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1933   (SUNDAY)        GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler renounces war except against Bolshevism stating ". . . because the German people know that no war could take place which would gain for their country more honor than was won in the last war . . . Germany is not in need of rehabilitation on the battle-field, for there she had never lost her prestige. . . . By waging war on Bol. . is fulfilling a European mission. . . ." 

1937   (FRIDAY)        CHINA: Japanese forces advance rapidly through northern China, without meeting much resistance from the Chinese. The Japanese rapidly gained control of Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) today. 

September 3rd, 1939 (SUNDAY)

11.15 a.m. no reply has been received to the British ultimatum; Chamberlain broadcasts from the Cabinet room of 10 Downing Street:

I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at Ten Downing Street. This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note, stating that, unless the British Government heard from them by eleven o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.

I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.

You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed.

We have done all that any country could do to establish peace. The situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted, and no people or country could feel themselves safe, has become intolerable....

We have resolved to finish it. It is the evil things we shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution...

...and against them I am certain that the right will prevail.  (Full Speech)

Almost immediately a siren sounded in London, its sound sending people to the shelter, but it proves to be a French civilian plane near Croyden airport.

Chamberlain then goes later to address Parliament.

The mass evacuation of children from cities to the reception areas considered safe has been proceeding for three days. By tonight 1,473,391 evacuees including escorts and teachers have arrived in the reception areas. 827,000 are school children travelling with their teachers, 535,000 are women expecting babies or with children under school age. Each child is labelled with name, address and school number and carries gas mask, night clothing, toothbrush, comb, soap and towel, spare underwear, handkerchief and overcoat (if available). The children are marshalled at railway stations and issued with blank destination tickets. Parent will be informed of their children's location as soon as possible. Residents who take evacuees will be paid 10/6 for one child and 8/6 for each extra child.

Cinemas are closed throughout the country to prevent concentrations of people being caught in air raids, which never materialise. Except for those in the centre of London, cinemas re-open within the next two weeks. As a result, UK cinema admissions dip by 30 per cent during the first month of war but by November are already above average and continue to grow to record levels by 1946. 

London: Parliament passes the National Service (Armed Forces) Act making all men aged between 18 and 41 other than those in reserved occupations liable for conscription.

Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy deploys to its war stations, the Home Fleet has returned to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys and elements are preparing to escort the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) across to France. The BEF will initially consist of four regular divisions under General Lord Gort, VC.

The evacuation of equipment from the British radar research centre at Bawdsey Manor begins from the nearby airfield at Martlesham Heath. Trucks are spreading a mixture of soot and coal dust over the airfield, in a pathetic attempt at camouflage. This dust finds its way into much of the electronic equipment, causing considerable damage. (Cris Wetton)

     The British Home Fleet deploys aircraft carriers to seek out and destroy German submarines: HMS Ark Royal (91) off the northwestern approaches to the British Isles, HMS Courageous (50) and HMS Hermes (D 95) off the southwestern approaches.

Belfast: At 3pm a territorial of the 8th (Belfast) HAA regiment, TA is stopped by six armed men in East Bridge Street, at the corner of Turnley Street, and divested of his uniform which was then burnt. Another member of this unit was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded at 3.45 pm.
The Special Constabulary are called out , and on this night by virtue of the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act, the Minister of Home Affairs orders the internment of 45 members of the IRA.

The U.S. freighter SS Saccarappa, with a cargo of phosphates and cotton, is detained by British authorities. The ship is released on 8 September after British authorities seize cargo and unload them.

Off the coast of ÉIRE, the German submarine U-30 (Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) attacks (without warning) and sinks what he thought is an armed merchant cruiser but is really the 13,500 ton passenger liner SS Athenia carrying 1,103 civilians including over 300 U.S. citizens attempting to return to the U.S. The German Navy had sent three radio messages to their submarines in the afternoon stating that Germany was at war and the subs could begin hostilities in accordance with the Prize Rules without waiting for provocation. Captain Lemp spotted the Athenia which was blacked out and zigzagging and appeared to be carrying deck guns and was therefore a legitimate target. The Prize Rules called for the sub to fire a shot across the Athenia's bow but instead, Lemp fired two torpedoes, one of which hit the ship. The second malfunctioned and the sub submerged to avoid being hit. After a period of time, the sub surfaced and seeing that it was not sinking, the captain ordered a third torpedo fired but this also missed. 

The sub was now close enough to see its silhouette and the captain compared it with his Lloyd's Register and discovered his mistake. Soon afterwards, U-30 intercepted a plain-language radio transmission from the stricken ship identifying itself as the Athenia. The captain neither reported this incident to naval headquarters nor did he aid the survivors. On the Athenia, 118 crewmen and passengers, including 28 U.S. citizens, are killed in the initial explosion or die later as a result of the sinking. Three merchant ships and three RN destroyers rescue the survivors. U-30 returned to Germany on 27 September and Lemp admitted his mistake. 

The Germans learned of the sinking from British news broadcasts and were appalled because of the memory of unrestricted submarine of World War I, especially the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, was brought up on the first day of World War II. After looking at the submarine deployment charts, it was evident that U-30 was responsible but Hitler decreed that accusations would be confronted with categorical denial. To throw the British off the track still further, the Propaganda Ministry under Göbbels spread the story that the British had torpedoed the liner themselves in a scurrilous attempt to bring the United States into the war. This story was published in Volkischer Beobachter on 23 October, fully a month after Lemp had confirmed the truth. The Germans denied any involvement with the sinking of the Athenia for the rest of the war.

FRANCE: 5.00 p.m. the French ultimatum expires and France too is at war with Germany.

The first Cannes Film Festival is due to start but is cancelled due to the declaration of war. The French government had agreed to underwrite costs, selecting Cannes in preference to Biarritz. Also promised was a Palais des Festivals, finally constructed in 1949. 

BELGIUM: While the Belgian government mobilized the kingdom's armed forces, Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot declares the country's neutrality in the event of a European war. 

NETHERLANDS: Submarine O-27 laid down.

