World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 4 Apr 1944

• Charles De Gaulle was appointed head of Free French military forces. ww2dbase [Charles de Gaulle | TH]
• HMS CUMBERLAND and joint RN/USN force returned to Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

• USS Hoe departed Fremantle, Australia for her fourth war patrol in the South China Sea. ww2dbase [Hoe | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]
• USS Puffer arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Puffer | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• USS Columbia departed Port Purvis, Nggela Islands (Florida Islands), Solomon Islands for a scheduled overhaul in San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Columbia | Port Purvis, Nggela Islands | CPC]

• USS Rock departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Rock | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Air Group 14 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Wasp arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• On the Imphal front in India the Japanese 51st Regiment of 15th Division commenced attacks on 123rd Indian Brigade's positions, while the Japanese 31st Division attacked the village of Kohima. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Imphal, Manipur | AC]

• A transport from two hospitals and one psychiatric institution in Trieste, Italy arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in occupied Poland; 62 of the about 300 patients died en route, while another 103 were gassed upon arrival. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]
• In Poland, the first Allied aerial photographs were taken of Auschwitz I camp, the town of Auschwitz (known as Oswiecim in Polish), the I. G. Farben factories, and the Auschwitz III camp complex (also known as Monowitz). ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Allied convoy JW-58 arrived at the Kola Inlet near Murmansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• Shokaku returned to Singapore naval arsenal. The Third Fleet's flag was transferred ashore. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Singapore | CPC]
• Shokaku returned to Singapore naval arsenal. The Third Fleet's flag was transferred ashore. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Singapore | CPC]

• German Armeegruppe Mitte counterattacked to reach those units surrounded for two weeks near Kovel, in the Pripet marsh area of Ukraine. ww2dbase [TH]
• The German Armeegruppe Süd was renamed Armeegruppe Nordukraine. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Going against precedence, British Foreign Office banned foreign embassies located in Britain from sending coded messages, and stated that diplomatic pouches were subject to censorship, with the exception of British allies. ww2dbase [London, England | TH]

• Kyne was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Kyne | CPC]
• Steamer Bay was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Steamer Bay | CPC]
• Franklin Roosevelt's doctor noted the US President's high blood pressure and prescribed rest; Roosevelt would soon depart for Bernard Baruch's home in South Carolina, United States for a vacation. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Hyde Park, New York | CPC]
• The US Twentieth Air Force was established in Washington DC, United States for deployment to India with forward bases in China. ww2dbase [Washington | AC]

4 Apr 1944 Interactive Map