1939 in the United Kingdom explained
Events from the year 1939 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the start of the Second World War, ending the Interwar period.
Incumbents
Events
January–June
- 2 January – the all-time highest attendance for a British association football league game is set as 118,567 people watch Rangers beat Celtic in an "Old Firm derby" played at Ibrox Park in Glasgow.[1]
- 23 January – "Dutch War Scare": Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of the Abwehr leaks misinformation to the effect that Germany plans to invade the Netherlands in February, with the aim of using Dutch airfields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain. The "Dutch War Scare" leads to a major change in British policies towards Europe.[2]
- 4 February – the Irish Republican Army plants bombs at two London Underground stations, Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square, injuring seven, two seriously.[3] [4]
- 25 February – the first Anderson shelter (a household air raid shelter) is built in London.[5]
- 27 February – Borley Rectory, a reputed haunted house in Essex, is destroyed by fire.[5]
- 31 March – Britain pledges support to Poland in the event of an invasion.[6]
- 4 April – the Royal Armoured Corps is formed.
- 11 April – the Women's Royal Naval Service is re-established.[7]
- 27 April – the Military Training Act (coming into force 3 June) introduces conscription; men aged 20 and 21 must undertake six months military training.[8]
- May–September – the Sutton Hoo treasure – an Anglo-Saxon ship burial – is excavated. On 28 July the Sutton Hoo helmet is uncovered. The principal treasures are presented to the British Museum by the landowner, Edith Pretty, at this time its largest ever gift from a living donor.[9]
- 6 May
- Dorothy Garrod is elected to the Disney Professorship of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge, the first woman to hold an Oxbridge chair.[10]
- German anti-Nazi Carl Friedrich Goerdeler tells the British government that the German and Soviet governments are secretly beginning a rapprochement, with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. Goerdeler also informs the British of German economic problems which he states threaten the survival of the Nazi regime, and advises that if a firm stand is made for Poland, then Hitler will be deterred from war.
- 15 May – the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips is released, for which actor Robert Donat will win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
- 17 May – George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrive in Quebec City to begin the first-ever visit to Canada by a reigning British sovereign.
- 1 June – submarine HMS Thetis sinks during trials in Liverpool Bay. 99 men are lost.[11]
- 7 June – George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit New York City on the first visit to the United States by a reigning British sovereign.[5]
- 14 June–20 August – Tientsin Incident: the Imperial Japanese Army blockades British trading settlements in the north China treaty port of Tientsin.
- 28 June – the Women's Auxiliary Air Force is created, absorbing the forty-eight RAF companies of the Auxiliary Territorial Service which have been formed since 1938.[12]
- 30 June – the Mersey Ferry stops running to Rock Ferry.[5]
July–September
- 1 July – Women's Land Army re-formed to work in agriculture.[13]
- 8 July – Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat Yankee Clipper inaugurates the world's first heavier-than-air North Atlantic air passenger service between the United States and Britain (Southampton).
- 22 July – royal visit to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, during which the young Princess Elizabeth first meets her future husband Prince Philip of Greece.[14]
- 26 July – the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham, designed by Robert Atkinson, is officially opened by Queen Mary.[15] [16]
- 5 August – weekly transatlantic flights scheduled by Imperial Airways; suspended in September.[6]
- 15 August – first personnel of the Government Code and Cypher School move to Bletchley Park.
- 19 August – Sir Malcolm Campbell sets the water speed record in Blue Bird K4 on Coniston Water.
- 23 August–2 September – most paintings from the National Gallery in London are evacuated to Wales.[17]
- 24 August – as details of the previous day's Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact become public, Parliament is recalled several weeks early; the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 gives full authority to defence regulations,[6] Army reservists are called up and Civil Defence workers placed on alert.
- 25 August – 1939 Coventry bombing: An Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Coventry, killing 5 and injuring 70.[18] In London, police defuse two similar bombs and arrest four terrorists.[19]
- 30 August – Royal Navy proceeds to war stations.
- 1 September
- 2 September – British Expeditionary Force headquarters formed.
- 3 September – World War II
- 4 September – first bombing of Wilhelmshaven in World War II by Royal Air Force Vickers Wellingtons.
- 5 September – National Registration Act.[24]
- 9 September – British Expeditionary Force crosses to France.[6]
- 10 September – British submarine torpedoes and sinks another British submarine,, off the coast of Norway, believing her to be a German U-boat, with the loss of 52 crew.
