28 April – World War II: Allied convoy T4, forming part of amphibious Exercise Tiger (a full-scale rehearsal for the Normandy landings) in Start Bay off the Devon coast, is attacked by E-boats, resulting in the deaths of 749 American servicemen from LSTs.[6]
3–8 May – World War II: Exercise Fabius, the last major Allied rehearsals for the Normandy landings, take place along the south coast of England.[7]
5 June – World War II: final preparations for the Normandy landings take place in the south of England. Group CaptainJames Stagg correctly forecasts a brief improvement in weather conditions over the English Channel which will permit the following day's landings to take place (having been deferred from today due to unfavourable weather). The BBC transmits coded messages (including the second line of a poem by Paul Verlaine) to underground resistance fighters in France warning that the invasion of Europe is about to begin.[9]
13 June – World War II: the first V-1 flying bomb attack on London takes place. Eight civilians are killed in the blast. The bomb earns the nickname "doodlebug".[2]
The 1944 Summer Olympics, scheduled for London, are not held due to World War II.
3 August – the Education Act, promoted by Rab Butler, provides for the postwar education system, including free secondary education for children of both sexes and raising of the school leaving age to 15.[12] As generally implemented, although not mandated by the Act,[13] this leads to a Tripartite System of secondary education in England and Wales with Secondary Modern, Technical (sometimes), and Grammar schools, entrance being determined in most cases by the results of the Eleven plus exam.
12 August – World War II: the V-1 flying bomb campaign against London by the Germans reaches its 60th day, with more than 6,000 deaths, 17,000 injuries and damage or destruction to around 1 million buildings.
7 September – the Belgian government leaves the UK and returns to Belgium following the liberation of Brussels on 3 September (by the Guards Armoured Division).
8 September – World War II: the first V-2 rocket attack on London (launched from The Hague) takes place, striking in the Chiswick district of the city and resulting in the deaths of three people.[2]
15 September – a fatal explosion at ROF Kirkby in Lancashire (the second this year) kills 14 workers who were engaged on filling munitions.[15]
17 September – World War II: restrictions imposed by the Blackout are relaxed.[2]
19 September – World War II: the UK is a co-signatory with the Soviet Union of the Moscow Armistice, ending the latter's Continuation War with Finland.[16]
25 September – World War II: V-2 rockets aimed at Ipswich and Norwich by the Germans miss their targets by a distance.
25 November – World War II: a V-2 rocket destroys the Woolworths store in New Cross Road, south east London, killing 168, the highest death toll from one of these weapons. More than 100 people survive with injuries.[18]
27 November – RAF Fauld explosion: between 3,450 and 3,930 tons (3,500 and 4,000 tonnes) of ordnance explodes at an underground storage depot in Staffordshire leaving about 75 dead and a crater 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and 120 metres (400ft) deep, one of the largest explosions in history and the largest on UK soil.[19]
↑ Small, Ken; Rogerson, Mark (1988). The Forgotten Dead – Why 946 American Servicemen Died off the Coast of Devon in 1944 – and the Man who Discovered their True Story. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN0-7475-0309-5.
↑ Yung, Christopher (2006). Gators of Neptune: naval amphibious planning for the Normandy invasion. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-997-2.
↑ Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp.33–5. ISBN978-0-00-728463-4.
↑ Foot, M. R. D. (1999). SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940–46. London: Pimlico. p.143. ISBN0-7126-6585-4.
↑ Reed, John (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staffs. November 27, 1944". After the Battle. 18: 35–40. ISSN0306-154X..
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