the English Midlands and West Country. 8 September 1944 First V-2 rocket attack on London. 17 September 1944 The Blackout is replaced by a partial 'dim-out'. 22 September 1944 Ernest Bevin announces the government's plan for eventual military demobilisation. 3 December 1944 The Home Guard is stood down. 1945 1 February 1945 Part-time members of the National Fire Service are stood down. 27 March 1945 Last V-2 attack on London. 29 March 1945 Last V-1 flying bomb attack on London. 2 May 1945 Civil Defence Service is stood down. 8 May 1945 VE Day. 9 May 1945 Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands takes place. 23 May 1945 The Labour Party members of the coalition government resign in order to prepare for the upcoming general election. Churchill appoints a largely Conservative caretaker government. 16 June 1945 The Family Allowances Act passed. Mothers will receive a tax-free cash payment for each child in their care. This is the first time in Britain that a state payment has gone directly to a wife rather than her husband. 18 June 1945 Demobilisation of the armed forces begins. 5 July 1945 General election voting takes place in the UK. The ballots are then sealed for three weeks to allow the collection and counting of overseas service votes. 26 July 1945 The Labour Party wins the general election with a historic landslide. Clement Attlee becomes Prime Minister and forms a new government. 15 August 1945 VJ Day. See also Mass Observation Notes and references Further reading Addison, Paul. "The Impact of the Second World War," in Paul Addison and Harriet Jones, eds. A Companion to Contemporary Britain: 1939-2000 (2005) pp 3–22. Addison, Paul. The road to 1945: British politics and the Second World War (1975; 2nd ed. 2011). Addison, Paul. Churchill on the Home Front, 1900-1955 (1992) ch 10–11. Calder, Angus . The People's War: Britain 1939-45 (1969), highly influential survey Field, Geoffrey G. (2011) Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939-1945 DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.001.0001 online Gardiner, Juliet. (2004) Wartime: Britain 1939–1945 782pp; comprehensive social history Hancock, W.K. and M. M. Gowing. British War Economy (1949) part of the official history of World War II online Hayes, Nick, and Jeff Hill. 'Millions like us'?: British culture in the Second World War (1999) Levine, Joshua. The Secret History of the Blitz (2015). Marwick, Arthur. The Home Front: The British and the Second World War. (1976).