- 16 September – the Duke of Windsor is appointed a major-general attached to the British Military Mission to France.[25]
- 17 September – aircraft carrier is torpedoed and sunk by in the Western Approaches with the loss of 519 crew, the first British warship loss of the War.
- 18 September – American-born fascist politician William Joyce, at this time holding a British passport, begins broadcasting Nazi propaganda to Britain from Berlin, inheriting the nickname Lord Haw-Haw.[5]
- 19 September – popular radio comedy show It's That Man Again with Tommy Handley first broadcast on the BBC Home service, following trial broadcasts from 12 July.[6] [26] Known as "ITMA", it runs for ten years.
- 24 September – petrol rationing introduced.[6]
- 26 September – flying from in the North Sea, Lieutenant B. S. McEwen of the Fleet Air Arm scores the first British victory over a German aircraft of the war, shooting down a flying boat. The aircraft carrier comes under air attack but survives.[27]
- 27 September – first war tax is revealed by the Cabinet, including a significant rise in income taxes.
- 29 September – national register of citizens compiled to support the introduction of identity cards and rationing.[24]
- 30 September – Identity cards introduced.[6]
October–December
- 1 October – call-up proclamation: All men aged 20–21 must register with the military authorities.
- 7 October – cruiser departs Plymouth in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying £2M in gold bar to be used for purchase of military materiel in North America, a predecessor of Operation Fish.[28]
- 14 October – HMS Royal Oak sunk by a German U-boat in Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands with the loss of 833 crew.[5]
- 16 October – first enemy aircraft shot down by RAF Fighter Command, a Junkers Ju 88 brought down into the sea by Spitfires following an attack on Rosyth Naval Dockyard in Scotland.[29]
- 17 October – first bomb lands in the U.K., at Hoy in the Orkney Islands.[30]
- 21 October – registration of men aged 20 to 23 for National Service begins.[21]
- 30 October – British battleship is unsuccessfully attacked by under the command of captain Wilhelm Zahn off Orkney and is hit by three torpedoes, none of which explode; Winston Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty), Admiral of the Fleet Dudley Pound (First Sea Lord) and Admiral Charles Forbes (Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet) are on board.[31]
- 4 November – Stewart Menzies is appointed head of the Secret Intelligence Service.
- 8 November – Venlo Incident: two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
- 23 November – British armed merchantman is sunk in the GIUK gap in an action against the German battleships and .
- 24 November – British Overseas Airways Corporation formed by merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. effective from 1 April 1940.
- 4 December
- strikes a mine (laid by) off the coast of Scotland and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
- German submarine U-36 is torpedoed and sunk by British submarine HMS Salmon off Stavanger, the first enemy submarine lost to a British one during the War.
- 9 December – first soldier of the British Expeditionary Force killed: Corporal Thomas Priday triggers a French land mine.
- 12 December – escorting destroyer sinks after a collision with battleship off the Mull of Kintyre in heavy fog with the loss of 124 men.[32]
- 13 December – the Battle of the River Plate takes place between,, and the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee,[5] forcing the latter to scuttle herself on 17 December.
- 18 December – Battle of the Heligoland Bight: RAF Bomber Command, on a daylight mission to attack Kriegsmarine ships in the Heligoland Bight, is repulsed by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft.
- December – the Pilgrim Trust establishes a Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, predecessor of the Arts Council.
