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1932   (TUESDAY) 

HUNGARY: Julius Gambas emerges as the new premier of the Hungarian government. An ardent nationalist and revisionist, Gambas will seek to revise Hungary's boundaries through closer cooperation with Fascist Italy.  

SWITZERLAND: The League of Nations appoints a commission of inquiry to investigate the situation in Manchuria when the Chinese government appeals to the League under Articles X, XI, and XV of the Covenant. The Lytton Report found that the Japanese had violated Chinese sovereignty in Manchuria by their military action of September 1931 (which was not conducted in self-defense) and that the creation of Manchukuo did not represent a genuine independence movement. Rather than ordering the Japanese to withdraw from Manchuria, the commission recommends a settlement which would recognize Japan's special interests in the region--Manchuria would become an autonomous state under Chinese sovereignty with international advisors and police and recognition of Japan's economic interests.

1933   (WEDNESDAY) 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The depression and National Socialist agitation spreads swiftly among the three million Sudeten Germans living in Czechoslovakia. Many live in industrial areas and are hit hard by the economic downturn. Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudete National Socialist Party dissolves the party before the Czechoslovak government can prohibit it. However, the movement soon reemerges as the Sudetendeutsche Partei which has a National Socialist base but is not officially directed at the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.

1938   (TUESDAY) 

FRANCE: The Socialists and Communists in France break with the Edouard Daladier government when the Socialists abstain in a vote of confidence on the Munich agreements and the Communists vote against the treaties. This marks the end of Popular Front government and the cabinet turns to the Right for political support.

October 4th, 1939 (WEDNESDAY)

The U.S. freighter SS Black Hawk, detained by British authorities since 19 September, is released.

GERMANY: The U.S. Naval Attaché in Berlin reports that Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, has informed him of a plot wherein the U.S. passenger liner SS Iroquois, that had sailed from Cobh, Eire, with 566 American passengers on 3 October, would be sunk (ostensibly by the British) as she neared the east coast of the United States under "Athenia circumstances" for the apparent purpose of arousing anti-German feeling. Admiral Raeder gives credence to his source in neutral Éire as being "very reliable."

POLAND: Lwow: Nikita Khruschev announces the communisation of eastern Poland.

Kock: The Polish Army makes its last organised stand against the Tenth Army.

NEW ZEALAND: The New Zealand Government announces the formation of a Maori battalion for 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF).

U.S.A.: Baseball!

A barber from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, who had quite a singing voice, recorded "That Old Gang of Mine" with the Ted Weems Orchestra for RCA. That singer was the feature of the Weems band until 1942 when he went solo and became a radio, TV and stage star. The barber was Perry Como.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-23 sinks the SS GLEN FARG.
 

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October 4th, 1940 (FRIDAY)

Battle of Britain:

Park issues new observations and instructions to sector controllers and to squadron commanders, whose pilots are becoming fretful at the frequency with which they are still at an unfavourable height when they meet the enemy. Park assured them:

"I wish the squadron commanders and sector controllers to know everything humanly possible is being done by group to increase the warning received of incoming raids. ... With the prevailing cloudy skies and inaccurate heights given by the RDF the group controllers' most difficult problem is to know the height of the incoming raids."

Park then detailed what steps were being taken to correct this situation, including the formation of a special reconnaissance flight at Gravesend.

"Whatever time permits I wish you to get the readiness squadrons in company over sector aerodromes. Spitfires 25,000 feet, Hurricanes 20,000 feet, and wait until they report they are in good position before sending them to patrol lines or to intercept raids having a good track in fairly clear weather.

The Luftwaffe starts the day by dropping bombs indiscriminately in Kent, Surrey, Essex and East Anglia, and damage is mainly confined to private property. In London the New Cross Telephone Exchange is hit and there is a certain amount of damage done to the railways. The night attack started at 1900 hours. London is the main objective and it will be noticed that certain towns receive more than one visit. Kent again suffers very considerably. There are also reports to the effect that Liverpool and Newcastle are visited by enemy aircraft but no bombs are dropped. RAF Fighter Command 2-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; three RAF aircraft are lost with one pilot missing.

In Rome, Il Popolo di Roma (newspaper) commenting on the talks, speaks of a long war in prospect, with Germany unable to invade Britain this year.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In the Adriatic Sea, British submarine HMS/M Rainbow (N 16) is rammed and sunk by the Italian merchant SS Antonietta Costa of Durazzo, Albania. (Andy Etherington and Peter Beeston)

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Summerside and Louisburg laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec.
Patrol vessel HMCS Otter commissioned.

