Events from the year 1942 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Incumbents

* Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Tom Johnston

Law officers

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

– James Reid *

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

– Sir David King Murray

Judiciary

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

and

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

–

Lord Normand Wilfrid Guild Normand, Baron Normand, (1884 – 5 October 1962), was a Scottish Unionist Party politician and judge. He was a Scottish law officer at various stages between 1929 and 1935, and a member of parliament (MP) from 1931 to 1935. He ...

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

– Lord Cooper * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson

Events

* 19 January – a Catalina flying boat crashes on the hill above Burravoe on Yell, Shetland, killing seven of her ten passengers. * April – Allied

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

s training with live ammunition accidentally cause a major pine forest fire at

Loch Arkaig Loch Arkaig ( Scottish Gaelic: Loch Airceig) is a body of freshwater in Lochaber, Scotland, to the west of the Great Glen. It is approximately in length and lies above sea level, the maximum depth is around The main tributaries are the Des ...

. * 28 April – Strathpeffer spa hospital (a hotel until 1940) is destroyed by fire. * 15 May – arrives at Greenock with nearly 10,000 U.S. troops aboard. * July – military scientists begin testing of anthrax as a

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. ...

agent on

Gruinard Island Gruinard Island ( ; gd, Eilean Ghruinneard) is a small, oval-shaped Scottish island approximately long by wide, located in Gruinard Bay, about halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. At its closest point to the mainland, it is about offshore. ...

. * 25 August –

Dunbeath air crash The Dunbeath air crash involved the loss of a Short S.25 Sunderland Mk. III that crashed in the Scottish Highlands on a headland known as Eagle's Rock ( gd, Creag na h-Iolaire) near Dunbeath, Caithness, on 25 August 1942. The crash killed 1 ...

Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent, (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and Geo ...

, brother of

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, is among 14 killed in a military air crash near Caithness. * South Ford Bridge completed, connecting

Benbecula Benbecula (; gd, Beinn nam Fadhla or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a ...

South Uist South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth Uist) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the ...

. *

Monach Islands The Monach Islands, also known as Heisker ( gd, Eilean Heisgeir / , ), are an island group west of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The islands are not to be confused with Hyskeir in the Inner Hebrides, or Haskeir which is also o ...

deserted. Lighthouse on

Shillay Shillay ( gd, Siolaigh) is an uninhabited island which lies 2 km north of Pabbay in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The name is derived from the Norse ''selr-øy'' meaning seal island and is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve owing to it ...

unlit.

Births

* 5 January –

Henry John Burnett Henry John Burnett (5 January 1942 – 15 August 1963) was the last man to be hanged in Scotland, and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. He was tried at the high court in Aberdeen from 23 to 25 July 1963 for the murder of merchant seaman Thomas G ...

, murderer, last man

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

in Scotland (died

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

) * 24 January – Sheila Mullen, painter *

2 February Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: Kin ...

– Roger Hynd, footballer (died

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

) * 21 February –

Magnus Linklater Magnus Duncan Linklater, CBE (born 21 February 1942) is a Scottish journalist, writer, and former newspaper editor. Early life and education Linklater was born in Orkney, and is the son of Scottish writer Eric Linklater and arts campaigner Marjo ...

, journalist * 22 February – John Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard, diplomat * 24 February – Stuart Henry,

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

(died 1995 in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

) * 27 February – Aimi MacDonald, actress and dancer *

12 April Events Pre-1600 * 240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I. * 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted ...

–

Bill Bryden William Campbell Rough Bryden (12 April 1942 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish stage and film director and screenwriter. Early life and career He worked as a trainee with Scottish Television before becoming assistant director at the Belgrad ...

, theatre director * 28 April –

Geoffrey Hosking Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the m ...

, historian * 8 May –

Norman Lamont Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in ...

, Conservative politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer * 14 May – Prentis Hancock, actor * 24 May –

Fraser Stoddart Sir James Fraser Stoddart (born 24 May 1942) is a British-American chemist who is Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry and head of the Stoddart Mechanostereochemistry Group in the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University in ...

