At the end of the war Britain asked the US if we could have 2 years grace before we started paying back the Lend Lease bill, simply to kickstart our economy, which was by then at rock bottom. The answer was "No". Germany, however, received a great deal of help and this led to a lot of bitterness in the UK. A common saying at the time was "We won the war but Germany won the peace." It took the UK decades to repay the Lend Lease bill, and I'm afraid the British people have long felt that the 'special relationship', we supposedly have with the US, is often a bit one sided.
My Dad remembered Churchill choosing NOT to continue cooperation with our European Allies post war, and getting the loan instead. The rest of Europe worked together and grew back quicker. My Dad also referred to Churchill as xenophobic and that there was a xenophobic rot in the Conservative Party then, which still continues, hence Brexit. I don't doubt my Dad thought Churchill was a good wartime PM. He was just a poor peace time one.
The relationship had been pretty one sided in the other direction for a few centuries up to that point. I don't think you can really look at things in isolation, before WW2 we were largely despised by many Americans and until Pearl Harbour almost as many wanted to join the war on Germany's side than on ours, purely over that historic resentment. In fact, it's a little known fact that a couple of years before WW2 FDR commissioned a plan into the feasibility of driving Britain out of the Americas completely, it concluded that they would have to take Canada within 6 months to stand any chance because after 6 months 4 million Empire troops would have arrived there to overwhelm the then US military, and between Canada and the Caribbean the Royal Navy, which at that point massively outnumbered the US Navy, would have had free reign over the east coast. It is also likely that we would have also ceded Europe to the Germans as a result.
It's always been one sided- they never assisted during the Falklands conflict for example- think the mindset of America is that we are the little people to be used as it suits them- 🇬🇧🏴
Yes I was a 1946 baby and can remember seeing a banana for the first time ,also my dad telling me that JFK dad was ambassador to England and told everyone we would lose the war and America should not get involved.
I wish they showed this film to everyone in the UK now. Puts a lot into perspective about how hard our ancestors fought for freedom and equality for all nations and races.
Oh come on?! After what we did to the world? We basically invented all of the Nazis tactics. It's why it was a threat to the British empire.... Churchill was worried the Nazis would replace it. You can only think about how great 'we' were for all nations and "races" (race is not a real thing by the way so it's kinda gross to use it here especially given the fact that so called race science was a key motivator behind Nazi aggression and violence) in regards to this one moment in history.its desperate clawing patriotism. I don't deny we have some proud moments in our history but ultimately we have not been a force for good overall!
@@michellejones1618 We all know they want to subvert the idea of an island nation of white people working together into some multinational agenda where the only thing they care about is if and when they have sex. They have some warped idea that germans were created out of want for sex. It completely bonkers. That's why we have so much push on sex-ed. If you think I'm insane and not grounded in reality just follow through with the Frankfurt school into discovering the Nazi mind. They had alot of fun with kids back then. I should add that wasn't the Germans but the 'scientists'
Yep we're a stubborn breed of bastards. Don't anyone say our country doesn't know freedom, our families lived fought and died for the freedom of the world.
Which is why the incidents such as Bamber Bridge (one of many such, wherever black US servicemen were stationed) occurred. Brits don’t like being ordered around by foreigners in their own country.
@@theshiftybloke4672 when I see the news from the UK I wonder what happened to the country where everyone looked out for each other. I can see AUS heading in a similar direction unfortunately. We're not quite as bad as back home, but the more non commonwealth immigration, we have the more problems we inherit.
I’m 92 years old and was evacuated, with my sister to Cornwall when I was 7 years old. We lived in Paddington and left with lots of school children. We missed the whole of the War. Returned to London when I was 12.1/2 years old. I do remember food rationing, and as a child, wondered why we always had sliced home made bread with thick clotted cream and blackberry and apple jam (both picked from the hedgerows) on our bread for “tea”. There was little butter for spreading on bread! Most all food was rationed except vegetables and even those, at times were scarce, so sometimes you might only be able to buy 3 carrots! I was really shocked to see all the bomb damage in our streets when we arrived home. MaryG
I’m 90 and was also evacuated. My brother and I went to Bognor Regis, we stayed two years, our parents thought that the worst was over in the summer of 41. That was far from correct as we were all to find out. Our home fortunately never had a direct hit but the blast shattered our home many times. We lived near Clapham Junction, obviously a prime spot as the aim was disrupt transport of goods and personnel. The V1 and V2 rockets were terrifying. There was no warning and watched several come down flattening so many places, the debris we cleared up time and time again. The brave home guards and ARP wardens, mostly elderly folk themselves, dug out so many from the destroyed homes. Just look at Ukraine now it will give you an idea of what life was like for us. By the way my Dad was a stoker in the gas works so exempt from being called up.
My parents lived through the war. It must be profoundly odd to have your childhood treated as history. It's weird enough being old enough to understand life without the internet. :)
It's an honour to hear you say you respect us Brits as a nation, but let's not confuse matters. The respect should go entirely to the generation of people who lived through this period in time (both World Wars). Most of us alive in Britain today have barely an ounce of the resilience, bravery and fortitude that our parents' and grandparents' generations had. Let's hope that WWIII never breaks out, because we would be an embarrassment to the memory of their victory.
Every generation likes to claim their kids are soft. And yet every time people are called upon it's the kids that will step up. Do you think the same of Ukraine's Gen Z right now? If that landed on our doorstep you can be damn sure British kids would be stepping up again.
Doubt that mate - a lot of them too entitled and coddled , and that fact would make it harder for those grounded and self reliant younger generation,thank God , that we still have - back in the day all the youth were like that ,can't say that these days unfortunately 🇬🇧🏴
For Americans, war is something that happens far away and also something the military handle. Most don’t truly appreciate how all-encompassing the war was for Britain, how existential, and how close to home it was.
That's not really true mate, the US Civil War was the precursor to WW1. That's the war where the brutality of trench warfare began, and it was both brutal and vicious and there were still survivors of that alive when the US entered WW1. They also had local wars with the Spanish, Mexicans, 2 against us, and one with us against the French. Not to mention many skirmishes with the indigenous population. America did not have a quiet and peaceful birth, it's just by WW1 war in North America became unthinkable as America faced no more domestic threats, this is a major factor in their economic and industrial success, when you're the last place on Earth that can be invaded you have an inherent advantage over all other places.
@@darthwiizius Don't think he meant disrespect. We couldn't held out if wasn't for the Americans. Yeah we paid for it but then we always paid our debts back then even if it took decades.😢
@@darthwiiziuswhich is what they said. For most Americans in ww1, ww2 and beyond, they have not faced a total mobilisation and don't fully understand what that means, they don't understand how the entire country was putting it's all into the war effort and how if the military failed then the country would too. Its a deepseated thing we (british) learn in primary and secondary school, we learn about the Romans, the Normans, important kings, ww1 through trench warfare and ww2 through rationing, children being sent to the countryside so they don't get bombed and the blitz they're running from. We watch movies made about those and people recreating it, and we read about first hand accounts. That's how we learn about ww2, not the military victories or defeats, not the royal navy and RAF keeping us safe or the BEF or British army fighting the enemy, we learn about the rationing, the children fleeing and the bombing of our cities. I can name only 1 British combat leader, and that's not due to our education. It's not like America where you learn about your different leaders and the different battles of the revolution or civil war. We learn about the loss and the sacrifices made for the war effort. Maybe it's due to the different nature of the wars America faced vs ww2, America could push back the british and the union could advance into confederate territory, while the british couldnt, the most they could do is attack in Africa, so they had to wait and survive until they could do something. Its a different perspective from 1 of 2 equivelant powers compared to a nation doing all it can to survive, and eventually push back.
My mum worked in munitions, ie bombmaking. The ordinance factory was based in Chorley Lancashire and was still there around twenty years ago. She told me that her hands and arms were dyed yellow because of the chemicals used. When they had a tea break, they used to sit outside having a half woodbine. ( all ciggys and matches were never allowed in the workshop obviously. ). She said that when they were outside they had to mask the red glow from the ciggie whilst watching the German planes flying towards Manchester and Liverpool to bomb docks, factories and homes. Hope hospital in Salford, where I was trained was hit by bombs on way back to save fuel. Two hospital blocks were hit and many killed. When I trained in the 1970s those blocks were never replaced, just a link corridor to get from one side to another. As new students we were told this and shown the placque in the space. All gone by now I expect.
My grandma was in Liverpool and experienced the blitz those planes you mentioned caused, she literally had to run down the street to a shelter one day aged 14. I think it left a permanent mental scar on her as every bonfire night and new years she was anxious saying it sounds like the war. She also built bombs. Her brothers were in the RAF.
@@Mark-Haddow West Germany agreed to make small payments to the Allies but announced it would not pay off all of its World War I debts until Germany was a unified country again. After Unification the country officially paid off its debts in October of 2010.
@@dirkspatz3692 That's fine. We occupied West Germany for almost 80 years, the UK controlling the Rhineland made us responsible for Germany's needs. I grew up in Paderborn (Sennelager) but missed the unification (Fall of the wall) when our regiment deployed to another foreign country, England. (Salisbury)
My mother married while rationing was still in force (Scotland). Even though rationing was so severe, every neighbour in her "tenement" (like apartment building?) donated part of their rations to make her a small wedding cake. One donated an egg, another gave part of their sugar ration etc. Although it seems like so little, it was a huge gesture of kindness, generosity and solidarity and , for me, sums up the heart shown by this amazing generation.
It's why the older gen are/ were make do and mend. We will make the bride look good and she will have a cake aswell... the whole street would give as much as they could a old white shirt, it's a part toward the dress by the wedding between them they had a dress they can let in and out for all the weddings on the streets
A tenement is a classic type of Scottish housing. Apartment building isn't too far wrong. Tenements are typically three or four stories, two flats/apartments on each floor. Typically 2 or 3 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living room. Built in long rows of buildings butted against each other, with a small alleyway type entrance known as a 'close' giving access to a central strairwell for each building. The tenements in Edinburgh and Glasgow are actually pretty nice and desirable places in the modern era, though they were a bit slummy in the past.
Recently visited eden camp last week for a throwback to when I used to visit as a child, one thing that I forgot abouth then but will probably remember for a while is the fact that wedding cakes were often rented for photos
My mam lived in a mining village near Durham and they also did this for children’s birthdays. My grandparents gave the eggs as they kept hens on a small holding, although most of these had to go to the war effort.
When India (a British commonwealth country) joined the war the Indians put 1 million soldiers in to the fight on their first day. We don't like bullies and always support the underdog, circumstances pending.
While not on day one, Canada with a population under 11 million had fully 1.1 million men and women in service with the bulk of those being volunteers.
My nan used the coal from the fire in the war to use as makeup for her eyes. She used flower petals in water as her deodorant and tea bags to dye her legs to look like stockings and she kept beetroot for her lips and cheeks. My Nan was cool. She had so many stories to tell about the war sadly no longer with us anymore.
