Thread: The Blitz - Myth/Reality

Thank you for your post Jerry. I have to agree that historians do, indeed, have agendas, and just as important is the types of questions (and how they are asked).

From what I have read about the Blitz, I would say that the "truth" is probably in the middle ground; between the 'stiff upper lip' portrayed by the authorities during the war, and the stance taken by the likes of Calder. What is obvious is that the majority of the population did struggle through, and there were no mass panics, which would have indicated mass low morale. However, as micro-analyses of things like crime, social movement, perosnal diaries etc show, there was a lot more disgruntlement amongst the population than the authorities admitted.

But this wasn't just a direct result of the bombing but a combination of factors, including class divisions, and the fact that the working classes perceived the upper classes using their power and wealth to escape the worst conditions. These conditions included access to non-rationed (i.e. black market) items, escaping conscription (even if this was an erroneous belief) etc.

The sociology of that period is fascinating and it is a pity that so much of it is clouded by political (with a small 'p') biases

Itis a truism that too often history is hacked into "periods" and this fails to acknowledge that the response of people to a situation is often influenced by previous events. WW11 is not my area of historical expertise, so observations I make are based on personal knowledge of Bermondsey which would not necessarily be the same as other working class areas.
In my childhood I can remember two cameos with great clarity. One was the local pub where an ex soldier of WW1 and his wife used to stand outside with a barrel organ. He had lost his toes (probably through "trench foot" ) so his wife was there to push the barrell organ. The other was of another ex soldier of WW1 who stood with an old pram and a gramaphone along one road that led to the Sunday market at East Street known locally as "The Lane" or "East Lane". He only had one or two records and one I remember was "There's a long long trail awinding. I mention these because Bermondsey was a tough working class area with not much sentiment, and very little disposable wealth but these veterans were treated with sympathy. Even as a child I was told that "trench foot victims received no pension because the military establishment deemed it a self inflicted wound, avoidable if the chap kept himself clean.
What experience engendered in the community was a remarkable bond of help to others that was not middle class bleeding heart guilt but a form of survival. You helped because you knew you could get help. It was that that shows Calder's distorted view was not based on real understanding. The class divide was intense and based on experience. Next to where I lived was a leather works, a foundry, a jam factory and a tin box manufacturers. The women who worked in the tin box factory must all have been deaf because the noise was horrendous.
A better way to understand the people was that they were not beguiled by Communism. The words to "The Red Flag" that I learned was,
The working class may kisss my a**e
I've got the Foreman's job at last.
After WW11, the local Communist aspirant for Parliament, from memory Joe Bent (here I could be wrong) lost his deposit.
I will try to read Calder objectively, but I fear it will be difficult.

What I have tried to convey is even a glib statement such as class difference fails to gain even the smallest grasp of the complex social structure where even the police were seen as agents of the establishment.

Attached is a photo of the ARP wardens of the block of flats I lived in. These men, my father was one, worked by day and were out in the worst of the Blitz by night.



Jerry

It is interesting you mention the communists because their lack of appeal amongst the British working classes has beguiled sociologists for decades. Though, socialism, with a small 's' had strong foundations, this was usually tied in with trade unionism etc. And in many ways that itself was an offshoot of the very solidarity that you have mentioned.

In fact, communism has had more of an appeal amongst a certain minority of the middle classes - some psychologists would probably ascribe it some guilt complex.

But going back to the war, I think one of the things that some historians take at face value are the reports submitted by undercover police officers sent out to gauge the mood of those in the shelters etc. Well, the one thing Londoners (and I am one ) have always been supremos at is complaining. That doesn't mean that they would take to the streets.

But the psychological impact of the bombings from the first war must still have been evident, as would have the rather defeatist proclamations made by the authorities in the 1930s about the bomber always getting through. Couple with the mass evacuations of the children, people would have been expecting the worst. The fact that people actually did cope was despite all that.

