These details have not all been
double checked, they have been pulled together from
various books and websites to give context for the
time that posters were produced.
| 1939 |
|
|
| February |
|
Free
Air Raid shelters promised for London's poor. |
| March |
|
Britain
and France pledge to protect Poland from attack |
| April |
|
Bill
for limited conscription |
| May |
|
TUC
agrees to support conscription plans. |
| June |
|
RAF
said to be producing 750 planes per month. |
| August |
|
Royal
Navy mobilised, reserves called up. |
| |
31st |
Evacuation
of children begins |
| September |
3rd |
1st
air raid warning near Croydon |
| |
22nd |
Petrol Rationing |
| |
26th |
Churchill claims
Britain winning boat war |
| |
29th |
National
Census, re: rationing/mobilisation |
| October |
|
10th
- WLA recruitment suspended as ½ million
enrolled |
| December |
2nd |
Conscription
extended to all men 19-41 |
| 1940 |
|
|
| January |
8th |
Butter/sugar/bacon
rationed |
| February |
12th |
Paper rationing |
| March |
3rd |
Announced £100m invested in National Savings
since start of war. |
| |
11th |
Meat
rationing |
| April |
3rd |
Lord
Woolton = Minister of Food |
| |
30th
|
1st
civilian deaths in Clacton due to Nazi plane crashing |
| May |
8th |
Chamberlain
resigns |
| |
10th |
Churchill
becomes Prime Minister |
| |
13th |
Churchill
offers 'blood, sweat & tears' |
| |
22nd |
Emergency
Powers Act |
| |
27th |
Butter
ration reduced/ sign posts reduced |
| June |
4th |
Churchill
'We shall fight' speech |
| |
5th |
Strike
action banned |
| |
17th |
Churchill
'Finest Hour' speech |
| July |
11th |
Beaverbrook
Aluminium appeal. WVS to handle collection |
| |
20th |
Buying/Selling
new cars banned |
| |
23rd |
LDV
renamed 'Home Guard' |
| |
23rd |
Emergency
Budget - High taxes on luxury goods |
| August |
12th |
1st
German shell lands on Dover |
| |
20th |
Churchill
'Never was so much owed' speech |
| |
24th |
London's
1st bombing raid |
| |
26th |
Portsmouth
bombed |
| |
28th |
Liverpool
bombed |
| |
|
From
this point London heavily bombed, avg. 6,000 dead
per month |
| September |
6th |
Forces
on 'yellow alert' - invasion = 3 days |
| |
10th |
Buckingham
Palace damaged by bomb |
| |
21st |
Underground
allowed as bomb shelter |
| October |
9th |
St
Paul's Cathedral bombed |
| |
21st |
200th
air raid on Liverpool |
| November |
9th |
Neville
Chamberlain dies |
| |
15th |
Coventry
bombed |
| |
30th |
Southampton
bombed |
| December |
3rd |
Extra
rations tea/sugar for Christmas |
| |
30th |
London
- v. heavy raids. Many landmarks hit. |
| |
31st |
Firewatching
compulsory |
| 1941 |
|
|
| January |
1st |
1st
BBC 'Brains Trust' |
| |
16th |
Bristol
raided |
| February |
9th |
Churchill
'Give us the tools' speech. |
| March |
17th |
Jam
& Marmalade rationed |
| April |
19th |
Essential
work order for women to register their case |
| |
20th |
Heaviest
air raids since December on London. |
| |
21st-24th |
Plymouth
heavily bombed |
| May |
11th |
Worst
bombing on London |
| |
13th |
House
of Commons hit |
| June |
22nd |
Churchill
- speech promises to aid USSR |
| |
29th |
Cabinet
Reshuffle |
| July |
27th |
Bombing raid on London - 1st raid for 10 weeks
(900 killed - previous months = 6,000+) |
| October |
18th |
Picture
Post - circulation of 1 million. |
| December |
4th |
Unmarried
women 20-30 called up. |
| 1942 |
|
|
| February |
9th |
Soap
rationing |
| |
26th |
Govt.
outlines post-war employment/housing plans |
| March |
4th |
Minister
for post-war reconstruction appointed |
| |
5th |
Conscription
for men extended to men ages 40, women 20-30 |
| |
11th |
Black
marketeers - up to 14 years prison. |
| |
11th |
National
Wheatmeal loaf replaces white bread - advertisements
= ineffective |
| April |
2nd |
1st
women conscientious objectors face trial |
| June |
1st |
Fripperies
banned on clothing |
| |
3rd |
Govt.
