1940

1940 in

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the DWU • vital statistics

1940 was a year.

Events

Dated

In May, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, near the Dover cliffs in the UK, worked to prevent a Nemonite invasion from derailing a British counterattack called Operation Dynamo. (AUDIO: The Nemonite Invasion ^[+]Loading...["The Nemonite Invasion (audio story)"])

The Battle of Dunkirk took place between 26 May and 4 June. British Army soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart ^[+]Loading...["Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart (TV story)"]) This event was noted by the Matrix as a significant part of the Web of Time. (AUDIO: Neverland ^[+]Loading...["Neverland (audio story)"]) The Seventh Doctor convinced Adolf Hitler to allow the evacuation to proceed. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus ^[+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"]) The First Doctor was present at the evacuation itself, (PROSE: Just War ^[+]Loading...["Just War (novel)"], PROSE: Byzantium! ^[+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"]) as were the Eighth Doctor and Molly O'Sullivan on 29 May. (AUDIO: Fugitives ^[+]Loading...["Fugitives (audio story)"])

In August, (PROSE: Sometime Never... ^[+]Loading...["Sometime Never... (novel)"]) the communist leader Leon Trotsky died from an ice pick to the head. (AUDIO: Last of the Romanovs ^[+]Loading...["Last of the Romanovs (audio story)"])

On 12 October, at 8:47 p.m., the New Regency Theatre, which had been owned and operated by the late Henry Gordon Jago during the 1890s, was destroyed in the Blitz, as was the hotel next to it. The hotel was evacuated 47 minutes earlier, meaning that no one was killed. (AUDIO: Swan Song ^[+]Loading...["Swan Song (audio story)"])

On 17 October, the Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams visited London during the Blitz, where they saved Ian Fleming from a bomb and became the inspiration for James Bond. (COMIC: The Doctor and the Nurse ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor and the Nurse (comic story)"])

In December, the Seventh Doctor visited Guernsey. (PROSE: Just War ^[+]Loading...["Just War (novel)"]) A Berserker pendant was lost in an air raid on Park Vale Barracks, on the future site of Park Vale Comprehensive School. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker ^[+]Loading...["The Mark of the Berserker (TV story)"])

On 24 December, the Fourth Doctor and Leela encountered the Home Guard volunteer Richard Charlesworth in Charnage House in England. (PROSE: It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow ^[+]Loading...["It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow (short story)"])

Undated

In the United States of America, the Pied Piper's eight year series of child abductions came to an end. (TV: The Day of the Clown ^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Clown (TV story)"])

Sir Oswald Mosley was imprisoned for advocating that the United Kingdom should ally itself with Nazi Germany in World War II. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus ^[+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"])

Constance Clarke began working at Bletchley Park. (AUDIO: Criss-Cross ^[+]Loading...["Criss-Cross (audio story)"])

The amnesiac Eighth Doctor tried to join the RAF, but was turned down when he couldn't prove he was a British subject. (PROSE: The Turing Test ^[+]Loading...["The Turing Test (novel)"])

A British Army barracks was destroyed in Ealing. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker ^[+]Loading...["The Mark of the Berserker (TV story)"])

The Special Operations Executive was founded. (PROSE: The Very Real Mystery of Wester Drumlins ^[+]Loading...["The Very Real Mystery of Wester Drumlins (short story)"])

Alternate timeline

In an alternate timeline in which Nazi Germany won World War II, King Edward VIII was restored to the British throne with Wallis Simpson as his Queen. He signed a treaty which established Great Britain as a protectorate of the Greater German Reich. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was executed as a war criminal. He was succeeded by the prominent Nazi sympathiser Sir Oswald Mosley. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus ^[+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"])

Births and deaths

Christina Pushkin was born. (AUDIO: 1963: The Space Race ^[+]Loading...["1963: The Space Race (audio story)"])

Other

New York City's total population was 7,454,995, 2,138,657 of whom were foreign-born. (TV: The Gathering ^[+]Loading...["The Gathering (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

One possible "game over" for the video game Don't Blink has the player being sent back in time by a Weeping Angel to the year 1940 to die in the Blitz.