The sense of community after the war is impossible to imagine even for young English people. During the war my mother was stationed at an air force base with her Husband until he was shot down over Berlin, she then came home to my grandmother and both of them spent rest of the war putting fuses in hand grenades. My aunt was in the land army (replacing the agricultural workers who were fighting) my great uncle who had only ever rowed a small ferry in Cornwall was sent down a mine for 4 years. My mother re-married my father who was in heavy rescue in the London blitz. Rationing didn't fully end until 1955 which was when I had my first chocolate bar. I remember my mother saying at the start of the war she was moved to tears because when they opened the crates of machinary from the USA all of the empy spaces had been filled by the US workers with presents of nylons, chocolate and food. God bless you for that!
I enjoyed watching these as an Englishman, it's something to be proud of. Really happy that you as Americans have taken an interest in British history, respect :)
Most of the high-end meats were used for the troops. The citizens made do with offal and cheaper cuts. That is why Americans thought British food was awful. A belief that still persists to this day.
@@mojojojo11811 My sister worked for the US Army during the war and brought lots of GIs home because they missed their families. My mother would be polite and invite them "to tea" - which they would accept and then eat the family out of house and home. One GI could eat the whole family's rations in a single meal but of course it consisted of barely anything - very little meat (which often meant spam or corned beef), tiny portions of dairy, and a lot of wholemeal bread. Some of them got lucky as my mother kept hens so there were usually eggs and sometimes a chicken but mostly the food was meagre and fairly bland. Lots of British families hosted GIs in the same way so I imagine that's where the reputation came from. If GIs ate high end meat it would have been on their own bases as food for GIs was shipped in especially and they wouldn't have confused that with British food.
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rgthey bought their own supplies of food in. Alot of the older people in devon who were kids remember the Americans with affection because of the chocolate bars, chewing gum and sweets the American soldiers would give out and have plenty of
@@mojojojo11811 Because when you're on Base you probably don't make the connection that the food is from GB, then you get your weekend Pass and go to London/Edinburgh and go to the restaurants only to be served shit meat
I’m British, but something I discovered relatively recently was that during the Blitz, if your house was destroyed by German bombs it was just tough luck. No financial assistance was given and back then very few people had property insurance. People had to rely on the generosity of friends, relatives and neighbours. Quite amazing when you think about it
Insurers did not accept "War risks". The loss of their London home cost my mother's parents, then in their 60's dearly. I would not have rated any german's chance of escaping unscathed had my grandfather encountered him before he died 20 years later.
My mother’s family moved from Blackheath to Catford during the war, just a few months later their previous family home was bombed and the family who bought it were killed. My mother’s Catford home only suffered minor bomb damage in the latter part of the war.
Here's a little nugget of info. Britain didn't come of rationing until Tue crowning of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. And I believe it was at her request that rationing had to end, because how could the British celebrate if they had no food. The reason, as I remember, Britain was still rationed was because of the American Government at what we owed them. Which we only recently paid off. We also paid to help get Germany back in it's feet after the war, at we had nothing. And the Girl in the Land Army were not a literally army. They worked on Farms because all the young men had gone to fight in the war. And I didn't even know this film existed. So I find it upsetting how in old American war films the British forces were almost mocked and how Americans, even today, will say that if it wasn't for America we'd have been under German rule, when America didnt join until Pearl Harbor. This film should be shown again to all Americans so they know exactly how my Grandparents lived
And the fact that American's think our food is bland. That was because the Yanks bought that story back from the 2nd World War...because of rationing, and people had to make do.
You might understand now why our parents who fought in this war, And lived through the First World War too, and the depression , used to resent it when SOME, only SOME, Americans told them that “ We won the war , otherwise you would be speaking German”.
My farther born in 1939 on the isle of white told me a story this year. He and his mother lived alone whilst his farther was away and rationing was at its hardest they had 2 eggs a week one each. My father aged 3 carried the eggs to the kitchen table for his mother. During the task he dropped one and it broke on the floor. His mother watched it happen but didnt make a sound, not one word was ever said about it. She just turned away and started crying softly whilst cooking the other egg for my fathers dinner. When my father told me this story he started crying, hes 84 and the harsh momories of living through 6 yrs of war are still there. Thank you for watching and commenting on this film.
I'm from the Isle of wight and the amount of stories I've heard from grandparents and teachers about how they had to hide in corridors and other places when bombs were dropped over. The remaining bombs had to be dropped before landing, so they used to drop them over the island. One of my teachers told me how she grew up above a shop and that one day they had an emergency a town over and came back to their shop blown up.
It may interest you to look at the short UA-cam video entitled The Battle of Bamber Bridge. The British military hasn't had racial segregation since the early 1800s - the Navy never had it. So, when white GIs tried to insist that black GIs left a pub near their base, the locals threw out the white guys and welcomed the black GIs.
@@BrianBrown-f9iYes this is true and the American military police got involved which resulted in a fight and several people been shot and one black gi been killed all because the Americans trying to enforce their laws in the UK
@@BrianBrown-f9i Yup, the US military police insisted on racial segregation so the pubs in Bamber Bridge fully complied and put up signs saying "No white US GIs allowed" (or words to that effect). How does the phrase go again? "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes".
Most of the food eaten in the UK was home grown through the “Dig for Victory” campaign, where gardens, allotments and even quite a few stately home were turned into vegetable gardens to grow vegetables and fruit for your homes and for your neighbours. Dig for Victory was such a huge part of freeing up resources to in anyway possible to help keep people alive across the nation.
Is this why the present govt is actively discouraging British farmers from growing human food? Pensioners will starve quicker if food goes on getting more & more costly but the bankers & the importers make even larger profits in consequence.
It also cancelled all pre-existing house covenants preventing people from keeping livestock like chickens and rabbits for food - I discovered this when buying my house that had a “no keeping chickens” covenant from 1930 that was cancelled during the war so people could feed themselves as best they were able.
@@stevenhartley1350 I believe that’s why Woolton pie was invented, home grown vegetables flavoured with OXO. Somehow my Mum made it appetising. My favourite was Yorkshire pud with anything, sweet or savoury it suited me.
My mum, a nurse from one of the colonies, volunteered to go to England to nurse wounded military. She told me later that many of the doctors and nurses at the hospital near Birmingham were in their 60s and 70s and had come out of retirement. Incidentally, she met my future dad there too!
My father and 3 uncles served in the second world war. Dad volunteered at 18. Thank heavens they all came home. My mother grew up during the war. They were, without any shadow of doubt, the greatest generation.
Our Girls were amazing farming milking shearing feeding planting picking growing fruit vegetable forestry chopping trees for firewood and much more in control of horses wagons delivering letters making bombs ammo and most of the children was sent out to the country villages to stay with people with there own children out of harms way from bombs fires death.
These female ferry pilots were amazing. I've heard so many stories about them. One was ,when a bomber landed at an airfield in the south east of England, a woman got out and the ground crew asked "Where's the pilot". Apparently she said "You're looking at him". There must be film about these wonderful women. Anybody know?
No navigation aids then, it was maps & compasses & following railways, even in 1954 when my dad flew with the RAF on his National service, 'the draft' continued till the early 60's..
My husband's mother was a firefighter on the airfields. She never spoke about it but was always very close to the women she served with. She must have been very brave.
Yes and no. HRH Princess Elizabeth was in the army - she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Services (ATS) and trained as a driver and mechanic - but she wasn't HM Queen Elizabeth II until several years later. The queen at the time of the war, Queen Elizabeth (latterly The Queen Mother) did not serve in the army.
As a young child in 1952 I still remember my mother cracking an egg into a bowl and finding it was rotten sending me with the egg and bowl back to the shop to ask for a replacement. Up until seven years after the war ended and helping to rebuild Germany we Brits were still rationed on food items as we were still struggling with food shortages. I must also add that despite the Gung Ho supportive American tone of this documentary clip we mustn't forget that if the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbour , the USA would almost certainly have continued to sit on it's hands and watch from a distance as Britain along with it's commonwealth troops and Russia slugged it out with the Nazi's . I'm thankful for Americas contribution and salute all those Americans who eventually engaged and especially those who sacrificed their lives . BUT ! When after two years into the war America finally arrived I have to quote a comedian who pointedly asked "Where the f*ck have you guys been ! ? "
Same with my grandma who is also 102, she speaks of meeting and marrying my grandpa during the war. He'd give her his sugar ration when they went on a date.
@nugo520 aww that's lovely. My late grandad and my nan met in the war. My nan was seeing an airman and she wrote to him and he showed her letter all around the hut. Grandad was there and thought it was disrespectful so wrote to her to tell her then added. P.s I have no girl lol. He was a charmer
My late Gran used to tell me the blitz was the greatest time of her life. sounds mad but she met my grandad who was working on the underground she sheltered in.
All the children in major cities were evacuated to kept them safe.They stayed with complete strangers without their parents for up to 6 years My Mum was evacuated to Kent from London.
Yes, I was going to say that too, my mum was from Liverpool and she was evacuated to Wales. She had four families taking care of her. She was passed around a bit, but she and her sister were kept together.... Her brothers went to people the didn't know and they all never saw each other other for four years...
My mum lived though the whole war, in London, she was never evacuated (she was 10 yrs old in 1940). There were also many children who were evacuated, but came home after a few weeks or months, for many reasons (some times unpleasant ones).
My Grandfather didn't 'go to war', he was a coal miner up in Yorkshire, I've seen a census, not quite sure of the year, but every male member of the family over 14 worked in the colliery. During the war, miners were not only a protected occupation, but conscripts were chosen by lottery to work down the pits, such was the need for coal. It was then up to people like my Grandfather to teach them quickly how to work and survive underground. The Bevin Boys, as those conscripts were known, are almost a forgotten part of the war effort.
There was no Census in 1941because of the war, there was a sort of listing in 1939 that you can see on the internet, I'm afraid I have forgotten the title of it.
Then there was Thatcher...Battle of Orgreve, Blair ... Iraq & now Starmer: why did they bother? Not to benefit the present White Knight of the Right possibly?
One of my grandfathers, who fought in WW1, strangely enough although he had otherwise been a miner his entire life - in WW2 he was drafted to work in the shipyard!
Clement Attlee was the deputy PM of the coalition British government during WW2. While Churchill was the war time Prime Minister, sorting out the military affairs defending the nation, Attlee who was the leader of the Labour Party and was in charge of running Britain domestically. He was a machine and the unsung hero during the war. That man got things done. Under his leadership he kept Britain together. He was so popular that after the war Attlee won in a landslide election against Churchill. He created the national health service, brought in workers rights, the welfare state, nationalised all the major industries and built over one million new homes, brand new schools, hospitals and brought in a jobs training program for the soldiers returning home, all in 5 years in office. He is regarded as one of the greatest Prime Ministers in British history, some polls even above Churchill.
My grandfather volunteered for the Navy in 1939 and stayed for 13 years after the war ended, all of it in submarines. My great uncle was killed aged 17 in the war and his name is on our local cenotaph. My other grandparents met and married in the war. Same with my wife’s mother and father. That’s why we don’t forget. Brings a tear to my eye. Rationing continued for 8 years after the war, so both my parents had ration books.
You asked what it was like to live back then. I was born just after the war . As a child I remember not having any bedding we had old coats on the bed. No tv, no telephone, no fridge, no car or washing machine, no toys we made our own from whatever was lying around. Me and my friends would go to the famers fields and pinch a cabbage or a few carrots or whatever was growing for our families dinners. We had torn up news paper on a string for toilet paper. Winter with no heating except for a small parafin heater in one room, no hot water for a bath or shower we boiled the kettle and had a strip wash each day over the sink. But it was a great time to be alive back then, every parent was looking out for you it was safe and friendly. The no nonsense approach. Get on with it and be grateful that's what i remember most. We are all tough little bugggers . I love this country and the people. ❤️ ♥️
I often think about my Belgian grandmother, living under occupation during WW1 and WW2. I also think about my Belgian mother, having been 3yrs old when WW1 started, and in her 20s in WW2 in occupied Belgium. My father (WW2 British Commando) meeting her during liberation. I was born in 1953 in England, and thank god both my parents survived.
I was born in 1951 and remember rationing and shortages well into the 1950s. My parents lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s and then WW2. My father joined the army at 18 and was in active service in Europe from D-Day right through to the end of the war, fighting right through into Germany. My mother was in the Air Force in England. Britain took a long time to recover after the war but there was a pride that we and our allies took a stand.
My mum who is now 96 lived through all this and yet brought up 7 children who loved and cherish all of us. But the stories she and my dad told us well, today most people wouldn’t believe. Anyway thanks to the USA for all the help they gave us as we couldn’t have won the war without you.
Steve, as you are getting into history, the docuseries 'The World At War', made in the early 70's, is a must watch. I'm 10 episodes in and its an eye opener...
Rationing continued in the UK until 1953, not a strict as during the war years. When the Queen married Prince Phillip, the Nation donated some of their ration coupons towards her wedding. My Nan had 4 children, her husband was in the Army (fighting in North Africa) she worked 10 hours per day in a munitions factory. My Mum and her siblings had breakfast, lunch and tea at school. Every evening my Nan would make up a basket with sandwiches and a flask, lay out the children's siren suits (like snow suits) and gas masks. If the air raid siren sounded, she and the children would go into the cellar until the all clear. n the cellar she had set up 4 canvas cots and a small table and chair for herself. My Mum recalled one night the neighbour two doors down had her house hit by a bomb. The front of the house had fallen away, the kids all went to see Mrs Potter being rescued by the fire brigade. There she was sat up in bed, drinking a cup of tea. Tea is always the go to in the UK in any disaster. Some US and Canadian forces came to the UK, the women loved them for several reasons, not least a supply of nylons, lipstick chocolate and cigarettes but other food stuffs which were rationed in the UK. The British men used to say "Yanks, over paid, over sexed and over here" (sorry). During and following the war, there were a lot of babies, whose true Father's were American. The G.I.'s were popular amongst the women of the UK, yes even the married ones. It is not altogether true about lipstick, it was available here but only one colour (Red). Lipstick in those days was sold in refillable cases and women in the forces were issued it for free. The Government felt it was important for the morale of the men, that women looked good at all times. My Mum grew up in the late forties and early fifties (born in 1934). She told me when she went out dancing, stockings were still on ration and expensive. She used to stain her legs with gravy browning and draw a line up the back with her eyebrow pencil, so it looked like she was wearing seamed stockings.
Memories are flooding back to those early childhood days of 1940s for people like me. I wrote a very long comment after watching Part 1 of your videos. Thank you for doing these. This is why many oldies are patriotic, their memories are of their brave, steadfast parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles etc who stood up with resilience in the horrid 5 to 6 years of WW2 against Hitler. We all have many stories I'm sure. eg: My late mother-in-law told me (and this is typical of that generation in war-time) did not know how she was going to make a substantial meal one. She begged the greengrocer to 'give' her those tiny little potatoes which had dropped through the bottom wire-racks full of potato-dirt. The ones so small, like pebbles, that you cannot peel. My father was away serving and she had 5 children of all ages to feed and no money left from her weekly amount. The greengrocer did give her those tiny wee potatoes and added a couple of normal size too. She made a meal somehow. She said they were such awful times. Youngsters today have no idea how it was. Even I don't, because our mothers and grandmothers always somehow "put a meal on the table". That German Officer on the film was of course talking propaganda because - we of my age "know" how courageous our own elders were back then. Most of our male relatives were fighting - or working in ammunition factories. Women worked in the factories taking the place of the men, so to keep work-production up. My grandfather was in WW1 at 17 yrs of age and then in WW2 in a non-combative role but doing valuable work to help the WW2 war effort. My eldest sister was in the Land Army. Three uncles were in the RAF, Army and one was in the Royal Navy. Make no mistake - That British generation DID fight for "today's Freedom" - whether serving - or at home! Thank you for your interest in this, and of course today, Germany and Britain are friends and united in many things. But what a waste of 'whole younger generations' back then. We should thank them and remember them always.
Very well put Penny. My mother’s responsibility was to stand on the roofs of London buildings at night spotting incendiary bombs. Buckets of sand were all that was available to put the fires out! I was born after the war so only just remember rationing but we also received the bottle of sickly orange Vitamin C to make up for the lack of fruit and veg, plus a daily teaspoon of thick malt. We had a grandma living with us who could create a wholesome meal for 6 out of scraps. Those were the days!
My grandma was a little girl living in London and she was evacuated to Wales 🏴 and stayed with a wonderful family , apparently she came back chubby as they fed her so well ❤❤❤❤
my grandma was a little girl near Newport in Wales, and she said they had evacuees from London living with them during the war. they just had fun, and were kids. they didn't know any different. She would have been about 10 when the war ended.
One of the fascinating aspects of the US presence in Britain duriny WW2, was the difference in attitude to race between the UK & US. The USA insisted on keeping its segregationist policies whilst in the UK, but could not control private British businesses & establisments. That meant, for the first time, many American troops found themselves at the same bars, restaurants & shops as their racial counterparts. The British government fretted about their populations response to suddenly having a lot of black people in their communities, these were often smaller cities or towns & rural areas that did not have an established black British population. But, on the whole, according to accounts from black American troops, they found the overall reception relatively positive & found they had far greater social leverage in the UK than in the USA. Times have changed, some times it does feel we are going backwards, but that is a moment in history that I think we should never forget.
In 1940 there were just 14,000 black people here in UK. Imagine what it must have been like when all of a sudden there were another 50,000 black people, most of whom had never left their own state before they were inducted into the military.
I've seen another film for American servicemen coming to Britain, and they make a particular point of "don't be surprised to see black and white solders being treated equally".
This made me cry asi did part 1. The sacrifice and pain they went through from risking their own lives to saving others. Going without and not knowing if you can feed your children today or tomorrow. I think it hit home how this country is selling out now, knowing what our ancestors did to save the world. Thank you guys for showing this, I've watched you many times but this truly touched me ❤
My mum was born in 1940 and remembers sleeping in her grandparent's Anderson Shelter. She also remembers drawing lines on the back of her mum's legs to make it look like she was wearing stockings - her dad (my granddad) was captured by the Japanese and holds the Burma Star... he was 6ft 3 and when released his weight was 7 stone.
This was not a propaganda film, it was a kind of public service film for the US troops to enable them to see the different ways that Britain was acting and dealing with the war. At that time Americans never visited Britain and vice versa, two countries being forced together for the first time.
Thank you. I'm so proud of my parents. My Dad (who would have been 103 this month) fought as a Desert Rat in North Africa and my Mum who was a child during the war and experiencedbombings and rationing. She sadly passed this year but would have been 90 last month. These videos keep what they endured and did for the world alive. A truly inspiring generation. Thanks again
I commented it yesterday, and I'll comment it again today. They were "The Greatest Generation". Both my parents lived through the war. As I said yesterday, my Dad was a young man who fought in the war (Royal Engineers), and my Mum was 6 years old when the war began and 12 when it ended. My Dad passed away at 90 in 2014 and my Mum was a month short of her 85th birthday in 2017.
There’s a great collection of series about historic farms, where a historian and 2 archaeologists try and run a farm for a year as it was and they did a Wartime Farm series that’s worth a watch - and of course you’ll see a bit about the Land Army there
Women's Land Army -- Over 80,000 young women were drafted _en masse_ as agricultural workers. My grandmother was one of them. She said it was hard work, but she made friends that lasted the rest of her life.
Just for clarification, these women were needed because the men were in the military forces or in strategic reserved occupations such as coal mining or steel production.
My M I L was in the land army and lost all the toes on one foot when’s he overbalanced on top of a threshing machine and her foot went into the blades. Her dad made her a shoe insert and she took up dressmaking, I called her my war hero . A fantastic woman who got dementia and forgot her daughter but not me. We love you Jean Edmunds nee Dunn.
My Mum was very young during the war. She lived (still does) in Cornwall, high on a hill looking down towards Plymouth. My Grandmother was a nurse based at Plymouth dockyard. One of my mums earliest memory is watching bombs being dropped onto the city and the whole city being on fire. Knowing that her mother was in the middle of it. (My grandmother lived well into her 80's)
My mum was a girl in Plymouth she ran into a strangers house when a fighter machine gunned the street , she could see the pilots face . At least one man was killed .She only told the full story once and it brought home what her childhood was like . War is evil and still going on in far too many places .The children were evacuated after that .
We dont owe the world anything we've paid enough in one way or another- to think otherwise is an insult to my parents and the parents, grandparents of everybody in this country- now we are being attacked from within and need the balls and strength of will of those people now 🇬🇧🏴
It was reiterated a few times in the video that the whole country was fighting for, among other things, their country, freedom of speech and their children's future. My parents, grand parents and great grandparents would be disgusted with what this country is becoming and their sacrifices were for nothing if we don't make immediate changes
@@prepcon-1exactly- there was more cohesion and pride amongst people back then- wokeness has destroyed that , many being more concerned about their own twee world and perceived"needs"than loyalty to their country and fellow citizens- wokies put the needs of aliens before loyalty- the irony is the same aliens consider it their right to take what isn't theirs and disrespect with an arrogance that is breathtaking 🇬🇧🏴
@@mick6721certainly are- also by enabled woke activists and the pronoun warriors who seem to think we give a shit about their selfish feelings🇬🇧🏴
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rgactually Carol, all of that is online 'divide and conquer' propaganda tactics from Russia and China, and you've fallen for it because you have no compassion for other people in your own country. You are being used as a tool for Britain's decline. Congratulations.
One thing this film missed is that at the beginning of the war most of the children from the cities were sent away on a national scheme to live with people in the countryside in order to spare them the horrors of the expected air raids. Many never saw their families again and more than a few ended up under the governance of abusive carers.
I hope this video goes some way to explain why it's so offensive to many when Americans blithely claim to have 'won the war' given the vast majority of Americans know so little about what Britain endured throughout the war, even civilians.
That's interesting that you say that, because I've literally never heard a single American say WE "won the war," in reference to WW2. Maybe it was a generational thing back then? But I've never witnessed this.
@@reactingtomyroots Nope. Even today some Americans will say it, especially online. Take a look at Quora as one example, on that platform they love telling British people how we'd all be speaking German if it wasn't for them and they genuinely believe that's true. Also, research how the US stole the blueprints for nuclear warheads from the UK. The US was ultimately enriched by WWII, while the UK utterly broke herself and what thanks do we get around the world today... we're treated like poop, even by some traitors among us.