GERMANY:

9.00 a.m. In Berlin, Sir Nevile Henderson enters the German Foreign Office. Neither Hitler, nor von Ribbentrop was prepared to receive him: the task is delegated to Paul Schmidt, Hitler's interpreter. This morning, of all morning's he oversleeps, and as the British Ambassador enters by the front door, Schmidt races through a side door and into von Ribbentrop's office. Henderson present's Britain's ultimatum:

More than twenty-four hours have elapsed since an immediate reply was requested to the warning of September 1st, and since then the attacks on Poland have intensified. If His Majesty's Government has not received satisfactory assurances of the cessation of all aggressive action against Poland, and the withdrawal of German troops from that country, by eleven o'clock British Summer Time, from that time a state of war will exist between Great Britain and Germany.

Schmidt brings the ultimatum to Hitler and reads it slowly and carefully in German and English. 'What now?" exclaims Hitler to Ribbentrop. His plans had been made in the belief, encouraged by Ribbentrop, that neither Britain nor France would fight. Ribbentrop replies that a French ultimatum will follow soon.

Hitler addresses the German people.

OKW issues Führer Directive #2 for the Conduct of the War. 
(i) Confirmation of declarations of war by England and France. 
(ii) Re-iteration of German primary aim: to rapidly and victoriously conclude operations in Poland. 
(iii) Confirmation of basic principles for war in the West as laid down in Directive #1. Kriegsmarine authorised to begin offensive actions. In war against merchant shipping, prize regulations are to be observed (U-boats included). The entrance to the Baltic will be mined without infringing neutral waters. Offensive and defensive blockade measures will be carried out in the North Sea. Luftwaffe attacks against English Naval forces (including ships in port and positively identified troopships) will only be made in the event of similar English air attacks. Air attacks on the English homeland and merchant shipping must await a Führer order. 
(iv) The opening of hostilities in the West is to be left to the enemy. Naval action against France will only be permitted if the enemy has opened hostilities. Air attacks against France will only follow air attacks by France against Germany. Germany must not provoke the initiation of aerial warfare. Air strength must be conserved for expected future decisive action. 
(v) ‘Order X’ (partial mobilization) is extended to the entire armed forces. The conversion of the German economy to a wartime basis is decreed. (Marc Roberts)

Berlin: Robert Coulondre, French Ambassador to Germany telephones the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Georges Bonnet.

     During the day, Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command dispatches 28 aircraft, one Blenheim, 18 Hampdens and nine Wellingtons, to locate German warships. The Blenheim, of No 139 Squadron, was the first RAF aircraft to cross the German coast in WWII. On the night of 3/4 September, ten Whitleys from Nos 51 and 58 Squadrons dropped 13.5 tons of leaflets over Hamburg, Bremen and The Ruhr. The leaflets tell Germans that Adolf Hitler's promises are worthless, that Germany was near bankruptcy, and weak compared to Allied forces. This was the start of Operation NICKEL. 

DENMARK: The Danish government promises to observe strict neutrality.

POLAND: In the town of Bydgoszcz the population flees in panic early in the morning, as guns start firing "burst after burst" in the city streets. Military baggage wagons are driven off "as fast as the horses could gallop", cars and lorries all crowding to get over the bridge over the Brda.

But the firing was coming not from the German Panzers, but from "diversionists", German-Poles with Nazi sympathies, or Germans who had infiltrated into Poland to act as a Fifth Column in the days immediately preceding the war..

The Poles of Bydgoszcz forgot their panic and turned against the "diversionists" and in sharp street fighting, won back the town, administering the firing squad to any captured "diversionists".

The 3rd (East Prussia) and 4th (Pomerania) Armies of Army Group North link up eliminating all Polish resistance in the Corridor except for Mlawa forts in the north.

Czestochowa falls.

In the face of Luftwaffe air superiority at Nowy Targ light bombers of the 31st Squadron attack and destroy a German motor transport column.

German Stuka divebombers sink Polish minelayer Gryf, destroyer Wicher and several other small craft at Hela.

Submarine ORP Rys set a mine barrier (20 mines) 10 miles east from the tip of Hel Peninsula.

U-14 probably attacked the first warship in World War Two when she attacks the Polish submarine Sep (Cdr. Wladyslaw Salamon) at 2022 hrs. The torpedo exploded prematurely about 200m from the Polish sub. The German commander (Kptlt. Horst Wellner) found wreckage (from the torpedo) and some oil from Sep's damaged oil tank. Believing he had sunk the boat, he radioed his claim in.

SWEDEN: Declares its neutrality.

YUGOSLAVIA: The first and only Yugoslavian Grand Prix automobile race is held at Kalemagdan Park in Belgrade. This race, the last Grand Prix event before World War II, is won by the great Italian champion Tazio Nuvolari.

SPAIN: The Spanish government declared its intension of remaining neutral in a European war over the future of Danzig. 

EGYPT:  The Egyptian government proclaims martial law, in order to deport Germans, impose censorship, and arrest persons suspected of espionage. 

AUSTRALIA: Australia declares war on Germany. Prime Minister Robert G. Menzies speaks on a national radio broadcast stating, "It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequences of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia was also at war." 

NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand declares war on Germany. 

NEWFOUNDLAND: Newfoundland enters World War II by virtue of Britain's declaration of war. The Newfoundland Constabulary seizes the SS Christopher V. Doornum, a German freighter anchored at Botwood, as a prize of war. 

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt forecast "official" neutrality for the United States.

URUGUAY: The RN light cruiser HMS Ajax intercepts German freighter SS Olinda, outward bound from Montevideo, off the River Plate. Not having a prize crew available to seize the enemy merchantman, HMS Ajax shells and sinks her.

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September 3rd, 1940 (TUESDAY)

Bombing - oil plants at Berlin.
10 Sqn. Seven aircraft. All bombed. One damaged by Flak and one crashed on return, crew safe.

Since yesterday a total of 84 RAF bombers have attacked a U-boat base at Lorient in France and tried to set forests alight in South Germany.

Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Airfields attacked again include Manston, West Malling and North Weald (severely damaged) and heavy fighting occurs. 

