UK DURING WW2

UK DURING WW2

Claire Deveze, Lycée Jean Moulin, Pézenas.

•

1/Britain, the pivotal country of European resistance

a) The Phoney war (September 39-May 40) and Dunkirk battle.

• Chamberlain the Prime minister from 37 to 40 startedon the wrong foot. There was a lack of preparation anda common desire to pretext the war was nothappening. (« Munich spirit ). September 3rd 39, thedeclaration of war was a surprise. Fearing a Germaninvasion; the British government printed a poster toreassure the population. One of them (“Keep Calm andcarry on” was never displayed although 2.5 millionwere printed. It has been found in an attic in 2001 andhas now become a trade-mark (in 2005).


Fearing a German invasion, the British government printed posters to reassure the population.

One of them was never displayed although 2.5 million were printed

It has been found in an attic in 2001 and has now become a trade-mark ( in 2005)

A petition was launched in 2011 to protest against this !


• Churchill became Prime Minister of a coalition

government on May 10th, 1940 while at the

same time France was invaded by Germany.

See film Darkest hours, Joe Wright, 2017.

Churchill’s early days as Prime Minister


• The Battle of Dunkirk was fought between the

Allies and Nazi Germany, as part of the Battle

of France on the Western Front. Memory: Not

a debacle but a strategically withdrawal to

keep fighting.

• History: It was the defense and evacuation to

Britain of British and other Allied forces from

Dunkirk’s shores (26 May to 4 June 1940). See

film Dunkirk, Chris Nolan, 2017


•b) Churchill: the great leader of a warring nation

• When France surrendered in June 1940, Britain

remained one of the only fighting nations lefts in

Europe. Britain’s fighting spirit attracted many

governments in exile: The Polish, Belgian, Norwegian,

Dutch, Greek, Yugoslav governments settled in London,

as well as many individuals who were determined to go

on fighting. At the end of June 1940, De Gaulle was

acknowledged by Churchill as the “leader of the free

French people” and he organized the French Resistance

from London with British support.





The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is

about to begin…let us therefore be prepared to do our duty so

that…men will say, ‘This was our finest hour’.

8th June, 1940

We shall fight them on thebeaches, we shall fight them onthe landing grounds, we shallfight them in the field and in thestreet, we shall fight them in thehills. We shall never surrender.(3rd June 1940)


c)In July 40 the German Air Force aimed to destroy the RAF and the British Aircraft industry to take control

over the Channel and Southern England.

• In a famous speech, Winston Churchill thanked

the 2500 young British officer pilots flying

Spitfires who won the fight. “Never in the field of

human conflict was so much owed by so many to

so few”. The media then took expression, "the

Few", to qualify the pilots.

• Memory: The army and particularly the RAF pilots

were seen as heroes. They witnessed also British

stoicism, phlegm and professionalism.


Memory

The army and particularly the RAF pilots were seen as heroes

They witnessed also British stoicism, phlegm and professionalism

Never was so much owed by so many to so few was a wartime speech made by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

However the Germans had problems. They could only carry enough fuel to fly for 30 minutes at a time.

The RAF had an edge over the Germans with their new fighter planes: The SPITFIRE .

SPITFIREClaire Deveze, Lycée Jean Moulin, Pézenas.

• History : many pilots were far from young. Many were not

from the United Kingdom: the countries represented in

Fighter Command in 1940 included Australia, Belgium,

Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Ireland, Jamaica, New

Zealand, Poland, the Rhodesia, South Africa and the

United States. (...) The Hurricane flew in much greater

numbers in the Battle than the Spitfire and shot down far

more enemy aircraft. And finally, the RFA pilots were not

alone: the British historians Duncan Grinnell-Milne and

Stephen Roskill have proved the maritime dimension was

necessary to thwart the invasion. The involvement of the

Royal Navy and the population is now better underlined.


Collective memory is still stronger than history

• The Wing, an important new visitor centre

planned for the Memorial site has opened in

2015 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the

battle.

• It is designed to keep the memory of the

veterans.


