Air Operations, Carolines

• FEAF B-24s attack the Woleai and Yap atolls.
• VII Bomber Command B-24s attack the Truk Atoll.

Air Operations, CBI

• 10th Air Force B-25s attack Wanling, rail bridges between Myitkyina and Naba, and a road bridge at Panghkam.
• 10th Air Force P-47s and P-51s support Allied ground troops near Sahmaw and Taungni, and attack Mosit and Shwegu, a factory at Mohnyin, and Japanese Army artillery positions and ground troops at Maingna and Myitkyina.

• 23 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Yoyang.
• 6 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Mangshih.
• Nearly 150 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack targets of opportunity over a broad area, including the Salween River front.

Air Operations, East Indies

V Bomber Command B-25s attack oil-drilling facilities at Boela, Ceram.

Air Operations, Europe

• 1,114 aircraft carry out major raids on the Bois de Cassan, Forêt de Nieppe and Trossy St Maxim flying bomb storage sites. In the aircraft total are 601 Lancasters, 492 Halifaxes and 21 Mosquitos. 1 Lightning and 1 RCM aircraft accompany the raids. The weather is clear and all raids are successful.
• 5 Lancasters are lost on the Trossy St Maxim raid and 1 on the Bois de Cassan raid.

• During the afternoon, 72 3rd Bomb Division B-24s and 8 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack two oil refineries and a storage depot at Brussels and Ghent.

• During the morning, 54 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Mulhouse.
• 68 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Strasbourg.
• 106 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack an oil refinery at Merkwille.
• 16 1st Bomb Division B-17s opt to attack the Toul/Croix de Metz Airdrome.
• A total of 74 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack bridges at two locations.
• A total of 53 2nd Bomb Division B-24s (of 172 dispatched) divert from their cloud-obscured primaries (several bridges) to attack two airfields, a marshalling yard, and several other targets of opportunity.
• 6 1st Bomb Division B-17s are lost
• Escort for the 8th Air Force morning heavy-bomber missions to France and Germany is provided by 358 VIII Fighter Command fighters. About half the P-51s involved in the escort later strafe ground targets.
• 133 VIII Fighter Command P-38 and P-47 fighter-bombers attack rail traffic in the Metz, Strasbourg, and Saarbrucken areas.
• 1 P-47 is lost
• During the afternoon, 112 1st Bomb Division B-17s and 139 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack 20 V-weapons sites in the Pas-de-Calais area. 97 2nd Bomb Division B-17s attack four oil storage sites.
• 2 B-24s are lost in the Pas-de-Calais area
• Escort for the 8th Air Force heavy-bomber afternoon missions to France and Belgium is provided by 166 VIII Fighter Command fighters.

• During the morning, 62 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack a marshalling yard at Saarbrucken, and 17 attack various targets of opportunity near Saarbrucken and along the Franco-German frontier.
• VIII Fighter Command pilots down 5 Luftwaffe fighters over Germany between 1515 and 1520 hours.

• More than 180 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack road and rail targets and a fuel dump in northern France.
• 8th and 9th Air Force fighter pilots down 4 Luftwaffe fighters over France between 1535 and 1900 hours.

• 12th Air Force B-25s and B-26s attack bridges on both sides of the Franco-Italian border.
• 12th Air Force fighter-bombers attack airfield and communications targets in northern Italy.

• 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack steel, chemical, and fabrics plants in the Friedrichshafen area, and B-17s also attack a marshalling yard at Immenstadt.
• While escorting the Friedrichshafen mission, 325th Fighter Group P-51 pilots down 11 Luftwaffe fighter near Innsbruck, Austria, between 1040 and 1205 hours, during both the penetration and withdrawal phases.

• 15th Air Force B-24s attack bridges near Brenner Pass.

Air Operations, Marianas

41st Medium Bomb Group B-25 gunships and 318th Fighter Group P-47s, all based on Saipan, undertake their first mission in direct support of USMC and US Army infantry on Guam.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Most of the 5th Air Force is grounded by bad weather, but V Bomber Command B-25s are able to support US Army ground troops on Biak and attack Urarom, MacCluer Gulf, and Japanese ground troops at Bira.
• A-20s and V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack bypassed areas.

Battle of the Atlantic

Linse ('Lentil') explosive boats, or human torpedoes, sink the destroyer Quorn. 4 officers and 126 ratings are killed.

