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August 1st, 1939 (TUESDAY)

Destroyer USS Sims commissioned. (DS)

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August 1st, 1940 (THURSDAY)

 HMS Narwhal is paid off the same day. After leaving the Humber on 22 July for a minelaying mission off Norway, she fails to return.

German submarine U-25 is sunk in the North Sea, north of Terchelling, by a British mine in position 54.14N, 05.07E. All hands, 49 men, are lost.

Mine barrage Field No 7. was laid by the destroyers HMS Express, Esk, Icarus and Impulsive in the North Sea on 3 March, 1940. It probably accounted for several U-boats on their inbound or return journey. (Alex Gordon)

NETHERLANDS: The Hague: A Luftwaffe conference is held to plan the invasion of Britain.

GERMANY: Hitler sets the date for the invasion of Britain at 15 September, and issues his directive no 17 ordering intensification of the air war from 5 August.
OKW issues Führer Directive #17: In order to establish the necessary conditions for the conquest of England, air and sea warfare will be intensified against the English homeland. 
(i) The Luftwaffe is to overpower the RAF with all the forces at its command. The attacks are to be directed primarily against flying units, their ground installations, and their supply organizations. The aircraft industry (including anti-aircraft production) should also be targeted. 
(ii) After local air superiority is won, the air war will continue against ports and stores of food and provisions. Damage to ports on the south coast must be minimized in view of our future operations. 
(iii) Attacks on enemy warships and shipping may be reduced in order to concentrate on above mentioned operations. Operations should be carried out such that air support can be called upon for urgent naval activity, or an invasion, at any time. 
(iv) The Führer reserves the right to order terror attacks as measures of reprisal. 
(v) Intensified air and sea operations should begin on or after 5th August, weather permitting. (Marc Roberts)

U-96 launched.

U-575, U-576, U-577, U-578 laid down.

PORTUGAL: Lisbon: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor left here today aboard the US liner Excalibur after the collapse of a Nazi plot to pressure them into leading peace moves against the duke's brother, King George, and Churchill. The couple, who were living in France, fled to Spain when the Germans invaded and went on to Lisbon. At von Ribbentrop's request, the Falangist Miguel Primo de Rivera contacted the Duke and was gratified to be told that Churchill was a warmonger. Rivera suggested that the Duke might again be King. "Oh, no", said the Duke, "That would be unconstitutional!"


MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Oswald on patrol south of the Strait of Messina reports Italian Navy movements. She is detected and later rammed and sunk by Italian destroyer 'Ugolini Vivaldi' off Cap Spartivento.

The RN submarine makes no attempt to escape or to attack the Italian ship, possibly because the commander suffers from night blindness when he is suddenly called to the bridge. The RN commander (who ordered abandon ship BEFORE the ramming occurred, when Vivaldi was 100 yards away) is court martialled on 5 charges for the loss of his ship and found to have been negligent in performing his duties. He is sentenced to forfeit all seniority as a lieutenant commander, to be dismissed and to be severely reprimanded. There were 3 casualties, but 52 of the crew survived to become POW. (Alex Gordon)

(Mark Horan) HMS Argus reaches the intended flying off position for the RAF reinforcements for Malta. At the pre-flight briefing, the RAF pilots are shocked to discover that distance to Malta is well beyond the capability of their aircraft. Acknowledging their willingness to follow orders, they casually bring up the point that plunking the 12 Hurricanes in the Mediterranean Sea can hardly be the desired goal of their lordships. Unwilling to take the pilots word for their aircrafts capability, a series of hasty messages are dispatched to England; the answers subsequently verify that the RAF pilots assessment of the their aircraft is correct. Having already been discovered by Italian reconnaissance planes, this means that the need for HMS Argus to close Malta will entail heavy risk as the flight must be delayed until the morrow.

Sure enough, later that afternoon the expected attacks from Regia Aeronautica units based in Sardinia develop, but numerous interceptions by HMS Ark Royal's Skua II fighter aircraft of both 800 and 803 Squadrons down one contact plane and chase off another, then break up the actual attacks while downing an S-79. No damage is sustained by the RN.

Now, as in the future, cover is provided by force H. The opportunity is taken for HMS Ark Royal's aircraft to hit Sardinian targets.

