:1943 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1943 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

{{For|United Kingdom incumbents|1943 in the United Kingdom#Incumbents}}

Archbishop of Wales – Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor{{cite book|author1=C. J. Litzenberger|author2=Eileen Groth Lyon|title=The Human Tradition in Modern Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8YbICxXWDQC&pg=PA92|year=2006|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-3735-4|pages=92}}
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Crwys{{cite web|url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-WILL-WIL-1875|title=Williams, William|website=Welsh Biography Online|publisher=National Library of Wales|access-date=5 October 2021}}

Events

19 January - Three-year-old twins Neil and Jacqueline Coleby die of exposure on the slopes of Caerneddau; despite an extensive search their bodies are not found until 24 January.{{cite web|title=Missing Coleby twins remembered 75 years after deaths|first=George|last=Herd|work=BBC News|date=2018-05-25|accessdate=2018-05-27|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-44253555}}
29 January - In the by-election for the University of Wales parliamentary seat vacated by Ernest Evans, there are three notable candidates. W. J. Gruffydd, a former vice-president of Plaid Cymru who has subsequently joined the Liberal Party, triumphs over Plaid's Saunders Lewis. One of the other candidates is Alun Talfan Davies.
March - Rocky Marciano is among US servicemen posted to South Wales.{{cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/boxer-proves-welsh-archives-biggest-2173814|title=Boxer proves Welsh archive's biggest hit|date=1 May 2008|author=Robin Turner|website=WalesOnline|access-date=16 July 2019}}
August - Tenovus Cancer Care is founded in Cardiff as Tenovus, initially funding a wide range of projects in the local area; it becomes the leading cancer charity in Wales.{{cite web|url=http://www.tenovuscancercare.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/|title=About us|publisher=Tenovus|location=Cardiff|accessdate=2017-12-08}}
23 October - David Lloyd George marries his long-term mistress and secretary, Frances Stevenson, at Guildford register office.{{cite book|author1=Dermot J. T. Englefield|author2=Janet Seaton|author3=Isobel White|title=Facts about the British prime ministers: a compilation of biographical and historical information|url=https://archive.org/details/factsaboutbritis0000engl|url-access=registration|year=1995|publisher=H.W. Wilson Co.|isbn=978-0-8242-0863-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/factsaboutbritis0000engl/page/238 238]}}
Sir Percy Thomas is elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects for the second time - the second person ever to achieve this.{{cite book|author=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London, England)|title=The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7l4dAAAAMAAJ|year=1946|publisher=The Society|page=4}}

Arts and literature

August - Soprano Ceinwen Rowlands gives the first performance of a Welsh translation of Felix Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Bangor.
The Welsh National Opera company is founded in Cardiff as an amateur company.{{cite book|author1=Michael Kennedy|author2=Joyce Bourne|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|ISBN=9780198608844|page=789}}
Dame Laura Knight paints Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Newport.{{cite web|url=http://www.wartimenewport.virtuallyhere.co.uk/pages.php?page_id=54|title=A Gun Girl – Ruby Loftus – Dame Laura Knight's Newport commission|work=Wartime Newport: The Home Front|access-date=2015-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318192932/http://www.wartimenewport.virtuallyhere.co.uk/pages.php?page_id=54|archive-date=2016-03-18|url-status=dead}}

=Awards=

National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Caernarfon)
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - David Emrys James
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Dafydd Owen
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld

=New books=

==English language==

Idris Davies - The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926
Margiad Evans - Autobiography
William Evans (Wil Ifan) - A Quire of Rhymes{{cite book | last = Stephens | first = Meic | title = The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford Oxfordshire New York | year = 1986 | isbn = 9780192115867 | page=195}}
R. T. Jenkins - Orinda
Eiluned Lewis - The Captain's Wife

==Welsh language==

Rhys Davies - Pobl a Phethau
Sir Emrys Evans - Ewthaffron: Criton (translation from Plato)
Alwyn D. Rees - Adfeilion{{cite book|author1= John Cowper Powys|author2=Iorwerth Cyfeiliog Peate|title=Letters 1937-54|publisher=University of Wales Press|year=1974|page=57}}

