Fear of a third world war was in the air
EVEN in 1950 Winston Churchill was warning of the possibility of a third world war.
Certainly tension had remained high in Europe long after 1945, but thankfully another world war did not come along.
Communists in the Far East caused war in Korea when they attacked South Korea. American and British forces got embroiled in this bitter and often bloody struggle.
The Labour Party only just managed to hang on to power in the General Election. There was a very gradual improvement in the national economy and the American Marshall Plan Aid was ended.
There was plenty of work to do in improving the standards of British homes for there were still 46 per cent of British households without an indoor toilet or bathroom.
Another statistic revealed that more than 17 million Britons read a newspaper, and at this time that was more than any other country. Now I wonder if that is still true today!
On Christmas Day some British Nationalists stole the Coronation Stone from Westminster Abbey.
The ending of petrol rationing brought a rush of traffic back on to our roads and very often routes into various seaside resorts were jammed up - a situation I well remember, and especially at Bank Holidays. At this time package holidays started and for just 32.10 shillings people could fly out to enjoy a fortnight in Corsica.
J Sainsbury opened the first self-service grocery and the very last Lancaster Bomber was withdrawn from service with the RAF.
Around the globe US President Truman gave clearance for the making of the hydrogen bomb but said it would not be used in Korea; the American Cardillac Motor Company introduced the one-piece curved windscreen; the Dalai Lama went into exile when China occupied Tibet; King Leopold of Belgium abdicated in favour of his son, Baudouin; French mountaineers reached the summit of Mount Annapurna in the Himalayas and General Eisenhower was given command of all NATO forces in Europe.
The submarine, 'Truculent' collided with a Swedish merchantman in the Thames Estuary and 60 seamen were lost.
Tragedy struck an Avro Tudor airliner bringing Welsh rugby fans back home from a game against Ireland. The plane went down near Cardiff and only three of the 83 passengers survived and there was great sadness at Creswell in Derbyshire when a colliery fire killed 80 miners.
This was the year of the famous book about the Kon Tiki Expedition when Thor Heyerdahl told about his amazing voyage across the Pacific Ocean on his balsa wood raft.
I remember some of the films of 1950 and in particular 'Treasure Island' with Robert Newton (I can see that evil twinkle in his eye now!) and the powerful 'Odette' with Anna Neagle and Trevor Howard. Other films were 'The Wooden Horse', 'Cinderella, 'All About Eve', and 'The Happiest Days of Your Life'.
People whistled tunes like 'Chatanooga Sunshine Boy', 'If I Were a Blackbird', 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer', and 'If I knew You Were Coming I'd have baked a Cake'.
In a most ignominious defeat our England footballers lost 1-0 to the USA and were dumped out of the very first World Cup Soccer Competition. Arsenal were winners of the FA Cup.
Cricketers from the West Indies, batsmen Worrall, Weekes and Walcott, and the crafty spinners, Ramadhin and Valentine, reaped havoc with the English Test team. South African golfer, Bobby Locke, won the British Open at Troon.
Princess Anne was born in 1950 but a lot of celebrities passed away, notable ones being George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, Edgar Rice Burroughs and the American singer, Al Jolson.
Next week in Part 16 - The Festival of Britain.
Other films were 'The Wooden Horse', 'Cinderella, 'All About Eve', and 'The Happiest Days of Your Life'.
People whistled tunes like 'Chatanooga Sunshine Boy', 'If I Were a Blackbird', 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer', and 'If I knew You Were Coming I'd have baked a Cake'.
In a most ignominious defeat our England footballers lost 1-0 to the USA and were dumped out of the very first World Cup Soccer Competition. Arsenal were winners of the FA Cup.
Cricketers from the West Indies, batsmen Worrall, Weekes and Walcott, and the crafty spinners, Ramadhin and Valentine, reaped havoc with the English Test team. South African golfer, Bobby Locke, won the British Open at Troon.
Princess Anne was born in 1950 but a lot of celebrities passed away, notable ones being George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, Edgar Rice Burroughs and the American singer, Al Jolson.
Next week in Part 16 - The Festival of Britain.
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Weather for Epworth
Friday 18 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