U.S.A.: Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg lands in New York City.

Baseball!
The motion picture "Knute Rockne-All American" premieres in South Bend, Indiana. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, this American football biography stars Pat O'Brien as Knute Rockne, Ronald Reagan as George Gipp and Donald Crisp. The premiere is attended by O'Brien and Reagan.

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October 4th, 1941 (SATURDAY)

VICHY FRANCE: Petain commutes the death sentence on Paul Colette, who attempted to assassinate Pierre Laval and Marcel Deat into Life imprisonment.

Petain also makes  a single trade union compulsory for all workers.

GERMANY: U-159 and U-252 commissioned.
U-457 and U-458 launched.

NORWAY: Oslo: The Nazi regime warns the Norwegian people to co-operate or face starvation, after growing unrest and street riots.

FINLAND: This night a Finnish attempt to cross the River Syväri (Svir) by Battlegroup Kuistio fails, as the men of the attacking battalion refuse to follow orders. On the next night, another attempt by a different battalion fails for the same reason. Crossing of Syväri finally succeeds on 6 Oct after the troops had rested and Col. Kuistio arranged fire-support for the operation.

The troops had been continuously in offensive for three months now, and signs of war-weariness are showing. The general opinion among the soldiers is that the war is fought to reconquer the lands lost in the Winter War, and the continuation of the offensive past the pre-1939 borders had already caused cases of insubordination and desertion. Also the offensive operations after the capture of Petrozavodsk (which was rumoured to be the final goal) came as a nasty surprise. It was thought that River Syväri would be the point were the rifles will be changed into spades. However, serious incidents of insubordination are few, usually a short period of rest combined with stern speeches by commanding officers are enough to restore the situation.

U.S.S.R.: Panzer Group Hoeppner attacks near Vyazma from the south. Hoth attacks between Vyazma and Rzhev. Guderian attacks Orel and Bryansk. These German attacks threaten large numbers of Soviet troops west of Bryansk and Vyazma.

The organisation of the marauding partisan bands operating against the Germans deep behind the front line is becoming formalised under the control of the Stavka.

Formed from pockets of Russian soldiers cut off by the Germans; often frightened of being punished if they returned to their own lines, they took to the forests and live by raiding German supply lines. They are a potent guerrilla force, harassing the Heer and sending back intelligence to regular Red Army formations.

Officers, political commissars, radio transmitters and weapons are parachuted to the bands and a rigid discipline imposed. Some even operate as cavalry. They tie up thousands of Germans in protection duties; if they are caught, they are killed with great brutality, their bodies left hanging from the gallows as a warning to others.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The first group of U-boats attacked the British Alexandria-Tobruk shipping supply line in the Mediterranean, a shipping link vital to the British troops fighting in North Africa.

A German aircraft dropped three bombs on U-559 in the Mediterranean, mistaking it for an enemy submarine, but the U-boat suffered no damage.

JAPAN: The Foreign Ministry sends the following message to the consulate in Manila, "I want you to make a reconnaissance of the new defence works along the east, west and southern coasts of the Island of Luzon, reporting on their progress, strength, etc. Also please investigate anything else which may seems of interest."

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Halifax launched Collingwood, Ontario.
Corvette HMCS Kamsack commissioned.

Washington: Britain and the US agree to send planes and tanks to the USSR every month.

Lend-lease agreements are concluded with Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Paraguay.

"Piano Concerto In B Flat" by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 9 August 1941, was charted for 24 weeks, was Number 1 for 8 weeks and was ranked Number 3 for the year 1941.

A 20-minute short, colour movie is released. THE TANKS ARE COMING was filmed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and stars George Tobias (as a former cab driver) and Gig Young. This is one of many pre-WWII short films that try to make the public aware of how good the military is.

Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Willie_Gillis_Food_Package.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Willie_Gillis_Home_on_Leave.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Willie_Gillis_in_Convoy.jpg

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-111 (Type IXB) is sunk southwest of Tenerife, at position 27.15N, 20.27W, by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler Lady Shirley, following a gunnery dual with the German submarine. 8 dead, 44 survivors. (Alex Gordon)

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October 4th, 1942 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Channel Islands: Last night British commandos launched a raid on Sark.

GERMANY: Reichsmarschall Göring  says: "This war is not the Second World War: this is the War of the Races. Whether we, the Germanic and Aryan men, or the Jew rule the world - that is the final issue."

