World War II Database

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

• Finland and the Soviet Union reached an agreement for a cease fire; one of the provisions was the removal of all German forces from Finland by 15 Sep 1944. ww2dbase [Finland Switched Sides | TH]
• Allies launched Operation Ratweek, consisting of mostly air operations with some commando and partisan participation, with the intention of hindering German operations and withdrawals in the Balkan Peninsula. ww2dbase [TH]
• British 11th Armoured Division captured Antwerp, Belgium. ww2dbase [Liberation of Belgium | TH]
• USS Segundo departed Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Segundo | CPC]
• USS Becuna moored next to submarine tender USS Holland, took on 43,800 gallons of fuel oil, received repairs, and transferred the Japanese prisoner off board. ww2dbase [Becuna | CPC]

• German SS guards evacuated Fort Breendonk in Belgium. ww2dbase [Fort Breendonk | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Breendonk | CPC]

• British troops launched the first of eleven failed assaults on Gemmano, Italy. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | Gemmano, Emilia-Romagna | CPC]

• Landing ship No. 157 was completed. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 138 was completed. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS Whale arrived at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Whale | Tanapag, Saipan | CPC]

• USS Ticonderoga transited through the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Dixie Kiefer | Ticonderoga | Albert O. Vorse, Jr. | Panama Canal | DS]

• 23 sorties of Heinkel bombers, carrying V-1 flying bombs, operated by German Air Force III/KG3 from Venlo, Netherlands took off against London, Portsmouth, and Gloucester in Britain. 3 came down in East Anglia and one reached Eyeworth in Bedfordshire. Veteran German pilot Horst Juventus had been posted to III/KG3 and recalled "They [V-1 flying bombs] were obviously a very indiscriminate weapon and really served no good purpose. But we had our orders. I flew from Gilze-Rijen over the North Sea for a distance before igniting the V-1s and launching them. These things were a positive menace as they did not fly true and we were in great danger with the contraption beneath us. I am sure some crews released them as soon as we were out of sight of land." ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | England | HM]

• In the United States, a Federal Bureau of Investigation internal memorandum to J. Edgar Hoover noted that Argentina, with its sizable and influential German community, could provide refuge for Adolf Hitler and other top Nazi German leaders. ww2dbase [J. Edgar Hoover | CPC]

4 Sep 1944 Interactive Map