Submarine HMS Oswald is rammed and sunk by Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi. The RN submarine makes no attempt to escape or to attack the Italian ship, possibly because the commander suffers from night blindness when he is suddenly called to the bridge. The RN commander (who ordered abandon ship BEFORE the ramming occurred, when Vivaldi was 100 yards away) is court martialled on 5 charges for the loss of his ship and found to have been negligent in performing his duties. He is sentenced to forfeit all seniority as a lieutenant commander, to be dismissed and to be severely reprimanded. There were 3 casualties, but 52 of the crew survived to become POW. (Alex Gordon)(108)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bathurst launched.

U.S.A.: The book "While England Slept," written by 23-year-old John Fitzgerald Kennedy as his senior essay for Harvard, is published. This, his first book, describes England's lack of readiness for WWII.

Destroyer USS Niblack commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0345, the unescorted Sigyn was hit in aft part by one torpedo from U-59 and sank by the stern with a sharp list. The ship had been spotted at 0157 and missed with two torpedoes at 0217 and 0343.

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August 1st, 1941 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: No. 133 Squadron Fighter Command is formed. It will be composed of American pilots.

GERMANY: Making even a short journey as a civilian in war-torn Germany is now fraught with every imaginable difficulty. Since the outbreak of war the entire transport system of the Reich has been geared towards the Wehrmacht and the armaments industry.
Now shortages of spare parts and fuel have made cars a largely forgotten luxury, so that there are more commuters seeking fewer trains. In Breslau in June passenger demand is reported to have exceeded train capacity by 200 per cent.

U-198, U-226, U-266 laid down.

NORWAY: The German authorities have imposed a state of emergency in Norway to try and clamp down on native resistance to the occupation. Strikes have virtually crippled some regions and acts of sabotage by partisans aimed at Wehrmacht (Heer) installations and railways have also had a devastating effect. The Germans regard British radio propaganda as responsible for the resistance and they have confiscated 90 per cent of the populations radios.

U.S.S.R.: Kishinev: Germans shoot dead over a thousand Jews and communists.
German forces withstand strong Russian counterattacks north of the Pripet Marshes.

SPAIN: U-331 refuelled from the German supply ship Thalia in Cadiz.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Brandon arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Armed yacht HMCS Vencedor (ex Exmouth II) commissioned.

CHINA: Japan attacks Communist troops in the Shansi-Chahar-Hopeh border area, launching the "Three All" campaign.
Chungking:
American mercenary pilots hired to fly fighter and bomber missions for the Chinese Nationalists are to become official members of the Chinese armed forces on the orders of General Chiang Kai-shek.
The 101 volunteers, nicknamed the Flying Tigers but officially designated the American Volunteer Group, are due here next month.
All the pilots are retired officers of the US Army and Navy Air Forces or serving officers who have been granted leave on "inactive status" and guaranteed no loss of seniority after their one-year contracts expire. They are being paid $750 a month each, plus a $500 bonus for every Japanese plane they shoot down.
The Tigers will fly P-40 fighters, rejected as obsolete by Britain, financed by the US under the recent $50 million lend-lease agreement between China and the USA. Their commander is Captain Claire L. Chennault, a 51-year-old Texan maverick compulsorily retired from the US Army Air Corps in 1937 because of deafness. He came here shortly after to retrain Chinese pilots at the direct request of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.

CANADA:

Corvette HMCS Brandon arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Armed yacht HMCS Vencedor (ex Exmouth II) commissioned.

U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt bans the export of aviation fuel to the Western Hemisphere, except for Britain and countries of the British Empire.

The transport USS West Point (AP-23) arrives in New York City from Lisbon, Portugal and disembarks American and Chinese consular personnel that had been stationed in Germany, German-occupied countries and Italy.

In the US, a microwave (AI-10) radar developed by the Radiation Laboratory and featuring a Plan Position Indicator (PPI) scope was given its initial airborne test in the Lockheed XJO-3 aircraft at the Boston, Massachusetts Airport. During the test flights, which continued through 16 October, scientists operated the radar and devised modifications. During the tests, surface vessels were detected at ranges up to 40 miles (64.4 km); radar-guided approaches against simulated enemy aircraft were achieved at ranges up to 3.5 miles (5.6 km).

"Parade" magazine devotes three full pages to a feature article describing the U.S. Army's new vehicle, the "Truck, 1/4-ton, 4x4." 
The magazine calls it "...the Army's most intriguing new gadget." The gadget is a "tiny truck which can do practically everything." The new "gadget" is more commonly known as the "Jeep."

