Neha Patil (Editor)

1944 in Wales

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Centuries:
  
18th 19th 20th 21st

Decades:
  
1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1944 to Wales and its people.

Contents

Incumbents

  • Prince of Wales – vacant
  • Princess of Wales – vacant
  • Archbishop of Wales
  • Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor (died 7 May)
  • David Prosser, Bishop of St David's (elected)
  • Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Crwys

    • Events

  • 22 January - Wynford Vaughan-Thomas reports for the BBC from the Battle of Anzio.
  • 23 January - An RAF Halifax bomber crashes in the Elan Valley, killing nine crew.
  • 28 March - Cardiff Blitz: Nine people are killed in an air raid on Cardiff.
  • 11 April - An RAF Lancaster bomber crashes near Llanwrtyd Wells, killing eight crew.
  • 16 August - Lt. Tasker Watkins leads a bayonet charge at Barfour in Normandy, winning the Victoria Cross for his courage.
  • 2 October - Dylan Thomas is best man at the wedding of his friend Vernon Watkins in London - but fails to turn up.
  • 17 October - The first "Welsh Day" debate takes place in the House of Commons (UK).
  • 10 December - American Liberty ship Dan Beard is torpedoed off Strumble Head, resulting in the deaths of 29 crew.
  • 20 December - An American B-24 Liberator plane crashes into the sea off Anglesey, killing eight crew.
  • Plaid Cymru transfers its head office from Caernarfon to Cardiff.
  • Morgan Phillips becomes Secretary of the Labour Party (UK), a position he will hold until 1961.
  • Sir Thomas Williams Phillips becomes permanent secretary of the new government ministry created to implement the national insurance system.
  • Sir David Brunt is awarded the royal medal of the Royal Society for his work in meteorology.
  • Goronwy Owen and Llewellyn Thomas Gordon Soulsby are knighted.

    • Arts and literature

  • BBC commentator Alun Williams marries Perrie Hopkin Morris, daughter of Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris.

    • Awards

  • National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Llandybie)
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - D. Lloyd Jenkins
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - J. M. Edwards
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld

    • New books

  • Rhys Davies – Black Venus
  • Thomas Rowland Hughes - William Jones
  • Edward Morgan Humphreys - Ceulan y Llyn Du
  • Jack Jones - The Man David
  • Alun Lewis - The Last Inspection
  • Sir Percy Emerson Watkins - A Welshman Remembers
  • Sir Ifor Williams - Lectures on early Welsh Poetry

    • New drama

  • James Kitchener Davies - Meini Gwagedd
  • Emlyn Williams - The Druid's Rest

    • Music

  • Harry Parr Davies - Jenny Jones (musical)
  • Grace Williams - Sea Sketches

    • Film

  • The Halfway House, starring Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns and Rachel Thomas, is set in Wales.

    • Broadcasting

  • August - Wynford Vaughan-Thomas reports on the liberation of Paris for BBC radio.
  • Launch of the Noson Lawen series on BBC radio.

    • Sport

  • Boxing - Syd Worgan beats Tommy Davies for the vacant Welsh featherweight title.
  • Football - The first post-war match between Wales and England ends in a 1 - 0 victory for Wales.

    • Births

  • 21 January - Peter Rodrigues, footballer
  • 17 February - Karl Jenkins, composer
  • 6 March - Billy Raybould, Wales international rugby player
  • 12 March - Tammy Jones, singer
  • 24 March - Steve Jones, biologist
  • 8 April - Hywel Bennett, actor
  • 15 April - Dave Edmunds, musician
  • 5 May
  • Roger Rees, actor (died 2015)
  • John Rhys-Davies, actor
  • 3 June - Dilwyn John, footballer
  • 11 June - Alan Howarth, Baron Howarth of Newport, politician
  • 16 June - Brian Protheroe, English-born singer and actor of Welsh parentage
  • 7 July - Glenys Kinnock, politician
  • 31 July - Endaf Emlyn, TV presenter, musician and director
  • 9 October - Desmond Barrit, actor
  • 21 October - Mandy Rice-Davies, socialite (died 2014)
  • 29 November - Gareth Wardell, politician
  • date unknown - Dai Morgan Evans, archaeologist

    • Deaths

  • 11 January - Richard Powell, Wales international rugby player, 79
  • 5 March - Alun Lewis, poet, 28 (accidentally shot)
  • 7 May - Charles Green, Bishop of Monmouth, Bishop of Bangor and Archbishop of Wales, 79
  • 24 May - Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet, politician, 83
  • 27 May - Griffith Hartwell Jones, academic, 85
  • 16 June - David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, philanthropist and MP, 64
  • 25 June - James Atkin, Baron Atkin, judge, 76
  • 5 August - Maurice Turnbull, cricketer, 38 (killed in action)
  • 5 August - Ethel Lina White, crime novelist, 68
  • September - David Davies, 2nd Baron Davies, 29 (killed in battle)
  • 30 September- David Harris Davies, Wales international rugby union player, 66
  • 5 October - Laura Evans-Williams, singer, 61
  • 27 October - Clem Lewis, rugby player, 54
  • 19 November - Watkin Williams, Bishop of Bangor, 99
  • 8 December - Sir William Jenkins, MP for Neath, 73

    • References

    1944 in Wales Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA