1941 in the United Kingdom
UK-related events during the year of 1941
Events from the year 1941 in the United Kingdom Second World War .
Incumbents
Events
9 January – Avro Manchester Mark III BT308 , prototype of the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, first flies, from RAF Ringway .[ 1]
19 January – British troops attack Italian -held Eritrea .
20 January – Firewatching mandatory for business premises, to limit incendiary damage.
21 January – the Daily Worker Communist Party of Great Britain , is suppressed by the (Labour ) Home Secretary in the Churchill war ministry , Herbert Morrison [ 2] Soviet stance.
21–22 January – Battle of Tobruk : Australian and British forces attack and capture Tobruk (Libya ) from the Italians.
31 January – German spy Josef Jakobs parachutes into the village of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire ; he breaks his ankle on landing and is immediately arrested.[ 3]
5 February – Air Training Corps formed.[ 4]
11 February – RMS Queen Elizabeth begins her first voyage as a troopship , from Singapore .
12 February – Reserve Constable Albert Alexander , a patient at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford , becomes the first person treated with penicillin intravenously, by Howard Florey ’s team. He reacts positively but there is insufficient supply of the drug to reverse his terminal infection. A successful treatment is achieved during May.[ 5]
19 February – "Three nights' Blitz" over Swansea , South Wales , begins. 230 are killed and 409 injured.
February – white flour is replaced by "National flour", a wholemeal flour .[ 6]
2 March – John Gilbert Winant takes up post as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom in succession to Joseph P. Kennedy ; he will serve for 5 years.
11 March
13 March – Clydebank Blitz : bombing of Clydebank . 528 people die, 617 more are seriously injured, and hundreds more are injured by blast debris. Another 35,000 people are made homeless.
15 March – Plymouth Blitz : bombing of Plymouth . 336 people lose their lives.[ 9]
27–29 March – Battle of Cape Matapan : Off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean , British naval forces defeat those of Italy sinking five warships.
15 April – Belfast Blitz : Belfast is heavily bombed, killing 900 and injuring 1,500.
7 April – Budget Day : Chancellor of the Exchequer Kingsley Wood presents a Keynesian budget that increases taxes;[ 10] income tax .[ 11]
18 April – heaviest air-raid of the year on London.[ 7]
21 April – Greece capitulates. British troops withdraw to Crete .
May
The Ministry of Information issues more than 14 million copies of a leaflet Beating the Invader , with a preface from Churchill, giving advice on what to do "if invasion comes".[ 12]
Meatless Woolton pie introduced.[ 13]
2–8 May – 'May Week Raids', sustained heavy bombing on Merseyside , result in over 1,700 deaths and well over 1,000 injuries.[ 7]
6–7 May – Greenock Blitz : Greenock in Scotland is intensively bombed. 280 people are killed, and 1,200 more injured.
9 May – German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic with its Enigma cryptography machine and codebooks intact.[ 14]
10 May
15 May – first British jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39 , is flown[ 4] RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. The Gloster E.28/39 , the first British aircraft to fly with a turbojet engine 17 May – Tipton , near Dudley in the midlands, is bombed by the Luftwaffe for the second time in six months, with a further six civilian deaths.
24 May – in the North Atlantic , the German battleship Bismarck sinks HMS Hood killing all but three crewmen on what was the pride of the Royal Navy .
26 May – in the North Atlantic, Fairey Swordfish biplanes from the carrier HMS Ark Royal fatally cripple the German battleship Bismarck in torpedo attack.
May – Emergency Work (Merchant Navy) Order requires merchant seamen to serve for the duration, establishes a Merchant Navy Reserve Pool of labour, and guarantees a wage (which will continue in the event of shipwreck).[ 15]
1 June – clothes rationing introduced.[ 7]
4 June – Britain invades Iraq ; the pro-Axis government there is overthrown.
June – Noël Coward 's comedy Blithe Spirit Manchester Opera House . Opening in London on 2 July,[ 16] West End theatre which will not be surpassed for more than twenty years.
12 July – Anglo-Soviet Agreement signed for mutual co-operation following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
August – Political Warfare Executive is formed to disseminate information to Germany and its Occupied countries.
9 August
12 August – Dudley , which suffered 10 fatalities in a landmine attack in November last year, suffers five more fatalities when a second landmine is dropped in the town.
15 August – Josef Jakobs becomes the last person executed at the Tower of London when he faces execution by firing squad following conviction for an offence under the Treachery Act 1940 .[ 17]
16 August – HMS Mercury Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School opens at Leydene, near Petersfield , Hampshire.
18 August – National Fire Service established.[ 4]
30 August – first official 'Shetland bus' clandestine mission using Norwegian fishing boats between Shetland and German-occupied Norway .
