DATE

UNITED KINGDOM

REST OF THE WORLD

DUDLEY

AGE

OF

ST JOHN’S

CHURCH

ST JOHN’S CHURCH

1937

·          First jet engine, Frank Whittle

·          Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson

·          Coronation of King George VI

·          First issue of the Dandy

·          IRA attempt to assasinate King George VI

·          Launch of Nescafe instant coffee, Swiss

·          First supermarket trolley, USA

·          Nylon patented, USA

97 years old

·          Efforts consumated begun during 1914-18 war to free the Church from pew rents. A sum of £700, the major part of which was the result of a four day bazaar was handed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and this increased the value of the benefice by £84 per annum

·          Pew rents abolished forever, July 1st, after 20 years efforts

·          Many former pew holders and others joined the ‘Friends of St John’s’ which was formed as afree will offering scheme with the purpose of restoring the fabric of the church

1938

·          John Baird gives first demonstration of colour TV, Dominion Theatre, London

·          Sigmund Freud arrives in London having fled from Austria

·          Neville Chamberlain ‘Peace in Our Time’ speech

·          First VW Beetle mass produced

·          Ballpoint pen invented, Hungary

·          German Chemist Otto Hahn succeeds in splitting the uranium atom, releasing energy

98 years old

·          Processional cross made and given by Mr A. Dudley Cheese, Esq

1939

·          Britain and France declare war on Germany - start of WW2

·          First Anderson shelter

·          Evacuation of children from cities

·          John Cleese, Peter Purves, Jackie Stewart, born

·          Hitler invades Poland

·          Spanish civil war ends, 410,000 killed plus 200,000 by starvation or disease

·          Earthquake in Turkey, 45,000 killed

99 years old

·          Mission Room in Cawney Hill ceased to be used due to demolition of surrounding houses

·          1939-1945 Church Hall used as a British Restuarant and Rest Centre, and as a Warden Post

·          Plans were in preparation for a Mission Church on the Roseland Estate to serve the most populous part of the Parish, as war broke out. A site was reserved and help promised from Bishop of Worcester’s funds.

1940

·          Battle of Britain and the Blitz

·          Neville Chamberlain resigns Winston Churchill takes over as Prime Minister

·          Local Defence Volunteers later called the Home Guard, formed

·          Nylon stockings, USA

·          300,000 men of British and Allied forces evacuated from Dunkirk

·          German troops enter Paris, France appeals to USA for help - USA declines

100 years old

·          During the war all services and organisations continued

·          Several improvements inside the Church - a small number of pews removed to give much needed floor space, the entire floor of the sanctuary was re-laid and the chancel redecorated

1941

·          Major German blitz on Coventry

·          House of Commons destroyed in an air raid

·          Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland and is imprisoned

·          Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, Hawaii and Malaya

·          Nazis slaughter up to 96,000 Ukrainians

·          Britain and USA declare war on Japan

·          Full employment returns to US as it enters WWII 

101 years old

·          Rev Thomas Norman Crowther-Green replaces Rev Green (serves until 1946)

1942

·          RAF makes a 1000 bomber raid on Bremen

·          Desert Island discs first broadcast

·          Princess Elizabeth registers for war service

·          Soap rationing

·          Japanese invade the Dutch East Indies, Burma and Java

·          Battle of Stalingrad, 750,000 Russian soldiers die, 400,000 German soldiers die

·          First CCTV camera installed, military, Germany

102 years old

1943

·          Operation Chastise (Dam Buster raid)

·          Colossus computer to break German encryption

·          Terry Venables, Freddie Starr, Tony Blackburn, George Harrison, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Mick Jagger, born

·          Casablanca conference, (Roosevelt, Giraud, de Gaulle, Churchill) culminates in General Eisenhower as Commander of unified forces in North Africa

103 years old

1944

·          First flying bomb dropped on London

·          Butler Act creates free secondary education

·          PAYE tax introduced

·          Home Guard is stood down

·          RAF drops 2300 tons of bombs on Berlin

·          D-Day, allies land in Normandy, Germans retreat

·          First automatic calculator (weighed 5 tonnes), USA

104 years old

1945

·          George Orwell, Animal Farm

·          VE Day celebrated, street parties throughout UK

·          BBC Light programme launched

·          Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, born

·          Germany surrenders, Hitler commits suicide, age 56 years

·          First atomic bomb exploded experimentally, USA

·          US drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Japan surrenders

105 years old

1946

·          First UN Assembly opens in London

·          Bread rationing because of worldwide shortage of wheat

·          William Joyce, ‘Lord Haw Haw’ hanged for broadcasts made during the war

·          First universal electronic computer, USA (weighed 30 tonnes)

·          First bikini, France

·          Nuremberg Trials,  13 Nazis convicted of crimes against humanity

106 years old

·          Rev Wallace Francis Cox inducted, replacing Rev Crowther-Green (serves 2 years)