Events in 1942

Dates unknown

                       Henry & Flora Lake moved to Hanafore Rd Edgbaston Birmingham

 

                       Herbert Lake stationed with the RAF in Canada

 

                          Slovak Republic declared war with UK & US

 

                          Brazil had remained neutral up to 1942 but then declared war on

                          Germany joining the allies

January

1                      An underground explosion at the Sneyd Colliery in Staffordshire killed 55 miners

                       

10                    Bombing in Liverpool saw the destruction of the former home of Adolf Hitler's

                        half brother Alois

 

                        William Lake joined the 63rd Surrey Home Guard in Richmond attaining rank of Sergeant

 

16                    Prince Arthur, third eldest son of Queen Victoria died

 

25                    Thailand declared war on Britain & USA

 

26                    First US Troops for the European Theatre arrived in Belfast

 

29                    Radio show “Desert Island Discs” was broadcast on the BBC Forces programme

                        for the first time

February

7                      Soap and Washing Powder rationing introduced in Britain

 

15                    Allied Forces in Singapore surrender to Japan

 

                        Following the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, John HH Coombes was moved to the

                        Changi Prisoner of War Camp.

                        (see more on WW2 Personal Stories Pages)

 

19                    242 Japanese aircraft bomb Darwin in Australia

 

25                    Princess Elizabeth (now Queen) registered for war service

March

3                      Japanese aircraft bomb Broome in Australia killing 24 and destroying 24 aircraft

                        and 16 flying boats

 

18                    Lord Mountbatten is appointed chief of combined operations

 

20                    Broome in Australia attacked again by Japanese aircraft

April

1                      Date stamp on the telegram sent from Guernsey by Alice, last December

                        Delay caused becasue the family had moved

 

5                      Japanese navy attacks Ceylon Royal Navy vessels HMS Cornwall & HMS Dorsetshire

                        were sunk

 

16                    Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh, grand daughter of Queen Victoria

                        Died

 

23 – 29             Four cities were bombed by the German Luftwaffe in what was called

                        the Baedeker Raids.  The Baedeker Raids were a retaliation for the

                        British bombing of Lubeck. British cities were chosen not for military

                        or strategic targets but because they were picturesque and they were

                        reputedly chosen from a British tourist guide book.

 

23/24               City of Exeter was bombed. 40 acres of the city were levelled by

                        incendiary devices. Many historic buildings were lost and the cathedral

                        was damaged

                         

25/26               City of Bath was bombed 417 civilians killed 1,000 injured, 19,000 buildings damaged or

                        destroyed, of which 218 were of historic interest. Among the firefighters that night was

                        Harry Patch who became the last surviving British veteran of the first World War.

                       

27/28               City of Norwich bombed significant targets included Morgans Brewery, Coleman's Works

                        City Station, Mackintosh chocolate factory, and the shopping areas of St Stephens Street

                        St Benedicts Street plus Bonds and Curls Department Stores

                        (During WW2 the acronym “NORWICH” was used by servicemen sending messages

                        to their sweethearts  (“Nickers Off Ready When I Come Home”)

 

29 Apr              York was bombed as part of the Baedeker raids

                        In total of these four raids 938 civilians were killed and many historic

                        buildings were damaged or destroyed

May

5                      Britain invades Madagascar held by the Vichy French

 

13                    Chiefs of staff approve a major raid on the port of Dieppe.

 

22                    Mexico declared war on Germany & Japan

 

26                    Britain & Russia sign a treaty announcing they both pledged to continue fighting Germany

                        until a final victory was achieved and that neither would arrange a separate peace treaty

 

30                    1,000 RAF bombers blitz the city of Cologne. 411 civilians were killed, 12,840 buildings

                        were destroyed or damaged. Among the buildings totally destroyed were 9 hospitals,

                        16 schools, 17 churches & 6 department stores. It was carried out to try and damage

                        German morale as they had been trying to do to the British

June

11                    A rehearsel for the raid on Dieppe is held. The 2nd Canadian Division has been picked

                        for the job codenamed “Operation Rutter”

 

25                    General Dwight D Eisenhower appointed to command US forces in Europe

July

4                      Operation Rutter attack on Dieppe postponed due to bad weather

 

7                      Operation Rutter again delayed until 19th August.

 

25 – 29             Japan carried out Air Raids on Townsville, Queensland, Australia then the most important

                        air base in Australia.

                        Reginald Blee (my 2nd cousin 3 times removed) and other relatives of the Blee Family

                        were living in Townsville

                       

                                   Also in July - Sweets were now rationed in Britain

                       

                        Military scientists carried out tests of Anthrax on the Scottish Island of Gruinard

                        (the island was not decontaminated until 1986 and it was declared safe on

                        24 Apr 1990 and sold back to the heirs of the original owner for £500)

August

11                    Traffic was allowed over the new Waterloo Bridge in London

 

19                    Operation Rutter was a disaster and allied commanders were forced to call a retreat

                        It involved 5,000 Canadian soldiers, 1,000 British infantry and 50 U.S. Rangers

                        A total of 3,623 men were killed, wounded or captured. The RAF lost 96 aircraft

                        and the Royal Navy lost 33 landing craft and a destroyer. These events had a major

                        influence in the preparations for the Normandy landings in 1944.

 

25                    Prince George, Duke of Kent, 4th eldest son of George V killed in a military

                        aircraft accident

 

30                    General Montgomery led the 8th army to victory over Rommel’s Afrika Korps in Egypt

October

4                      Commando raid on Sark captured one German soldier

 

5                      The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief founded (later to be better known as Oxfam)

                       

25                    Milk ration reduced to 2 ½ pints a week in Britain

 

29                    A public meeting at the Royal Albert Hall London presided over by the

                       Archbishop of Canterbury registers outrage at The Holocaust

 

31                    Canterbury was bombed in retaliation for the Cologne bombing raid

November

8                      British & US Troops invade Vichy French North Africa (Algeria & Tunisia)

 

December

1                      The publication of the Beveridge Report about Social Insurance. It was an influential

                        document in the subsequent founding of the Welfare State in Britain after the war

 

16                    Trade Union Congress backs the Beveridge Report

 

19                    A fire at a warehouse in Hayes Middlesex, not caused by enemy action, destroyed all

                        copies of the 1931 census for England and Wales. The Census for Scotland was safe

                        as that was stored in Edinburgh and there was no census in 1931 in Northern Ireland

                        as they had held a separate one in 1926. (There was not another census until 1951)

           

                        Other events during the year included Sir Charles Trevelyan donating his home

                        Wallington Hall in Northumberland, built in 1688, to the Ntional Trust its first

                        stately home acquisition.

 

        You will note that we do not have much information about the events in the lives of the Lake Family for this year

        If you have any information about any members of the family in Britain or elsewhere I would love to hear from you