Undated
Publications
Births
- 8 January – Alan Wilson, mathematician and academic
- 11 January – Phil Williams, Welsh politician (died 2003)
- 15 January – Neil Cossons, industrial archaeologist and museum director
- 20 January – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Ceylonese-born British astronomer and poet
- 29 January – Tony Green, sportscaster
- 5 February – Derek Wadsworth, jazz trombonist and composer (died 2008)
- 10 February – Peter Purves, actor and television presenter
- 18 February – Ray Lovejoy, film editor (died 2001)
- 20 February – Frank Arundel, footballer (died 1994)
- 3 March – Bill Frindall, cricket statistician (died 2009)
- 4 March – Keith Skues, radio disc jockey
- 9 March – John Howard Davies, child screen actor and television comedy director (died 2011)
- 10 March – Len Ashurst, football player and manager (died 2021)
- 17 March – Robin Knox-Johnston, yachtsman
- 18 March – Ron Atkinson, footballer and football manager
- 23 March
- 24 March – Lynda Baron, actress (died 2022)[34]
- 5 April – David Winters, English-American actor, choreographer and director (died 2019)
- 7 April – David Frost, television personality (died 2013)[35]
- 10 April – Penny Vincenzi, novelist (died 2018)[36]
- 12 April – Alan Ayckbourn, playwright
- 13 April – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (died 2013)[37]
- 15 April – Marty Wilde, actor and rock 'n' roll singer
- 22 April
- 1 May – Lady Susan Hussey, courtier
- 2 May
- 4 May – Neil Fox, rugby league footballer
- 5 May – Terry Walsh, actor and stuntman (died 2002)
- 7 May – David Hatch, radio broadcaster and actor (died 2007)
- 10 May – Bill Cash, English lawyer and politician
- 25 May – Sir Ian McKellen, English actor[39]
- 27 May – Sarah Caudwell, barrister and author (died 2000)
- 30 May – Tim Waterstone, businessman
- 31 May
- 5 June – Margaret Drabble, novelist and biographer
- 8 June
- 11 June
- 14 June – Peter Mayle, writer (died 2018)
- 19 June – Michael Standing, actor
- 26 June – Arthur Sutton, cricketer
- 30 June
- 2 July – Ferdinand Mount, journalist and novelist
- 7 July – Stanley Henig, academic and politician
- 10 July – John Dunlop, racehorse trainer (died 2018)
- 11 July – John Walters, musician and radio presenter (died 2001)
- 15 July – Reg Pridmore, motorcycle road racing national champion
- 16 July – Corin Redgrave, actor and political activist (died 2010)
- 17 July – Spencer Davis, Welsh beat musician, multi-instrumentalist (The Spencer Davis Group) (died 2020 in the United States)
- 18 July – Brian Auger, jazz and rock keyboardist
- 22 July – Robert Phelps, modern pentathlete
- 28 July – Richard Johns, air marshal
- 4 August – Jack Cunningham, politician
- 10 August
- 11 August – Naseem Khan, journalist (died 2017)
- 15 August
- 16 August
- 19 August
- 25 August – John Bardon, actor (died 2014)
- 30 August – John Peel, né Ravenscroft, disc jockey and radio presenter (died 2004)
- 12 September – John Pearse, guitarist (died 2008)
- 18 September – Maurice Colbourne, actor (died 1989)
- 19 September
- 22 September – Jean Golding, epidemiologist
- 23 September – Henry Blofeld, cricket commentator
- 25 September – Leon Brittan, politician (died 2015)
- 26 September - Ricky Tomlinson, actor
- 27 September – Nicky Haslam, interior designer
- 29 September – Rhodri Morgan, Welsh politician (died 2017)
- 1 October – Geoffrey Whitehead, actor
- 6 October – Melvyn Bragg, media arts presenter, critic and novelist
- 7 October – Harry Kroto, organic chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (died 2016)
- 9 October – Nicholas Grimshaw, architect
- 19 October – David Clark, Baron Clark, Scottish politician
- 22 October – George Cohen, English footballer (died 2022)
- 23 October – Peter Armitage, English actor (died 2018)
- 24 October – John Adye, intelligence officer
- 25 October – Dave Simmonds, road racer (died 1972)
- 27 October – John Cleese, comic actor
- 31 October – Tom O'Connor, entertainer and comedian (d. 2021)[43]
- 4 November – Michael Meacher, politician (died 2015).[44]
- 8 November – Elizabeth Dawn, actress (died 2017)
- 11 November – Alf Adams, physicist
- 12 November – Terry McDonald, footballer and coach
- 16 November – Michael Billington, drama critic
- 17 November – Auberon Waugh, journalist (died 2001)
- 18 November
- 3 December – David Phillips, chemist
- 13 December – Eric Flynn, singer-songwriter (died 2002)
- 16 December – Gordon Miller, Olympic high jumper
- 20 December – Tony Bentley, footballer
