1942 in the United Kingdom
UK-related events during the year of 1942
Events from the year 1942 in the United Kingdom Second World War .
Incumbents
Events
1 January
9–29 January – 1942 Betteshanger miners' strike in the Kent Coalfield .
10 January – World War II : Liverpool Blitz ends with German bombs dropped in the Stanhope Street area of the city, with nine people dying and many more suffering injuries. Among the houses destroyed in the bombing is the former home of Adolf Hitler 's half-brother Alois. Four more people die as a result of their injuries the following day.
26 January – World War II: First United States troops for the European theatre arrive in the UK, at Belfast .[ 3]
29 January – radio programme Desert Island Discs BBC Forces Programme , presented by Roy Plomley ; Austrian-born revue performer Vic Oliver (the Prime Minister's son-in-law) is the first castaway.[ 4]
January – Mildenhall Treasure discovered by ploughman Gordon Butcher in Suffolk .
February–April – Liverpool Chinese seamen strike for improved pay.[ 5]
7 February – soap rationing introduced.[ 4]
15 February – World War II: General Arthur Percival 's forces surrender to the Japanese at the Battle of Singapore .[ 4]
16 February – National Service (No. 2) Act introduces conscription to the Home Guard .[ 6]
19 February – Clement Attlee is appointed first Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .
25 February – Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II ) registers for war service.
April – Women's Timber Corps set up.[ 7]
5 April – World War II: Japanese Navy attacks Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka ). Royal Navy Cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
9 April – World War II: Japanese Navy launches air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the island's east coast.
23 April
24 April – Barnburgh Main Colliery collapse: 4 killed.[ 8]
25–27 April – World War II: "Baedeker Blitz" – Bath Blitz : three bombing raids on Bath kill 417; among the buildings destroyed or badly damaged the Assembly Rooms are gutted.
1 May – destroyer HMS Punjabi sinks after collision with battleship HMS King George V in Arctic waters with 49 fatalities.
5 May–6 November – World War II: Battle of Madagascar ; British commander Robert Sturges leads the invasion of Vichy French -held Madagascar .
6 May – The Radio Doctor (Charles Hill ) makes his first BBC radio broadcast giving avuncular health care advice.
30 May – World War II: First RAF "thousand bomber raid" sets off to carry out the bombing of Cologne in Germany.[ 4]
15 June – propaganda film The Next of Kin Ealing Studios .
July–August – J. Arthur Rank 's Odeon Cinemas purchase UK sites of Paramount Cinemas .
July
10 July – the patriotic Academy Award -winning drama film Mrs. Miniver Greer Garson , is released in London .[ 11]
26 July – rationing of sweets and chocolate begins.[ 6]
11 August – traffic admitted onto the new Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames in London.[ 4]
19 August – World War II: British and Canadian troops conduct the Dieppe Raid .[ 4]
25 August – Dunbeath air crash : Prince George, Duke of Kent , brother of George VI , is among 14 killed in a military air crash near Caithness , Scotland .
30 August–2 September – World War II: At the Battle of Alam el Halfa in Egypt , General Montgomery leads the Eighth Army to victory over Field Marshal Rommel 's Afrika Korps .[ 4]
September – The Brains Trust BBC Home Service radio.[ 12]
12 September – World War II: British transport ship RMS Laconia torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the Atlantic, west of Africa, with the loss of around 2,000 lives, mainly Italian prisoners of war.
13 September – World War II:
The RAF and the Soviet Air Force bomb oil wells and refining facilities at Ploeşti in Romania causing extensive damage.
The RAF carries out its 100th bombing raid on the German city of Bremen .
17 September – Noël Coward 's film In Which We Serve
23 September
2 October
British cruiser Curaçao collides with troopship RMS Queen Mary off the coast of Donegal and sinks: 338 drown.
World War II: Japanese troopship Lisbon Maru USS Grouper off the coast of China: 829 are killed, mostly British prisoners of war who (unknown to the attacker) are being held on board.
5 October – Oxford Committee for Famine Relief founded.[ 13]
9 October – the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act passed by the Parliament of Australia formalises Australian autonomy from the U.K.
23 October – World War II: British and Commonwealth forces launch a major attack against German and Italian forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt.[ 4]
25 October – the milk ration is cut to two and a half pints a week.
29 October – a public meeting presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury and with international political figures in attendance at the Royal Albert Hall in London registers outrage over The Holocaust .[ 14]
30 October – World War II: British sailors board German submarine U-559 as it sinks in the Mediterranean and retrieve its Enigma machine and codebooks.