=Music=

Harry Parr-Davies - The Lisbon Story (musical, opened in the West End 17 June 1943){{cite book|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions|publisher=Library of Congress, Copyright Office|year=1943|page=1513}}
Arwel Hughes - Anatiomaros{{cite web|url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=596035|title=Arwel Hughes - Anatiomaros|website=ArkivMusic|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=12 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112072321/http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=596035|url-status=dead}}
W. S. Gwynn Williams - Tosturi Duw (God's Mercy)

=Film=

Ray Milland stars in Forever and a Day and The Crystal Ball.
Drama documentary The Silent Village, filmed in 1942 at Cwmgiedd near Ystradgynlais by Humphrey Jennings, is released.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/998098/index.html |title=The Silent Village (1943)|author= Berry, Dave |publisher=BFI Screen Online| accessdate=6 August 2010}}

Broadcasting

4 September – Wynford Vaughan-Thomas reports from a bomber over Berlin for BBC Radio.{{cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C276375|title="Raid on Berlin": Actuality recording of a Royal Air Force (RAF) bombing raid over Berlin, Germany on 4 September 1943.|website=Australian War Memorial|access-date=23 January 2019}}

Births

File:Dafydd_Wigley.jpg

File:Joan_Ruddock.jpg

13 January – Lorna Sage, academic, literary critic and writer (died 2001){{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jan/13/guardianobituaries.books|title=Lorna Sage|date=13 January 2001|author=Jon Cook|website=The Guardian|access-date=23 January 2019}}
1 February – Rosemarie Frankland, beauty queen (died 2000){{cite book|author=Harris M. Lentz|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2000|page=83}}
9 February – Ryland Davies, operatic tenor (died 2023)
11 February – Win Griffiths MP, politician{{Cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2055710.stm |title = Win Griffiths|date = 21 October 2002}}
28 February – John Davies, bishop of St Asaph
3 March (in London) – Aeronwy Thomas, literary figure (died 2009){{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/aug/09/aeronwy-thomas-ellis-obituary|title=Aeronwy Thomas Ellis|date=9 August 2009|author=Andrew Lycett|website=The Guardian|access-date=4 May 2022}}
1 April (in Derby) – Dafydd Wigley MP, politician
9 April – Clive Sullivan, rugby league footballer (died 1985)
16 April (in Norwich) – Ruth Madoc (née Llewellyn), actress and singer (died 2022){{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/12/10/ruth-madoc-actress-who-found-fame-lovelorn-yellowcoat-gladys/|title=Ruth Madoc, actress who found fame as the lovelorn Yellowcoat Gladys in the hit sitcom Hi-de-Hi! – obituary|date=10 December 2022|website=The Telegraph|access-date=10 December 2022}}
17 April – Elinor Bennett, harpist{{cite book |editor1-last=Elster |editor1-first=Robert J. |title=International Who's Who in Classical Music 2008 |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-85743-455-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/internwhowhoclass00lond/page/67 67]-68 |edition=24th |url=https://archive.org/details/internwhowhoclass00lond|url-access=registration }}
26 April – Leon Pownall, actor and director (died 2006)
27 April
David Hughes, footballer
Gwyn Prosser MP, politician
6 June – Sir Terry Matthews, entrepreneur{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/oct/28/4|title=Terry Matthews: A well-connected Celt|date=28 October 2000|author=David Gow|website=The Guardian|access-date=23 January 2019}}
5 July – Roy Evans, footballer (died 1969)
7 July – Robert East, actor
19 July – Beth Morris, actress (died 2018)
2 August – Alun Michael MP, politician
17 August – John Humphrys, radio and TV journalist
24 August – Dafydd Iwan, musician and politician{{cite book|title=Who's who in European Politics|publisher=Bowker-Saur|year=1990|page=313}}
10 September – Shân Legge-Bourke, born Elizabeth Shân Bailey, landowner
27 September – Max Boyce, entertainer
18 October (in London) – Dai Jones, Welsh-language broadcaster (died 2022)
15 November – Derec Llwyd Morgan, academic
16 November – Val Lloyd AM, politician{{Cite book | doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U44405 | chapter=Lloyd, Valerie, (Born 16 Nov. 1943), Member (Lab) Swansea East, National Assembly for Wales, Sept. 2001–2011 | title=Who's Who | year=2007 }}
22 December – Gareth Morgan, organizational theorist
28 December – Joan Ruddock MP, politician and campaigner{{cite book|title=Dod's Parliamentary Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b30NAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited|isbn=978-0-905702-66-7|page=290}}
30 December – Geraint Talfan Davies, journalist and executive
date unknown
John Beard, painter{{cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-beard-2705|title=John Beard born 1943|website=Tate|access-date=2 March 2024}}
Christine Evans, poet{{cite book | last = Lloyd | first = David | title = The urgency of identity : contemporary English-language poetry from Wales | publisher = TriQuarterly Books | location = Evanston, Ill | year = 1994 | isbn = 9780810150324 | page=239}}
Gareth Griffiths, academic