, Scottish-born scientist, recipient of the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

* 7 June –

Aonghas MacNeacail Aonghas MacNeacail (born 7 June 1942), nickname ''Aonghas dubh'' or ''Black Angus'', is a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language. Early life MacNeacail was born in Uig on the Isle of Skye on 7 June 1942. He was raised in Idrigil, ...

, Gaelic poet (died

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

) *

18 June Events Pre-1600 * 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China. * 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. * 860 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of abou ...

– John Bellany, painter (died

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

) * 12 July –

Tam White Tam White (12 July 1942 – 21 June 2010) was a Scottish musician, stonemason and actor. Biography Born Thomas Bennett Sim White in Edinburgh, Scotland, White was primarily known as a blues vocalist with a trademark gravelly voice. In the 19 ...

, actor and musician (died 2010) * 8 August –

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an I ...

, politician * 12 August – Iain Blair, actor and author (using the pen name Emma Blair) (died 2011 England) *

23 October Events Pre-1600 *4004 BC – James Ussher's proposed creation date of the world according to the Bible. *42 BC – Liberators' civil war: Mark Antony and Octavian decisively defeat an army under Brutus in the second part of the Battle ...

–

Douglas Dunn Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University. Background Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...

, poet and academic * 16 November –

Willie Carson William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE (born 16 November 1942) is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. Life and career Best known as "Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. He was apprenticed ...

, jockey * 24 November –

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

, comedian *

9 December Events Pre-1600 * 536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital. * 730 – Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al ...

– Billy Bremner, international footballer (died

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

) *

10 December Events Pre-1600 *1317 – The "Nyköping Banquet": King Birger of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers Valdemar, Duke of Finland and Eric, Duke of Södermanland, who were subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköpin ...

–

Ann Gloag Dame Ann Heron Gloag DBE (née Souter; born 10 December 1942) is a Scottish billionaire businesswoman, activist, and charity campaigner. She is co-founder of the international transport company Stagecoach Group. According to The ''Sunday Times ...

, born Ann Souter, entrepreneur * 12 December – Morag Hood, actress (died 2002 London) * 13 December – Hamish Wilson, actor * 22 December -

Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw Irvine Alan Stewart Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw (born 22 December 1942 in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland) is a Scottish businessman, and a former member of the House of Lords. In the '' Sunday Times Rich List 2012'' ranking of the wealthiest people in ...

, businessman *

27 December Events Pre-1600 * 537 – The second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is consecrated. *1512 – The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regard to native Indians in the New World. *1521 &ndash ...

–

Mike Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended th ...

, psychedelic rock musician (The Incredible String Band) * Albert Watson, photographer

Deaths

* 2 March - Charles Usher, ophthalmologist from whom

Usher Syndrome Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes result ...

is named (born 1865) *

3 March Events Pre-1600 * 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. *1575 & ...

George Adam Smith :''Note in particular that this George Smith is to be distinguished from George Smith (Assyriologist) (1840–1876) who researched in some overlapping areas.'' Sir George Adam Smith (19 October 1856 – 3 March 1942) was a Scottish the ...

, theologian (born 1856 in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

) *

10 August Events Pre-1600 * 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I. * 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West. * 991 – Battle of Maldon: Th ...

–

Bob Kelso Robert "Bob" Kelso, M.D., is a fictional character played by Ken Jenkins in the American comedy-drama '' Scrubs''. Bob Kelso is the chief of medicine for Sacred Heart Hospital for the first seven seasons of ''Scrubs'' (a position held since 1984 ...

, footballer (born 1865) * 4 December – Hugh Malcolm, Royal Air Force officer, posthumous recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

(born

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

; killed in action over

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

) * Andrew Allan,

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

artist (born

1863 Events January–March * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaim ...

)

The arts

Ena Lamont Stewart Ena Lamont Stewart (10 February 1912, Glasgow – 9 February 2006, Dalmellington) was a Scottish playwright. Life and career Stewart was the daughter of a Church of Scotland minister whose family was originally from Canada and had settled in Gl ...

's first play, the one-act ''Distinguished Company'', is presented by the MSU Repertory Theatre in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

References

{{Years in Scotland Years of the 20th century in Scotland

1940s in Scotland