To alleviate adversity, the government encouraged people to develop ideas to make the most out of the little they had. In October 1939 the Government launched 'The Dig for Victory' campaign. People were urged to use gardens and every spare piece of land, such as parks, golf clubs and tennis courts to grow vegetables. Even the moat at the Tower of London was used to grow vegetables! Items grown would usually be staple foods such as potatoes, carrots, cabbages and peas which could be eaten to supplement the national diet. Many people also reared chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs in their gardens.
Rob Hudson, Minister for Agriculture stated in October 1939; "We want not only the big man with the plough but the little man with the spade to get busy this autumn. Let 'Dig for Victory' be the motto of everyone with a garden." This is a very useful and reliable source of evidence which informs us about the Dig for Victory campaign. As the quote comes from the government Minister for Agriculture, we can award it integrity and reliability. The source is useful because it tells us of the governments intentions – they wanted everyone to get involved in the war effort. This view can be corroborated with the Dig for Victory posters which depict a small boy with a hoe and spade and a grown mans boot on a spade. As a result, we know the source is reliable.
House wives were also a group targeted by the government in World War II. They were given information on how to use food substitutes such as saccharine tablets instead of sugar. Milk powder, egg powder and potato powder usage was also encouraged. Women’s hour on the radio was a popular program that provided ideas and showed what could be done with the basic rations available. The government even produced a cook book on how to cook successfully with dried egg!
Clothes rationing came into force on 1st June 1941. Clothing ration books or coupon books were issued to every man woman and child in Britain. Each person was allowed a maximum of 66 coupons per year, which was the equivalent of 1complete outfit. Growing children however were allocated an extra 10 clothing coupons above the standard ration each year with clothing in small sizes having a lower coupon values than adult-sized garments.
Coupons, however, were not needed for everything. Buying second-hand clothes was one way of getting around the new Clothing rationing rules.
Coupons were not needed when private individuals sold second-hand clothes to each other. For example, when one mother sold her child's outgrown clothing to another. Coupons were also unnecessary when clothes dealers sold second-hand clothing below a certain price determined by the coupon value of the clothing multiplied by a fixed sum. In fact because of this there were some shop keepers who used this "loop-hole" in the law to pass new clothing off as second hand clothing and so get around the government restrictions.
The document to the left is the official rationing guideline issued by the board of trade. It is a both useful and reliable source preserved from June 1941. It is useful as it shows us the numbers of coupons required to purchase certain items of clothing. The item which required the most coupons was a mackintosh coat, the items which required the least, a tie or pair of handkerchiefs. Men’s items required more coupons than women’s as they generally contained more material. Children’s clothes cost less and used fewer coupons as they usually consisted of the smallest amount of fabric. This source also reinforces the British Governments point that “rationing was introduced not to deprive of real needs, but to make sure you got your fair share of the country’s goods”. It is a reliable source as it was issued by the board of trade and we can see its authenticity stamp in the top left-hand corner. It is very factual and gives us a lot of information about clothes rationing.
Petrol was also rationed during World War II. Petrol was allocated according to individual needs. For example, if you had a long way to travel to work, you would have been issued with more petrol than someone who didn’t work. Another thing that had to be taken into account was the Blackout. It was dangerous to use cars in the dark without any headlights so people relied heavily on public transport. The sale of bicycles also started to increase as they required neither petrol nor headlights and could be used whenever necessary.
Civilians in England and Wales were significantly influenced and affected by propaganda.
“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
– Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion
As described above, propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents biased information in order to influence its audience. The most effective propaganda is often completely truthful, but some propaganda presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis. Other types give loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience.
During WW2, the propaganda machine was in full flow. Civilians in England and Wales were targeted by many types of propaganda from both allied and enemy sources. It took many different forms including posters, leaflets, radio broadcasts, newspaper articles, photographs and adverts. The public received two main types of propaganda – positive and negative. Most of the positive propaganda originated from British and allied sources and most of the negative material came from enemy origins.
As media censorship was in place under the Defence Of the Realm Act, the Ministry of Information had to find a plausible way of providing citizens in England and Wales with information. It had to make sure that it provided ample amounts of information about the War to strengthen morale and help the public cope with crisis.
Newspapers were closely controlled. Journalists had to have the censor check their articles prior to publication. However, most papers readily complied with these measures. Indeed, they often censored themselves. They reported bad news such as bomb damage or military defeats, but with encouragement so as not to dent public morale too much. Any victories were celebrated extremely enthusiastically. Some papers were officially censored: eg. The Daily Worker was banned in 1941 for claims that the war was being fought for the bosses rather than a battle for democracy.