I predicated my early comments by stating I could only speak from the point of view of living in Bermondsey during the Blitz. Sociologists make a mistake when talking of "The Working Class" in London by lumping them all together. London, during Dickensian times, was "The Great Wen" and it's population growth was no a natural growth but one of migration. Working class London was a series of villages that had very subtle differences in culture that only one who lived there would recognise. The Bermondsey area I lived in was heavily industrialised and had a high proportion of Irish ancestry. I suspect it stemmed from railway work and building in general The East End was a natural starting point for new waves of migrants and had a reasonably high Jewish content, which was possibly a later migratory wave. Here there was a fair number of furniture makers. I had a large number of friends with Irish names, but only one family was Jewish. It is perhaps too late now for sociologists to study these differences as the people are aging and/or dispersing.
Therefore any comments, including attitudes to Communism and concepts of Class must be seen in that light.

Bombing during the First World War would probably had no psychological effect on the working class. Nor would defeatist media comments. The inter war period was one of dogged survival with the Great Depression having much more impact. Getting a job and doing it was uppermost. The generally good organisation of evacuation and rationing shows more the Estabishment view than it does the working class.

Jerry

I was nearly 10 when WW2 started, lived in west London, by the end of the war we had learn't there had been black marketeers, looters, etc. BUT the overwhelming majority of people were confident that the Allies would win, even in the worst times. I also believe that King George and His Queen by refusing to leave their LONDONERS was a huge moral booster, they frequently visited the bombed parts of London to give support. To my recolection no one in need was ever refused help. We had an elderly lady living nearby, she was strugling to survive on her own, my Mother would make a pot of soup when she could, and leave it on this lady's doorstep, later that day the pot would be back on our doorstep washed and clean....no words were ever spoken by Mum to or from the lady...My mother realised and respected this lady's pride. It was common to hear people whistling during the war...never heard much today. I believe those that question the resolve of the British during that time were either not there, or just stupid. Probably the same people who deny the holocaust existed.

Originally Posted by Alan

I was nearly 10 when WW2 started, lived in west London, by the end of the war we had learn't there had been black marketeers, looters, etc. BUT the overwhelming majority of people were confident that the Allies would win, even in the worst times. I also believe that King George and His Queen by refusing to leave their LONDONERS was a huge moral booster, they frequently visited the bombed parts of London to give support. To my recolection no one in need was ever refused help. We had an elderly lady living nearby, she was strugling to survive on her own, my Mother would make a pot of soup when she could, and leave it on this lady's doorstep, later that day the pot would be back on our doorstep washed and clean....no words were ever spoken by Mum to or from the lady...My mother realised and respected this lady's pride. It was common to hear people whistling during the war...never heard much today. I believe those that question the resolve of the British during that time were either not there, or just stupid. Probably the same people who deny the holocaust existed.

Hi Alan,
I to was about your age and living in West Kensington next to Queens Club, at the outbreak of war.
My mother soon sent me to the N.E. just north of Newcastle to her family to be out of harms way.
I later learnt from my stepfather, who was an Ack Ack Gun Sgt in the Royal Artillery, that even though she never had a driving lesson in her life, she drove an ambulance all during the blitz. After the war was over she never drove again.
Cheers
Keith

Originally Posted by CTNana

I totally agree with Ron.

My parents walked out of church on their wedding day to a hail of bombs (not an omen, they enjoyed many happy years together). I accept that the evidence on the BBC website is anecdotal but nevertheless it is no less an honest portrayal of how people saw things than these later interpretations of evidence.

Every situation contains contradictory aspects and features. My Mum also talked of some very dark days, and small number of people who blatantly took advantage of others and even made their fortunes during these times, but that should not detract from the overwhelming majority who did "just carry on" and give whatever help and support they could to others.

Perhaps we just find it increasingly hard to believe as we become a more selfish and uncaring society????

I agree with Ron also, I have enough ingrained stories from my mum on her experiences of the Livepool Blitz to bare that out.

The pic of me, my dad and brother on my cp page....where we stand is the site of the old Anderson shelter from her parents garden. The house had its window blown in by a landmine in the field opposite the house, the houses at the back where destoryed and her school friend killed during one nights bombing...the blitz was no myth for some.