Air Operations, Carolines

5th and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack targets in the Caroline Islands.

Air Operations, CBI

• 9 10th Air Force P-47s attack Bhamo and Myothit.

• 12 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack river traffic around Kweiyang.
• 6 B-25s supported by 14th Air Force P-51s attack the Lingling and Paishui areas.
• More than 100 P-51s and P-40s attack numerous targets on the Salween River front and east-central China.
• 24 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s transport fuel from India to Kunming.

Air Operations, East Indies

• Planned B-24 strikes against targets on Celebes are rained out.
• During the night, 23 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the Kendari airfield on Celebes.

Air Operations, Europe

• 5 Mosquitos of No. 100 Group fly Ranger patrols. 2 trains are attacked, but 2 Mosquitos are lost.

• 43 Mosquitos are sent to Karlsruhe and 14 to the Steenwijk airfield, and there are 6 Serrate patrols.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Japan

6 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s conduct an anti-shipping sweep around Paramushiro Island.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• Most of the FEAF is grounded by bad weather, but V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack the airfield at Urarom.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack Moemi and Napido.
• 2 P-38s and 1 pilot are lost to ground fire over the Jefman airfield.

Burma

Gen William Slim, Commander of the British 14th Army, directs the XV Corps to engage the enemy in the Arakan sector, while the XXXIII Corps will launch a big offensive across the Chindwin at the beginning of December.

In the XXXIII Corps sector the 11th East African Div, which has replaced the 23rd Indian Div in pursuit of the enemy forces beyond Tamu, occupies Sittaung without opposition and sends several units forward to Kalemyo.

Eastern Front

In their attacks through the Carpathians the Russians take Brasov. Senaia is also taken.

The Germans launch a furious attack in Warsaw to establish control of the banks of the Vistula. Slightly farther north the 70th and 65th Armies of the 1st Belorussian Front close up to the Narew River around Pultusk.

Brasov and Senaia fall to Soviet troops while the 53rd Army reaches the Danube at Turnu Severin.

The armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is ratified, bringing Finland's war to an tnd.

Finland

A cease-fire is agreed between the Russians and the Finns and comes into effect immediately. The armistice is signed on September 10 and provides for the restoration of the 1940 frontiers and for Finland to pay reparations. The Germans begin to pull out of Finland by land and sea. The bulk of their force will go to Norway, but about 7,000 men will be take off through the Baltic ports.

Italy

In the western sector, divisions of the British V Corps advance toward the hills of Gemmano and Coriano, two key enemy defense positions manned by Gen Valentin Feuerstein's LI Mountain Corps and Gen Traugott Herr's LXXVI Pzr Corps.

Pacific

The first units of the III Amphibious Corps of the US Marines leave the Solomons for the invasion of the Palau Islands, between the Caroline Islands and the Philippines. In New Guinea troops are being trained for the invasion of Morotai in the Moluccas, north of Halmahera and east of the Celebes.

Western Front

Gen Eisenhower lays down the general objectives of his armies: the 21st Army Group, Canadian 1st Army and British 2nd Army, and the US 1st Army are given the task of following up the advance towards the Ruhr area, and the final objective of Gen Patton's 3rd Army is the Saar.

The British 11th Arm Div enters Antwerp but fails to push forward to take the important canal crossings which lead to ground dominating the approaches to this large and enormously valuable port. The Germans still control the Scheldt estuary, through which Antwerp communicates with the sea. In southern France, after capturing Lyons, the American VI Corps and French II Corps continue to advance north, on Besançon and Dijon. Other towns freed by the Allied advance are Lille, Louvain, Malines and Etaples.

Hitler restores command of the German forces in the Western Front to the aging Field-Marshal von Rundstedt.

Images from September 4, 1944

Cheering civilians ride on Cromwell tanks as British troops enter Brussels, 4 September 1944

British Troops Enter Brussels

Civilians Celebrate as British Vehicles enter Brussels, 4 September 1944

The inhabitants of Eau Rouge in Belgium Greet Allied Troops, 4 September 1944

French Civilians Welcome US Troops in Lyon, France, 4 September 1944

M-10 Tank Destroyer carrying soldiers of the 45th Division enters Bourg, France, 4 September 1944. Retreating Germans abandoned the town about 4 hours earlier

M-10 Tank Destroyer Enters Bourg, France