Tuesday, May 12, 1942. The Second Battle of Kharkov.

In what is now Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Second Battle of Kharkov began as the Red Army and the German Wehrmacht clashed in an offensive/counteroffensive, in the area

The Red Army,  in its first major offensive of the war, had established a bridgehead over the Donets which was attacked in turn by the Germans.  By May 15 the Germans would halt the Soviet advance, ultimately leading to a German victory in which the Red Army would sustain 280,000 casualties and the Germans 20,000, and set them up for a resumed 1942 offensive.

Japanese forces crossed the Salween River in Burma.