Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II

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1939

The Military Training Act, Britain's first peacetime draft, comes into force. All men aged 20-21 are now liable to call-up for four years military service as 'Militiamen'.

Given the worsening situation in Europe, Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
 is recalled and immediately enacts the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939

Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939

The Emergency Powers Act 1939 was emergency legislation passed just prior to the outbreak of World War II by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enable the British Government to take up emergency powers to prosecute the war effectively....
, granting the government special legislative powers for the duration of the crisis.

Army reservists are called up.

Civil Defence workers are put on alert.

The Fleet

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 proceeds to its war stations.

In response to the German invasion of Poland

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland in 1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak invasion of Poland contingent....
 and the prospect of war with Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, plans for the evacuation

Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II

Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II were designed to save the population of urban or military areas from Nazi German aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks....
 of children and nursing and expectant mothers from London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and other areas deemed vulnerable to German air attack are put into action.

The Blackout

Blackout (wartime)

A blackout in time of war, or apprehended war, refers to the practice of collectively minimizing external light, including upward-directed light....
 begins.

The British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 is officially mobilized.

Under intense criticism from the House, Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. Chamberlain is best known for appeasement foreign policy, in particular regarding his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany, and for his "containm...
 abandons an offer to negotiate peace terms between Germany and Poland and agrees to present an ultimatum to Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
.

Shortly after 11:00 Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. Chamberlain is best known for appeasement foreign policy, in particular regarding his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany, and for his "containm...
 announces to the nation that his ultimatum has expired and that Britain is at war with Germany.

Twenty minutes later the first air raid sirens are sounded in London. They are a false alarm.

Chamberlain reforms his Government

National Government 1935-1940

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.Source*D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900?2000....
, creating a small War Cabinet

War Cabinet

A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
 which includes Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
 as First Lord of the Admiralty

List of Lord High Admirals and First Lords of the Admiralty

This is a List of Lord High Admirals and First Lords of the Admiralty of England, Great Britain and then the United Kingdom. Most of them were courtiers or politicians, not professional naval officers....
.

The National Service (Armed Forces) Act

National Service Act

The National Service Act may refer to any one of a number of acts enforcing national service or conscription*in the United States**Universal National Service Act...
 is passed. All men aged 18-41 are now potentially liable for conscription.

The National Registration Act is passed, introducing identity cards.

The first war tax is revealed by the Cabinet, including a significant hike in income taxes.

Call-Up Proclamation: all men aged 20-21 who have not already done so must apply for registration with the military authorities.

With the end of formal Polish resistance the Phony War

Phony War

The Phoney War, also called the Twilight War by Winston Churchill, der Sitzkrieg in German language , the Bore War and la dr?le de guerre was a phase in early World War II ? in the months following the Invasion of Poland in September 1939 and preceding the Battle of France in May 1940 ? that was marked by a la...
 begins.

1940

First food rationing

Rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II

Rationing in the United Kingdom is the series of food rationing policies put in place by the government of the United Kingdom during certain wartime periods of the 20th century ....
 introduced.

The debate

Norway Debate

The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a famous debate in the British House of Commons that took place on May 7 and May 8 1940....
 on the recent debacle in Norway

Norwegian Campaign

The Norwegian Campaign, was the name used by the Allies of World War II United Kingdom and France for their first direct land confrontation with the military forces of Nazi Germany in World War II....
 leads (on May 10) to Chamberlain's

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. Chamberlain is best known for appeasement foreign policy, in particular regarding his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany, and for his "containm...
 resignation.

Germany invades France and the Low Countries, ending the Phony War

Phony War

The Phoney War, also called the Twilight War by Winston Churchill, der Sitzkrieg in German language , the Bore War and la dr?le de guerre was a phase in early World War II ? in the months following the Invasion of Poland in September 1939 and preceding the Battle of France in May 1940 ? that was marked by a la...
.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
 becomes Prime Minister and forms an all-party coalition government

Coalition Government 1940-1945

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.Source* D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900?2000....
.

In a BBC radio broadcast Anthony Eden

Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, Order of the Garter, Military Cross, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British people Conservative Party politician, who was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for three periods between 1935 and 1955, including during World War II....
 calls for the creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) militia - renamed on July 23 the Home Guard

British Home Guard

The Home Guard was a defence organisation active in the United Kingdom during World War II. Operational from 1940 until 1944, the Home Guard ? comprising 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, usually owing to age ? acted as a secondary defence force, in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany....
.

The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 is passed, granting the government even more authority to control persons and property for the duration of the war.

Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the Capital , largest city and most populous Unitary authority#Wales in Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sport institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of Welsh Assembly Government ....
 is bombed for the first time.

Official start date of the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the Luftwaffe during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force , especially RAF Fighter Command....
.

German bombing raid on South London's Surrey Docks signals the formal beginning of The Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained bombing of United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, in World War II. While the "Blitz" hit many towns and cities across the country, it began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights ....
.

Official end date of the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the Luftwaffe during the summer and autumn of 1940 to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force , especially RAF Fighter Command....
.

