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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{yearbox
|in?=in aviation
|cp=19th century
|c=20th century
|cf=21st century
|yp1=1941
|yp2=1942
|yp3=1943
|year=1944
|ya1=1945
|ya2=1946
|ya3=1947
|dp3=1910s
|dp2=1920s
|dp1=1930s
|d=1940s
|dn1=1950s
|dn2=1960s
|dn3=1970s
}}
{{Portal|Aviation}}
This is a list of [[aviation]]-related events from 1944:

== Events ==

===January===
* [[United States Coast Guard]] pilot [[Lieutenant, junior grade]], [[Stewart Graham]] makes the first [[helicopter]] flight from a [[merchant ship]] in [[convoy]] in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]]. It is part of the [[United States Department of the Navy]]{{'}}s development of the helicopter as an [[antisubmarine warfare]] weapon.<ref name="uscg.mil">{{Cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webaircraft/CGAviationHistory1939_1956.pdf|title=A History of Coast Guard Aviation: The Growth Years (1939–1956)}}</ref>
* The [[Douglas Aircraft Company]] submits a proposal to the [[United States Army Air Forces]] for a [[Mach number|Mach 1]]-capable research aircraft.<ref name=GuttmanNov2016>Guttman, Jon, "Douglas X-3 Stiletto," ''Aviation History'', November 2016, p. 14.</ref>
* During the month, land-based American aircraft drop about {{cvt|200|ST|t}} of bombs each on [[Mili Atoll]], [[Maloelap]], [[Wotje]] and [[Roi-Namur]]. Mili is attacked almost every day; Maloelap and Wotje are bombed the most heavily.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 214">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 214.</ref>
* To lead the Germans to believe that the next [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] operation would be in the area rather than at [[Anzio]], Allied fighters attack targets around [[Civitavecchia]], Italy and Allied bombers attack targets in northern Italy right up to the Italian border with France.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 331">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 – June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 331.</ref>
* [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] forces clear [[Nazi Germany|German]] forces from [[Leningrad]]'s Shosseynaya Airport (the future [[Pulkovo Airport]]). The airport has been closed since 1941; it will resume cargo and mail flights in [[1945 in aviation|1945]] after its [[runway]]s are repaired and scheduled passenger flights in [[1948 in aviation|February 1948]].
* January 1 – The U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) establish the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe]] (USSAFE). USSAFE is to exercise operational control of the USAAF{{'}}s [[Eighth Air Force|Eighth]] and [[Fifteenth Air Force|Fifteenth]] Air Forces.<ref name="8thafhs.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm|title=Eighth Air Force Historical Society WWII 8thAAF COMBAT CHRONOLOGY JANUARY 1944 THROUGH JUNE 1944|access-date=2012-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728100504/http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm|archive-date=2012-07-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* January 1/2 – 421 British [[Avro Lancaster]] bombers attack [[Berlin]]. German night fighters intercept them, and 28 Lancasters (6.7 percent of the force) do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jan44.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611025957/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jan44.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary January 1944|archive-date=June 11, 2007}}</ref>
* January 2/3 – 383 British bombers raid Berlin. German night fighters mostly intercept them over the target and 27 Lancasters, are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 2 – Japanese [[antiaircraft gun]]s shoot down three [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] over Maloelap during a daylight raid, forcing B-24s to switch to night raids in which their bombing is much less accurate.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 214"/>
* January 2–13 – [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft systematically attack [[Railroad|rail]] communications in central Italy in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Germany from supplying and reinforcing its forces fighting in southern Italy.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 331"/>
* January 3
** Flying an [[F4U Corsair]], [[United States Marine Corps]] [[Flying ace|ace]] [[Gregory Boyington|Gregory "Pappy" Boyington]] is shot down over [[Rapopo Airfield]], [[New Britain]], with 24 kills to his credit. Thought to have died, he received a "posthumous" [[Medal of Honor]] on 15 March; in fact, he survives and spent 20 months as a [[prisoner-of-war]] at [[Rabaul]] and in Japan.<ref>Guttman, John, "Pappy{{'}}s Pacific Exploits", ''Aviation History'', January 2011, p. 29.</ref>
** When a German [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] fighter shoots off part of the right wing of the U.S. Army Air Forces B-17F Flying Fortress ''Snap! Crackle! Pop!'' over [[Saint-Nazaire]], [[France]], sending the burning bomber into a fatal spin, its [[ball turret]] gunner, [[Staff Sergeant]] Alan Magee, jumps or is thrown from the plane without a parachute and falls four miles (6.4&nbsp;km), plunging through the glass ceiling of the Saint-Nazaire train station. He miraculously survives, and spends the rest of [[World War II]] as a [[prisoner of war]].<ref>von Wodtke, Carl, "Miracle of Saint-Nazaire," ''Aviation History'', May 2014, p. 21.</ref>
** Amid [[Snowsquall|snow squalls]] and strong, gusting winds that had grounded all other aircraft in the area, [[United States Coast Guard]] [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Frank A. Erickson]] pilots a [[Sikorsky R-4|Sikorsky HNS-1]] [[helicopter]] from [[Floyd Bennett Field]] in [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], to [[Battery Park]] in [[Manhattan]], where he picks up two cases containing over 40 [[Blood units|units]] of [[blood plasma]] that are lashed to the helicopter's [[Float (nautical)|floats]]. He then flies on to deliver the plasma to [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey|Sandy Hook]], [[New Jersey]], where it is used to treat survivors from the [[United States Navy]] [[destroyer]] {{USS|Turner|DD-648}}, which had capsized and sunk in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[New York Harbor]] that morning after a series of violent internal explosions. It is the first time in history that a helicopter has flown in such adverse weather conditions and history's first "lifesaving" flight by a helicopter.<ref name=uscgerickson>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/people/EricksonFrankBio.asp|title=uscg.mil United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Captain Frank A. Erickson, USCG (1907–1978)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.navalhistory.org/2011/01/03/frank-erickson-and-the-first-helicopter-rescue|title=Frank Erickson and the First Helicopter Rescue|date=January 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.patriotspoint.org/news-and-events/first-helicopter-mercy-mission-1944/|title=First Helicopter Mercy Mission 1944!|first=Mary O'Connor|last=says|date=January 3, 2012}}</ref>
* January 4
** An operation by American aircraft based at [[Tarawa Atoll]] lays [[Naval mine|mines]] in the channel at [[Jaluit]], forcing Japanese shipping to cease use of the [[atoll]]{{'}}s [[lagoon]] and the withdrawal of most Japanese [[seaplane]]s there.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 214"/>
** 539 bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} Eighth Air Force raid [[Kiel]] and [[Münster]], Germany, escorted by 155 fighters. Nineteen bombers and two fighters are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim 12 German aircraft shot down, 13 probably shot down and 10 damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 4/5 – 80 British bombers raid two German [[V-1 flying bomb]] launch sites in the [[Pas de Calais]] and at [[Bristillerie]] without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 5
** 235 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 111 fighters raid the shipyard and industrial areas in Kiel with the loss of 10 bombers and seven fighters. The bombers and fighters claim 63 German aircraft shot down, seven probables and 21 damaged. Another 78 bombers raid [[Neuss]], [[Geilenkirchen]], [[Düsseldorf]], and [[Wassenburg]], Germany, losing two aircraft and claiming two German aircraft shot down, five probables and two damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** 196 Eighth Air Force [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers escorted by 225 [[P-47 Thunderbolt]] fighters attack two German airfields in France with the loss of 12 B-17s and five P-47s. The bombers and fighters combined claim 55 German aircraft shot down, 10 probables and 10 damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 5/6 – 358 British bombers make the first large raid on [[Stettin]], Germany, since September 1941. Most of the German night fighters sent aloft fail to intercept them but 16 bombers (4.5 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 6 - The commander of the historic American [[Doolittle Raid]], then-Lt. Gen [[Jimmy Doolittle]], takes command of the US [[Eighth Air Force]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm |title=WWII 8thAAF COMBAT CHRONOLOGY - JANUARY 1944 THROUGH JUNE 1944 |date=July 28, 2012 |access-date=November 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728100504/http://www.8thafhs.org/combat1944a.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |quote=THURSDAY, 6 JANUARY 1944 - STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): '''Lieutenant General James H Doolittle assumes command''', replacing Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker who will go to Italy as Commanding General Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF). }}</ref>
* January 7 – 502 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 571 fighters bomb the [[IG Farben]] plant at [[Ludwigshafen]], Germany, with the loss of 19 bombers and six fighters. The bombers and fighters combined claim 37 German aircraft shot down, six probables and 20 damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 11
** Ten [[United States Navy]] [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|PB4Y-1 Liberators]] bomb [[Roi-Namur|Roi]] and attack shipping in [[Kwajalein Atoll]]{{'}}s [[lagoon]], sinking a Japanese [[gunboat]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 214"/>
** In one of the largest U.S. Army Air Forces raids to date, 663 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 592 fighters strike aviation industry targets at [[Braunschweig]], [[Halberstadt]], [[Oschersleben]] and [[Osnabrück]], Germany, encountering an estimated 500 German fighters and losing 60 bombers and five fighters. The bombers and fighters combined claim 258 German aircraft shot down, 72 probables and 114 damaged. Flying a [[P-51 Mustang]], [[Major (United States)|Major]] [[James H. Howard]] finds himself alone in defending a B-17 group from 30 German fighters and claims two German aircraft shot down, one probable and two damaged without loss to the B-17s; he receives the [[Medal of Honor]] for his actions.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 13 – The first aeronautical mission from the United States arrives in [[Venezuela]]. It begins an evaluation of the equipment, facilities, and personnel of the Venezuelan military aviation forces, which have received no spare parts for their aircraft since the outbreak of World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/venezuela/airforce.htm|title=Venezuela Air Force (Fuerzas Aereas or Aviacion) Aviación Militar Bolivariana|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref>
* January 13–19 – Allied air forces attack targets in Italy to seal off the beachhead for the upcoming invasion at [[Anzio]], focusing on airfields around Rome and central Italy.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 233, 250–251, 393.</ref>
* January 14 – 552 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 645 fighters strike 20 [[V-1 flying bomb]] sites in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] area of France, with the loss of three bombers and three fighters. The bombers and fighters combined claim 22 German aircraft shot down, one probable and one damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 14/15
** 458 British bombers carry out the first major raid on [[Braunschweig]], Germany, of the war. German night fighters intercept them when they cross the German border on the inbound flight and continue to attack them until they cross the coast of the [[Netherlands]] on their way home; 38 bombers (7.6 percent of the force), all Lancasters, are lost. Most of the bombs land in small towns and open countryside, and Braunschweig itself suffers only 10 houses destroyed and 14 people killed.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
** 82 British bombers strike German V-1 flying bomb sites at [[Ailly, Eure|Ailly]], [[Bonneton]], and Bristillerie, France, without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 19 – Allied heavy and medium bombers strike [[Viterbo]], [[Rieti]], and [[Perugia]], Italy. The Allied air forces claim that their air campaign has cut all communications between northern Italy and the Rome area, although this does not turn out to be true.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 331"/>
* January 20/21 – 769 British bombers raid Berlin. German night fighters intercept them early and 35 bombers (4.6 percent of the force) are lost. Berlin is cloud-covered and results of the raid are unknown.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 21 – 795 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 628 fighters strike 24 [[V-weapons|V-weapon]] sites in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] and [[Cherbourg-en-Cotentin]] areas of France, with the loss of six bombers and one fighter. The bombers and fighters combined claim 11 German aircraft shot down, one probable and six damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 21/22
** 648 British bombers make the first major raid on [[Magdeburg]], Germany, of the war. German night fighters intercept them over the [[North Sea]] and 57 bombers (8.8 percent of the force) are lost, with three-quarters of them probably falling victim to night fighters. The raid is unsuccessful because of the bombs are scattered.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/> German [[Flying ace|ace]] ''[[Hauptmann]]'' [[Manfred Meurer]] is killed when his [[Heinkel He 219]] [[night fighter]] collides with a British [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]] bomber over Magdeburg late on 21 January; he has 65 kills at the time of his death.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces vs. Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 126.</ref> Another 34 bombers make a diversionary raid on Berlin with the loss of a Lancaster.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
** 111 British bombers attack German V-1 flying bomb launching sites in France without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 22 – In [[Operation Shingle]], Allied forces land at [[Anzio]] and [[Nettuno]], Italy. Allied air forces fly 1,200 sorties in support of the landings.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 331, 335.</ref>
* January 23 – Off the Anzio beachhead, a raid by 55 German aircraft sinks the British [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Janus|F53|6}} with a [[torpedo]] and damages the destroyer {{HMS|Jervis|F00|6}} with a [[Fritz X]] radio-guided bomb.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 344.</ref>
* January 24
** Over 1,000 [[Soviet Air Forces]] aircraft support Soviet ground forces as the [[Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket]] begins around [[Cherkasy]] and [[Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi]] in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]].<ref>[[Robert M. Citino|Citino, Robert M.]], "The Korsun Noose," ''MHQ'', Winter 2017, p. 28.</ref>
** German raids of 15, 43 and 52 aircraft strike Allied ships off Anzio, damaging an American destroyer and [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]] and sinking a British [[hospital ship]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 345–346.</ref>
** The Eighth Air Force attempts a raid by 857 bombers escorted by 678 fighters against industrial and transport targets in Germany, but all the bombers are grounded or recalled due to bad weather except for 58 which hit a power station near [[Eschweiler]]. Two bombers and nine fighters are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim 20 German aircraft shot down, four probables and twelve damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom and the Royal Air Force agree to place most available [[P-51 Mustang]] fighters in the USAAF Eighth Air Force for long-range bomber escort duty; American P-51s in the United Kingdom had operated in the [[Ninth Air Force]]. The Eighth Air Force{{'}}s fighter squadrons eventually will predominantly be equipped with P-51s.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 25/26 – 76 British bombers attack German V-1 flying bomb launching sites in the Pas de Calais and near [[Cherbourg Naval Base]], France, without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 26
** After Japanese fighters establish a pattern during the month of attacking American bombers as they retire from raides on Maloelap, a [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] of U.S. Army Air Forces [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40 Warhawk]] fighters intercepts them for the first time, shooting down six Japanese aircraft.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 215">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 215.</ref>
** A raid on Allied ships off Anzio by German [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]]s damages a [[Landing Ship Tank|tank landing ship]], seven [[patrol craft]], two [[merchant ship]]s, and a rescue [[Tugboat|tug]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 349.</ref>
* January 27 – The Japanese have 150 operational aircraft in the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 215"/>
* January 27/28 – 530 British bombers raid Berlin. German night fighters are sent as far as {{cvt|75|mi|km}} out over the North Sea to intercept them but many are spoofed by British diversionary tactics and losses are kept to 33 Lancasters (6.4 percent of the heavy bomber force). The bombing is scattered due to cloud cover.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 28 – 54 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 122 fighters strike the [[V-weapons|V-weapon]] site at [[Bonnières, Pas-de-Calais|Bonnières]], France, without loss.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 28/29
** 677 British bombers attack Berlin. German night fighters intercept them over the target, and 46 bombers (6.8 percent of the force) are lost. Bombs strike western and southern Berlin but also scatter enough to strike 77 other locations.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
** For the first time, [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinder]] aircraft support [[RAF Bomber Command]] aircraft engaged in [[minelaying]] operations as four Pathfinder aircraft assist 63 [[Short Stirling]]s dropping [[naval mine]]s at [[Kiel]], Germany.<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/>
* January 29
** The 12 aircraft carriers of [[Task Force 58]]—the Fast Carrier Forces, [[United States Pacific Fleet]]—begin operations to destroy Japanese airpower in the Marshall Islands prior to the American invasion of the islands; it is the first time that the American Fast Carrier Forces are used in this way. During the day, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in one raid put the 100-aircraft-strong base at [[Roi-Namur|Roi]] permanently out of action; they also attack [[Kwajalein Island]] and Maloelap and Wotje atolls. A Japanese fighter shot down over [[Roi-Namur]] at 08:00 hours is the last Japanese aircraft encountered in the air during the [[Marshall Islands campaign]]. Eight American aircraft are lost.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 217–220.</ref>
** Two squadrons of U.S. Navy [[Consolidated PB2Y Coronado|PB2Y Coronados]] bomb [[Wake Island]], the tenth American strike of the war against Wake and the first since October 1943.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 218">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 218.</ref>
** German raids of 30 and 47 [[fighter-bomber]]s attack Allied ships off Anzio with guided bombs, sinking the British [[light cruiser]] {{HMS|Spartan|95|6}} and a [[Liberty ship]] and badly damaging a [[salvage tug]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 355.</ref>
** 863 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 632 fighters raid industrial targets in [[Frankfurt-am-Main]] and [[Ludwigshafen]], Germany, with the loss of 29 bombers and 15 fighters. It is the first Eighth Air Force strike in which 700 or more aircraft bomb their targets. The bombers and fighters combined claim 122 German aircraft shot down, 33 probables and 62 damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 30
** Task Force 58 aircraft attack a Japanese [[convoy]] off [[Kwajalein Atoll]] and bomb Kwajalein Island, Roi-Namur, Maloelap, and Wotje.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, pp. 213">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 213–214.</ref> They also make the first airstrike against [[Eniwetok]], destroying 15 Japanese [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") bombers on the ground. American carrier aircraft will continue to strike Eniwetok daily through February 7.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 287">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 287.</ref>
** 777 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 635 fighters raid aviation industry targets in [[Branschweig]], Germany, although cloud cover over the target forces some to bomb [[Hanover]] instead; 20 bombers and 4 fighters are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim 96 German aircraft shot down, 22 probables and 58 damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* January 30/31 – 534 British bombers raid Berlin with the loss of 33 aircraft (6.2 percent of the force).<ref name="raf.mod.uk"/> After the raid, Bomber Command begins a rest period of over two weeks for its regular bomber [[Squadron (aviation)|squadrons]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/feb44.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112173933/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/feb44.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary February 1944|archive-date=November 12, 2007}}</ref>
* January 31
** The American invasion of the Marshall Islands, [[Operation Flintlock (World War II)|Operation Flintlock]], begins with [[Battle of Kwajalein|landings]] on Kwajalein Island, [[Roi-Namur]], and [[Majuro]]. The American carrier raids have been so successful that the Japanese have no operational aircraft left in the islands with which to oppose them. Six American [[fleet aircraft carrier]], two [[light aircraft carrier]]s, and six [[escort aircraft carrier]]s support the landings at Kwajalein Atoll and two escort carriers cover the landings at Majuro. American carrier aircraft also bomb Eniwetok, Maloelap, and Wotje.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 213–214, 225–228, 343–351.</ref>
** Since December 1, 1943, American daylight [[combat air patrol]]s over the [[Gilbert Islands]] have been so effective that 34 of the 35 Japanese raids that get through to attack [[Tarawa Atoll]] and [[Butaritari]] strike at night. The Japanese also raid [[Abemama]] three times during the period. All the Japanese strikes combined during the two months destroy 33 American planes, damage nine and sink a [[landing craft]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, pp. 213"/>
** 74 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 114 fighters attack a German [[Siracourt V-1 bunker|V-1 flying bomb site]] under construction at [[Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise]]/[[Siracourt]], France. All aircraft return safely.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** 75 Eighth Air Force [[P-47 Thunderbolt]] fighter-bombers escorted by 131 other fighters attack [[Gilze-Rijen Air Base|Gilze-Rijen airfield]] in the [[Netherlands]]. France, losing six fighters. American pilots claim 13 German aircraft shot down, one probable and one damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>