In U.S. baseball, New York Yankee pitcher Lefty Gomez breaks the major league record for walks in a shutout by walking 11 batters as the Yankees defeat the St. Louis Browns 9-0.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser USS Reno laid down.

Submarine USS Marlin commissioned.

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August 1st, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF 31st Fighter Group and the 309th Fighter Squadron move to Westhampnett, Sussex. 

307th Fighter Squadron moves to Biggin Hill, Kent. 

308th Fighter Squadron moves to Kenley, Surrey.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Gateshead launched.

GERMANY: Hitler scorns the US:

It is very difficult to argue with Americans. They immediately shout: "Say, take a look at what our workers earn!" True, but let us take a look at the shady side as well. The industrial worker earns his $80; but the man who is not in industry gets absolutely nothing. At one time they had no less than 13 million unemployed.... I grant you that our standard of life is lower. But the German Reich has 270 opera houses - a standard of cultural existence of which they over there have no conception. They have clothes, food, cars and a badly constructed house - but with a refrigerator! This sort of thing does not impress us. (207)

U-1305, U-1306, U-1307, U-1308 ordered.

U-545 laid down.

U-226, U-448 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: The Germans cut the railway line between Krasnodar and Stalingrad at Salsk.
German Army Group A continues the advance through Salsk and reaches the Kuban River near Kropotkin.

The Soviet Far East Command's Reconnaissance Bureau  establishes the 88th Special Independent Sniper Brigade with the survivors of the NEAJUA [Northeast Ant-Japanese United Army], of Korea. Zhao Baozhong is appointed its commander. The 88th Special Independent Brigade's primary mission is to collect intelligence on Imperial Japanese Army movements in Korea and China. It has a total personnel (men and women) of approximately 600-800 and is initially organised into a headquarters, headquarters staff, four battalions (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and a signal unit. An independent Chinese language school and a separate accounting company are also attached to the brigade.

The 1st Battalion is commanded by Kim Il Song. This consists of approximately 200 personnel. (Mike Yared)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: During the night of 1/2 August, US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) B-24s hit a convoy, scoring 3 direct hits on a large merchant ship which the last aircraft reports sinking; 1 B-24 is lost in crash landing at base.

The St Simon was sunk at 1325 by U-77 35 miles NW of Beirut.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US B-17s attack the Japanese seaplane base on Gavutu Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: A USN submarine sinks a Japanese merchant freighter and oiler off Japan.

NEW GUINEA: Allied Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attack installations at Gona and shipping 75 miles (121 km) east of Salamaua in Huon Gulf.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Ingram M. Stainback is appointed governor. (Denis Peck)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Weather and photo reconnaissance is flown by a US 11th Air Force B-24 and LB-30 Liberator over Korovin Bay and North Cape.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Prince Rupert laid down Esquimalt British Columbia.

Former fishing vessels HMCS Mayas and Sakura commissioned. Former Japanese-Canadian owned gillnetters. Sakura became a boom attendant vessel at Prince Rupert.

U.S.A.: Roosevelt urges citizens in the eastern states to use coal rather than oil as a household fuel.
An armed Grumman J4F Widgeon from Houma, Louisiana sinks U-166 off the mouth of the Mississippi.
German submarine U-166, which had laid mines off the mouth of the Mississippi River, is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, in position 28.37N, 90.45W, by depth charges from the USN submarine chaser, USS PC-566. All hands, 52 men, on the U-boat are lost.

Gudmundur Helgason, who is Mr. U-boat.net, added the following:

The discovery of U-166 (June 10, 2001) This boat was finally discovered and documented in late May 2001 after years and years of unsuccessful research and wreck-hunting. The wreck was located some 45 miles (72.4 km) south of the mouth of Mississippi River, by C & C Technologies with their AUV during oil-survey work for BP Amoco and Shell.

In the U.S., the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) goes on strike because they are told that phonograph records are a "threat to union members' jobs." During the next several months, union musicians refuse to play in recording sessions but live, musical radio broadcasts continue. In September 1943, Decca Records becomes the first record company to sign a deal with the AFM to pay royalties of up to five cents a record to the AFM benevolent fund for unemployed musicians. The strike finally ends in November 1944 when RCA Victor and Columbia Records agree to terms.

Destroyer escort USS Charles Lawrence laid down.

Submarines USS Seahorse, Skate laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0220, the unescorted Kentar was hit on the port side in the boiler room by one torpedo from U-155 and sank immediately after being hit by a coup de grâce 50 minutes later. The survivors were eventually rescued from whaleboats and rafts, but some men died of exposure.