@@reactingtomyroots Unfortunately, over the years, I've heard it a lot from various age ranges. There does seem to this thing where many Americans, sadly, believe that America somehow single-handedly won WWII, completely dismissing the role of Britain ('we saved your asses') and Russiain the war. You probably don't hear it because you're not British and therefore it's not a thing someone would say to you. There's at least 18 people who recognises what I've said.
@@ulyssesthirteen7031 There are a LOT of totally clueless and totally brain-dead Yanks who believe THEIR OPINIONS are facts. I'm 82 and English and have lived and worked in the US and find many Yanks to be obnoxiously arrogant and self-serving opinionated jerks. Sure - U WUN DA WAR 4 US - in a pigs ear. Yank soldiers were called green and not battle ready until 1943 by THEIR OWNGENERALS, with some saying not until 1944. US troops were lacking in discipline, lacking in respect for their officers and acted like gung-ho down-on-the-farm UNPROFESSIONAL Mavericks. Many killed each other by "friendly fire". Read some honest US history - IF you can read.
@@reactingtomyroots I think there is a certain hollywood-isation of events that in Britain can be viewed as narrative changing. Its funny, most of the movies about British involvement in WWII was made either during WWII itself (as propaganda) or in the two decades after the war, We pretty much stopped making movies about WWII in the 70's But Hollywood has continued and so most films and tv series of the last 30 years tend to be very much from the American perspective, so it creates that perception that WWII was all about the americans. And a lot of it, like the recent Masters of the Air series take a lot of liberties with the truth and their portrayal of the British sadly. Hollywood has really shaped what people think happened in WWII As for the other, I've been told "If it wasnt for us you'd be speaking german" more times than I can remember :D
I'm 60 years old, British born & bred... I have NEVER heard the word "Britisher" ... Whether we are just 1 or 1,000,000 we ARE BRITISH Bless you Lindsay, when you eventually make it over here, both of you & your little one will be highly thought of once people see your true humble characters 😘😘
Thank you both for your interest and comments. I was born in 1953, proud to be a Londoner. Grew up with stories of the Blitz and my playgrounds were "bomb sites", the meaning of which only hit me in my teens, that we played in rubble where there used to be houses and people had died! My recently deceased father was a mid upper turret gunner in bomber command and had several close calls, one of which was ditching in the North Sea and being in a life raft there for 2 days b4 rescue. He also crewed planes bringing people, diplomats and other important people, back from the concentration camps. He was a very quiet, lovely placid man but used to explode when he heard the concentration camp deniers speak!! In his later years, laid up after a hip replacement, i and my 2 children, asked him to write his memoirs. He did, reluctantly, i typed them out and a copy is in the Bomber Comand Museum. Would send you a copy if interested. My mother was in the Land Army, and life for these ladies was tough, really tough. Very few farms had heavy-duty machines then, she ploughed with shire horses. I cringe when I see all these people going off about life today, they have NO IDEA and the way they behave I thank goodness my parents are no longer here to see what the UK they risked their lives for has become😢. My late father in law was 2nd in command on the flagship of the Malta Convoy, Operation Pedastal, and was awarded the DSC by King George. You will probably be interested in learning about the German invasion of our Channel Islands early on the in war and the islanders lived many years under occupation of the Germans, the only part of the UK to be invaded in the war. Life was tough under occupation. Thank you for your interest. Do you know anything about your British ancestors? Nana Karen UK
Appreciate you sharing your family's perspective and contribution of the war with us, Karen. It helps us understand a little bit better what life was truly like back then for you all. How special that you were able to get him to share all of his memories and compile it. Would be an interesting read! As far as our British ancestors, we don't know a lot but Lindsay's ancestry that we've traced so far is primarily from the southern part of England. My UK ancestry that I've traced so far is a bit more varied: Mid-England, Ireland, Wales... so I'm a mutt 😂
@@reactingtomyroots The thing about drafting men in their 50s is happening right now in the Ukraine,my nephews father in law couldn't attend his daughters wedding because he was afraid of been drafted if he left his city
My Dad was 7 when the war started. He met a lot of American servicemen after the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. His home (my home town) was under 10 miles from the coast, so the exhausted soldiers were brought to civilian homes to sleep. My Grandparents gave up their bedroom and my Dad went into his sisters room, top to tailing in her bed. They had 6 soldiers in the home for 3 days - two in each of the vacated bedrooms and 2 in the tiny sitting room. My Grandparents slept on the kitchen floor. No one complained. And Gran managed to feed the extra mouths - plain food, but 3 meals a day. And they received a lot of treats for many years, at Christmas, from the soldiers who survived later battles. (4 were either killed or injured - they never knew which) I am married to a man 22 years older than me. He is 84 and was born in 1940. He lived through 5 years of war in London. The one time he was evacuated to the countryside, his Mum was able to go with him for 4 months as she had a smaller child, too. He remembers bombing and bomb sites. He remembers rationing and only seeing 'tropical' fruits at Christmas. He also remembers food parcels arriving from New Zealand (where we now live) containing old formula cans, filled with lard (in short supply in the UK) with whole, raw eggs suspended in it for baking - and how it was his task to find the eggs without breaking them. One of his more lasting memories was having his tonsils removed in a hospital some distance from London.. Visiting was once a month. And he wasn't there for that day, so for 10 days saw no-one he knew. There was a playground - but it was out of bounds because it had just been painted, and the paint took a week to dry. And, as is the norm, he was given ice cream to eat while his throat was sore - but it had bones in it (actually not bones,but huge ice crystals) so he wouldn't eat it! That experience put him off certain foods for over 50 years!
Really appreciate you sharing all the personal anecdotes, Liz. It definitely helps give us a better sense of what life would have been like for you all back then. Much love to you and your family. ❤️
@@sueKay My father was born in Glasgow in 1935 and never left the city until he came south in the 60s. My mum was born in North Herts (Herts borders the northern side of London) in 1936, so grew up watching waves of German bombers flying overhead and the southern sky lit red every night. Fortunately though only 3 bombs ever fell on this town with all 3 failing to detonate (that's some precision German engineering for you). The 3rd was only discovered in 1989, if I could be so bold and give an anecdote about the day: I was working a part time evening job at a local car dealership, one evening there was a knock at the door, it was a policeman. He explained that a demolition crew bringing down the old long derelict factory (that produced shell casings during the war) had discovered a WW2 German bomb lodged into the foundations of the basement (likely randomly ditched by a lost plane or one retreating from RAF fighters) and the bomb squad were on route to deal with it. 20 minutes later the same officer returned and explained that for safety reasons they were not going to attempt to defuse it, instead they would detonate it. So I made a cuppa and sat outside, just a road width away from the factory wall and lit a cigarette. The bomb went off, it was the closest thing to an earthquake I have experienced, and I realised that no matter how I tried I was incapable of conceiving what people went through during the Blitz. We have had things so comfortable and peaceful due to that one single generation's sacrifice and grit.
Many people who were either infants or not yet born at the beginning of the war didn’t know what a banana or an orange looked like until after the end of hostilities and when such fruits became available they had to be taught how to peel them prior to eating them. There were a few youngsters who were fortunate to have relatives who had served in foreign countries or had shore leave in more exotic harbours and had returned home either on leave or that had left the forces for civilian life, who brought a few fruits that were rare or even unknown in this country as gifts for their families, but such treats were few and far apart, in some cases they didn’t become widely available until well after the war even into the 1950’s. And as others have also mentioned general rations of some items such as candy remained on ratio until the Queen was crowned. Of course there was always someone who knew someone else who knew a man who could obtain things for a price.
You need to check out exactly how LITTLE people were allowed to have in food etc during rationing. Weekly rations were, BUTTER; 4 OUNCES BACON; 4 OUNCES TEA; 2 OUNCES SUGAR; 8 OUNCES MEAT; 1 SHILLINGS WORTH CHEESE; 1 OUNCE JAM; 1 POUND EVERY 2 MONTHS MILK; 3 PINTS EGGS;1 PER WEEK It didn't end until 1954 !
Children in the major cities, especially London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, were sent to the countryside and smaller towns to live with strangers to keep them safe from the German bombings. There was a film made in the 70s, filmed my home town, called The Ecavuees that was about children sent from Manchester to live around Blackpool and the Fylde.
About 25 years ago when I was a teenager my dad took me for a (slow) walk to a place near past Middleton near Rochdale that's now a country park. You can just see the City of Manchester from there and reminisced about watching bombs drop from there as a young man with his father. He had me when he was very, very old (somehow). He was born in 1927. As a relatively younger person born into a time with comfort, tech my Dad finds utterly bewildering and access to stuff he never saw like fruit it's unimaginable. He has some terrifying memories of the war, rationing, people passing, a time and life I can never hope to understand.
My Mum used to use tea to stain her legs to look like stockings and draw a line down the back of her leg to look like a stocking seam. She was born in 1929
My Grandfather worked as an engineer in a munitions factory in Coventry during the blitz of 1940. Coventry was a huge centre of aircraft manufacturing and, as such, was almost totally levelled by the Luftwaffe. The entire city had to be pretty much rebuilt in the aftermath of the war, resulting in its somewhat drab concrete appearance nowadays. The Blitz gave rise to the German verb Koventrieren (literally to Coventrate'), meaning "to annihilate or reduce to rubble". I have no idea how he managed to survive but am so grateful that he did because he was a wonderful kind, gentle man. He was not very tall, but he had the upper body strength of an ox. He would easily carry around concrete breezeblocks that I couldn't even lift when I was in my 20s. A few months before he died at the age of 78 I remember him wanting to go out to buy a new pick axe because he had worn his old one down to a nub working in the garden!
My grandad was in the home guards and worked making tanks, my dad remembers waking up to air raid sirens and going into the shelters, my auntie caught diphtheria at 3 from being in the air raid shelter with such a concentration of people, sadly died in an isolation hospital, I never knew where she was buried until recently when I located her in an unmarked grave, she will never again be lost or forgotten, Agnes Beryl Wall 1937 - 1940
My Dad when he went from Liverpool to New York during WW11 told me he was always met by an American family who would take him back to their place and give him a cooked meal, the friendship between the UK and USA will always be strong because of our shared values.
@@MrMyers758 Most older Brits have grown up with parents and grandparents who remember the war vividly. My gran had what I only realised as an adult was PTSD. She was a stern, doughty character, but if the weather even looked thundery she would start to tremble and stutter. Bombed more times than many a soldier.
@@eh1702my mum was bombed out 3x. Never had a bed next to a wall ‘cos when her house was bombed the wall fell on her bed & she had a poorly leg… was in Alderhey Hospital (Liverpool)… I grew up with stories about the war as all of us ‘baby boomers’ did… still bomb sites in L’pool for decades after the Blitz… My Aunty had a great time with American servicemen … apparently 😉😂 Stoic generation 👍
My nanna and my husbands parents who have passed away used to talk about the war with rationing and even hiding under the table years later after the war had finished when planes flew over. My in-laws even were careful and looked after things years later. I think the war made a great impression. On my fathers side my relatives didn’t go to war as they were miners and on my husbands side they were farmers so remained to grow crops etc. people were asked to make their gardens into allotments to grow veggies too.
My grandparents kept their ration books up until they passed away. I have fond memories of my nana explaining them as a young kid. A common bit of history but the story behind them will never be forgotten.