===February===
* February 1
** The U.S. Navy orders two [[Piasecki HRP Rescuer|Piasecki XHRP-1]] helicopters. They are the first American helicopters to be developed under a military contract.<ref>Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," ''Naval History'', August 2010, p. 16.</ref>
** [[Southern Airways]] is founded.
* February 2
** [[Joseph Stalin]] agrees to allow American aircraft to use six bases in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** 110 U.S. Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force [[B-24 Liberator]] bombers escorted by 183 [[P-47 Thunderbolt]] fighters attack a German [[Siracourt V-1 bunker|V-1 flying bomb]] sites under construction at [[Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise]]/[[Siracourt]], France and [[Watten bunker|V-2 ballistic missile launching site]] under construction at [[Watten, Nord|Watten]], France. Two B-24s are lost.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 3
** U.S. Navy Task Force 58 completes its support of ground operations on [[Kwajalein Island]] and [[Roi-Namur]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 218"/>
** 864 Eighth Air Force bombers raid the port area of [[Wilhelmshaven]], Germany, and targets in [[Emden]], Germany, escorted by 632 fighters. Four bombers and nine fighters are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim eight German aircraft shot down, one probably shot down, and three damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 4
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberator]] flies the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[photographic reconnaissance]] mission against [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]], Japan{{'}}s main base in the [[South Pacific Ocean]], making a 1,700-[[nautical mile]] (3,148-km) flight from [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 319.</ref>
** 748 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 637 fighters attack industrial and railroad targets at [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], Germany, and targets in [[Giessen]], [[Wiesbaden]], [[Trier]], and [[Arloff]], Germany. Twenty bombers and one fighter are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim 12 German aircraft shot down and four damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 5 – 509 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 634 fighters attack various airfields in France. Two bombers and two fighters are lost. In aerial combat, the bombers and fighters combined claim 11 German aircraft shot down and nine damaged.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 6
** American forces complete the conquest and occupation of [[Kwajalein Atoll]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 277–278.</ref>
** 642 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 638 fighters attack various airfields in France; weather forces over 400 bombers to abort their missions. Four bombers and four fighters are lost. The bombers and fighters combined claim 14 German aircraft shot down, five probably shot down, and three damaged in aerial combat and the fighters claim another two German aircraft destroyed and seven damaged on the ground.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 7 – American carrier aircraft of Task Force 58 conduct the last of nine consecutive days of strikes against Eniwetok.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 287"/>
* February 8
** 127 Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberators escorted by 89 [[P-47 Thunderbolt]]s of the Eight and [[Ninth Air Force|Ninth]] Air Forces attack the V-weapon site at Siracourt and [[Blockhaus d'Éperlecques|the V-2 ballistic missile launching site at Watten]], France.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** 236 Eighth Air Force [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es escorted by 77 [[P-38 Lightning]], 435 P-47, and 41 [[P-51 Mustang]] fighters attack the railroad marshalling yards at [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], Germany, with the loss of 13 B-17s, two P-38s, three P-47s, and four P-51s. The bombers and fighters combined claim 17 German aircraft shot down, four probably shot down, and eight damaged in aerial combat.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 8–9 (overnight) – [[RAF Bomber Command]]{{'}}s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] pioneers low-level target marking in a raid by 12 Lancasters on the [[Gnome et Rhône]] aircraft engine factory at [[Limoges]], France. After making three low-level runs over the factory to warn French workers to flee, the squadron{{'}}s [[commanding officer]], [[Wing commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] [[Leonard Cheshire]], drops incendiary bombs from an altitude of 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) to mark the target and the other 11 bombers each drop one 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) bomb on the factory, 10 of which hit it. The RAF [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinder]] force never adopts the low-level marking tachnique.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 10
** 169 Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by 64 P-38, 357 P-47, and 45 P-51 fighters attack the industrial area of [[Braunschweig]], Germany, with the loss of 29 B-17s, five P-38s, and four P-47s. The bombers and fighters combined claim 98 German aircraft shot down, 31 probably shot down, and 101 damaged in aerial combat.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** A [[Douglas DC-3]] [[airliner]] operating as [[American Airlines Flight 2]] crashes into the [[Mississippi River]] southwest of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Tennessee]], killing all 24 people on board.
* February 11
** Carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 strike Eniwetok.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 287"/>
** Supporting American [[Marshall Islands campaign|operations]] in the [[Marshall Islands]], carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 since January 29 have flown 6,232 sorties and dropped 1,156.6 tons (1,049,261&nbsp;kg) of bombs, losing 22 aircraft in combat and 27 to other causes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 221.</ref>
** 223 Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by 82 P-38, 436 P-47, and 38 P-51 fighters attack the railroad marshalling yard at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, as well as alternate targets in [[Ludwigshafen]] and [[Saarbrücken]], with the loss of five B-17s, eight P-38s, four P-47s, and two P-51s. The bombers and fighters combined claim 32 German aircraft shot down, two probably shot down, and 30 damaged in aerial combat, and the fighters also claim two German aircraft destroyed, one probably destroyed, and two damaged on the ground.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
** 201 Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberators escorted by 85 P-47 and 41 P-51 fighters attack the V-weapon site at Siracourt, France, and other targets, losing one B-24.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 12 – 99 Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberators escorted by 84 P-47 and 41 P-51 fighters attack the V-weapon site at Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise/Siracourt, France, without loss.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 13
** Carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 strike Eniwetok.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 287"/>
** 469 Eighth Air Force bombers – 277 B-17s and 192 B-24s – escorted by 189 P-47 and 41 P-51 fighters hit V-weapon sites in the [[Pas de Calais]] region of France, losing four B-17s and one P-51. The bombers and fighters combined claim six German aircraft shot down, two probably shot down, and four damaged in aerial combat, and the fighters also claim four German aircraft damaged on the ground.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 15 – Very heavy Allied air raids demolish the [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] [[monastery]] at [[Monte Cassino]] in Italy, but fail to dislodge its German defenders.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 363.</ref> Off Anzio, a German guided bomb destroys a [[Liberty ship]] unloading ammunition and a [[Landing Craft Tank|tank landing craft]] alongside her.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 363–364.</ref>
* February 15–16 (overnight) – A rest of over two weeks for RAF Bomber Command{{'}}s regular bomber [[Squadron (aviation)|squadrons]] comes to an end with a raid by 891 bombers on Berlin, the largest force ever sent to Berlin and the largest to date except for the three "thousand-bomber" raids of 1942, as well as the first to use over 500 Lancasters or over 300 [[Handley-Page Halifax|Halifaxes]]. It is the last raid of Bomber Command{{'}}s "Battle of Berlin" and, despite cloud cover, succeeds in hitting some of the city{{'}}s most important war industries. Forty-three bombers (6.7 percent of the force) do not return.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 17
** In [[Operation Catchpole]], American forces [[Battle of Eniwetok|invade]] Eniwetok. Carrier aircraft from {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3}}, {{USS|Sangamon|CVE-26}}, {{USS|Suwannee|CVE-27}}, and {{USS|Chenango|CVE-28}} support the [[Amphibious landing|landings]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 287–288, 301.</ref>
** In [[Operation Hailstone]], carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 begin two days of strikes against [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]], Japan{{'}}s main base in the [[South Pacific Ocean]]; they are the first carrier strikes against Truk. An initial fighter sweep by 72 [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcats]] shoots down 30 Japanese fighters and destroys 45 more aircraft on the ground for the loss of four Hellcats; a follow-up strike by 18 [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF Avengers]] leaves fewer than 100 of the 365 Japanese aircraft that had been on Truk at daybreak operational. The carriers also launch 30 strikes, each larger than either of the two waves of Japanese aircraft that had [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, against shipping in the harbor during the day. In the evening, a Japanese [[torpedo bomber]] damages the aircraft carrier {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11}}, knocking her out of action for several months.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 320–321.</ref>
* February 18
** Task Force 58 aircraft complete their two days of strikes against Truk, starting in the early morning hours with the first carrier-based night bombing attack in U.S. Navy history, a raid by 12 [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF-1C Avengers]], which demonstrates the value of such raids by scoring 13 direct bomb hits and seven near misses on Japanese ships in the harbor. During the rest of the morning, U.S. Navy aircraft work over Japanese shore facilities on Truk; no Japanese aircraft rise to oppose the attacks. By the time Task Force 58 retires, its aircraft have flown a total of 1,250 combat sorties over the two days of strikes, dropping 400 tons (164,600&nbsp;kg) of bombs and torpedoes against shipping and 94 tons (85,276&nbsp;kg) of bombs against airfields and shore facilities, sinking two [[auxiliary cruiser]]s, two [[destroyer]]s, two [[submarine tender]]s, an aircraft [[ferry]], and 23 [[merchant ship]]s including six [[Tanker (ship)|tankers]] and 17 [[cargo ship]]s totalling 200,000 [[gross register ton]]s of shipping, and destroying or damaging 250 to 275 Japanese aircraft, in exchange for the loss of 17 American aircraft in combat and eight to other causes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 321–330.</ref>
** In [[Operation Jericho]], [[de Havilland Mosquito]]s of [[No. 487 Squadron RNZAF|No. 487 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force]] and [[No. 464 Squadron RAAF|No. 464 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force]], breach the prison walls at [[Amiens]], France, allowing captured members of the [[French Resistance]] to escape.
* February 19–20 – In support of a U.S. Army offensive at the Anzio beachhead, Allied tactical aircraft drop 972 tons (881, 793&nbsp;kg) of bombs, and Allied strategic bombers attack [[Grottaferrata]], [[Albano Laziale]], [[Genzano di Roma]], and [[Velletri]], Italy.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 364–365.</ref>
* February 19–20 (overnight) – 823 British bombers attack [[Leipzig]], Germany. Night fighters intercept them over the coast of the [[Netherlands]] and attack them all the way to the target, where four bombers are lost in collisions and 20 more are shot down by antiaircraft guns. Leipzig is cloud-covered and most of the bombs are scattered. Seventy-eight bombers (9.5 percent of the force) fail to return – Bomber Command{{'}}s highest losses on a single raid thus far in World War II – and the high loss rate among Halifaxes (34 aircraft, or 13.3 percent of the Halifaxes dispatched and 14.9 of those which do not turn back early) prompts Bomber Command to withdraw Halifax IIs and Halifax Vs permanently from further operations over Germany.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 20 – The U.S. Army Air Force{{'}}s Eighth Air Force begins Operation Argument, a six-day campaign to defeat the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' by staging major attacks on the German aircraft industry while luring ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft into aerial combat; the operation later becomes known informally as "[[Big Week]]." On the first day, 1,003 Eighth Air Force bombers escorted by 835 fighters strike targets in Germany, including [[Leipzig]]-[[Mockau]] Airfield, [[Tutow]] Airfield, [[Abnaundorf]], [[Bernburg]], [[Braunschweig]], [[Gotha]], [[Heiterblick]], [[Neupetritor]], [[Oschersleben]], [[Rostock]], and [[Wilhelmstor]]. The force suffers the loss of 21 bombers and four fighters, and claims 126 German aircraft shot down, 40 probably shot down, and 66 damaged in aerial combat.<ref name="8thafhs.org"/>
* February 20–21 (overnight) – 598 British bombers strike [[Stuttgart]], Germany, suffering the loss of only nine aircraft (1.5 percent of the force) thanks to the diversion of German night fighters, although five more bombers crash upon returning to England.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 21 – The British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Chaser|D32|6}} joins the escort of the [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoy]] [[Convoy JW 57|JW 57]] bound from [[Loch Ewe]], Scotland, to the [[Kola Inlet]] in the [[Soviet Union]]. It is the first time an aircraft carrier has escorted an Arctic [[convoy]] since February 1943. By the time ''Chaser'' returns to Scapa Flow on March 9 after escorting the returning [[Convoy RA 57]], her aircraft have sunk or assisted in the sinking of three German submarines, with only one [[merchant ship]] lost.<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, pp. 104–105.</ref>
* February 22
** The U.S. Army Air Forces create the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe|United States Strategic Air Forces]], which takes control of the U.S. strategic bombing effort in Europe's strategic planning staff and intelligence, targeting and planning, and co-ordination functions. Simultaneously, the [[Eighth Air Force]] is reorganized to take over the function of [[VIII Bomber Command]] as the organization with direct operational control of combat forces, and VIII Bomber Command is inactivated.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979|page=471}}</ref>
** Japanese resistance on Eniwetok ends.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 304.</ref>
* February 22–23 (overnight) – Japanese aircraft conduct four raids against ships of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 as they approach [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]], inflicting no damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 154.</ref>
* February 23 – Aircraft from six aircraft carriers of Task Force 58 make the first Allied strike against Japanese forces in the [[Mariana Islands]], attacking [[Guam]], [[Rota (island)|Rota]], and [[Tinian]], discovering the location of Japanese airfields in the islands for the first time, destroying 168 Japanese aircraft, sinking two [[cargo ship]]s and several smaller craft, and conducting the first Allied [[photographic reconnaissance]] missions ever flown over the Marianas.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 154–155.</ref>
* February 23–24 (overnight) – During a raid on [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, an RAF Bomber Command [[de Havilland Mosquito]] of [[No. 692 Squadron RAF|No. 692 Squadron]] becomes the first Mosquito to drop a 4,000-pound (1,219-kg) bomb. Mosquitos will carry 4,000-pounders regularly for the remainder of World War II, using them against targets as distant as Berlin.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 24 – At the [[Wiener Neustadt]] military airfield, Luftwaffe top-level officers [[Erhard Milch]], ''Kommando der Erprobungsstellen'' ''[[Oberst]]'' [[Edgar Petersen]] and ''[[Oberstleutnant]]'' [[Siegfried Knemeyer]] (Goering's top aviation technologist) take turns flying Heinkel's He 177 V102 four-engined strategic bomber prototype – one of the four [[Heinkel He 177#Further development-the Heinkel He 177 B|He 177B]] "separately" four-[[Daimler-Benz DB 603|engined]] prototypes ordered – with Knemeyer remarking that: "... he could not believe a four-engined heavy bomber could possess the "excellent handling qualities" that the V102 displayed."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |pages=166–167 }}</ref>
* February 24 – 266 [[B-17 Flying Fortress]]es of the U.S. Army Air Force{{'}}s [[Eighth Air Force]] make a daylight attack on the [[ball bearing]] factory at [[Schweinfurt]], Germany.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 24–25 (overnight) – 734 British bombers make the first RAF Bomber Command raid on Schweinfurt. For the first time, they attack in two waves, of 392 and 342 aircraft, inducing German night fighters to rise to meet the first wave (which loses 22 bombers, 5.6 percent of the force) but be unprepared to meet the second wave, which loses only 11 bombers (3.2 percent). the total British losses are 33 bombers (4.5 percent).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 25 – German [[Walter HWK 109-507|rocket-boosted]] [[Henschel Hs 293]] air-sea anti-ship guided bombs<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bollinger |first1=Martin |title=Warriors and Wizards: The Development and Defeat of Radio-Controlled Glide Bombs of the Third Reich |date=2011 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=United States |isbn=9781612510026 |page=320 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk0TJ7-9fo0C&dq=do+217+inglefield&pg=PA116 |access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref> sink the British destroyer [[HMS Inglefield (D02)|HMS ''Inglefield'']] off Anzio with heavy loss of life.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 366">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 366.</ref>
* February 25–26 (overnight) – 594 British bombers make the first large raid on [[Augsburg]], Germany. In clear weather and facing minimal German defences, the raid is extrenmely successful, destroying much of the city{{'}}s center and starting 246 large or medium and 820 small fires. Germany condemns the raid as an extreme example of "terror bombing."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* February 29 – During February, aircraft of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Seventh Air Force]] have flown about 1,000 sorties against Japanese forces on [[Jaluit]], [[Maloelap]], [[Wotje]], and [[Nauru Island|Nauru]]. No Japanese aircraft have intercepted them, but Japanese [[antiaircraft gun]]s have shot down seven bombers and two fighters.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, pp. 307–308.</ref>
* February 29 – As a part of a "disinformation" program, a special four-page propaganda leaflet published on this date entitled [[:de:Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten|''Sternenbanner'']] is soon used to dupe ''Luftwaffe'' commanders into thinking that [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress#B-29s in Europe and Australia|"a larger, 47 meter wingspan American bomber aircraft"]] will soon be used to attack Nazi Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.384thbombgroup.com/WinJack3/wwII-sternenbanner_1.html|title=Der Sternenbanner_1 (Photo 1)|website=www.384thbombgroup.com}}</ref>

===March===
* March 1–2 (overnight) – 557 British bombers attack [[Stuttgart]], Germany. Thanks to heavy cloud cover that interferes with interceptions by German night fighters, only four bombers (0.7 percent) fail to return.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/mar44.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611031914/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/mar44.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary March 1944|archive-date=June 11, 2007}}</ref>
* March 2 – The Allied air forces make their largest attacks of the [[Operation Shingle|Anzio campaign]], with 241 [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] and 100 [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortresses]] escorted by 113 [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]] and 63 [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt|P-47 Thunderbolts]] dropping thousands of [[fragmentation bomb]]s around [[Castello di Cisterna]], [[Velletri]], and [[Carroceto]], Italy. Almost the same number of Allied medium and light bombers and [[fighter-bomber]]s strike German [[tank]]s, [[artillery]] positions, and assembly areas around the Anzio beachhead, especially along the Castello di Cisterna-[[Campoleone]] highway.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1990, p. 366"/>
* March 2–3 (overnight)
** 123 British bombers seriously damage the [[SNCAM]] aircraft factory at [[Meulan-Les-Meureaux]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 15 Lancasters of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] successfully attack the aircraft factory at [[Albert, Somme|Albert]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 3 – England-based [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightning]] fighters of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[55th Fighter Group]] become the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] fighters to escort bombers all the way to Berlin.<ref name="definitive266">Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 266.</ref>
* March 5 – While leading his flight of [[P-47 Thunderbolt]]s in an attack against four [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] (IJAAF) [[Kawasaki Ki-48]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Lily") bombers over [[New Guinea]], [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Neel E. Kearby]], a recipient of the [[Medal of Honor]] for shooting down six Japanese aircraft during an earlier mission and the [[commanding officer]] of the [[Fifth Air Force]]′s [[348th Fighter Group]], comes under attack by an IJAAF [[Nakajima Ki-43]] ''Hayabusa'' ("[[peregrine falcon]]"; Allied reporting name "Oscar") fighter after other pilots of his flight shoot down two Ki-48s. The Ki-43 scores hits on Kearby's [[cockpit]]. He flies 140 miles (225&nbsp;km) before his P-47, ''Fiery Ginger IV'', crashes. He bails out and dies of his wounds. He is credited with 21 kills. His remains will be found near Pibu, New Guinea, in 1946, but will remain unidentified for two years.<ref name=guttmanmay2017p35>[Guttman, John, "Nakajima′s Fragile Falcon," ''Aviation History'', May 2017, p. 35.]</ref>
* March 6–7 (overnight) – RAF Bomber Command begins a series of raids against railways in France and [[Belgium]] in preparation for the upcoming [[invasion of Normandy]] with an attack by 267 bombers.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 7–8 (overnight) – 304 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Le Mans]], France. Despite cloud cover, 300 bombs hit the yards, destroying 250 [[railroad car]]s, hitting six [[locomotive]]s, and cutting tracks and damaging a [[Turntable (rail)|turntable]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 9–10 (overnight) – 44 British Lancasters accurately strike an aircraft factory at [[Marignane]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 10 – The [[Iceland]]ic airline [[Loftleidir]] is formed.
* March 10–11 (overnight) – 102 British Lancasters bomb four factories in France, losing one aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 13–14 (overnight) – 222 British bombers attack the railway yards at Le Mans, with the loss of one Halifax. The raid badly damages a railroad station and two nearby factories and destroys 15 locomotives and 800 railroad cars.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 15–16 (overnight)
** Making a 3,500-[[nautical mile]] (6,481-km) round trip from [[Kwajalein Island]], 13 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Seventh Air Force]] [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] strike Japanese bases at [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 156">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 156.</ref>
** 863 British bombers attack [[Stuttgart]], Germany, losing 37 aircraft (4.3 percent of the force). Some bombs land in the center and southwest part of the city, but many are scattered in open countryside.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 140 British bombers successfully attack the railway yards at [[Amiens]], France, losing three aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 16–17 (overnight)
** 130 British bombers successfully attack the railway yards at Amiens without loss.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 22 British Lancasters, mostly from [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]], make a successful precision attack on the [[Michelin]] [[tire]] factory at [[Clermont-Ferrand]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 18 – U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carrier {{USS|Lexington|CV-16}} strike [[Mili Atoll]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 309">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VII: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984, p. 309.</ref>
* March 18–19 (overnight)
** 846 British bombers attack [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], Germany, heavily damaging the central, eastern, and western parts of the city. Twenty-two bombers (2.6 percent) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 19 Lancasters (13 from No. 617 Squadron) make a successful precision raid on the explosives factory at [[Bergerac, Dordogne|Bergerac]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 20–21 (overnight) – Twenty Lancasters (14 from No. 617 Squadron) make a successful precision raid on the explosives factory at [[Angoulême]], France.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 22–23 (overnight) – 816 British bombers raid Frankfurt-am-Main. Few German night fighters intercept them, although 33 bombers (4 percent of the force) are lost. The raid is even more successful than that of March 18–19, badly damages much of the city, leaving half of the city without water, electricity, or natural gas, and inflicting much destruction on industrial areas.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 23–24 (overnight) – 143 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Laon]], France, placing about half their bombs on the target and cutting rail lines but scattering the rest, hitting 83 houses and killing seven and injuring nine French civilians.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 24
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17G Flying Fortress]] of the [[422nd Bomb Squadron]], [[305th Bombardment Group|305th Bombardment Group (Heavy)]], [[Yielden#Yielden at war 1939–1945|crashes]] at [[Yielden]], England, on takeoff from [[RAF Chelveston]], killing all 10 men aboard the bomber and 11 people on the ground.
** Unable to reach their primary target, [[Schweinfurt]], 162 B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eighth Air Force]] instead bomb Frankfurt-am-Main. The Frankfurt-am-Main diary states, "The three air raids of 18th, 22nd, and 24th March were carried out by a combined plan of the British and American air forces and their combined effect was to deal the worst and most fateful blow of the war to Frankfurt, a blow which simply ended the existence of the Frankfurt which had been built up since the Middle Ages."<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 24–25 (overnight) – 811 bombers carry out the last major British raid on Berlin of World War II. Strong winds carry them off course and most of their bombs are scattered. Many unintentionally fly over the air defenses of the [[Ruhr]] on their way home and are shot down there. Seventy-two are lost (8.9 percent of the force), about 50 falling to antiaircraft guns and remainder to night fighters.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 25 – A British twin-engined aircraft lands on an aircraft carrier for the first time when [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Eric Brown (pilot)|E. M. Brown]] lands a navalized [[de Havilland Mosquito|de Havilland Mosquito VI]] on the British carrier {{HMS|Indefatigable|R10|6}}.<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 215.</ref><ref>Thetford, Owen, ''British Naval Aircraft Since 1912'', Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, {{ISBN|1-55750-076-2}}, pp. 14–15.</ref>
* March 25–26 (overnight)
** 192 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Aulnoye]], France, without loss.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 22 British Lancaster strike an aircraft engine factory at [[Lyon]], France, without loss.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 26 – During a U.S. air strike on [[Pohnpei|Ponape]], the Japanese get fighters aloft for the first time in the [[Central Pacific Area]] in six weeks, but almost all of them are shot down.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 156"/>
* March 26–27 (overnight)
** 705 British bombers attack [[Essen]], Germany, and make a successful attack through clouds. Surprised by the sudden Bomber Command shift to a target in the [[Ruhr]], the German night fighter response is minimal, and only nine British bombers (1.3 percent) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
** 109 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Courtrai]], Belgium, without loss.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 27
** The [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] give [[General (United States)|General]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] – [[Supreme Allied Commander in Europe]] and [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force|Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force]] – control over air operations in northwestern Europe to ensure air support for the upcoming invasion of Europe. Eisenhower orders the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Eighth Air Force]] and [[RAF Bomber Command]] to focus their operations on disrupting the French railroad network to reduce Germany{{'}}s ability to move reinforcements to the beachhead once the invasion takes place.<ref>[[Ross, Steven T.]], ''American War Plans, 1941–1945: The Test of Battle'', Frank Cass: Portland, Oregon, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7146-4194-4}}, p. 101.</ref>
** The [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoy]] [[Convoy JW 58|JW 58]] departs [[Loch Ewe]], Scotland, bound for the [[Kola Inlet]] in the [[Soviet Union]]. The British aircraft carriers [[HMS Activity (D94)|HMS ''Activity'']] and [[HMS Tracker (D24)|HMS ''Tracker'']] escort JW 58 and the return [[convoy RA 58]], which reaches Loch Ewe on April 14. During their cruise, their aircraft sink or contribute to sinking two German submarines, attack three more, and shoot down six German aircraft without the loss of a [[merchant ship]].<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 105">Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 105.</ref>
* March 28 – Japanese [[torpedo bomber]]s attack U.S. Navy [[Task Force 58]] as it approaches the [[Palau Islands]], doing no damage.<ref name="operations13">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 13.</ref>
* March 29–30  – [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]]-based [[AirSols|Air Solomons (AirSols)]] aircraft make daylight raids against Japanese bases at Truk Atoll.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 156"/>
* March 29–30 (overnight) – 84 British bombers make an accurate attack on the railway yards at [[Vaires]], France, causing two ammunition trains to explode. One bomber fails to return.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 29–30 (overnight) through April 1–2 (overnight) – U.S. Kwajalein-based bombers make night attacks on Truk Atoll on four consecutive evenings.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 156"/>
* March 30–31
** In [[Operation Desecrate One]], carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy [[Task Force 58]] from the [[aircraft carrier]]s {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6}}, {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17}}, {{USS|Hornet|CV-12}}, {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10}}, {{USS|Lexington|CV-16}},  {{USS|Monterey|CV-26}}, {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24}}, {{USS|Cowpens|CVL-25}}, {{USS|Cabot|CVL-28}}, {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23}}, and {{USS|Langley|CVL-27}} strike Japanese bases in the [[Palau Islands]]. The two days of strikes sink or damage 36 Japanese ships. In addition, [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBF and TBM Avengers]] from the carriers lay [[naval mine]]s during the strikes, the first tactical use of mines laid by carrier aircraft during the [[Pacific War]].<ref name="operations32">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 32.</ref>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Fifth Air Force]] launches its first large daylight strike, attacking Japanese airfields in the [[Jayapura|Hollandia]] area on [[New Guinea]], using 80 [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] and 59 [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]] the first day and similar strength the second day. They catch most of the Japanese planes in the area parked on the ground and claim 199 of them destroyed.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, pp. 35-36">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 35–36.</ref>
* March 30–31 (overnight) – 795 British bombers attack [[Nuremberg]], Germany, in bright moonlight, counting for protection on predicted high cloud cover which does not materialize. German night fighters intercept them over Belgium before they cross the German border and continue to attack them for the next hour, shooting down 82 bombers as they fly to Nuremberg and over the target. Another 13 bombers are lost on the return flight, and the total of 95 bombers lost (11.9 percent of the force) is the highest Bomber Command loss on a single raid during World War II. The raid inflicts little damage on Nuremberg due to cloud cover, wind, and poor target marking which cause most of the bombs to land in open countryside, and 120 aircraft mistakenly bomb Schweinfurt, where they scatter their bombs widely, also hitting mostly open countryside and killing two people. [[Pilot Officer]] [[Cyril Joe Barton]], the pilot of a Halifax, pushes through to Nuremberg despite heavy damage to his bomber by a night fighter attack, then brings the aircraft home and dies in crash landing with only minor injuries to his crew. He posthumously receives the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* March 31
** Task Force 58 aircraft strike [[Yap]].<ref name="operations32"/>
** A [[flying boat]] carrying [[Admiral]] [[Mineichi Koga]], Commander-in-Chief of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]{{'}}s [[Combined Fleet]], disappears after taking off from [[Babelthuap]]; no wreckage or bodies are ever found. A second flying boat carrying [[Rear Admiral]] [[Shigeru Fukudome]] of Koga{{'}}s staff making the same trip crashes in a storm; Fukudome spends two weeks in the hands of natives on [[Cebu]] before being rescued.<ref name="operations13"/>