At night Merseyside, South Wales and south-east England are bombed.

The weather is fine and warm with some cloud and drizzle in the north, haze in the Channel and Straits. During the day, the Luftwaffe executes further heavy airfield attacks. The German's effort was directed to one main attack in East Kent and the Estuary in the morning, and to one minor attack in the early afternoon. In the North and East, at 1610 hours two reconnaissances took place off East Anglia reporting on convoys, and at 1700 hours two other single aircraft reported on convoys East of Skegness and East of Yarmouth. In the Southeast, at about 0830 hours one aircraft at 22,000 feet (6 706 meters) made a reconnaissance to North Foreland, along the Kentish Coast to Eastchurch, and out by Dungeness. At 0915 hour, 40 minutes after assembly south and East of Calais, 20+ aircraft at 20,000 feet (6 096 meters) approached Deal but appeared to be intercepted by one squadron off North Foreland. A further formation of about 80 aircraft flew up the North sid

 e of the Estuary at 25,000 feet (7 620 meters). These are followed by other raids composed by thirty Do�s and fifty Me110's and the objective was North Weald where damage was caused. One of the RAF�s squadrons has just landed there from a previous patrol and was refueling. Pilots are unable to gain altitude in sufficient time to attack the enemy. Splits from this raid flew towards Debden, Hornchurch and Thames Haven. One small raid made towards Maidstone and one of 15 aircraft towards Biggin Hill but no definite objective was singled out. At 1115 hours when the attacking forces are dispersing two other raids consisting of 30 aircraft in all went inland at Deal and North Foreland. They penetrated only a short distance before returning. Manston however was bombed at this time but no damage was caused. At 1300 hours two raids of 12+ aircraft flew from Calais, France, towards Foreness but are driven off by one fighter squadron. At 1400 hours six enemy raids are active off the Ke

 nt Coast and one of these entered the Estuary. In the South and West, at 0830 hours one aircraft made a reconnaissance flight to within 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Needles. At 1130 hours three high level reconnaissances by single aircraft are tracked in the Bristol, Liverpool, and Birmingham areas. At 2055 hours aircraft approached Start Point and Portland. No interceptions are made.  (Andy Etherington)

     During the night, Liverpool was bombed once again and there are harassing raids on South Wales and the southwest coast. German activity was on a similar scale to that of recent nights but confined almost entirely to the Liverpool, South Wales and Kentish areas. Very little attention was paid to the Industrial Midlands. From 2100 hours a steady stream of raids from the Brest and Cherbourg areas of France was plotted to South Wales and Bristol. Many aircraft flew on to Liverpool and a few as far as Barrow-in-Furness. Successive waves followed to Liverpool and whilst the rest of the country was almost clear by 0100 hours raids are still passing towards Liverpool at 0230 hours. Extensive mine-laying is suspected along the whole of the East Coast from Aberdeen to the Thames Estuary and along the South Coast as far as Poole. Some of these raids penetrated a short distance inland in the Tyne, Tees, Yorkshire, and Kent areas. Others are suspected of mine-laying in the Bristol Channel and in Liverpool Bay.  (Andy Etherington)

     Today, the RAF claims 25-11-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; the British lost 20 aircraft with ten pilots killed or missing. 

Losses: Luftwaffe, 16; RAF, 16.

The cabinet approves compensation of up to GBP 2000 for each house destroyed by Luftwaffe air raids.

Lydd, Kent: Mabel Cole, the wife of the publican of the Rising Sun, had every reason to be suspicious when a well-dressed young man knocked on the door at nine o'clock in the morning and asked for a glass of cider. He spoke with a foreign accent in a prohibited area - and he was plainly ignorant of English licensing laws. Mrs Cole sent him across the road to Tilbey's stores to buy some cigarettes while she summoned help.
The young man, a Dutchman, was one of four well-dressed spies - two of them German - who landed on the beach here today before being arrested.

Corvettes HMS Daniella and Snapdragon launched.

Submarine HMS Upright commissioned.

GERMANY:
Berlin: Hitler postpones the invasion of Britain, scheduled for 15 September, to 21 September,  but issues Operational orders.
Hitler also asks for an increase in the output of 2,200lb bombs, designed for use against built up areas.

U-57 (Type IIC) is sunk at 0015hrs at Brunsbüttel (the western entrance to the Kiel canal) in position 53.53N, 09. 09E, after a collision with the Norwegian steamship Rona; 6 dead. Raised in Sept 1940. Repaired and returned to service as a training boat on 11 Jan, 1941. Scuttled on 3 May, 1945 at Kiel. (Alex Gordon)

U-455 and U-456 laid down.

ROMANIA:
Bucharest: King Carol of Romaniasurvives an assassination attempt.

     The Legionary Revolution breaks out at 0900 hours local. Fighting in Bucharest, Brasov and Constanta results in the death of nine Legionaries. Most public buildings are quickly occupied and the Palace was surrounded. General Coroama, Commander of the Bucharest Army Corps, refuses to order his troops to fire on the Legionaries. 

JAPAN: The Japanese army and navy agree on a southern advance strategy.

The land service needed much time to prepare itself for the Southward Advance even after mobilization was approved formally. When the admirals procrastinated, Tanaka Shin'ichi, head of the Army General Staff's Operations Division, scathingly asked if the navy was up to its old game of using the name of war preparations to secure additional allocations of funds and materials. But he also agreed to a simultaneous attack on Malaya and the Philippines using ten, not six, divisions. This concession got the navy off the hook and, by September 3, it agreed to join the army in pressing for a definitive peace-or-war decision by early October at the latest, as the generals had desired. (201)(Will O'Neil)
 

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Wasaga laid down.

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the "destroyers-for-bases" agreement. The President tells Congress that he acted on his own authority in trading the 50 overage destroyers for bases in British colonial territory in the Western Hemisphere. 

The US government warns the Japanese government against making aggressive moves in Indochina.

In New York City, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) television station W2XAB transmits the first high definition color TV broadcast from the Chrysler Building, using 343 lines of resolution. This was the first telecast of any kind from CBS since the closing of their scanner station in 1933.

