1945 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1945 to Wales
and its people
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and its people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
.
Incumbents
- Prince of WalesPrince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
- vacant - Princess of WalesPrincess of WalesPrincess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
- vacant - Archbishop of WalesArchbishop of WalesThe post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
- David Lewis Prosser - ArchdruidArchdruidThe Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd.The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, The Award of the Prose Medal and Chairing of the Bard. From 1932 only former winners of the...
of the National Eisteddfod of WalesNational Eisteddfod of WalesThe National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
- CrwysWilliam Williams (Crwys)William Williams , better known by his bardic name of "Crwys", was a Welsh poet in the Welsh language. He served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1939 to 1947....
Events
- 1 January - Three months before his death, former prime ministerPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
is created Earl Lloyd George of DwyforEarl Lloyd George of DwyforEarl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1945 for the famous Liberal politician David Lloyd George. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1908 to 1915 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922...
and Viscount Gwynedd. He never takes his seat in the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. - 18 January - Winds of 113 mph are recorded at St. Ann's Head LighthouseSt. Ann's Head LighthouseSt. Ann's Head Lighthouse is a Lighthouse that overlooks the entrance to the Milford Haven waterway, one of Britain's deep water harbours, from St. Ann's Head near Dale in West Wales....
, PembrokeshirePembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
. - 7 March - The German navyKriegsmarineThe Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
U-boatU-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
U-1302 is sunk off St David's Head. - 10 March - Sixty-seven German prisoners of war tunnel their way out of Island FarmIsland FarmIsland Farm was a Prisoner of War Camp on the outskirts of the town of Bridgend, South Wales. It hosted a number of Axis prisoners, mainly German, and was the scene of the largest escape attempt by German POWs in Britain during World War II. Near the end of the war it became known as Special Camp XI...
Camp 198 at BridgendBridgendBridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
— the biggest escape attempt by German POWs in the UK during the Second World War. - 15 April - Brigadier Glyn HughesHugh Llewellyn Glyn HughesBrigadier Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MC, MRCS was a British military officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and later medical administrator, educationalist and sports administrator...
leads the 11th Armoured Division in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration campBergen-Belsen concentration campBergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
. - 30 April - The German submarines U-242 and U-325 are sunk off the SkerriesSkerriesSkerries is the plural of skerry, meaning a small rocky island.Skerries may refer to a number of geographical locations:-Ireland:*Skerries, Dublin, a seaside town in Ireland*The Skerries, Northern Ireland...
. - 15 May - At the NeathNeathNeath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
by-election, a Trotskyist candidate contests the constituency, the first time in any UK election. - 5 July - In the United Kingdom general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1945The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
:- For the last time in a General Election, a candidate in Wales is elected unopposed — Will JohnWill JohnWill John is an American soccer player.-Early life:John played high school soccer at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. John currently holds the Rockhurst single season scoring title with 36 goals and 20 assists...
, Labour MP for Rhondda West. - Ambrose BebbAmbrose BebbWilliam Ambrose Bebb was a Welsh author and politician.Ambrose Bebb was the son of diarist Edward Hughes Bebb, and the father of noted Welsh rugby international Dewi Bebb...
stands as a Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
Parliamentary candidate. - Hugh DaltonHugh DaltonEdward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947, when he was implicated in a political scandal involving budget leaks....
becomes the new Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
.
- For the last time in a General Election, a candidate in Wales is elected unopposed — Will John
- 27 July - The cause of an outbreak of typhoid in AberystwythAberystwythAberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
is traced to locally-made ice creamIce creamIce cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
. - 8 October - Rudolf HessRudolf HessRudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
is flown to NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
to stand trialNuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, ending his three-year internment at Maindiff Court Military Hospital, AbergavennyAbergavennyAbergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
. - October - Stocks of captured Nazi GermanNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
bombs filled with Tabun (nerve agent)Tabun (nerve agent)Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system...
begin to be transferred to the RAF ammunition store near LlanberisLlanberisLlanberis is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, lying on the southern banks of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia. It takes its name from Saint Peris, an early Welsh saint.According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llanberis was 1,954...