===April===
* The [[United States Coast Guard]] begins to experiment with dipping [[sonar]] as it leads the [[United States Department of the Navy]]{{'}}s effort to develop the [[helicopter]] as an [[antisubmarine warfare]] platform.<ref name="uscg.mil"/>
* Although the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' continues to use radio-guided bombs against Allied ships operating off the [[Anzio]] beachhead, they become less effective as the defense against them put up by Allied [[destroyer]]s improves.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 371.</ref>
* April 1 – U.S. Navy [[Task Force 58]] carrier aircraft strike [[Woleai]]. During the March 30-April 1 raids on the [[Palau Islands]], [[Yap]], and Woleai, Task Force 58 aircraft have sunk or badly damaged 36 Japanese ships totaling 130,000 tons, trapped 32 more in harbors with naval mining, and destroyed many Japanese aircraft in exchange for the loss of 25 U.S. planes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 33.</ref>
* April 2 – The first [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[B-29 Superfortress]] arrives at [[Calcutta]], India, after an 11,530-mile (18,567-km) trip from [[Kansas]], which includes stops at [[Presque Isle, Maine|Presque Isle]], [[Maine]]; [[Gander, Newfoundland|Gander]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]; [[Marrakech]], [[Morocco]]; [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]]; and [[Karachi]], and a 2,700-mile (4,348-km) non-stop [[transatlantic flight]] between Gander and Marrakech.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 55.</ref>
* April 3
** American aircraft raid [[Wotje]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 309"/>
** The U.S. Army Forces{{'}} [[Fifth Air Force]] resumes attacks on Japanese airfields around [[Jayapura|Hollandia]] on [[New Guinea]] with the heaviest raid yet, including nearly a hundred [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|A-20 Havoc]] bombers. They encounter only sporadic Japanese resistance.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 36">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 36.</ref>
** In [[Operation Tungsten]], a raid launched from the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}}, {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, {{HMS|Emperor|D98|6}}, {{HMS|Fencer|D64|6}}, [[HMS Pursuer (D73)|HMS ''Pursuer'']], and [[HMS Searcher (D40)|HMS ''Searcher'']], 42 [[Fleet Air Arm]] [[Fairey Barracuda]] aircraft escorted by 40 fighters scores 14 hits with 1,600-lb (726-kg) bombs on the German [[battleship]] [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] in [[Altenfjord]], Norway, badly damaging her and killing 122 of her crew. Two Barracudas are lost.<ref name="ballantine147">Humble, Richard, ''Hitler{{'}}s High Seas Fleet'', New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1971, p. 147.</ref><ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 108.</ref>
* April 4 – The U.S. Army Air Forces activate the [[Twentieth Air Force]], which will conduct a [[strategic bombing]] campaign against Japan.
* April 5 – Fifth Air Force aircraft again attack Japanese airfields around Hollandia.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 36"/>
* April 5–6 (overnight) – 145 British bombers attack an aircraft factory at [[Toulouse]], France. One bomber, a Lancaster, is lost when it explodes over the target.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/apr44.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary April 1944 |access-date=2007-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611030447/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/apr44.html |archive-date=2007-06-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* April 9–10 (overnight)
** 239 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Lille]], France, losing one aircraft, a Lancaster.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 225 British bombers attack railroad facilities at [[Villeneuve St. George]], France, without loss to themselves.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 10–11 (overnight) – 789 British bombers strike railway targets at [[Tours]], [[Tergnier]], [[Laon]], and [[Aulnoye]], France, and [[Ghent]], [[Belgium]]. The Laon raid fails, but the other targets are heavily damaged. Nineteen of the bombers do not return.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 11–12 (overnight) – 352 British bombers raid [[Aachen]], Germany, losing nine aircraft (2.6 percent of the force). The most destructive attack on Aachen of World War II, the raid causes widespread damage and starts fires in central and southern Aachen and in the suburb of [[Burtscheid]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 12
** Fifth Air Force aircraft again attack Japanese airfields around Hollandia.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 36"/>
** American championship [[polo]] player [[Tommy Hitchcock, Jr.]], serving as a [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] in the U.S. Army Air Forces, dies when he is unable to pull out of a dive while testing a [[P-51 Mustang]] fighter and crashes near [[Salisburg]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]].
* April 16 – Fifth Air Force aircraft stage their final attack against Japanese airfields around Hollandia. They have essentially destroyed the Japanese force of 351 aircraft that had been on the airfields at the end of March.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, pp. 35-36"/>
* April 17 – [[Howard Hughes]] and [[Jack Frye]] set a new U.S. transcontinental speed record, piloting a new [[Lockheed L-049 Constellation]] from [[Burbank, California|Burbank]], [[California]], to [[Washington, D.C.]], in 6 hours 57 minutes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://twaflightattendants.com/liftoffhtml/historytimeline.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410102544/http://twaflightattendants.com/liftoffhtml/historytimeline.html|url-status=dead|title=TWA History Timeline|archive-date=April 10, 2015}}</ref>
* April 18 – [[AirSols|Air Solomons (AirSols)]] begins a very successful series of [[photographic reconnaissance]] flights over the [[Mariana Islands]]. The missions continue into June.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 164.</ref>
* April 18–19 (overnight) – 847 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Rouen]], [[Juvisy]], [[Noisy-Le-Sec]], and [[Tergnier]], France, losing 11 aircraft. Much destruction occurs at Rouen and the attack at Juvisy also is successful. The railway yards at Noisy-Le-Sec are so badly damaged that they will not be fully repaired until 1951, and bombs also destroy 750 and damage 2,000 houses, killing 464 French civilians and injuring 370; at Tergnier 50 rail lines are blocked, but most of the bombs fall on houses.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 19 – The British [[Eastern Fleet]] makes the first British air strike against Japanese-held territory as [[Fairey Barracuda|Barracudas]] and [[F4U Corsair|Corsairs]] from the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}} and [[Douglas SBD Dauntless|SBD Dauntlesses]] and [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcats]] from the U.S. carrier {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3}} raid [[Sabang, Indonesia|Sabang]], [[Sumatra]], damaging harbor facilities and destroying a [[radar]] station and Japanese aircraft on nearby airfields. One Hellcat is lost.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 124">Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 124.</ref>
* April 20 – The German [[Reich Air Ministry|RLM]] cancels all further engineering development of [[Heinkel]]'s never-completed [[Heinkel He 277|''8-277'']]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=179 }}</ref> designation competitor for the ''[[Amerikabomber]]'' trans-Atlantic strategic bomber design competition; with any completed airframe parts for the design ordered scrapped,<ref name="Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274">{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=203 }}</ref> despite the earlier late-Spring 1943 request by the RLM for a trio of prototypes and ten service test aircraft from Heinkel for the competition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=104 }}</ref>
* April 20–21 (overnight)
** 379 British bombers attack [[Cologne]], Germany, with the loss of four aircraft, all Lancasters. The raid damages 192 industrial buildings, 725 commercial buildings with attached dwellings, and seven railway stations and yards.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 654 British bombers raid railway yards at [[Ottignies]], [[Belgium]], and [[Chambly, Oise|Chambly]], La Chapelle, and [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]], France, mostly with success. Eight bombers are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 21 – German ''[[Generaloberst]]'' [[Hans-Valentin Hube]] dies in the crash of a [[Heinkel He 111]] at [[Ainring]], Germany.
* April 21–24 – Task Force 58 aircraft strike [[Wakde Airfield]], [[Battle of Lone Tree Hill|Sawar Airfield]] and [[Sarmi, Indonesia|Sarmi]], to neutralize the danger of air attack on the [[Battle of Hollandia]], plus direct attacks on enemy forces around [[Jayapura|Hollandia]], losing 21 aircraft. Since late March, U.S. air attacks against Hollandia have destroyed 340 Japanese aircraft on the ground in the area and shot down an estimated 50 more, with the Fifth Air Force strikes of late March and April certainly accounting for almost all of the Japanese losses.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, pp. 35-38">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 35–38.</ref>
* April 22–23 – Aircraft from eight U.S. Navy [[escort aircraft carrier]]s support U.S. [[amphibious landing]]s at Hollandia.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 69–70, 405.</ref>
* April 22–23 (overnight)
** 596 British bombers attack [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, dropping 2,150 [[long ton]]s (2,408 [[short ton]]s; 2,185 [[metric ton]]s) of bombs and inflicting much damage on the northern part of the city. German night fighters intercept them, and 29 bombers (4.9 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 265 British bombers attack [[Braunschweig]], Germany. For the first time, low-level target marking is used against a major German city, but the raid is unsiccessful because low clouds block the target markers from view and only some bombers hit the city center. Few German night fighters intercept the raid and only four bombers (1.5 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 181 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Laon]], France, inflicting severe damage. Nine bombers (5 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 23 – [[VR-3|Air Transport Squadron 3 (VR-3)]] initiates the U.S. Navy [[Naval Air Transport Service]]{{'}}s first scheduled hospital flight across the [[continental United States]], between [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[March Field]], [[California]].<ref name="vrc-50.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm |title=Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 -- 1999 |access-date=2012-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm |archive-date=2016-03-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* April 24 – The first [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] arrives in China, beginning the build-up by the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} Twentieth Air Force for a [[strategic bombing]] offensive against Japan.<ref name="Jablonski, Edward 1965, p. 274">Jablonski, Edward, ''Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1965, p. 274.</ref>
* April 24–25 (overnight)
** 637 British bombers attack [[Karlsruhe]], Germany, with the loss of 19 aircraft (3 percent of the force). Cloud cover over the target and winds pushing many aircraft north cause many bombs to fall outside of the city, and only its northern portions are damaged. One hundred of the bombers mistakenly bomb [[Mannheim]] 30 miles (48&nbsp;km) to the north, and misdirected bombs also land in [[Darmstadt]], [[Ludwigshafen]], and [[Heidelberg]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 260 British bombers strike [[Munich]], Germany, hitting the city center and doing much damage. Nine bombers are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 26–27 (overnight)
** 493 British bombers make an accurate attack on [[Essen]], Germany, losing seven of their number (1.4 percent of the force).<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 226 British bombers raid [[Schweinfurt]], Germany. Wind causes many of their bombs to fall outside the city, and German night fighters attack the bombers heavily; 21 bombers (9.3 percent of the force) are lost. Held in place by other crew members by his parachute shrouds[[Sergeant]] [[Norman Cyril Jackson|Norman Jackson]] climbs out of a hatch with a [[fire extinguisher]] to try to put out a fire in a wing fuel tank of his Lancaster, but is blown off the wing and parachutes safely, as does the rest of the crew; he is awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 227 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Villeneuve St. Georges]], France, losing one aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 27 – The only Japanese air reaction to the U.S. Hollandia landings—a night raid by three planes—torpedoes and damages a [[cargo ship]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 70–71.</ref>
* April 27–28 (overnight)
** 323 British bombers strike [[Friederichshafen]], Germany, in bright moonlight to improve their chances of hitting factories in the city, and various diversions prevent German night fighters from intercepting them until they arrive over the target. They drop 1,234 [[long ton]]s (1,382 [[short ton]]s; 1,254 [[metric ton]]s) of bombs and destroy 99 acres (40 hectares) of the city (two-thirds of its area), badly damaging several factories. After the World War II, the Germans say it was the most damaging raid on their [[tank]] production of the war. Eighteen bombers (5.6 percent of the force) do not return.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 223 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Aulnoye]], France, inflicting much damage. One bomber is lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 144 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Montzen]], Belgium, only damaging a portion of the yards. German night fighters intercept them, and 15 bombers are lost.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 28–29 – U.S. Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force bombers conduct large strikes against Japanese forces at [[Biak]], [[Wakde Airfield]], [[Battle of Lone Tree Hill|Sawar Airfield]] and [[Sarmi, Indonesia|Sarmi]], [[Western New Guinea campaign|Western New Guinea]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 96">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 96.</ref>
* April 28-May 6 – [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic Convoy]] [[Convoy RA 59|RA 59]] steams from the [[Kola Inlet]] in the [[Soviet Union]] to [[Loch Ewe]], Scotland. Aircraft from the escorting British aircraft carriers [[HMS Activity (D94)|HMS ''Activity'']] and {{HMS|Fencer|D64|6}} sink three German submarines, attack eight more, and shoot down a German [[Blohm und Voss BV 138|BV 138C]] [[flying boat]] during the voyage.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 105"/>
* April 28–29 (overnight)
** 92 British bombers raid an explosives factory at [[St. Médard En Jalles]], France, without loss, but are unsuccessful due to smoke and haze over the target.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
** 55 British bombers make an accurate attack an [[airframe]] factory at [[Oslo]], [[Norway]], without loss to themselves.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 29–30 – Task Force 58 aircraft attack [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]], shooting down 59 Japanese aircraft, destroying 34 on the ground, sinking over 20 small ships and craft in the harbor, and contributing to the sinking of a submarine, in exchange for the loss of 35 aircraft, 26 of them in combat. With only 12 serviceable aircraft left, Truk never again poses a threat to [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, pp. 35-38"/>
* April 29–30 – 132 British bombers make accurate attacks on the explosives factory at St. Médard En Jalles, France, and the [[Michelin]] [[tire]] factory at [[Clermont-Ferrand]], France, without loss to themselves.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
* April 30 – Flying an [[Vought OS2U Kingfisher|OS2U-3 Kingfisher]] from the battleship {{USS|North Carolina|BB-55}}, U.S. Navy [[Lieutenant]] John A. Burns rescues 10 downed airmen in [[Truk Lagoon]] in one day by loading them onto the wings of his [[floatplane]] and taxiing to the submarine {{USS|Tang|SS-306}}, which takes them aboard.<ref>Johnson, E. R., "Workhorse of the Fleet," ''Aviation History'', November 2011, p. 49.</ref>
* April 30-May 1 (overnight) – 399 British bombers strike railway yards at [[Somain, Nord|Somain]] and Achères, France, and a ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' ammunition dump at [[Maintenon]], France, with the loss of only one aircraft. The Somain raid misses the target, but the other two strikes are successful.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

