CBI - China: Day 17 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , October 4
Germany: Jews are prohibited from being newspaper owners or editors.
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1933: Nazi Germany continues to pass laws against Jews
Throughout the 1930s, the legal, economic, and social rights of Jews were steadily restricted. On April 1, 1933, a boycott of Jewish businesses occurred, which was the first national antisemitic campaign. Initially planned for a week, it was called off after one day due to lack of popular support.
But 1933 went on to see a series of laws passed which contained "Aryan paragraphs" to exclude Jews from key areas: the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, the first antisemitic law passed in the Third Reich; the Physicians' Law; and the Farm Law, forbidding Jews from owning farms or taking part in agriculture. Jewish lawyers were disbarred, and in Dresden, Jewish lawyers and judges were dragged out of their offices and courtrooms, and beaten.
At the insistence of then president Hindenburg, Hitler added an exemption allowing Jewish civil servants who were veterans of the First World War, or whose fathers or sons had served, to remain in office, but Hitler revoked this exemption in 1937. Jews were eventually excluded from schools and universities (the Law to Prevent Overcrowding in Schools), from belonging to the Journalists' Association and from being owners or editors of newspapers.
As bad as things had become in Germany, they would only be getting worse.
CBI - China: Day 90 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 53 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 34 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , October 4
Spain: Day 810 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 455 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 116 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , October 4
Poland: Day 34 of 36 of Germany's Invasion of Poland.
Poland: Day 18 of 20 of the USSR's Invasion of Poland.
CBI - China: Day 820 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 22 of 26 of the 1st Battle of Changsha. Results in a Chinese victory.
1940 — , October 4
MTO - Italy: Hitler and Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass at the border of Germany and Italy to discuss the progress of the war. It is the fifth of their fourteen meetings.
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The 14 meetings between Hitler and Mussolini...
14 Jun 34: Venice - both are mutually unimpressed with each other
03 May 38: Rome - five days of cultural and military ceremonies
18 Mar 40: Brenner Pass - they discuss Hitler's coming powder keg
18 Jun 40: Munich - they discuss France's appeal for an armistice
04 Oct 40: Brenner Pass - they discuss the progress of the war
28 Oct 40: Florence - they discuss Italy's invasion of Greece
19 Jan 41: Berchtesgaden - Hitler offers military help in North Africa
02 Jun 41: Brenner Pass - they discuss the progress of the war
25 Aug 41: East Prussia - Mussolini visits the Wolf's Lair
28 Aug 41: Ukraine - they visit Army Group South near the Russian Front
30 Apr 42: Berchtesgaden - they discuss a Mediterranean strategy
07 Apr 43: Salzburg - they discuss how to keep Italy in the war
19 Jul 43: Feltre - their last meeting before Mussolini is ousted from power
15 Sep 43: Germany - Deposed, imprisoned and rescued, Mussolini is taken for a final visit with Hitler
East Africa: Day 117 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,186 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 325 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
CBI - Thailand: Day 4 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , October 4
Russian Front - Finland: Day 98 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 96 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 105 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front: Day 105 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA.
Russian Front - North: Day 27 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 58 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 9 of 12 of the Battle of the Sea of Azov (north of Black Sea).
MTO - Libya: Day 178 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 482 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,551 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 29 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Changsha.
1942 — , October 4
ETO - Channel Islands: A British Commando raid on occupied Sark captures one German soldier.
Russian Front - North: Day 392 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 153 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 99 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 43 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
MTO - Greece: US B-24s attack shipping in Pylos Bay.
East Africa: Day 153 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,916 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 120 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 228 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 76 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. The Australians continue pushing back the Japanese troops.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 59 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , October 4
Atlantic: US aircraft carrier USS RANGER launches twenty SBD Dauntless dive bombers and an escort of eight Wildcats, attacking two German convoys at Bodo, Norway, sinking 5, in the war's only US carrier action above the Arctic Circle.
Spotlight...
USS RANGER underway at sea, 1930s
The USS RANGER departed from Scapa Flow with the Home Fleet on 02 Oct 43 to attack German shipping in Norwegian waters as part of Operation LEADER. The objective of the force was the northern Norwegian port of Bodo. The task force reached launch position off Vestfjorden before dawn on 04 Oct 43 completely undetected.
At 6:18 am, Ranger launched 20 SBD Dauntless dive bombers and an escort of eight Wildcats. One division of dive bombers attacked the 8,000 long tons freighter La Plata, while the rest continued north to attack a German ship convoy. The bombers severely damaged a tanker and a smaller troop transport. They also sank two of four small German merchant ships in the Bodo roadstead.
A second attack group from the Ranger, consisting of 10 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and six Wildcats, destroyed a German freighter and a small coastal ship, and bombed a troop-laden transport. Three of the aircraft were lost to anti-aircraft fire. On the afternoon of 04 Oct 43, Ranger was located by three German aircraft; her combat air patrol shot down two of the enemy planes and chased away the third.
Captain Gordon Rowe, Commander of the USS RANGER
In this photo, Capt Rowe is holding up an American reprint of a German press photo of Lt Otto Von Bulow after he was personally decorated by Adolf Hitler with Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for sinking the USS RANGER on 25 Apr 43.
The US Navy, concerned about the impact of the German announcement on families of Ranger crewmen, issued a denial of the German claim, but no correction was ever issued by the German press.
Close-up of what Capt Rowe is holding
Hard to say whether the German news releases were knowingly false and designed as propaganda or if Von Bulow really believed he sank the Ranger.
The USS RANGER...
The USS RANGER was the first ship of the US Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier. She was a relatively small ship, closer in size and displacement to the first US carrier, USS LANGLEY, than later ships. An island superstructure was not included in the original design, but was added after completion.
Of the eight pre-war US aircraft carriers, RANGER was one of only three to survive World War II, the others being Enterprise and Saratoga. Deemed too slow for use with the Pacific Fleet's carrier task forces, the ship spent most of the war in the Atlantic Ocean.
Related dates...
25 Apr 43: German newspapers errantly report sinking of the USS RANGER
04 Oct 43: USS RANGER attacks German convoys in the war's only US carrier action above the Arctic Circle
Related WWII Store items...
USS Ranger: The Navy's First Flattop from Keel to Mast, 1934-1946
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb targets in Germany.
Russian Front - North: Day 757 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 518 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket. USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - North: Day 9 of 15 of the USSR Kremenchug Offensive into Estonia.
Russian Front - South: Day 42 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - France: The French retake their island of Corsica.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force provides air support for Allied ground troops.
MTO - Greece: Organized British resistance ends as the Germans occupy the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea.
CBI - China: Day 2,281 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 16 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 13 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. Will result in an Allied victory.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 51 of 56 of the Battle of Vella Lavella.
1944 — , October 4
ETO - France: Day 65 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 33 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium.
ETO - Belgium: Day 3 of 38 of the Battle of the Scheldt Estuary.
ETO - France: Day 20 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 16 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 20 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - North: Day 21 of 41 of the Battle of Riga, Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 21 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 21 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The Soviet 46th Army reaches within 10 miles of Belgrade.
MTO: US 15th Air Force: B-17s and B-24s bomb Munich, Germany. Their other 400 heavy bombers attack various targets throughout Italy.
MTO - Greece: British launch Operation MANNA with 2nd Airborne Brigade landing at Patras. Other landings take place at Crete and other islands in the Aegean Sea.
CBI - Burma: Day 187 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,647 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 171 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 295 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 166 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 20 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 18 of 36 of the Battle of Angaur.
Day-By-Day listings for October 4 were last modified on Friday, January 22, 2016
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