Year	What Was Happening ?
« 1933	At St John's	In & Around Stratford	In The Church	In The World
1934	Percy Sowerby becomes vicar of St John's.			Italy invades Ethiopia.
1935		Oswald Mosley gives a speech at a meeting in Stratford Town Hall, protests outside almost turn into a riot.		Celebration of Silver Jubilee of King George V
1936		Herbert Henry Griswell becomes vicar of Christchurch.		King George dies. Edward VIII accedes to the throne. Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister for a third time The Jarrow Marches King Edward VIII abdicates. George VI becomes King
1937				Royal Commission recommends Arab and Jewish states. Naval agreement signed between Britain, Germany and U.S.S.R. Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister German bombers under Franco attack civilians in Guernica in The Spanish Civil War. Mussolini visits Libya and Berlin. Franklin D. Roosevelt signs U.S. Neutrality Act. Japanese take Peking, Tienstsin, Shanghai, Nanking and Hangchow. Lord Halifax visits Hitler marking the beginning of a policy of appeasement. Italy withdraws from the League of Nations; passes anti-Jewish legislation. Mao Tse-tung and Chaing Kai-shek unite to form a Chinese government. Amelia Earhart is lost somewhere in the Pacific. San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge opens. The Duke of Windsor marries Mrs. Wallis Simpson.
1938		Thomas Henry Hollingdale becomes vicar of Christchurch.		Japanese install puppet government in China. Hitler becomes self-appointed War Minister of Germany. Foreign secretary Eden resigns in protest of Chamberlains policy of appeasement. Roosevelt appeals to Hitler and Mussolini to find peaceful solution to European problems. He recalls American ambassador to Germany. Germany reciprocates. The 40-hour work week established in America. S. S. 'Queen Elizabeth' is launched. Gas masks are issued to British civilians.
1939				World War II begins. Germany invades Poland. Their blitzkrieg method of 'lightening war' proves effective. Imperial Airways and British Airways merge to form BOAC (British Oversees Airways Corporation). Britain and France declare war on Germany. The Russians invade Finland. Nylon yarn is produced commercially in Delaware by the DuPont Company. A bomb explodes in the Buergerbraukeller in Munich, shortly after Hitler has left the building where he was giving a speech. In New York, Billie Holliday records 'The Man I Love.'
1940	St Johns' crypt used as air-raid shelters.			Germany blitzkriegs Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Britain begins rationing with butter, sugar and bacon. RAF begins night bombings of Germany. Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico, hit in the head with an axe. Franklin D. Roosevelt is re-elected for a 3rd term as U. S. president. Chamberlain resigns and Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister Italy declares war on Britain and France, invades British Somaliland and attacks Greece. France surrenders to Germany and Hungary and Romania join the Axis Empire. British ships rescue more than 330,000 allied troops trapped on the beaches of Dunkerque. The London Blitz begins. Nearly nightly bombings last through from September to early May 1941. The Battle of Britain. The war in the air lasts only four months and costs the Royal Air Force 915 aircraft, but they downed 1,733 of the Luftwaffe. Earnest Hemingway's novel, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is published in New York.
1941	Harold Furneaux, Curate at St John's, marries Eileen Parker	St Thomas, Rokeby Street closed due to bombing		Britain invades Ethiopia. Bulgaria joins the Axis. Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia. Japan and Russia sign a pact. Axis troops invade Russia. British and French troops invade Syria. U.S. troops land in Iceland. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Churchill announce the Atlantic Charter, a show of allied solidarity. The British and Russians invade Iran. Japanese attack Pearl Harbour sinking 18 ships, killing or wounding 3,700. The United States declares war on Japan. Guam and Wake Island are captured by Japan. The British surrender in Hong Kong. The U.S. declares war on Germany and Italy and they reciprocate.
1942 »	Allan Weir becomes vicar of St John's