. - Closure of the Benallt manganeseManganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
mine, near AberdaronAberdaronAberdaron is a community and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies west of Pwllheli and south west of Caernarfon, and has a population of 1,019. It is sometimes referred to as the "Land's End of Wales"...
. - Clement DaviesClement DaviesClement Edward Davies KC, MP was a Welsh politician and leader of the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956.-Life:...
becomes leader of the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
. - Newspaper publisher Gomer Berry is created Viscount KemsleyViscount KemsleyViscount Kemsley, of Dropmore in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1945 for the press lord Gomer Berry, 1st Baron Kemsley...
. - Explorer Edward EvansEdward Evans, 1st Baron MountevansAdmiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, KCB, DSO , known as "Teddy" Evans, was a British naval officer and Antarctic explorer...
is created Baron MountevansBaron MountevansBaron Mountevans, of Chelsea in the County of London, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1945 for the naval commander and Antarctic explorer, Sir Edward Evans...
. - Broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-ThomasWynford Vaughan-ThomasLewis John Wynford Vaughan-Thomas CBE was a British newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster. In later life he took the name Vaughan-Thomas after his father....
is awarded the Croix de GuerreCroix de guerreThe Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
for his exploits in following the invading troops into FranceOperation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
during 1944.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in RhosllanerchrugogRhosllanerchrugogRhosllannerchrugog is a large village and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales.-History:...
)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Tom Parri Jones
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - withheld
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld
New books
- Idris DaviesIdris DaviesIdris Davies was a Welsh poet. He was born in Rhymney, near Caerphilly in South Wales, the Welsh-speaking son of colliery chief winderman Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. Davies became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English...
- Tonypandy and other poems - D. Gwenallt JonesD. Gwenallt JonesGwenallt , poet, critic, and scholar, was one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature.-Early life:...
- Detholiad o Ryddiaith Gymraeg R. J. Derfel - Huw MenaiHuw MenaiHuw Owen Williams , who wrote as Huw Menai, was a Welsh poet, a Welsh-language speaker who nevertheless wrote only in the English language. His poems were among the first classic works to be republished as a result of a 2004 incentive on the part of the Welsh Assembly Government.Huw Menai was...
- The Simple Vision
Film
- Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
wins an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Lost Weekend.
Sport
- FootballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
- The first post-war match between Wales and England ends in a 1 - 0 victory for Wales.
Births
- 6 January - Barry JohnBarry JohnBarry John is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC before switching to first-class west Wales team Llanelli RFC in 1964...
, rugby player - 7 February - Gerald DaviesGerald DaviesThomas Gerald Reames Davies CBE is one of the acknowledged greats of Welsh rugby, playing for the side between 1966 and 1978.-Biography:...
, rugby player - 12 February - Gareth ThomasGareth Thomas (actor)Gareth Thomas is a Welsh actor.Thomas is best known for the part of Roj Blake in the dystopian science fiction television series Blake's 7, but has taken roles in many other films and television programmes, including Adam Brake in Children of the Stones.Thomas trained at RADA and is now an...
, actor - 19 February - Huw Llywelyn Davies, broadcaster
- 31 March - Myfanwy TalogMyfanwy TalogMyfanwy Talog was a Welsh actress, best known to the media as the long-term partner of Sir David Jason.-Personal life:...
, actress (died 1995) - 3 April - Gary SprakeGary SprakeGareth Sprake is a Welsh former professional footballer. A goalkeeper, he played for Leeds United and Birmingham City and also won 37 caps for Wales....
, footballer - 7 April - Martyn LewisMartyn Lewis (journalist)Martyn Lewis CBE is a British television news presenter and journalist.-Early life:Lewis was born in Swansea, West Glamorgan, though was educated at the co-educational Dalriada School in Northern Ireland and graduated with a BA degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He then joined BBC Northern...
, TV journalist - 2 May - Eddie AvothEddie AvothEddie Avoth is a former boxer and actor.He was British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, with a record which reads: Fights Won 53 , Lost 9, Drawn 0.Eddie Avoth was born in Cardiff, Wales...
, boxing champion - 8 May - Mike GermanMike GermanMichael James German, Baron German, OBE , usually known as Mike German, is a member of the House of Lords and former member of the National Assembly for Wales for the South Wales East Region. He was leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 2007–08...
