British news:
The principal story in the British news today was the death of King
George VI. The King, who had had cancer but was thought to be making a steady recovery, died in his sleep at
Sandringham in the early hours of the morning. The official announcement from
Buckingham Palace read:
It was announced from Sandringham at 10.45 a.m. to-day, February 6, 1952, that the King, who retired to rest last night in his usual health, passed peacefully away in his sleep early this morning."
It was the
Duke of Edinburgh,
Prince Phillip, who broke the news to Princess Elizabeth, who became
Queen Elizabeth II. The couple were on a royal visit to
Kenya, staying at a hotel called
Treetops, in
Aberdare Forest, near
Nairobi. The trip had been undertaken by them in place of the King, who was advised to stay at home and recover from his illness. They flew home as soon as possible, travelling from
Entebbe to
London by way of
El Adem in North Africa. Their departure was delayed by poor weather at Entebbe.
Aside from the need to swear the new
oath of allegiance,
Parliament was suspended. The
Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill, spoke of 'a spontaneous expression of our grief'.
In other news: The
Central Transport Consultative Committee published a damning report on the standard of
Britain's rail freight network.
Wartime price controls on
rope,
sewing machines,
sanitary towels,
wallpaper and sundry other goods under the various
Prices of Goods Acts were lifted.
Foot and Mouth disease was confirmed among cattle at
Harleston in
Norfolk.
Alfred Moore was executed at
Leeds Prison for the fatal shooting of Detective Inspector Duncan Fraser.
Archaeological excavations at the church of
St Bride,
Fleet Street,
London, revealed what was hoped would be the remains of the medieval church destroyed in the
Great Fire of London of
1666.
The
Conservative Party held the constituency of
Southport in a
by-election called following the elevation to the
peerage of the sitting
MP.
Overseas news:
The
Australian parliament heard the second reading of the Bill to ratify the
peace treaty with
Japan. Fears were expressed that the nation could not currently feel fully secure from future Japanese agression, and that Japan might yet become part of the growing
Communist block in
Asia. However, Mr Casey, the Minister for External Affairs, who moved the second reading, also conceded that Australia would not be pressing for fully appropriate compensation from Japan for the wartime regime's actions in the
Pacific region, due to the present poor state of Japan's economy and the clear need for rebuilding.
The first meeting for two months took place in
New York of the armistice delegations trying to end the
Korean War. General
Nam Il of
North Korea proposed a full-scale summit to resolve a variety of unspecified issues associated with what he termed 'the
Korean question'.
In
Paris, the
USSR vetoed the admission of
Italy to the
United Nations for the fifth time, in protest at perceived discrimination against states proposed by the USSR.
The
South Australian branch of the
Australian Labour Party announced a radical scheme to break
Communist control of
trade unions in the state.
Suspicion was growing in
France that
Konrad Adenauer was committed to the rearmament of
Germany, despite claims made by the
German representative
Professor Hallstein to the contrary. Leaked comments by Dr Adenauer from a recent
Christian Democrats conference in
Bonn suggested that the
Chancellor was preparing to manipulate discussions about European defence agreements and
NATO for maximum advantage.
The
Suffolk Regiment was reported to have killed ten Communist terrorists in
Malaya, particularly in and around
Selangor.
James J Moran, formerly deputy fire commissioner of
New York, was found guilty of 23 charges of
extortion of money from companies installing oil-burning furnaces. The proceeds of the former official's crimes were thought to amount to some $500 000.
In
Bonn, the
Bundestag voted over 90% in favour of free and democratic elections throughout Germany.
Source: The Times, February 7, 1952, replica edition printed February 7, 2002 to mark the 50th anniverary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Noded today (March 30, 2002) to mark the death at the age of 101 of the King's widow, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.