My mother was born during an air raid in 1941. One of her earliest memories is of being a toddler in an air raid shelter. Somebody had painted sheep varieties on the wall to cheer the place up. Her favourite was the fluffy Merino sheep.
I’m British but I’m so humble with your assessment of us Brits. You came to our rescue no doubt and we will be forever grateful . Britain and America are as one and always will be ❤️
One of my grandfathers served in the RAF during the war, and my other grandfather was born at the height of the blitz. My grandmother and great grandmother told me stories about living in England during World War Two. During the lockdown in 2020-2021, the queue to go into the supermarket was very, very long. The food and drink was rationed by the supermarket, and there were various things that weren’t getting into the shops for us to buy. Many people got sick and died without their families being allowed to be with them to say goodbye to them. I told my grandmother that I couldn’t complain, because I was grateful to have a roof over my head, at least some food to eat, and I wasn’t dead, and she said that’s similar to what they felt when they had been evacuated from the cities during the war. There wasn’t much food, there were long queues for everything, and they couldn’t be around their loved ones when they were being killed by bombs or bullets, but they were grateful to have a home, a little bit of food, and no immediate threat of death.
Even though I was born five years after the war, I still have in my box of useless stuff, my ration card which my mother kept for me. Meat rationing didn't end until 1954.
You sound like a propaganda machine. I dispute that. There were plenty of mal - or under - nourished children (and adults) due to rationing, which meant essential nutrients were in short supply/bare minimum. Also, the effects of rationing persisted for decades after it ended, with attitudes around food. 'Waste not, want not' was a common phrase that was around long after rationing ended, along with children being forced to clear their plates still in the 60s/70s/80s and if they didn't, then punished/chastised/guilt-tripped for not doing so. Rationing 'ptsd' led to the pendulum swinging too far in the other direction; an unhealthy attitude toward especially 'filling' stodgy food that was filling but not particularly healthy. That, in turn, led to health problems for at least a generation or two of conditions such as clogged arteries, high cholesterol, heart problems and generally being overweight. Tell me again how rationing was ultimately beneficial? Let's hope somebody with the same mindset as you is never put in charge of the nation's food consumption, talk about being blind in one eye, yikes.
I saw a very touching segment on Antiques Roadshow where during the war English children were being sent by ship to Canada and they were showing a letter written and sent by a little girl to her parents as she was due to embark. The family received the letter but the little girl, and all the children, were lost when the ship was bombed by the German luftwaffe. So sad. 😢
My mother and her sister were supposed to be evacuated to Canada from Middlesbrough ( then an important port and steel city) but the ship prior to theirs was torpedoed and my grandmother refused to send them
My husband remembers being rushed down the garden to the air raid shelter during air raids because “the jerries are coming”. I have always maintained that my positive outlook is because I was born 9 months after peace was declared, I was obviously a celebration.
Sounds a bit like my family. Grandfather was a former Guardsman working in the Post Office with a baby daughter and got recalled in '39 Grandfather was wounded at Dunkirk, Mum was born in '41 Grandfather was wounded in Italy, One of my Aunts was born in '44 Grandfather Demobbed and my youngest Aunt was born within the year
It is sad that a lot of people in the UK despised Americans for the first few years of the war. From Joseph Kennedy supporting Hitler, to the cost of lend/lease and the pure isolationism of American politicians. I know that a lot of my parents generation found it very hard to forgive our supposed oldest allies.
They only ever join the winning side late enough for the outcome to be reasonably certain, as in the Great War. Japan perhaps forced their hand with Pearl Harbour. On their own they lose: Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan... Never trust any nation willing to throw tea into a dock."Special relationship"? Not really.
Who is our supposed oldest ally? It certainly isn't America! Even France, our oldest enemy, has been an ally longer than America and an ally that didn't sit on it's arse doing nothing for the majority of two world wars!
Thank you Steve and Lyndsay, covering this honours all those men (and women) who sacrificed so much for the freedoms of others. You are an amazing couple.
My Ma & Pa lived thru Ww2. Dad joined the Royal Air Force. Mum the War Office. They were blessed & came home. I think rationing went on into the 1950's. I came along in 1967 when my Pa was 45. They r still my heroes, although in heaven now. My Ma Ma was 93 when God called her home.💕 You in the USA are a great nation and also heroes to me.Thank you for all u gave and all u did.❤ God blessed us all.🩷🇺🇸🇬🇧 P.s. my sister is a a US citizen of some 25 years. So u r my family😊.
Except the Lincoln/( Lancaster modified) bombers which used to growl their way over our bungalow one mile from the runway both day and night on training exercises. RAF Watton , Norfolk. 1955ish. Phil
Wow that was a real tear jerker of an ending, couple of storys you may enjoy: My Great Grandmother got married during the Blitz, she had a wedding dress made from old parachutes that she and friends had saved and swapped for. Her wedding cake was just a plain fruit cake with no icing but they would put a biscuit tin over the top of it that was plastered and painted to look like a huge fancy cake, it was known as a 'dustmans wedding cake' (dustman aka garbage man). During the ceremony there was an air raid and they all decided to remain in the church and finish the proceedings rather than stop and all head to the air raid shelter. She lived until her late 80s and was a beautiful soul, our family still use some of her hilarious one-liners. She used to called sausages 'widows memories' 🤣 My Grandfather (on the other side of the family) was a teenager during the war, he was an apprentice bookbinder in Canterbury, one night during the blitz almost half of Canterbury town was flattened and the fires melted all of the lead paint on the buildings, he had a vivid memory of riding his bike to the book binders and through streams of multi-coloured paint as it ran through the streets. He had fond memories of the powdered eggs during the war, as you could make an omlette with them as big as you liked! A little bit like pancake batter I suppose. He was desperate to join the army but was only old enough to join right at the very tail end of WW2, he still received a service medal, he ended up being deployed to Palestine during the 1948 war there. I've watched both of your videos on this film and have noticed quite a few negative comments from us Brits, particularly about the 'special relationship'. Please know that this is directed at the many governments since the war years and not the American people, who I've only known to be kind and polite in person. God bless.
I was born in 1955, the year after rationing ended. My dad was born in 1933 and was evacuated from London as were a majority of kids. My nan wanted him back, she said it was her responsibility to look after him. Unfortunately he died 2 years ago, the stories he told was fascinating. As a kid he enjoyed the war, he went missing from school and would collect shrapnel, amongst many other things.
I was born in 1958 _(two older sisters and a younger brother)_ ; my mum and dad _(including all the neighbours and friends)_ still had the 'rationing mentality' for many years afterwards. So food was VERY hearty and healthy, with nothing going to waste. In fact, as a kid, we ONLY had a pantry and NO fridge until about the middle of the 60's! I always remember a huge pan of soup on top of the cooker which was 'topped up' each day and ALWAYS started the evening meal. It had a ham bone for stock, along with lentils, barley and veg etc. Even as I write this I can 'taste' it and now want to go and make some... 😋
I don't think Americans realise just how hard it was for Britain fighting alone until they were pushed by Japan in 1941 to joing the war.., Bombed every night, rationing, evacuation etc, Even Queen Elizabeth 2nd worked as a mechanic! Palace grounds turned in to gardens to help grow food... So you can imagine why the British bite back to Americans who say "if it wasn't for America, Europe would be speaking German " In European eyes America only joined when it was attacked by Japan. This isn't a 'dig' at you , just a bit of context... love your channel!
@@ItsSpecialHands The phrase 'Britain fought alone' refers to the country not the people. Every single person in Britain is fully aware of the part our Commonwealth allies played, thanks.
My Grandfather was 75% deaf so he couldn't go into service. But he worked at Shell before the war in the offices but during war they relocated him (with Grandma and one kid) to a pumping station. He drove petrol around the country making it double dangerous - first from the possibility of driving into an air raid area and second from racketeers.
I'm English and old footage of wartime like this, makes me cry. The population was so strong and united in those days, and they sacrificed, and gave, so much. Imagine all that being asked of people in the West today - people who get upset when the internet is down for half hour, or have to go into the office 5 days a week. Despite all the nefarious bs going on these days, we honestly don't know we're born.
When you look at a total ration for a week in the war, today some people eat that in one meal, my grandmother would go mad if I ever left any food on my plate. My step fathers dad worked in East moors steelworks in Cardiff on the furnaces, and he did fire watching on buildings also. People were so resilient then, thank god.
I’m not sure we can say that when we have just been through covid and people pulled together, for the most part followed the rules and made sacrifices for the greater good. People do what they need to when the chips are down. Let’s just be grateful it hasn’t been necessary in the same way in our lifetimes.
Hello, I went back to work as a home carer during covid and met a older lady that said she was more scared of covid than when she was in the war. The reason was that covid was/is invisible and even her own children could catch it, (which she couldn't have visit) as this could kill her in her fragility. I made sure I worked on her 97th birthday and I cleaned all the cards/gifts left outside her door so she could have some happiness in that time. The stories she told me were awesome and I am grateful for that time.
My granddad was an electrical engineer in the merchant navy during ww2, even when all the ships around him were being torpedoed, his never was, so he was considered a lucky charm lol people would request to be on the same ship as him!. He had webbed toes, and the superstition about people with webbed goes is that they'll never drown!
It was really nice hearing those credits given to the people of the days of war. There were some really nice insights into deeper, unspoken topics. Really informative and always builds respect for all those involved from every part of the world. Their sacrifices were for decency to survive. We will always remember them.
As a "boomer", I did not experience the war. However, i think that I am who I am because my parents lived during the war. Mum was aged 6 to 12, my dad, 9 to 15. Dad started his working life right at the very end, so he would have done war work. As a result of their experiences, mum and dad were frugal, hated waste, lived for the moment, and took pleasure in simple things. They passed these traits on to me. As I grew up, this was how my neighbours were as well. Now, at 70, I think that those traits, forged in adversity, have given me a good life.,
You guys got me in tears again . Second day running. My granma was in the Land Army and My grandad in the Home Guard as he was considered an essential worker being a farm labourer. They told me a lot of stories and this brought it all back. Im so proud of my ancestors. They gave up virtually everything to ensure we had a future.. it majes me sick to thonk what a mess is being made of our country now. My other grandparents . Nana worked in a munitions factory that was regularly bombed and my other Grandad also worked down the coal mines in horrific conditions to get fuel for the Ships. Wow what amazing people they were. We should never ever forget their sacrifices. Everyone was on the front line in one way or another. Thank you for showing this and your honest reactions. You are good people and our firm allies no matter what politicians say or do, we ARE cousins of the closest kind. Nanas sister even married an American soldier and spent the rest of her life in the US.
My great great Scottish uncle fought in boer war 1898, WW1 then was a merchant seaman in WW2 . I have his many medals . He died in 1962 but I had met him x
My friends mum was pulled out of a bombed home as a child during the Blitz. She was 3-ish I think & the experience stunted her physical growth and she remains under 5ft tall. Rationing that created the 'bland food' idea as women had to be creative with very little - there was something called Murkey, which was a fake turkey, there are books on recipes from that time.
At the end of the war Britain asked the US if we could have 2 years grace before we started paying back the Lend Lease bill, simply to kickstart our economy, which was by then at rock bottom. The answer was "No". Germany, however, received a great deal of help and this led to a lot of bitterness in the UK. A common saying at the time was "We won the war but Germany won the peace." It took the UK decades to repay the Lend Lease bill, and I'm afraid the British people have long felt that the 'special relationship', we supposedly have with the US, is often a bit one sided.
It only works one way.
My Dad remembered Churchill choosing NOT to continue cooperation with our European Allies post war, and getting the loan instead. The rest of Europe worked together and grew back quicker. My Dad also referred to Churchill as xenophobic and that there was a xenophobic rot in the Conservative Party then, which still continues, hence Brexit. I don't doubt my Dad thought Churchill was a good wartime PM. He was just a poor peace time one.
The relationship had been pretty one sided in the other direction for a few centuries up to that point. I don't think you can really look at things in isolation, before WW2 we were largely despised by many Americans and until Pearl Harbour almost as many wanted to join the war on Germany's side than on ours, purely over that historic resentment. In fact, it's a little known fact that a couple of years before WW2 FDR commissioned a plan into the feasibility of driving Britain out of the Americas completely, it concluded that they would have to take Canada within 6 months to stand any chance because after 6 months 4 million Empire troops would have arrived there to overwhelm the then US military, and between Canada and the Caribbean the Royal Navy, which at that point massively outnumbered the US Navy, would have had free reign over the east coast. It is also likely that we would have also ceded Europe to the Germans as a result.
It's always been one sided- they never assisted during the Falklands conflict for example- think the mindset of America is that we are the little people to be used as it suits them- 🇬🇧🏴
Yes I was a 1946 baby and can remember seeing a banana for the first time ,also my dad telling me that JFK dad was ambassador to England and told everyone we would lose the war and America should not get involved.
I wish they showed this film to everyone in the UK now. Puts a lot into perspective about how hard our ancestors fought for freedom and equality for all nations and races.
I totally agree with you I wish they would show it in the schools as our children are being g taught a false narrative regarding our history
Oh come on?! After what we did to the world? We basically invented all of the Nazis tactics. It's why it was a threat to the British empire.... Churchill was worried the Nazis would replace it. You can only think about how great 'we' were for all nations and "races" (race is not a real thing by the way so it's kinda gross to use it here especially given the fact that so called race science was a key motivator behind Nazi aggression and violence) in regards to this one moment in history.its desperate clawing patriotism. I don't deny we have some proud moments in our history but ultimately we have not been a force for good overall!
I couldn't agree more this little film should be put out now on every channel .because John Britain no longer exists .x
Would be lost on half of them being incapable of speaking english.
@@michellejones1618 We all know they want to subvert the idea of an island nation of white people working together into some multinational agenda where the only thing they care about is if and when they have sex. They have some warped idea that germans were created out of want for sex. It completely bonkers. That's why we have so much push on sex-ed.
If you think I'm insane and not grounded in reality just follow through with the Frankfurt school into discovering the Nazi mind. They had alot of fun with kids back then. I should add that wasn't the Germans but the 'scientists'
Yep we're a stubborn breed of bastards. Don't anyone say our country doesn't know freedom, our families lived fought and died for the freedom of the world.
Looks like we're going to have to get stubborn again in the coming months!
Which is why the incidents such as Bamber Bridge (one of many such, wherever black US servicemen were stationed) occurred. Brits don’t like being ordered around by foreigners in their own country.
Yep spot on mate.@@theshiftybloke4672
@@theshiftybloke4672 when I see the news from the UK I wonder what happened to the country where everyone looked out for each other. I can see AUS heading in a similar direction unfortunately. We're not quite as bad as back home, but the more non commonwealth immigration, we have the more problems we inherit.
@@Pomdownuder immigration wasn't my point, it was more putin saying don't fire the storm shadows at us
I’m 92 years old and was evacuated, with my sister to Cornwall when I was 7 years old. We lived in Paddington and left with lots of school children. We missed the whole of the War. Returned to London when I was 12.1/2 years old. I do remember food rationing, and as a child, wondered why we always had sliced home made bread with thick clotted cream and blackberry and apple jam (both picked from the hedgerows) on our bread for “tea”. There was little butter for spreading on bread! Most all food was rationed except vegetables and even those, at times were scarce, so sometimes you might only be able to buy 3 carrots! I was really shocked to see all the bomb damage in our streets when we arrived home. MaryG
Thank you for sharing, it really helps adding the "human" story
I’m 90 and was also evacuated. My brother and I went to Bognor Regis, we stayed two years, our parents thought that the worst was over in the summer of 41. That was far from correct as we were all to find out. Our home fortunately never had a direct hit but the blast shattered our home many times. We lived near Clapham Junction, obviously a prime spot as the aim was disrupt transport of goods and personnel. The V1 and V2 rockets were terrifying. There was no warning and watched several come down flattening so many places, the debris we cleared up time and time again. The brave home guards and ARP wardens, mostly elderly folk themselves, dug out so many from the destroyed homes. Just look at Ukraine now it will give you an idea of what life was like for us. By the way my Dad was a stoker in the gas works so exempt from being called up.
@@RosemarieBeaney my great grandfather was a police officer. He used to tell my dad that his heart sank every time he heard a doodlebug flying over.
I am not far behind you in age. at 88
My parents lived through the war. It must be profoundly odd to have your childhood treated as history. It's weird enough being old enough to understand life without the internet. :)
one sailor torpedoed 6 times? must be Uncle Albert
"During the war..."
RIP Buster.
😂😂
Ah yes Buster! 😢
😂😂😂😂 top comment
😂😂 deffo
It's an honour to hear you say you respect us Brits as a nation, but let's not confuse matters. The respect should go entirely to the generation of people who lived through this period in time (both World Wars). Most of us alive in Britain today have barely an ounce of the resilience, bravery and fortitude that our parents' and grandparents' generations had. Let's hope that WWIII never breaks out, because we would be an embarrassment to the memory of their victory.
Every generation likes to claim their kids are soft. And yet every time people are called upon it's the kids that will step up. Do you think the same of Ukraine's Gen Z right now? If that landed on our doorstep you can be damn sure British kids would be stepping up again.
Doubt that mate - a lot of them too entitled and coddled , and that fact would make it harder for those grounded and self reliant younger generation,thank God , that we still have - back in the day all the youth were like that ,can't say that these days unfortunately 🇬🇧🏴
For Americans, war is something that happens far away and also something the military handle. Most don’t truly appreciate how all-encompassing the war was for Britain, how existential, and how close to home it was.
This was eye opening, for sure!
That's not really true mate, the US Civil War was the precursor to WW1. That's the war where the brutality of trench warfare began, and it was both brutal and vicious and there were still survivors of that alive when the US entered WW1. They also had local wars with the Spanish, Mexicans, 2 against us, and one with us against the French. Not to mention many skirmishes with the indigenous population. America did not have a quiet and peaceful birth, it's just by WW1 war in North America became unthinkable as America faced no more domestic threats, this is a major factor in their economic and industrial success, when you're the last place on Earth that can be invaded you have an inherent advantage over all other places.
@@darthwiizius Don't think he meant disrespect. We couldn't held out if wasn't for the Americans. Yeah we paid for it but then we always paid our debts back then even if it took decades.😢
@@darthwiiziuswhich is what they said. For most Americans in ww1, ww2 and beyond, they have not faced a total mobilisation and don't fully understand what that means, they don't understand how the entire country was putting it's all into the war effort and how if the military failed then the country would too.
Its a deepseated thing we (british) learn in primary and secondary school, we learn about the Romans, the Normans, important kings, ww1 through trench warfare and ww2 through rationing, children being sent to the countryside so they don't get bombed and the blitz they're running from. We watch movies made about those and people recreating it, and we read about first hand accounts. That's how we learn about ww2, not the military victories or defeats, not the royal navy and RAF keeping us safe or the BEF or British army fighting the enemy, we learn about the rationing, the children fleeing and the bombing of our cities.
I can name only 1 British combat leader, and that's not due to our education. It's not like America where you learn about your different leaders and the different battles of the revolution or civil war. We learn about the loss and the sacrifices made for the war effort.
Maybe it's due to the different nature of the wars America faced vs ww2, America could push back the british and the union could advance into confederate territory, while the british couldnt, the most they could do is attack in Africa, so they had to wait and survive until they could do something.
Its a different perspective from 1 of 2 equivelant powers compared to a nation doing all it can to survive, and eventually push back.
@@darthwiizius I suggest a quick look at European History.
My Nan was in the Land Army.
She passed away in 2022 aged 98. God bless you nan xxxx 🇬🇧
My mum worked in munitions, ie bombmaking. The ordinance factory was based in Chorley Lancashire and was still there around twenty years ago. She told me that her hands and arms were dyed yellow because of the chemicals used. When they had a tea break, they used to sit outside having a half woodbine. ( all ciggys and matches were never allowed in the workshop obviously. ). She said that when they were outside they had to mask the red glow from the ciggie whilst watching the German planes flying towards Manchester and Liverpool to bomb docks, factories and homes. Hope hospital in Salford, where I was trained was hit by bombs on way back to save fuel. Two hospital blocks were hit and many killed. When I trained in the 1970s those blocks were never replaced, just a link corridor to get from one side to another. As new students we were told this and shown the placque in the space. All gone by now I expect.
My grandma was in Liverpool and experienced the blitz those planes you mentioned caused, she literally had to run down the street to a shelter one day aged 14. I think it left a permanent mental scar on her as every bonfire night and new years she was anxious saying it sounds like the war.
She also built bombs. Her brothers were in the RAF.
go on girl, nans a ledge
Rationing didn't end until 1954. The UK didn't pay off the lend lease to the US until 2006
The Great War (WWI) debt wasn't paid off until around 2015.
@@Mark-Haddow West Germany agreed to make small payments to the Allies but announced it would not pay off all of its World War I debts until Germany was a unified country again. After Unification the country officially paid off its debts in October of 2010.
@@dirkspatz3692
That's fine. We occupied West Germany for almost 80 years, the UK controlling the Rhineland made us responsible for Germany's needs. I grew up in Paderborn (Sennelager) but missed the unification (Fall of the wall) when our regiment deployed to another foreign country, England. (Salisbury)
@@Mark-Haddowsame time as Germany finished paying us off for war reparations.
@@Mark-Haddowcorrect
My mother married while rationing was still in force (Scotland). Even though rationing was so severe, every neighbour in her "tenement" (like apartment building?) donated part of their rations to make her a small wedding cake. One donated an egg, another gave part of their sugar ration etc. Although it seems like so little, it was a huge gesture of kindness, generosity and solidarity and , for me, sums up the heart shown by this amazing generation.
It's why the older gen are/ were make do and mend.
We will make the bride look good and she will have a cake aswell... the whole street would give as much as they could a old white shirt, it's a part toward the dress by the wedding between them they had a dress they can let in and out for all the weddings on the streets
A tenement is a classic type of Scottish housing. Apartment building isn't too far wrong. Tenements are typically three or four stories, two flats/apartments on each floor. Typically 2 or 3 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living room. Built in long rows of buildings butted against each other, with a small alleyway type entrance known as a 'close' giving access to a central strairwell for each building. The tenements in Edinburgh and Glasgow are actually pretty nice and desirable places in the modern era, though they were a bit slummy in the past.
