| National |
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Clacton-on-Sea |
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| 1935 |
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July 9 |
Government produced first circular regarding air raid precautions to the general public |
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1937 |
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Apl |
Essex County Council sent guidelines to Clacton Urban District council for local ARP scheme |
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| 1938 |
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1938 |
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| Jan |
Govt announces children to have gas masks |
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| Apl |
Govt began conscription of 20 & 21 year old men |
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Apl |
Air raid sirens first tested |
| May |
Women's Voluntary Service formed |
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May |
Mock air raid and decontamination exercise |
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June |
Butlins holiday camp opened |
| Oct |
Govt orders building of public air-raid shelters |
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Oct |
ARP volunteers called for
CUDC begin organising for reception of evacuees
Gas masks issued to population |
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| 1939 |
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1939 |
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Apl |
ARP equipment arrived including 70,000 sandbags and 25,000 gasmasks with boxes |
| July |
Blackout of all light sources required
Land Army formed |
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Summer |
Normal numbers of holidaymakers visit |
| Aug |
Royal Navy mobilized |
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| Sept 1-4 |
Evacuation of over 1.5 million children, pregnant women and vulnerable people |
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Sept 1 |
3000 people arrive from N & E London |
| Sept 3 |
Great Britain declared war on Germany
National Service Act passed requiring all men aged 18-41 to register for the armed forces
British Expeditionary Force sent to France |
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Sept 4 |
Butlins becomes an internment camp |
| Sept23 |
Petrol rationing begins |
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| Oct |
Govt launches Dig for Victory' campaign |
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Oct 17 |
Butlins changed to a military camp |
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| 1940 |
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1940 |
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| Jan |
First rationing sugar, butter, ham, bacon
Recycling of waste campaign begins |
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| Feb |
German u-boats blockade Britain
(attacking boats bringing goods to Britain) |
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Feb |
Floating mine exploded and holed the pier |
| May |
Local Defence Regiment (LDV) formed - later to become the Home Guard
Winston Churchill forms an all party wartime Government |
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Apl 30 |
Victoria Road plane crash first civilian casualties of war on mainland Britain |
| May 27- June 4 |
BEF forced out of France by the Nazi troops leading to the evacuation of Dunkirk
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May |
500 men volunteered for LDV within 48hrs of appeal
Clacton designated an evacuation area and restricted military zone. |
| June |
French government surrenders to Germany |
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May 20 |
Evacuees leave Clacton |
| July |
Road signs removed following fears of invasion by German forces |
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May 27 |
Clacton population advised to leave.
CUDC received orders for the removal of road signs |
| July - Sept |
German air force launch attacks on British military sites later known as The Battle of Britain |
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July |
Private car use banned |
| Aug |
The Blitz begins on London |
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| Sept 9 |
Buckingham Palace hit by a bomb |
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| Nov |
Radar first used by RAF |
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Nov |
Duchess of Gloucester visited to inspect Northants Regiment |
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| 1941 |
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1941 |
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Jan 5 |
Bombs hole gasholder at Gas Works Courageous act by Charles Higgs saved serious explosion awarded medal
Schools begin to re-open as some of the population return from evacuation |
| March |
USA agrees to give Britain material help in the war effort |
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| Apl |
St. Paul's Cathedral and several hospitals hit by Land mines dropped by aircraft
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Apl |
Duke of Gloucester inspected Clacton defences |
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May 9 |
Wagstaff Corner air raid |
| June |
Clothing rationing
Germany invades Russia |
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June 12 |
Bomb crater made in Gorse Lane by enemy bombs- 2 killed |
| Aug |
'Potato Pete' character launched by Ministry of Food |
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Aug |
Lady Reading visits WVS members |
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Nov 12 |
British Restaurant opened basic meal 9d |
| Dec |
Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbour US military base on Hawaii.
USA enters the war
National Service Act-unmarried women aged 20-30 conscripted later to include some married women |
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Dec |
Morrison shelters introduced |
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| 1942 |
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1942 |
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| Feb |
Soap rationing |
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| June |
Utility fashions introduced |
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| July |
Sweet rationing |
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July |
Incendiary bombs dropped on ripening Crops |
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Sept |
Three damaged RAF planes crash near Clacton |
| Nov |
Church bells heard for the first time since war began to celebrate Allied victory in N Africa at El Alamein |
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| 1943 |
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1943 |
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| Jan |
German army surrenders to Russia at Stalingrad
Miners strike for more money |
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Feb 17 |
Bombs and strafing in the town 5 yr old Killed |
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Apl 15 |
German bombers shot down 4 taken Prisoner
Small part of the beach opened for a few weeks during the summer |
| June |
Signposts to be replaced as no more threat of invasion |
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| July |
Allied forces land in Italy |
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Aug 31 |
RAF Wellington bomber crash landed on High School playing field-crew saved |
| Sept |
Italy surrenders
63,000 school children are asked to lend a hand' and help bring in the harvest
Govt announce children aged 16 and 17 to work in aircraft factories because of shortage of workers
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| 1944 |
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1944 |
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Feb 13 |
Town centre bombed damaging many shops in Pier Avenue |
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Mar |
Incendiary bombs dropped by enemy bombers on their way to London |
| June |
German V1 rockets begin to be fired on London |
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June |
V1 rockets first heard passing overhead |
| June 6 |
D-Day massive invasion of the Normandy coast of France by Allied forces |
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From Aug |
Sections of the pier begin to open to the public |
| Sept |
Liberation of Paris by Allied Forces
German V2 rockets launched on Britain
Low level street lighting allowed |
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Nov |
V2 rocket fell at Weeley explosion heard in Clacton |
| Dec 25 |
Churches allowed to light their windows |
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Dec |
V2 rocket exploded on shore in W Clacton |
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| 1945 |
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1945 |
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Feb |
V2 rocket crashed into Marine Parade cliffs |
| Mar 29 |
Last German bombs fall on Britain |
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Apl |
CUDC began to prepare a list of hotels, boarding houses and apartments available
Lifeboat service allowed to use maroons |
| May 7 |
Germany surrenders |
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| May 8 |
VE Day |
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May 11 |
Public air raid shelters closed |
| July |
General Election-Winston Churchill loses to Clement Atlee
Blackout ends |
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| Aug |
US Air Force drop 2 atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
Japan surrenders |
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| Aug 15 |
VJ Day |
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| 1946 |
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1946 |
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| Feb |
First bananas since the end of the war |
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Apl |
Butlins re-opens for holidaymakers |
| Oct |
Nazi war criminals put on trial at Nuremburg, Germany |
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| 1947 |
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| Apl |
School leaving age raised to 15 years |
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| 1948 |
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1948 |
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Jan |
The pier now fully repaired and open after wartime damage |
| Jly |
National Health Service begins |
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| Aug |
Olympic games London |
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| 1949 |
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| Feb |
Clothing rationing lifted |
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| 1954 |
All rationing ends |
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