- 26 December – Carol M. Black, physician and academic
Deaths
- 9 January – Edwin Farley, mayor (born 1864)
- 2 March – Howard Carter, archaeologist (born 1874)
- 29 March – Ernest Hanbury Hankin, English bacteriologist and naturalist (born 1865)[45]
- 18 April – Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, patron and promoter of women's interests (born 1857)[46]
- 9 May – Sophie Williams, previously Mary, Lady Heath, aviator and athlete (born 1896)
- 25 May – Sir Frank Dyson, astronomer (born 1868)[47]
- 25 June – Richard Seaman, racing driver (car crash) (born 1913)[48]
- 26 June – Ford Madox Ford, novelist, poet, critic and editor (born 1873)
- 20 July – Sir Dan Godfrey, conductor (born 1868)[49]
- 6 September – Arthur Rackham, illustrator (born 1867)
- 13 September – Henry Halcro Johnston, botanist, physician, rugby union international and Deputy Lieutenant for Orkney (born 1856)
- 18 September - Gwen John, artist (born 1876)[50]
- 19 September – Ethel M. Dell, romantic fiction writer (born 1881)
- 26 September - Leif Jones, politician (born 1862)[51]
- 3 December – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria (born 1848)
- 15 December – Len Cundell, English racehorse trainer (born 1879)
- 19 December – Eric Fogg, composer and conductor (killed by train) (born 1903)[52]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Old Firm's enduring appeal. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927174808/http://www.fifa.com/news/y=2009/m=2/news=old-firm-enduring-appeal-1023776.html. dead. 27 September 2015. FIFA.com. FIFA. 16 April 2016. 13 June 2018. The clubs [Celtic and Rangers] also hold the British record attendance for a league match - 118,567 at Ibrox on 2 January 1939.
- Book: Watt, Donald Cameron. 1989. How War Came: Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938–1939. registration. New York. Pantheon. 978-0-67973-093-4. 101.
- Bodwen. Tom. 1976. The IRA and the changing tactics of terrorism. Political Quarterly. 47. 4. 425–437. 10.1111/j.1467-923X.1976.tb02203.x.
- London Bomb Outrages. 4 February 1939. 12. 48221. D.
- Book: Penguin Pocket OnThis Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
- Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer . Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 385–386. 0-7126-5616-2.
- Book: Fletcher, Marjorie H.. The WRNS: a history of the Women's Royal Naval Service. London. Batsford. 1989. 0-7134-6185-3. 90.
- Web site: WW2 People's War Timeline, BBC. 2008-03-02.
- http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/libraries_and_culture/v041/41.3chodorow.html Libraries and Culture, Stanley Chodorow
- Jane. Callander. Garrod, Dorothy Annie Elizabeth (1892–1968). 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/37443. 2011-02-14.
- Book: C. E. T.. Warren. James. Benson. "The Admiralty regrets ...": the story of His Majesty's submarine Thetis and Thunderbolt. London. Harrap. 1958.
- Book: Narracot, A.H.. How The R.A.F. Works. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1941. 108 (n115). 9 – Woman in Blue. 2009-07-30.
- Book: Twinch, Carol. Women on the Land: their story during two World Wars. Cambridge. Lutterworth Press. 1990. 0-7188-2814-3. 67.
- [Tim Heald|Heald, Tim]
- Encyclopedia: Spencer-Longhurst. Paul. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Atkinson, Robert (1883–1952). 2010-12-31. 2004. Oxford University Press. 10.1093/ref:odnb/38347.
- News: The Times. London. 25 July 1939. 17. 48366. The Barber Institute: A Cultural Centre For Birmingham.
- Book: Bosman, Suzanne. The National Gallery in Wartime. London. National Gallery Company. 2008. 978-1-85709-424-4. 25.
- Web site: Coventry IRA bombing: The 'forgotten' attack on a British city. BBC. BBC News. Scott. Jenny. 25 August 2014. 30 March 2018.
- Book: Kirby, Dick. IRA Terror on Britain's Streets, 1939–1940. Barnsley. Pen & Sword. 2021. 9781526786425.
- Web site: The Evacuated Children of the Second World War. Laura. Clouting. Imperial War Museum. London. 2015-08-19.
- Web site: Conscription. Spartacus Educational. 2008-03-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20020218035548/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWconscription.htm. 18 February 2002. dead.
- Book: Brennecke, Jochen. The Hunters and the Hunted. Naval Institute Press. 2003. 15–16. 1-59114-091-9.
- Book: Kean, Hilda. Hilda Kean. The Great Cat and Dog Massacre. University of Chicago Press. 2017. 978-0-226-31832-5.