Deaths

9 January – William Llewellyn Thomas, Wales international rugby player, 70
12 January – Selwyn Biggs, Wales international rugby player and Glamorgan cricketer, 70
24 January – Glyndwr Michael, homeless man whose body was used in Operation Mincemeat, 34 (pneumonia){{cite web |url= http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/4041661 |title=CWGC Casualty Details |work=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |year=2011 |accessdate=23 February 2011}}
31 January – Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, physician, 85{{cite book|title=The Eugenics Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biLVAAAAMAAJ|year=1941|publisher=Eugenics Education Society|page=129}}
7 February (in London) – Clara Novello Davies, singer, 71{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia Americana: The International Reference Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qe4aAQAAMAAJ|year=1962|publisher=Americana Corporation of Canada|page=546}}
6 March (in Trevelin) – John Daniel Evans, pioneer in Patagonia, 81{{cite web |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-EVAN-DAN-1862|title=Evans, John Daniel (1862-1943), a pioneer in Patagonia|author=Richard Bryn Williams|website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography|publisher=National Library of Wales|access-date=15 March 2019}}
23 March – Commander John Wallace Linton, VC, 37 (killed in action){{cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2370600/john-wallace-linton/|title=Commander John Wallace Linton|website=CWGC|access-date=10 December 2022}}
28 March – Ben Davies, operatic tenor, 85{{cite web |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-DAVI-BEN-1858|title=Davies, Benjamin ('Ben'; 1858-1943), singer|author=Robert David Griffith|website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography|publisher=National Library of Wales|access-date=15 March 2019}}
12 April – Arthur Lloyd James, phonetician, 58 (suicide){{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Professor A. Lloyd James: An Authority on Phonetics |department=Obituaries |date=2 April 1943 |page=7|issue=49510 |column=E}}
17 April – Alice Gray Jones (Ceridwen Peris), author, 90{{cite web |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-JONE-GRA-1852|title= Ceridwen Peris|last1= Davies|first1= Margaret Beatrice|website= Dictionary of Welsh Biography|publisher= National Library of Wales|access-date=15 March 2019}}
8 September – Dai Lewis, Wales international rugby player, 76
15 September – David Samuel, Wales international rugby player
24 September – Billy Douglas, Wales international rugby player, 80
15 October – Sir Thomas Artemus Jones, judge and Welsh language campaigner, 72{{cite web |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-JONE-ART-1871|title=Jones, Sir Thomas Artemus (1871-1943), journalist, judge and historian|author=Frank Price Jones|website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography|publisher=National Library of Wales|access-date=15 March 2019}}
29 October – Frank Hancock, Wales international rugby union international, 84
17 November – Bertrand Turnbull, Olympic hockey player, 56{{cite web| url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/tu/bertrand-turnbull-1.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042039/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/tu/bertrand-turnbull-1.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=2020-04-18| title=Olympics at Sports-Reference.com > Athletes > Bertrand Turnbull}}
10 December – Ivor Morgan, Wales international rugby union player, 59
27 December – Arthur O'Bree, Glamorgan cricketer, 57 (killed in action){{cite web|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/992005/arthur-o-bree/|title=Flying Officer Arthur O'Bree|website=CWGC|access-date=2 March 2024}}