===May===
* American aircraft have conducted four months of intensive bombing raids against Japanese forces on [[Mili Atoll]], losing 26 aircraft.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1984, p. 309"/>
* The German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' tests 50 [[Henschel Hs 117]] ''Schmetterling'' (butterfly) [[surface-to-air missile]]s, some of them dropped from a [[Heinkel He 111]] to test their viability as [[air-to-air missile]]s. Over half the missies fail, but mass production of the Hs 117 will be ordered in December.
* The [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] come into possession of a German manned, towed [[Focke-Achgelis Fa 330]] [[autogyro]] kite for the first time when they capture the submarine [[German submarine U-852|''U-852'']] intact with an Fa 330 stowed on board.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080104161307/http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/focke_achgelis.htm Focke-Achgelis Fa 330A-1 "Bachstelze"]&nbsp;— Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum article at the Internet Archive.  Retrieved 3 May 2012.</ref>
* May 1–2 (overnight) – 653 British bombers attack railway facilities at [[Mailines]] and [[Saint-Ghislain]], Belgium, and [[Chambly, Oise|Chambly]], France, and industrial targets at [[Lyon]], [[Toulouse]], and [[Tours]], France, with the loss of eight aircraft. The bombs are scattered at Malines, but the other strikes are accurate, and after 500 bomb hits the railway depot at Chambly is out of service for 10 days.<ref name=raf>{{Cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/may44.html |title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary May 1944 |access-date=2009-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409100024/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/may44.html |archive-date=2013-04-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* May 3–4 (overnight)
** 360 British bombers attack a German military camp outside [[Mailly]], France. German night fighters intercept them and 42 bombers (11.6 percent of the force) are shot down. The bombers drop 1,500 [[long ton]]s (1,689 [[short ton]]s; 1,524 [[metric ton]]s) of bombs very accurately, hitting 114 [[barracks]] buildings, 47 transport sheds, and some ammunition buildings and destroying 37 tanks and 65 other vehicles.<ref name=raf />
** 92 British bombers strike the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' airfield at [[Montdidier, Somme|Montdidier]], France, with the loss of four aircraft, causing much damage in the northern part of the airfield.<ref name=raf />
* May 6–7 (overnight) – 269 British bombers raid railway facilities at [[Mantes-la-Jolie]], France, and ammunition dumps at [[Sablé-sur-Sarthe]] and Aubigné, France. The latter two raids are successful, but at Mantes-la-Jolie most bombs hit towns and residential area rather than the railway yard. [[Air Commodore]] [[Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman]] is the second pilot aboard the only bomber lost on the Aubigné raid; he is captured by the Germans, who never realize his seniority and what intelligence they could have gathered from him.<ref name=raf />
* May 7 (4:45&nbsp;p.m. local time) – Seven passengers and crew members were killed when a USAAF B-25 bomber [[West Chester B-25 crash|crashed]] into [[Oaklands Cemetery]] in [[West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania|West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania]], after experiencing engine failure during a [[squall]]. The plane nose-dived into the ground and exploded, killing everyone on board. Newspapers reported no injuries on the ground.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1944-05-08 |title=Army Plane Crash Near West Chester Kills Seven |pages=1 |work=The News Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117515811/army-plane-crash-near-west-chester/ |access-date=2023-01-30}}</ref>
* May 7–8 (overnight) – 341 British bombers attack five targets in France with the loss of 10 aircraft. They damage airfields at [[Nantes]] and [[Tours]] and a German ammunition dump at [[Salbris]], but scatter their bombs onto a nearby village when attacking the airfield and an ammunition dump at [[Rennes]] and narrowly miss a [[coastal artillery]] position at [[St. Valery]].<ref name="raf" />
* May 8–9 (overnight) – 303 British bombers strike five targets in France with the loss of 11 aircraft. They damage railway yards and [[locomotive]] sheds at [[Haine St. Pierre]], an airfield and [[seaplane]] base at [[Lanveoc Poulmic]], and a coastal artillery position at [[Morsalines]], but score only one hit on a coastal gun position at [[Berneval-le-Grand]] and miss another coastal gun position at [[Cap Gris Nez]] entirely.<ref name="raf" />
* May 9–10 (overnight) – 521 British bombers raid targets in France with the loss of six aircraft. They hit four out of seven targeted coastal gun positions at Cap Gris Nez and a [[ball bearing]] factory at [[Annecy]] and attack factories at [[Gennevilliers]].<ref name=raf />
* May 10–11 (overnight) – 506 British bombers raid railway yards at [[Dieppe, Seine-Maritime|Dieppe]], [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]], and [[Lille]], France, and [[Courtrai]] and [[Ghent]], Belgium, with the loss of 12 aircraft. Results of the Dieppe raids are unknown, but the other strikes are successful.<ref name=raf />
* May 11 – A [[Focke-Achgelis Fa 223]] [[helicopter]] piloted by [[test pilot]] [[Karl Bode]] and ''Luftwaffe'' pilot [[Helmut Gerstenhauer]] begins operations to recover aa [[Dornier Do 217]] which had crashed on the Vehner [[Moorland|moor]] in [[Lower Saxony]], between [[Osnabrück]] and [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]], Germany, and another Fa 223 sent to retrieve the Do 217 which had crashed nearby before it could begin recovery operations. Bode and Gerstenhauer use a [[cargo net]] to recover all major components of both downed aircraft, providing the ''Luftwaffe'' with valuable experience in the possibility of using helicopters for transportation in mountainous areas.
* May 11–12 (overnight) – 693 British bombers strike a German military camp at [[Bourg Léopold]], Belgium; railway yards at [[Hasselt]], Belgium, and [[Boulogne]], Louvain, and [[Trouville, Seine-Maritime|Trouville]], France; and a gun position at [[Colline Beaumont]], France. The Bourg Léopold and Hasselt raids fail due to haze over the target, most of the Boulogne bombs hit housing and kill 128 French civilians, and the Colline Beaumont strike produces unclear results, but the Trouville attack is successful and the one at Louvain partially so.<ref name=raf />
* May 13 – The [[Messerschmitt Me 163]]B ''Komet'' rocket-powered interceptor begins service with the Luftwaffe's ''[[Erprobungskommando]] 16'' service test unit at [[Bad Zwischenahn]] with test interceptions of Allied bombers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/me163/units.htm |title=Me 163B Komet - Me 163 units - Erprobungskommando 16 (EK 16) |last1=de Bie |first1=Rob |website=robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/me163.htm |publisher=Rob de Bie |access-date=28 September 2013}}</ref>
* May 13–17 – U.S. Army Air Forces [[Fifth Air Force]] bombers carry out heavy strikes against Japanese forces in advance of invasions of [[Wakde Airfield]] and [[Battle of Lone Tree Hill|Sawar Airfield]], [[Western New Guinea campaign|Western New Guinea]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 96"/>
* May 14 – The German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' employs circling [[torpedo]]es in a predawn attack on Allied ships at [[Naples]], Italy, but scores no hits.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IX: Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943-June 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 376.</ref>
* May 15
** A raid by [[Fairey Barracuda]]s from the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} against the German [[battleship]] [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] anchored in Norway is recalled due to heavy cloud cover over the target area.<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, pp. 108–109.</ref>
** The U.S. Navy{{'}}s [[Naval Air Transport Service]] makes the first of 16 special [[transatlantic flight]]s to deliver naval [[Naval mine#Mine sweeping|minesweeping]] gear to the United Kingdom for use in the upcoming [[invasion of Normandy]]. When the deliveries are completed on May 23, the aircraft will have delivered 165,000 pounds (74,844&nbsp;kg) of gear.<ref name="vrc-50.org"/>
* May 17
** 99 [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} Fifth and [[Thirteenth Air Force|Thirteenth]] air forces strike [[Biak]]. On every day but one thereafter through the U.S. [[amphibious landing]]s on Biak on May 27, the two air forces will conduct almost daily raids on Biak and the [[Vogelkop]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 106–107.</ref>
** Aircraft from the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}} and U.S. carrier {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3}} strike the [[oil refinery]] at [[Surabaya]], [[Java]].<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 124"/>
* May 20 – American aircraft raid [[Marcus Island]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 220">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 220.</ref>
* May 24 – American aircraft raid [[Wake Island]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 220"/>
* May 27 – The Japanese launch only minor air attacks against U.S. forces landing at Biak, damaging a [[submarine chaser]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 113–114.</ref>
* May 29 – The [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Block Island|CVE-21}} is torpedoed and sunk near the [[Azores]] by a German [[submarine]]. She is the only [[United States Navy]] [[aircraft carrier]] lost in the Atlantic Ocean.

===June===
* Flying in the [[Pacific]] and to [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[South America]], and parts of [[Asia]], the U.S. Navy{{'}}s [[Naval Air Transportation Service]] operates more than 200 planes and transports 22,500 passengers and 8.3&nbsp;million pounds (3,764,855&nbsp;kg) of cargo per month.<ref>Niderost, Eric, "Clippers to the Rescue," ''Aviation History'', November 2012, p. 32.</ref>
* June 1 – Two U.S. Navy [[K class blimp|K-class]] [[blimp]]s of [[ZP-14|Airship Patrol Squadron 14 (ZP-14)]], ''K-123'' and ''K-130'', arrive at [[Kenitra Airport|Craw Field]] in [[Kenitra|Port Lyautey]], [[French Morocco]], to complete the first [[transatlantic flight]] by [[non-rigid airship]]s. Departing [[South Weymouth, Massachusetts|South Weymouth]], [[Massachusetts]], on 28 May 1944, they have made the crossing via [[Naval Station Argentia]] in the [[Dominion of Newfoundland]] and [[Lagens Field]] in the [[Azores]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.naval-airships.org/resources/documents/NAN_vol93_no2_KShips_feature.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217071129/http://naval-airships.org/resources/documents/NAN_vol93_no2_KShips_feature.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* June 1–2 (overnight) – 167 British bombers raid German targets in France, striking the radio-listening station at [[Ferme d'Urville]] and the railway junction at [[Saumur]] without loss. The Ferme d'Urville attack is unsuccessful, but the Saumur raid inflicts severe damage.<ref name=raf />
* June 2 – 54 Japanese planes attack U.S. landing forces off [[Biak]], losing 12 of their number and inflicting almost no damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 119.</ref>
* June 2–3 (overnight)
** 235 British bombers attack the railway yards at [[Trappes]], France, and the German radar-jamming station at [[Berneval-le-Grand]], France. The Trappes raid is only partly successful and loses 16 bombers (12.5 percent of the force sent there, while the Berneval-le-Grand strike is very accurate and returns without loss.<ref name=raf />
** To divert German attention from the coast of [[Normandy]], where the upcoming [[Invasion of Normandy|invasion]] will take place, 271 British bombers attack four German [[coastal artillery]] sites in the [[Pas-de-Calais]], with one of the raids hitting its target accurately. One bomber does not return.<ref name=raf />
* June 3
** Air attacks in support of the upcoming U.S. [[amphibious landing]]s in the [[Mariana Islands]] begin with a raid by [[Southwest Pacific]] land-based planes against [[Palau]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 174">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 174.</ref>
** 41 Japanese planes attack U.S. landing forces off Biak, losing 11 of their number without inflicting any serious damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 120, 122.</ref>
* June 3–4 (overnight)
** 100 British bombers destroy the German radio-listening station at Ferme d'Urville, France, with the loss of no aircraft.<ref name=raf />
** 135 British bombers make accurate diversionary attacks on German coastal artillery sites in the Pas-de-Calais and at [[Wimereux]] without loss to themselves.<ref name=raf />
* June 4 – 34 Japanese aircraft attack an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] task force of [[cruiser]]s and [[destroyer]]s as it approaches Biak, but inflict only slight damage. Four more make a torpedo strike overnight, but miss.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 124.</ref>
* June 4–5 (overnight) – 259 British bombers raid three German coastal gun positions in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] as a diversion and one at [[Grandcamp-Maisy|Maisy]] in Normandy in direct support of the imminent invasion. The Maisy raid and two of those in the Pas-de-Calais are hampered by cloud cover, but the attack on the gun position at [[Calais]] is accurate. All bombers return safely.<ref name=raf />
* June 5
** Two Japanese bombers make a destructive strike against about a hundred Allied aircraft paired wingtip-to-wingtip at [[Wakde]], putting the base out of action for several days.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 124–125.</ref>
** The [[B-29 Superfortress]] flies its first combat mission; 98 B-29s take off from bases in India and attack [[railroad]] shops in [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]]. Five are lost, none to enemy action.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 60.</ref>
* June 5–6 (overnight) – Bomber Command dispatches 1,012 British bombers to strike numerous German coastal artillery positions in France in direct support of the Normandy invasion scheduled for the morning of June 6. Of these, 946 carry out their bombing missions, dropping 5,000 [[long ton]]s (5,600 [[short ton]]s; 5,080 [[metric ton]]s) of bombs, the largest tonnage of bombs Bomber Command aircraft has dropped in a single night thus far in World War II. The aircraft have to bomb through clouds at all but two of the gun sites. Another 168 bombers conduct various diversionary and support missions. Total Bomber Command losses for the night are eight aircraft.<ref name=raf />
* June 6 – "[[D-Day]]" – The [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] invasion of France is spearheaded by [[paratrooper]] drops and assault glider landings. The ''Luftwaffe'' offers almost no resistance to the invasion.
* June 6–7 (overnight) – 1,067 British aircraft of Bomber Command attack German [[lines of communication]] behind the area of the Normandy invasion, losing 11 bombers. The bombers raid several French towns, and much damage is done to railways and town centers, where roads are blocked by rubble.<ref name=raf />
* June 7–8 (overnight)
** 337 British bombers accurately strike French railway yards at Achères, [[Juvisy]], [[Massy, Essonne|Massy-Palaiseau]], and [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]]. German night fighters intercept them and 28 bombers (8.3 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name=raf />
** 122 British bombers raid a six-way road junction in Normandy with the loss of two aircraft. The raid is accurate.<ref name=raf />
* June 8
** Ten U.S. Army Air Forces [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchells]] escorted by [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]] attack a force of six Japanese destroyers northwest of [[Manokwari]], [[New Guinea]], sinking one and damaging three.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 126.</ref>
** Off [[Normandy]], a German [[Heinkel He 177]] badly damages the U.S. Navy destroyer {{USS|Meredith|DD-726}}, which breaks in half and sinks the next day.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 170.</ref>
** ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' [[Flying ace|ace]] [[Herbert Huppertz]] is shot down and killed over Normandy near [[Caen]], [[France]]. He is credited with 68 aerial victories.
* June 8–9 (overnight)
** 483 British bombers successfully raid French railway yards at [[Alençon]], [[Fougères]], [[Mayenne]], [[Pontabault]], and [[Rennes]] to stop German ground reinforcements from approaching the invasion area in Normandy; losing four aircraft.<ref name=raf />
** The Royal Air Force uses its 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) "[[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]]" bomb in combat for the first time in a hastily organized attack by 25 Lancasters of Bomber Command{{'}}s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] – supported by seven other bombers – on a railroad tunnel near [[Saumur]], France, to block a German panzer unit from using it. One penetrates the roof of the tunnel, which is blocked for a considerable time.<ref name=raf /> The Tallboy differs from the earlier RAF 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) bomb introduced in 1943 in having a much stronger casing that allows it to penetrate the earth before exploding.
* June 9 – Allied land-based aircraft strike Japanese airfields on [[Peleliu]], [[Woleai]], and [[Yap]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 174"/>
* June 9–10 (overnight) – 410 British bombers make accurate strikes on German airfields at [[Flers, Orne|Flers]], [[Le Mans]], [[Laval, Isère|Laval]], and [[Rennes]], France, losing two aircraft. Another 112 bombers raid the railway junction at [[Étampes]], France, but are unsuccessful because their bombs creep back from the railroad into town. Six bombers are lost on the Étampes raid.<ref name=raf />
* June 10
** Flying from Italy carrying one 1,000-lb (454-kg) bomb each, 46 [[P-38 Lightning]] fighters of the U.S. Army Air Forces [[82nd Fighter Group]] make a very-long-range fighter-bomber attack on the [[Romanian-American Oil Refinery]] at [[Ploiești]], [[Romania]]. They destroy 23 German aircraft in exchange for the loss of 22 P-38s.<ref name="definitive266"/>
** A Royal Air Force [[RAF Second Tactical Air Force|Second Tactical Air Force]] [[RAF raid on La Caine HQ|attack]] by between 40 and 42 [[Hawker Typhoon]]s and 61 [[North American B-25 Mitchell|North American Mitchells]] on the headquarters of the German Army's [[Panzer Group West]] in [[La Caine]], [[Normandy]], wounds its commander, ''[[General der Panzertruppe]]'' [[Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg]], and kills his chief of staff, ''[[Generalmajor]]'' [[Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans]], and 17 other staff officers. Thirty-three [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfires]] escort the attacking aircraft.<ref name=CitinoJulyAugust2016>Citino, Robert M., "Danger Zone," ''World War II History'', July–August 2016, p. 26.</ref>
* June 10–11 – 432 British bombers attack French railway facilities at Achères, [[Dreux]], [[Orléans]], and Versailles, France, losing 18 aircraft.<ref name=raf />
* June 11 – 216 aircraft from the 15 aircraft carriers of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 attack Japanese bases on [[Guam]], [[Saipan]], and [[Tinian]], destroying 36 Japanese aircraft.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 174"/> Tinian will remain under almost daily U.S. air attack for the next six weeks.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 353.</ref>
* June 11–12 (overnight) – 329 British bombers attack French railway facilities at [[Évreux]], [[Massy, Essonne|Massy-Palaiseau]], [[Nantes]], and [[Tours]], France, losing four aircraft.<ref name=raf />
* June 12
** Japanese aircraft cripple a U.S. destroyer off Biak.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, pp. 35-38"/>
** U.S. carrier aircraft from [[Task Group]] 58.4 attack a Japanese [[convoy]] north-northwest of Saipan, sinking 10 out of 12 [[merchant ship]]s, a [[torpedo boat]], three [[submarine chaser]]s, and a number of [[fishing vessel]]s.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 175">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 175.</ref>
** The Japanese [[submarine]] [[Japanese submarine I-10|''I-10'']] uses a [[Yokosuka E14Y]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Glen") [[floatplane]] stored disassembled in cylinders on her deck to recconoitre [[Majuro]]. It finds nothing and is abandoned after it crashes upon return to ''I-10''.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 229.</ref>
** England suffers its first [[V1 flying bomb]] attacks.
** German ''[[General of the Artillery (Germany)|General der Artillerie]]'' [[Erich Marcks]], commander of the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]]'s LXXXIV Corps, is mortally wounded by an Allied [[fighter-bomber]] attack in France. He dies later in the day.<ref name=CitinoJulyAugust2016/>
* June 12–13 – Task Force 58 aircraft attack Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, destroying almost all Japanese aircraft there, sinking a naval [[Auxiliary ship|auxiliary]] and an entire flotilla of [[sampan]]s, and damaging a [[cargo ship]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 175"/>
* June 12–13 (overnight)
** 671 British bombers raid [[lines of communication]] at [[Amiens]], [[Arras]], [[Caen]], [[Cambrai]], and [[Poitiers]], France, with the loss of 23 aircraft. The Amiens, Arras, and especially the Poitiers raids are accurate, the Cambrai raid mistakenly hits the town in addition to the target, and the Caen raid scatters its bombs. On the Cambrai raid, [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[Pilot Officer]] [[Andrew Mynarski]] of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]′s [[No. 419 Squadron RCAF|No. 419 Squadron]] suffers fatal burns while unsuccessfully trying to free his Lancaster's trapped tail gunner before bailing out after a German [[Junkers Ju 88]]C night fighter attack and is posthumously awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name=raf /><ref>[Gordon, Bob, "Mynarski Memorial Lancaster," ''Aviation History'', November 2017, p. 14.</ref>
** Royal Air Force Bomber Command makes its first raid of a new [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] strategic bombing [[Oil Campaign of World War II|campaign]] against the German oil industry when 303 bombers strike the Nordstern [[synthetic oil]] plant at [[Gelsenkirchen]], Germany, causing production at the plant to cease for several weeks. Seventeen bombers (6.1 percent of the force) are lost.<ref name=raf />
* June 14 – As an experiment, RAF Bomber Command tries its first daylight raid since May 1943, with 234 bombers making an evening attack on the harbor at [[Le Havre]], France, with 1,230 [[long ton]]s (1,378 [[short ton]]s, 1,250 [[metric ton]]s) – including 22 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) Tallboy bombs dropped by [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] targeting the [[Schnellboot|S-boat]] pens – to disrupt attacks on the Normandy invasion force by small German naval craft. The raid sinks the German torpedo boats ''Falke'', ''Jaguar'', and {{ship|German torpedo boat|Möwe||2}}, 10 S-boats, 15 [[R boat|R-boats]], several patrol and harbor vessels, and 11 other small craft and badly damages other vessels. [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] fighters escort the bombers, and only one bomber is shot down.<ref name=raf /><ref name="operations191">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 191.</ref>
* June 14–15 – Task Force 58 carrier aircraft strike the [[Volcano Islands]], Guam, Saipan, and Tinian.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 178.</ref>
* June 14–15 (overnight)
** Flying a [[De Havilland|Mosquito]] of [[No. 605 Squadron RAF|No. 605 Squadron]], Royal Air Force [[Flight Lieutenant]] J. G. Musgrave becomes the first pilot to shoot down a [[V-1 flying bomb]].
** 337 British bombers attack French railway yards at [[Cambrai]], [[Douai]], and St. Pol, losing four aircraft, and another 330 conduct a hastily prepared strike against German troop concentrations and vehicle at [[Aunay-sur-Odon]] and [[Évrecy]] in Normandy without loss. Cloud cover and haze interferes with the railway attacks, but the attacks against German troops are successful.<ref name=raf />
* June 15
** The [[United States Army Air Forces]]{{'}} [[Twentieth Air Force]] begins the [[strategic bombing]] offensive against Japan, with China-based [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortresses]] [[Bombing of Yawata|attacking Yawata]] (now [[Kitakyūshū]]) on [[Kyūshū]]. It is the second air raid against the [[Japanese archipelago|Japanese Home Islands]] in history, and the first since the [[Doolittle Raid]] of April 1942.<ref name="Jablonski, Edward 1965, p. 274"/>
** U.S. forces [[amphibious landing|land]] on [[Saipan]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 186.</ref>
** Carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy [[Task Group]]s 58.1 and 58.4 strike [[Chichi Jima]], [[Haha Jima]], and [[Iwo Jima]], shooting down 10 Japanese aircraft, destroying seven on the ground and 21 [[seaplane]]s on the water, and setting fire to three small [[cargo ship]]s and a [[hangar]]. Three U.S. aircraft are lost.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 239.</ref>
** Japanese [[torpedo bomber]]s attack Task Force 58, inflicting no damage and suffering heavy losses.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 178–179.</ref>
** In another daylight raid, 297 aircraft of [[RAF Bomber Command]] strike the harbor at [[Boulogne]], France, at dusk with the loss of one bomber, sinking 25 German [[R boat|R-boats]] and small craft and damaging 10 others, completing the destruction of the German naval surface forces threatening the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] landings at Normandy. Great damage to the harbor and surrounding areas is reported on what the French describe as the most destructive raid on Boulogne of World War II.<ref name=raf /><ref name="operations191"/>
* June 15–16 (overnight) 451 British bombers attack German supply dumps at [[Fouillard]] and [[Châtellerault]], France, and railway yards at [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]] and [[Valenciennes]], France, losing 11 aircraft. The raids strike all or part of their targets, and the two railway raids are particularly successful.<ref name=raf />
* June 16
** 54 carrier aircraft of Task Groups 58.1 and 58.4 strike Iwo Jima, claiming 63 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground for the loss of one U.S. aircraft. Aircraft of other Task Force 58 task groups strike Japanese airfields on [[Guam]] and [[Tinian]] in an effort to neutralize them, but are unsuccessful in the face of strong [[Antiaircraft artillery|antiaircraft]] defenses.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 205, 240.</ref>
** The incomplete Italian aircraft carrier [[Italian aircraft carrier Aquila|''Aquila'']] is damaged in an Allied air raid on [[Genoa]].<ref name="New York 1980, p. 291">Chesneau, Roger, ed., ''Conway{{'}}s all the World{{'}}s Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', New York: Mayflower Books, 1980, {{ISBN|0-8317-0303-2}}, p. 291.</ref>
** ''Luftwaffe'' ace ''[[Hauptmann]]'' [[Josef Wurmheller|Josef "Sepp" Wurmheller]] claims his final three kills, pushing his total to 102 aerial victories. He becomes the 80th ''Luftwaffe'' pilot to reach 100 victories.
* June 16–17 (overnight) – 405 British bombers begin an RAF Bomber Command campaign against German [[V-1 flying bomb]] launching sites with successful attacks on four sites in the [[Pas-de-Calais]], losing no aircraft. Another 321 bombers continue the bombing [[Oil Campaign of World War II|campaign]] against the German oil industry, attacking the synthetic oil plant at [[Oberhausen]], Germany, but scatter their bombs and suffer the loss of 21 bombers shot down by German night fighters and 10 by antiaircraft guns.<ref name=raf />
* June 17
** 35 carrier aircraft of U.S. Task Group 58.4 strike the Japanese airfield on [[Pagan Island]], finding no aircraft but damaging several buildings.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 240.</ref>
** Japanese aircraft attack American warships off Saipan, damaging the [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Fanshaw Bay|CVE-70}}.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 207.</ref>
** ''[[Generalleutnant]]'' [[Heinz Hellmich]], the commander of the German Army's [[German 243rd Static Infantry Division|243rd Infantry Division]] is killed by 20-mm cannon shells during an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air attack in [[Cherbourg Naval Base]], France.<ref name=CitinoJulyAugust2016/>
* June 18 – An Allied fighter-bomber's 20-mm cannon shells kill German Army ''Generalleutnant'' [[Rudolf Stegmann]], commander of the Germany Army's [[77th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|77th Infantry Division]], during an air attack in Normandy.<ref name=CitinoJulyAugust2016/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.axishistory.com/axis-nations/150-germany-heer/heer-divisionen/3773-77-infanterie-division|title=77. Infanterie-Division|website=www.axishistory.com}}</ref>
* June 19–23 – [[Kwajalein Island|Kwajalein]]-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] fly daily high-altitude bombing raids against [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 313">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 313.</ref>
* June 19 – The largest aircraft carrier battle in history and the first since October 1942, the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]], begins in the [[Philippine Sea]] west of Guam, pitting 15 American aircraft carriers of Task Force 58 with 891 aircraft and 65 [[battleship]]- and [[cruiser]]-based [[floatplane]]s against nine Japanese carriers with 430 aircraft and 43 battleship- and cruiser-based floatplanes, supported by Japanese land-based aircraft in the Mariana Islands and at more distant bases. During ineffective Japanese air strikes against the American carrier force during the day, in U.S. air attacks on Japanese bases in the Marianas, and in losses due to other causes, the Japanese lose about 315 aircraft in what American pilots name the "[[Great Marianas Turkey Shoot]];" Japanese carrier aviation never recovers from the disaster. Flying an [[F6F Hellcat]] of [[VF-16|Fighter Squadron 16 (VF-16)]] from the aircraft carrier {{USS|Lexington|CV-16}}, U.S. Navy fighter pilot [[Alexander Vraciu]] shoots down six Japanese aircraft in eight minutes.<ref name="vraciu">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alex-vraciu-navy-flying-ace-in-the-pacific-during-world-war-ii-dies-at-96/2015/02/10/68081aa2-b13b-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html|title=Alex Vraciu, Navy flying ace in the Pacific during World War II, dies at 96|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> The Americans lose only 29 aircraft. Also during the day, the U.S. submarine {{USS|Albacore|SS-218}} sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Taihō|''Taihō'']], and the submarine {{USS|Cavalla|SS-244}} sinks the carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku|''Shōkaku'']].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 277–282.</ref>
* June 17–18 (overnight) – 317 British bombers attack French railway yards at [[Aulnoye]], [[Montdidier, Somme|Montdidier]], and [[St. Martin l'Hortier]] with the loss of one aircraft, and another 114 strike [[Oisemont]]. Cloud cover makes the raids unsuccessful. Bad weather and cloud cover makes successful raids impossible for the next three days.<ref name=raf />
* June 20
** On the second and final day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, U.S. 216 Task Force 58 aircraft make the only raid of the battle against the Japanese fleet at extremely long range at sunset, sinking the aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyō|''Hiyō'']] and damaging the aircraft carriers [[Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku|''Zuikaku'']] and [[Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda|''Chiyoda'']], battleship [[Japanese battleship Haruna|''Haruna'']], and [[heavy cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Maya|''Maya'']]. In addition to 20 aircraft missing and presumed shot down, Task Force 58 loses 80 planes, which ditch due to fuel exhaustion or crash while attempting night landings on U.S. carriers. During the day, the Japanese lose another 65 carrier aircraft, leaving them with only 35;<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 290–304.</ref> during the two days of battle, they have lost 476 carrier- and land-based aircraft and battleship- and cruiser-based floatplanes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 321.</ref> Flying an F6F Hellcat of Fighter Squadron 16 (VF-16) from the aircraft carrier USS ''Lexington'' (CV-16), U.S. Navy fighter pilot [[Alexander Vraciu]] shoots down another Japanese aircraft; the victory brings his kill total to 19, making him the leading U.S. Navy ace at the time.<ref name="vraciu"/>
** [[Los Negros]]-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] of the [[Thirteenth Air Force]] bomb [[Woleai]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 313"/>
** Allied aircraft begin concentrated attacks on Japanese forces on [[Noemfoor]]. By July 1, they will have dropped about 800 tons (725,755&nbsp;kg) of bombs on the island.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 136.</ref>
** [[TWA Flight 277|Transcontinental and Western Airways Flight 277]], a [[C-54 Skymaster]], crashes into [[Fort Mountain (Maine)|Fort Mountain]] in [[Piscataquis County, Maine|Piscataquis County]], [[Maine]], killing all seven people on board.
* June 21
** 322 British bombers attempt to attack three German [[V-1 flying bomb]] launching sites in France, but fail due to heavy cloud cover.<ref name=raf />
** [[Copa Airlines]] is founded as the national airline of [[Panama]]. It will begin flight operations in [[1947 in aviation#August|August 1947]].
* June 21–22 (overnight) – 271 British bombers raid German synthetic oil plants at [[Wesseling]] and [[Gelsenkirchen]], Germany. German night fighters intercept them, and 45 bombers are lost. The raids have limited success due to complete low cloud cover over the targets.<ref name=raf />
* June 22
** The escort carriers {{USS|Manila Bay|CVE-61}} and {{USS|Natoma Bay|CVE-62}} [[Aircraft catapult|catapult]] U.S. Army Air Forces [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt|P-47 Thunderbolts]] of the [[19th Fighter Squadron]] off for use at [[Isely Field]] on Saipan. The first Allied aircraft to be based ashore in the Mariana Islands, the P-47s are in action a few hours later, making rocket strikes against targets on Tinian.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 209.</ref>
** Los Negros-based U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberators of the Thirteenth Air Force again strike Woleai.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 313"/>
** A Truk-based Japanese [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Betty") damages the American battleship {{USS|Maryland|BB-46}} off Saipan with a torpedo.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 328.</ref>
** ''Luftwaffe'' ace ''Hauptmann'' Josef "Sepp" Wurmheller and his [[wingman]] are killed when their [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] fighters collide during combat with [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt|P-47 Thunderbolts]] and [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfires]] over [[Normandy]] near [[Alençon]], [[France]]. He is credited with 102 aerial victories.
* June 23–27 – Los Negros-based U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberators of the Thirteenth Air Force fly an average of 21 daily bombing sorties against [[Yap]]. Two are shot down and 21 damaged.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 313"/>
* June 23–24 (overnight) through July 6–7 (overnight) – Japanese aircraft in small numbers conduct night raids against U.S. Navy forces off Saipan, damaging several [[amphibious warfare]] and [[auxiliary ship]]s.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 328–329.</ref>
* June 24 – Attempting to strike Iwo Jima, [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcats]] of U.S. Navy Task Group 58.1 are intercepted by Japanese aircraft, shooting down 29 of them in exchange for six Hellcats. Iwo Jima-based Japanese aircraft fly three ineffective raids against the task group during the day, losing another 37 planes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 312.</ref>
* June 24–25 – The [[Luftwaffe]] makes its first operational use of the "[[Mistel]]" composite aircraft, against Allied shipping in [[Seine Bay]].