Clarinetist Artie Shaw and the Gramercy Five records the song "Summit Ridge Drive" for Victor Records.

Destroyer USS Macomb laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: While escorting a convoy, destroyer ORP Blyscawica observed a periscope and attacked a U-boat with depth charges. Two hours later, in fog, she encountered a U-boat on the surface at a distance of 700 meter and attacked it with guns and depth charges.

U-60 sinks SS Ulva.

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September 3rd, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

FRANCE: The RAF Bomber Command dispatches 140 aircraft to Brest during the night of 3/4 September, but are recalled due to deteriorating weather. However, 53 aircraft failed to receive the signal and continued the mission, bombing the estimated position of German warships through a smoke-screen with little success. 

GERMANY: U-225 is laid down. U-593 and U-594 are launched. U-702 is commissioned.

NORWAY: SPITZBERGEN: An Allied task force has robbed the Nazis of their most northerly asset: the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, 500 miles from the North Pole. The civilian population of 700 has been evacuated and valuable coal mines wrecked. 

It was a piquant operation. No Germans were present as an invasion force of Norwegians, Canadians and British landed to take over the radio station. When it was clear that the soldiers were welcome the force commander, from Saskatchewan, made a formal landing from a small commando craft and soon afterwards, at a community centre, was greeted by the commissar (Norway allows the USSR to mine on the island) and handed gifts of Russian cigarettes.

At the Norwegian settlement of Svalbard nearby, a Norwegian major read a proclamation from the exiled King Haakon. For several days the invaders billeted cheerfully with the locals. Before the final evacuation of Norwegians and Russian miners, parties took place and a dance at which Norwegian girls danced with the soldiers.

POLAND: The first experimental mass killings with gas in Auschwitz.
Since the autumn of 1939 the Germans have used carbon monoxide to kill their incurable mental patients and other "undesirables." Today Rudolf Hoess, the commandant here, tried out a new method.

He chose 600 Russian prisoners of war and 250 Jews from the infirmary to be his guinea pigs. Crammed into a cellar, they noticed that the windows had been blocked up. Suddenly the door opened and guards threw in a powder. Cyanide fumes filled the room and soon they were dead. The experiment was later judged a success.

The powder, Zyklon B, is crystalline prussic acid, supplied by a Hamburg firm under licence from the chemical giant IG Farben. It is usually used for killing rats.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: All Russian men aged 18 or over are called up for military service and cancels all previous deferments.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The 6,338 ton Italian motor vessel MV Andrea Gritti, part of a convoy heading from Naples, Italy, to Tripoli, Libya, was torpedoed by British aircraft about 25 nautical miles (46 kilometers) off the coast of Sardinia. The ship blows up and sinks with the loss of 347 men. 

CHINA: Chinese forces recapture Foochow from Japan.

U.S.A.: The government negotiates currency stabilization agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.

     President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Japanese Ambassador replies to the message and the statement received from the Ambassador on 28 August. In formulating his replies, the President could not overlook the attendant circumstances and developments. Because of these circumstances and developments, the President and his consultants felt that, to ensure any hope of the success of a meeting between the President and the Japanese Prime Minister, the achievement of a prior meeting of minds on basic principles was a necessary condition precedent. Hence, the President in replying expressed a 'desire to collaborate with the Japanese Prime Minister to see whether there could be made effective in practice the program referred to by the Japanese Government in its message of 28 August and whether there could be reached a meeting of minds on fundamental principles which would make practical a meeting such as the Japanese Minister has proposed. . . . At no time, then, or later, did the Government of the United States reject the Japanese proposal for a meeting; it strove hard to bring about a situation which would make the holding of such a meeting beneficial. 

     In baseball, the New York Yankees clinch the American League flag (third straight) on the earliest date in major league history as the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3. 

Heavy cruiser USS Canberra (ex Pittsburgh) is laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-567 sinks  the Fort Richepanse. U-109 sinks SS Ocean Might in Convoy OS-37. U-107 sinks SS Hollinside and SS Penrose.

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September 3rd, 1942 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: A reciprocal lend-lease deal is signed by Britain, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the Free French.

Submarine HMS Viking is laid down. Destroyer HMS Obdurate is commissioned.

On 27 August, the USN's transport USS Wakefield (AP-21, ex SS Manhattan) departed the Clyde estuary as part of Convoy TA-18, bound for New York City. During this evening, fire breaks out deep within the bowels of the ship and spreads rapidly. In the port column of the formation, Wakefield swings to port to run before the wind while fire-fighting begins immediately. Ready-use ammunition is thrown overboard to prevent detonation, code room publications are secured, and sick bay and brig inmates are released. The destroyer USS Mayo (DD-422) and light cruiser USS Brooklyn (CL-40) close to windward to take off passengers, a badly-burned officer, and members of the crew not needed to man pumps and hoses. Other survivors were disembarked by boat and raft, to be picked up by the screening ships. At 2100 hours, USS Brooklyn again comes alongside to remove the remainder of the crew, while a special salvage detail boards the ship.

On 5 September, towing operations commenced, and the transport nosed aground at McNab's Cove, near Halifax, Nova Scotia, at 1740 hours on the 8th. When fire-fighting details arrived alongside to board and commence the mammoth operation, fires still burned in three holds and in the crew's quarters on two deck levels. The last flames were extinguished 4 days later, and the ship was re floated on the 14th. While USS Wakefield was undergoing partial repairs in Halifax harbor, a torrential rainstorm threatened to fill the damaged ship with water and capsize her at her berth. Torrents of rain, at times in cloud-burst proportions, poured into the ship and caused her to list heavily. Salvage crews, meanwhile, cut holes in the ship's sides above the waterline, draining away the water to permit the ship to regain an even keel. For the next 10 days, the salvagers engaged in extensive initial repair work-cleaning up the ship, pumping out debris, patching up holes, and preparing the vessel for her voyage to the Boston, Massachusetts Navy Yard for complete rebuilding. 