Recently visited eden camp last week for a throwback to when I used to visit as a child, one thing that I forgot abouth then but will probably remember for a while is the fact that wedding cakes were often rented for photos
My mam lived in a mining village near Durham and they also did this for children’s birthdays. My grandparents gave the eggs as they kept hens on a small holding, although most of these had to go to the war effort.
When India (a British commonwealth country) joined the war the Indians put 1 million soldiers in to the fight on their first day. We don't like bullies and always support the underdog, circumstances pending.
thank you from my heart x
While not on day one, Canada with a population under 11 million had fully 1.1 million men and women in service with the bulk of those being volunteers.
In Sept. 1939 India only had an army of 205,000 by 1943 it was 2.5 million.
It really was a huge effort from civilians all over the world. And amazing to see how people can put their differences aside with a common goal.
Yet your country is siding with, and sending troops into Ukraine to fight on behalf of Russia
My nan used the coal from the fire in the war to use as makeup for her eyes. She used flower petals in water as her deodorant and tea bags to dye her legs to look like stockings and she kept beetroot for her lips and cheeks. My Nan was cool. She had so many stories to tell about the war sadly no longer with us anymore.
Nan was baller 👌
@@nurby1824 I don,t remember there being teabags ,during the war,I think they might have had them in America,but not Britain
The sense of community after the war is impossible to imagine even for young English people. During the war my mother was stationed at an air force base with her Husband until he was shot down over Berlin, she then came home to my grandmother and both of them spent rest of the war putting fuses in hand grenades. My aunt was in the land army (replacing the agricultural workers who were fighting) my great uncle who had only ever rowed a small ferry in Cornwall was sent down a mine for 4 years. My mother re-married my father who was in heavy rescue in the London blitz. Rationing didn't fully end until 1955 which was when I had my first chocolate bar. I remember my mother saying at the start of the war she was moved to tears because when they opened the crates of machinary from the USA all of the empy spaces had been filled by the US workers with presents of nylons, chocolate and food. God bless you for that!
Thank you for sharing such personal memories, John. It warmed our hearts reading that ❤️
I enjoyed watching these as an Englishman, it's something to be proud of. Really happy that you as Americans have taken an interest in British history, respect :)
Most of the high-end meats were used for the troops. The citizens made do with offal and cheaper cuts. That is why Americans thought British food was awful. A belief that still persists to this day.
That makes no sense. If the high-end meats were used for the troops, then US soldiers would have been eating the high-end meats.🤣🤣🤣
@@mojojojo11811only if their country supplied it surely?
@@mojojojo11811 My sister worked for the US Army during the war and brought lots of GIs home because they missed their families. My mother would be polite and invite them "to tea" - which they would accept and then eat the family out of house and home. One GI could eat the whole family's rations in a single meal but of course it consisted of barely anything - very little meat (which often meant spam or corned beef), tiny portions of dairy, and a lot of wholemeal bread. Some of them got lucky as my mother kept hens so there were usually eggs and sometimes a chicken but mostly the food was meagre and fairly bland.
Lots of British families hosted GIs in the same way so I imagine that's where the reputation came from. If GIs ate high end meat it would have been on their own bases as food for GIs was shipped in especially and they wouldn't have confused that with British food.
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rgthey bought their own supplies of food in. Alot of the older people in devon who were kids remember the Americans with affection because of the chocolate bars, chewing gum and sweets the American soldiers would give out and have plenty of
@@mojojojo11811 Because when you're on Base you probably don't make the connection that the food is from GB, then you get your weekend Pass and go to London/Edinburgh and go to the restaurants only to be served shit meat
I’m British, but something I discovered relatively recently was that during the Blitz, if your house was destroyed by German bombs it was just tough luck. No financial assistance was given and back then very few people had property insurance. People had to rely on the generosity of friends, relatives and neighbours. Quite amazing when you think about it
Wow, that's definitely eye opening and something that probably isn't often thought about. Good thing you Brits are such kind and generous neighbors ❤️
'British people don't learn British history' - sad but true.
Insurers did not accept "War risks". The loss of their London home cost my mother's parents, then in their 60's dearly. I would not have rated any german's chance of escaping unscathed had my grandfather encountered him before he died 20 years later.
My Mum's parents got bombed out of their London home and ended up moving to Essex with no compensation, they just did it.
My mother’s family moved from Blackheath to Catford during the war, just a few months later their previous family home was bombed and the family who bought it were killed. My mother’s Catford home only suffered minor bomb damage in the latter part of the war.
Here's a little nugget of info. Britain didn't come of rationing until Tue crowning of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. And I believe it was at her request that rationing had to end, because how could the British celebrate if they had no food. The reason, as I remember, Britain was still rationed was because of the American Government at what we owed them. Which we only recently paid off. We also paid to help get Germany back in it's feet after the war, at we had nothing.
And the Girl in the Land Army were not a literally army. They worked on Farms because all the young men had gone to fight in the war.
And I didn't even know this film existed. So I find it upsetting how in old American war films the British forces were almost mocked and how Americans, even today, will say that if it wasn't for America we'd have been under German rule, when America didnt join until Pearl Harbor.
This film should be shown again to all Americans so they know exactly how my Grandparents lived
And the fact that American's think our food is bland. That was because the Yanks bought that story back from the 2nd World War...because of rationing, and people had to make do.
You might understand now why our parents who fought in this war, And lived through the First World War too, and the depression , used to resent it when SOME, only SOME, Americans told them that “ We won the war , otherwise you would be speaking German”.
Hear, hear!
Rationing ended in 1954. Not 53.
@@chadUCSD Meat and all food rationing completely ended in 1954 however, lots of other items were off the rationing list well before 1953.
My farther born in 1939 on the isle of white told me a story this year.
He and his mother lived alone whilst his farther was away and rationing was at its hardest they had 2 eggs a week one each.
My father aged 3 carried the eggs to the kitchen table for his mother.
During the task he dropped one and it broke on the floor.
His mother watched it happen but didnt make a sound, not one word was ever said about it.
She just turned away and started crying softly whilst cooking the other egg for my fathers dinner.
When my father told me this story he started crying, hes 84 and the harsh momories of living through 6 yrs of war are still there.
Thank you for watching and commenting on this film.
I remember my father telling me that his dad was introduced to him bye my grandmother when he was 6 years old.
@@Tagomago12 my grandfather was a petrol tanker driver, a resurved ocupation, he came home twice a year and my dad didnt know who he was.
I'm from the Isle of wight and the amount of stories I've heard from grandparents and teachers about how they had to hide in corridors and other places when bombs were dropped over. The remaining bombs had to be dropped before landing, so they used to drop them over the island. One of my teachers told me how she grew up above a shop and that one day they had an emergency a town over and came back to their shop blown up.
It may interest you to look at the short UA-cam video entitled The Battle of Bamber Bridge. The British military hasn't had racial segregation since the early 1800s - the Navy never had it. So, when white GIs tried to insist that black GIs left a pub near their base, the locals threw out the white guys and welcomed the black GIs.
Definitely react to this!
I think the people banned all American troops from the pub.
@@BrianBrown-f9iYes this is true and the American military police got involved which resulted in a fight and several people been shot and one black gi been killed all because the Americans trying to enforce their laws in the UK
@@BrianBrown-f9i
Yup, the US military police insisted on racial segregation so the pubs in Bamber Bridge fully complied and put up signs saying "No white US GIs allowed" (or words to that effect). How does the phrase go again? "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes".
I wrote that comment poorly. I should have made it clear that the people of Bamber Bridge banned all American soldiers after the shooting.
Most of the food eaten in the UK was home grown through the “Dig for Victory” campaign, where gardens, allotments and even quite a few stately home were turned into vegetable gardens to grow vegetables and fruit for your homes and for your neighbours.
Dig for Victory was such a huge part of freeing up resources to in anyway possible to help keep people alive across the nation.
Is this why the present govt is actively discouraging British farmers from growing human food? Pensioners will starve quicker if food goes on getting more & more costly but the bankers & the importers make even larger profits in consequence.
It also cancelled all pre-existing house covenants preventing people from keeping livestock like chickens and rabbits for food - I discovered this when buying my house that had a “no keeping chickens” covenant from 1930 that was cancelled during the war so people could feed themselves as best they were able.
@@stevenhartley1350 I believe that’s why Woolton pie was invented, home grown vegetables flavoured with OXO. Somehow my Mum made it appetising. My favourite was Yorkshire pud with anything, sweet or savoury it suited me.
@@RosemarieBeaney my Grandmother used to make Yorkshire pudding desserts when I was little 😊❤️
The older men and women were drafted for home service, not for overseas, remember we had to defend the country too
My mum, a nurse from one of the colonies, volunteered to go to England to nurse wounded military. She told me later that many of the doctors and nurses at the hospital near Birmingham were in their 60s and 70s and had come out of retirement. Incidentally, she met my future dad there too!
Dads Army !!
Home guard
Could the need for that be looming again?
My father and 3 uncles served in the second world war. Dad volunteered at 18. Thank heavens they all came home. My mother grew up during the war. They were, without any shadow of doubt, the greatest generation.
Men were fighting in the war that meant their jobs had to be taken by women. The land army were women farming.
They also worked as engineers, mechanics and spies!
Our Girls were amazing farming milking shearing feeding planting picking growing fruit vegetable forestry chopping trees for firewood and much more in control of horses wagons delivering letters making bombs ammo and most of the children was sent out to the country villages to stay with people with there own children out of harms way from bombs fires death.
@@Jeni10Well the Queen was trained as a mechanic. My granny was in the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force)
As a Brit watching you get and feel emotional over this video, I now consider you honorary Brits
My great aunt was a ferry pilot. She flew planes from factories in Scotland to airfields in the south-east of England. She was 22 at the time.
That's amazing!
These female ferry pilots were amazing. I've heard so many stories about them. One was ,when a bomber landed at an airfield in the south east of England, a woman got out and the ground crew asked "Where's the pilot". Apparently she said "You're looking at him". There must be film about these wonderful women. Anybody know?
No navigation aids then, it was maps & compasses & following railways, even in 1954 when my dad flew with the RAF on his National service, 'the draft' continued till the early 60's..
ATA Air Transport Auxiliary I believe
My husband's mother was a firefighter on the airfields. She never spoke about it but was always very close to the women she served with. She must have been very brave.
The little ones came first in and after the war so that is why we are who we ARE!! British+Proud 🦚🦚🦚🥲
Even her majesty The Queen was in the army.
Her dad was head of the army.
Nepotism. 😉
🤢
@@Mark-Haddowsilly.
Aged 18 she trained in the ATS as a mechanic. Even in later life, she could sort out an engine, probably faster than a modern mechanic!!
Yes and no.
HRH Princess Elizabeth was in the army - she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Services (ATS) and trained as a driver and mechanic - but she wasn't HM Queen Elizabeth II until several years later.
The queen at the time of the war, Queen Elizabeth (latterly The Queen Mother) did not serve in the army.
As a young child in 1952 I still remember my mother cracking an egg into a bowl and finding it was rotten sending me with the egg and bowl back to the shop to ask for a replacement. Up until seven years after the war ended and helping to rebuild Germany we Brits were still rationed on food items as we were still struggling with food shortages.
