Air Operations, Carolines

5th and 307th Heavy Bomb group B-24s attack the airfield on Peleliu.

Air Operations, CBI

• 8 10th Air Force B-25s attack Indaw.

• 25 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Hengyang, the airfield there, and Kiyang.
• 6 B-25s attack a ferry crossing at Siangtan and other nearby targets.
• 2 B-25s attack a shipyard at Kowloon.
• 26 14th Air Force P-40s attack troops, horses, and river traffic around Kiyang and Wangyang.
• Fighter-bombers mount numerous small missions against various targets in east-central China.
• 23rd Fighter Group P-51s down a Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter and an unidentified bomber near Chaling at 0930 hours.

• 21 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s transport fuel from India to Kunming, China.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

Light Carrier Air Group 28 (USS Monterey) attacks Wake Island.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 380th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount several small pre-dawn attacks against the Kendari airfield on Celebes.
• 60 V Bomber Command B-24s attack the Langoan airfield on Celebes.
• B-25s attack Djailolo airfield, anti-aircraft batteries at the Kaoe airfield on Halmahera, and several occupied villages elsewhere in the Molucca Islands.
• V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the Galela airfield on Halmahera.

Air Operations, Europe

• 348 aircraft of Nos. 1, 3 and 8 Groups carry out the first in a series of heavy raids on German positions in the Le Havre area which is still holding out after being bypassed by the Allied advance. Included in the aircraft total are 313 Lancasters, 30 Mosquitos and 5 Stirlings. This is an accurate raid in good visibility without a loss.
• 60 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No. 5 Group bomb gun positions outside Brest whose garrison is still holding out.
• There are no losses.

• 43 Mosquitos are sent to Hannover and 12 to Steenwijk, 19 aircraft are on Resistance operations, and there are 23 Mosquito patrols and 8 RCM sorties.
• There are no losses.

• 143 3rd Bomb Division B-17s and 310 IX Bomber Command B-26s and A-20s attack targets in and around Brest.

• Approximately 90 8th Air Force B-24s transport fuel to France.

• 277 1st Bomb Division B-17s attack an oil refinery at Ludwigshafen.
• 183 2nd Bomb Division B-24s attack a marshalling yard at Karlsruhe.
• 203 3rd Bomb Division B-17s attack an aircraft-engine factory at Stuttgart.
• 6 heavy bombers are lost
• 217 VIII Fighter Command fighters strafe transportation targets in western Germany.
• 67 VIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack targets around Hanau and Giessen.
• VIII Fighter Command pilots down 25 Luftwaffe aircraft over Germany between 1110 and 1915 hours, and 2 Luftwaffe bombers are downed over the Netherlands.

• 12th Air Force medium bombers attack bridges in the Po River valley.
• XII TAC A-20s attack ammo storage areas.
• XII TAC fighter-bombers attack rail lines south of the Po River.
• During the night, XII TAC A-20s attack targets of opportunity around Milan and Savona.

• To help impede the withdrawal of German Army forces from the Balkans, 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack rail bridges at Budapest, Szob, and Szolnok.

• 15th Air Force heavy bombers attack a rail bridge at Ferrara.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Fighter Command fighter-bombers attack the airfields at Moemi and Waren, and occupied villages on the Soepiori Peninsula.

Air Operations, Volcano Islands

20 30th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based at Saipan attack Iwo Jima.

Arctic

U-362 is depth-charged by the Soviet minesweeper SC-116.

U-362

Diplomatic Relations

The Benelux Customs Union (between Belguim, Netherlands and Luxembourg) is established by agreement of the exile governments. This is one of the first moves which will lead eventually to the establishment of the European Economic Community.

The Bulgarian attempts to stay out of the war prove unsuccessful. The Soviet Union today declares war. 5 and 1/2 hours later Bulgaria requests an armistice. The Bulgarian prime minister broadcasts and declares war in turn on Germany on September 8.

Under heavy US pressure, Argentina announces all war criminals will be denied asylum.

Eastern Front

The Red Army captures Brasov, in the middle of the Carpathians, and starts to penetrate the so-called 'Carpathian Trench'. The Russians reach Turnu Severin, south of the Iron Gates gorge on the Danube River. The Hungarian 2nd Army attacks the Rumanian 4th Army.

Moscow broadcasts calls on Poles in Warsaw to stage an uprising: 'Fight the Germans. No doubt Warsaw already hears the guns of the battle with the Germans, this time for the decisive action.'

CENTRAL SECTOR

Group Panev, operating alongside the 65th and 70th Armies, cross the Narew near Pultusk.

The 2nd Hungarian Army counterattacks with 5 divisions south of Cluj toward Sibiu, forcing back the newly committed 4th Rumanian Army that is now fighting alongside the Soviet Army. The Rumanians fall back, compelling Malinovsky to move the 6th Tank Army up toward Sibiu to provide support. The main part of the 6th, together with the 27th Army, reach Pitesti.

The Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria, the Bulgarian goverment surrendering the same day.

Italy

Units of the American 1st Arm Div, IV Corps, enter Lucca. 8th Army's attacks continue but they are now up against the strong German positions on the Coriano and Gemmano ridges. Tank units have been brought forward but cannot break through.

Pacific

Secret War

In Operation ZEPPELIN a KG-200 plane carrying saboteurs crashes near Moscow.

Western Front

Major successes for the Allied armies on the whole front: in the north, units of the Canadian II Corps take Boulogne and approach the Calais area; Hodges' divisions take Namur and Charleroi and approach Liè and across the Meuse at Sedan; in the south, the 3rd Army crosses the Moselle near Nancy. The American 9th and 3rd Arm Divs cross the Meuse, near Sedan and Dinant. Stiff German resistance halts the US XII Corps at the Moselle River.

Images from September 5, 1944

German Prisoners in Antwerp

German POWs in Antwerp Zoo

Collecting Prisoners North of Oudenarde

'Red Ball Express' Motor Convoy

German POWs in Antwerp

Railroad Station Damage in Avignon

Germans Packing to Leave Amsterdam

LSTs Unloading Directly onto Trucks