Temporarily decommissioned, the charred liner proceeded to Boston with a four-tug tow, and was declared a "constructive total loss." The Government purchased the hulk from the United States Lines and stripped the vessel to the waterline. The repairs and alterations began in the fall of 1942, and lasted through 1943. On 10 February 1944, USS Wakefield was recommissioned at Boston.

Channel Islands: British commandos captured seven German soldiers and seized codebooks during a raid on a lighthouse last night.

 ENGLISH CHANNEL: Flying at 24,000 feet over the Channel off Shoreham, Sussex, yesterday, an 18-year-old Canadian Spitfire pilot shot a raider into the sea. Then he helped rescue the wounded German pilot. "I saw him inflate his dinghy," said the Canadian sergeant, "but he was too badly wounded to get into it. I circled over him until he was rescued by a naval launch which my companion and I in the Spitfire guided to the spot." (8)

                                                            Daily Herald

GERMANY: During the night of 3/4 September, the RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 aircraft, seven Wellingtons, three Stirlings and a Halifax, to bomb Emden. Eight could only bomb through cloud on dead-reckoning positions; two Wellingtons are lost. 

U-678 and U-679 are laid down. U-645 and U-646 are launched. U-638 is commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: Stalingrad: Units of the German 6.Armee (von Paulus) penetrate the city's western and northern suburbs after having joined up with forward elements of 4.Panzer-Armee (Hoth) advancing from the south.

Stalin orders an immediate attack to relieve pressure on the defenders.

SPAIN: Madrid: General Franco has fired three key ministers in a rebuff to Spain's Fascist party, the Falange. The most senior man to go is his own brother-in-law, Ramon Serrano Suner, the foreign minister and Falangist chief. His German sympathies have angered the Spanish army, which is fiercely nationalistic and resents the idea of being a pawn of Hitler. The new foreign minister is a general, Gomez Jordana.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA:U-375 sinks Palestinian vessels Miriram and Arnon.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces): B-24 Liberators attack a convoy at sea and B-25s hit troop concentrations, vehicles, and airfield installations in the battle area of Alam-el-Halfa, Egypt and behind enemy lines; P-40s, mostly operating with the RAF"> RAF, escort bombers and engage fighters in combat, claiming at least 1 shot down.

EGYPT: At El Alamein, Operation BERESFORD is initiated by the 2 New Zealand Division and the British 132 Brigade; the objective is Rommel's weakest point, Munassib. 132 Brigade runs into the determined paratroopers of the German Ramcke Brigade and the Italian Folgore Division, both eager to prove their abilities. The advance turns into a mess of confused communications, burning trucks, and disintegration when brigade commander is wounded. The New Zealand, 21and 28 Battalions, do better, with the force charging through their depression. The Maoris take 50 POWs, both take their objectives, but run into heavy German resistance. The Germans suffer another 2,450 casualties, lose 50 guns and 400 AFVs and 10,000 tons of fuel is used up. Because of his losses, Rommel adopts Marshall Graziani's "Capisaldi" (strong points) defence used in 1940 for the very same reasons, i.e., too weak to attack, no resources for a mobile defence and an order not to retreat. A final stand is set for El Alamein. 

As Rommel's Panzers retreat, badly savaged and harassed all the way by the British infantry and the Desert Air Force, it is the turn of the Allies to capture the booty of war. The Germans and Italians were facing a serious fuel shortage when they attacked, and now the desert is littered with abandoned Axis vehicles.

British engineers have been assigned the task of disabling these tanks. One engineer, Sapper Irvine Adam of Paisley, near Glasgow, told how he was ordered to blow up a slightly damaged German tank, "I had just a minute to get away before it blew," he said.

     U.S. Army, Middle East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells hit troop concentrations, vehicles, and airfield installations in the battle area of Alam-el-Halfa, Egypt and behind enemy lines; P-40s, mostly operating with the RAF, escort bombers and engage fighters in combat, claiming at least one shot down.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS (10th Air Force): In French Indochina, China Air Task Force B-25 Mitchells dump bombs and pamphlets on Hanoi in the first US raid against that city; munitions, supplies, and several parked aircraft are destroyed or damaged; 9 interceptors pursue the B-25s for about 30 miles (48 km) but fail to make contact. For the next 3 weeks, bad weather and inaccurate Chinese weather forecasts severely limit bomber operations.  

NEW GUINEA: On the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their withdrawal to and beyond Templeton�s Crossing. 

     In the Milne Bay area of Papua New Guinea, the Australians continue their advance against Japanese. During the night, two Japanese destroyers enter the bay and receive a report that there are only about 200 effective Japanese troops left to fight; as the two destroyers depart at about 2400 hours, they shell the shoreline without much effect. 

     In the air, USAAF 5th Air Force P-400 Airacobras bomb and strafe the Kokoda Pass area, hitting the airfield at Kokoda, and in the vicinity of Alola, Isurava, and Missima; B-25s Mitchells and A-20 Havocs attack the Mubo-Busama-Salamaua area in Northeast New Guinea. 

AUSTRALIA: USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (5th Air Force): Lieutenant General George C. Kenney assumes command of the 5th Air Force in Brisbane, Australia, where the 5th’s HQ is remanned; the 5th has not functioned as an air force since February 1942 while USAAF units served under the control of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command and later the Allied Air Forces. General Kenney retains command of the Allied Air Forces. In New Guinea, Japanese warships begin removing troops from Milne Bay area. P-400 Airacobras bomb and strafe the Kokoda Pass area, hitting the airfield at Kokoda and in the vicinity of Alola, Isurava, and Missima; B-25s and A-20 Havocs pound the Mubo-Busama-Salamaua area. A B-17 Flying Fortress strafes seaplanes at Faisi Island in the Shortland Islands.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The foreign minister Shigenori Togo, the only civilian in the cabinet, resigns "for personal reasons"; the war minister and premier, Hideki Tojo, takes over his portfolio for the time being.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USMC SBD Dauntlesses bomb and strafe 34 Japanese landing barges off Santa Isabel Island and a USAAF 5th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress strafes seaplanes at Faisi Island in the Shortland Islands.