CBI

In the NCAC area, units of the Chinese 50th Division take Mytkyina at 1545, capturing 187 Japanese, almost all sick or wounded. The rest of the Japanese garrison has either escaped or been killed. During the battle for Myitkyina, Allied forces have sustained the following losses: 972 Chinese and 272 Amercans killed; 3,184 Chinese and 955 Americans wounded; 188 Chinese and 980 Americans sick. The capture of Myitkyina is a major victory and permits the support of the Pacific offensive from bases in China.

The capture of Myitkyina airfield ends the threat of Japanese fighters against the southern Hump air route to China. As a result, supply tonnage nearly doubles in the next few months. This victory, combined with the British victories at Imphal and Komima, seals the fate of the Japanese forces in Burma. The Ledo Road now advances steadily.

On the Salween front, elements of the Chinese 107th and 348th Regiments from the 36th and 116th Divisions, respectively, reach to top of the wall around Teng-chung just east of the south corner by 1500. One platoon clings there throughout the night of the 3rd. The Chinese 8th Army renews operations against Sung Shan. The 308th Regiment of the 103rd Division, armed with flame throwers, takes one of its peaks, Kung Lung-po, and, since the Japanese are short of ammunition, is not counterattacked.

Eastern Front

Ivan Konev's troops, the 1st Ukraine Front, seize crossings over the Vistula just south of Sandomierz itself 110 miles south of Warsaw.

Army Group North has been struggling to concentrate its forces near Riga to re-establish contact with the 3rd Panzer Army. The Soviet High Command begins to move the 5th Guards Tank Army up to support the 1st Baltic Front.

At Wolomin the Germans commit yet another division, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking hitting 2nd Tank Army. With heavy fighting inside Warsaw, the Red Army continues to throw forces across the Vistula. Heavy fighting rages around the Sandomierz and Baranow bridgeheads.

English Channel

The British destroyer Quorn is sunk by a German explosive boat off the Normandy beaches. 130 of the crew are lost. The British naval trawler Gairsay is also sunk in the same way off the Normandy beaches with the loss of 5 of her crew.

Marianas

The US 77th Infantry Division advances on the right flank, but the Japanese have evacuated the fortified positions in the jungle and retired to the north. The Americans take the village of Barrigada and its much-needed reservoir with ease. Progress beyond the village is slowed by difficult jungle terrain and small-scale opposition. On the left flank, the 3rd Marine Division goes ahead quickly, occupying Finegayan and pushing on towards Tumon Bay. American naval vessels shell Mount Santa Rosa, which overlooks the northern part of the island and on which the Japanese have concentrated.

New Guinea

In the Aitape area, TED Force (the 124th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 169th Infantry Regiment) attacks southward along Niumen Creek toward the Torricelli Mountains to cut the east-west trails and destroy the enemy. The 3rd Battalion of the 124th Infantry and the 2nd Battalion of the 169th advance abreast, spearheading the attack, but are soon halted. The 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry, then bypasses the enemy to the west. Japanese activity against South Force in the Afua area subsides after a small attack in the early morning fails. The 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry, move into the perimeter of South Force from Palauru.

Offensive activity by the Japanese near the village of Afua dies down.

Pacific

• Over the next two days US carrier planes attack shipping in the Bonin Islands. In the two days, at least 5 destroyers, 1 cruiser, 5 cargo vessels and 12 other vessels are sunk.
• The US submarine Cod (SS-224) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Seiko Maru (708t) off Mangole in Molucca Sea.

Spain

The death of Gen Count Jordana, the moderated Foreign Minister, is reported. He is succeeded by Sr Lequerica on August 11.

Western Front

In the 3rd Army sector, units of Middleton's VIII Corps begins the attack on Rennes while other units bypass the city. The assault on Rennes is opened by units of the 8th Div, while the 4th Arm Div moves on south of the city.

Mortain falls to the VII Corps of the 1st Army while further north the XIX and V Corps advance southeasward in the Vire River area.

In the British sector the 50th and 53rd Divs of the VII Corps take positions along the road between Villers-Bocage and Caen.[WF]

Images from August 3, 1944

Pushing Towards St Pierre Tarentaine

Churchill Tanks Carrying Infantry

US Artillery Firing on Enemy Positions

Moving Cautiously Impruneta

US Artillery Crew Loads Weapon

M8 Greyhound of 82 Recon Battalion

Advancing through Impruneta

Churchill Tank Carrying Infantry