Language. Although most Welsh speakers can speak English as well, they may have felt uncomfortable having to abolish the use of their language in order to satisfy the city evacuees who have invaded their homeland. This would have caused some minor problems.
The general change of living conditions would have had a big effect on the Evacuees. Moving from a dirty, industrialised city to a clean and pleasant countryside would have been a shock to them.
P.T.O for Question 2 →
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Q. Explain the contradiction in sources 17 and 18. why do you think it is difficult for young historians to know what life was really like during the war?
The contradiction in sources 17 and 18 is so large that its no wonder that young historians find it difficult to find out what life was really like during the blitz.
Source 17 is talking of joyous, happy times during the Blitz.
‘What warmth – what courage!’
This paints an immediate picture of satisfaction and happiness right at the start of the source. The word ‘courage’ tells of the fighting spirit of the British public during this period. This is echoed by the fact that people were ‘singing’. All this singing was happening as the W.V.S were;
‘Serving hot drinks to fire fighters during raids’
This tells us of how the women of the time wanted to do their part to help with the war effort, regardless of the bombings going on around them. This may have been because they were feeling proud that they were helping their husbands, boyfriends and sons who were fighting on the front line to ‘Hold up Hitler’, and they were
‘Certain of beating him’
Yet again this tells of their confidence and maybe even arrogance at the time. However as this source is taken from a letter from a husband to his wife, whom had been evacuated, there is a possibility that he may have been deceiving his wife into thinking that he was in no danger. On the other hand, as the war was still in its early stages at the time that the letter was written, it is possible that the people were still confident of beating Hitler and things such as rationing may not have been in full flow or even started to wear down on people yet.
However, I have come to the conclusion, that even though Humphrey Jennings will have had first hand experience of the war it is highly likely that he was exaggerating the level of morale back home in order to deceive his wife into believing he was in no remote danger. This viewpoint can be backed up by the reliable source 18, which was taken from a document written by local officials in London’s East End just a month or less before Humphrey Jennings wrote the letter to his wife. This source (18), tells us of the clear dismay and ‘grotesque’ city life during the war, something that Jennings himself failed to pick up on. Another reason that this particular source could be reliable is that it is a report that will be read by senior officials in the government and if it was found to be incorrect it could well mean the sack for the reports author. The source speaks of;
‘Unplanned Hysteria’
This already is starting to paint a completely different picture to that drawn in source 17. There was, according to the report, no people singing or even W.V.S women serving hot drinks, but a mass of incontrollable, emotional state that resulted in panic, anger or even excitement. This is then backed up as the source progresses to say that ‘newspaper versions of life going on normally are grotesque’ and that there was,
‘No bread, no electricity, no milk, on telephones.’
The happy scene created in the previous source is fast becoming to seem less likely, as people would not have been happy if there was a lack of the basic things that are needed to live. A final quote from the source that backs up the view that Humphrey Jennings was lying is that there was ‘no humour or laughter’.
However, looking back at the two sources it becomes quite easy to pick out reasons as to why they totally contradict each other. Humphrey Jennings’ letter would have been censored at the time it was written and this would have prevented him from letting his wife know of the real sufferings of the time, this was a form of propaganda used by the British government at the time. In conjunction to this view it is also a distinct possibility that Humphrey Jennings was writing his letter from a different part of the country than London, as this is not specified, so morale may very well have been high in this other city as they maybe hadn’t have been hit to hard by the Germans as yet.
It is because of large contradictions in sources such as 17 and 18 that young historians, such as myself, find it difficult to find out exactly what went on during the blitz.
P.T.O for question 3 →
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Q. How useful is source 21 in explaining the changing attitudes towards women during the war?
Source 21 is fairly useful in telling us of the changing attitudes towards women during the war, but it is only telling the story from the viewpoint of a woman and hence, only represents her view of events. It would need cross-referencing with other sources in order for us to understand fully what women were feeling during this hectic period.
Nevertheless, it can still be seen as useful as it is written by a woman who had first experience of what was happening in a period, 1942, where the war is three years old and is almost halfway through its running time, this would mean that she was over all the post-war hysteria and working was no longer a novelty to her. However, as it is a personal diary it would have been written in the knowledge that no-one else would see it and could therefore be either exaggerated to make herself and her life sound more interesting, or, extremely truthful, as it may have been seen as derogatory to ‘bad mouth’ the system in public.
The source tells us of a housewife who was made to a job on the home front whilst her husband would’ve been fighting on the frontline, and in 1942, when the whole work idea is no longer trivial to her, it tells us of her sheer enjoyment of her work and of how she can’t see any reason as to why herself, or any other woman, would want to settle back to the trivial ways of being a housewife. She talks of stacks of dirty dishes that,
‘now got done when I had the time’
This is yet again a little dig at the way of which her life used to be lived. The dishes would now get done when ‘I’ had the time ells us of the fact that she can feel free and does things of and when she chooses, and is no longer ‘under the thumb’ of her over dominant husband.