Adolf Hitler states that occupied countries must make up the food shortage caused by the Allied blockade.

U.S.S.R.: The 4th major offensive of Paulus German forces at Stalingrad begins. Their street fighting capabilities have been strengthened with the addition of police and combat-engineer units. This will be the longest of the German offensives and will result in the fiercest fighting. The Soviets have prepared the ground better, attempting to funnel the German drives into specially prepared "killing fields". The end result of this offensive will be to seriously deplete the Germans in both morale and reserves.

NEW GUINEA: Australian forces continue to advance along the Kokoda Trail capturing Effogi; natives report that the Japanese have retreated to Kokoda. Australian troops complete the drop zone at Nauro located 7.6 miles (12,2 kilometers) south of Efogi.

Fifth Air Force P-40s strafe forces and occupied areas at Myola Lake, Kokoda, Wairopi, Yodda, and Buna; a US reconnaissance party from the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division reaches Jauri, completing a reconnaissance of the Kapa Kapa-Jauri trail, which is found to be difficult but practicable for use as a route in a contemplated offensive against the Buna-Gona area.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The U.S. tanker SS Camden is sunk by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 about 34 nautical miles (62 kilometers) west-northwest of North Bend, Oregon, at position 43.42N, 124.52W.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Three Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators abort weather, bombing and photo missions over Kiska Island due to weather and instead attack a cargo vessel; the ship's rudder is probably damaged.

Off the coast of the U.S., the American tanker SS Camden is torpedoed by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 off the coast of Oregon, at position 43°42'N, 124°52'W, and is abandoned.

Destroyer USS Evans launched.
Minesweeper USS Usage launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-175 sank SS Caribstar.

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October 4th, 1943 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Admiral Pound resigns as British First Sea Lord due to ill health. Admiral Fraser refuses the position, and it is accepted by Admiral Andrew Cunningham.

In England, the Eighth Air Force's VIII Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command fly missions.

* VIII Air Support Command Mission 79: 25 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to Nivilliers Airfield at Beauvais and Fauville Airfield at Evreux, France; they return to base without bombing.

* VIII Bomber Command Mission 108: 4 targets in Germany and a diversion are flown. 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 4 B-24s are lost. Escort is provided by 223 P-47 Thunderbolts; they claim 19-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft.

- 104 B-17s are dispatched to the Wiesbaden industrial area; 15 aircraft hit Wiesbaden and 77 hit the industrial area at Frankfurt at 1059-1105 hours; they claim 19-3-15 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost.

- 37 B-17s bomb Frankfurt at 1110-1111 hours; they claim 18-8-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost.

- 115 B-17s are dispatched to the Saarlautern industrial area; 67 hit Saarlautern and 38 hit Robinson Airfield in St Dizier, France at 1136-1148 hours; they claim 37-7-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost.

- 47 B-17s bomb the Sarreguemnines and Saarbrucken marshalling yards at 1133-1139 hours.

- 38 B-24s fly a diversion; they claim 13-6-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost.

* VIII Bomber Command Mission 109: 4 B-17s drop 240,352 leaflets over Paris between 2257-2307 hours.

Frigate HMS Goodall commissioned.

FRANCE: Ajaccia, Corsica: The liberation of Corsica is complete. The losses amongst the communist guerrillas and the Fighting (Free) French regular troops have been light - partly because the Germans were not seriously fighting to hold on to the island.

Fighting between the German garrison, reinforced by troops from Sardinia, and communist guerrillas has been going on since the Italian surrender. Regular Free French troops under General Henri Martin arrived 20 days ago, with only a few hundred landing each night. Furnished with motor and mule transport by the Italian troops on the island, his men seized the island's spine, pushing the Germans back to their bridgehead at Bastia, from which they withdrew today.

The Germans had no intention of holding Corsica; their concern was purely to secure an orderly withdrawal. Under Commander von Liebenstein, who had organized the German evacuation of Sicily, they brought out 26,000 men, 3,200 vehicles, 5,000 tons of stores and 1,200 PoWs, in a movement described by the German News Agency as "an operational and organizational masterpiece."

Participating in the expulsion of the Germans are patriots, Battalion du Choc (shock battalion), Moroccan Goums, the knife-wielding irregular troops, of the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division, and a small U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) party.

     During the night of 4/5 October, four RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the River Gironde.

