"The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth." Discuss.
“The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth.”
From sources that I have studied and from my own knowledge I have encountered many sides of the argument both agreeing with and against this statement.
From my recent studies I have a good understanding that the British people did have a vast extent of courage, during the war when it was most needed. But this may all be an effort of propaganda reinforced by the government, or this could have been genuine “grit and determination” as mentioned in source C. Source A advocates: “out of terror of terror and tragedy came courage and unshakeable determination.” It also articulates: “the British people showed they didn’t have to be in uniform to be heroes.” But source A is a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Blitz, so it is very likely to glamorise the heroism of the British individuals, there were certain “groups” of heroes though, some of them being ARP wardens which are featured in Source B and their courage was much appreciated within Britain at the time of the war. Women’s work was also seen as audacious, and one and all were viewed as heroes for achieving their bit in the war to help Britain. In source C it mentions the great courage and determination, and the information with it also shows us it was during the worst of the Blitz, so if this wasn’t propaganda it is a good factual piece of evidence to conflict with the quotation shown in the title. The information that source G mentions the British people trekking out into the countryside at night, but still returning in the morning to carry out production was a good sign of unity and loyalty in each other. Rationing was also shown to be a success, the community also helped overcome this problem with the program “dig for victory” where they all dug their vegetable patches to feed themselves and others in need, this was seen as very valiant and compassionate towards Britain for their wage on war.