Events from the year 1945 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the end of World War II and a landslide general election victory for the Labour Party. Incumbents Monarch – George VI Prime Minister - Winston Churchill (Coalition) (until 26 July), Clement Attlee (Labour) (starting 26 July) Parliament 37th (until 15 June) 38th (starting 1 August) Events 2 January – General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference at Zonhoven describing his contribution to the Battle of the Bulge. 23 January – announcement of the establishment of the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC; predecessor of 3i) by the Bank of England and the major commercial banks to provide long-term investment funding for small and medium-sized enterprises. 4 February – Prime Minister Winston Churchill attends the Yalta Conference (ends 11 February). 13 February – the RAF Bomber Command begins the strategic bombing of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, resulting in a lethal firestorm which kills tens of thousands of civilians. 10 March – sixty-seven German prisoners of war tunnel their way out of Island Farm Camp 198 at Bridgend, the biggest escape attempt by German POWs in the UK during the War. 14 March – the RAF uses the Grand Slam bomb for the first time on the Bielefeld railway viaduct. 17 March – 13 people are killed and 22 injured when a lone Heinkel 111 bomber opens fire and drops bombs on people leaving a cinema in Kingston upon Hull. 27 March – last day of V-2 rocket attacks aimed at the UK. One hits Hughes Mansions, Stepney in East London, killing 134 and the last falls in Orpington with one fatality. 29 March – the last V-1 flying bomb attack on the UK takes place. The last enemy action of any kind on British soil occurs when one strikes Datchworth in Hertfordshire without any fatalities or injuries. 13 April – the first Scottish National Party Member of Parliament, Robert McIntyre, is elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom after his victory at the Motherwell by-election. 15 April – British troops liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; Richard Dimbleby reports on it for the BBC. 19 April – Geoffrey Fisher enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury. April – Sybil Campbell is appointed a stipendiary magistrate in London, the first woman to become a professional judge in the UK. 7 May – at 23:00 the is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine