From the source I can infer that this kind of occurrence is a normal thing as the A.R.P wardens are not looking at all upset they just have normal faces as they are used to treating this kind of incident.
Source C shows us the type of spirit and sense of teamwork the people of Britain developed during the war. The people in this photo are all laughs and smiles despite the fact the remains of their homes are behind them. This is the type of picture that the government would have wanted to show the people of Britain as it shows British people pulling through bad times with hope in their hearts that the war will soon be over. They wanted the people in the photo to set an example to the other people suffering in the same sort of circumstances. The two sources show contrasting views of the war, there is the strong brave side shown to the public and the harsh reality, which was kept hidden away. These photos are both reliable, as the government could not alter photos so information shown is 100% reliable unlike in a written article.
Q.3
Source D is a photo that was taken on the 15th of November 1940 however it took until February 1941 to be released. It was taken to record what it was like to clean up the mess after the bombing and was targeted at the public to show they weren’t alone in their pain.
The source shows the damage that was done and the mess the streets were left in. It shows people sorting through property to find their belongings as everything got mixed up. There are two people who appear to be arguing, probably over property and who it belongs to. It is very Smokey, which shows that the bomb has probably been recently dropped. In the background you can see a blown up buildings, which was destroyed in the bombing. It is an unusual picture to release as it shows the true horror and destruction of the war.
I think that Source D agrees with Source B as they both show a lot of destruction. Source D disagrees with Source C as Source C shows the good side of the war (if there is such a thing). Source D shows the terrible side of the war.
Q.4
The British government was concerned with the morale of the British people in autumn 1940 the following sources back up this statement.
Source E was a secret report from the ministry of information wrote on the 10th of September 1940 to report the current situation with the people of Britain. This tells us that during the war the government concealed what was really going on. It tells of people flooding from the city and people not remaining calm as was shown in propaganda but running madly for the shelters in a panic-stricken state. From my own knowledge I discovered that the government portrayed people staying in the city to fight Hitler and people calmly walking to the shelters when it was required. This means the government obviously covered up people’s reactions to the war.
Source F is a diary of Harold Nicolson who knew members of the government. He used the diary to express his opinions and true feelings about the situations going on in the city and this is an extract from the 17th September 1940. This source says, “Everyone is worried about the feeling in the East End of London where there is much bitterness” it also says that the king and queen were booed when they visited destroyed areas. This shows me that the government again covered up public opinion of the royal family and the attitude was not happy and courageous like shown in other sources that I found during my own experience.
Source G is from a book to do with the history of World War 2 that was published in 1988. This book states that people still turned up for work in the direst of circumstances and that many hid in Epping forest during the bombing but they still turned up for work. This means that some of them believed in the war effort and what the government was telling them.
All of these sources prove why the government was concerned about morale. The facts that people fled panicking from the cities via car taxi and train. They were not as calm and collected about the war and their effort towards it and the people’s attitudes towards the government and the royal family were not all positive.
Q.5
The impression that the British people faced the blitz with courage and unity is a myth. I agree with this statement because the government tried to make the illusion of courage and unity apparent by using propaganda to make people think in a different way.
In source C that shows people with “grit” despite having lost their homes. The government released this making everyone think that this is what everyone should be like. They also were not as truthful with the public as they should have been.
In sources E and G they say how the people were fleeing the city panicking and in sources B and D it shows the massive devastation caused by the bombs and how people lost their possessions and lives. In source B the area the A.R.P wardens are working with is fenced off and hidden from the public and censors banned the whole photo because it was not positive towards the war effort. All of these sources also greatly outnumber the positive reports, which say how life goes on, and everyone is in good spirits like sources A and C.
From source F we find out public opinion of the government and royal family is not as good as thought or shown in other sources and we can trust this source as it is a diary and he is writing his inner personal thoughts.
From my own knowledge and the government propaganda films I have seen the people are happy to stay in London and fight the good fight. Their opinion of the royal family and the government is quite high. When studying any unofficial censored or information not supplied by the government though shows the truth about what really happened during the war. The statement that courage and unity is a myth is true because of the outstanding abundance of evidence favouring that argument.