GERMANY: Frankfurt bombed by Allies around the clock. (Glenn Steinberg)

     During the night of 4/5 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 406 aircraft, 162 Lancasters, 170 Halifaxes, 70 Stirlings, four Mosquitos and three USAAF Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses to attack Frankfurt-am-Main; 357 aircraft bomb the city. Ten RAF aircraft, five Halifaxes, three Lancasters and two Stirlings, are lost, 2.5 per cent of the force; one B-17 is also lost. This was the last RAF night-bombing raid in which American aircraft took part, but individual B-17s occasionally carry out bombing flights in following weeks Clear weather and good Pathfinder marking produces the first serious blow on Frankfurt so far in the war, with extensive destruction being caused in the eastern half of the city and in the inland docks on the River Main. Fifty seven Lancasters carry out a diversionary raid to Ludwigshafen without loss but the marking and bombing are scattered. Other targets hit are: five Mosquitos bomb the Knapasck power station at Cologne, four Mosquitos hit Cologne and one each attack Aachen and Mannheim. The Mosquito attacking Aachen is carrying out the first operational trial of the G-H blind bombing equipment but the trial is not successful.

Capt. Walker M. Mahurin, 63d FS/56 FG, USAAF, achieves ace status when he downs three Bf 110s (raising his score to six e/a destroyed) near Duren, Germany between1132 and 1140 hours. Mahurin goes on to shoot down 19.75 German plane, one Japanese plane, 3.5 Mig 15s in Korea for a total of 24.75 destroyed. (Skip Guidry)

U-294 and U-923 are commissioned.

POLAND:

Poznan: In an address to the SS, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer-SS, has spoken frankly about the Jews.

"Among ourselves," he said, "this once, it shall be said quite frankly; but in public we will never discuss it. I am talking about the evacuation of the Jews, the annihilation of the Jewish people ..."

"Most of you must know what it means to see a hundred corpses lying side by side, or five hundred or a thousand. To have stuck this out and - apart from a few cases of human weakness - to have kept our integrity, this is what has made us hard. In our history, this is an unwritten and never-to-be-written page of glory....

"We had the moral right, we had the duty to our people, to destroy this people which wanted to destroy us ... We do not in the end want to be infected by this germ. I will not see so much as a septic spot appear or gain hold. Wherever it may form, we will cauterize it ..."

The organizing of some prisoners for slave labour and the inflicting of gruesome medical experimentation on others can also be attributed to him. Consequently, it is little wonder that he could so blithely say, "Whether or not 10,000 Russian women collapse from exhaustion while digging a tank ditch interests me only in so far as the tank ditch is completed for Germany."

NORWAY: The USS Ranger, operating off the north coast of strikes German shipping off Bodo. Four freighters are sunk and seven are heavily damaged. Escorts are provided by the British Home Fleet. 

Operation LEADER, the only USN carrier operation carried out in northern European waters during WW II, causes "appreciable losses" to two convoys off the Norwegian coast and to shipping in the harbour of Bodo, Norway. The task force, consisting of RN ships and the USN aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4), reach the launch position off Vestfjord before dawn completely undetected. At 0618 hours, Carrier Air Group Four (CVG-4) in USS Ranger launches 20 SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Bombing Squadron Four (VB-4) and an escort of 8 F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Four (VF-4). One division of dive bombers attacked the 8,000-ton freighter SS LaPlata, while the rest continued north to attack a small German convoy. 

They severely damaged a 10,000-ton tanker and a smaller troop transport and sink two of four small German merchantmen in the Bodö roadstead. A second attack group of 10 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4) and six Wildcats of VF-4 destroy a German freighter and a small coaster and bomb yet another troop-laden transport. Three Ranger planes were lost to antiaircraft fire. In the afternoon, USS Ranger is finally located by three German aircraft, but her combat air patrol shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Heinkel He 111 and chase off the third.  

ITALY: 100+ XII Bomber Command B-17s bomb the Pisa marshalling yard and Bolzano bridges; B-25 Mitchells and B-26s attack the airfield at Argos, road defiles at Terracina and Isernia, a highway overpass at Mignano, and shipping at Bastia; Northwest African Tactical Bomber Force aircraft hit road and rail junctions on the main road north from Capua; XII Air Support Command fighter-bombers hit trains, roads, railroads, and vehicles near Isernia, Avezzano, Pescara, and Isolella. The Allies now have complete control of Corsica.

GREECE: In the Dodecanese Islands, the Germans overrun Kos Island. Loss of this island, site of the only Allied air base in the Aegean Sea, endangers Samos and Leros.

