World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » Events
• » 3 Jun 1944

• RAF aircraft conducted raids in the Pas-de-Calais and Cherbourg areas of France. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | CPC]
• US XIII Bomber Command established its headquarters at Momote Airfield, Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Engineers at Curtiss-Wright published an internal memorandum noting the defects of the current generation of SB2C Helldiver aircraft (bell cranks might break during high speed dives) but the company failed to address the issue even for the aircraft built but not yet delivered to the US Navy. A number of aviators would be killed or injured due to this defect for the next month to come or perhaps longer due to this defect. ww2dbase [SB2C Helldiver | CPC]
• USS Cabrilla sank a Japanese coastal patrol boat with her deck gun off Borneo. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
• Louis Mountbatten received the latest orders from the Anglo-American combined chiefs; to his disappointment, there was not to be any amphibious operations in Burma, and instead focus was to be placed on China. Mountbatten would decide to disobey the orders and instead planned on ground offensives from India into Burma. ww2dbase [Louis Mountbatten | CPC]
• When the arrival of a formation of Japanese ships failed to materialize, destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Hopewell, USS O'Bannon, and USS Taylor assumed an anti-submarine patrol in the lanes between Truk and Rabaul. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• The men of 2nd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), whom on the previous day received Brigadier General Haydon Boatner's approval to be evacuated to India for rest, began boarding aircraft at Myitkyina Airfield in northern Burma. ww2dbase [Haydon Boatner | Battle of Myitkyina | Myitkyina | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 arrived at Bangka, Celebes, Dutch East Indies at 2044 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Bangka, Celebes | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against shore batteries at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | RAF Thurleigh | Boulogne-sur-Mer | DS]

• Albert Kesselring declared Rome, Italy an open city. ww2dbase [Battle of Anzio | Rome | TH]

• Landing ship No. 130 was completed. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) entered Majuro lagoon, Marshall Islands and began preparations for her next major amphibious support operation, the assault on the Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Majuro | DS]

• Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp's electric fence, which had previously been turned off during the daylight hours to save energy, was now on throughout the entire day in response to the numerous escape attempts by Hungarian Jews. On the same day, four transports brought 11,569 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz (2,937 from Nagyszölös (Vinogradov), 2,499 from Kassa Kosice, 2,972 from Nagyvárad (Oradea), and 3,161 from Szilágysomló (Simleu Silvaniei)). ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Men and airplanes of Composite Squadron 79 (VC-79) came aboard Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay at San Diego, California. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | San Diego, California | DS]

3 Jun 1944 Interactive Map