1944 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1944 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales
  • Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor (died 7 May)
  • David Prosser, Bishop of St David's (elected)
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Crwys

Events

• 22 January - Wynford Vaughan-Thomas reports for the BBC from the Battle of Anzio.^[1]
• 23 January - An RAF Halifax bomber crashes in the Elan Valley, killing nine crew.
• 28 March - Cardiff Blitz: Nine people are killed in an air raid on Cardiff.
• 11 April - An RAF Lancaster bomber crashes near Llanwrtyd Wells, killing eight crew.
• 16 August - Lt. Tasker Watkins leads a bayonet charge at Barfour in Normandy, winning the Victoria Cross for his courage.^[2]
• 17 October - The first "Welsh Day" debate takes place in the House of Commons (UK).
• 11 November - A US Dakota C-47 with four crew crashes into cliffs above Llyn Dulyn.^[3]
• 10 December - American Liberty ship Dan Beard is torpedoed off Strumble Head, resulting in the deaths of 29 crew.^[4]
• 20 December - An American B-24 Liberator plane crashes into the sea off Anglesey, killing eight crew.
• Plaid Cymru transfers its head office from Caernarfon to Cardiff.
• Morgan Phillips becomes Secretary of the Labour Party (UK), a position he will hold until 1961.^[5]
• Sir Thomas Williams Phillips becomes permanent secretary of the new government ministry created to implement the national insurance system.
• Sir David Brunt is awarded the royal medal of the Royal Society for his work in meteorology.
• Politician Goronwy Owen and naval architect Llewellyn Soulsby are knighted.^[6]

Arts and literature

• 2 October - Dylan Thomas is best man at the wedding of his friend and fellow poet Vernon Watkins in London - but fails to turn up.
• BBC commentator Alun Williams marries Perrie Hopkin Morris, daughter of Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Llandybie)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - D. Lloyd Jenkins
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - J. M. Edwards
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld

English language

• Rhys Davies – Black Venus
• Fred Hando - The Pleasant Land of Gwent^[7]
• Jack Jones - The Man David
• Alun Lewis - The Last Inspection
• Sir Percy Emerson Watkins - A Welshman Remembers
• Sir Ifor Williams - Lectures on early Welsh Poetry

Welsh language

• Thomas Rowland Hughes - William Jones
• Edward Morgan Humphreys - Ceulan y Llyn Du^[8]
• T. H. Parry-Williams - O'r Pedwar Gwynt^[9]

New drama

• James Kitchener Davies - Meini Gwagedd^[10]
• Emlyn Williams - The Druid's Rest

Music

• Harry Parr Davies - Jenny Jones (musical)
• Grace Williams - Sea Sketches

Film

• The Halfway House, starring Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns and Rachel Thomas, is set in Wales.

Broadcasting

• August - Wynford Vaughan-Thomas reports on the liberation of Paris for BBC radio.
• Launch of the Noson Lawen series on BBC radio.

Visual arts

• Polish-born expressionist painter Josef Herman begins 11 years living and working in Ystradgynlais.

Sport

• Boxing - Syd Worgan beats Tommy Davies for the vacant Welsh featherweight title.^[11]
• Football - The first post-war match between Wales and England ends in a 1 - 0 victory for Wales.

Births

• 21 January - Peter Rodrigues, footballer
• 17 February - Karl Jenkins, composer^[12]
• 1 March – Dai Morgan Evans, English-born archaeologist (died 2017)^[13]
• 6 March – Billy Raybould, Wales international rugby player
• 12 March – Tammy Jones, singer
  • • 24 March Mary Balogh, novelist
  • Steve Jones, biologist
• 31 March – Myfanwy Talog, actress (died 1995)^[14]
• 4 April – Ronnie Rees, footballer
• 8 April – Hywel Bennett, actor (died 2017)^[15]
• 15 April – Dave Edmunds, musician^[16]
• 16 April – Llew Smith, politician (died 2021)^[17]
• 5 May
  • Roger Rees, actor (died 2015 in the United States)^[18]
  • John Rhys-Davies, actor^[19]
• 20 May – Kathrin Thomas, magistrate^[20]
• 3 June – Dilwyn John, footballer
• 11 June – Alan Howarth, Baron Howarth of Newport, politician^[21]
• 16 June – Brian Protheroe, English-born singer and actor of Welsh parentage
• 7 July – Glenys Kinnock, English-born politician (died 2023)^[22]
• 7 July – Angharad Rees, actress (died 2012)^[23]
• 31 July
  • Endaf Emlyn, TV presenter, musician and director
• Betty Williams, politician
• 9 October - Desmond Barrit, actor
• 21 October - Mandy Rice-Davies, socialite (died 2014)^[24]
• 6 November - Gerallt Lloyd Owen, poet (died 2014)^[25]
• 14 November - Eurfyl ap Gwilym, economist and politician
• 29 November - Gareth Wardell, politician^[26]
• 18 December - (Roger) Deke Leonard, rock musician (died 2017)^[27]
• 24 December– Meirion Pennar, translator and son of Pennar Davies (died 2010)^[28]

