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• Anne Frank and her family were arrested in Amsterdam, the Netherlands by the Gestapo. ww2dbase [TH]
• Allies captured Rennes, France. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | TH]
• Harold Alexander met with Oliver Leese, who convinced Alexander to attack the Gothic Line in Italy by a thrust along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. ww2dbase [Gothic Line Offensive | CPC]
• Colonel Charles Hunter was relieved of his command and returned to the United States by ship. Morale among the "Marauders" (most of whom were recovering from their ordeal in hospital beds) collapsed completely as a consequence, and soon after the entire force was despicably disbanded. Back in the United States, the obnoxious Stilwell's treatment of Hunter's "Marauders" had become a public scandal eventually leading to a full inquiry. ww2dbase [AC]
• An extensively modified Thunderbolt fighter (XP-47J) became the first airscrew driven aircraft to exceed 500 mph in level flight with a recorded speed of 504 mph. However the P-47J did not go into production as the Republic development team chose to concentrate on the more advanced XP-72 project. ww2dbase [P-47 Thunderbolt | AC]
• HMS Gairsay was sunk by a German explosive motor boat off the coast of Normandy, France. ww2dbase [AC]
• Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks assumed command of the British XXX Corps in France. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Ray sank Japanese cargo ship Koshu Maru at the southern opening of the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes in the Dutch East Indies, hitting her with 3 of 4 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]
• The USAAF launched two "babies" against V-1 sites. Both missions ended in failure. One went out off control and into a spin; the crew baled out but the pilot was killed. The second made it across the English Channel, but was lost during the descent and crashed some distance short of the target. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | AC]
• Four bomb laden BQ-7 drones were flown out of Britain to attack German targets in France. All failed to reach their targets. ww2dbase [Operation Aphrodite and Operation Anvil | CPC]

• USS Pollack served on lifeguard station off Yap, Caroline Islands in support of air strikes in the region. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]

• German aircraft attempted to bomb the vital bridges at Pontaubault, Basse-Normandie, France. The railway bridge was damaged by a conventional bomb, but the V-1 flying bombs failed to hit their intended targets. One of the bombers was brought down by a Mosquito aircraft from 604 Squadron RAF. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | HM]

• US Eighth Air Force attacked Peenemünde Army Research Center in Germany to counter suspected hydrogen peroxide production. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Peenemünde Army Research Center | CPC]

• USS Tunny departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her seventh war patrol with the wolfpack "Ed's Eradicators". ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Tunny | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Parts of Night Air Group 102 on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | DS]

• Germans evacuated Florence, Italy. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gothic Line | TH]

• Landing ship No. 152 was sunk by US aircraft at Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• Dutch schoolgirl, Anne Frank, wrote her final diary entry, a few days before her arrest. Anne's diary is still teaching generations about war and her remarkable honesty and optimism. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Sterlet fired four torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the Pacific Ocean, sinking a transport with three hits. ww2dbase [Sterlet | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 132 was sunk by US aircraft in the Pacific Ocean off Iwo Jima, Japan. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• Soviet forces gained another bridgehead over the Vistula River in Poland near Baranov. ww2dbase [Operation Bagration | TH]

• During the early hours of the morning the Tempest aircraft of the Fighter Interception Unit based at RAF Manson in Kent, England, United Kingdom brought down 11 V-1 flying bombs. The bombs all fell in the area around East Sutton and Thurnham. A church was badly damaged, and houses lost their roof tiles but only 8 people were treated for injury from the explosions. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | HM]

4 Aug 1944 Interactive Map