1939 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1939 to Wales and its people.

← 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1939 in Wales → 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1939 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales - vacant
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Archbishop of Wales – Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor[1]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • J.J. (outgoing)
  • Crwys (incoming)

Events

• March–November - Aneurin Bevan is temporarily expelled from the Labour Party.
• 27 April - Ely Racecourse in Cardiff closes.[2]
• 1 June - The submarine HMS Thetis sinks during trials in Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey. At least 98 men are lost.[3]
• Late August - Most paintings evacuated from the National Gallery in London to Wales.
• 3 September - World War II
  • Declaration of war by the United Kingdom on Nazi Germany following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September.[4]
  • Jimmy Young, temporarily resident in Wales, attempts to join the army; on being rejected as too young, he joins the Royal Air Force instead.
• October - Construction at M. S. Factory, Valley in Flintshire of tunnels for storage of chemical weapons begins.
• The first war-time civilian evacuees arrive in Wales.
• Vickers-Armstrong opens an aircraft factory at Broughton, Flintshire, later taken over by De Havilland.[5]
• The Urdd establishes Ysgol Gymraeg yr Urdd, the first-ever Welsh-medium primary school, at Aberystwyth. In its first year the school consists of just seven pupils and one teacher, Norah Isaac.
• A government report shows that seven of the thirteen Welsh counties have the highest incidence of tuberculosis in the whole of England and Wales.
• George Maitland Lloyd Davies becomes President of the pacifist group Heddychwyr Cymru.
• Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons is completed to supply Newport.

Arts and literature

• August - For the first time ever, both chair and crown are withheld at the National Eisteddfod.
• 4 October - Poets Lynette Roberts and Keidrych Rhys marry.[6]
• John Roberts Williams becomes editor of Y Cymro.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Denbigh
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - withheld
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - John Gwilym Jones

New books

English language

• B. L. Coombes - These Poor Hands
• Richard Llewellyn - How Green Was My Valley
• Howard Spring - Heaven Lies About Us

Welsh language

• D. Gwenallt Jones - Ysgubau'r Awen
• David James Jones - Hanes Athroniaeth: Y Cyfnod Groegaidd
• Moelona - Ffynnonlloyw
• Caradog Prichard - Terfysgoedd Daear

Music

• William Ifor Jones makes his debut as conductor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.
• Ivor Novello - The Dancing Years
• Grace Williams - Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon

Film

• Ray Milland stars in Hotel Imperial and Beau Geste.

Welsh language film

• Efaciwis a Ricriwtio (World War II propaganda film)

Broadcasting

• At the outbreak of war, the BBC was to transmit a unified service, including programs in the Welsh language. One of the few Welsh-language broadcasts to survive is a daily bulletin of world news at 5 pm. It was broadcast before the daily news in English at 6pm.[7]
• The BBC radio comedy series It's That Man Again begins its ten-year run. For most of the war it is broadcast from the BBC Wales studios in Bangor, Caernarvonshire, north Wales, where the BBC's Light Entertainment Department is temporarily based.

Sports

• Rugby union
  • 4 February – Leslie Manfield (one of only four players to represent Wales both before and after World War II) gains his first senior cap in the match between Wales and Scotland.

Births

• 11 January - Phil Williams, politician (died 2003)
• 1 February - Cynog Dafis, politician
• 16 February - David Griffiths, portrait painter
• 8 March - Robert Tear, operatic tenor (died 2011)
• 16 March - Kenny Morgans, footballer
• 29 March - Ronnie Williams, actor and comedian (died 1997)
• 7 April - Keith Bradshaw, Wales international rugby player
• 10 April - Ricky Valance, born David Spencer, pop singer (died 2020)
• 8 June - Norman Davies, historian
• 17 June - Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea, politician
• 21 July - Frank Rankmore, footballer[8]
• 24 September - Steve Gammon, footballer
• 29 September - Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales (died 2017)
• 10 October - Neil Sloane, mathematician
• 8 November - Meg Wynn Owen, actress

Deaths

• 27 January - Lewis Jones, miners' leader and novelist, 41[9]
• 17 March - Owen Badger, Wales international rugby player, 67
• 24 March - Gwyn Nicholls, rugby player, 64[10]
• 23 April - Morgan Jones, sitting MP for Llanelli, 52
• 29 April - Timothy Rees, Bishop of Llandaff, 64[11]
• 14 June - Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, politician, 66[12]
• 29 June - Henry Stuart Jones, academic, 72
• 9 July - Charles Nicholl, Wales international rugby union player, 69
• 18 September - Gwen John, artist, 63[13]
• 21 September - Sir John Lynn-Thomas, surgeon, 78
• 26 September - Leif Jones, politician, 77[14]
• 7 November - Gwenllian Morgan, local politician, 87[15]
• 2 December - Llewelyn Powys, writer, 55[16]

See also

• 1939 in Northern Ireland

References

1. C. J. Litzenberger; Eileen Groth Lyon (2006). The Human Tradition in Modern Britain. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-7425-3735-4.
2. "Brian Lee: When Ely played host to sport of kings". WalesOnline. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
3. Daniel K. Longman (15 February 2016). Liverpool in the Headlines. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4456-4887-3.
4. Penguin Pocket OnThis Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
5. "History of Hawarden Airport". Hawarden Aerodrome. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
6. Flashpoint: Lynette Roberts
7. "Literature Wales: Encyclopedia - Broadcasting. Accessed 5 January 2013". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
8. Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
9. The Anglo-Welsh Review. Dock Leaves Press. 1983. p. 62.
10. Moelwyn Idwal Williams. "Nicholls, Erith Gwyn (1875-1939), Wales and Cardiff Rugby centre three-quarter". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
11. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Rees, Timothy (1874-1939), bishop of Llandaff". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
12. Randolph Spencer Churchill; Martin Gilbert (1983). Winston S. Churchill: The prophet of truth, 1922-1939. Houghton Mifflin. p. 1526.
13. Gwen John; Michael Holroyd; Anthony d'Offay (Firm) (1982). Gwen John, 1876-1939. Anthony d'Offay.
14. Llewelyn Gwyn Chambers. "Jones, Leifchild Stratten (1862-1939), Liberal politician and temperance advocate". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
15. Robert Thomas Jenkins. "Morgan, Gwenllian Elizabeth (1852-1939), antiquary". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
16. George Santayana (2001). The Letters of George Santayana. MIT Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-262-19495-2.