Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears give a series of recitals in the USA at the start of a lifelong partnership

British racing driver Malcolm Campbell sets a new water speed record of 141 mph

British author Christopher Isherwood publishes his novel Goodbye to Berlin, based on his own experiences in the city

British pianist Myra Hess begins a wartime series of lunchtime concerts in London's National Gallery

The recent fate of Czechoslovakia prompts France and Britain to guarantee the security of Poland

Helped by the results of Polish cryptographers, Bletchley Park begins to gain invaluable access to German military secrets

Britain and France, receiving no answer from Hitler to their ultimatum over his attack on Poland, declare war on Germany

A British Expeditionary Force (BEF) of about 150,000 infantry crosses the Channel to help defend France's border with Belgium

Alan Turing joins the code-breaking team working on Enigma at Bletchley Park

A German U-boat sinks the British aircraft carrier Courageous off the coast of Ireland

A German U-boat sinks the British battleship Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow

T.S. Eliot gives cats a poetic character in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

All Saints, along with Petersham Vicarage, the village hall and (later) Elm Lodge, is requisitioned by Anti-Aircraft Command and plays a key role in operational research on Radar throughout the Second World War

Elm Lodge, requisitioned by Anti Aircraft Command, along with All Saints, Petersham vicarage and the village institute, plays a key role in wartime operational research on Radar

Grey Court House (now called Newman House) is used first as a nursery school and then as a unit within Greycourt Secondary School

English potter Bernard Leach publishes an influential manual, A Potter's Book

Richard Addinsell writes the Warsaw Concerto as music for the film Dangerous Moonlight

British biologists Ernst Chain and Howard Florey develop penicillin as a safe and useful antibacterial drug

Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel

British actors Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier marry

The Limes is damaged by enemy bombing. Its exterior is subsequently restored to its original appearance, with its interior rebuilt for commercial use

Radar masts along the coasts of Britain give early warning of German air attacks

Civilian heroism is rewarded in Britain with a new medal, the George Cross

Working as an official war artist, Henry Moore creates an iconic series of drawings of Londoners sleeping at night in underground stations

Lord Craigavon (previously James Craig) dies in office after nineteen years as northern Ireland's prime minister