Massive German bombing raid on Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom....
.

1941

The Communist Daily Worker

The Morning Star

The Morning Star is a Left-wing politics, Great Britain daily newspaper in compact format. It is dedicated to foreign and domestic news, with a bias to social issues and trade unions, and away from the perceived pro-business stance of other publications....
 is banned.

Last major attack on London of the 1940-41 Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained bombing of United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, in World War II. While the "Blitz" hit many towns and cities across the country, it began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights ....
.

The National Service (No. 2) Act is passed. All men and women aged 18-60 are now liable to some form of national service, including military service for those under 51. The first military registration of 18.5-year-olds takes place. The Schedule of Reserved Occupations is abandoned: from now on only individual deferments from the draft will be accepted.

1942

The Daily Mirror publishes a controversial cartoon by Zec

ZEC

A ZEC is a "Controlled harvesting zone". ZECs are a system of territorial infrastructures set up in 1978 by the government of Quebec to take over from private hunting and fishing clubs ....
 which Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
 and other senior government figures allege is damaging to public morale. Zec

ZEC

A ZEC is a "Controlled harvesting zone". ZECs are a system of territorial infrastructures set up in 1978 by the government of Quebec to take over from private hunting and fishing clubs ....
 is investigated by MI5

MI5

The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of the intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service , Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence Staff ....
 and the government seriously proposes banning the newspaper until parliamentary opposition forces a retreat.

Beginning of so-called Baedeker Blitz

Baedeker Blitz

The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of Vergeltungsangriffe by the Nazi Germany air force on England city in response to the bombing of the erstwhile Hanseatic League city of L?beck during the night from 28 to 29 March, 1942 during World War II....
 on English provincial towns; attacks continue sporadically until June 6.

Sir William Beveridge's

William Beveridge

William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge was a British economist and social reformer. He is perhaps best known for his 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services which served as the basis for the post-World War II Labour government's Welfare State, especially the National Health Service....
 Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services published.

1944

R.A. Butler's

Rab Butler

Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, Order of the Garter Order of the Companions of Honour Deputy Lieutenant Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council , who invariably signed his name R....
 Education Act

Education Act 1944

The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A....
 passed, reorganizing Britain's school system under the tripartite system

Tripartite System

The Tripartite System was the system that flowed as an administrative arrangement from the Education Act 1944, and the Education Act 1947, for organising secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
.

First V-1 Flying Bomb

V-1 flying bomb

The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as V-1...
 attack on London.

First V-2 Rocket

V-2 rocket

The V-2 rocket was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight, the progenitor of all modern rockets....
 attack on London.

The Blackout

Blackout (wartime)

A blackout in time of war, or apprehended war, refers to the practice of collectively minimizing external light, including upward-directed light....
 is replaced by a partial 'dim-out'.

Ernest Bevin

Ernest Bevin

Ernest Bevin Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the post-war Labour Party government....
 announces the government's plan for eventual military demobilization.

The Home Guard

British Home Guard

The Home Guard was a defence organisation active in the United Kingdom during World War II. Operational from 1940 until 1944, the Home Guard ? comprising 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, usually owing to age ? acted as a secondary defence force, in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany....
 is stood down.

1945

Last V-2

V-2 rocket

The V-2 rocket was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight, the progenitor of all modern rockets....
 attack on London.

Last V-1

V-1 flying bomb

The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as V-1...
 attack on London.

VE Day

Victory in Europe Day

Victory in Europe Day was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies of World War II formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany....
.

The Labour Party members of the coalition government resign in order to prepare for the upcoming general election. Churchill appoints a largely Conservative caretaker government

Caretaker Government 1945

The Caretaker Government 1945 was a United Kingdom Ministry , which held office from 23 May 1945 until 26 July 1945, during the latter stages of the Second World War....
.

The Family Allowances Act passed. Mothers will receive a tax-free cash payment for each child in their care. This is the first time in Britain that a state payment has gone directly to a wife rather than her husband.

Demobilization

Demobilization

Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary....
 of the armed forces begins.

General election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 was a United Kingdom general election held on 5 July 1945, with delayed polls taking place on 12 July and in Nelson and Colne on 19 July....
 voting takes place in the UK. The ballots are then sealed for three weeks to allow the collection and counting of overseas service votes.

The Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Left-wing politics in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently organised again....
 wins the general election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 was a United Kingdom general election held on 5 July 1945, with delayed polls taking place on 12 July and in Nelson and Colne on 19 July....
 with a historic landslide. Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Fellow of the Royal Society was a British people politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955....
 becomes Prime Minister and forms a new government

Labour Government 1945-1951

The Labour Party came to power in the United Kingdom after their unexpected victory in the United Kingdom general election, 1945. Party leader Clement Attlee became Prime Minister and hastily replaced his predecessor Winston Churchill at the Potsdam Conference in late July....
.

VJ Day

Victory over Japan Day

Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945 , as well as the date the formal surrender ceremony was perfo...
.