At 0023, the unescorted Krest´janin was torpedoed and sunk by U-601 west of Mesduzarskij Island. The survivors landed in lifeboats at Beluschja, Nowaja Semlja.

At 1758, the unescorted Clan MacNaughton was torpedoed and sunk by U-155 about 180 miles east of Tobago. Four crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master and 28 survivors in his boat landed on Tobago Island. The chief officer and 24 survivors were picked up by the Empire Bede and landed at Port of Spain on 5 August. The third mate and 22 survivors landed at Trinidad.

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August 1st, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Escort carrier HMS Atheling commissioned.

GERMANY: Berlin: Berliners at Sunday breakfast were shocked today to hear a radio broadcast by Josef Goebbels calling on all citizens not vital to the war industry to evacuate the city. Up to now propaganda sources have insisted that a major raid in Berlin is very unlikely, and this sudden announcement has fuelled rumours that the capital has been surrendered and this is the beginning of the end. Free travel permits are being issued to women, children, pensioners and the sick, together with ration cards and blankets.

Birthday of King Georgios II of the Hellenes. (Glenn Steinberg)

U-922 commissioned.

ROMANIA: The First Allied air raid is made on the Ploesti oil complex in Romania. (Glenn Steinberg)
177 B-24s, of the US IX Bomber Command, including B-24's on loan from the Eighth Air Force in England, are dispatched in a low-level attack on the oil refineries at Ploesti and nearby Campina. The operation (TIDALWAVE) is costly; 41 aircraft are shot down, 13 are lost in operational accidents and 532 airmen are lost, but damage to the targets is severe. 5 airmen are awarded the Medal of Honor for this mission. They include Lt-Col. Addison E. Baker.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine S-12 of the Baltic Fleet is sunk in the Gulf of Finland by German and Finnish craft off Keri. (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)

U-255 set up a radio station near Spoyj Navolok on Novaya Zemlya.

ITALY: Sicily The fighting is heavy around Troina.

On the ground in Sicily, U.S. ground forces advance east along the coast, approach Troina further inland, and begin a movement to flank defences. The British, to the south, penetrate into Regalbuto.
    In the air, 230+ P-40s, the largest Ninth Air Force total to date, attack Adrano, the area near Randazzo, Messina, Milazzo, Taormina, and shipping in the Straits of Messina. During the night of 31 July/1 August, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons bomb Randazzo and Adrano and the next day, B-25 Mitchells hit Milazzo. Northwest African Tactical Air Force light and medium bombers hit Paterno, Randazzo, Adrano, Bronte, Santa Maria di Licondia, and motor transport in the Orlando area
Northwest African Coastal Air Force Beaufighters score hits on shipping between Sardinia and Italy.

During the night of 31 July/1 August, Northwest African Strategic Air Force Wellingtons drop leaflets on Rome and Naples. During the following day, B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Capodichino Airfield.  

ALGERIA: Algiers: De Gaulle is made president of the National Defence Committee, ceding leadership of the Fighting French to General Giraud only for purely military matters. 

CHINA: Chungking:
The National Government breaks off diplomatic relations with Vichy France.
Nationalist president Lin Sen dies.


BURMA: Rangoon: The Japanese government today announced that the British colony of Burma is to be independent. The Japanese military administration now occupying the country under Lt-Gen Mazikazu Kawabe has handed over its powers to the Burmese nationalist leader Dr Ba Maw, who has been premier under Japan for the last year.
The Burmese people heard of their new status this morning in a broadcast by Radio Tokyo: "Burma has now become the fifth independent country in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, after Japan, China, Thailand and Manchukuo (Manchuria)."
The first act of the new independent state has been to declare war on Britain and the USA. The declaration was read in the Burmese State Assembly by Dr Ba Maw, who on a recent visit to Tokyo spoke of the "sharing of life and death with Japan in the war."
The Japanese move has been expected for some time. Burmese nationalists supporting the Japanese during their 1942 invasion, and now formed into a Burmese National Army, rendered great propaganda benefits to Japan, as has the creation of the Indian National Army, led by Subhas Chandra Bose and recruited from Indian Army prisoners of war. Japan hopes that the granting of Burmese independence will strengthen its claim to be fighting a war against colonialism.


