UNITED KINGDOM: Thousands of British girls are waiting for ships to take them to the US to marry the American servicemen who proposed during their tours of duty in Britain. Some 20,000 couples have already "taken the plunge" in Britain, and the total of "GI Brides" is likely to reach 80,000. The American Red Cross is running "schools for brides". Although their pay and their standard of comfort caused jealousy amongst their allies, the GIs' popularity with the opposite sex never wavered in spite of the well-known taunt of being "overpaid, over-sexed and over here" and jokes about their effect on girls' knickers - "one Yank and they're off."
Westminster: Labour MPs sing The Red Flag as the House of Commons meets to elect a new speaker.
FRANCE: Paris: Pierre Laval is returned to the city, charged with treason and placed under armed guard to protect him from the French public.
CHINA: Allied mines, dropped by air, bring Japanese shipping on the Yangtze river to a halt.
Major General Albert F Hegenberger becomes Commanding General
Tenth Air Force as HQ Tenth Air Force moves from Piardoba, India to Kunming,
China (HQ at Kunming was officially opened on 23 July). The scheduled role of
the Tenth Air Force in China is almost identical with its completed Burma
mission: to act as the tactical air force giving direct support and providing
air supply to Chinese ground forces operating south of 27N latitude.
JAPAN: During the night of 1/2 August, the US Twentieth Air Force dispatches 836 B-29s to carry out 1 mining, 5 fire-bomb and 1 bombing raids on Japan; 1 B-29 is lost.
- Mission 305: 37 B-29s drop mines in Shimonoseki Strait, in Nakaumi Lagoon, at Hamada, Sakai, Yonago, Najin, and Seishin; 5 others mine alternate targets.
- Mission 306: 169 B-29s attack the Hachioji urban area destroying 1.12 sq mi (2.9 sq km), 80% of the city; 3 others hit alternate targets; 1 B-29 is lost.
- Mission 307: 173 B-29s hit the Toyama urban area, a centre of aluminium, ball bearing and special steel production, destroying 1.87 sq mi (4.84 sq km), 99.5% of the city; 1 other hits an alternate target.
- Mission 308: 125 B-29s attack the Nagaoka urban area destroying 1.33 sq mi (3.37 sq km), 65.5% of the city; 5 others hit alternate targets.
- Mission 309: 160 B-29s hit the Mito urban area destroying 1.7 sq mi (4.4 sq km), 65% of the city; 1 other hits a target of opportunity.
- Mission 310: 120 B-29s bomb the Mitsubishi Oil Company at Kawasaki but could only add slightly to the damage previously inflicted; 2 other hit targets of opportunity.
In Japan:
- 30+ Iwo Jima-based P-51s of the VII Fighter Command hit airfields and other targets in the Osaka-Nagoya area; bad weather prevents numerous other fighters from reaching targets.
- About 50 Far East Air Force B-24s bomb targets in the Nagasaki dock and harbour area; B-25s and fighter-bombers in the Nagasaki area hit docks, railroad yards, and shipping; other B-24s bomb Koniya Airfield and hit Kakeroma Island.
- 80+ P-47s hit railroad bridges and other railroad targets at Sendai and P-47s fly their first combat mission from Iwo Jima, joining VII Fighter Command P-51s in a sweep over southern Honshu Island; and rolling stock and airfields are attacked in the Okazaki, Itami, and Nagoya areas.
US Navy Task Group 95.2 consisting of the large cruisers USS Alaska (CB-1) and USS Guam (CB-2), 4 light cruisers and 9 destroyers, departs Okinawa to conduct an antishipping sweep in the East China Sea. Accompanying TG 95.2, is TG 95.3 consisting of 3 battleships, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, 3 escort aircraft carriers, 6 destroyers and 3 destroyer escorts.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In Manila, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz meet and agree on a line of demarcation to separate aerial operations undertaken by their forces. Except for B-29s and their escorts, the Far East Air Forces will operate west of 135W longitude and all Pacific-fleet controlled units will operate east of 135W longitude. Longitude 135W is slightly west of Kobe and Osaka on Honshu Island.
MARIANAS ISLANDS: While a select band of politicians and military chiefs wrestles with the problem of whether or not to drop the atomic bomb, another select group has been practising carrying out the task, if ordered to do so. Bombers from the specially-formed 509th Composite Group have been making practice raids on Japan since 20 July. An advance party from the group, which was formed in December last year, had arrived in the Marianas on 29 May and in June was reinforced by the B-29s of the USAAF's 393rd Squadron of Very Heavy Bombers. The 509th is commanded by Col. Paul Tibbets, who would lead any initial A-bomb attack.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Allied troops seal off Japanese forces at Buin, on the southern tip of Bougainville.
WAKE ISLAND The USN's Task Group
12.3 consisting of the light aircraft carrier USS Cabot (CVL-28) with Light
Carrier Air Group Thirty Two (CVLG-32), the battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
and a destroyer screen, bombs and bombards the island. This is the 7th attack on
the island by the USN. The Japanese return
fire and the Pennsylvania is damaged.
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Cedar Lake launched Toronto, Ontario.
HM S/M Unruffled arrived Digby, Nova Scotia for ASW training.
U.S.A.: Vol III No 12 Believed to be last issue of US Intelligence Bulletin is Published. (Bill Howard)
Baseball: New York Giants manager and right fielder Mel Ott hits his 500th career home run off Boston Braves' pitcher Johnny Hutchings during a 9-2 Giants victory at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Ott is the third major league baseball player to hit 500 home runs. Ott bats .308 with 21 home runs this year as the Giants finish in fifth place.
During WW II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) produced numerous documents, most commonly known are the Intelligence Bulletins. The Military Intelligence Special Series continues with "The Punch Below the Belt." and "Japanese Tank and Antitank Warfare." (William L. Howard)
Minesweeper USS CRAIG is commissioned.
MEXICO: Lineas Aereas Mineras
Boeing 247D, msn 1723, registered XA-DUY, crashes into a mountain near San
Luis Potosi; all 12 aboard the aircraft are killed.