- Web site: 1939: An emergency population count in wartime. 2011 Census. 2011. 2011-02-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718064146/http://2011.census.gov.uk/1939:-An-emergency-population-count-in-wartime. 18 July 2011. dead.
- Colin Matthew. Matthew. H. C. G.. 2004. Edward VIII, later Prince Edward, duke of Windsor (1894–1972). 10.1093/ref:odnb/31061. 2012-03-08.
- Web site: The BBC Story – 1930s. 2010-05-31. 23 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130123224044/http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/factsheets/1930s.pdf. dead.
- Book: Sturtivant, Ray. British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990. Annapolis, Maryland. Naval Institute Press. 1990. 0-87021-026-2. 33–34. registration.
- Book: Draper, Alfred. Operation Fish: The Fight to Save the Gold of Britain, France and Norway from the Nazis. 1979. General Publishing. Don Mills. 9780773600683.
- Web site: George. Duncan. Lesser-Known Facts of World War II. 2012-01-19.
- Book: Doyle, Peter. ARP and Civil Defence in the Second World War. Oxford. Shire Publications. 2010. 978-0-7478-0765-0. 9.
- Book: Flower, Stephen. No Phoney War. Stroud. Amberley. 2011. 978-1-84868-960-2.
- Book: English, John. Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. 1993. World Ship Society. Kendal. 0-905617-64-9.
- News: Takeaway market holds key to Greggs' future. The Northern Echo. Darlington. 2003-11-18. 2024-06-09.
- Web site: Open All Hours actor Lynda Baron dies aged 82 . 2022-03-07 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230708113722/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/07/open-all-hours-actor-lynda-baron-dies-aged-82 . 2023-07-08 . live .
- News: Sir David Frost obituary. The Guardian. Stuart. Jeffries. 1 September 2013. 13 June 2018.
- Web site: Penny Vincenzi: 'I never plot what will happen'. The Telegraph. 17 December 2016.
- News: Seamus Heaney obituary. The Guardian. Neil. Cocoran. 30 August 2013. 13 June 2018.
- Web site: Sir John Chilcot obituary . 2021-10-05 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230407145528/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/05/sir-john-chilcot-obituary . 2023-04-07 . live .
- Web site: Ian McKellen . https://web.archive.org/web/20160329084259/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ee9add0 . dead . 29 March 2016 . BFI . 8 January 2022 . en.
- Web site: Mick Ives Racing. Fibrax. 8 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210812/http://www.fibrax.com/mickivesracing. 3 March 2016. dead.
- Web site: Kate O'Mara obituary . The Guardian . 7 April 2022 . en . 30 March 2014.
- News: Alan Baker obituary. The Guardian. London. Gisbert. Wüstholz. 9 April 2018. 13 June 2018.
- Web site: Shafer. Ellise. 2021-07-18. Tom O’Connor, Comedian and Veteran Game Show Host, Dies at 81. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210718162409/https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/tom-oconnor-dead-dies-comedian-game-show-host-1235022362/. 2021-07-18. 2021-07-19. Variety. en-US.
- News: Obituary: Michael Meacher, politician. The Scotsman. Alasdair. Steven. 22 October 2015. 13 June 2018. 13 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613234930/https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-michael-meacher-politician-1-3924002. dead.
- Book: Who was who: A Companion to "Who's Who".. 1960. A. & C. Black. 588.
- Book: Ewan . Elizabeth . Pipes . Rose . Rendall . Jane . Reynolds . Siân . The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women . 2018 . Edinburgh University Press . 9781474436281 . 3.
- http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/X574.htm Frank Watson Dyson 1868-1939)
- News: The Times . 1939-06-27 . Obituary: Mr Richard Seaman . 16. subscription.
- Book: Sean Street. Ray Carpenter. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, 1893-1993: a centenary celebration. 1 January 1993. Dovecote Press. 978-1-874336-10-5. 43.
- Book: Gwen John. Michael Holroyd. Anthony d'Offay (Firm). Gwen John, 1876-1939. 1982. Anthony d'Offay. 9780950398938.
- Web site: Jones, Leifchild Stratten (1862-1939), Liberal politician and temperance advocate. Llewelyn Gwyn Chambers. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 5 September 2019.
- Book: The Listener. July 1939. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1270.