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• Allied forces landed on Biak Island, New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | TH]
• The first unified meeting of French resistance groups took place, chaired by Jean Moulin; it recognized de Gaulle as the leader of the movement. Moulin would be betrayed to the Gestapo a month later, dying en route to a concentration camp. ww2dbase [The French Resistance | TH]
• USS Gar ended her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
• Franklin Roosevelt ordered that all defense contracts to be free of racial discrimination. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• USS Tunny refueled at Johnston Island, United States. ww2dbase [Tunny | CPC]
• In Samoa, the US 22nd Marine Regiment was reorganized as the Garrison Force, Defense Force, Samoan Group. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Finback sank a Japanese cargo ship east of Philippine Islands, hitting her with 2 of 3 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Finback | CPC]

• Japanese troops launched a major attack against Chinese troops in the Hubei-Hunan border region while 53 vessels ran the gauntlet on the Yangtze River, successfully sailing from Yichang to Wuhan. ww2dbase [Battle of Exi | CPC]

• Fourteen Mosquito bombers from RAF Marham led by Wing Commander R. Reynolds DSO, DFC conducted a daylight raid on the Zeiss optical instrument plant at Jena, some 45 miles from Leipzig, Germany. Despite losing three aircraft over the target and two others written off whilst attempting to land on their return, the operation had caused serious damage to the works. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | AC]

• USS Hoe departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Hoe | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Torpedo Squadron 12 (VT-12) departed (Model TBF). Part of British Torpedo Squadron 832 departed. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | DS]

• Mutsu arrived at Kure, Japan and entered dry dock No. 4 for hull scraping and re-painting. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Mutsu | CPC]

• While on a search and rescue mission in the Pacific Ocean, the B-24 bomber "The Green Hornet" developed mechanical trouble and crashed 850 miles west of Oahu, US Territory of Hawaii, killing 8 of the 11 crew members. Louis Zamperini, Russell Phillips, and Francis McNamara survived the crash. ww2dbase [Louis Zamperini | CPC]

• While arming B-17 bombers of the USAAF 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) at Station 102 (Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom) a 500-pound bomb exploded, killing 16 men with four B-17 bombers destroyed and eleven others damaged. ww2dbase [AC]

• James Byrnes stepped down as the Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization and was made the Director of the Office of War Mobilization. ww2dbase [James Byrnes | CPC]

• USS Runner departed Midway Atoll for her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Runner (Gato-class) | CPC]

27 May 1943 Interactive Map