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1939 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941

World War II

UK during World War II

Events from the year 1939 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch - George VI of the United Kingdom
• Prime Minister - Neville Chamberlain, national coalition

Events

• 16 January - Irish Republican Army bombs explode in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Alnwick.^[1]
• 25 February - First Anderson shelter built in London.^[2]
• 27 February - Borley Rectory, a reputed haunted house, destroyed by fire.^[2]
• 31 March - Britain pledges support to Poland in the event of an invasion.^[1]
• 27 April - Military Training Act introduces conscription; men aged 20 and 21 must undertake six months military training.^[3]
• 17 May - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrive in Quebec City to begin the first-ever visit to Canada by British sovereigns.
• 7 June - George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit New York City on the first visit to the United States by a reigning monarch.^[2]
• 30 June - The Mersey Ferry stops running to Rock Ferry.^[2]
• 5 August - Weekly transatlantic flights scheduled by Imperial Airways; suspended in September.^[1]
• 24 August - Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 gives full authority to 'defence regulations'.^[1]
• 25 August - Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Coventry, killing 25.^[1]
• 30 August - Evacuation of children from major UK cities begins.^[2]
• 1 September
  • Blackout imposed across Britain.^[1]
  • The BBC Home Service begins broadcasting.^[2]
• 3 September - World War II
  • The UK declares war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland on September 1.^[2]
  • General mobilisation begins of the Armed Forces.
  • National Service (Armed Forces) Act passed by Parliament introduces National Service for all men aged 18 to 41.^[4]
• 4 September- First raid by Royal Air Force on German shipping takes place.
• 9 September - British Expeditionary Force crosses to France.^[1]
• 18 September - Fascist politician William Joyce begins broadcasting Nazi propaganda under the name Lord Haw-Haw.^[2]
• 19 September - Popular BBC radio show It's That Man Again first broadcast.^[1]
• 24 September - Petrol rationing introduced.^[1]
• 30 September - Identity cards introduced.^[1]
• 14 October - HMS Royal Oak sunk by a German U-boat in Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands.^[2]
• 21 October - registration of men aged 20 to 23 for National Service begins.^[4]
• 8 November - Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
• 13 December- The Battle of the River Plate takes place between the Royal Navy and the German battleship, Admiral Graf Spee.^[2]

• The Sutton Hoo treasure — an Anglo-Saxon ship burial — excavated.

Publications

• Agatha Christie's novels Murder is Easy and And Then There Were None.
• Henry Green's novel Party Going.
• Aldous Huxley's novel After Many a Summer.
• Richard Llewellyn's novel How Green Was My Valley.

Births

• 20 January - Chandra Wickramasinghe, British astronomer and poet
• 10 February - Peter Purves, British actor and television presenter
• 12 April - Alan Ayckbourn, playwright
• 22 April - Alex Murphy, English rugby league footballer and coach
• 4 May - Neil Fox, rugby league footballer
• 31 May - Terry Waite, humanitarian, author and hostage
• 5 June - Margaret Drabble, novelist and biographer
• 11 June - Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver
• 4 August - Jack Cunningham, politician
• 19 August - Alan Baker, mathematician
• 30 August - John Peel, disc jockey and radio presenter (died 2004)
• 19 October - David George Clark, Baron Clark, politician
• 27 October - John Cleese, British actor
• 18 November - Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington, politician

Deaths

• 2 March - Howard Carter, archaeologist (born 1874)
• 26 June - Ford Madox Ford, novelist, poet, critic and editor (born 1873)
• 6 September - Arthur Rackham, illustrator (born 1867)
• 3 December - Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria (born 1848)

References

See also