4 Aug 1942



- Deportation of Belgian Jews to Auschwitz Concentration Camp began. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
- The first P-38 Lightning kill in the Pacific Theatre occurred when a pair of Kawanishi flying-boats were shot down off the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [P-38 Lightning | AC]
- Destroyer USS Tucker, damaged from hitting a mine on the previous day, sank while under tow near Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [CPC]
- German submarine U-160 sank Norwegian tanker Havsten 200 miles east of Trinidad at 0159 hours; 2 were killed, 31 survived but 2 were captured by U-160. At 0229 hours, German submarine U-607 sank already-damaged Belgian ship Belgian Soldier of Allied convoy ON-115 330 miles east of St. John's, Newfoundland; 21 were killed, 39 survived. At 1558 hours, U-176 sank British ship Richmond Castle 1,100 miles southeast of Newfoundland; 14 were killed, 50 survived. At 1615 hours, U-155 sank British ship Empire Arnold 600 miles east of Trinidad; 9 were killed, 48 survived but the captain was captured by U-155. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
- German submarine U-372 was detected by a British Wellington bomber 50 miles southwest of Haifa, Palestine; while British destroyers HMS Sikh, HMS Zulu, HMS Croome, and HMS Tetcott closed in on the location, the bomber's depth charges forced U-372 to surface, and the crew abandoned the submarine before the destroyers arrived; the entire crew of 48 survived and were captured by the destroyers. ww2dbase [CPC]
- USS Nicholas arrived at Boston Navy Yard. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]
- George Brett departed Australia for the United States aboard B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft "Swoose". ww2dbase [George Brett | CPC]
- General George C. Kenney assumed command of Southwest Pacific Air Force in Australia. ww2dbase [George Kenney | AC]
- Winston Churchill arrived at Cairo, Egypt. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | Cairo | CPC]
- The first infantry training course began at Ramgarh Training Center, India. ww2dbase [Ramgarh Training Center | Ramgarh, Bengal Presidency | CPC]
- USS S-38 arrived in New Britain-New Ireland waters. ww2dbase [S-38 | CPC]
- Elements of German 4.Panzerarmee crossed the Aksay River en route to Stalingrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | TH]
- Soviet 20th Army and 31st Army attacked Rzhev, Russia from the south while 29th Army and 30th Army attacked from the north. ww2dbase [Rzhev, Tver | CPC]
- At the Department of Justice Building in Washington DC, United States, a special military commission sentenced the 8 German saboteurs captured during the failed Operation Pastorius to death by electric chair, including George Dasch, the defector who contributed to the capture of the 7 others. ww2dbase [Washington | CPC]
- USS Whale departed San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Whale | San Francisco, California | CPC]
- USS Bailey was ordered to join USS Leary in a search for a reported enemy submarine near Matinicus Rock, Maine, 60 miles northeast of Bailey’s exercise area. The destroyers searched the area all night without locating the submarine. Bailey returned to her exercise area. ww2dbase [Bailey | Maine | DS]




4 Aug 1942 Interactive Map
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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