Memorial at Capel le Ferne


which honors RAF Pilots


Memorial to the Few at Capel-le-Ferne


Near the beach, a large green area with a propeller

shape


On the famous white cliffs between Dover and

Folkestone in Kent

• The site at Capel-le-Ferne is dedicated to Churchill’s famous “Few” who fought in the skies overhead to keep this country free from invasion

• The Memorial Wall lists the names of all those who took part in the Battle of Britain, while a replica Spitfire and Hurricane stand nearby as a reminder of the iconic machines they flew to victory


Replica Spitfire and Hurricane stand nearby


Churchill created through his speeches the story

of a resistant England and RAF pilots alone

against all

• It is indeed the image of an England united in

the adversity that the collective memory has

retained. The resistance of the nation has

forged the idea of a people's war, of winning

heroes.


2) The Blitz (September 40-June 41)


a)The Blitz : definition

German bombing campaign against Britain which started with the bombing of London on September 40It was a 76-night-raid

It then extended to other British cities

The Blitz did not end until May 1941. By that time 1,400,000 people were made homeless in London alone.

Across the UK 43,000 people were killed.






Houses and buildings damaged and destroyed

People killed or injured

Thousands of people made homeless





Lots of buildings were reduced to rubble. During that tragic period, Churchill managed to arouse a strong patriotic feeling in the nation and to channel all energies towards a single aim: winning the victory. People went out about their daily life. Young children were given these red and blue gas masks. They were called "Mickey Mouse" masksIn the imperial war museum of London « the Blitz experience » proposes to visitors to seat in a replica of an East-end bomb shelter


Young children were given these red and blue gas masks. They were called "Mickey Mouse" masks




‘WAR’S GREATEST PICTURE: St. Paul’s Stands UNHARMED in the Midst of the Burning City.’



photograph from 1941 of bus which had fallen into the crater of a

bomb which blasted through the roof of an underground railway station.


The Blackout imposed on all civilians in all cities was absolute : light ( even the red glow of a cigarette) was banned.



• Strict rationing was imposed even if cafes and restaurants continued to operate.


b/ Evacuation:

• It was about displacing 3, 7 million people to places safefrom bombing. This was explained in popular newspapersuch as the « daily express » and the « daily mirror ».

• Memory: Children only were displaced: all left singing thepopular tune « Wish me luck when you say goodbye ». Allclasses came together during evacuation.

• History: 800 000 kids were displaced like explained by BenWicks in his book « No time to say goodbye » , 1988. Classantagonism rose: lots of kids were poor and uneducated.


The children went round the house urinating on the walls. Although we had two toilets they never used them. Although we told the children and their mother off about this filthy habit they took no notice and our house stank to high heaven.Source 1: from an interview in 1988 with the mother of a host family

Unfortunately many evacuees could not settle in the countryside. The country people were shocked at the obvious poverty and deprivation of the town children, not to mention their bad manners. There were reports of children 'fouling' gardens, hair crawling with lice, and bed wetting.Source 2: D Taylor, Mastering Economic & Social History (1988)

The order issued this week, by Mr Malcolm MacDonald, Minister of Health is that the state of health and physical condition of the children are to be looked after as it is essential that children from bombed areas should run as little risk as possible during the winter season, as far as their bodily health is concerned.Source 3: Article titled ‘Evacuees’ in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald dated 25th October 1940


Evacuees enjoy a bath in this official government photograph



c/ The home front

For the British people, WWII was a total war. It demanded the

mobilization of every resource, every citizen, every source of

energy. Trenches were dug out and hundreds of miles of barbed

wire were put up to prevent a possible landing.

Every man aged 18 to 50 was mobilized and from spring 1941,

every woman in Britain aged 18-60 had to be registered, and

their family occupations were recorded. Each was interviewed

and required to choose from a range of jobs. It was emphasized

that women would not be required to bear arms.


The Land ArmyThe Women's Land Army/Scottish Land Army was reformed in 1938 so that women could be trained in agricultural work, leaving male workers free to go to war.


• Many women, however, were eventually to work -and die - under fire.



The ministry of the information sponsored a film celebrating women in factories« Millions like us »

Or some artists like the impressionist painter Dame Laura Knight


However absenteeism in such groups was high since women were either mothers or housewives or both. There were lots of illegitimate births (linked with emancipation of women). The ministry of health even launched a series of posters warning against sexually transmitted diseases and advising sexual hygiene.


A Monument to the Women of World War II is a British national war memorial situated on Whitehall in London was unveiled in 2005


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall

The BBC was a crucial instrument of national information entertainment and unity

Ex: Radio program « The kitchen front » every weekday morning at 8.15 taught how to use rationed food best



Weekly ration for one personClaire Deveze, Lycée Jean Moulin, Pézenas.