Deaths

• 8 January - John Newell Evans, Welsh-born farmer and politician in Canada, 97^[29]
• 11 January - Richard Powell, Wales international rugby player, 79
• 5 March - Alun Lewis, poet, 28 (accidentally shot)
• 20 March - William Retlaw Williams, lawyer and historian, 80 or 81
• 31 March - Talfryn Evans, cricketer, 29
• 7 May - Charles Green, Bishop of Monmouth, Bishop of Bangor and Archbishop of Wales, 79
• 17 May - John Lloyd Morgan, lawyer and MP, 83^[30]
• 24 May - Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet, politician, 83
• 27 May - Griffith Hartwell Jones, academic, 85^[31]
• June - Dai Davies, footballer, 63/64
• 16 June - David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, philanthropist and MP, 64^[32]
• 25 June - James Atkin, Baron Atkin, judge, 76
• 5 August - Maurice Turnbull, cricketer, 38 (killed in action)^[33]
• 5 August - Ethel Lina White, crime novelist, 68
• 20 September - Oliver Morris, rugby player and footballer, 27 (killed in action)^[34]
• 21 September - Bob Jones, rugby union player, 69
• 25 September - David Davies, 2nd Baron Davies, 29 (killed in battle)^[35]
• 30 September- David Harris Davies, Wales international rugby union player, 66^[36]
• 5 October - Laura Evans-Williams, singer, 61^[37]
• 27 October - Clem Lewis, rugby player, 54
• 19 November - Watkin Williams, Bishop of Bangor, 99^[38]
• 8 December - Sir William Jenkins, MP for Neath, 73

See also

• 1944 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Robert Niemi. History in the Media: Film and Television. 2006. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-57607-952-2. 110.
2. Web site: Watkins, Sir Tasker (1918-2007), barrister and judge. John Griffith Williams. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 2 May 2019.
3. Web site: Dry spell reveals ghostly reminder of Snowdonia lake's war-time tragedies. 20 July 2021. Daily Post. 21 July 2021.
4. Book: Reference Wales. 1994. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1234-6. 242.
5. Web site: Phillips, Morgan Walter (1902-1963), general secretary of the Labour Party. Mary Auronwy James. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 2 May 2019.
6. Web site: Soulsby, Sir Llewellyn Thomas. Mary Auronwy James. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 2 May 2019.
7. Book: Antiquarian Book Monthly Review. 1985. ABMR Publications. 273.
8. Book: Meic Stephens. The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. registration. April 1986. Oxford University Press. 272. 978-0-19-211586-7 .
9. Book: John Buchanan-Brown. Cassell's Encyclopaedia of World Literature: Biographies L-Z. 1953. Morrow. 292. 9780688002282 .
10. Book: Poetry Wales. 1981. C. Davies. 40.
11. Book: Coal; the NCB Magazine. 1952.
12. Book: John Chilton. Who's Who of British Jazz: 2nd Edition. 1 May 2004. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-0-8264-2389-4. 193.
13. News: Howard Williams . Dai Morgan Evans obituary . . 17 April 2017 . 29 April 2017.
14. Web site: Myfanwy Talog. British Film Institute. 2020. 31 March 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201020081206/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba20b6ba0. dead. October 20, 2020.
15. Web site: Hywel Bennett obituary. 4 August 2017. Anthony Hayward. The Guardian. 3 February 2020.
16. Book: Patricia Romanowski Bashe. Holly George-Warren. Jon Pareles. The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. 1995. Fireside. 978-0-684-81044-7. 1975.
17. Web site: Llew Smith obituary. 22 June 2021. Julia Langdon. The Guardian. 22 July 2021.
18. Book: Contemporary. Contemporary Books. Chase's Annual Events: The Day-By-Day Directory to 1994. 1993. Contemporary books. 978-0-8092-3732-6. 193.
19. Book: Brad Linaweaver. Sliders: The Episode Guide : the Classic Episodes. 1998. TV Books. 978-1-57500-053-4. 21.
20. Web site: Birthdays today. https://web.archive.org/web/20130520080952/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2013-5-20.html . dead . 20 May 2013 . The Telegraph. 16 May 2014. 20 May 2013. Mrs Kathrin Thomas, Lord–Lieutenant for Mid Glamorgan, 69 .
21. Web site: Alan Howarth. 17 October 2002. BBC News. 22 July 2021.
22. Web site: Politician Glenys Kinnock of Holyhead. 19 April 2013. North Wales Daily Post. 1 May 2019.
23. News: BBC News - Poldark actress Angharad Rees dies from cancer. Bbc.co.uk. 2012-07-21. 21 July 2012.
24. Book: Harris M. Lentz III. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2014. 30 April 2015. McFarland. 978-0-7864-7666-4. 288.
25. Web site: Gerallt Lloyd Owen wedi marw. 15 July 2014. cy. BBC Cymru Fyw. 1 May 2019.
26. Book: Guide to the House of Commons. 1983. Times Books. 9780723002574 .
27. Web site: Deke Leonard obituary. 26 March 2017. Michael Heatley. The Guardian. 1 May 2019.
28. Web site: Academic and poet Meirion Pennar dies at 65. Steve Dube. Western Mail. 18 December 2010. 19 December 2010.
29. Web site: Vital Event Death Registration . BC Archives . 2011-08-27 .
30. Web site: Morgan, John Lloyd (1861-1944), county court judge. Thomas Mardy Rees. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 September 2019.
31. News: 30 May 1944. 6. Rev. Dr. G. H. Jones. The Times.
32. Book: Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood. Burke's Peerage & Gentry . Mosley, Charles . Charles Mosley (genealogist) . 107 . 2003 . 1049–1050 . Burke . 0-9711966-2-1.
33. Book: John Stern. Marcus Williams. The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. 7 January 2014. A&C Black. 978-1-4081-7896-6. 942.
34. Web site: True Heroes Remembered. therhinos.co.uk. 31 December 2014. 1 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150114204147/http://www.therhinos.co.uk/news/24183.php. 14 January 2015. dead.
35. Book: Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. 1973. Kelly's Directories.
36. http://www.espnscrum.com/wales/rugby/player/1624.html David Davies player profile
37. Web site: EVANS-WILLIAMS, LAURA (1883-1944), singer. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 23 January 2019.
38. Book: Who was who. 1967. A. & C. Black. 1242.