23 January – announcement of the establishment of the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC; predecessor of
3i) by the
Bank of England and the major commercial banks to provide long-term investment funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.[1]
10 March – sixty-seven German
prisoners of war tunnel their way out of
Island FarmCamp 198 at
Bridgend, the biggest escape attempt by German POWs in the UK during the
War.
17 March – 13 people are killed and 22 injured when a lone Heinkel 111 bomber opens fire and drops bombs on people leaving a cinema in
Kingston upon Hull.[3]
27 March – last day of
V-2 rocket attacks aimed at the UK. One hits Hughes Mansions,
Stepney in East London, killing 134[4] and the last falls in
Orpington with one fatality.[5]
29 March – the last
V-1 flying bomb attack on the UK takes place. The last enemy action of any kind on British soil occurs when one strikes
Datchworth in
Hertfordshire without any fatalities or injuries.
8 May – eight days after the suicide of
Adolf Hitler in
Berlin and the collapse of
Nazi rule in Europe,
V-E Day is celebrated throughout the UK. Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a victory speech and appears on the balcony of
Buckingham Palace with
George VI,
Queen Elizabeth and Princesses
Elizabeth and
Margaret. Street parties take place throughout the country.[6]
23 May – Churchill forms a "caretaker" Conservative Party administration, pending an election, officially ending the wartime Coalition government.[7]
28 May – American-born Irish-raised
William Joyce, known as "
Lord Haw-Haw" is captured on the German border. He is later charged with high treason in
London for his English-language wartime propaganda broadcasts on German radio. He is hanged in January 1946.
1 June – the UK takes over administration of
Lebanon and
Syria.
4 June – Churchill, in a broadcast election speech, claims that a future socialist government "would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo".
18 June – the
demobilisation of the wartime armed forces begins.
5 July – polling day for the
first general election to be held since 1935; a few constituencies delay polling due to local
Wakes weeks and the vote count is not made for another three weeks (see below) so that votes from service personnel overseas can be added to the total.[7]
17 July –
Potsdam Conference – the three main
Allied leaders begin their final summit of the war. The meeting will end on 2 August.
Late this evening, the new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, and his Foreign Secretary,
Ernest Bevin, broadcast news of the
surrender of Japan to the nation and Empire, speaking from
10 Downing Street.
15 August –
V-J Day is celebrated in the UK as the first of two days of national holiday, marking the end of
World War II.
^"Smethwick". The House of Commons Constituencies. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2012.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
23 January – announcement of the establishment of the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC; predecessor of
3i) by the
Bank of England and the major commercial banks to provide long-term investment funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.[1]
10 March – sixty-seven German
prisoners of war tunnel their way out of
Island FarmCamp 198 at
Bridgend, the biggest escape attempt by German POWs in the UK during the
War.
17 March – 13 people are killed and 22 injured when a lone Heinkel 111 bomber opens fire and drops bombs on people leaving a cinema in
Kingston upon Hull.[3]
27 March – last day of
V-2 rocket attacks aimed at the UK. One hits Hughes Mansions,
Stepney in East London, killing 134[4] and the last falls in
Orpington with one fatality.[5]
29 March – the last
V-1 flying bomb attack on the UK takes place. The last enemy action of any kind on British soil occurs when one strikes
Datchworth in
Hertfordshire without any fatalities or injuries.
8 May – eight days after the suicide of
Adolf Hitler in
Berlin and the collapse of
Nazi rule in Europe,
V-E Day is celebrated throughout the UK. Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a victory speech and appears on the balcony of
Buckingham Palace with
George VI,
Queen Elizabeth and Princesses
Elizabeth and
Margaret. Street parties take place throughout the country.[6]
23 May – Churchill forms a "caretaker" Conservative Party administration, pending an election, officially ending the wartime Coalition government.[7]
28 May – American-born Irish-raised
William Joyce, known as "
Lord Haw-Haw" is captured on the German border. He is later charged with high treason in
London for his English-language wartime propaganda broadcasts on German radio. He is hanged in January 1946.
1 June – the UK takes over administration of
Lebanon and
Syria.
4 June – Churchill, in a broadcast election speech, claims that a future socialist government "would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo".
18 June – the
demobilisation of the wartime armed forces begins.
5 July – polling day for the
first general election to be held since 1935; a few constituencies delay polling due to local
Wakes weeks and the vote count is not made for another three weeks (see below) so that votes from service personnel overseas can be added to the total.[7]
17 July –
Potsdam Conference – the three main
Allied leaders begin their final summit of the war. The meeting will end on 2 August.
Late this evening, the new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, and his Foreign Secretary,
Ernest Bevin, broadcast news of the
surrender of Japan to the nation and Empire, speaking from
10 Downing Street.
15 August –
V-J Day is celebrated in the UK as the first of two days of national holiday, marking the end of
World War II.
^"Smethwick". The House of Commons Constituencies. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2012.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)