A total of 1,388 British and 3,145 Italian troops are taken prisoner. Italy had signed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September and the Italian troops are now fighting on the British side. On 11 September, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler gave the order to execute all Italian officers who are captured. The officer in charge of the Italian troops is Colonel Felice Leggio. He, and 101 of his officers, are marched to a salt pan just east of the town of Kos and there, shot in groups of ten. They are buried in mass graves. When Kos is returned to Greece after the war, the bodies are dug up and transported back to Italy for burial in the Military Cemetery at Bari.

     Twenty eight USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Tatoi Airfield in Athens without loss.

CHINA: 17 Japanese bombers and 25 fighters attack Kweilin Airfield. The bombs, dropped from 20,000 feet (6,096 m), fail to hit the target. Fourteenth Air Force fighters fail to make effective contact with the force.

NEW GUINEA: In North East New Guinea, Dumpu is captured by Australian troops as they advance into the Ramu River Valley from the Markham Valley. Meanwhile, the Australian 20th Brigade continues fighting towards Sattelberg.  (Thanks Mike Mitchell for the clarification)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: 23 Thirteenth Air Force B-24s, covered by 16 P-38 Lightnings and several USMC F4U Corsairs, bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville Island; 20-30 fighters intercept, and a running battle occurs between Bougainville and Vella Lavella Island; US fighters and bombers claim 9 IJN fighters downed; no American losses are suffered. Four P-39Airacobras and 4 F4Us sink 18 barges in a strike along the west coast of Choiseul Island; the P-39s are especially effective because of their nose cannon.

9,400 men under General Sasaki evacuate Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands. US destroyers are foiled in their attempts to stop this movement by Admiral Ijuin's fleet.

Short of food and ammunition, Japanese forces today abandoned Kolombangara, their last stronghold in the New Georgia group of islands in the central Solomons, according to reports from Allied coastwatchers, the undercover observers based on Japanese-held islands who have provided valuable intelligence during this campaign.

For the past 24 hours Japanese ships have struggled to evacuate the remnants of the 10,000-strong garrison which had defended Vila airfield, Japan's last airbase in the central Solomons. During today's fighting Allied aircraft and warships claim to have harassed enemy craft over a wide area, downing 12 Japanese planes and sinking 27 enemy craft. US losses are put at 1,094 killed and 3,874 wounded, against 2,483 Japanese dead.

A communiqué issues by Allied HQ South-west Pacific claimed that the Japanese evacuation of Kolombangara was the direct result of the Allied decision to bypass the island and let the Japanese there "wither on the vine". A spokesman for Admiral Halsey said that the Allied occupation of Vella Lavella,  to the north of Kolombangara, several weeks ago had effectively cut Japanese supply lines  into Vila.

With the Allies now firmly in control of the central Solomons the way is now open for the next phase of Operation Cartwheel, an attack on Bougainville, the largest island in the Solomons.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb and strafe barges, small craft, and villages in the Vitu Islands.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Swansea commissioned.
Frigate HMCS St Catharines arrived Halifax from builder Esquimalt, British Columbia.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS O'Flaherty laid down.
Minesweepers USS Strategy and Strength laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Janssen launched.

Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five record "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (Ma Baby)" on Decca Records.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

* North of the Azores, aircraft of Composite Squadron Nine (VC 9) in the escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11) attack three German submarines, U-264,  U-422, and U-455, rendezvousing with a Milch cow, U-460. U-460 and U-422 are sunk, in positions 43°13'N, 28°58'W, and 43°18'N, 28°58'W, respectively by F4F Wildcats and TBF Avengers. All hands are lost on U-422 and there are 2 survivors of the 64 aboard U-460. This action in the central Atlantic allows convoy UGS 19 to pass through the vicinity unmolested by U-boats.

* Southwest of Iceland, German submarine U-279 is caught on the surface and sunk by depth charges from a USN PV-1 Ventura of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Eight (VB-128) based at NAF Reykjavik, Iceland. The sub sinks in position 60.40N, 26.30W with all hands (48 men).

* U-389 (Type VIIC) is sunk southwest of Iceland, at position 60.51N, 28.26W, by depth charges from a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/X). 50 dead (all crew lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-596 sank SS Marit in Convoy XT-4.

U-539 shot down RAF Liberator aircraft (Sqn 120/V.) Lost with this aircraft was Wing Commander R M Longmore, the commanding officer of the 120 Squadron.

RAF Hudson aircraft (Sqn 269/S) attacked U-731. The commander and 5 more men were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat did not have to abort its patrol.