===July===
* [[Eniwetok]]-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] bomb Truk almost daily. [[Southwest Pacific]]-based bombers raid [[Woleai]] and [[Yap]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 354">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 354.</ref>
* July 1
** 228 bombers of [[Royal Air Force]] [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] bomb two German [[V-1 flying bomb]] launch sites and a stores site, losing one bomber, a [[Handley Page Halifax]]. Due to cloud cover, results of the bombing are not observed.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul44.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611031257/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jul44.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary July 1944|archive-date=June 11, 2007}}</ref>
** Due to poor-quality [[wing]] fittings on F3A-1 Corsairs, the designation for [[Vought F4U Corsair|F4U Corsairs]] manufactured by the [[Brewster Aeronautical Corporation]], the [[United States Navy]] cancels its contract with Brewster for Corsairs after the completion of 735 aircraft. F3A-1s have operated under speed and maneuvering restrictions after several have lost their wings in flight, and no F3A-1 is destined to operate with front-line units.<ref>Polmar, Norman, "A Lackluster Performance, Part II," ''Naval History'', June 2017, p. 62.</ref>
* July 2
** An [[Imperial Japanese Army]] [[Tachikawa Ki-77]] begins a flight to break the world endurance record. Flying a closed-circuit triangular route off [[Manchuria]], it sets a new record by landing 57 hours 9 minutes later, having covered 16,435 kilometers (10,206 miles) at an average speed of 288.2&nbsp;km/h (179.0&nbsp;mph).
** 384 British bombers attack three German [[V-weapons|V-weapon]] sites. Due to cloud cover, results of the bombing are not observed, but bombs appear to have been concentrated on the targets. All bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** The U.S. Navy [[blimp]] ''[[K-class blimp|K-14]]'' crashes into the [[Gulf of Maine]] while searching for a German submarine, killing six of her 10-man crew. Although witnesses report hearing explosions and gunfire around the time of the crash and investigators find evidence of the blimp receiving damage from [[anti-aircraft]] fire, suggesting that ''K-14'' had been shot down by a German submarine, the U.S. Navy blames the crash on [[pilot error]] and orders ''K-14''′s surviving crew members not to discuss the incident further.<ref>Lyons, Chuck, "Controversial Crash of ''K-14''," ''Aviation History'', November 2017, pp. 62–64.</ref>
* July 4 – 328 British bombers attack three German V-1 sites. Despite some cloud cover, at least two of the sites are believed to have been bombed accurately. All bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 4–5 (overnight)
** 246 British bombers attack the underground V-1 site at [[Saint-Leu-d'Esserent]], [[France]], using 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs in an attempt to cut all German communications with the site. The attack is accurate, but German fighters intercept and shoot down 13 bombers.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 287 British bombers attack railway yards at [[Orléans]] and [[Villeneuve-Saint-Georges|Villeneuve]], France. Fourteen bombers are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 5 – After a [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightning]] tows it into the air, the [[Northrop XP-79#Design and development|MX-324]] becomes the first American rocket-powered aircraft to fly under its own power.<ref>Mondey, David, ed., ''The Complete Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Aircraft'', Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, {{ISBN|0-89009-771-2}}, p. 89.</ref>
* July 5–6 (overnight)
** 542 British bombers attack two V-1 flying bomb launch sites and two storage sites, hitting all targets on a clear, moonlit night. Four bombers, all [[Avro Lancaster]]s, are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 154 British Lancasters heavily bomb the main railway yards at [[Dijon]], France, heavily. All bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 6 – 550 British bombers and one Royal Air Force [[North American P-51 Mustang|Mustang]] attack five V-weapon sites, with at least four of them bombed accurately. One aircraft, a Halifax, is lost. After the raid, four officers of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No. 617 Squadron]] – [[Wing commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] [[Leonard Cheshire]] and [[Flight Lieutenant]]s J. C. McCarthy, K. L. Munro, and [[Dave Shannon]] – are ordered to leave the squadron and rest. Cheshire, who has completed four tours and 100 operations, will never fly in combat again, but will receive the [[Victoria Cross]] two months later for his courage and work in developing low-level target marking during his Bomber Command service.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 7 – 467 British Bomber Command aircraft accurately drop 2,267 [[long ton]]s (2,303 [[metric ton]]s) of bombs on northern [[Caen]], France, and nearby open ground in an evening raid in an effort to assist British and Canadian ground forces in breaking through German defenses in Normandy. The attack kills few Germans and destroys Caen{{'}}s northern suburbs, but nearby German forces are badly shaken. German [[anti-aircraft artillery]] shoots down one Lancaster, and two other Lancasters and a [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquito]] crash in Normandy behind [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] lines.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 7–8 (overnight)
** 221 British bombers attack an underground V-1 flying bomb storage dump at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, France, blocking access to the stored bombs by targeting the mouths of tunnels and the roads to them. German [[night fighter]]s intercept the bombers, and 31 bombers (14 percent of the attacking force) are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 128 British bombers accurately bomb the railway yards at [[Vaires-sur-Marne]], France, without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 8
** The second [[B-29 Superfortress]] raid on Japan attacks four cities on [[Kyūshū]] from bases in China.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces′ Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 66.</ref>
** The U.S. Army Air Forces [[15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force#History|Fifteenth Air Force]]'s [[55th Fighter Wing|55th Bomb Wing]] B-17s bomb the [[Heinkel|''Heinkel-Süd'' factory airfield]] in [[Zwölfaxing]], [[Austria]], destroying the third prototype (''V103'') of the [[Heinkel He 177#Further development: the Heinkel He 177B|Heinkel He 177B]] four-engined bomber and possibly damaging the incomplete fourth prototype (''V104'') of the He 177B.<ref>{{cite book |title=Heinkel He 177-277-274 |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, England |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |page=170 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ww2.dk/Airfields%20-%20Austria%20%5B1937%20Borders%5D.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824185848/http://www.ww2.dk/Airfields%20-%20Austria%20%5B1937%20Borders%5D.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2014 |title=Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45, Austria (1937 Borders) |access-date=October 20, 2019 |last=deZeng |first=Henry L. |pages=43–44 }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020032/http://www.usaaf.net/chron/44/jul44.htm Archived "Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces, July 1944."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527104023/http://www.usaaf.net/chron/44/jul44.htm |date=2013-05-27 }} ''usaaf.net''. Retrieved: 2 December 2012.</ref>
** [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] aircraft from the British [[Merchant Aircraft Carrier]] (or "MAC-ship") [[MV Empire MacCallum|MV ''Empire MacCallum'']] mistakenly sink the [[Free French]] [[submarine]] [[French submarine La Perle|''La Perle'']]. It is the only time that MAC-ship-based aircraft sink a submarine.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 105"/>
* July 9 – 347 British bombers attack six V-weapon launch sites. Most of the bombs are scattered due to cloud cover. One Lancaster and one Halifax do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 10 – 233 British bombers attack a V-1 flying bomb storage dump at [[Nucourt]], France, but their bombs are scattered due to cloud cover. All of the bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 11
** In a raid on a V-1 flying bomb site at [[Grapennes]], France, 26 British Lancasters make the first "heavy [[Oboe (navigation)|Oboe]]" raid of World War II. In this new technique, a Lancaster fitted with Oboe rather than a Mosquito leads the heavy bombers to the target, with other bombers in its formation dropping their bombs when it does, allowing a greater tonnage of bombs to be dropped directly on Oboe signals. The new tactic becomes Bomber Command{{'}}s most accurate, allowing effective bombing of small targets like V-1 sites even through clouds. All of the Lancasters and all six Mosquitos which attack the same target separately return without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** A [[USAAF]] [[Douglas A-26 Invader]] [[South Portland A-26 Invader crash|crashes]] in late afternoon fog into a temporary [[trailer park]] in [[South Portland, Maine]] on approach to Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport (now [[Portland International Jetport]]), killing both men on board. On the ground, 17 people are killed and 20 are injured.
* July 12
** 222 British bombers attack a storage dump at [[Thiverny]], France, through cloud cover with unknown results. No aircraft are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 159 British bombers attempt an attack on railway yards at Vaires-sur-Marne, France, but the Master Bomber calls off the attack after only 12 Lancasters have dropped their bombs due to cloud cover over the target. No aircraft are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 12–13 (overnight)
** 385 aircraft of British Bomber Command attack railway targets at [[Culmont]], [[Tours]], and [[Revigny]], France, with the first two bombed accurately but half the bombers sent to Revigny unable to attack due to cloud cover over the target. Twelve bombers are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 230 British bombers strike four V-1 flying bomb launch sites accurately, losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 13 – Because of an error in navigation by a 7 ''Staffel''/[[NJG 2]] [[Junkers Ju 88]]G-1 night fighter, both the [[Lichtenstein radar#FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2|Lichtenstein SN-2]] VHF-band AI radar system and the [[Flensburg radar detector]], meant to detect emissions from RAF Bomber Command aircraft using the [[Monica (radar)|''Monica'' tail warning radar]] are compromised to the Allies, as the 7./NJG 2 Ju 88G-1 night fighter equipped with them is captured after it lands at [[RAF Woodbridge]] by mistake, the first such examples of both previously unknown German night fighter combat [[avionics]] systems to fall into Allied hands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/HornDavid/9335.htm |title=DAVID HORN COLLECTION, No. 9335. Junkers Ju 88 G-1 (TP190 c/n 712273) Royal Air Force |author=unknown |date=October 31, 2009 |publisher=1000aircraftphotos.com |access-date=July 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Alfred |date=1967 |title=Aircraft in Profile No.148 — The Junkers Ju 88 Night Fighters |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/103258739/aircraft-profile-no-148-the-junkers-ju-88-night-fighters |location=Leatherhead, Surrey UK |publisher=Profile Publications, Ltd. |pages=12, 13 |access-date=April 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329184402/http://www.scribd.com/doc/103258739/aircraft-profile-no-148-the-junkers-ju-88-night-fighters |archive-date=March 29, 2014 }}</ref>
* July 14 – [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff]] [[General]] [[Henry H. Arnold|Henry H. "Hap" Arnold]] recommends to joint planners that the United States capture the island of Iwo Jima to provide an emergency landing strip for [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] heavy bombers and a base for [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustang]] fighters for the [[strategic bombing]] campaign against Japan.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 7.</ref>
* July 14–15 – Saipan-based U.S. Navy [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|PB4Y-1 Liberators]] of [[Bomber Squadron 109|Bomber Squadron 109 (VB-109)]] raid [[Iwo Jima]], [[Chichi Jima]], and [[Haha Jima]].<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 354"/>
* July 14–15 (overnight)
** 253 British Bomber Command aircraft attempt an attack on railway targets at Revigny and Villeneuve, France. Some bombs hit the railways at Villeneuve, but many of the bombs are dropped east of the target, and the raid at Revigny is abandoned completely when the railway yards there could not be identified. Seven Lanasters are lost, all on the Revigny raid.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 115 British bombers attack V-1 weapon sites at [[Anderbelck]] and [[Les Lands]]. The Anderbelck raid is successful in clear weather, but Les Land is bombed through total cloud cover with unknown results.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 15–16 (overnight)
** 234 British bombers make an accurate attack on the V-1 flying bomb launch site at [[Bois des Jardins]], France, and the supply dump at Nucourt, losing one Halifax.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 229 British bombers successfully attack railway yards at [[Châlons-sur-Marne]] and [[Nevers]], France. Three Lancasters are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 17
** In [[Operation Mascot]], the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Formidable|67|6}}, {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, and {{HMS|Indefatigable|R10|6}} launch a raid by 44 [[Fairey Barracuda]] bombers escorted by 48 fighters against the German battleship [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] at her anchorage in Norway, but a highly effective German [[smoke screen]] allows them to achieve only one near-miss.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 109"/>
** Two Royal Air Force fighter-bombers attack the [[Mercedes-Benz]] [[staff car]] of [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] [[Field Marshal]] [[Erwin Rommel]] on a road in France, killing his driver and causing the car to crash into a ditch. The wounded and unconscious Rommel, thrown from the vehicle during the crash, is gravely injured, but will survive.<ref>Breuer, William B., ''Death of a Nazi Army: The Falaise Pocket'', Scarborough House, 1985, {{ISBN|0-8128-8520-1}}, p. 16.</ref>
** 131 British bombers and one Mustang attack three V-weapon sites without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 18
** The [[British Army]]{{'}}s [[Operation Goodwood]] offensive in [[Normandy]] begins with an intense bombing raid by 1,728 heavy bombers and 412 medium bombers of Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} Eighth Air Force dropping 7,000 [[short ton]]s (6,350 [[metric ton]]s) of explosives on a 25-square-mile (65-square-kilometer) area of German defenses, with six British bombers shot down, followed up by attacks by 796 Allied fighter-bombers on any German ground forces found to have survived the bombing. The German defenders are able to recover far more quickly than the Allies had hoped, and Goodwood comes to a halt three days later after British and Commonwealth forces gain little ground and suffer large casualties.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/><ref>Breuer, William B., ''Death of a Nazi Army: The Falaise Pocket'', Scarborough House, 1985, {{ISBN|0-8128-8520-1}}, p. 13.</ref>
** 110 British bombers attack the railway yards at Vaires-sur-Marne, losing two Halifaxes.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 18–19 (overnight)
** 194 Bomber Command aircraft strike the [[synthetic oil]] plant at [[Weßling]], Germany, dropping about a thousand high-explosive bombs into the plant area over a period of 20 minutes, destroying 20 percent of the facilities as well as 151 nearby houses and killing 11 Germans, 20 foreign workers, and nine [[prisoners-of-war]].<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 170 Bomber Command aircraft attack the [[Scholven Power Station|Scholven]]/Buer synthetic oil plant at [[Buer, Germany|Buer]], Germany, dropping 550 bombs into the plant area – of which 233 fail to explode – and halting all production for a lengthy period. Four Lancasters are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 263 aircraft of Bomber Command strike railway junctions at [[Aulnoye-Aymeries]] and Revigny, France, cutting rail lines leading to the front in Normandy at both targets. Two Lancasters are lost on the Aulnoye-Aymeries raid. German night fighters intercept the bombers raiding Revigny, and 24 Lancasters are lost there, nearly 22 percent of the force.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 62 British bombers make an unsuccessful attack on the V-1 launch site at [[Acquet]], losing two Halifaxes.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 19 – 132 British bombers attack two V-1 launch sites and a supply dump without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 20
** Saipan-based U.S. Navy [[PB4Y-1 Liberator]]s of Bomber Squadron 109 (VB-109) again strike Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima. During the strikes of July 14, 15, and 20, they claim between 10 and 30 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 354"/>
** 369 British bombers attack seven V-weapon sites, hitting six of them and losing one Lancaster.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 20–21 (overnight)
** 317 Bomber Command aircraft devastate the railway yards and a railroad junction at [[Courtrai]], [[Belgium]], losing nine Lancasters.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 166 British bombers strike the synthetic oil plant at [[Bottrop]], Germany, badly damaging the northern part of the plant in exchange for the loss of eight aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 158 British bombers severely damage the oil plant at [[Homberg (Duisburg)|Homberg]], Germany. German night fighters intercept the raid, and 20 bombers are shot down.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 87 Bomber Command aircraft attempt to hit V-weapon sites at [[Ardouval]] and [[Wizernes]], France, but only 23 bomb the former and none attack the latter. All aircraft return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 21 – U.S. forces [[Amphibious landing|land]] on [[Guam]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 382.</ref>
* July 22 – 60 British bombers attack four V-weapon sites through total cloud cover using the "heavy Oboe" tactic, with all aircraft returning safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 23
** During strikes on the southern half of [[Tinian]], aircraft from the aircraft carriers {{USS|Essex|CV-9}} and {{USS|Langley|CVL-27}} fly almost 200 sorties, those from the [[escort aircraft carriers]] {{USS|Gambier Bay|CVE-73}} and {{USS|Kitkun Bay|CVE-71}} fly over 50, and those of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[Saipan]]-based [[318th Air Group]] fly over 100, including 18 sorties with a new weapon, the [[napalm]] bomb.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 360">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 360.</ref>
** 60 British bombers attack two V-1 flying bomb sites through thick clouds, losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 23–24 (overnight)
** Royal Air Force Bomber Command makes its first major raid on a German city in two months, dispatching 629 bombers to attack [[Kiel]]. The first attack on Kiel since April 1943, the raid bombs all parts of the city and particularly the port area, where bombs strike all important submarine and other naval facilities. Effective deception measures prevented a successful interception by German nightfighters, and only four bombers are lost, a 0.6 percent of the force. Kiel has no water for three days, no train or bus service for eight days, and no [[natural gas]] for three weeks.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** Bomber Command begins a new campaign against oil facilities in German-occupied countries, sending 119 aircraft to hit an oil refinery and storage depot at [[Donges]], France. Bomg in good visibility, they badly damage the facility and capsize an [[oil tanker]], losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 116 British bombers attack two V-1 flying bomb sites accurately, losing one Halifax.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 24 – U.S. forces [[Amphibious landing|land]] on Tinian.<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1989, p. 360"/>
* July 24–25 (overnight)
** 614 British Command aircraft raid [[Stuttgart]], Germany, the first of three heavy raids on the city in five days, losing 21 bombers (4.6 percent of the force).<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 113 British bombers attack the oil facility at Donges again, devastating it. Three Lancasters do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 112 British bombers attack a V-1 flying bomb site at [[Ferfay]], France. The Master Bomber allows only 73 of them to bomb th target, and one Halifax is lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 25
** Aircraft from the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}} strike [[Sabang, Indonesia|Sabang]], [[Sumatra]].<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 124"/>
** 100 British bombers attack an airfield at signals depot at [[Saint-Cyr-l'École|Saint-Cyr]], France, losing one Lancaster.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 93 British bombers successfully bomb two V-weapon launch sites and a storage site, losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 25–26 (overnight)
** 550 British bombers strike Stuttgart, losing 12 bombers (2.2 percent of the force). The raid is the most successful of the three carried out against Stuttgart in this period,<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 135 British bombers attack the [[Krupp]] oil refinery at [[Wanne-Eickel]], Germany, losing no aircraft. Only a few bombs strike the refinery, but bombs landing in Eickel destroy 14 houses, kill 29 German civilians, four foreign workers, and three prisoners-of-war, and force the Hannibal [[coal mine]] to cease production.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 100 British bombers attack an airfield at signals depot at [[Saint-Cyr-l'École|Saint-Cyr]], France, losing one Lancaster.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 51 British bombers hit three V-1 launch sites, destroying the launch ramp at Bois de Jardins, France. All of the bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 26 – The first aerial victory for a [[jet fighter]] occurs as a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]]A, flown by ''Luftwaffe Leutnant'' [[Alfred Schreiber (officer)|Alfred Schreiber]], attacks and damages a [[de Havilland Mosquito]] over southern Germany.<ref>Morgan, Hugh; Weal, John (1998). German Jet Aces of World War 2 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 17). London: Osprey Publishing. pp. 16–17. ({{ISBN|1-85532-634-5}})</ref>
* July 26–27 (overnight)
** 187 British bombers accurately attack the railway yards at [[Givors]], France, losing four Lancasters and two Mosquitos.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 27
** [[Gloster Meteor]]s of the Royal Air Force{{'}}s [[No. 616 Squadron RAF|No. 616]] fly their first [[V-1 flying bomb|V-1]] interception mission. It is the first combat action by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] jets.<ref>Mondey, David, ed., ''The Complete Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Aircraft'', Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, {{ISBN|0-89009-771-2}}, p. 53.</ref>
** 72 British bombers strike V-weapon sites, losing no aircraft. Some [[Short Stirling]]s on the raids have had the [[Gee-H (navigation)|Gee-H]] blind bombing device fitted, the first time heavy bombers equipped with Gee-H have led an attack using the "Gee-H leader" tactic.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 28 – 199 British bombers hit four V-weapon sites through cloud cover, losing one Halifax.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 28–29 (overnight)
** 496 British bombers carry out the final attack on Stuttgart of the three-raid series. German night fighters intercept them over France in bright moonlight while they are inbound, and 30 Lancasters (19 percent of the force) are shot down. The three raids have allowed Bomber Command to achieve success against Stuttgart{{'}}s central district, which is devastated, for the first time, with many of the city{{'}}s public and cultural buildings destroyed.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 307 British bombers make the first heavy raid on [[Hamburg]], Germany, since the [[Battle of Hamburg (air)|Battle of Hamburg]] a year previously, but the bombs are not concentrated and the attack is not successful. German night fighters intercept the bombers on their homeward flight, and 22 bombers are lost (12 percent of the force).<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 119 Bomber Command aircraft strike the V-1 flying bomb storage site at [[Forêt De Nieppe]], losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 29 – 76 British bombers attack the V-weapon stores site at Forêt De Nieppe without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 30
** 692 Bomber Command aircraft bomb six German Army positions in front of [[United States Army]] forces in the [[Villers-Bocage, Calvados|Villers Bocage]]-[[Caumont-l'Éventé|Caumont]] area of Normandy, losing four Lancasters. Due to cloud cover, only 377 aircraft drop their bombs and only two of the German positions are hit.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** Soviet [[aeronautical engineer]] and aircraft designer [[Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov]] dies in [[Moscow]] at the age of 52. His [[Polikarpov]] [[OKB|design bureau]] is dissolved, with the bureau itself merging into [[Lavochkin]], some of its engineers going to [[Mikoyan-Gurevich]], and [[Sukhoi]] taking over its production facilities.
* July 31
** The French writer [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]] is killed while flying an operational sortie over southern France in a Lockheed F-5, the photographic reconnaissance variant of the P-38 Lightning.<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 267.</ref>
** 131 British bombers make an accurate raid against the railway yards at [[Joigny-la-Roche]], France, in clear conditions, losing one Lancaster.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 103 Bomber Command aircraft strike both ends of a railway tunnel at [[Rilly-la-Montagne]] that the Germans are using to store V-1 flying bombs. No. 617 Squadron uses 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) [[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]] bombs to collapse both ends of the tunnel, while the other bombers focus on cratering the approaches to the tunnel. Two Lancasters are shot down, including the No. 617 Squadron aircraft of Flight Lieutenant [[William Reid (VC)|William Reid]], who had received the Victoria Cross in 1943. He survives.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
** 57 British bombers raid the port area at [[Le Havre]], France, and claim to have hit one German submarine. One Lancaster is lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>
* July 31-August 1 (overnight) – 202 Bomber Command aircraft raid four V-weapon sites, damaging one of them. One Halifax and one Lancaster do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk July 44"/>