The BBC was not controlled by the government. It censored itself and played a key role in informing the public and helping to maintain morale. The transformation of Dunkirk from a military disaster into a morale-boosting triumph was a good example of the BBC’s power. By the end of the war, an estimated 25 million people tuned into BBC radio programmes. Most of the great film, radio and stage stars made programmes to boost the morale of civilians and troops alike. Comedians such as Tommy Trinder provided comfort by making jokes about wartime hardships and making fun of Hitler.
The government also monitored the mood of the people by using what became known as Mass Observation Reports. Essentially, this involved volunteers and sometimes police and intelligence agents listening in on conversations in bars, shops, post offices, cinemas and other places and then writing up reports of what they had heard. These reports were then analysed by the Ministry of Information to gauge public sentiments.
Wartime propaganda also used images of the Prime Minister Winston Churchill very well. He was undoubtedly an effective war leader but
contemporary newsreels, papers and reports transformed him into a legendary figure. This picture is a good source of evidence which supports this consensus. It is reliable as photographs which originate from World War II could not have been edited due to primitive technology. This source is highly useful because it shows Churchill displaying the ‘V for Victory’ sign. He gives the impression of a confident leader who the public could put their trust in. The fact that he is showing the victory sign also makes people think he is positive about Britain’s position in the War: he seems sure that he will win.
The royal family played an important part in British propaganda. Pictures of them visiting their people were published regularly in newspapers to strengthen morale. Despite fears for their own safety, the King and Queen remained at Buckingham Palace during the war as gesture of solidarity to the British people. They continued to travel around the country when they could, using an armoured car as transport.
This picture shows King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visiting a bombed area in South London on 11th September 1940. It is a good source of evidence as it gives us an insight into the public’s reaction towards royal visits. We can see that people flocked to see their King and Queen and the street in the picture is pact full of pleased civilians. The fact that the King and Queen spoke to members of the public gave them great encouragement and it reminded them that they were fighting for their historical monarchy as well as their own freedom. We can also see that the Queen is dressed-up with jewels and pearls which gives the impression that they are still very wealthy despite the war effort. The source is both reliable and useful as it is a photograph which originates from the time. We know the source couldn’t have been doctored as in the 1940’s technology was not advanced enough.
Propaganda within Nazi Germany was taken to a new and frequently perverse level. Hitler was very aware of the value of good propaganda and he appointed Joseph Goebbels as head of propaganda. One regular piece of enemy propaganda came in the form of ‘Germany Calling’ – an English language propaganda radio programme broadcast by Nazi German radio stations. The programme started on 18 September 1939 and continued until April 30, 1945, when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army. It became infamous for Lord Haw Haw: Germany’s most well known English speaking presenter. Through such broadcasts, the Nazi Third Reich attempted to discourage and demoralize British and American troops and civilians to suppress the effectiveness of the Allied war effort. Among many techniques used, the Nazi broadcasts prominently reported on the shooting down of Allied aircraft and the sinking of Allied ships; presenting discouraging reports of high losses and casualties among Allied forces. Although the broadcasts were widely known to be Nazi propaganda, they frequently offered the only details available from behind enemy lines concerning the fate of friends and relatives who hadn’t return from bombing raids over Germany. As a result, Allied troops and civilians frequently listened to Lord Haw-Haw's broadcasts in spite of the sometimes infuriating content and frequent inaccuracies and exaggerations, in the hope of finding clues about the fate of troops and air crews.
My Grandmother remembers tuning in to Lord Haw Haw and Germany Calling during the war years. She explained; “Lord Haw Haw used to come on the wireless every evening. He used to lie about bombing to try and frighten people and he used to exaggerate Britain’s defeats. He used to say that ships had been sunk and that soldiers had been captured! He used to laugh and make fun of Britain and say that Germany were winning the war. Everybody knew that he was a liar and so he didn’t damage morale. Not many people paid much attention because they could see that it was just propaganda!”
This source originates from my Grandmother, Doris Jones aged 83; it was obtained via a conversation in June 2008. The source is very useful as it tells me as a historian that people could see through the Nazi propaganda that Lord Haw Haw broadcast. We learn that he used to exaggerate bombings and defeats but his scaremonger tactics didn’t have much of an effect. We must question its reliability as it was recorded a long time after the war ended. In addition memories that are recollected verbally are prone to exaggeration so we must take this into account when we query its integrity.
Civilians living in England and Wales during World War II were greatly affected by many aspects of the War. After conducting my research, I believe that civilians were affected much more by rationing than propaganda. Rationing affected home life in many ways – from Dig for Victory to making the best of the conservative rations. Propaganda took effect on a much smaller scale. Although it strengthened morale considerably, it had a modest impact on day to day life. World War II was a people's war that enlarged democratic aspirations and produced promises of a postwar welfare state. Public opinion strongly supported the war and the level of individual sacrifice was high. I strongly believe that Britain’s Home Front played an integral part in the War effort and was a major factor in the Allies glorious victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.