Using bases in the Azores, Allied aircraft are able to cover areas previously out of reach of their patrols.

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October 4th, 1944 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Blakenhall Crescent in East London, where a German V2 rocket exploded yesterday evening, is the scene of frantic efforts by the rescue teams who dig through the rubble and splintered wood. Eight people are feared to have died.

The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 664: 5 B-24s and 4 B-17s drop leaflets in the Low Countries, France and Germany during the night.

The first Bristol-built Hawker Tempest II fighter (MW 374) flies today. (22)

At 2205 hours Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), Canadian Corvette HMCS Chebogue (K 317) is torpedoed by a Type G7s T5 Zaunköning (GNAT) acoustic torpedo fired from U-1227 (Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Altmeier) and has her stern blown off. She is 550 miles WSW of Cape Clear 49-20N, 24-20W, while escorting slow convoy ONS-33 (U.K. to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). Seven crewmembers are killed, several are wounded and the propellers are carried away. Taken in tow by corvette HMCS Chambly (K 116) for 900 miles, then HMS MOUNSEY, HMCS RIBBLE and HMS EARNER, she makes Port Talbot in South Wales on October 11, but is paid off on 25 September, 1945 and not repaired. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)   

Destroyer HMS St. Kitt's is launched.

NORTH SEA: During the night of 4/5 October, 63 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark, with the loss of one aircraft.

In Western Europe, Ninth Air Force bombers drop leaflets in the Metz and Saint-Die, France and Saarburg, Germany areas; fighters support the US First and Third Armies in western Germany and eastern France, escort B-26s, and fly armed reconnaissance in forward areas, attacking rail and military targets.

In Southern Europe, 327 Fifteenth Air Force 327 B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, bomb the Munich West, Germany, marshalling yard. 

BELGIUM: In the Canadian First Army’s British I Corps area, the Canadian Second Division continues west in the region north of Antwerp toward Zuid Beveland, has cleared the Merxem-Eekeren area.

     During the night of 4/5 October, eight USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers drop leaflets over the country.

FRANCE: During the night of 4/5 October, ten USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers drop leaflets over the country.

GERMANY: The US 1st Army throws back a German counter attack, north of Aachen where they have passed through the Siegfried Line. In the U.S. First Army’s XIX Corps area, the Germans, having massed reinforcements, counterattack strongly, particularly against Uebach, where they are thrown back by the combined efforts of 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, armor, and artillery. After considerable delay because of enemy attacks, Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, attacks from Uebach taking objective heights about Hoverhof, 1 mile (1,6 kilometers) north of Uebach, and continuing beyond there to the high ground east of Zweibruggen, and Task Force Disney on the right, gaining about 800 yards (732 meters) toward the Geilenkirchen-Aachen highway at the cost of 11 tanks and heavy casualties. Continuing limited attacks, the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, takes Breberen, on the far side of Saeffeler Creek. The V Corps changes the target date for West Wall offensive to 10 October. .

Three hundred thirty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombers bomb the main marshalling yard at Munich; 14 aircraft are lost.

     During the night of 4/5 December, five RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb Pforzheim, three hit the marshalling yard at Heilbronn with the loss of one aircraft, two attack Heilbronn and one hits Mannheim.

U-2517, U-2518 and U-3510 launched
U-2337 commissioned.

YUGOSLAVIA: Units of the Soviet 3rd Ukraine Front capture Pancevo just east of Belgrade on the Danube River. Reaching Vladimirovac, they link with Partisan units there.

     During the night of 4/5 October, 21 RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group lay mines in the Danube River and 18 bring supplies to the country. This is the RAF's final minelaying sortie in the River Danube. The highly successful campaign severely disrupts Romanian oil exports to Germany.

GREECE: Allied forces land on the Peloponnese near Patras, Other islands in the Aegean are also occupied. Patras will be occupied tomorrow.

39 USAAF P-51s strafe Tatoi, Kalamaki, and Eleusis Airfields. Other P-51s escort Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47s and fly reconnaissance. 

NORWAY: Attack on U-boat pens "Bruno" in Bergen, Norway. German U-boats have been forced out of the Biscay, France, ports following the Allied liberation of France and Bergen is one of several Norwegian ports now being used as the forward operating bases. The U-boat pens at Bergen are being enlarged with an influx of German technicians and a large labor force. Between 0515 and 0615 RAF Bomber Command sends 140 aircraft - 93 Halifaxes and 47 Lancasters took off from bases in the UK, Mission: To attack Bergen with 12 Mosquitoes as a long range fighter escort.