 

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US Thirteenth Air Force P-40s and 18 SBD Dauntlesses and 18 TBF Avengers of the US Marine Corps, again hit Munda on New Georgia Island bombing AA positions, ammunition dumps, and other targets. The USAAF sends 21 B-24s, 16 P-38 Lightnings, and P-40s, plus Marine aircraft, to attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island; other P-40s and 80+ Marine aircraft hit shipping in nearby waters.

A Japanese destroyer rams and sinks Motor Torpedo Boat 109 (PT-109). Two crewmen are killed but 11 survive including the captain, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, USNR. The 11 men are finally rescued by a PT boat on the evening of 7 August.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: 7 US Eleventh Air Force B-24s bomb the Main Camp area on Kiska Island through the overcast. The 5,183 Japanese troops that were on Kiska arrive at Paramushiru Island, Kurile Islands aboard Japanese ships.

U.S.A.: Ground is broken for the construction of the first uranium enriching plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The facility is built at a cost of US$280 million (US$2.745 billion in year 2000 dollars) and is completed in the summer of 1944.

In New York City, race-related rioting erupts in Harlem, resulting in several deaths.

Light fleet carrier USS Bataan launched.

Destroyers USS Wedderburn, Lewis Hancock, Hunt, Callaghan launched.

Submarine USS Golet launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Gendreau, Vammen laid down.

Destroyer USS Lowry laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Laning commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Brackett, Donaldson, Foreman, Lamons, Mitchell, Reynolds launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German Navy loses two submarines:

- U-383 is sunk west of Brest, France, in position 47.24N, 12.10W, by depth charges from a Sunderland of RAF No. 228 Squadron based at Pembroke Dock, Wales. All hands, 52 men, are killed.

The boat reported to BdU late on 1 Aug reported its inability to dive after an aircraft attack. It was apparently lost due to the extensive damages resulting from the attack. (Alex Gordon)

- U-454 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 45.36N, 10.23W, by depth charges from a Sunderland of the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 10 Squadron based at Mount Batten, Devonshire. 14 of the crew of 46 men survive.

SS Bage sunk by U-185 at 11.29S, 36.49W.

At 1851, U-198 fired its last torpedo at Convoy BC-2 and hit the Mangkalihat after 4 minutes 10 seconds. An earlier attack with two bow torpedoes had been unsuccessful. The crew abandoned ship because the engine room, boiler room and #3 hold were flooded. Ten crewmembers and eight passengers were lost. HMS Freesia took the ship in tow the next morning in 25°11S/34°06E, while a skeleton crew re-boarded the vessel. On 3 August, HMS Prudent came to assist and used her pumps to keep the ship afloat. In the early morning of 4 August, the tug took over the tow, but the Mangkalihat foundered during the day in 25°44S/33°32E.

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August 1st, 1944 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Escort carrier HMS Nabob arrives at Scapa Flow and joins the RN Home Fleet.

Destroyer HMCS Assiniboine arrives at Londonderry and joins EG 12.

The Eighth Air Force flies 2 missions:

- Mission 508: 1,291 bombers and 432 fighters in 5 forces are dispatched to attack airfields, bridges and tactical targets in France; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost.
(1) 193 B-17s drop 2,281 containers of supplies to French Resistance forces (Operation BUICK) at four locations in SE France, i.e., Chalon-Sur-Saone, the Savoie area, Haute-Savoie and west of Geneva; 3 P-51 Mustang groups furnish escort. 
(2) 76 B-17s bomb Tours Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost. Escort is flown by 51 P-51s; 2 are lost. 
(3) 400 B-17s attack 5 airfields and a railway bridge in the area south and southwest of Paris; 112 hit Bricy Airfield at Orleans, 108 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 59 hit Melun Airfield, 58 hit Chartres Airfield, 36 hit Chartres Bridge, 15 hit targets of opportunity, and 12 hit Mondesir Airfield at Etampes; 3 B-17s are lost. Escort is provided by 138 P-38 Lightnings and P-51s. 
(4) 284 B-24s are dispatched to bomb targets in the Paris environs; bad weather causes 100+ aborts; 66 hit Rouen, 47 hit Melun Airfield, 44 hit Nogent Bridge, 33 hit targets of opportunity, 29 hit Bricy Airfield at Orleans, 24 hit Montereau Bridge, 12 hit Nanteuil Bridge, 12 hit Villeroche Airfield, 11 hit Coulommiers Bridge, and 6 hit Chartres Airfield; 1 B-24 is lost. Escort is provided by 127 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s; 2 P-47s are lost. 
(5) 191 B-24s, sent against 8 V-weapon sites in NW France, run afoul of bad weather which causes multiple aborts; 61 of the planes manage to bomb 3 sites; escort is provided by 81 P-47s.

