Lord President
Appointed Lord President of the Council
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1940 in Great Britain — Page 16
Explore 642 historical events and records for Great Britain in 1940.
Historical records for Great Britain in 1940
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 40 of 642 unique records.
642Unique records
16 of 17Page
38Named events on this page
33Named people on this page
8Places on this page
Other events (month unknown)
Lord Privy Seal
Appointed Lord Privy Seal
Maginot Line
Hitler rounds the Maginot line forcing evacuation of 340,000 between 27 May-4 June
Medal
Posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
Merton College
Healey wins a Harmsworth Senior Scholarship at Merton before wartime service changes his path.
Metallic Security Thread Banknote
Montagu Norman serves as Governor as the Bank of England introduces a special blue one-pound note using a metallic security thread against wartime counterfeiting.
Minister of Aircraft Production
Appointed Minister of Aircraft Production
Minister of Information
Appointed Minister of Information
Minister of Supply
Appointed Minister of Supply, 1st term
Minister of War
Appointed Minister of War
Mobilization
Begins the re-formation of the 3rd Division after Dunkirk
Museum Damaged During Blitz
Bombing during the Second World War damaged museum galleries, requiring subsequent rebuilding and repairs to the historic civic complex.
My Country Right or Left
Orwell published My Country Right or Left, exploring patriotism and left-wing political commitment.
Never Was So Much Owed
Churchill publicly praised the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, shaping remembrance of the air campaign.
New Words Essay
Orwell discussed language invention and meaning in his essay New Words.
Observatory Wartime Operations
The observatory continued essential astronomical and time service work despite the difficulties created by the Second World War.
Operation Dynamo
Hitler rounds the Maginot line forcing evacuation of 340,000 between 27 May-4 June
Oxford Labour Club Split
Leaves the Communist-dominated Oxford Labour Club with Tony Crosland and other democratic socialists.
Peerage
Created Viscount Simon
Posthumous Bloomsbury Discussion
Strachey's innovative biographical method remained a subject of literary debate.
Postmaster General
Appointed Postmaster General
President of the British Meteorological Society
Appointed President of the British Meteorological Society
Resignation of Neville Chamberlain
Prominent role in the Parliamentary debate leading to Chamberlains resignation
Royal Artillery
Healey serves first as a gunner in the Royal Artillery before commissioning.
SAS
Submits a plan to Ritchie & Auchinleck to raid airfields behind the Afika Korps
SAS
Submits a plan to Ritchie & Auchinleck to raid airfields behind the Afika Korps
Secretary
Appointed Secretary to the War Cabinet
Secretary
Appointed Dominions Secretary, 1st term
Secretary of State
Appointed Secretary of State for India & Burma
Speech
Criticizes Churchill for "interfering with everybodys department"
Spitfire Production
Castle Bromwich begins large-scale production of Supermarine Spitfire aircraft.
The Great Dictator
Directs, "The Great Dictator"
The New World Order
Publication of "The New World Order"
The Power and the Glory
Publication of "The Power & the Glory"
Their Finest Hour Speech
Churchill urged Britain to resist Nazi Germany and described the historic stakes of the coming battle.
Trafalgar Symbolism
Trafalgar remains a symbol of resistance during invasion fears.
War Critic
Criticises wartime government failures from the Labour left.
War Cup Final Winning Goal
Sam Small scores for West Ham United as the club defeats Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Wembley to claim the Football League War Cup.
Wartime Military Service
Hoggart served in the British Army during the Second World War, an experience that interrupted his academic development.
Wartime Propaganda
Begins wartime work producing political propaganda directed toward Germany and occupied Europe.
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.