0905. From Marineflakguro. Ab.0905 Off. Luftarnung

0910. From Marineflakguro. Ab sofort Fliegeralarm

0924, a lot of anti aircraft firing near Bergen.

0924, 5 aircraft over Bergen, heavy firing.

0925, 4 aircraft is over Bergen.

0925, one aircraft in very high level, going east over Bergen, firing against the aircraft.

0930 The first bombs dropped over the target area.

10.06, From Marineflakguro, Ab. 10.06 Fliegeralarm beendet.

7 bombs hit the target, causing little structural damage because of the thickness of the concrete roof, but the electrical wiring system in the pens is completely put out of action.

A nearby ship-repair yard were seriously damaged. 3 U-boats were damaged including U-228, 3 small ships were hit, two of them sank.

But the attack also spread to civilian areas.
60 houses were destroyed, over 600 people lost their homes. 

Civilian casualties are recorded at 2 places was hit but both were tragic.

A school opened only that day after a break received a direct hit in the basement where 2 classes were sheltering. 60 children 2 teachers and 17 air- raid workers killed.

Another shelter in a nearby factory was also hit.
A total of 193 Norwegians was killed during this raid.
The youngest, Laila, was only 3 years old.
7 of the Norwegians were members of the local resistance movement. 
It was first 3 months later the Allies managed to damaged the "Bruno", with Tallboys. They did not destroy it.
The Uboat Pens are still (1999) in use by the Norwegian Navy. 

Torstein

During the night of 4/5 October, eleven RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Oslo with the loss of one aircraft.

EUROPE: There are signs that morale among the Allied armies in north-west Europe is not what it was a few weeks ago. A month ago it looked as though final victory was but a few weeks away. Since then there has been the failure at Arnhem, and desperate fighting continues around Aachen and Metz. The German armies have largely recovered from the disasters of the summer and have signalled their intention of fighting every inch of the Allied way forward.

The increased intensity of the fighting has caused a sharp rise in the number of battle fatigue casualties. In this context General Eisenhower has today issued to all combat units a report by the office of the US surgeon general on the subject. This stresses that battle fatigue, or shell shock, as it used to be called in the Great War, is caused by the fear of being killed or maimed, and affects every combat soldier: "Thus psychiatric casualties are as inevitable as gunshot or shrapnel wounds in warfare," says the report.

Battle fatigue can, however, be kept to a minimum through effective and caring leadership and regular rest from combat. Many of the best junior leaders have now become casualties, though, and some divisions have been in action since D-Day. This has happened because commanders are always tempted to use well-proven formations rather than fresh untried troops to tackle key objectives.

The British are more conscious than the Americans of the need to husband their fighting resources. Five years of war have created a manpower crisis, especially in the infantry, and Montgomery is being forced to disband some units in order to maintain others. The Americans, on the other hand, continue to send fresh divisions over to Europe and to keep units in the front line for much longer.

"[T]he danger of being killed or maimed imposes a strain so great that it causes men to break down. One look at the shrunken, apathetic faces of psychiatric patients sobbing, trembling, referring shudderingly to 'them shells' and to buddies mutilated or dead, is enough to convince most observers of this fact."

On the basis of this evaluation, as well as firsthand experience, American commanders judged that the average soldier could last about 200 days in combat before suffering serious psychiatric damage.

British commanders used a rotation method, pulling soldiers out of combat every 12 days for a four-day rest period. This enabled British soldiers to put in 400 days of combat before being deleteriously affected. The Surgeon General's report went on to lament the fact that a "wound or injury is regarded, not as a misfortune, but a blessing." The war was clearly taking a toll on more than just men's bodies.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army’s II Corps area, the 133d Infantry Regiment clears Mt. Venere but the 91st Infantry Division is halted short of Loiano by stiff German opposition. The 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, takes Quinzano and reaches the slopes of Mt. Bibele.

     In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps orders an attack across the Fiumicino River to begin during the night 6/7 October. Meanwhile, the Indian 10th Division struggles to advance the left flank of the corps to the river, crossing elements over the Uso River early in the day and beginning an assault on the heights (Sogliano al Rubicone-St. Martino ridge) intervening between there and the Fiumicino River.

USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack 14 targets: 135 bomb the railroad in the Brenner Pass, 72 hit the railroad viaduct at Aviso with the loss of one aircraft, 56 attack the railroad bridge at Ora, 52 bomb the railroad bridge at Casarsa, 31 hit the railroad bridge at Mezza Corona, 26 attack the railroad bridge at Pordenone, 14 bomb the railroad bridge at Piave Ponte di Piave, 12 each hit the railroad bridges at Pinzano and Bronzolo, six each attack the railroad bridge at Latisana and the airfield at Aviano, five bomb the railroad bridge at Casarsa and one each hit the marshalling yard at Trieste and the airfield at Piave.

Weather restricts Twelfth Air Force medium bombers to attacks on 2 bridges at Bistagno and Villafranca d'Asti; fighter-bombers closely support ground forces fighting in the Loiano-Quinzanod'Oglio-Sassoleone areas, and hit communications north of the battle areas.  

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army’s XXXIII Corps area, the East African 11th Division overruns Yazagyo in the Kabaw Valley while the Indian 5th Division is closing in on Tiddim.

8 Tenth Air Force P-47s damage approaches to a bridge between Myitkyina and Bhamo; 16 P-47s hit the town of Palwesho; 4 others hit small towns S of Bhamo, including Man The and Hantet.  

CHINA: 5 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s hit Hsinantien and areas north of Chefang; 80+ P-40s and P-51 Mustangs continue to attack targets of opportunity during armed reconnaissance over areas of China south of the Yangtze River; and 20+ fighter-bombers hit buildings, troops, and river shipping in the Paoching area.

JAPAN: In the Kurile Islands of Japan, an Eleventh Air Force B-24 weather aborts a photo run off Matsuwa Island; 4 B-25s bomb a freighter and a barge off Shimushu Island; 15-17 fighters intercept and the B-25s score 1 victory.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General U.S. Sixth Army, declares the Morotai Island operation at an end, although mopping up continues. Japanese dead on Morotai total 102 and 13 prisoners. At least 200 are estimated killed on barges between Morotai and Halmahera Islands. Allied casualties number about 30 killed, 85 wounded, and one missing. Wama Airfield, built by the Australian Nos. 13 and 14 Airfield Construction Squadrons, is put into use by aircraft. A permanent fighter garrison arrives and the USN’s escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) are able to leave.

Far East Air Forces B-25s bomb Sidate and Bolaang-oeki on Celebes Island,. On Halmahera Island, P-40s and B-25s attack Galela and Kaoe Airfields. B-25s and A-20 Havocs on a shipping sweep bomb town and port area of Amboina on Ambon Island, hit a wharf at Halong on Celebes Island, and attack shipping and shore targets of opportunity at various points.

MARCUS ISLAND: Seventh Air Force B-24s from Saipan Island attack shipping west of Iwo Jima and bomb airfields, the radio station, buildings, and area targets on Marcus, Pagan Islands in the Marianas, and Iwo Jima. P-47s hit gun positions, beach defenses, buildings, and the wharf area on Pagan Island. The island is located in the North Pacific about 768 nautical miles (1 422 kilometers) west-northwest of Wake Island and is used as a refueling point for Japanese aircraft en route to the Central Pacific.  

CAROLINE ISLANDS: On Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, the 7th Marine Regiment continues attacks on the Umurbrogol Pocket but by end of day, the regiment is so depleted in strength that it is no longer an effective fighting force.

     USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators from the Marshall Islands bomb the airfield on Moen Island, Truk Atoll.

CANADA: HMC MTB 491 is commissioned. Log: 29th flotilla, "G" Type, 44 tons, 71.75x20.6x5.6ft, 39kts, crew 3/14, 1-6pdr, 2-20mm(1xII) 4-18in TT.

Baseball!

The top songs on the popular charts today are: "Y'll Walk Alone�" by Dinah Shore, "Is You is or is You Ain't (Ma Baby)" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, "It Had to Be You" by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest, and "Smoke on the Water" by Red Foley.

GREENLAND: An air patrol reports suspicious activity on Little Koldewey Island, 800 miles (1 287 kilometers) south of the North Pole, and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Eastwind (WAG-279) lands two platoons of soldiers. The German weather station "Edelweiss II" is located and destroyed and three German officers and nine enlisted men are captured.

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October 4th, 1945 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Dockers strike.

GUAM: Repaired battleship USS PENNSYLVANIA sails for the Puget Sound Navy Yard in company with destroyer USS WALKE (DD 723) and cruiser USS ATLANTA (CL 51). (Randall Steigner)

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Kokanee completed tropicalization refit.
Minesweeper HMCS Thunder paid off at Halifax.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Glennon commissioned.

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