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1945 in Wales
Last updated
April 10, 2025
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See also:
List of years in Wales
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1945 in
The United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Elsewhere
This article is about the particular significance of the year
1945
to
Wales
and
its people
.
Contents
Incumbents
Events
Arts and literature
Awards
New books
Music
Film
Broadcasting
Sport
Births
Deaths
References
See also
Incumbents
Archbishop of Wales
–
David Prosser
,
Bishop of St David's
Archdruid
of the
National Eisteddfod of Wales
–
Crwys
Events
1 January
– Three months before his death, former
prime minister
David Lloyd George
is created
Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor
[
1
]
and
Viscount Gwynedd
. He never takes his seat in the
House of Lords
.
18 January
– Winds of 113
mph are recorded at
St. Ann's Head Lighthouse
,
Pembrokeshire
.
[
2
]
7 March
–
German submarine
U-1302
is sunk off
St David's Head
.
10 March
– Sixty-seven
German
prisoners of war
tunnel their way out of
Island Farm
Camp
198 at
Bridgend
, the biggest escape attempt by German POWs in the UK during the
Second World War
.
[
3
]
15 April
– Brigadier
Glyn Hughes
leads the
11th Armoured Division
in the liberation of
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
.
April – German submarines
U-242
and
U-325
are sunk off
The Skerries
.
[
4
]
15 May
– At the
Neath
by-election, a
Trotskyist
candidate contests the constituency, the first time in any UK election.
[
5
]
5 July
– In the
United Kingdom general election
, which sees a landslide Labour victory across the Great Britain:
For the last time in a General Election, a candidate in Wales is elected unopposed —
Will John
, Labour MP for Rhondda West.
Ambrose Bebb
stands as a
Plaid Cymru
Parliamentary candidate.
Hugh Dalton
becomes the new
Chancellor of the Exchequer
and
Aneurin Bevan
Minister of Health
.
W. J. Gruffydd
retains the
University of Wales
seat for the
Liberals
, the last time it will be contested before abolition.
27 July
– The cause of an outbreak of
typhoid
in
Aberystwyth
is traced to locally-made
ice cream
.
[
6
]
2 August
–
Clement Davies
becomes leader of the
Liberal Party
.
12 September
– Newspaper publisher
Gomer Berry
is created
Viscount Kemsley
.
[
7
]
8 October
–
Rudolf Hess
is flown to
Nuremberg
to
stand trial
, ending his three-year internment at
Maindiff Court Military Hospital
,
Abergavenny
.
[
8
]
October – Stocks of captured
Nazi German
bombs filled with
Tabun (nerve agent)
begin to be transferred to the
RAF
ammunition store near
Llanberis
.
13 November
– Explorer
Edward Evans
is created
Baron Mountevans
.
[
9
]
date unknown
Closure of the Benallt
manganese
mine, near
Aberdaron
.
[
10
]
Broadcaster
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
is awarded the
Croix de Guerre
for his exploits in following the
invading troops into France
during 1944.
Kayser Bondor open an underwear factory at
Pentrebach
.
Arts and literature
Awards
National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in
Rhosllanerchrugog
)
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair –
Tom Parri Jones
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown –
withheld
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal –
withheld
New books
Idris Davies
–
Tonypandy and other poems
D. Gwenallt Jones
–
Detholiad o Ryddiaith Gymraeg
R. J. Derfel
Huw Menai
–
The Simple Vision
Music
National Youth Orchestra of Wales
formed, the world's first such organisation.
Ivor Novello
–
Perchance to Dream
Mansel Thomas
– "Y Bardd"
[
11
]
Film
Ray Milland
wins an
Academy Award
for Best Actor for his role in
The Lost Weekend
.
Broadcasting
The
BBC
issues the first Welsh edition of
Radio Times
.
[
12
]
Sport
Football
– The first post-war match between Wales and England ends in a 1 – 0 victory for Wales.
