B-29’s

An air fleet of 500 to 550 B-29 Superfortresses dropped about 3,000 tons of incendiary and high-explosive bombs on four Japanese cities and an oil facility.

The heavy blow was struck after lighter bombers and fighters carried the air war to the Japanese homeland following a 1,000-aircraft raid on Tokyo the previous Tuesday.

Benito Mussolini’s former wife provided an interview, telling what it was like living with the late fascist Italian leader.

“I was never near him when he was high; I was always near him when he was down,” Donna Rachele said.

Mussolini was killed near Milan the previous April by Italian partisans. Rachele defended Mussolini against every allegation except for his infidelity.

The U.S. Army announced it would stop providing shipments to Europe to feed residents. It would continue, however, the lend-lease program to provide meat to Russia during July, August and September.

The shipments would include 25 million pounds of “toshonka,” a canned meat product that includes beef and pork.

The scheduled shipments included 25 million pounds of flour, 5 million pounds of butter and 2 million pounds of cheese. The Russians requested 430,000 tons of food, but the U.S. agreed to 30,000 tons.