     On Guadalcanal during the evening, the first USMC R4D Skytrain lands at Henderson Field. Brigadier General Roy S. Geiger, USMC, and a small staff, will establish the advance HQ of the 1st Marine Air Wing which will have operational control of all Allied aircraft. The R4D departs with Marine wounded. 

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: USAAF OPERATIONS IN ALASKA (11th Air Force): In the Aleutian Islands, 6 bombers and 5 P-38 Lightnings are dispatched to bomb Kiska Island and fly air cover over Kuluk Bay, Adak Island but 5 bombers and 3 fighters abort due to weather; the others strafe seaplanes and boats in Kiska Harbor and nearby installations claiming 1-4 seaplanes destroyed on the water. This is the longest over-water attack flight thus far in World War II; the 2 fighters which reach the target area return from the 1,260 mile (2,028 km) round trip with only 40 US gallons (151 liters) of fuel left.

CANADA: Reciprocal Lend-Lease agreements with the United States and its armed forces are signed.

U.S.A.: The government announces agreements for Reciprocal Lend-Lease Aid to the United States and its Armed Forces by the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the Free French. 

Frank Sinatra bids adieu to the Tommy Dorsey Band and his Orchestra as he starts his solo singing career.

CARIBBEAN SEA: German submarine U-162 (Type IXC)  fires torpedoes at  the British destroyer HMS Pathfinder (G 19) but misses and was sunk about 157 nautical miles (291 kilometers) northeast of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies, in position 12.21N, 59.29W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vimy (D 33), Pathfinder (G 19) and Quentin (G 78); 49 of the 51 U-boat crewmen survive. The sub has been on three patrols credited for sinking 14 ships for a total of 82,027 tons.  (Alex Gordon)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-705 (Type VIIC) was sunk about 367 nautical miles (679 kilometers) west of it's base at Saint-Nazaire, France, in position 46.42N, 11.07W, by depth charges from an RAF Whitley Mk. V, aircraft 'P' of No. 77 Squadron based at Chivenor, Devonshire, England; all 45 crewmen are lost. The boat has been on one patrol sinking an American freighter of 3.279 tons in the North Atlantic on 15 August.  (Alex Gordon)

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September 3rd, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)

* The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 44 without loss: 
(1) 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 31 hit the target at 1007 hours; 
(2) 36 are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and all hit the target at 0907 hours; and 
(3) 69 are dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille and 31 hit the target at 0828 hours.

* The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort is provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 are lost. 
(1) 168 B-17s are dispatched to the Romilly sur Seine air depot; 100 hit the target at 0903-0911 hours; 28 hit the secondary target, the airfield at St Andre de L'Eure at 0947-0949 hours; and 12 hit a target of opportunity, Fauvill Airfield at Evreux at 0955 hours; they claim 11-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost; 
(2) 65 B-17s are dispatched to Mureaux Airfield; 38 hit the target at 0843-0844 while 18 hit a dummy airfield near Dieppe; and 
(3) 65 B-17s are dispatched to an industrial area at Caudron-Renault near Paris; 37 hit the target at 0925 hours; they claim 15-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost.

Frigate HMS Domett is commissioned.

FRANCE:  The VIII Air Support Command flies Mission 44 without loss: (1) 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Beaumont le Roger Airfield and 31 hit the target at 1007 hours; (2) 36 are dispatched to Tille Airfield at Beauvais and all hit the target at 0907 hours; and (3) 69 are dispatched to the Nord Airfield at Lille and 31 hit the target at 0828 hours.

     The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 90 against Luftwaffe air installations in France; escort was provided by 160 P-47 Thunderbolts; 9 B-17s and a P-47 are lost. (1) 100 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Romilly sur Seine air depot at 0903-0911 hours; (2) 38 B-17s bomb the Meulan-les-Mureaux Airfield; (3) 37 bomb the Caudron-Renault aircraft engine factory near Paris; (4) 28 bomb St. Andre Del'Eure Airfield; (5) 18 bomb the dummy St. Aubin Airfield at Dieppe; and (6) 12 bomb Fauville Airfield at Evreux. 

     The RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Wellingtons, six Mosquitos and six Halifaxes to an ammunition dump in the ForLt de Raismes, near Valenciennes; 39 bomb the target without loss. Two mining missions are flown: 12 aircraft lay mines off Gironde and four mine off La Pallice. 

GERMANY: One million civilians have been evacuated from Berlin in the last month.

During the night of 3/4 September, the RAF (RAF) Bomber Command dispatches 316 Lancasters and four Mosquitos to bomb Berlin. Because of the high casualty rates among Halifax and Stirling crews in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was composed only of Lancasters. Two hundred ninety five aircraft bomb with the loss of 22 Lancasters, nearly 7.0 per cent of the force. The Mosquitos are used to drop 'spoof' flares well away from the bombers' route to attract German night fighters. The raid approached Berlin from the northeast but the marking and bombing are, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built-up area fell in residential parts of Charlottenburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories are hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action are major water and electricity works and one of Berlin's largest breweries. Thirteen Lancasters bomb three targets of opportunity. 

U.S.S.R.: Putivl, northeast of Konotop falls to the Soviet Army. Bovask in the Donets Basin is also liberated. The Bryansk/Kiev railway line is cut.

ITALY: SICILY: Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio radios General Giuseppe Castellano of the General Staff the authorization to surrender. The secret armistice that will take Italy out of the war on 8 September is signed at Cassbili with U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith initialling the agreement for the Allies. No announcement of this is made until arrangements to prevent the German takeover of the government can be worked out. 
 After weeks of talks in Portugal led a "freed" British PoW, Lt-Gen Adrian Carton de Wiart, VC, the Allies have agreed an armistice, to be announced "at the right time" - in order not to prejudice the Salerno landings. From the moment that Marshal Badoglio became Italy's premier, he was determined to take his disillusioned country out of the war. But the Germans are unlikely to take kindly to Italy's surrender.

