1944 in the United Kingdom

UK-related events during the year of 1944

1944 in the United Kingdom
Other years
1942 | 1943 | 1944 (1944) | 1945 | 1946
Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

1944 English cricket season
Football: England | Scotland
1944 in British radio
1944 in British television
1944 in British music

Events from the year 1944 in the United Kingdom. The year was dominated by the Second World War.

Incumbents

Events

Exercise Tiger: U.S. Army troops land on the beach at Slapton, Devon during rehearsals for the Normandy landings
Normandy landings: Landing craft cross the English Channel
  • 6 June – World War II: D-Day for the Normandy landings: 155,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in France, beginning Operation Overlord and the Invasion of Normandy.[2]
  • 13 June – World War II: the first V-1 flying bomb attack on London takes place. Eight civilians are killed in the blast. The bomb earns the nickname "doodlebug".[2]
  • 15 July – World War II: Park Street riot in Bristol, a confrontation between black G.I.s and U.S. Military Police.
  • 21 July – World War II: German submarine U-212 is depth-charged and sunk off Brighton on the south coast by British warships.[14]
  • Summer
  • 3 August – the Education Act, promoted by Rab Butler, creates a Tripartite System of secondary education in England and Wales with Secondary Modern, Technical, and Grammar schools, entrance being determined in most cases by the results of the Eleven plus exam.[16]
  • 12 August – World War II: the V-1 flying bomb campaign against London by the Germans reaches its 60th day, with more than 6,000 deaths, 17,000 injuries and damage or destruction to around 1 million buildings.
  • 20 August – American Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery is wrecked off the Nore in the Thames Estuary with around 1,400 tonnes of explosives on board, never recovered.[17]
  • 21 August – Dumbarton Oaks Conference opens in Washington, D.C.: American, British, Chinese, French and Soviet representatives meet to plan the foundation of the United Nations.[2]
  • 23 August – Freckleton air disaster: A USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber crashes into the village school at Freckleton, Lancashire, in a storm with 58 ground fatalities and 3 aircrew killed.
  • 7 September – the Belgian government leaves the UK and returns to Belgium following the liberation of Brussels on 3 September (by the Guards Armoured Division).
  • 8 September – World War II: the first V-2 rocket attack on London (launched from The Hague) takes place, striking in the Chiswick district of the city and resulting in the deaths of three people.[2]
  • 17 September – World War II: restrictions imposed by the Blackout are relaxed.[2]
  • 19 September – World War II: the UK is a co-signatory with the Soviet Union of the Moscow Armistice, ending the latter's Continuation War with Finland.[18]
  • 25 September – World War II: V-2 rockets aimed at Ipswich and Norwich by the Germans miss their targets by a distance.
  • 9 October – fourth Moscow Conference: Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow to discuss the future of Europe.
  • 10 October – Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act makes arrangements for postwar provision of adequate housing for all who need it.
  • 23 October – the Allies recognise Charles de Gaulle's cabinet as the provisional government of France.
  • 12 November – World War II: sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz at her anchorage off Norway by RAF Avro Lancaster bombers.[2]
  • 22 November – release of Laurence Olivier's Henry V, the first work of Shakespeare filmed in colour.
  • 25 November – World War II: a V-2 rocket destroys the Woolworths store in New Cross Road, south east London, killing 168, the highest death toll from one of these weapons. More than 100 people survive with injuries.[19]
  • 27 November – RAF Fauld explosion: between 3,450 and 3,930 tons (3,500 and 4,000 tonnes) of ordnance explodes at an underground storage depot in Staffordshire leaving about 75 dead and a crater 1,200 metres (0.75 miles) across and 120 metres (400 ft) deep, one of the largest explosions in history and the largest on UK soil.[20]
A Spitfire using its wingtip to "topple" a V-1 flying bomb

Publications

Births

January – June

July – December

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ^ Beale, Nick (2005). Kampfflieger: Bombers of the Luftwaffe, vol. 4: Summer 1943–May 1945. Burgess Hill: Classic Publications. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-903223-50-5.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  3. ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 392–394. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  4. ^ Kynaston, David (2007). Austerity Britain 1945–1951. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-7985-4.
  5. ^ "Family of Bournemouth bomber crash pilot Denis Evans in justice call". BBC News. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  6. ^ Small, Ken; Rogerson, Mark (1988). The Forgotten Dead – Why 946 American Servicemen Died off the Coast of Devon in 1944 – and the Man who Discovered their True Story. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-0309-5.
  7. ^ Fenton, Ben (26 April 2004). "The disaster that could have scuppered Overlord". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. ^ Savill, Richard (26 April 2004). "Last of torpedo survivors remembers brave buddies". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. ^ Wasley, Gerald (1994). Devon at War, 1939–1945. Tiverton: Devon Books. p. 157. ISBN 0-86114-885-1.
  10. ^ Yung, Christopher (2006). Gators of Neptune: naval amphibious planning for the Normandy invasion. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-997-2.
  11. ^ Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp. 33–5. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.
  12. ^ Foot, M. R. D. (1999). SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive 1940–46. London: Pimlico. p. 143. ISBN 0-7126-6585-4.
  13. ^ Stourton, Edward (2017). Auntie's War: the BBC during the Second World War. London: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-857-52332-7.
  14. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-212". German U-boats of WWII. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  15. ^ "Prefabs – Factory homes for post-War England". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  16. ^ "Education Act, 1944" (PDF). Retrieved 21 October 2010.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Report on the Wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery" (PDF). Southampton: Maritime and Coastguard Agency. November 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Armistice Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,on the one hand, and Finland on the other". heninen.net. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  19. ^ "New Cross Woolworth's". Flying Bombs and Rockets. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  20. ^ Reed, John (1977). "Largest Wartime Explosions: 21 Maintenance Unit, RAF Fauld, Staffs. November 27, 1944". After the Battle. 18: 35–40. ISSN 0306-154X..
  21. ^ Marr, Andrew (2007). A History of Modern Britain. London: Macmillan. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4050-0538-8.
  22. ^ Hayward, Anthony (29 July 2012). "Geoffrey Hughes obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  23. ^ Brown, Stuart; Bredin, Hugh Terence (August 2005). Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers. ISBN 9781843710967.
  24. ^ "Len Goodman obituary: From the East End to Strictly Come Dancing studio". BBC News. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  25. ^ Glenys Kinnock: Former minister and wife of Neil Kinnock dies aged 79
  26. ^ Dolly the sheep scientist Sir Ian Wilmut dies at 79
  27. ^ "TOMMY ROBSON: A personal tribute to a great player and a great man".
  28. ^ Obituary: Janet Ahlberg
  29. ^ Scott, Cavan; Wright, Mark (2013). Doctor Who Whology: The Official Miscellany. London: BBC Books. p. 120. ISBN 9781849906197.
  30. ^ Denis Thwaites: Fast and skilful footballer who played for Birmingham City and was murdered in a terrorist attack in Tunisia | The Independent
  31. ^ West London football legend Fred Callaghan dies aged 77 as tributes pour in
  32. ^ Thomas Sturge Moore
  33. ^ Pearsall, William Harold; Scott, Lorna Iris (2 December 1944). "Obituary. Professor J. H. Priestley". Nature. 154 (3918). London: Nature Portfolio: 694–695. Bibcode:1944Natur.154..694P. doi:10.1038/154694a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 3998725. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  34. ^ Ravilious, Robin (2004). "Whistler, Sir (Alan Charles) Laurence". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/75009. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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