Bridger, Bruce Alan

Male 1939 - 1961  (22 years)  


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Timeline



 
 
 




   Date  Event(s)
1939 
  • 1939—1939: Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
  • 1939—1939: Start of evacuation of women and children from London
  • 1939—1939: Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
  • 1 Sep 1939—1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland
  • 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
  • 6 Sep 1939—6 Sep 1939: First air-raid on Britain
  • 11 Sep 1939—11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
  • 14 Oct 1939—14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
  • 7 Dec 1939—7 Dec 1939: 'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
  • 17 Dec 1939—17 Dec 1939: 'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
1940 
  • 1 Apr 1940—1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
  • 11 May 1940—11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill
  • 13 May 1940—13 May 1940: Germany invades France
  • 27 May 1940—27 May 1940: Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun)
  • 25 Jun 1940—25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany
  • 7 Sep 1940—7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
  • 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
  • 14 Nov 1940—14 Nov 1940: Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
1941 
  • 1941—1941: Britain introduces severe rationing
  • 1941—1941: First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle
  • 1941—1941: Bailey invents his portable military bridge
  • 1941—1941: First use of antibiotics
  • 10 May 1941—10 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
  • 27 May 1941—27 May 1941: 'Bismark' sunk
  • 22 Jun 1941—22 Jun 1941: Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
  • 1 Jul 1941—1 Jul 1941: First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: 'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America
  • 7 Dec 1941—7 Dec 1941: Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour
  • 8 Dec 1941—8 Dec 1941: USA enters WWII
  • 24 Dec 1941—24 Dec 1941: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
1942 
  • 1942—1942: Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann - used to crack German codes
  • 1942—1942: Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam
  • 30 May 1942—30 May 1942: Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne
  • 4 Jun 1942—4 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway
  • 19 Aug 1942—19 Aug 1942: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
  • 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
  • 3 Oct 1942—3 Oct 1942: First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany - first man-made object to reach space
  • 23 Oct 1942—23 Oct 1942: Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel
  • 2 Dec 1942—2 Dec 1942: 'Manhattan Project' - a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
1943 
  • 1943—1943: Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins
  • 16 May 1943—16 May 1943: 'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
  • 24 Jul 1943—24 Jul 1943: Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
1944 
  • 6 Apr 1944—6 Apr 1944: PAYE income tax begins
  • 4 Jun 1944—4 Jun 1944: Allies enter Rome
  • 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
  • 12 Jun 1944—12 Jun 1944: First V1 flying bombs hit London
  • 8 Sep 1944—8 Sep 1944: First V2 rocket bombs hit London
  • 11 Sep 1944—11 Sep 1944: Allies enter Germany
  • 16 Dec 1944—16 Dec 1944: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
1945 
  • 4 Feb 1945—4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
  • 29 Mar 1945—29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack
  • 25 Apr 1945—25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
  • 30 Apr 1945—30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide
  • 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)
  • 9 May 1945—9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated
  • 26 Jun 1945—26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco
  • 16 Jul 1945—16 Jul 1945: First ever atomic bomb exploded in a test in New Mexico (although there were other forms of atomic device before that, such as the Pile at Stagg Field, first critical on 2nd Dec 1942)
  • 26 Jul 1945—26 Jul 1945: Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
  • 29 Jul 1945—29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts
  • 6 Aug 1945—6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • 9 Aug 1945—9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
  • 15 Aug 1945—15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
  • 2 Sep 1945—2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
  • 24 Oct 1945—24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence
  • 4 Nov 1945—4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
1946 
  • 1946—1946: Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
  • 1946—1946: Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio - until 2004
  • 1 Jan 1946—1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
  • 1 Mar 1946—1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
1947 
  • 1947—1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
  • 1947—1947: First British nuclear reactor developed
  • 1 Jan 1947—1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised
  • 23 Feb 1947—23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
  • 1 Mar 1947—1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
  • 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
  • 26 Oct 1947—26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq
  • 20 Nov 1947—20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
10 1948 
  • 1948—1948: British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
  • 1948—1948: Transistor radio invented
  • 1948—1948: Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
  • 1 Jan 1948—1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised
  • 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
  • 29 Jul 1948—29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
11 1949 
  • 1949—1949: Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
  • 1949—1949: De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
  • 15 Mar 1949—15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain
  • 4 Apr 1949—4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
12 1950 
  • 19 May 1950—19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain
  • 26 May 1950—26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain
  • 11 Jul 1950—11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
  • 9 Sep 1950—9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain
  • 28 Dec 1950—28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
13 1951 
  • 3 May 1951—3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
  • 28 May 1951—28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast
  • 20 Dec 1951—20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
14 1952 
  • 1952—1952: Contraceptive pill invented
  • 1952—1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
  • 1952—1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
  • 1952—1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
  • 6 Feb 1952—6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
  • 21 Feb 1952—21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
  • 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
  • 5 Jul 1952—5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
  • 16 Aug 1952—16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
  • 6 Sep 1952—6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
  • 3 Oct 1952—3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1952—1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA - the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
  • 25 Nov 1952—25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
  • 4 Dec 1952—4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
15 1953 
  • 31 Jan 1953—31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century - severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives - - effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths]
  • 5 Feb 1953—5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
  • 5 Mar 1953—5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
  • 26 Mar 1953—26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
  • 24 Apr 1953—24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
  • 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
  • 2 Jun 1953—2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
  • 26 Sep 1953—26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
16 1954 
  • 1954—1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
  • 1954—1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
  • 1954—1954: First transistor radios sold
  • 6 May 1954—6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
  • 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
  • 5 Jul 1954—5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
  • 30 Sep 1954—30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
17 1955 
  • 1955—1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
  • 27 Jul 1955—27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
  • 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
18 1956 
  • 1956—1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
  • 1 Mar 1956—1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
  • 17 Apr 1956—17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
  • 3 Jun 1956—3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
  • 31 Oct 1956—31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
19 1957 
  • 1957—1957: Britain introduces parking meters
  • 1957—1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
  • 11 Jan 1957—11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
  • 14 May 1957—14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
  • 15 May 1957—15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
  • 25 May 1957—25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became operational Jan 1958
  • 4 Dec 1957—4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
  • 25 Dec 1957—25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
20 1958 
  • 1958—1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
  • 1958—1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
  • 1958—1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
  • 13 May 1958—13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
  • 26 Jul 1958—26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
  • 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
  • 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
21 1959 
  • 3 Feb 1959—3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
  • 17 Feb 1959—17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
  • 24 May 1959—24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
  • Aug 1959—Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
  • 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
22 1960 
  • 17 Mar 1960—17 Mar 1960: New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
  • 18 Mar 1960—18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
  • 21 Jul 1960—21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days), winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded
  • 12 Aug 1960—12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
  • 12 Sep 1960—12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
  • 1 Oct 1960—1 Oct 1960: HMS 'Dreadnought' nuclear submarine launched
  • 2 Nov 1960—2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case
23 1961 
  • 1 Jan 1961—1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
  • 13 Mar 1961—13 Mar 1961: Black & White ?5 notes cease to be legal tender
  • 14 Mar 1961—14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published
  • 1 May 1961—1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain