SprueStack Zero Hour: WW2 day by day

4 January 1944

What happened on this day in the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, with a source for every entry.

About this page

Each day we list events from the Second World War that happened on that date, from 1939 to 1945. Every entry names its source and links to it, so you can read further. Entries are sourced and machine-screened before they go up, a subset is human-reviewed, and we add more over time.

8 of 12 sourced entries for this date, chosen by the editor.

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Entries

Italy

15th Army Group: In U.S. Fifth Army’s Br 10 Corps area, in preparation for attack on Cedro Hill, 138th Brig of 46th Div establishes bridgehead across Peccia R, night 4-5, against strong opposition.

Source US Army CMH chronology (opens external site)
New Guinea

Extensive patrolling of Saidor area is uneventful. Australians reach Cape King William, 16 miles SE of Sio.

Source US Army CMH chronology (opens external site)
New Ireland

Carrier-based aircraft of Adm Frederick Sherman again attack Kavieng but find no ships there.

Source US Army CMH chronology (opens external site)
The 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army enters Poland.

Source Wikipedia (opens external site)
Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.

Source Wikipedia (opens external site)
China-Burma-India Theater

THOR mission records show at least 47 Allied sorties (6 recorded unit missions) in the China-Burma-India Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 10th Air Force, RAF. Targets included BURMA.

Source US Air Force THOR (opens external site)

THOR is a secondary compilation with known gaps, not a complete record.
Mediterranean Theater

THOR mission records show at least 138 Allied sorties (10 recorded unit missions) in the Mediterranean Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 12th Air Force. Targets included YUGOSLAVIA, ITALY.

Source US Air Force THOR (opens external site)

THOR is a secondary compilation with known gaps, not a complete record.
Pacific Theater

THOR mission records show at least 235 Allied sorties (24 recorded unit missions) in the Pacific Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 5th Air Force, USAAF 13th Air Force, USAAF 7th Air Force.

Source US Air Force THOR (opens external site)

THOR is a secondary compilation with known gaps, not a complete record.

The full list for this date is being cleaned and will return soon.

Sources listed with each entry. Spotted an error? Tell us.

4 January in other years 1940 1941 1942 1943 1945

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4 January 1944

Entries

15th Army Group: In U.S. Fifth Army’s Br 10 Corps area, in preparation for attack on Cedro Hill, 138th Brig of 46th Div establishes bridgehead across Peccia R, night 4-5, against strong opposition.

Extensive patrolling of Saidor area is uneventful. Australians reach Cape King William, 16 miles SE of Sio.

Carrier-based aircraft of Adm Frederick Sherman again attack Kavieng but find no ships there.

The 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army enters Poland.

Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.

THOR mission records show at least 47 Allied sorties (6 recorded unit missions) in the China-Burma-India Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 10th Air Force, RAF. Targets included BURMA.

THOR mission records show at least 138 Allied sorties (10 recorded unit missions) in the Mediterranean Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 12th Air Force. Targets included YUGOSLAVIA, ITALY.

THOR mission records show at least 235 Allied sorties (24 recorded unit missions) in the Pacific Theater on 1944-01-04, flown by USAAF 5th Air Force, USAAF 13th Air Force, USAAF 7th Air Force.

Talk about it