31 October – World War II: Canterbury is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, apparently in reprisal for an RAF 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne.
4 November – World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein effectively ends with Erwin Rommel forced to order German forces to retreat this evening in the face of pressure from General Montgomery 's Eighth Army.[ 4]
6 November – the Church of England archbishops announce relaxation of the custom that women should wear hats in church.[ 15]
8 November – World War II: British and American troops invade French North Africa in Operation Torch .
13 November – World War II: Allied troops recapture Tobruk .
17 November – World War II: Admiral Max Horton takes over from Percy Noble as Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches , with responsibility for the safety of Atlantic convoys .
1 December – publication of the Beveridge Report into social insurance.[ 4] [ 6]
7 December – World War II: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton , a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
16 December – the Trade Union Congress backs the Beveridge Report .
30 December – British insurance companies attack the Beveridge Report .
World War II
Publications
Births
3 January – John Thaw , English actor (died 2002)
5 January – Jan Leeming , TV presenter and newsreader
8 January
19 January – Michael Crawford , English singer and actor
21 January – George Foulkes , Labour MP and peer
31 January – Derek Jarman , English director and writer (died 1994)
1 February – Terry Jones , Welsh actor, writer and director (died 2020)
2 February – Graham Nash , English musician
5 February – Susan Hill , English author
7 February – Gareth Hunt , English actor (died 2007)
11 February – Charles Townsend Harrison , British art historian (died 2009)
12 February – Norma Major , philanthropist and spouse of John Major
15 February – Glyn Johns , English recording engineer
19 February – Howard Stringer , Welsh businessman
22 February – Peter Abbs , English poet and academic (died 2020)
27 February – Mike Bailey , British footballer
28 February – Brian Jones , English rock musician (The Rolling Stones ) (died 1969)
9 March – John Cale , Welsh composer and musician
13 March – Geoffrey Hayes , English television presenter and actor (died 2018)
14 March – Rita Tushingham , English actress
25 March – Richard O'Brien , English actor and writer
27 March
28 March
29 March – Julie Goodyear , English actress
1 April
5 April – Peter Greenaway , Welsh filmmaker
8 April
12 April – Bill Bryden , Scottish-born theatre director (died 2022)
16 April – Sir Frank Williams , Formula One team owner (died 2021)[ 17]
19 April – David Fanshawe , English composer (died 2010)
20 April – Giles Henderson , English lawyer and academic
4 May – Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Baron Bruce-Lockhart , politician (died 2008)
8 May
Norman Lamont , politician, Chancellor of the ExchequerTerry Neill , Northern Irish footballer and football manager (died 2022)
12 May – Ian Dury , British musician (died 2000)
13 May – Jeff Astle , British footballer (died 2002)
18 May – Nobby Stiles , England footballer (died 2020)
20 May – Lynn Davies , Welsh long jump Olympic champion[ 18]
24 May – Sir Fraser Stoddart , Scottish-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
25 May – Brian Davison , rock drummer (died 2008)
29 May – Charlotte Johnson Wahl , artist, mother of Boris Johnson [ 19]
2 June – Tony Buzan , popular psychologist (died 2019)
8 June – Doug Mountjoy , Welsh snooker player (died 2021)
9 June – Ossie Clark , fashion designer (murdered 1996)
10 June – Gordon Burns , television presenter
18 June
20 June
23 June – Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow , cosmologist and astrophysicist
24 June – Dustin Gee , British comedian (died 1986)
25 June – Patricia Brake , English actress (died 2022)[ 20]
1 July – Julia Higgins , polymer scientist
4 July – Prince Michael of Kent
7 July – Tom Blundell , scientist
12 July – Tam White , Scottish musician and actor (died 2010)
16 July – Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead , politician (died 2024)
17 July
23 July – Myra Hindley , English murderer (died 2002)
27 July
31 July – James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas , politician (died 2023)[ 22]
7 August – Richard Sykes , microbiologist and businessman
16 August – John Challis , English actor and comedian (died 2021)
24 August – Peter Gummer, Baron Chadlington , English businessman
25 August – Howard Jacobson , novelist and journalist
26 August – Dennis Turner , British politician (died 2014)
15 September – Philip Harris , entrepreneur and educationist