===August===
* A [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt#XP-47H / XP-47J|Republic XP-47J Thunderbolt]] reaches 505&nbsp;mph (813&nbsp;km/h) in level flight, becoming the first piston-engined fighter to exceed 500&nbsp;mph (805&nbsp;km/h).<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 396.</ref>
* [[Swissair]] suspends all flight operations for the duration of [[World War II]] after a U.S. Army Air Forces bombing raid on [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]], destroys a Swissair [[Douglas DC-2]]. The airline will not resume commercial flights until [[1945 in aviation#July|July 1945]].
* August 1 – [[RAF Bomber Command]] dispatches 777 aircraft to attack various German [[V-weapon]] sites, but only 79 bomb targets, probably because of bad weather. All bombers return safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44">{{Cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug44.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607035123/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug44.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary Campaign Diary August 1944|archive-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref>
* August 2 – 393 British bombers and one Royal Air Force [[P-38 Lightning|Lightning]] attack a [[V-1 flying bomb]] launch site and three supply sites in clear weather, achieving accurate bombing results. Two [[Avro Lancaster|Lancasters]] are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 3 – 1,114 British bombers successfully strike [[V-1 flying bomb]] stores sites at [[Bois de Cassan]], [[Forêt de Nieppe]], and [[Trossy St. Maxim]], France, in clear weather. Six Lancasters do not return.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 4
** 291 British bombers attack the Bois de Cassan and Trossy St. Martin V-1 stores sites in clear weather, with two Halifaxes lost on the Bois de Cassan raid and two Lancasters shot down on the Trossy St. Martin raid. One of the lost Lancasters, piloted by Canadian [[Squadron Leader]] [[Ian Willoughby Bazalgette|Ian W. Bazalgette]], is hit by antiaircraft guns and catches fire, but Bazalgette manages to drop his bombs. After his aircraft goes out of control and enters a steep dive, he manages to recover and keep the bomber level long enough for four of his crewmen to bail out. With two wounded crewmen still aboard and unable to bail out, he crash-lands his Lancaster in an effort to save them, but the bomber explodes before they can get out, killing all three men. Bazalgette will receive a posthumous [[Victoria Cross]] for his actions.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 288 Bomber Command Lancasters raid oil stores facilities at [[Bec d'Ambès]] and [[Pauillac]], France, in clear weather, suffering no losses. Twenty-seven Serrate-equipped Mosquito night fighters escort them but encounter no German night fighters.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 27 Lancasters of Bomber Command{{'}}s No. 617 Squadron strike a railway bridge at [[Étaples]], France, with 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs, scoring several hits but failing to destroy it. No bombers are lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 5
** 742 British bombers attack the V-1 storage sites at Forêt de Nieppe and [[St. Leu d'Esserent]], France, in good conditions, losing one [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifax]].<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 306 British Lancasters very successfully bomb French oil storage facilities along the [[Gironde River]] at [[Blaye]], [[Bordeaux]], and Pauillac, escorted by 30 Serrate-equipped Mosquito night fighters. One Lancaster is lost.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 15 Lancasters of Bomber Command{{'}}s No. 617 Squadron strike the German [[submarine pen]]s at [[Brest, France|Brest]], France, with 12,000-pound (5,443-kg) [[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]] bombs, scoring six direct hits and losing one bomber to German antiaircraft fire.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 14 British Lancasters attack the railway bridge at Étaples, but smoke obscures the bridge and results are unknown.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 6
** 222 British bombers strike the Bois de Cassan and Forêt de Nieppe V-weapon sites, losing three Lancasters. The bombs are scattered, and at Bois de Cassan half the bombers fail to drop their bombs because of confusion over the orders given by the Master Bomber.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 62 British bombers raid the railway center at [[Hazebrouck]], France, losing one Halifax. Smoke obscures the target.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 7–8 (overnight) – 1,019 Bomber Command aircraft are dispatched to attack [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] positions at five points along the front in Normandy, although only 660 of them drop bombs. Ten Lancasters are lost, with seven shot down by German fighters, two shot down by antiaircraft fire, and one lost to unknown causes.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 8
** Bomber Command dispatches 202 aircraft to bomb an oil storage dump in France{{'}}s [[Forêt De Chantilly]], setting it on fire. One Halifax is lost in the sea.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 78 Bomber Command aircraft strike four V-weapon launch sites, all accurately, losing one Halifax.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 8–9 (overnight) – 180 British bombers hit storage depots and dumps in France at [[Aire-sur-la-Lys]] and in the [[Forêt de Lucheux]].<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 9
** 172 Bomber Command aircraft strike seven V-weapon launching sites in clear weather, successfully hitting all of them and losing three Halifaxes.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 178 Bomber Command aircraft raid a fuel-storage dump at [[Forêt De Mormal]] and an oil depot at [[La Pallice]], France. All bombers returned safely.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 12 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and a Mosquito attack the German submarine pens at La Pallice without loss.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 9–10 (overnight)
** 311 British bombers attack five V-weapon sites, bombing them accurately and losing no aircraft.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
** 190 Bomber Command aircraft make a successful attack on an oil-storage dump at [[Forêt De Chatellerault]], France, losing two Lancasters.<ref name="raf.mod.uk Aug 44"/>
* August 10
** [[Saipan]]-based U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberators]] of the [[Seventh Air Force]] conduct the first bombing raid against [[Iwo Jima]], the first of 10 air raids on Iwo Jima during August.<ref name="operations10">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 10.</ref>
** U.S. Army Air Forces [[B-29 Superfortress]]es carry out raids against [[Palembang]] on [[Sumatra]] and [[Nagasaki]], Japan. The Palembang raid is the longest carried out by the [[20th Air Force]] during [[World War II]], requiring a round trip of 4,030&nbsp;miles (6,490&nbsp;km) between a staging base on [[Ceylon]] and the target. The Nagasaki raid employs the heaviest B-29 bomb loads to date—6,000&nbsp;lbs (2,722&nbsp;kg) per bomber—and results in the 20th Air Force{{'}}s first air-to-air kill, a Japanese [[Fighter (aircraft)|fighter]] shot down by B-29 gunner [[Technical Sergeant]] H. C. Edwards.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, pp. 66–67.</ref>
* August 11 – To demonstrate the utility and practicality of power hoists aboard [[helicopter]]s, a [[United States Coast Guard]] helicopter piloted by [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Frank A. Erickson]] hoists a man aboard from the ground at [[Jamaica Bay]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. It is the first time a power hoist has been used to lift a person into a helicopter. Erickson had led the development of helicopter power hoists.<ref name="uscgerickson"/>
* August 14 – A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter piloted by Commander Frank A. Erickson hoists a man floating in the water in Jamaica Bay, New York. It is the first time a person floating in water has been lifted into a helicopter using a power hoist.<ref name="uscgerickson"/>
* August 15
** 1,300 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] land-based bombers from Italy, [[Corsica]], and [[Sardinia]] with escorting fighters strike targets in southern France against no German air opposition on the first morning of [[Operation Dragoon]], the Allied amphibious invasion of southern France. The [[1st Airborne Task Force]] makes a parachute landing as part of the invasion. Flying from the [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Tulagi|CVE-72}}, U.S. Navy [[VOF-1|Observation Fighter Squadron 1 (VOF-1)]]—The first U.S. Navy fighter squadron with pilots trained as naval gunfire observers—makes its combat debut, relieving the more vulnerable [[battleship]]- and [[cruiser]]-based [[floatplane]]s of this duty. The only effective German air raid of the entire operation takes place that evening when a [[Junkers Ju 88]] sinks the fully loaded [[tank landing ship]] {{USS|LST-282}} with a glide bomb off [[Cap Dramont]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 256–257, 270, 277, 280.</ref>
** ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' ''[[Feldwebel]]'' [[Helmut Lennartz]] scores the first air-to-air victory by a jet, shooting down a [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] in a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]].
* August 16 –The [[Messerschmitt Me 163]] rocket-powered interceptor is used against [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombers for the first time, flown by the dedicated ''[[Jagdgeschwader 400]]'' rocket fighter wing.
* August 18 – The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Rasher|SS-269}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Taiyō|''Taiyō'']] off [[Bolinao, Pangasinan|Cape Bolinao]], [[Luzon]], with the loss of 747 lives. There are over 400 survivors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/taiyo.htm|title=Imperial Flattops|website=www.combinedfleet.com}}</ref>
* August 18 – The [[Soviet Union]] informs the Western [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] that it will not object to their aircraft dropping supplies to the [[Polish Home Army]] in [[Warsaw]] during the ongoing [[Warsaw Uprising]] as long as they do not land in Soviet-occupied territory. Allied bombers soon begin flights from [[Brindisi]], Italy, of over 1,600 miles (2,576&nbsp;km) round-trip to drop supplies into Warsaw.<ref name="Curry, Andrew 2012, p. 45">Curry, Andrew. "Revolt and Betrayal," ''World War II'', May/June 2012, p. 45.</ref>
* August 19 – 110 [[Supermarine Seafire|Seafire]] and [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|Hellcat]] fighters from seven British and two American [[escort aircraft carrier]]s supporting Operation Dragoon fly an armed reconnaissance toward [[Toulouse]], France, where they destroy [[locomotive]]s and [[rolling stock]]. They encounter German aircraft—one [[Junkers Ju 88]], three [[Heinkel He 111]]s, and one [[Dornier Do 217]]—for the first time during the operation and shoot all of them down.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 279–281.</ref>
* August 20 – Aircraft of a U.S. Navy antisubmarine [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer group]] score their final kill of an enemy submarine in the Atlantic during World War II, when [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|FM Wildcats]] and [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBM Avengers]] of [[VC-42|Composite Squadron 42 (VC-42)]] from the [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Bogue|CVE-9}} sink the German submarine [[German submarine U-1229|''U-1229'']] {{convert|300|nmi|km}} south of [[Cape Race]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]. Aircraft of U.S. hunter-killer groups have sunk—or cooperated with surface warships in sinking—32 German and two Japanese submarines in the Atlantic.<ref>Y{{'}}Blood, William T., ''Hunter-Killer: U.S. Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-286-4}}, pp. 242–247, 283.</ref>
* August 22 – [[Operation Goodwood (naval)|Operation Goodwood]] (not to be confused with the [[Operation Goodwood|tank battle of the same name in Normandy]]), a series of Royal Navy air strikes by the aircraft carriers {{HMS|Formidable|67|6}}, {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, {{HMS|Indefatigable|R10|6}}, [[HMS Nabob (D77)|HMS ''Nabob'']], and [[HMS Trumpeter (D09)|HMS ''Trumpeter'']] against the German battleship [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] at her anchorage in Norway, begins with a day strike designated Goodwood I, which is foiled by heavy cloud cover over the target area. An evening strike, Goodwood II, also is unsuccessful, and ''Nabob'' is so badly damaged by a [[torpedo]] from the German submarine [[German submarine U-354|''U-354'']] that she never again sees action.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 109">Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 109.</ref>
* August 23
** Sixty-one people die in the [[Freckleton Air Disaster]], when a [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[B-24 Liberator]] crashes into the village of [[Freckleton]], England.
** While attempting to fly one of the new [[Martin Baltimore]] light bombers without an instructor early in the transition training phase, [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia]], one of Italy's most noted aviators and [[commanding officer]] of the 28th Bomber Wing, crashes on take-off. He dies in a hospital in [[Naples]] the following day.<ref name="Caliaro">Caliaro, Luigino, ''51̊ Stormo: 'Ferruccio Serafini' '', "Wings of Fame, Volume 20". London, United Kingdom: Aerospace Publishing Ltd., 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-86184-053-0}}. page 25.</ref>
* August 24
** Aircraft from the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} raid [[Sumatra]], striking the [[cement]] works at [[Indaroeng]] and the harbor facilities and shipping at [[Emmahaven]].<ref>Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, pp. 124–125.</ref>
** Goodwood III, the third airstrike of Operation Goodwood, is the most successful Goodwood raid. Thirty-three [[Fairey Barracuda]]s attack ''Tirpitz'', hitting her with a 500-lb (227-kg) bomb and a 1,600-lb (726-kg) bomb. The latter penetrates the armored deck and could have caused extensive damage or sunk the ship, but fails to explode.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 109"/>
* August 29 – The final airstrike of Operation Goodwood, Goodwood IV, is unsuccessful because a German [[smoke screen]] over ''Tirpitz'' makes her impossible to hit.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 109"/>