Straits of Messina: Following two days of heavy bombardment by four battleships, British troops of XIII Corps, Eighth Army cross the Straits of Messina and land in force on the European mainland north of Reggio di Calabria, today, the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. General Montgomery took no chances. Every available artillery piece as lined up on the Sicilian coast. Monitors, cruisers and destroyers rained shells ranging from six to 15 inches in size on beaches near Reggio di Calabria.

Eisenhower had planned this invasion - Operation Baytown - to draw German forces away from Salerno, where large-scale landings are planned. Two Panzer divisions had been in the Reggio area, but the Germans had left by the time that the men of XIII Corps - the British 5th and Canadian 1st Divisions of the British Eighth Army - came ashore today. There was little resistance; some Italian soldiers even volunteered to unload the landing craft.

The invaders are fanning out quickly into the hilly countryside of Calabria, and already the lack of roads, the rough terrain and the effects of German demolition work are causing problems in moving men and armour. Reggio, Catona, San Giovanni, Melito and Bagnara are captured by the end of the day. Meanwhile, convoys are preparing for the second stage of the invasion of Italy. The US Fifth Army, comprising the US VI Corps and the British X Corps, under the command of General Mark Clark, will hit the mainland at Salerno.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Ninth Air Force: B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Sulmona, Italy; they claim 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed; 6 B-24s are lost.

* Twelfth Air Force: P-40s on a sweep over Sardinia hit Pula and Capo Carbonara radar installations. In Italy, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, fighters and RAF light bombers hit gun positions throughout the toe of Italy, attack airfields at Crotone and Camigliatello and hit railway yards at Marina di Catanzaro and Punta di Staletti, troop concentration near Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte and road junctions and bridges at Cosenza.

     During the night of 3/4 September, RAF Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group visually bomb three airfields: 44 bomb Capodichino Airfield in Naples; 27 bomb Capua Airfield; and four bomb Torre Annunziata Airfield. 

CHINA: The USAAF 68th and 69th Fighter Wings, redesignated 68th and 69th Composite Wings in December 1943, are activated in Kunming to oversee combat operations of the 23d and 51st  Fighter Groups respectively. 

JAPAN: The worst earthquake in ten years kills 1,400 people in Tottori, 300 miles (483 kilometres) west of Tokyo. 

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS Fourteenth Air Force: 11 P-40's and 2 P-38s blast the barracks area at Pho Lu, FRENCH INDOCHINA.

EAST INDIES: The USAAF Fifth Air Force flies light raids against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands, both in the Netherlands East Indies..

SOLOMON ISLANDS: US forces take Arundel Island and consolidate their position on Vella Lavella.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon Islands, 20+ B-24s, 14 P-40s, and 30+ USN airplanes attack Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island. Vila Airfield on Kolombangara Island is bombed by 5 B-24s and 10 USN aircraft. P-40s strafe a wharf at Webster Cove on New Georgia Island.

Eleven RAAF Catalinas bomb Rabaul tonight. (Michael Alexander)

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Fifth Air Force): Heavy and medium bombers blast gun emplacements and terrace defenses in the Lae, New Guinea area. Other heavy bombers hit the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain Island. Light raids are flown against targets on Ceram Island in the Moluccas Islands and Timor Island in the Sunda Islands.  

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, RAAF Catalinas bomb Gasmata Airfield and USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb the Cape Gloucester area. 

PACIFIC OCEAN: Three USN vessels sink three Japanese vessels:
(1) the destroyer USS Ellet (DD-398) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25, about 173 nautical miles (320 kilometres) northwest of Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, in position 13.10S, 165.27E;
(2) the submarine USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks a transport about 124 nautical miles (230 kilometres)  south of Tokyo, Japan, off Mikura Jima in position 33.38N, 140.07E;
and (3) submarine USS Pompano (SS-181) sinks a merchant cargo ship about 391 nautical miles (725 kilometres) northeast of Tokyo in position 41.00N, 144.34E. 

U.S.A.: After 15 months of training, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ship out by sea to England on the transport ship SAMARIA. This is the group in the TV drama "The Band of Brothers." (Gene Hanson)

Destroyer escort USS Raby is launched. Destroyer USS Healy is commissioned. Destroyer escort USS Marts is commissioned.

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September 3rd, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: 

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Eighth Air Force: 2 missions are flown. 

(1) Mission 601: 393 B-17s make a visual attack on 16 gun batteries and defensive installations in the Brest, France area; 2 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 15 P-51s without loss but bad weather cancels fighter-bomber mission by 50 P-38s against strongpoints in the Brest area. 
(2) 345 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the Opau synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany (325); 1 hits a target of opportunity and 5 drop leaflets; 1 B-17 is lost; escort is provided by 233 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1 aircraft; a P-51 is lost. 
(3) 125 P-47s strafe transportation targets in Tilburg, the Netherlands; Namur, Belgium; and Cologne, Germany areas; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; a P-47 is lost. 

(4) 40 B-24s and 4 C-47 Skytrains fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

* Ninth Air Force: In France, B-26s and A-20s supporting ground troops pound strongpoints and bridges in the Brest area; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, ground support, and sweeps in northern and eastern France, Belgium, and western Germany.

In England, Lieutenant Ralph Spalding, USN, and a radio operator of the Special Air Unit, Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7), takes off in a TORPEX laden PB4Y-1 Liberator from Fersfield, Norfolk, sets the radio controls and then parachutes to the ground. Ensign James M. Simpson, USNR, in a PV-1 Ventura, takes control and flies the PB4Y to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island. Unfortunately, the PV-1 crew loses sight of the Liberator in a rainstorm and it crashes into a barracks and industrial area on Dune Island. A second attempt is later made with Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, at the controls of a PB4Y-1 but the aircraft explodes before Kennedy and the radio operator can bail out and Project APHRODITE is then cancelled.

FRANCE: Tournai and Abbeville are liberated by the 21st Army Group and the U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle River.
     In southwestern France, 80,000 Germans of the German First Army (von der Chevallerie) have surrendered including 20,000 to a single platoon of the U. S. 83d Infantry Division. Many Germans quit because they fear the murderous firepower of American fighter bombers. However, 130,000 troops escape and rejoin Army Group B. 

