Air Operations, Bonin and Volcano Islands
USN carrier aircraft from Task Group 38.4 attack Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima, then Task Group 38.4 departs to take part in attacks on targets in the Caroline Islands.
[
| 
]Air Operations, Carolines
5th and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack Koror Island. 1 battle-damaged B-24 ditches and only 4 members of the crew are rescued.
[ | ]Air Operations, CBI
BURMA- 8 10th Air Force B-25s attack two bridges and other targets along the Burma Road near Wanling and one B-25 attacks a target near Indaw.
- 2 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the airfield at Hengyang. 30 14th Air Force P-40s attack troops, river traffic, and artillery positions in the Changning and Hengyang areas.
- 20 P-40s attack troops, river traffic, and artillery positions around Changsha, Pengste, and Siangtan.
- 12 P-51s attack a bridge at Yangtien.
- A 23rd Fighter Group P-40 downs a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter near Pengste.
- 24 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s transport fuel to Kunming.
| ]Air Operations, East Indies
- 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Lautem, Timor.
- 13 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s dispatched against the Langoan airfield on Celebes attack shipyards and warehouses on the Lembeh Strait when their P-38 escorts fail to appear.
- 38th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack defenses near the Pitoe airfield on Morotai at minimum altitude.
- 2 B-25s are downed by ground fire over Lembeh, and 2 other B-25s are severely damaged.
| ]Air Operations, Europe
RAF BOMBER COMMANDDaylight Ops:
- 67 Lancasters of No. 5 Group bomb shipping Brest harbor in clear visibility.
- There are no losses.
| ]Air Operations, New Guinea
- V Fighter Command P-39s attack Sorong and several other areas.
- During the night, a Japanese bomber attacks the Mokmer airfield on Biak, where 1 man is killed, 7 men are wounded, and 5 aircraft are damaged.
| ]Air Operations, Philippines
- V Bomber Command B-24s, escorted by 21 V Fighter Command P-38s, staging through the Sansapor airfield attack various targets on Mindanao.
- 12 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack dumps at Bunawan.
- 24 22nd Heavy Bomb Group attack military targets near Lasang.
- 22 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a Japanese Army barracks near Likanan.
- 8th Fighter Group P-38s down 1 Ki-48 'Lily' bomber, 1 A6M Zero, and 1 E13A 'Jake' reconnaissance plane over the Davao area of Mindanao at 1215 hours. These are the first USAAF fighter victories in the Philippines since April 12, 1942.
- During the night, 6 345th Medium Bomb Group B-25s staging through the Middleburg airfield attempt to attack shipping at Davao, but only 1 B-25 reaches the target area, and the results are nil.
| ]Eastern Front
The Russians reach the Bulgarian border.
DIPLOMACY: FINLANDThe Finns break off diplomatic relatinos with Germany and demand that all fores leave their country by September 15.
[ | ]Finland
Following the collapse of Rumania, the Finnish Prime Minister Antii Hackzell announces that Finland is breaking diplomatic relations with Germany and demands that all German troops be withdrawn.
[ | ]Germany, Armed Forces
Strength of the German armed forces at the beginning of Septempber 1944: 10,163,303, including 7,536,946 in the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, 1,925,291 in the Luftwaffe and 703,066 in the Kriegsmarine. But few of these are troops comparable with those serving at the beginning of the war; many of them are elderly men and boys.
[ | ]Germany, Home Front
Field-Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, condemned to death by a People's Court for his part in the conspiracy against Hitler, is barbarously executed, hung on a butcher's hook.
[ | ]Italy
The Canadian forces in 8th Army make a partial breakthrough and advance several miles to the Conca River west of Cattolica. San Giovanni is taken. The advance toward Rimini makes progress. The Polish forces of Gen Wladyslaw Anders' II Corps fighting in Pesaro have nearly completed the capture of the city. The 5th Army captures Pisa. The eastern end of the 'Gothic' Line has been overrun despite the arrival of some German reserves.
[ | ]New Guinea
Operations in the area of the Wadke-Sarmi beachhead are officially declared closed. Although there are no published figures for casualties, losses were probably high on both sides.
[ | ]Northern France
The Allied advance continues all along the front, in the west toward Le Havre by the British I Corps, and in the east toward the Belgian frontier by units of the US 1st Army. Among the towns liberated by various Allied forces are Douai, St Valery and Lens.
The US 3rd Army under Patton is temporarily immobilized through lack of fuel. In Brittany the German garrison at Brest still holds out.
Eisenhower orders a halt to the drives of the US 1st and 3rd Armies because of a lack of fuel. They are to remain in place until gasoline supplies are replenished. Each army needs about 400,000 gallons a day. The 3rd Army is down to about 25,000. The US 3rd Cavalry Group is one of the few units still attacking, but with captured gasoline. Germany uses this pause to build up its defenses along the Siegfried Line.
[]Pacific
A US naval task group consisting of 1 aircraft carrier, 3 cruisers and 3 destroyers bombards Japanese positions on Wake Island. The island is one of the most isolated outposts of the Japanese Empire and will be bypassed by the main US advance across the Pacific toward the Philppines and the Ryukyu Islands.
[ | ]Southern France
Having reached the outskirts of Lyons, the American 36th Div halts to allow the French II Corps to enter the city first. In southern France the Allied landings have now put ashore 190,000 men with 41,000 vehicles and 220,000 tons of supplies.
[]Images from September 2, 1944
The British Enter Rouen |
 |
7.2-inch Howitzer of 51st Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, France, 2 September 1944 |
 |
German Tiger Tank Passing Through Beauvais |
 |
Tanks in the Assault on the Gothic Line |
 |
Young Polish Soldiers |
 |