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• In response to reports that Germany might use gas weapons against Soviet troops, Churchill promised that the forces of the United Kingdom would retaliate with gas weapons if German launched them first. ww2dbase [TH]
• German armed merchant cruiser Thor stopped Australian cargo and passenger transport Nankin with gunfire 1,500 miles west of Australia at 1430 hours, killing 2; Nankin's crew attempted to scuttle the ship, but the attempt was stopped by a boarding party from Thor which took control of the ship. ww2dbase [Thor | CPC]
• P-51 Mustang fighters saw combat for the first time with RAF pilots in the cockpits. ww2dbase [P-51 Mustang | CPC]
• Lieutenant Commander Koukichi Mori was named the commander officer of destroyer Yuzuki. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• German submarine U-506 damaged US tanker Aurora 50 kilometers south of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, killing 1 of 50 aboard; Aurora was later towed to Algiers, Louisiana for repairs. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• A new concentration camp was opened near the village of Maly Trostenets near Minsk, Byelorussia. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• A Japanese invasion force departed Rabaul for Ocean (Banaba) and Nauru Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Thai Phayap Army invaded Shan State, Burma. In western Burma, Gurkha units, rearguard to the British general retreat, held off another Japanese assault throughout the afternoon; they also withdrew westwards after sundown. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• American submarine USS Porpoise rescued 5 USAAF pilots near New Guinea. ww2dbase [Porpoise | CPC]

• 125 miles southeast of Accra, British West Africa (now Ghana), USS Ranger launched 68 US Army P-40 fighters of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron for transfer to nearby airfields. ww2dbase [Ranger | DS]
• German submarine U-588 sank British ship Kitty's Brook 35 miles off of Nova Scotia, Canada; 9 were killed, 25 survived. To the south, U-333 sank British ship Clan Skene 300 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States; 9 were killed, 73 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]

• USS S-39 departed Brisbane, Australia, starting her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-39 | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• USS S-44 attempted to move into an attack position against a target near Cape St. George, New Ireland, but she was spotted by Japanese escort vessels and was attacked. ww2dbase [S-44 | CPC]
• Shokaku arrived at Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Operation MG2 commenced from Alexandria, Egypt with British destroyers HMS Kipling, HMS Jackal, HMS Jervis, and HMS Lively aiming to intercept an Axis convoy from Italy to Benghazi, Libya. ww2dbase [Alexandria | CPC]

• Masafumi Arima was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District, Japan. ww2dbase [Masafumi Arima | Kanagawa | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down two South African Hurricane fighters, Captain Cobbledick at 0913 hours and Lieutenant Flesker at 0915 hours, southeast of Martuba, Libya, raising his kill score to 56. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Martuba | CPC]

• German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring prematurely announced that Malta had been neutralized. On the same day, British minelayer HMS Welshman, disguised as a French destroyer, arrived at Grand Harbour at Malta with RAF personnel and 240 tons of supplies. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | TH, CPC]

• Just before midnight, destroyer USS Cummings crossed the equator heading south at longitude 163 39 12W en route from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Cummings | DS]
• Sazanami joined Yugure at 1200 hours in escorting Shokaku to Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Yugure | CPC]

• US Army General William Sharp received orders from General Jonathan Wainwright to surrender all US and Filipino troops on Mindanao, Philippine Islands, which he complied. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• 20th Troop Carrier Squadron of US Sixth Air Force Base Command was assigned to Losey Field in Puerto Rico. ww2dbase [Losey Field | Juana Díaz | CPC]

• The German 11th Army pushed through Soviet positions and advanced toward Sevastopol, Russia. Meanwhile, Axis aircraft attacked Soviet vessel Chernomorets evacuating 500 wounded troops from the Crimean Peninsula; all aboard the vessel were killed. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | CPC]

• USS New Mexico arrived at San Pedro, California, United States. ww2dbase [New Mexico | San Pedro, California | CPC]

10 May 1942 Interactive Map