===September===
* Japanese monthly production of aircraft peaks at 2,572.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 15.</ref>
* U.S. Army Air Forces bombers of the [[Seventh Air Force]] conduct 22 air raids against Iwo Jima.<ref name="operations10"/>
* September 2 – In an experiment with the use of the [[Vought F4U Corsair|F4U Corsair]] as a [[fighter-bomber]], [[Charles Lindbergh]]—the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean—flies a bombing mission in an F4U as a civilian consultant with [[United Aircraft]], dropping one 2,000-lb (907-kg) and two 1,000-pound (454-kg) bombs on Japanese positions in the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 440.</ref>
* September 3 – Flying a P-51 Mustang of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[55th Fighter Group]]{{'}}s 338th Squadron, [[Lieutenant]] Darrell Cramer shoots down and kills the German ace ''[[Hauptmann]]'' [[Emil Lang]] over Belgium. Lang{{'}}s [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190|Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8]] crashes and explodes in a field outside [[Overhespen]]. Lang dies with 173 aerial victories and the sinking of a Soviet [[torpedo boat]] to his credit.
* September 6 – The sole completed [[McDonnell XP-67]] prototype is destroyed by an engine fire, prompting [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] leaders to declare the aircraft redundant and cancel the program a week later.<ref>Mesko, Jim. ''FH Phantom/F2H Banshee in action''. Carrollton, Texas, USA: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc, 2002. {{ISBN|0-89747-444-9}}, p. 5.</ref>
* September 7 – 108 [[B-29 Superfortress]]es bomb the [[Showa Steel Works]] in [[Anshan City|Anshan]], [[Manchuria]], from bases in China.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 69.</ref>
* September 14 – [[Operation Dragoon]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] invasion of southern France, concludes. Penetrating as far as {{convert|120|mi|km}} inland, carrier aircraft from British and American [[escort aircraft carrier]]s supporting the operation have lost 16 aircraft in combat—all to German ground fire—and 27 to non-combat causes while conducting armed reconnaissance flights targeting German ground forces and providing observer services for naval gunfire. The escort carriers never come under attack from German forces.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 280, 281.</ref>
* September 15 – 28 Royal Air Force [[Avro Lancaster]] bombers operating from [[Yagodnik]] airfield in the [[Soviet Union]]'s northwest [[Arkhangelsk Oblast]] attack the German battleship [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] in [[Altenfjord]], Norway, with 12,000-lb (5,443-kg) "[[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]]" bombs. They score only one hit, but it so badly damages ''Tirpitz'' that she is never again considered seaworthy.<ref name="ballantine147"/>
* September 17 – The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Barb|SS-220}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Unyō|''Unyō'']] in the [[South China Sea]]. There are over 761 survivors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/unyo.htm|title=Imperial Flattops|website=www.combinedfleet.com}}</ref>
* September 18
** Aircraft from the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} strike targets on [[Sumatra]].<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 125">Sturtivant, Ray, ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 125.</ref>
** Allied aircraft fly to [[Warsaw]] to drop supplies by [[parachute]] to the [[Polish Home Army]] fighting in the [[Warsaw Uprising]] for the last time. Mainly flown by [[Polish people|Polish]] pilots flying for the [[Royal Air Force]], 306 bombers have made the flights, dropping hundreds of [[antitank weapon]]s, 1,000 [[Sten gun]]s, and two million rounds of ammunition, but have suffered an unacceptably high loss rate of one aircraft destroyed for every ton of supplies dropped.<ref name="Curry, Andrew 2012, p. 45"/>
* September 20 – The [[bazooka]]-armed [[Piper J-3 Cub|L-4 Grasshopper]] s/n 43-30426 and named ''Rosie the Rocketer'', is flown by its pilot Major [[Charles Carpenter (Lt. Col.)|Charles Carpenter]] on a set of pioneering [[top attack]] sorties flown against German tanks and armored cars in the [[Battle of Arracourt#Battle|Battle of Arracourt]] during the afternoon of September 20; using its mount of six bazookas to knock out two [[Panther tank]]s and several armored cars<ref>Gallagher, Wes, ''Charlie Fights Nazi Tanks in Cub Armed With Bazookas'', The New York Sun, 2 October 1944</ref> from the [[11th Panzer Division]] and 111th Panzer Brigade<ref>''Puddle-Jumped Panzers'', Newsweek, Newsweek Inc., Vol. 24, Part 2 (2 October 1944), p. 31</ref> in the space of at least three sorties, saving the lives of some [[4th Armored Division (United States)|4th Armored Division]] personnel trapped in the ground battle.<ref>Fox, Don M. and Blumenson, Martin, ''Patton's Vanguard: The United States Army's Fourth Armored Division'', McFarland, {{ISBN|0-7864-3094-X}}, 9780786430949 (2007), pp. 142–143</ref>
* September 24 – More than 30 U.S. Navy carrier aircraft from [[Task Force 38]] sink the Japanese [[seaplane tender]] [[Japanese seaplane tender Akitsushima|''Akitsushima'']] in [[Coron Bay]] off [[Coron Island]] in the [[Philippine Islands]] with the loss of 86 lives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/akitsush.htm|title=combinedfleet.com IJN Akitsushima Tabular Record of Movement}}</ref>
* September 25 – To demonstrate the utility and practicality of power hoists aboard [[helicopter]]s, a [[United States Coast Guard]] helicopter piloted by [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Frank A. Erickson]] hoists a man aboard from a [[life raft]] floating in [[Jamaica Bay]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. It is the first time a power hoist has been used to hoist a person into a helicopter from a life raft.<ref name="uscgerickson"/>
* September 30 – The Spanish government nationalizes the airline [[Iberia (airline)|Iberia]].

===October===
* U.S. Army Air Forces bombers of the [[Seventh Air Force]] conduct 16 raids against [[Iwo Jima]].<ref name="operations10"/>
* American fighters and medium bombers fly 1,100 sorties against [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]] and the [[Caroline Islands]].<ref name="operations107">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 107.</ref>
* The longest scheduled nonstop airline service in history—the 28-hour "Double Sunrise Route" flight offered by [[Qantas Empire Airways]] between [[Perth]], Australia, and [[Ceylon]] using five [[PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]]s—comes to an end when Qantas retires the PBYs after the 271st flight. The following month, Qantas begins to use [[Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express|C-87 Liberator Express]] transports on the route, cutting scheduled flight time to 18 hours.<ref>Wilkinson, Stephan, "The PBYs That Flew Forever," ''Aviation History'', July 2011, pp. 50, 53.</ref>
* October 5 – The Germans scuttle the incomplete Italian aircraft carrier [[Italian aircraft carrier Sparviero|''Sparviero'']] to block access to the harbor at [[Genoa]].<ref name="New York 1980, p. 291"/>
* October 7 – ''Luftwaffe'' [[night fighter]] [[Flying ace|ace]] ''[[Oberstleutnant]]'' [[Helmut Lent]] is fatally injured when his [[Junkers Ju 88|Junkers Ju 88G-6]] night fighter crashes during a landing approach after a routine transit flight. He dies two days later, with his score at 110 kills, 103 of them at night.<ref>Hinchcliffe, Peter, ''The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command'', Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-7858-1418-4}}, p. 68.</ref>
* October 10 – Aircraft from the 17 aircraft carriers of U.S. Navy [[Task Force 38]] fly 1,396 sorties against targets on [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and in the [[Ryukyu Islands]], claiming 111 Japanese aircraft destroyed and sinking a [[submarine tender]], 12 [[torpedo boat]]s, two [[midget submarine]]s, four [[cargo ship]]s, and various smaller ships, in exchange for the loss of 21 U.S. aircraft, 5 pilots, and four aircrewmen. It is the closest [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] operation to Japan since the April 1942 [[Doolittle Raid]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 91.</ref>
* October 11 – Sixty-one carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 attack [[Aparri, Cagayan|Aparri]] airfield on [[Luzon]] against no opposition, destroying about 15 Japanese aircraft on the ground in exchange for the loss of one U.S. plane to enemy ground fire and six to non-combat causes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 92.</ref>
* October 12 – The first [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] lands on [[Saipan]], beginning the [[Twentieth Air Force]]{{'}}s build-up of a [[strategic bombing]] capability in the [[Mariana Islands]]. For the first time, all of Japan proper is within range of [[United States Army Air Forces]] strategic bombers.<ref name="Jablonski, Edward 1965, p. 274"/>
* October 12–14 – Task Force 38 conducts three days of heavy air strikes against [[Formosa]], targeting Japanese airfields and shipping, flying 1,374 sorties on the first day, 974 on the second, and 246 on the third. U.S. aircraft destroy over 500 Japanese aircraft, sink 24 [[cargo ship]]s and small craft, and destroy many Japanese military facilities. On the third day, strikes also are flown against northern [[Luzon]]. Counterattacking Japanese [[torpedo bomber]]s cripple the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Canberra|CA-70}} and [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Houston|CL-81}}.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 92–104.</ref>
* October 13 – In [[Italy]], U.S. Army Air Forces [[First Lieutenant]] [[Martin James Monti]] steals an F-5E Lightning – the photographic reconnaissance version of the [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38J and P-38L Lightning]] – from [[Pomigliano Airfield]] under the guise of taking it on a test flight and flies it to German-held [[Milan]], where he surrenders the plane to German forces. He then defects to Germany, where he becomes an [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer and [[Nazi]] propagandist.<ref name="Soodalter">Soodalter, Ron, "A Yank in the SS," ''Military History'', January 2017, p. 44.</ref>
* October 14 – One hundred and four China-based B-29s attack [[Formosa]] for the first time, striking an aircraft plant at Okayama. The combined bombload of 650 tons (589,676&nbsp;kg) is the largest in history at the time.<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 112.</ref>
* October 16
** 50 fighters of the U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}} [[14th Air Force]] based at [[Liuchow Airfield]], China, attack the waterfront of Hong Kong.<ref name="operations105">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 105.</ref>
** Task Force 38 completes its operations against Formosa. Since October 11, it has defended itself against approximately 1,000 Japanese aircraft, the heaviest series of Japanese air attacks against U.S. naval forces of World War II with the possible exception of those during the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]], losing 76 aircraft of its own in combat, 13 aircraft due to non-combat causes, and 64 pilots and aircrewmen.<ref name="operations106">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 106.</ref>
** Flying a [[Yakovlev Yak-9]] with a French fighter group in the [[Soviet Air Force]], [[French Air Force]] pilot [[Roger Sauvage]] becomes history's only [[Black people|black]] fighter ace, sharing in the destruction of two [[Junkers Ju 87]]s and a [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] over [[East Prussia]] to bring his victory total to six.<ref>Guttman, Jon, "History's Only Black Ace," ''Military History'', January 2016, p. 16.</ref>
* October 16–17 – B-29s again attack Formosa, dropping 640 more tons (580,762&nbsp;kg) of bombs during the two days combined.<ref name="operations105"/>
* October 17 – In the first day of [[Operation Millet]], the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} launch heavy strikes against [[Car Nicobar]], striking airfields on the island and the harbor and shipping at [[Nancowry Island|Nancowry]]. Japanese [[Antiaircraft artillery|antiaircraft]] fire shoots down three British planes.<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 125"/>
* October 17 –  Nineteen carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 strike targets on [[Luzon]].<ref name="operations106"/>
* October 19
** In a meeting at [[Mabalacat]] on Luzon, the newly arrived commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy{{'}}s [[First Air Fleet]], [[Vice Admiral]] [[Takijiro Ohnishi]], commanding Japanese naval air forces in the [[Philippine Islands]], observes that ordinary air tactics have become ineffective against the U.S. Navy and suggests the formation of a special attack unit to crash Zero fighters carrying 250-kg (551-lb) bombs bodily onto American warships. It is the beginning of the formation of ''[[kamikaze]]'' suicide units.<ref>Inoguchi, Rikihei, Tadashi Nakajima, and Roger Pineau, ''The Divine Wind: Japan{{'}}s'' Kamikaze ''Corps in World War II'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1958, no ISBN, pp. 6–9.</ref>
** In the second and final day of [[Operation Millet]], the British aircraft carriers {{HMS|Indomitable|92|6}} and {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} again launch heavy strikes against [[Nancowry Island|Nancowry]] harbor and the airfields on [[Car Nicobar]]. In a [[dogfight]] with Japanese [[Nakajima Ki-43]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Oscar") fighters, the British shoot down seven Ki-43s in exchange for a [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|Hellcat]] and two [[F4U Corsair|Corsairs]].<ref name="Sturtivant, Ray 1990, p. 125"/>
* October 20 – U.S. forces invade [[Leyte]] in the [[Philippine Islands]]. U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft fly nearly 300 sorties in support.<ref name="operations107"/>
* October 24 – The [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], the largest naval battle in history, composed of four distinct major fleet actions, begins. In the morning, a Japanese bomber fatally damages the U.S. [[light aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23}}, which sinks in the afternoon. The first major fleet action, the [[Battle of the Sibuyan Sea]], takes place in the afternoon, with heavy strikes by Task Force 38 carrier aircraft against a Japanese task force in the [[Sibuyan Sea]] sinking the [[battleship]] [[Japanese battleship Musashi|''Musashi'']] and badly damaging the [[heavy cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Myōkō|''Myōkō'']] in exchange for the loss of 18 U.S. aircraft.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 177–186.</ref>
* October 25 — The third major engagement of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the [[Battle off Samar]], begins just after dawn when a Japanese force of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers surprises the U.S. Navy "[[Taffy 3]]" escort carrier group off [[Samar]]. The Japanese sink the escort carrier {{USS|Gambier Bay|CVE-73}}—the only U.S. aircraft carrier ever sunk by enemy surface ships while manned and underway—two destroyers, and a [[destroyer escort]] before a spirited defense by escorting destroyers and escort carrier aircraft of "Taffy 3" and nearby "[[Taffy 2]]" sink the Japanese heavy cruisers [[Japanese cruiser Chikuma (1938)|''Chikuma'']], [[Japanese cruiser Chōkai|''Chōkai'']], and [[Japanese cruiser Suzuya (1934)|''Suzuya'']] and damage other Japanese ships.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 242–300.</ref> Also in the morning, the first deliberate Japanese ''[[kamikaze]]'' mission takes place, with suicide aircraft of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]{{'}}s [[201st Kōkūtai]] damaging the escort carriers {{USS|Santee|CVE-29}}—the first ship ever damaged by a deliberate ''kamikaze'' crash—{{USS|Suwannee|CVE-27}}, {{USS|Kitkun Bay|CVE-71}}, and {{USS|Kalinin Bay|CVE-68}}, and sinking the escort carrier {{USS|St. Lo|CVE-63}}, which becomes the first ship sunk by a ''kamikaze'',<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 300–303.</ref> while escort carrier-based [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBM Avenger]] [[torpedo bomber]]s fatally damage the Japanese [[heavy cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Mogami (1934)|''Mogami'']] in the [[Mindanao Sea]].<ref name="operations238">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 238.</ref> During the morning and afternoon, in the final major fleet engagement of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the [[Battle off Cape Engaño]], carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 cripple the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda|''Chiyoda'']]—which U.S. [[cruiser]]s sink later in the day—and sink the aircraft carriers [[Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose|''Chitose'']], [[Japanese aircraft carrier Zuiho|''Zuiho'']], and [[Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku|''Zuikaku'']].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 317–338.</ref>
* October 26
** The highest-scoring Japanese [[Flying ace|ace]] in history, [[IJNAS]] Lt. JG [[Hiroyoshi Nishizawa]], is killed when the [[Nakajima Ki-49]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Helen") transport aircraft in which he is riding as a passenger is shot down by a U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat fighter over [[Calapan]], [[Mindoro Island]], in the [[Philippine Islands]]. His score stands at at least 87—and possibly over 100—victories at the time of his death.
** 44 U.S. Army Air Forces [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberator]] and [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchell]] bombers of the [[Fifth Air Force|Fifth]] and [[Thirteenth Air Force|Thirteenth]] Air Forces sink the Japanese [[light cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Abukuma|''Abukuma'']] southwest of [[Negros (island)|Negros]], and 253 carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 sink the Japanese [[light cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Noshiro|''Noshiro'']] off [[Batbatan Island]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 238, 311.</ref>
* October 28 – The [[United States Army Air Forces]]{{'}} [[Twentieth Air Force]] carries out its first strike from its new bases in the [[Mariana Islands]], a raid by 14 [[Saipan]]-based [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortresses]] against [[Chuuk State|Truk Atoll]]. It is the first B-29 combat mission from the Marianas.<ref>Wikipedia [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] article.</ref>
* October 29 – Carrier aircraft of U.S. Navy [[Task Group 38.2]] raid Japanese airfields around [[Manila]], claiming 71 Japanese aircraft shot down in air-to-air combat and 13 destroyed on the ground in exchange for the loss of 11 planes. A ''kamikaze'' damages the aircraft carrier {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11}} off [[Leyte]].<ref name="operations342">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 342.</ref>
* October 30
** ''Kamikazes'' damage the aircraft carriers {{USS|Franklin|CV-13}} and {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24}} off Leyte.<ref name="operations342"/>
** U.S. Army Air Forces [[Eighth Air Force]] ace [[Hubert Zemke]] parachutes from his [[479th Flying Training Group|479th Fighter Group]] [[P-51 Mustang]] after severe turbulence tears off its [[wing]] over German territory. After he evades German forces for several days, he is captured and spends the rest of World War II as a [[prisoner of war]]. At the time of his capture, he has flown 154 missions and is credited with 17{{frac|3|4}} kills.

===November===
* Japan begins a rapid and haphazard initial dispersal of its aircraft factories, which it will complete in December.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 14.</ref>
* The United States establishes a nationwide [[air-sea rescue]] organization to coordinate air-sea rescue operations by the U.S. armed forces along the U.S. coast. The [[United States Coast Guard]] is the control agency for the organization.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121012012530/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webaircraft/CGAviationHistory1916_1938.pdf A Chronological History of Coast Guard Aviation: The Early Years, 1915–1938].</ref>
* The U.S. Navy conducts the first combined air-and-sea [[naval mine]] clearance operation in its history, when over a seven-day period a U.S. Navy [[blimp]] uses an [[M2 Browning]] .50-caliber [[machine gun]] to destroy 22 mines that [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]] bring to the surface off [[Key West, Florida|Key West]], [[Florida]].<ref>Melia, Tamara Moser, ''"Damn the Torpedoes": A Short History of U.S. Naval Mine Countermeasures, 1777–1991'', Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1991, {{ISBN|0-945274-07-6}}, p. 60.</ref>
* November 1
** A [[Boeing F-13 Superfortress]] photographic reconnaissance aircraft conducts a mission over Tokyo. It is the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] aircraft to fly over Tokyo since the April 1942 [[Doolittle Raid]].<ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 92.</ref>
** Japanese ''[[kamikaze]]s'' attack the [[United States Seventh Fleet]] in [[Leyte Gulf]], sinking one and damaging five destroyers.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 344–246.</ref>
** 11 – U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft attack Japanese [[convoy]]s landing troops and supplies at [[Ormoc Bay]] on [[Leyte]] with limited success.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 351–353.</ref>
* November 3 – The first Japanese [[Fu-Go balloon bomb]]s are launched against the United States.
* November 5 – U.S. Army Air Forces [[Twentieth Air Force]] B-29s based at [[Calcutta]], India, begin occasional attacks on [[drydock]] and ship repair facilities at [[Singapore]].<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 164.</ref>
* November 5–6 – U.S. Navy [[Task Force 38]] carrier aircraft raid Japanese bases on [[Luzon]]. On the first day, [[Curtiss SB2C Helldiver|SB2C Helldiver]] [[dive bomber]]s and [[Grumman TBF Avenger|TBM Avenger]] [[torpedo bomber]]s from the aircraft carrier {{USS|Lexington|CV-16}} sink the Japanese [[heavy cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Nachi|''Nachi'']] in [[Manila Bay]], and U.S. Navy planes claim the destruction of 58 Japanese fighters over [[Clark Field|Clark]] and [[Mabalacat, Pampanga|Mabalacat]] airfields. On the second day, a ''kamikaze'' damages ''Lexington''. During the two days, U.S. Navy aircraft claim 439 Japanese aircraft destroyed, losing 25 U.S. aircraft in combat and 11 due to non-combat causes. The strikes cause a sharp reduction in Japanese air attacks on U.S. ships in Leyte Gulf.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 348–349.</ref>
* November 10 – By decree of King [[Haakon VII of Norway]], the [[Norwegian Army Air Service]] and [[Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service]] merge to form the new [[Royal Norwegian Air Force]].
* November 11 – 347 carrier aircraft of Task Force 38 attack a convoy of five or six Japanese [[Transport (ship)|transports]] in the [[Camotes Sea]] approaching [[Ormoc]], sinking all of them and all four of their escorting destroyers, as well as two more destroyers in Ormoc Bay, and shooting down 16 Japanese aircraft. Almost all of the 10,000 Japanese troops embarked on the transports are killed.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 353.</ref>
* November 12 – 29 Royal Air Force [[Avro Lancaster]] bombers employing 12,000-pound (5,443&nbsp;kg) [[Tallboy (bomb)|Tallboy]] bombs score two hits on the German battleship [[German battleship Tirpitz|''Tirpitz'']] at [[Altenfjord]], Norway, sinking her with heavy loss of life.<ref>Humble, Richard, ''Hitler{{'}}s High Seas Fleet'', New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1971, pp. 147–148.</ref>
* November 13
** [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] ace [[Takeo Takahashi (pilot)|Tako Takahashi]], credited with 13 kills, is [[killed in action]] when the [[military transport aircraft]] he is aboard as a passenger is shot down over [[Manila Bay]] in the [[Philippines]].<ref name=guttmanmay2017p35/>
** Civil air services to London are restored, with the first flights carried out by [[Railway Air Services]].
* November 13–14 – Task Force 38 carrier aircraft raid Luzon, sinking the Japanese [[light cruiser]] [[Japanese cruiser Kiso|''Kiso'']], four destroyers, and seven [[merchant ship]]s and destroying 84 Japanese aircraft in exchange for the loss of 25 U.S. planes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 355–356.</ref>
* November 14 – [[Avro York]] ''MW126'' crashes in the [[French Alps]] killing all 10 people aboard. Among the dead are RAF [[Air Chief Marshal]] Sir [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory]], who was traveling to [[Burma]] to become Air Commander-in-Chief of [[South East Asia Command]], and his wife. Leigh-Mallory is the highest-ranking RAF officer to be killed during World War II.
* November 17 – The U.S. submarine {{USS|Spadefish|SS-411}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Shinyo|''Shinyo'']] with the loss of 1,130 lives. There are 70 survivors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Shinyo.htm |title=combinedfleet.com Tabular Record of Movement IJN Shinyo |access-date=2011-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812010439/http://www.combinedfleet.com/Shinyo.htm |archive-date=2011-08-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* November 19 – U.S. Navy Task Force 38 carrier aircraft strike Luzon, destroying more than 100 Japanese aircraft in exchange for the loss of 13 U.S. planes in combat.<ref name="operations356">Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 356.</ref>
* November 22
** The [[British Pacific Fleet]] is formally established. It includes all six [[Illustrious class aircraft carrier|''Illustrious''-class]] aircraft carriers and 36 naval air squadrons.<ref>Hobbs, David, "The Royal Navy's Pacific Strike Force," ''Naval History'', February 2013, pp. 26–27.</ref>
** 96 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft strike Japanese forces on [[Yap]], employing air-to-ground [[rocket]]s and [[napalm]]. Half of the napalm bombs do not ignite.<ref name="operations356"/>
* November 24 – 111 [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortresses]] attack Tokyo, targeting the [[Musashino, Tokyo|Musashino]] aircraft plant. Although they do not damage the plant, it is the first [[strategic bombing]] raid against Japan from the [[Twentieth Air Force]]{{'}}s new bases in the [[Mariana Islands]], and the first American air attack of any kind on Tokyo since the April 1942 [[Doolittle Raid]].<ref>Jablonski, Edward, ''Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1965, p. 281.</ref><ref>Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, pp. 95–103.</ref>
* November 25 – Aircraft from seven aircraft carriers of Task Force 38 carry out the task force{{'}}s last raids in support of the [[Leyte campaign]], raiding Japanese bases on Luzon, attacking a coastal convoy, and destroying 26 Japanese aircraft in the air and 29 on the ground. Aircraft from {{USS|Ticonderoga|CV-14}} sink the Japanese heavy cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Kumano|''Kumano'']] in [[Dasol Bay]]. ''Kamikazes'' respond by damaging the aircraft carriers {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11}}, {{USS|Essex|CV-9}}, and {{USS|Cabot|CVL-28}}; damage to the carriers forces cancellation of strikes against Japanese shipping in the [[Visayas]] the next day.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 311, 357–359.</ref>
* November 27
** Three Japanese [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]] carrying demolition troops attempt to land troops at Buri airfield on [[Leyte]] and on the Leyte invasion [[beachhead]] via crash landings, but many of the troops are killed in the crashes and the survivors do little damage.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 364–365.</ref>
** Japanese aircraft staging through Iwo Jima make their first successful strikes against U.S. B-29s on [[Saipan]]. An early raid by two twin-engined bombers destroys a B-29 and damages 11 others, while later in the day 10 to 15 single-engined fighters attack, destroying three B-29s and damaging two.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 10–11.</ref>
** Japanese ''kamikazes'' damage the battleship {{USS|Colorado|BB-45}} and light cruiser {{USS|St. Louis|CL-49}} in Leyte Gulf.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 366.</ref>
** 81 B-29s attempt a second attack on the [[Musashino, Tokyo|Musashino]] aircraft plant in Tokyo. Heavy cloud cover forces them to bomb secondary targets instead.<ref name="New York 1991, p. 108">Kerr, E. Bartlett, ''Flames Over Tokyo: The U.S. Army Air Forces{{'}}s Incendiary Campaign Against Japan 1944–1945'', New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55611-301-7}}, p. 108.</ref>
* November 29
** The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Archer-Fish|SS-311}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano|''Shinano'']] southeast of [[Shingū, Wakayama|Shingū]], Japan, with the loss of 1,436 lives. There are 1,080 survivors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/shinano.htm|title=combinedfleet.com IJN Shinano: Tabular Record of Movement|access-date=2011-09-09|archive-date=2016-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614121828/http://combinedfleet.com/Shinano.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
** ''Kamikazes'' damage the battleship {{USS|Maryland|BB-46}} and a destroyer in Leyte Gulf.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 367.</ref>
* November 29–30 (overnight) – 29 B-29s conduct the first night incendiary raid against Japan, attacking industrial areas in Tokyo and destroying an estimated 0.1 square mile (0.15 square kilometer) of the city.<ref name="New York 1991, p. 108"/>
* November 30 – During November, B-29s raiding Japan have carried an average bombload of 2.6 tons (2,359&nbsp;kg) per plane. This will almost triple by July 1945.<ref>Okumiya, Masatake, Jiro Horikoshi, and Martin Caidin, ''Zero! The Story of Japan{{'}}s Air War in the Pacific: 1941–1945'', New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1956, {{OCLC|202815960}}, p. 276.</ref>

