Today in World War II History—September 4, 1939 & 1944

Recruiting poster for Royal Air Force Bomber Command, WWII
80 Years Ago—September 4, 1939: French and German troops skirmish on Maginot Line.
First mission by RAF Bomber Command—10 of 16 Blenheims bomb German naval ships at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, but 5 bombers are lost.
Ocean liner RMS Queen Mary arrives in New York, having departed England on September 30, carrying 2552 passengers, including Bob Hope. (Read more about the wartime history of the Queen Mary and see photos from my tour: “The Sky Above Us—Tour of the Queen Mary”)

Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, June 2017 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)
75 Years Ago—Sept. 4, 1944: British liberate Antwerp, Belgium but fail to capture Scheldt Estuary, the crucial approach to the port.