So, my overall view of this source is that it is more useless than useful on its own, but with some cross-examination with other sources told by men and other women, it could become quite useful at telling us of the changing attitudes towards women during the period. Because, as it stands, it only tells the changing attitudes of a woman, and not of the changing attitudes towards women during the war.
P.T.O for Question 4 →
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Q. Source 2 says ‘Wales was thought to be a safe area’. Was this completely true? Explain your answer with reference to the sources.
Although source 2 says that ‘Wales was thought to be a safe area’ you find, that when compared with other the sources, some from the same ‘dumbed down’ student textbook, that this just wasn’t the case.
Source 2 tells us of how the British government feared that the bombing of Britain’s major cities would mean the deaths of ‘thousands of women and children’ and, as most of the men would be going off to fight, it was decided to ‘move’ thousands of women and children out of the cities being bombed, and, according to the text book ‘Family at war’ into ‘safe’ Wales.
However, this source is a contradiction in itself, because if Wales was so safe, how come thousands of people had to be evacuated from Cardiff and Swansea to the mining Valleys? As I look at more sources from the booklet, I can see that they are telling us of a distinct danger in Wales. Source 9, taken from the same textbook as source 2, has the line;
‘Night after night, wave after wave of German bombers raided England and WALES’
This tells us of the fact that Wales indeed, was not safe. Another line from this source is that ‘Wales was a safer place to live than the industrial cities of England’ but then again, where wasn’t, and although it may have been ‘safer’ it still can’t be described as ‘safe’, as it then goes on, to read that there were ‘many raids on Welsh towns’. However, this is a secondary source that has been printed in a text book for low ability pupils, so, not only may it have lost an element of truth as it has been passed on through various different ages, it may also have been ‘dumbed down’ to make it easier to understand for the pupils of lesser ability.
Pembroke Dock, here in West Wales, was very important to Britain during the war. This was due to the vast quantities of oil and fuel reserves stored there, which the planes and other vehicles needed in order to function. And, unsurprisingly, Germany knew this, and source 10 tells us of the bombing raid on Pembroke Dock by the Germans, which resulted in the loss of ’33,000,000 gallons of oil’ and that it was one of the most ‘vicious fires of the second world war’. If this wasn’t proof enough that Wales wasn’t safe during World War II, later on in the same source it tells us of a ‘completely undefended Pembroke Dock’. So, not only was Wales unsafe from the threat of the Nazi’s, they were also under-equipped in such and event and therefore had nothing to defend themselves with. The Luftwaffe force ‘hit the target and flew off again without a single shot being fired at them.’ This source was taken from a book entitled ‘Inferno 1940’ by Vernon Scott and was written in 1980 after the compiling of many different sources from the period. This could mean one of two things. That it was either compiled out of entirely reliable sources or that it was compiled out from a catalogue of source 2’s.
According to source 11, many measures were taken to protect Wales against the blitz. This view was, yet again, taken from the same book as the unreliable source 2.
‘The government took certain precautions; gas masks were given out, barrage balloons and sandbags became common sights, and Air Raid Wardens (A.R.P) would make sure that lights were not seen at night during the blackout.’
These precautions would not have been taken if Wales was a safe place, and this can be seen as yet more proof that attacks were regular and that Wales was unsafe.
Another source to contradict source 2 is source 12. In the reliable source taken from the period, the four most important blackout times on this notice were;
‘LONDON 7:56p.m TO 6:12a.m
CARDIFF 8:09p.m TO 6:25a.m
SWANSEA 8:12p.m TO 6:28a.m
HAVERFORDWEST 8:16p.m TO 6:32a.m’
Three of the four main places are in Wales, hence, yet again the fact that Wales was a regularly targeted place during World War II.
My overall view to source 2, is that it is a ‘generalised view’, and during its dumbing down it has lost most of its truth. I say this because Wales was a target for the Nazi’s during World War II and certainly therefore, was not a safe area.
P.T.O for Question 5 →
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Q. Using all the sources provided, together with your own research (including oral evidence and video footage if possible) explain how life changed for civilians during World War II in Britain and particularly Wales.
Life changed dramatically for the people of Britain and particularly Wales during World War II because of the introduction of many new things such as;
Conscription – This is the compulsory enlistment of civilians for military services. Hitler defied The Treaty of Versailles to reintroduce conscription in 1935, Britain re-introduced conscription in early 1939, before the coming of the war. This would have been difficult for all of the family and not just for the man being sent to fight. As James Palmer relives these memories in Source 1, we can see that his family were looking ‘Terribly upset’ and although he may have had first hand experience of conscription, he is remembering, which could make him either exaggerate or just fabricate new memories from a time of which his mind may have forgot.