Births
12 Feb: Gareth Thomas
8 May: Mike German
6 January
–
Barry John
, rugby player (died
2024
)
7 February
–
Gerald Davies
, rugby player
12 February
–
Gareth Thomas
, actor (died
2016
)
19 February
–
Huw Llywelyn Davies
, broadcaster
3 April
–
Gary Sprake
, footballer (died
2016
)
[
13
]
7 April
–
Martyn Lewis
, TV journalist
2 May
–
Eddie Avoth
, boxing champion
8 May
–
Mike German
AM
, politician
9 May
–
Malcolm Nash
, cricketer (died
2019
)
[
14
]
15 July
–
Rachel Lomax
, economist
13 August
–
Howard Marks
, drug trafficker (died
2016
)
[
15
]
29 August
(in
Cromford
)
–
Sue Essex
AM
, politician
7 September
–
Max Boyce
, entertainer
15 September
–
Clive Merrison
, actor
30 November
–
Roger Glover
, musician
21 December
–
Alan Williams
MP
, politician
date unknown
–
Lyn Evans
, physicist
[
16
]
Deaths
3 January
Edward Peake
, Wales international rugby union player, 84
Sir William James Thomas, 1st Baronet
, industrialist, 77
9 January
–
Dennis O'Neill
, murder victim, 12
11 January
–
Caradoc Evans
, author, 66
[
17
]
16 January
–
Robert Griffith Berry
, Congregationalist minister and writer, 75
[
18
]
17 January
–
Reginald Clarry
MP
, politician, 62
6 February
–
Edward Prosser Rhys
, journalist and poet, 43
[
19
]
17 March
– Sir
Thomas Lewis
, cardiologist, 63
[
20
]
26 March
–
David Lloyd George
MP
, politician, 82
12 May
(in
Brighton
)
–
James Walker
, MP for
Newport
(1929–31), 61 (in a road accident)
16 May
–
Harry Vaughan Watkins
, Wales international rugby player, 69
11 June
–
Owen Evans
MP
, politician, 69
14 June
–
John Hugh Edwards
, MP, 76
[
21
]
22 June
–
William Williams
, Wales national rugby union player, 78
29 July
–
Cecil Griffiths
, athlete, 44 (heart attack)
29 September
–
Evan James Williams
, physicist, 42 (cancer)
[
22
]
15 November
–
John Lloyd Williams
, botanist, 91
[
23
]
21 November
–
Thomas Rhondda Williams
, Congregational minister and politician, 84/5
[
24
]
1 December
–
Tom Graham
, Wales international rugby player
26 December
–
George Travers
, Wales international rugby union player, 68
date unknown
–
Len Davies
, footballer
References
↑
Travis L. Crosby (30 January 2014).
The Unknown David Lloyd George: A Statesman in Conflict
. I.B.Tauris. p.
379.
ISBN
978-1-78076-485-6
.
↑
Great Britain. Meteorological Office (1952).
Climatological atlas of the British Isles
. H.M. Stationery Office.
↑
Herbert Williams (2004).
Come Out, Wherever You are: The Great Escape in Wales
. Gwasg Gomer.
ISBN
978-1-84323-199-8
.
↑
Innes McCartney (December 2002).
Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel
. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p.
28.
ISBN
978-1-904381-04-4
.
↑
Llafur
. Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History. 1980.
↑
Great Britain. Ministry of Health (1945).
Annual Report of the Ministry of Health
. H.M. Stationery Office.
↑
"Kemsley, Viscount (UK, 1945)"
.
Cracrofts Peerage
.
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2018
. Retrieved
4 June
2019
.
↑
James Leasor (2001).
Rudolf Hess: The Uninvited Envoy
. House of Stratus. p.
203.
ISBN
978-0-7551-0041-5
.
↑
"No. 37348"
.
The London Gazette
. 13 November 1945. p.
5535.
↑
Frederick John North; National Museum of Wales (1962).
Mining for metals in Wales
. National Museum of Wales. p.
100.
↑
National Library of Wales (1944).
Bibliotheca celtica
. The Library. p.
140.
↑
Royal Television Society Wales – Historic Dates
Archived
2014-03-08 at the
Wayback Machine
. Accessed 8 March 2014
↑
Mason, Peter (20 October 2016).
"Gary Sprake obituary"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
21 October
2016
.
↑
Howell, Andy (31 July 2019).
"Malcolm Nash, Glamorgan star hit for a record six sixes in one over by Garry Sobers, has passed away"
. WalesOnline
. Retrieved
31 July
2019
.
↑
"
'Mr Nice' Howard Marks dies aged 70"
.
The Guardian
. 10 April 2016.
↑
Sir Norman Lockyer (2008).
Nature
. Macmillan Journals Limited. p.
865.
↑
Gwyn Jones.
"Evans, Caradoc (1878-1945), author"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
15 October
2019
.
↑
"Robert Griffith Berry"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
5 April
2016
.
↑
Katherine Williams; Evan David Jones.
"Rhys, Edward Prosser (1901-1945), journalist, poet and publisher"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
15 October
2019
.
↑
Owen Elias Roberts.
"Lewis, Sir Thomas (1881-1945), physician"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
15 October
2019
.
↑
William Llewelyn Davies.
"Edwards, John Hugh (1869-1945), politician and writer"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
15 October
2019
.
↑
Obituary Notices
. Vol.
5. Royal Society. 1947. p.
386.
↑
Robert Alun Roberts.
"Williams, John Lloyd (1854-1945), botanist and musician"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
15 October
2019
.
↑
Williams, Rev. Thomas Rhondda
. Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U233516
.
See also
1945 in Northern Ireland
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