- Mission 509: 6 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during the night.

Submarine FS Doris (ex-HMS Vineyard) commissioned.

FRANCE: The XIX Tactical Air Command, Ninth Air Force, becomes operational in conjunction with the US Third Army; the Ninth's fighter and fighter-bomber groups (Ninth Air Force refers to them collectively as fighter-bomber groups) are divided between the IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands.

About 250 B-26s and A-20s bomb rail bridges at Mezieres-sur-Seine, Maintenon, Les Ponts-de-Ce, Chartres, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Bouchmaine, Nogent-sur-Loir, and Bourth.

XIX Tactical Air Command fighters carry out armed reconnaissance and rail bombing missions in the Alencon, Dreux, Chartres, Nogent-sur-Loir, Le Mans, Sable-sur-Sarthe, Laval and Sille-le-Philippe areas, while IX Tactical Air Command fighters fly armoured column and assault area cover, and armed reconnaissance in the battle areas.

The US 12th Army Group, consisting of Patton's Third Army and Hodges First Army is formed under General Omar Bradley. The 21st Army Group, Montgomery, now consists of the British 2nd Army, Dempsey, and the Canadian 1st Army, Crerar.
Patton heads for Brittany.

A seven man OSS team (UNION2, with four US Marines) jumps into France. (168)

NETHERLANDS: 13-year-old Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary that she has kept for two years while hiding with her family in Amsterdam. On 4 August, the Grune Polizei raid the secret annex in the
house Anne and her family are hiding in and they are deported to Germany. Anne Frank dies in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 15.

GERMANY: U-2503 commissioned.

POLAND:
Warsaw: The Poles have risen against the German occupiers of Warsaw and have taken over most of the city. The "Home Army", commanded by Lt-Gen Bor-Komorowski, has been joined by the Communist-led People's Army and armed civilians to drive out the hated Nazis. The Polish flag is flying from captured government buildings. Fierce fighting started at 5 pm and has developed around the General Post Office where the Germans are counter-attacking. The Poles were encouraged to rise before they were properly prepared by the sound of German guns east of the Vistula and by a Moscow radio broadcast telling them "the hour of action has already arrived."
There is no doubt of the Poles' passionate commitment to the freeing of their capital from the Nazi yoke, but the rising must also be viewed in political terms: the Home Army is loyal to the government in exile in London, and it intends to be in control of Warsaw when the Russians arrive with their own Polish Committee of National Liberation. It is doubtful, however, if the poorly-armed Home Army can hold out for long against the Germans. Everything depends on the Russians, who are preparing their own assault on the city. Will they arrive in time? Or will Stalin wait until the Polish Home Army is defeated?

LITHUANIA:
Soviets take Kovno and isolate the Baltic states from East Prussia. Kaunas falls to the Third Belorussian Front.

Soviet forces enter the Suwlaki triangle, a part of Lithuania which had been appended to East Prussia in 1939 as part of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. (Henry Sirotin)

FINLAND: President Ryti resigns, FM Mannerheim replaces him.
Mikko Härmeinen adds: Today the Parliament formally acknowledges President Ryti's resignation, tendered on 29 July. Prime Minister Edwin Linkomies acts as a provisional President of the Republic, and he immediately receives a proposal that Marshal Mannerheim is to be elected as President by a special law without elections. The law is passed by the Parliament as fast as possible, and it comes into force on 4 Aug.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet destroyer Doblestnyj commissioned.

CHINA: 90+ Fourteenth Air Force P-40s and P-51 Mustangs on armed reconnaissance hit trucks, troops, supplies, and river shipping in and around Hengyang, Leiyang, Sinshih, Hengshan, Liling, Changsha, and Siangyin; the airfield and railroad yards at Hengyang are also bombed.

TINIAN:
US forces have captured Tinian, the second of the three Allied island objectives in the Marianas, as Japanese resistance crumbled today on the island's southern cliffs after Marine reinforcements broke through.
In a crucial cliff top battle yesterday, more than 600 Japanese screamed the death-charge cry of "Banzai" as they launched a final, suicidal dawn assault to try to force a Marine unit off a toehold gained on the mile-wide escarpment. The remnants of Japan's 9,000 man defence force had retreated there after being fooled by a decoy landing that let 40,000 marines land almost unopposed on Tinian's north-west coast nine days ago. An estimated 9,000 Japanese have died in the battle. US losses are 394 dead and 1,961 wounded.