===December===
* December 3 – A single U.S. Navy [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY Catalina]] picks up 56 survivors of the destroyer {{USS|Cooper|DD-695}} in [[Ormoc Bay]] and another rescues 48. Both loads break all previous records.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 372.</ref>
* December 6 – During the evening, the Japanese mount a [[paratrooper]] attack on U.S. airfields on [[Leyte]], employing 39 or 40 aircraft to drop 15 to 20 paratroopers each. The aircraft targeting [[Tacloban]] airfield are shot down or driven off by U.S. [[antiaircraft artillery|antiaircraft fire]], while the troops targeting [[Dulag Airfield]] are killed in crash landings, but troops dropped from 35 aircraft at [[Burauen, Leyte|Burauen]] airfield resist for two days and three nights until killed by U.S. Army Air Forces ground personnel.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 365.</ref>
* December 7
** A major [[earthquake]] in Japan badly damages aircraft factories, including the [[Aichi Kokuki|Aichi]] factory, the [[Mitsubishi]] plant at [[Nagoya]], and the [[Nakajima Aircraft Company|Nakajima]] plant at [[Handa, Aichi|Handa]].<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 17.</ref>
** Employing a new tactic in which [[torpedo bomber]]s first drop a [[torpedo]] and then conduct a ''kamikaze'' suicide attack, Japanese aircraft sink a U.S. destroyer and [[Fast transport|destroyer-transport]] in [[Ormoc Bay]]. ''Kamikazes'' also severely damage two destroyers.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XI: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, pp. 380–385.</ref>
** The [[Convention on International Civil Aviation]] is signed in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], [[Illinois]], by 52 countries.<ref>[http://www2.icao.int/en/tcb/Pages/history.aspx icao.int International Civil Aviation Organisation History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231164515/http://www2.icao.int/en/tcb/Pages/history.aspx |date=2012-12-31 }}</ref>
* December 8 – In an attempt to stop Japanese air attacks on Saipan from staging through Iwo Jima, the U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Navy conduct a joint attack against Iwo Jima. After a morning fighter sweep by 28 [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]], 62 B-29s and 102 B-24s bomb the island, dropping 814 tons (738,456&nbsp;kg) of bombs, after which U.S. Navy surface ships bombard Iwo Jima. All Iwo Jima airfields are operational by December 11, but Japanese attacks on Saipan come to a halt for 2{{frac|1|2}} weeks. Seventh Air Force B-24s will continue to raid Iwo Jima at least once a day through February 15, 1945.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, p. 11.</ref>
* December 13 – As the U.S. Navy Mindoro Attack Force is about to round the southern cape of [[Negros (island)|Negros]] to enter the [[Sulu Sea]], a Japanese [[Aichi D3A]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Val") [[dive bomber]] operating as a ''kamikaze'' hits the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Nashville|CL-43}}, [[flagship]] for the Mindoro invasion, badly damaging her, wounding ground forces commander [[Brigadier General]] [[William C. Dunckel]], and killing and wounding members of his staff. Another ''kamikaze'' badly damages a destroyer.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 21, 23–24.</ref>
* December 13–17 – Six U.S. Navy escort carriers provide direct support for the U.S. [[Battle of Mindoro|invasion]] of [[Mindoro]]. They fly 864 sorties, losing nine planes, none to enemy action.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 19, 33–34.</ref>
* December 14
** As he strafes a Japanese airfield on [[Luzon]], antiaircraft fire shoots down the [[F6F Hellcat]] of U.S. Navy ace [[Alexander Vraciu]]. He parachutes to safety, is rescued by Philippine guerillas, and spends five weeks with them before meeting American ground forces and later returning to the United States. His is credited with 19 air-to-air victories; he has destroyed another 21 enemy aircraft on the ground.<ref name="vraciu"/>
** Under attack by German fighters during a raid on [[Liepāja]] in the [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic]], [[Soviet Air Forces]] [[Ilyushin Il-2|Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik]] pilot [[Nelson Stepanyan]] – a [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] credited by Soviet sources with destroying 53 ships (13 of them unassisted), 80 [[tank]]s, 600 other [[armored vehicle]]s, and 27 aircraft – is shot down by German antiaircraft fire and is killed when he crashes his Il-2 into a German warship. He receives a second Hero of the Soviet Union award posthumously.<ref name="SAE">{{in lang|hy}} Anon. ''«Ստեփանյան, Նելսոն Գևորգի»'' [Stepanyan, Nelson Gevorgi]. [[Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia]]. Yerevan: [[Armenian Academy of Sciences]], 1985, vol. xi, p. 130.</ref>
* December 14–16 – Task Force 38 carrier aircraft attack Japanese airfields on Luzon, employing for the first time the "Big Blue Blanket" tactic of keeping aircraft over the airfields day and night to prevent Japanese air attacks on the beachhead at Mindoro. Flying 1,671 sorties, they drop 336 tons (304,817&nbsp;kg) of bombs, claiming 62 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and 208 on the ground, for a loss of 27 U.S. aircraft in combat and 38 due to non-combat causes.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, p. 57.</ref>
* December 15
** U.S. forces [[Battle of Mindoro|land on]] Mindoro. Over the next 30 days, there will be 334 alerts of Japanese air attack on the [[beachhead]]. ''Kamikaze'' attacks begin immediately, and persist until January 4, 1945.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 48, 50.</ref>
** A U.S. Army Air Forces [[Noorduyn Norseman|UC-64 Norseman]] carrying the American [[bandleader]] [[Glenn Miller]] disappears over the [[English Channel]]. No wreckage or bodies are ever found.
* December 17 – U.S. Army Air Forces [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Richard I. Bong]] scores his 40th and final aerial victory, enough to make him the top-scoring American [[Flying ace|ace]] of World War II. He has made all of his kills flying the [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]].<ref name="definitive266"/>
* December 18 – [[Typhoon Cobra (1944)|Typhoon Cobra]] strikes Task Force 38 as it operates in the [[Philippine Sea]] east of [[Luzon]]. In addition to the sinking of three destroyers, the loss of over 800 men, and damage to many ships, the task force loses 146 carrier aircraft and battleship and cruiser [[floatplane]]s. Plans for strikes on Luzon from December 19 to 21 are cancelled.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 65–71, 84.</ref>
* December 19 – The U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|Redfish|SS-395}} torpedoes and sinks the Japanese aircraft carrier [[Japanese aircraft carrier Unryū|''Unryū'']] in the [[East China Sea]] with the loss of 1,239 lives. There are 147 survivors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/unryut.htm|title=Imperial Flattops|website=www.combinedfleet.com}}</ref>
* December 20 – With an abundance of male pilots now available to ferry military aircraft from factories to airfields, the U.S. Army Air Forces [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|Air Transport Command]]{{'}}s [[Women Airforce Service Pilots]] (WASP) organization is disbanded. WASP and its predecessors have trained 1,074 graduates who have ferried over 50 percent of the combat aircraft within the United States during World War II. Flying at 126 bases across the United States, WASPs also have towed targets for gunnery training and served as instrument instructors for the Eastern Flying Training Command. Thirty-eight of the women have died during their WASP service, 11 in training and 27 during missions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.afhistory.af.mil/|title=Air Force Historical Support Division > Home|website=www.afhistory.af.mil}}</ref>
* December 22 – The only known test-firing of the German [[Henschel Hs 298]] rocket-powered [[air-to-air missile]] takes place, when a ''Luftwaffe'' [[Junkers Ju 88]]G fires three HS 298s. One fails to release from its launch rail, and one of the two that do release explodes prematurely and nose-dives into the ground. The Hs 298 program will be cancelled in January 1945.
* December 24 – A U.S. Army Air Forces strike by Seventh Air Force B-24s on Iwo Jima is combined with a bombardment by U.S. Navy surface ships, but Japanese air raids on Saipan resume later in the day as 25 Japanese aircraft destroy one B-29 and damage three more beyond repair.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945'', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990, pp. 11–12.</ref>

== First flights ==
* Noury N-75 prototype for [[Fleet 80 Canuck]]

===January===
* January 6 – [[McDonnell XP-67 Bat]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 296.</ref>
* January 8 – Lockheed XP-80, prototype of the [[P-80 Shooting Star]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 274.</ref>
* January 31 – [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.93]]<ref>"Plane Facts: Unique dive bomber". ''[[Air International]]'', August 1982, Vol 23 No 2.  {{ISSN|0306-5634}} p. 98.</ref>

===February===
* [[Tokyo Koku Ki-107]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 488.</ref>
* February 2 – [[Republic XP-72]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 398.</ref>
* February 11 – [[Vultee XA-41]]<ref>Wagner, Ray. "They didn't quite&nbsp;... No, 15: Attack Bombers". ''[[Air Pictorial]]'', May 1962, Vol. 24, No. 5. pp. 149–151.</ref>
* February 16 – Curtiss [[SC Seahawk|SC-1 Seahawk]]

===March===
* [[Kawasaki Ki-102]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Randy")<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 134–135.</ref>
* [[Tachikawa Ki-74]] ([[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting names]] "Pat" and "Patsy")<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 260, 569.</ref>
* March 1 – Horten H.IX V1, unpowered glider that was the first prototype of the [[Horten Ho 229]]<ref>Green, William ''Warplanes of the Third Reich'', London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970, {{ISBN|0-356-02382-6}}, p. 247.</ref>

===April===
* [[Blohm & Voss BV 238]]
* April 1 – [[Bell XP-77]]<ref>Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7607-0592-5}}, p. 117.</ref>
* April 5 – [[Miles Monitor|Miles M.33 Monitor]]
* April 18 – [[Ilyushin Il-10]] ([[NATO reporting name]] "Beast")
* April 29 – [[Aeronca Champion]]

===May===
* [[Bell XP-77]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 56.</ref>
* May 6
** [[Blohm & Voss BV 40]]
** [[Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster]]
** [[Mitsubishi A7M|Mitsubishi A7M ''Reppu'']] ("Hurricane"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Sam"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 400, 569.</ref>
* May 7 – [[Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly]]
* May 19 – [[Ilyushin Il-1]]
* May 23
** [[Martin-Baker MB 5]]<ref>Mondey, David, ed., ''The Complete Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Aircraft'', Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, {{ISBN|0-89009-771-2}}, p. 223.</ref>
** [[Polikarpov NB]]
* May 30 – [[Pilatus SB-2]]

===June===
* June 6 – [[Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 272.</ref>
* June 9 – [[Avro Lincoln]]<ref>Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7607-0592-6}}, p. 84.</ref>
* June 25 – Ryan XFR-1, prototype of the [[Ryan FR Fireball]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 412.</ref>

===July===
* [[Fairchild BQ-3|Fairchild XBQ-3]]
* [[Kawasaki Ki-108]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 138.</ref>
* [[Nakajima J5N|Nakajima J5N1 ''Tenrai'']] ("Heavenly Thunder")<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 492.</ref>
* July 5 – [[Northrop MX-324]]
* July 28 – [[de Havilland Hornet]]

===August===
* [[Blohm & Voss BV 144]]
* [[Mitsubishi Ki-109]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 195.</ref>
* August 8 – [[Junkers Ju 287]], the first aircraft with a [[forward-swept wing]]
* August 21 – Grumman XF8F-1, prototype of the [[Grumman F8F Bearcat]]<ref>Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, ''United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911'', London: Putnam, 1976, {{ISBN|978-0-370-10054-8}}, p. 223.</ref><ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 240.</ref>
* August 26 – [[Martin AM Mauler]]

===September===
* September 1
** [[Blohm & Voss BV 155]]
** [[Hawker Sea Fury]]
* September 10 – Fairchild XC-82, prototype of the [[Fairchild C-82 Packet]]

===October===
* [[Bachem Ba 349 Natter]] (first unpowered, unmanned glide)<ref name="Donald, David 1997, p. 93">Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7607-0592-6}}, p. 93.</ref>
* [[Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka|Yokosuka MXY7 ''Ohka'']] ("Cherry Blossom," [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Baka") rocket-propelled suicide aircraft (first unpowered glide)<ref name="francillon477">Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 477.</ref>
* October 23 – [[Nakajima G8N|Nakajima G8N ''Renzan'']] ("Mountain Range"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Rita"<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 441, 569.</ref>
* October 27 – [[Bristol Buckmaster]]

===November===
* [[Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka|Yokosuka MXY7 ''Ohka'']] ("Cherry Blossom," [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Baka") rocket-propelled suicide aircraft (first powered flight)<ref name="francillon477"/>
* November 15 – Boeing XC-97, prototype of the [[C-97 Stratofreighter]]
* November 18 – [[Mitsubishi Ki-83]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 192.</ref>
* November 27 – [[Boeing XF8B|Boeing XF8B-1]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 89.</ref>
* November 30 – [[Republic RC-1 Thunderbolt Amphibian]], prototype of the [[Republic RC-3 Seabee]]<ref>Johnson, E. R. "Everyman's Amphibian," ''Aviation History'', November 2012, p. 15.</ref>

===December===
* [[Bachem Ba 349 Natter]] (first manned unpowered glide)<ref name="Donald, David 1997, p. 93"/>
* December 4 – [[Bristol Brigand]]
* December 6 – [[Heinkel He 162]]
* December 8 – [[Mitsubishi MXY8|Mitsubishi MXY8 ''Akigusa'']] ("Autumn Grass"), glider test version of the [[Mitsubishi J8M]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, p. 405.</ref>
* December 14 – [[Short Shetland]]

== Entered service ==

===March===
* [[Nakajima Ki-84|Nakajima Ki-84 ''Hayate'']] ("[[Gale]]"), [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied reporting name]] "Frank," with 22nd Group, [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]]<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-313-7}}, pp. 218, 570.</ref>

===April===
* [[Grumman F7F Tigercat]] with the [[United States Marine Corps]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 238.</ref>
* April 22 – [[Avro York]] with the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]]
* [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] with the [[Luftwaffe]]

===May===
* [[Westland Welkin]] with the [[Royal Air Force]]′s [[Fighter Interception Unit]]

===July===
* [[Fairey Firefly]] with [[No. 1770 Squadron FAA]]
* July 12 – [[Gloster Meteor]] with [[No. 616 Squadron RAF]]

===August===
* [[Bell P-59 Airacomet]] with the [[United States Army Air Forces]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 50.</ref> [[412th Fighter Group]]<ref>David, Donald, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7607-0592-5}}, p. 107.</ref>

===October===
* [[Ilyushin Il-10]] ([[NATO reporting name]] "Beast") with the [[Soviet Air Forces]]

===December===
* December 31 – [[Grumman F8F Bearcat]] with the [[United States Navy]]<ref>Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-517-56588-9}}, p. 242.</ref>

==Retirements==
* [[Fairchild AT-21 Gunner]] by the [[United States Army Air Forces]]
* [[Hall PH|Hall PH-2]] and [[Hall PH|Hall PH-3]] by the [[United States Coast Guard]]; last [[biplane]] [[patrol aircraft]] in U.S. military service<ref>Polmar, Norma, "Historic Aircraft: The Hall Contribution," ''Naval History'', February 2014, p. 15.</ref>
* [[Northrop A-17]] by the [[United States Army Air Forces]]
* [[Sukhoi Su-2]] by the [[Soviet Air Forces]]

===April===
* April 20 – The German [[Reich Air Ministry|Air Ministry]] orders [[Heinkel]] to cease all engineering work on the [[Heinkel He 277]] "Amerika Bomber" design project, ordering all finished airframe parts for it to be scrapped.<ref name="Heinkel He 177 – 277 – 274"/>

===May===
* [[Westland Welkin]] by the [[Royal Air Force]]′s [[Fighter Interception Unit]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Aviation timelines navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1944 In Aviation}}
[[Category:1944 in aviation| ]]
[[Category:Aviation by year]]
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USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) (edit)
USS Franklin (CV-13) (edit)
USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) (edit)
USS Hornet (CV-12) (edit)
USS Houston (CL-81) (edit)
USS Intrepid (CV-11) (edit)
USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) (edit)
USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) (edit)
USS LST-282 (edit)
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USS Maryland (BB-46) (edit)
USS Meredith (DD-726) (edit)
USS Monterey (CV-26) (edit)
USS Nashville (CL-43) (edit)
USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) (edit)
USS North Carolina (BB-55) (edit)
USS Princeton (CVL-23) (edit)
USS Rasher (SS-269) (edit)
USS Redfish (SS-395) (edit)
USS Sangamon (CVE-26) (edit)
USS Santee (CVE-29) (edit)
USS Saratoga (CV-3) (edit)
USS Spadefish (SS-411) (edit)
USS St. Lo (CVE-63) (edit)
USS St. Louis (CL-49) (edit)
USS Suwannee (CVE-27) (edit)
USS Tang (SS-306) (edit)
USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) (edit)
USS Tulagi (CVE-72) (edit)
USS Turner (DD-648) (edit)
USS Yorktown (CV-10) (edit)
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Return to 1944 in aviation.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1944_in_aviation"