http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/04.htm
August 4th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - oil plant at Sterkrade.
58 Sqn. Five aircraft. All bombed primary. One fighter seen, but no attack.
RAF Fighter Command: Weather, mainly fine. Little enemy activity reported. No aircraft lost.
Luftwaffe night raids on Mildenhall, Ely, Newark and near Debden, bombs fall for the first time on Cwmbran in Wales.
FRANCE: The Paris Soir newspaper reports that General Charles de Gaulle had been condemned to death in absentia for treason by a Vichy military court. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The 30-minute radio show “Crime Doctor” debuts on CBS on Sunday at 2030 hours Eastern time. The plot has a unique twist. The hero, Dr. Benjamin Ordway, was a criminal who lost his memory when hit on the head but he built a new life studying medicine and went into psychiatry and after regaining his memory, he specializes in criminal psychology. The show remained on the air until October 1947 and Ordway was later played by John McIntire, Hugh Marlowe, Brian Donlevy and Everett Sloane. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0922, the Newfoundland-registered Anglo-Newfoundland Steamship Co., merchantman Geraldine Mary (7,244 GRT) in Convoy HX-60 was torpedoed and sunk by U-52 about 270 miles WNW of Bloody Foreland. The master and 27 survivors were picked up by a British escort vessel and landed at
Methil on 8 August. Six survivors were rescued and landed at Liverpool and 14 others landed at Uig, Isle of Lewis. Among the survivors were four passengers. One passenger and two crewmembers were lost. GERALDINE MARY was part of the 60-ship Halifax to Liverpool Convoy HX-60 and was loaded with 6,112 tons of newsprint.
At 0335 and 0338, U-52 fired torpedoes at Convoy HX-60 about 300 miles WNW of Bloody Foreland and sank the King Alfred and Gogovale. All men from Gogovale were picked up by HMS Vanoc and landed at Liverpool.
The King Alfred broke in two, the bow sank and Vanoc, which also picked up the master and 33 crewmembers and landed them at Liverpool, sank the stern. Seven crewmembers were lost.
At 2120, the Pindos, a straggler from Convoy SL-40, was hit by two torpedoes from U-58 and capsized to port before sinking. The U-boat misidentified her as the British-flagged Limerick.
Trawler HMS Marsona mined and sunk off Cromarty.
Trawler HMS Drummer lost to unknown causes. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 339 August 4, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 26. Despite fine weather over England, there is almost no Luftwaffe activity with just a few reconnaissance missions and half-hearted raids on shipping. However, 1 British pilot, J.P.Walsh of 616 Squadron, is killed when his Spitfire spins out of control during combat practice. There is no bombing overnight due to widespread fog.
East Africa. To reach Berbera (the main port and capital of British Somaliland), 125 miles away from the Ethiopian border, Italians need to cross rugged mountains almost 1 mile high. The main thrust takes the most direct route on the main road via Hargeisa, through the Karrim Pass, its flank protected by a smaller column a few miles to the East. Further West, another column advances along the border with French Somaliland. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Somaliland_Italian_invasion.png
At 9.20 PM, U-58 sinks Greek steamer Pindos (carrying 7590 tons of grain from Sierra Leone to Britain) 10 miles from the Irish coast, with 2 torpedoes (3 killed). 29 survivors reach County Donegal, Ireland, in the lifeboats. 300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-52 sinks 3 British steamers in convoy HX-60 - SS Geraldine Mary (1 passenger and 2 crew killed, 4 passengers and 44 crew rescued and return to Britain), SS Gogovale (all 37 crew picked up by destroyer HMS Vanoc and landed at Liverpool), SS King Alfred (7 dead, 34 crew also picked up by HMS Vanoc). U-52 is then depth charged by Royal Navy escort vessels, causing significant damage. U-52 is able to sail to Kiel, Germany, for repairs and will be out of action until November 17. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/452.html
3 British minesweeping trawlers HMT Drummer (2 killed), Marsona (11 killed) and Oswaldian 12 lives lost, 7 survivors) are sunk on German mines laid at various points around the British coast. German antisubmarine trawler Perseus (UJ-175) hits a mine and sinks off Ameland Island on the Northwest coast of Holland.
A bad day for Norwegian merchant shipping. British submarine HMS Sealion sinks Norwegian steamer Torun 1 mile off the South coast of Norway. After dark, German armed merchant cruiser Widder stops empty Norwegian tanker Beaulieu with her guns (4 killed), in the middle of the North Atlantic 1700 miles East of Florida. 28 survivors take to the lifeboats and will be picked up by British tanker Cymbeline on August 13 and landed at Gibraltar. Widder is threatened by her own torpedo which becomes a circle runner and Beaulieu is finally sunk with scuttling charges. Widder’s Captain Helmuth Ruckteschell will be tried as a War Criminal in May 1947 and found guilty of other charges but acquitted of abandoning these survivors from Beaulieu.