BIAK ISLAND: 433d Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group: All missions had been cancelled due to weather but the weather was good over the Palau Islands and Colonel MacDonald asked Charles Lindbergh and two other pilots if they wanted to hit targets of opportunity on the islands. Upon arrival, the four strafed a ship and soon spotted three enemy aircraft above them. Two were immediately shot down by Colonel MacDonald and another pilot. Lindbergh noticed that the third Japanese aircraft was diving on a P-38 and by the time he turned back to aid the American, the Japanese pilot turned his attention (and aircraft) towards Lindbergh The Japanese aircraft was a Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, Allied Code Name ZEKE. The Zeke got on Lindbergh's tail and started shooting it up The three other Americans tried to drive the Zeke off with deflection shots and eventually set the Japanese aircraft on fire. 

Colonel MacDonald reported that as Lindbergh backed toward his aircraft, he could see Lindbergh crouching in front of the plane's armour plane, waiting for the bullets to hit, as he "commended his soul to God."

All four P-38s returned to Biak.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The U.S. Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAFPOA) is activated at Hickam Field with Lieutenant General Millard Harmon as Commanding General. Harmon is to be responsible to Lieutenant General Robert C Richardson, Jr, Commanding General US Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (USAFPOA), for logistics and administration, and to Admiral Chester W Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), for operations of USAAF air units, including the Seventh Air Force but excluding the Twentieth Air Force. Harmon also is Deputy Commander of the Twentieth Air Force and is responsible directly to General Henry H "Hap" Arnold in all matters affecting the Twentieth in the POA.

CANADA: Patrol Vessel HMCS Renard paid off.

U.S.A.: Two motion pictures are released in the U.S. today.
    "The Pearl of Death," a mystery based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons," is directed by Roy William Neill and stars Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. The plot has Holmes looking for a bust of Napoleon containing a pearl before the owners are killed by the villainous "Creeper."
    "Wilson," a biography of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. President, is directed by Henry King and stars Alexander Knox as Wilson, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Mrs. Wilson, Thomas Mitchell, Cedric Hardwicke as Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and Vincent Price; Reed Hadley appears in an unaccredited role. The film is nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Knox); it wins five technical awards.

In the U.S., the top pop songs today are (1) "Amor" by Bing Crosby; (2) "I'll Be Seeing You" by Bing Crosby; (3) "Long Ago and Far Away" by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest; and (4) "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby)" by Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five.

During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "Index to Intelligence Publications." (William L. Howard)

Destroyer escort USS Lloyd E Acree commissioned.

Coast Guard-manned Army FS-371 was commissioned at Sturgeon Bay WI with LT H. E. Melton, USCG, as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area including Leyte, Mindoro, Pearl Harbor, etc., during the war. 

ICELAND: Reykjavik: 1407 Flight RAF operating lifeboat carrying Hudsons, is redesignated as 251 Squadron. 

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August 1st, 1945

UNITED KINGDOM: Thousands of British girls are waiting for ships to take them to the US to marry the American servicemen who proposed during their tours of duty in Britain. Some 20,000 couples have already "taken the plunge" in Britain, and the total of "GI Brides" is likely to reach 80,000. The American Red Cross is running "schools for brides". Although their pay and their standard of comfort caused jealousy amongst their allies, the GIs' popularity with the opposite sex never wavered in spite of the well-known taunt of being "overpaid, over-sexed and over here" and jokes about their effect on girls' knickers - "one Yank and they're off."

Westminster: Labour MPs sing The Red Flag as the House of Commons meets to elect a new speaker.

FRANCE: Paris: Pierre Laval is returned to the city, charged with treason and placed under armed guard to protect him from the French public.

CHINA: Allied mines, dropped by air, bring Japanese shipping on the Yangtze river to a halt.

Major General Albert F Hegenberger becomes Commanding General Tenth Air Force as HQ Tenth Air Force moves from Piardoba, India to Kunming, China (HQ at Kunming was officially opened on 23 July). The scheduled role of the Tenth Air Force in China is almost identical with its completed Burma mission: to act as the tactical air force giving direct support and providing air supply to Chinese ground forces operating south of 27N latitude.

JAPAN: During the night of 1/2 August, the US Twentieth Air Force dispatches 836 B-29s to carry out 1 mining, 5 fire-bomb and 1 bombing raids on Japan; 1 B-29 is lost.