17 September – Des Lynam , Irish-born TV sports presenter
18 September – Alex Stepney , footballer and coach
24 September – Gerry Marsden , Merseybeat singer-songwriter (died 2021)
27 September
Tessa Blackstone , English academic administrator, public servant and Labour politicianAlvin Stardust , born Bernard Jewry, English pop singer (died 2014)
29 September - Ian McShane , English actor
30 September – Gus Dudgeon , English record producer (died 2002)
21 October – John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington , English police officer
26 October – Bob Hoskins , English actor (died 2014)
27 October – Phil Chisnall , footballer (died 2021)
28 October – Freddie Williams , Scottish businessman (died 2008)
7 November – Jean Shrimpton , English fashion model and actress
23 November – Jane Lumb , English fashion model and actress (died 2008)
24 November
29 November – Michael Craze , English actor (died 1998)
2 December – Dennis Kirkland , English television producer (died 2006)
4 December
6 December – Richard Shepherd , politician (died 2022)
8 December – Robin Medforth-Mills , professor (died 2002)
12 December – Morag Hood , Scottish actress (died 2002)
13 December
21 December – Frances Ritchie , nurse and religious sister
31 December – Andy Summers , English rock musician
Deaths
16 January – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , third eldest son of Queen Victoria (born 1850)
10 March – Sir William Henry Bragg , physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)
27 March – Vernon Kell ('K'), first director of MI5 (born 1873)
16 April – Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , granddaughter of Queen Victoria , in Germany (born 1878)
17 April – Laura Annie Willson , mechanical engineer and suffragette (born 1877)
23 May – Charles Robert Ashbee , designer (born 1863)
7 June – Alan Blumlein , electronics engineer (born 1903; killed in military aircraft accident)
18 June – Sutherland Macdonald , tattoo artist (born 1860)
22 July
28 July – Sir Flanders Petrie , Egyptologist (born 1853)
10 August – Bob Kelso , Scottish footballer (born 1865)
25 August – Prince George, Duke of Kent , fourth eldest son of George V (born 1902; killed on active service in military aircraft accident)
4 December – Hugh Malcolm , Scottish Royal Air Force officer, posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1917; killed in action)
22 December – E. H. Jones , Welsh army officer, educationist and writer (born 1883)[ 23]
See also
References
^ "The Sneyd Colliery Explosion 1st Jan 1942" . HealeyHero . Retrieved 15 October 2010 .^ Forster, Chris (27 June 2013). "Typography versus Hitler – The Book Production War Economy Agreement" . Chris Forster. Retrieved 10 April 2017 . ^ Shaw, Antony (2005). World War II Day By Day . Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-304-9 ^ a b c d e f g h i j Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0 ^ "Liverpool and its Chinese Seamen" . Retrieved 24 March 2011 .[dead link ] ^ a b c d Ruddy, Austin J. (2019). The Home Front 1939-1945 in 100 Objects . Barnsley: Frontline Books. ISBN 9-781-52674-086-1 ^ "Women's Timber Corps Memorial" . Forestry Commission Scotland. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010 .^ "Tried to dig a way out with pick head" . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer . 27 April 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2016 .(subscription required) ^ "Britain's 'Anthrax Island' . BBC. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 27 June 2010 .^ O'Donnell, Conal (11 November 2004). "Breckland Exodus - The Forced Evacuation of the Norfolk Battle Area 1942" . WW2 People's War . BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2019 . ^ "Mrs. Miniver (1942)" . Reel Classics . Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008 .^ "The Brains Trust" . Radio Days . Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2010 .^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History . London: Century Ltd. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2 ^ "Nazi Atrocities". The Times ^ "Hats – New Church 'Rule'Daily Herald ^ "The 20th Century" . Federation of Bakers. 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2024 .^ Sir Frank Williams, 1942-2021 – F1’s champion-maker remembered ^ Lynn Davies ^ Boris Johnson's mother, Charlotte Johnson Wahl, dies aged 79 ^ "Patricia Brake obituary" . The Guardian . 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022 .^ Obituary: Ernie Ross ^ Tribute to ‘true gentleman’ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton ^ "Jones, Elias Henry" . Dictionary of Welsh Biography National Library of Wales . Retrieved 10 November 2013 .
