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• » 4 Sep 1939

• USS Stewart departed China to patrol Philippine waters. ww2dbase [Stewart | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler forbade any further attacks on passenger ships. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | AC]
• 30 RAF bombers attacked the German Navy at Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven, and Shillig Roads in Germany. Seven of thirty aircraft were shot down and the handful of bombs that hit their targets failed to explode. No.107 Squadron from Wattisham lost four out of five Blenheim bombers, which was the RAF's first fatalities. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | TH]
• In Germany, a War Economy Decree was published which laid down guidelines for the rapid mobilization of civilian resources and the conversion of the economy to war. ww2dbase [AC]
• Emden was damaged during a British air raid at Wilhelmshaven, Germany when a damaged Blenheim aircraft crashed into the foreship, killing 9 and wounding 20. The aircraft's pilot was Flying Officer H. L. Emden, whose name matched that of the ship he had crashed into by pure chance. The RAF officer was later buried at the Sage War Cemetery in Großenkneten, northwestern Germany. ww2dbase [Emden | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | CPC]
• Fritz Todt declared that Organization Todt would function as a fortress construction organization with Xaver Dorsch as his deputy and operational commander. ww2dbase [Fritz Todt | CPC]
• U-23 completed her first war patrol. ww2dbase [U-23 | CPC]

• Germans executed 1000 Poles near Bydgoszcz, including a number of Boy Scouts. ww2dbase [Bydgoszcz | TH]

• In the South African Assembly Prime Minister Barry Hertzog declaration of neutrality was defeated by 80 votes to 67 and South Africa committed itself to entering the war. ww2dbase [AC]

• Alan Turing reported to Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Bletchley Park | Alan Turing | Milton Keynes, England | CPC]
• Steam passenger ship Rajputana of the P. & O. Steam Navigation Co Ltd of London, England, United Kingdom was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war use. She would be converted into an armed merchant cruiser with the hull number F 35. ww2dbase [CPC]

• United States increased patrols on its east coast. ww2dbase [CPC]

4 Sep 1939 Interactive Map