- Mission 305: 37 B-29s drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait, in Nakaumi Lagoon, at Hamada, Sakai, Yonago, Najin, and Seishin; 5 others mine alternate targets.

- Mission 306: 169 B-29s attack the Hachioji urban area destroying 1.12 sq mi (2.9 sq km), 80% of the city; 3 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.

- Mission 307: 173 B-29s hit the Toyama urban area, a centre of aluminium, ball bearing and special steel production, destroying 1.87 sq mi (4.84 sq km), 99.5% of the city; 1 other hits an alternate target.

- Mission 308: 125 B-29s attack the Nagaoka urban area destroying 1.33 sq mi (3.37 sq km), 65.5% of the city; 5 others hit alternate targets. 

- Mission 309: 160 B-29s hit the Mito urban area destroying 1.7 sq mi (4.4 sq km), 65% of the city; 1 other hits a target of opportunity. 

- Mission 310: 120 B-29s bomb the Mitsubishi Oil Company at Kawasaki but could only add slightly to the damage previously inflicted; 2 other hit targets of opportunity.

In Japan:

- 30+ Iwo Jima-based P-51s of the VII Fighter Command hit airfields and other targets in the Osaka-Nagoya area; bad weather prevents numerous other fighters from reaching targets.

- About 50 Far East Air Force B-24s bomb targets in the Nagasaki dock and harbour area; B-25s and fighter-bombers in the Nagasaki area hit docks, railroad yards, and shipping; other B-24s bomb Koniya Airfield and hit Kakeroma Island.

- 80+ P-47s hit railroad bridges and other railroad targets at Sendai and P-47s fly their first combat mission from Iwo Jima, joining VII Fighter Command P-51s in a sweep over southern Honshu Island; and rolling stock and airfields are attacked in the Okazaki, Itami, and Nagoya areas.

US Navy Task Group 95.2 consisting of the large cruisers USS Alaska (CB-1) and USS Guam (CB-2), 4 light cruisers and 9 destroyers, departs Okinawa to conduct an antishipping sweep in the East China Sea. Accompanying TG 95.2, is TG 95.3 consisting of 3 battleships, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, 3 escort aircraft carriers, 6 destroyers and 3 destroyer escorts.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In Manila, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz meet and agree on a line of demarcation to separate aerial operations undertaken by their forces. Except for B-29s and their escorts, the Far East Air Forces will operate west of 135W longitude and all Pacific-fleet controlled units will operate east of 135W longitude. Longitude 135W is slightly west of Kobe and Osaka on Honshu Island.

MARIANAS ISLANDS: While a select band of politicians and military chiefs wrestles with the problem of whether or not to drop the atomic bomb, another select group has been practising carrying out the task, if ordered to do so. Bombers from the specially-formed 509th Composite Group have been making practice raids on Japan since 20 July. An advance party from the group, which was formed in December last year, had arrived in the Marianas on 29 May and in June was reinforced by the B-29s of the USAAF's 393rd Squadron of Very Heavy Bombers. The 509th is commanded by Col. Paul Tibbets, who would lead any initial A-bomb attack.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Allied troops seal off Japanese forces at Buin, on the southern tip of Bougainville.

WAKE ISLAND The USN's Task Group 12.3 consisting of the light aircraft carrier USS Cabot (CVL-28) with Light Carrier Air Group Thirty Two (CVLG-32), the battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and a destroyer screen, bombs and bombards the island. This is the 7th attack on the island by the USN. The Japanese return fire and the Pennsylvania is damaged. 

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Cedar Lake launched Toronto, Ontario.

HM S/M Unruffled arrived Digby, Nova Scotia for ASW training.

U.S.A.: Vol III No 12 Believed to be last issue of US Intelligence Bulletin is Published. (Bill Howard)

Baseball: New York Giants manager and right fielder Mel Ott hits his 500th career home run off Boston Braves' pitcher Johnny Hutchings during a 9-2 Giants victory at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Ott is the third major league baseball player to hit 500 home runs. Ott bats .308 with 21 home runs this year as the Giants finish in fifth place.

During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "The Punch Below the Belt." and "Japanese Tank and Antitank Warfare." (William L. Howard)

Minesweeper USS CRAIG is commissioned.

MEXICO: Lineas Aereas Mineras Boeing 247D, msn 1723, registered XA-DUY, crashes into a mountain near San Luis Potosi; all 12 aboard the aircraft are killed.

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