1942 in the United Kingdom
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 1942 in the United Kingdom: |
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| World War II |
| UK during World War II |
Events from the year 1942 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch - George VI of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Winston Churchill, coalition
[edit] Events
- 29 January - Desert Island Discs first broadcast on BBC radio.[1]
- 7 February - soap rationing introduced.[1]
- 15 February - World War II: Arthur Ernest Percival's forces surrender to the Japanese at the Battle of Singapore.[1]
- 25 February - Princess Elizabeth registers for war service.
- 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 country's East Coast.
- 23 April
- Exeter becomes the first city to bombed as part of the Baedeker Blitz in retaliation for the British bombing of Lübeck.
- William Temple enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 5 May–6 November - World War II, Battle of Madagascar: British commander Robert Sturges leads the invasion of Vichy French held Madagascar.
- 30 May - Over a thousand RAF bombers attack Cologne in Germany.[1]
- 11 August - Traffic admitted onto the new Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames in London.[1]
- 19 August - World War II: British and Canadian troops conduct the Dieppe Raid.[1]
- 25 August - Prince George, Duke of Kent, the brother of King George VI is killed in an 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.[1]
- 5 October - Oxford Committee for Famine Relief founded.[2]
- 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.[1]
- 29 October - Holocaust: Leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.
- 3 November - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein ends with German forces under Erwin Rommel forced to retreat during the night.[1]
- 8 November - World War II: British and American troops invade French North Africa in Operation Torch.
- 1 December - Publication of the Beveridge Report into social insurance.[1]
- 7 December - British commandos conduct Operation Frankton a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
[edit] Publications
- Agatha Christie's novels The Body in the Library (Miss Marple), Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot) and The Moving Finger (Miss Marple).
- C. S. Lewis' novel The Screwtape Letters.
- Evelyn Waugh's novel Put Out More Flags.
[edit] Births
[edit] January - April
- 3 January - John Thaw, English actor (died 2002)
- 8 January
- Stephen Hawking, British physicist
- George Passmore, English artist (Gilbert and George)
- 19 January - Michael Crawford, English singer and actor
- 31 January - Derek Jarman, English director and writer (died 1994)
- 1 February - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer
- 2 February - Graham Nash, English musician
- 28 February - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (died 1969)
- 9 March - John Cale, Welsh composer and musician
- 25 March - Richard O'Brien, English actor and writer
- 27 March
- John E. Sulston, British chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Michael York, English actor
- 28 March
- Neil Kinnock, British statesman
- Mike Newell, British film director
- 5 April - Peter Greenaway, Welsh filmmaker
- 8 April - Roger Chapman, British singer (Family, Streetwalkers)
[edit] May - August
- 8 May - Terry Neill, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- 12 May - Ian Dury, British musician (died 2000)
- 18 May
- Albert Hammond, English-born musician and composer
- Nobby Stiles, English footballer
- 18 June - Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
- 24 June - Mick Fleetwood, English drummer (Fleetwood Mac)
- 4 July - Prince Michael of Kent
- 23 July - Myra Hindley, English murderer (died 2002)
- 26 August - Dennis Turner, British politician
[edit] September - December
- 17 September - Desmond Lynam, British TV presenter
- 26 October - Bob Hoskins, English actor
- 24 November - Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian
- 29 November - Michael Craze, British actor (d. 1998)
- 4 December - Gemma Jones, British actress
- 31 December - Andy Summers, English musician
[edit] Deaths
- 16 January - Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn- third eldest son of Queen Victoria (born 1850)
- 10 March - William Henry Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)
- 16 April - Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria (born 1878)
- 7 June - Alan Blumlein, English electronics engineer (born 1903)
- 22 July - Gilbert Cunningham Joyce, Bishop of Monmouth (born 1866)
- 28 July - William Matthew Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (born 1853)
- 10 August - Bob Kelso, Scottish footballer (born 1865)
- 25 August - Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth eldest son of King George V (born 1902)
- 4 December - Hugh Gordon Malcolm, Scottish VC recipient (born 1917)
- 22 December - Elias Henry Jones, Welsh educationist and author (year of birth unknown)