German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt assumes command of the German armies in the West. 

     In southern France, the commander of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division orders his men to halt and allow the French 1st Infantry Division to liberate Lyons, France's third-largest city. Most of the German Nineteenth Army have managed to withdraw northward. 

BELGIUM: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery orders the British Second Army to drive speedily to the Rhine River and secure a crossing. 

German troops evacuate Brussels, then units of the British Guards Armoured Division enter Brussels and blocks the exits from the city while the U.S. 3d Armoured Division captures Mons.

The US First Army (Hodges) reaches the border of Luxembourg. The fleeing Germans are suffering huge losses. Hodges's troops surround and will soon capture 30,000 troops near Mons.

NETHERLANDS: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 675 aircraft, 348 Lancasters, 315 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitos, to carry out heavy raids on six airfields: 112 aircraft hit Soesterberg, 112 bomb Venlo, 112 attack Volkel, 104 hit Gilze-Rijen, 103 bomb Eindhoven and 88 bomb Deelen. All raids are successful and only one Halifax was lost from the Venlo raid. 

GERMANY: In the air, 325 B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF Eighth Air Force using H2X radar to bomb the I.G. Farben synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen and one hits a target of opportunity. P-47 Thunderbolts strafe transportation targets at Cologne.

HUNGARY: USAAF Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers visually bomb three rail targets: 58 bomb railroad bridge at Szeged while one bombs a marshalling yard in the same city and 54 bomb the railroad at Szajol. 

FINLAND: U-370 helps evacuate a German radio station.

ITALY: The British 46th Division cross the River Conca River while the Canadian 5th Armoured Division clears Misano. 

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Twelfth Air Force: In Italy, medium bombers pound railroad and road bridges in the western Po Valley while fighter-bombers blast motor transport and rolling stock in the Turin area; and on the night of 2/3 September A-20s on armed reconnaissance, start fires in Genoa harbor. In France, fighter-bombers blast German vehicles retreating up the Rhone Valley

* Fifteenth Air Force: 300+ B-17s and B-24s hit key escape routes of retreating German forces in the Balkans, and bomb rail communications and supply lines south from Budapest, Hungary; 3 bridges in the Belgrade, Yugoslavia, area; bridges at Szajol and Szeged, Hungary; and badly damage ferry docks at Smederovo, Yugoslavia. Three B-17s evacuate interned airmen from Bucharest, Romania; 40 P-38s divebomb the Smederovo ferry and strafe Kovin and Baviniste, Yugoslavia airfields and a landing ground, destroying many parked aircraft, motor transport, vehicles, and fuel tanks; and 75 P-51s strafe roads, railroads, vehicles, bivouac areas, railroad repair shops, and miscellaneous targets in the Skoplje-Nish-Krusevac-Belgrade, Yugoslavia, areas.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS

* Tenth Air Force: In Burma, 4 B-25s attack and slightly damage the Tabpalai Bridge northeast of Hsipaw; a B-25 knocks out the center span of a railroad bridge in the area and another causes considerable damage at Indaw. 

* Fourteenth Air Force: In China, 12 B-24s pound marshalling yards at Nanking; 7 B-25s destroy at least 45 trucks and damage about 100 others during armed reconnaissance from Hengyang to Tungting Lake and Yoyang; 2 others bomb Hengyang Airfield; 100+ P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-38s attack troops, railroad targets, bridges, and other targets of opportunity in areas around Changning, Hengyang, Sungpai, Chuki, Yangtien, Hengshan, and in French Indochina, near Haiphong, and in the Red River Valley.

PACIFIC OCEAN: On Wake Island, the USN's Task Group 12.5 (Rear Admiral Allen E. Smith), comprising the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26), three heavy cruisers, and three destroyers, pound Japanese installations.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): Saipan-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima Island, Volcano Islands. In the Mariana Islands, P-47s hit Pagan and Maug Islands with rockets. A lone B-24 on armed reconnaissance bombs Yap in the Caroline Islands.

USAAF OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (Far East Air Forces): On Celebes Island, B-24s pound Langoan Airfield and Lembeh Strait warehouses and shipping. B-25s hit the village of Tobelo on Halmahera Island. 

Fighter-bombers hit oil tanks and a radio station at Boela on Ceram Island. 

In New Guinea, fighter-bombers hit Babo, Warren and Nabire Airfields, Manokwari storage and personnel areas, strafe areas along MacCluer Gulf, and fly coastal sweeps in the Wewak area, strafing troops, supplies, and occupied areas. Meanwhile, RAAF Kittyhawks conduct another strike against Babo Airfield and for the first time, carry a 1,500 pound (680 kilogram) bombload. The 50 percent increase in bombload was made possible by the sturdier build of the Kittyhawk Mk. IV (= USAAF P-40N) with which the squadron was equipped. 

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Drexler is launched. Anti-aircraft cruiser USS Tucson is launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-541 sinks SS Livingston.

U-482 sinks SS Fjordheim.

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September 3rd, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Sloop HMS Modeste is commissioned.

NORTH-WEST PACIFIC: The Soviets sever all communications between Japan and the Kuriles and Sakhalin.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the commander of the Philippines, surrenders to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mountain Province, Luzon, Philippine, Islands.

Off Wake Island, the Japanese surrender in a ceremony on board the destroyer escort USS Levy (DE-162).

Off the Bonin islands, Lieutenant General Yoshio Tachibana, the local commander, signs the surrender documents on board the destroyer USS Dunlap (DD-384) off Chichi Jima. General Tachibana is later convicted and executed for a particularly gruesome series of war crimes perpetuated against U.S. airmen who had been captured in the area during 1944-45.

U.S.A.: Top songs on the pop music record charts are 
(1) "Till the End of Time" by Perry Como; 
(2) "On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe" by Johnny Mercer; 
(3) "Gotta Be This Or That (Part 1)" by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra; and 
(4) "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" by Tex Ritter. 

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