AM, politician - 9 May - Malcolm NashMalcolm NashMalcolm Nash, is a Welsh cricket coach and former first-class cricketer.- Glamorgan Cricketer :Born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Nash was a left arm medium pace bowler who played largely for Glamorgan....
, cricketer - 13 August - Howard MarksHoward MarksDennis Howard Marks is a Welsh author and former drug smuggler who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug...
, drug trafficker - 29 August (in CromfordCromfordCromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
) - Sue EssexSue EssexSue Essex is the Welsh Labour politician who was a Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Cardiff North from 1999 to 2007...
AM, politician - 7 September - Max BoyceMax BoyceMaxwell Boyce MBE is a Welsh comedian, singer and former coal miner. He rose to fame during the mid-1970s with an act that combined musical comedy with his passion for rugby union and his origins in the mining communities of South Wales...
, entertainer - 21 December - Alan Wynne WilliamsAlan Wynne WilliamsAlan Wynne Williams is a British Labour politician. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford. He was elected Member of Parliament for Carmarthen in 1987. Following constituency boundary changes in 1997, his seat was renamed Carmarthen East and Dinefwr...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician
Deaths
- 3 January
- Edward PeakeEdward PeakeEdward Peake was an English-born rugby union three-quarter and county cricketer. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, Peake would win a Blue for cricket before representing Gloucestershire. Peake is most notable for being a member of the first Wales rugby union team that played England in 1881...
, Wales international rugby union player, 84 - Sir William Thomas, Baronet, industrialist, 77
- Edward Peake
- 11 January - Caradoc EvansCaradoc EvansDavid Caradoc Evans , was a Welsh story writer, novelist and playwright. Caradoc met and later married the Countess Helene Marguerite Barcynska, who wrote romantic novels under the name Oliver Sandys...
, author, 66 - 17 January - Reginald ClarryReginald ClarrySir Reginald George Clarry, , was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, representing the Newport constituency in Monmouthshire from 1922 to 1929 and from 1931 to 1945....
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician, 62 - 6 February - Edward Prosser Rhys, journalist and poet, 43
- 17 March - Sir Thomas LewisThomas Lewis (cardiologist)Sir Thomas Lewis, CBE, FRS was a British cardiologist. He qualified as a doctor and worked as a physiologist and clinical scientist, carrying out fundamental research on the heart...
, cardiologist, 63 - 26 March - David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician, 82 - 16 May - Harry Vaughan WatkinsHarry Vaughan WatkinsHarry Vaughan Watkins was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and London Welsh and gained six caps for the Wales national team...
, Wales international rugby player, 69 - 11 June - Owen EvansOwen EvansDavid Owen Evans was a Liberal Party politician from Wales.Owen Evans was educated at Llandovery School and the Imperial College of Science. In 1896 he joined the civil service . Later he read for the Bar and was called to Gray's Inn. He practised law in London until 1916 when he joined the Mond...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician, 69 - 14 June - John Hugh Edwards, MP, 76
- 22 June - William WilliamsWilliam Williams (rugby player)William Edward Osborne Williams was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and London Welsh. Williams was capped for Wales five times over a period of four years.-Rugby career:...
, Wales national rugby union player, 78 - 29 July - Cecil GriffithsCecil GriffithsCecil Redvers Griffiths was a Welsh athlete.- Olympic Gold Medal 1920 :Cecil Griffiths was a winner of the Olympic Gold medal in 4 x 400m relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics....
, athlete, 44 (heart attack) - 15 November - John Lloyd Williams, botanist, 91
- 1 December - Tom GrahamTom GrahamThomas 'Tom' Cooper Graham was an England-born rugby union international forward who played club rugby for Newport. He won 12 caps for Wales and was seen as intelligent, mobile forward player...
, Wales international rugby player - 26 December - George TraversGeorge Travers (rugby player)George "Twyber" Travers was a Welsh international hooker who played club rugby for Pill Harriers and Newport Rugby Football Club. He won 25 caps for Wales between 1903 and 1911....
, Wales international rugby union player, 68 - date unknown - Len Davies, footballer