September
October – the first Ronald Searle cartoon to feature St Trinian's School is published, in the magazine Lilliput [ 19]
30 October – J. Arthur Rank purchases the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation , with its 251 cinemas and its subsidiary operations, Gainsborough Pictures and Lime Grove Studios .[ 20]
31 October – a Huddersfield factory fire kills 49, many of them young women.[ 21]
End October – President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt approves US$ 1bn in Lend-Lease aid to Britain.
1 November – announcement that radical politician Sir Charles Trevelyan is donating his family home, Wallington Hall , Northumberland , to the National Trust , its first such stately home acquisition.[ 22]
13 November – the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is hit by the German submarine U-81 off Gibraltar ; she capsizes and sinks under tow the next day.[ 4]
27 November – Tobruk is relieved by the Eighth Army (which has controlled British and other Allied ground forces in the Western Desert from September) in Operation Crusader .
5 December – Britain declares war on Finland , Hungary and Romania .[ 23]
8 December – the Battle of Hong Kong begins less than eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor when Imperial Japanese forces invade British Hong Kong . British Malaya is also attacked and there follows the declaration of war on Japan .[ 7]
10 December – sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse in the South China Sea: two Royal Navy capital ships, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse , are sunk by Japanese aircraft.
13 December
Battle of Cape Bon off Tunisia: two Italian cruisers are sunk without Allied losses.Britain declares war on Bulgaria.
15 December – Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed Co Ltd v Veitch collective bargaining .
18 December – National Service (No. 2) Act comes into effect: All men and women aged 18–60 are now liable to some form of national service , including military service for men under 51 and unmarried women between 20 and 30. The first military registration of 18½-year-olds takes place. The schedule of reserved occupations is abandoned.[ 7]
25 December
27 December
Undated
Publications
Births
1 January – Martin Evans , biologist
2 January – Celia Birtwell , textile and fashion designer
5 January – Kevin Keelan , English footballer
7 January
8 January – Graham Chapman , English comedy writer-performer (died 1989)[ 27]
10 January – Tom Clarke , Scottish politician
12 January – Long John Baldry , blues singer (died 2005)[ 28]
19 January
20 January – Allan Young , English footballer (died 2009)
27 January – Beatrice Tinsley , English-born astronomer (died 1981)
28 January – Ann Leslie , English journalist, born in British India (died 2023)[ 30]
5 February – Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn , Labour politician, Leader of the House of Lords, Lord President of the Council (died 2003)
7 February – Kevin Crossley-Holland , English author and poet
10 February – Michael Apted , English film director (died 2021)
20 February – Richard Mabey , English writer and broadcaster
26 February – Tony Ray-Jones , British photographer (died 1972)
27 February – Paddy Ashdown , Liberal Democrat politician, born in the British Raj (died 2018)[ 31]
28 February – Tristan Garel-Jones , Welsh-born Conservative politician (died 2020)
4 March – Adrian Lyne , English film director
5 March – Errol Le Cain , children's book illustrator and animator (died 1989)
25 March
26 March – Richard Dawkins , Kenyan-born British scientist[ 32]
28 March – Jack Simmons , English cricketer
30 March – Graeme Edge , rock drummer and songwriter (The Moody Blues ) (died 2021)
5 April – Dave Swarbrick , folk rock fiddle player (died 2016)
7 April – Gorden Kaye , comic actor (died 2017)
8 April – Vivienne Westwood , fashion designer (died 2022)
10 April – John Kurila , Scottish footballer (died 2018)
11 April – Shirley Stelfox , English actress (died 2015)
12 April – Bobby Moore , English football player and World Cup winning captain (died 1993)
23 April – Ed Stewart , English disc jockey (died 2016)
26 April – Robin Jacob , English academic and judge
3 May – Paul Ferris , film composer and actor (died 1995)
10 May – Chris Denning , English radio presenter and convicted sex offender (died 2022)[ 33]
11 May
13 May – Miles Kington , journalist and humorist (died 2008)
18 May – Miriam Margolyes , actress
19 May – Igor Judge, Baron Judge , lord chief justice (died 2023)[ 34]
21 May – Martin Carthy , English folk singer and guitarist
22 May – Menzies Campbell , politician
26 May – Ron Wallwork , English race walker
27 May – Derek Robinson , physicist (died 2002)
29 May – Doug Scott , English mountaineer (died 2020)
2 June – Charlie Watts , English rock drummer (died 2021)
5 June – Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker , English academic and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