Rationing – A system permitting an official allowance of food and other things in times of shortage. It was considered important for wartime morale that people were seen to be treated equally and rationing was seen as a way of doing this. Each person would be given 8p worth of meat, 3 pints of milk, 8 ounces of sugar, 4 ounces of butter or fat, 4 ounces of bacon, 2 ounces of tea, 1 ounce of cheese and 1 egg per week. Foods such as rice, jam, biscuits, tinned and dried fruit were all measured by points. Left- a woman uses her ration book during the war. As this is a picture it can be deemed as extremely reliable.
Morale – It was important for the country that morale was kept high. It was kept high by the use of propaganda and censorship. An example of this can be found in source 17 of the booklet, where a letter from a man to his wife telling her of the living conditions has been censored and changed using propaganda to create a happy picture, from what were harrowingly horrendous living conditions during the blitz on the cities.
Employment – This was at an all time high as nearly all of the countries male population had been called up through conscription, if not for the services then for the home guard. Also women were now being encouraged to work for the first time as ammunition makers and so forth. If not made to work women would sometime join the Women’s Voluntary Service (W.V.S).
Many Women also had to do jobs traditionally done by men, for example Management positions in shops and manual machinery work.
Vera Brown was a land girl who had a ‘hostile reaction towards the government’ because she felt that the women of the war should have been given the same wage as the men, which, later on, they were. This source taken from the Imperial War Museum’s sound archive is also reliable as it is a recording from the time. It is because of battlers like Vera, that women started to have more equal rights.
Home Guard – This was formed in May 1940 in order to keep an eye open for invasion and keep order during crisis situations. They had little equipment, often only a stick for a rifle, but they trained hard every weekend. The Home Guard, sometimes known as ‘Dad’s Army’, was made up of older men and those not suitable to join the main forces. Nevertheless, this was an example of people getting together to overcome Hitler.
Left, is a Home guard instruction sheet. This is proof that they had to be well drilled and took their role in the war seriously. This source is reliable as it is an official document from the time.
Evacuation - Even before the war had been declared on Germany, is was envisaged that the prime target of Germany would be the city of London. The government then had devised a plan that all children, and all those women that were not on any form of service should be sent to safer areas of Britain away from any area that could be classed as dangerous. The places where these evacuees would be sent would be the safer places of the many English shires and Welsh valleys mainly in the country areas away from any major town or city that was under the threat of being bombed. One of those encouraging the children to leave possible target and industrial areas was a young Princess Elizabeth, now the Queen of the United Kingdom. She broadcast to the young in a program on the BBC called "Children's Hour". However this show was likely to be riddled with propaganda that told the children of the ‘Sublime’ living conditions in the country and how not to worry as their parents and other family in the cities were ‘fine’, where as they were actually in a great danger of being killed by Nazi bombing raids.
Below is a diagram of where the children were sent in England →
WHERE THEY WENT:
As you can see from this source, children were sent to many different and widespread areas. This could have caused some difficulties in the children’s lives. For example, a child from London could have been evacuated to somewhere as far away as Yorkshire. This would have led to major cultural differences as pointed out by source 5(c) in which a child says that the ‘country is a funny place’
The figures in the above source are very dependable, as they are taken from a government source, which would have needed to be accurate for the interests of safety and of the families.
Many places were targeted by Germany during the ‘Blitz’; this was another problem for civilians. Below is an official German ‘Luftwaffe’ document telling us of the formation and plans to bomb London, taken from an official source →
BOBHSOC
This source is very informative as it tells us of the dangers that the women and children would have faced had they stayed in London and not been evacuated. As you can see just above, Hitler's main objective was to prove to Churchill that he had an Air Force to match Britain’s in the Luftwaffe. ‘The main objective of the operation is to prove that the Luftwaffe can achieve this.’
The above source is very reliable and helps us to realise the true perils of life in the cities during the war, as it is an official Luftwaffe document, which would have been sent from the commander of this branch of the Force to his commanding officer to inform him of the attack details.
Many other things changed for civilians as well as these, including the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, as described in his profile below:
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Winston Churchill was an inspirational leader who enthused the British public into believing that they could win the war. He did this through his many speeches that created a high morale throughout the country.
On May 13th as Prime Minister of a Britain at war, he spoke the words that every British person would remember...
"What have I to offer, I can offer you nothing except blood, toil, tears and sweat.... you ask. What is our policy? I will say....It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might....to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask...What is our aim? I can answer that in just one word.....Victory".
During the Second World War Churchill's constant radio talks and messages to his people not only encouraged thousands, but gave inspiration and hope to every man, woman and serviceman. His leadership was second to none and this can only be acclaimed to his experience during the First World War where he gave up his political position to take up service with the Army in France. A dockworker in London's East End summed up every Britain's feelings towards Churchill, when asked about Britain's chances in the war he said, ".....we know Britain will claim victory, why?....because 'Winnie' told us so.”
During his life, Churchill made many different remarks and quotes, all of which were inspirational to Britain’s victory and spirit. However, despite some disagreement from some corners, on large, the spirit of Britain can be summed up by the words; -
"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!"