second ship, Leto, at 0810, fired a single torpedo at 0828, which hit amidships. The ship had sunk by 0840. No third ship was attacked or sunk by U-553 in the St. Lawrence River.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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Note the report in column 2: "Believe Sub Sunk Or Escaped River"
(U-553, the boat that sank the two ships in the St. Lawrence River, made its way out of the river and into the North Atlantic and sank one more ship before returning to St. Nazaire, France in late June. Thurmann and U-553 sank 4 other ships before going missing in late Jan. 1943. The exact date and cause of the loss is unknown to this day.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline report: "Another Vessel Is Torpedoed In Gulf"
(The unidentified ship was the 7,050-ton U.S. tanker Aurora, which was attacked by U-506 on May 10th.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson, Arizona.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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May 14, 1942: Front page of the Teltower Kreisblatt, Kreis Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Die Entscheidung auf Kertsch gefallen.
(The decision made Kertsch has fallen.)


May 14, 1942: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Unbeschreibliche Vernichtung in den bolschewistischen Truppenmassen - Durchbruchsschlacht von Kertsch entschieden. 40.000 Gefangene, 197 Panzerkampfwagen, 598 Geschütze und 260 Flugzeuge.
(Indescribable destruction in the Bolshevik troop masses - breakthrough battle of Kerch decided. 40,000 prisoners, 197 armored vehicles, 598 guns and 260 aircraft.)



   
Page published May 14, 2023