7 June – Lady Elizabeth Shakerley , English party planner, socialite and first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II (died 2020)
8 June – Robert Bradford , Northern Irish footballer and politician (assassinated 1981)
9 June – Jon Lord , composer, pianist and organist (died 2012)[ 35]
14 June
18 June – Delia Smith , cook
20 June – Stephen Frears , film and television director
25 June – Eddie Large , born Edward McGinnis, Scottish-born comedian (died 2020)
27 June
7 July
10 July – Jackie Lane , actress (died 2021)
11 July – Tommy Vance , disc jockey (died 2005)
18 July – Duncan Worsley , cricketer
29 July - David Warner , actor
4 August – Martin Jarvis , actor
6 August – Andrew Green, Baron Green of Deddington , diplomat
16 August – David Dickinson , British antiques expert, television presenter
21 August – Howard Lew Lewis , English comedian, actor (died 2018)
22 August – Barry Jackson , English track and field athlete
26 August – Chris Curtis , drummer (The Searchers ) (died 2005)
29 August – Robin Leach , television personality (died 2018)
30 August – Sue MacGregor , radio broadcaster
10 September – Christopher Hogwood , English conductor (died 2014)
17 September – Marit Allen , film costume designer (died 2007)
26 September – Martine Beswick , actress and model
27 September – Peter Bonetti , England football goalkeeper (died 2020)
29 September – Fred West , English serial killer (suicide 1995)
30 September – Angela Pleasence , actress
4 October – Jackie Collins , English-born novelist (died 2015)
5 October
12 October – Michael Mansfield , barrister
19 October – Peter Thornley , English professional wrestler best known for the ring character Kendo Nagasaki [ 36]
20 October – Anneke Wills , actress
21 October – Dickie Pride , rock and roll singer (died 1969)
23 October – Greg Ridley , rock bassist (died 2003)
28 October
29 October – George Davies , English fashion retailer[ 38]
30 October – Bob Wilson , football player and broadcaster
31 October – Joy Grieveson , British sprinter
1 November – Nigel Dempster , columnist (died 2007)[ 39]
2 November – Bruce Welch , born Bruce Cripps, English guitarist
6 November – James Bowman , countertenor (died 2023)
10 November – Graham Clark , operatic tenor (died 2023)
18 November
24 November – Pete Best , English drummer
1 December – Nigel Rodley , English international human rights lawyer (died 2017)[ 40]
5 December – Sheridan Morley , theatre critic (died 2007)
7 December – Val Wilmer , photographer and writer
17 December – Alan Sinfield , English academic (died 2017)
18 December – Prince William of Gloucester (died 1972)
22 December – M. Stanley Whittingham , English-born solid-state chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry .
24 December
31 December – Alex Ferguson , Scottish footballer and football manager[ 41]
Deaths
5 January – Amy Johnson , aviator (born 1903; aviation accident)
8 January – Lord Robert Baden-Powell , soldier and founder of the Boy Scouts (born 1857)
10 January – Frank Bridge , composer (born 1879)
24 January – Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll (born 1901; murder)
4 February – George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd , politician and diplomat (born 1879)
12 February – Charles Voysey , Arts and Crafts designer and domestic architect (born 1857)
11 March – Sir Walford Davies , composer (Royal Air Force March Past ) (born 1869)
13 March – Tom Mann , trade unionist (born 1856)
28 March – Virginia Woolf , novelist (born 1882; suicide)
5 April – Sir Nigel Gresley , railway steam locomotive designer (Flying Scotsman Mallard
16 April – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp , economist (born 1880; enemy action)
17 April – Al Bowlly , big band singer (born 1898 in Mozambique; enemy action)
23 May – Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin , car designer and manufacturer (born 1866)
24 May – Lancelot Holland , admiral (born 1887; died in action)
1 June – Sir Hugh Walpole , New Zealand-born novelist (born 1884)
15 June – Evelyn Underhill , Christian mystic (born 1875)
30 June – Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor , lawyer and politician (born 1852)
11 July – Sir Arthur Evans , archaeologist (born 1851)
12 August – Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon , politician and colonial administrator, 22nd Viceroy of India , 13th Governor General of Canada (born 1866)
20 August – John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven , politician, 8th Governor-General of Australia (born 1874)
17 September – Fred Karno , music hall impresario (born 1866)
13 October – David Devant , stage magician (born 1868)
7 November – Frank Pick , transport administrator and patron of industrial design (born 1878)
16 November – Sir Henry Wilson , general (born 1859)
27 November – Sir Charles Briggs , general (born 1865)
10 December – Sir Tom Phillips , admiral (born 1888; killed in action)[ 42]
See also
References
^ Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft . New York: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 82. ISBN 0-7607-0592-5 ^ "The Daily Worker " . Manchester Guardian ^ "Josef Jakobs" . Stephen's Study Room: British Military & Criminal History in the period 1900 to 1999 . Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2012 .^ a b c d e Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0 ^ Robertson, Patrick (1974). The Shell Book of Firsts . London: Ebury Press. pp. 124–5. ^ a b c Ruddy, Austin J. (2019). The Home Front 1939-1945 in 100 Objects . Barnsley: Frontline Books. ISBN 9-781-52674-086-1 ^ a b c d e f Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History . London: Century Ltd. pp. 388–389. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2 ^ Stone, Simon (16 February 2010). "Old Trafford: 100 years of the iconic Manchester United stadium" . The Independent . Retrieved 28 December 2010 . ^ Moseley, Brian (11 August 2007). "The Plymouth Blitz – The March Raids" . The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History . Archived from the original on 16 September 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2015 . ^ Howlett, Peter (1994). "The Wartime Economy, 1939–1945". In Floud, Roderick; McCloskey, Deirdre (eds.). The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Volume 3 : 1939–1992 . Cambridge University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-521-42522-3 ^ Jenkins, Roy (1998). The Chancellors . London: Macmillan. p. 399. ISBN 0-333-73057-7 ^ Cohen, Ronald I. (Summer 2018). "Preparing for an Invasion of Britain… In Writing" . Finest Hour (181). International Churchill Society: 38. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020 . ^ "Woolton Pie" . World Carrot Museum . Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010 .^ Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh (2000). Enigma: the Battle for the Code . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-7538-1130-8 ^ Lane, Tony (1990). The Merchant Seamen's War . Manchester University Press. pp. 31–2. ISBN 0-7190-2397-1 ^ "Piccadilly Theatre: Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward". The Times ^ "Aug 15 1941 – The last execution in the Tower of London" . World War II Today . Retrieved 30 October 2011 .[dead link ] ^ Grant, Charles (1972). Royal Scots Greys . Reading: Osprey. p. 34. ISBN 0850450594 ^ Gosling, Ju (1998). "Ronald Searle & the St Trinian's Cartoons" . Virtual Worlds of Girls . Retrieved 15 December 2011 . ^ "G-B Deal Completed – J. A. Rank Appointed Chairman". Kinematograph Weekly . 6 November 1941. p. 11. ^ "Permanent memorial to Booth's factory fire in Huddersfield unveiled" . Huddersfield Examiner . 5 November 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2021 .^ "Sir C. Trevelyan Gives His Estate To National Trust For The People". Newcastle Journal ^ "WW2 People's War" . Retrieved 23 March 2012 .^ Long, Vicky (2014). "Situating the factory canteen in discourses of health and industrial work in Britain (1914-1939)" . Le Mouvement Social . 2 (247): 65–83. doi :10.3917/lms.247.0065 . ISSN 0027-2671 . PMC 4113673 PMID 25082999 . ^ Carney, Michael (1995). Britain in Pictures: a history and bibliography . London: Werner Shaw. ISBN 9780907961093 ^ Keating, H. R. F. (1982). Whodunit? – a guide to crime, suspense and spy fiction . London: Windward. ISBN 0-7112-0249-4 ^ Screen International Film and TV Year Book ^ Lawrence Goldman (7 March 2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008 ISBN 978-0-19-967154-0 ^ Stephen R Holmes (2 June 2003). "The Rev Prof Colin Gunton" . The Guardian . Retrieved 3 January 2022 . ^ Maggie Brown (27 June 2023). "Dame Ann Leslie obituary" . The Guardian . London. Retrieved 27 June 2023 . ^ Roth, Andrew (19 March 2001). "Sir Paddy Ashdown" . The Guardian . London. Retrieved 22 November 2007 .^ Thompson, Clifford (1999). World authors 1990-1995 . New York: H.W. Wilson. p. 159. ISBN 9780824209568 ^ "Denning: Going against social norms" . The Prague Post . 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013.^ 'A remarkable leader': Legal sector pays tribute to Lord Judge ^ "Obituary: Jon Lord, composer and Deep Purple founder" . Gramophone . Haymarket. Retrieved 3 January 2022 .^ The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant - Bertrand Hébert, Pat Laprade, Tony Stabile - Google Books ^ Pete Prown; Harvey P. Newquist (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6 ^ Collinson, Dawn (14 May 2008). "Fashion icon George Davies: I'm Scouse and proud of it!" . Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 23 July 2022 . ^ Goldman, Lawrence (7 March 2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008 ISBN 978-0-19-967154-0 ^ Robertson, Geoffrey; Crewe, Ivor (2 February 2017). "Sir Nigel Rodley obituary" . The Guardian . Retrieved 6 February 2017 . ^ "Sir Alex Ferguson | Biography & Facts | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 28 January 2023 .^ "Phillips, Sir Tom Spencer Vaughan" . CWGC . Retrieved 3 June 2020 .