The heroes of the Homefront during the Blitz

• The BBC's WW2 People's War project ran

from June 2003 to January 2006. The aim of

the project was to collect the memories of

people who had lived and fought during World

War Two on a website


• British memory has been shaped by a particular cultural-historical interpretation of the Second World War which givesprominence to the summer of 1940 as a transformative episodein British society. 1940 was the point whereby the nation,divided by the class conflict and political in-fighting of thedepression years, overcame its internal fractures and, united indefiance of German hegemony on the continent and dailybombing raids by the Luftwaffe, became “the people”. The battleof Britain is the symbol of British resistance, Britain fightingalone. By surviving the experience, Britain brought freedom tothe world, but there are two versions: Left/labor: The Blitzrepresent the triumph of the people gather in the face ofadversity. It allowed the birth of a Welfare state after the war.Right/ Conservative: The Blitz witnessed deep patriotism andChurchill’s efficient leadership.


History

• Some, like Peter Stansky, in his book "The first days of the Blitz" question the heroism of the population, He also thinks that the Blitz heroic dimension was purposely created during the war, and maintained afterward with an inch of manipulation.

• Historians Angus Calder and Juliet Gardiner (The Blitz. The British under attack, 2010) explained that people exploited the crisis for their own gain, selling places in the tube (as a shelter) to sleep at night. Strikes increased because working class people suffered the most: they lived near their work place: factories, docks which were the first targets.


Some like Peter Stansky, in his book "The first days of the Blitz" question the heroism of the population

"Looking back, in the course of revisionist history, the distressing aspects of the Blitz might be overemphasized.”


The British nation is stirred

and moved as it never has

been at any time in its long

and famous history, and

they mean to conquer or to

die. What a triumph the

life of these battered cities

is over the worst that fire

and bomb can do!

……..This, indeed, is a

grand, heroic period of our

history, and the light of

glory shines upon all.

Winston Churchill, broadcast

27 April 1941

He also thinks that the Blitz heroic dimension was purposely created during the war, and maintained afterward with an inch of manipulation.

This is a form of revisionist vision


A questioning attitude towards the

consensual memory of the war


The use and abuse of the myth of the Blitz in time

of crisis

•

• * The Falklands war (1982) :The lesson of the Falklands is that Britain has not changed and that this nation still has those sterling qualities which shine through our history. This generation can match their fathers and grandfathers in ability, in courage, and in resolution. We have not changed. When the demands of war and the dangers to our own people call us to arms—then we British are as we have always been: competent, courageous and resolute

• Excerpt from Margareth Thatcher's speech at the House of Commons on July 3, 1982



of crisis

•

• The London terrorist attacks of July 7, 2005, 52 dead: Extract fromTony Blair's statement.

• This is a terrible and tragic atrocity that has cost many innocent lives. (...)

• I have just attended a meeting of the Government's emergency committee. Ireceived a full report from the ministers and officials responsible. There will be anannouncement made in respect of the various services, in particular we hope theUnderground as far as is possible and rail and bus services are up and running assoon as possible. I would like again to express my profound condolences to thefamilies of the victims and to those who are casualties of this terrorist act.

• I would also like to thank the emergency services that have been magnificent todayin every respect. There, of course, will now be the most intense police and securityservice action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice. I would also paytribute to the stoicism and resilience of the people of London who have respondedin a way typical of them.

• * Parallel with the video London can take it, Quentin Reynolds (1940)



of crisis

•

• * David Cameron and the Blitz Spirit to face the economic crisis, 2012.

• « In his speech to the CBI conference on Monday, David Cameron issued acall to arms for the British public to realise their ‘blitz spirit’ in a bid tobolster the economy and reinstate Britain as one of the major contenders inthe ‘global race’ of competitive industry.

• His historical analogy alludes to a time where Britain, in a time of war,threw it’s conventions out of the window in order to address thefundamental issue: the threat of Nazi Germany. Cameron argued thatBritain currently is in an ‘economic equivalent of war’ and could no longerbe hindered by legal processes which frustrated its economic growth, thenumber one priority. (...) According to the Prime Minister, the governmentneeds to be bold. It has been too slow in cutting the deficit, since judicialreview applications are taking too long, and time is money. (...) »

• Alexandra Rogers, « Keep quiet and Cameron » in The Courier Online, November 26, 2012


Date post:	17-Nov-2021
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	3 times
Download:	0 times

UK DURING WW2

Documents