takes over coal mines |
| |
6th |
Undetected
bomb explodes @ Elephant & Castle |
| July |
26th |
Sweets
& chocolate rationed. |
| August |
10th |
Colchester
raided |
| |
31st |
Utility
Furniture introduced |
| September |
8th |
Churchill
guardedly promises Stalin the '2nd Front' |
| December |
1st |
Beveridge
Report |
| |
15th |
Regulation
33B (VD) approved by HOC. |
| |
16th |
German
'hit and run' raids on 20 Southern towns. |
| 1943 |
|
|
| January |
23rd |
Unemployment
lowest in history, under 100,000. |
| February |
21st |
Red
Army Day |
| March |
3rd |
Benthal
Green tube disaster - 173 died of suffocation. |
| |
7th |
'Wings
for Victory' launched |
| April |
25th |
Ban on ringing of Church Bells raised (No alternative
invasion signal provided) |
| |
30th |
Hore-Belisha
- speech at Blenheim - more died as road casualties
in 1942 than in armed forces since war commenced. |
| June |
13th |
Germans
drop 1st 'butterfly' anti-personnel bombs. |
| |
30th |
Churchill
receives 'Freedom of the City of London' and states
that surrender must be unconditional. |
| July |
16th |
R.A.
Butler promised Education would be reformed. |
| |
29th |
Recruitment
for women's services halted as more needed for
aircraft production. |
| September |
24th |
Bevin
- manpower crisis looming - need many more industry |
| |
30th |
Unofficial
strikes causing problems |
| October |
29th |
Thames
Dockers on strike |
| November |
20th |
Mosley
released from prison on health grounds = protests |
| December |
2nd |
'Bevin
Boys' call-up to the mines begins |
| 1944 |
|
|
| January |
18th |
First
'Bevin Boys' start in the pits |
| |
21st |
'Mini
Blitz' strikes Southern England. 1st raid in months |
| February |
1st |
Clothing
restrictions lifted |
| |
9th |
King
& Queen eat 1/- miners lunch: 'It is a long
time since we had a better meal' |
| |
17th |
Govt.
announces NHS plans |
| |
24th |
Miners
- 4 yr pay deal |
| April |
27th |
All
foreign travel banned |
| |
29th |
Practice
for Operation Overlord - 638 US soldiers die. |
| |
30th |
Intensified
bombing campaign on communications in France |
| May |
6th |
Last
Operation Overlord practice |
| |
8th |
Date
for D-Day set as 5th June |
| June |
13th |
1st
10 V1 rockets (4 landed) |
| |
18th |
V1 nr Buckingham Palace - 119 die |
| July |
3rd |
London
evacuation begins |
| |
|
(High
death tolls from V1s) |
| August |
28th |
Plans
to deflect V1s paying off - 94 launched, 4 got
through. |
| September |
6th |
Home
Guard partially stood down. |
| |
6th |
Blackout
relaxed |
| |
17th |
Blackout
replaced by 'dim-out' |
| |
18th |
1st
V2 rockets fired |
| October |
8th |
Ministry
of Social Insurance formed |
| |
16th |
1st
British soldier demobilised |
| November |
10th |
Churchill
admits to the V2 rockets. (100 already landed) |
| |
20th |
Street
lights turned on. |
| December |
3rd |
Farewell
parade of the Home Guard |
| 1945 |
|
|
| February |
20th |
Churchill,
Roosevelt & Stalin met Crimea - Churchill
promises to throw weight behind war with Japan |
| April |
24th |
'Dim-out'
abolished except in 5 coastal regions |
| May |
23rd |
Churchill
resigns in preparation for general election |
| June |
12th |
Eisenhower
given Freedom of City of London |
| |
18th |
Mass
demobilisation begins. (30,000 per week) |
| July |
5th |
General
election (results delayed to collect servicemen's
votes) |
| |
26th |
Labour
victory declared |
| August |
2nd |
End
of Potsdam Conference |
| |
3rd |
Attlee
appoints 19 new ministers |
| |
17th |
secret
of RADAR revealed |
| |
17th |
Social
reform programme announced, centred on NHS |
| September |
2nd |
Press
censorship ends |
| October |
7th |
First
F. Eastern PoWs arrive |
| November |
5th |
Dockers
Strike ends |