I must also add that despite the Gung Ho supportive American tone of this documentary clip we mustn't forget that if the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbour , the USA would almost certainly have continued to sit on it's hands and watch from a distance as Britain along with it's commonwealth troops and Russia slugged it out with the Nazi's .
I'm thankful for Americas contribution and salute all those Americans who eventually engaged and especially those who sacrificed their lives .
BUT !
When after two years into the war America finally arrived I have to quote a comedian who pointedly asked
"Where the f*ck have you guys been ! ? "
My nan who is 102 only sometimes speaks of being in the blitz. I admire and love her greatly
Same with my grandma who is also 102, she speaks of meeting and marrying my grandpa during the war. He'd give her his sugar ration when they went on a date.
@nugo520 aww that's lovely. My late grandad and my nan met in the war. My nan was seeing an airman and she wrote to him and he showed her letter all around the hut. Grandad was there and thought it was disrespectful so wrote to her to tell her then added. P.s I have no girl lol. He was a charmer
lovely
We love hearing stories like this! Thank you so much for sharing 🥰
My late Gran used to tell me the blitz was the greatest time of her life. sounds mad but she met my grandad who was working on the underground she sheltered in.
Thank you guys 🫶🏻 Means a lot to see Americans acknowledge and respect our heritage and culture. 👍🏻🙂🙏🏻
All the children in major cities were evacuated to kept them safe.They stayed with complete strangers without their parents for up to 6 years My Mum was evacuated to Kent from London.
Yes, I was going to say that too, my mum was from Liverpool and she was evacuated to Wales. She had four families taking care of her. She was passed around a bit, but she and her sister were kept together.... Her brothers went to people the didn't know and they all never saw each other other for four years...
Not all children, and many returned to their families within a year.
I first learned of this as a kid when I watched bedknobs and broomsticks.
My mum lived though the whole war, in London, she was never evacuated (she was 10 yrs old in 1940). There were also many children who were evacuated, but came home after a few weeks or months, for many reasons (some times unpleasant ones).
Not all. My aunt and her two cousins (along with the cousins mother) were killed by a German bomb, while they were still very young children.
My Grandfather didn't 'go to war', he was a coal miner up in Yorkshire, I've seen a census, not quite sure of the year, but every male member of the family over 14 worked in the colliery. During the war, miners were not only a protected occupation, but conscripts were chosen by lottery to work down the pits, such was the need for coal. It was then up to people like my Grandfather to teach them quickly how to work and survive underground. The Bevin Boys, as those conscripts were known, are almost a forgotten part of the war effort.
There was no Census in 1941because of the war, there was a sort of listing in 1939 that you can see on the internet, I'm afraid I have forgotten the title of it.
Then there was Thatcher...Battle of Orgreve, Blair ... Iraq & now Starmer: why did they bother? Not to benefit the present White Knight of the Right possibly?
One of my grandfathers, who fought in WW1, strangely enough although he had otherwise been a miner his entire life - in WW2 he was drafted to work in the shipyard!
In our entire history,we’ve punched WAAAAAY above our weight.
A fighting island race for sure.
Race?
What race? I'm Scots/Celt. We've never lost a war.
@@Mark-Haddowwind your neck in mate you know full well what he means
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rg A Scottish whinger, what a surprise eh?
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rg lol
@Mark-Haddow Lol you don't count. And besides you've lost loads of wars silly. FACT.
Clement Attlee was the deputy PM of the coalition British government during WW2. While Churchill was the war time Prime Minister, sorting out the military affairs defending the nation, Attlee who was the leader of the Labour Party and was in charge of running Britain domestically. He was a machine and the unsung hero during the war. That man got things done. Under his leadership he kept Britain together. He was so popular that after the war Attlee won in a landslide election against Churchill. He created the national health service, brought in workers rights, the welfare state, nationalised all the major industries and built over one million new homes, brand new schools, hospitals and brought in a jobs training program for the soldiers returning home, all in 5 years in office. He is regarded as one of the greatest Prime Ministers in British history, some polls even above Churchill.
He was a great man!
My grandfather volunteered for the Navy in 1939 and stayed for 13 years after the war ended, all of it in submarines. My great uncle was killed aged 17 in the war and his name is on our local cenotaph. My other grandparents met and married in the war. Same with my wife’s mother and father. That’s why we don’t forget. Brings a tear to my eye. Rationing continued for 8 years after the war, so both my parents had ration books.
You asked what it was like to live back then. I was born just after the war . As a child I remember not having any bedding we had old coats on the bed. No tv, no telephone, no fridge, no car or washing machine, no toys we made our own from whatever was lying around. Me and my friends would go to the famers fields and pinch a cabbage or a few carrots or whatever was growing for our families dinners. We had torn up news paper on a string for toilet paper. Winter with no heating except for a small parafin heater in one room, no hot water for a bath or shower we boiled the kettle and had a strip wash each day over the sink. But it was a great time to be alive back then, every parent was looking out for you it was safe and friendly. The no nonsense approach. Get on with it and be grateful that's what i remember most. We are all tough little bugggers . I love this country and the people. ❤️ ♥️
I often think about my Belgian grandmother, living under occupation during WW1 and WW2. I also think about my Belgian mother, having been 3yrs old when WW1 started, and in her 20s in WW2 in occupied Belgium. My father (WW2 British Commando) meeting her during liberation. I was born in 1953 in England, and thank god both my parents survived.
They were tough and proud; need that strength and pride in this country now- bless them
THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR GREAT RESPECT FOR OUR PEOPLE AND OUR COUNTRY FROM MY TRUE HEART THANK YOU BOTH
I was born in 1951 and remember rationing and shortages well into the 1950s. My parents lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s and then WW2. My father joined the army at 18 and was in active service in Europe from D-Day right through to the end of the war, fighting right through into Germany. My mother was in the Air Force in England. Britain took a long time to recover after the war but there was a pride that we and our allies took a stand.
My mum who is now 96 lived through all this and yet brought up 7 children who loved and cherish all of us. But the stories she and my dad told us well, today most people wouldn’t believe. Anyway thanks to the USA for all the help they gave us as we couldn’t have won the war without you.
Yes, indeed. The USA was a wonderful ally!
Steve, as you are getting into history, the docuseries 'The World At War', made in the early 70's, is a must watch. I'm 10 episodes in and its an eye opener...
Have you been watching along with Daniel?
Agreed excellent series.
Brilliant series,made even better with Laurence Olivier’s immaculate narration.
The last episode _In Memorium_ will stay with you.
The best series ever, covering the second world war. Watched it in the 70´s, & have watched it several times since.
Rationing continued in the UK until 1953, not a strict as during the war years. When the Queen married Prince Phillip, the Nation donated some of their ration coupons towards her wedding.
My Nan had 4 children, her husband was in the Army (fighting in North Africa) she worked 10 hours per day in a munitions factory. My Mum and her siblings had breakfast, lunch and tea at school. Every evening my Nan would make up a basket with sandwiches and a flask, lay out the children's siren suits (like snow suits) and gas masks. If the air raid siren sounded, she and the children would go into the cellar until the all clear. n the cellar she had set up 4 canvas cots and a small table and chair for herself.
My Mum recalled one night the neighbour two doors down had her house hit by a bomb. The front of the house had fallen away, the kids all went to see Mrs Potter being rescued by the fire brigade. There she was sat up in bed, drinking a cup of tea. Tea is always the go to in the UK in any disaster.
Some US and Canadian forces came to the UK, the women loved them for several reasons, not least a supply of nylons, lipstick chocolate and cigarettes but other food stuffs which were rationed in the UK. The British men used to say "Yanks, over paid, over sexed and over here" (sorry). During and following the war, there were a lot of babies, whose true Father's were American.
The G.I.'s were popular amongst the women of the UK, yes even the married ones.
It is not altogether true about lipstick, it was available here but only one colour (Red). Lipstick in those days was sold in refillable cases and women in the forces were issued it for free. The Government felt it was important for the morale of the men, that women looked good at all times.
My Mum grew up in the late forties and early fifties (born in 1934). She told me when she went out dancing, stockings were still on ration and expensive. She used to stain her legs with gravy browning and draw a line up the back with her eyebrow pencil, so it looked like she was wearing seamed stockings.
😁👍👏👏👏👏
Memories are flooding back to those early childhood days of 1940s for people like me. I wrote a very long comment after watching Part 1 of your videos. Thank you for doing these.
This is why many oldies are patriotic, their memories are of their brave, steadfast parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles etc who stood up with resilience in the horrid 5 to 6 years of WW2 against Hitler. We all have many stories I'm sure. eg: My late mother-in-law told me (and this is typical of that generation in war-time) did not know how she was going to make a substantial meal one. She begged the greengrocer to 'give' her those tiny little potatoes which had dropped through the bottom wire-racks full of potato-dirt. The ones so small, like pebbles, that you cannot peel. My father was away serving and she had 5 children of all ages to feed and no money left from her weekly amount. The greengrocer did give her those tiny wee potatoes and added a couple of normal size too. She made a meal somehow. She said they were such awful times. Youngsters today have no idea how it was. Even I don't, because our mothers and grandmothers always somehow "put a meal on the table". That German Officer on the film was of course talking propaganda because - we of my age "know" how courageous our own elders were back then. Most of our male relatives were fighting - or working in ammunition factories. Women worked in the factories taking the place of the men, so to keep work-production up. My grandfather was in WW1 at 17 yrs of age and then in WW2 in a non-combative role but doing valuable work to help the WW2 war effort. My eldest sister was in the Land Army. Three uncles were in the RAF, Army and one was in the Royal Navy. Make no mistake - That British generation DID fight for "today's Freedom" - whether serving - or at home! Thank you for your interest in this, and of course today, Germany and Britain are friends and united in many things. But what a waste of 'whole younger generations' back then. We should thank them and remember them always.
Very well put Penny. My mother’s responsibility was to stand on the roofs of London buildings at night spotting incendiary bombs. Buckets of sand were all that was available to put the fires out! I was born after the war so only just remember rationing but we also received the bottle of sickly orange Vitamin C to make up for the lack of fruit and veg, plus a daily teaspoon of thick malt. We had a grandma living with us who could create a wholesome meal for 6 out of scraps. Those were the days!
@@jackiea8394 HOW ABOUT THOSE SPOONFULS OF "TASTY" CASTOR OIL!!
My grandma was a little girl living in London and she was evacuated to Wales 🏴 and stayed with a wonderful family , apparently she came back chubby as they fed her so well ❤❤❤❤
my grandma was a little girl near Newport in Wales, and she said they had evacuees from London living with them during the war. they just had fun, and were kids. they didn't know any different. She would have been about 10 when the war ended.
Nice to know during WWII that the Welsh were well fed whilst the English were starving... (and my grandfather was Welsh for the record).
@@shadowysea Well someone's an asshole.
One of the fascinating aspects of the US presence in Britain duriny WW2, was the difference in attitude to race between the UK & US. The USA insisted on keeping its segregationist policies whilst in the UK, but could not control private British businesses & establisments. That meant, for the first time, many American troops found themselves at the same bars, restaurants & shops as their racial counterparts. The British government fretted about their populations response to suddenly having a lot of black people in their communities, these were often smaller cities or towns & rural areas that did not have an established black British population. But, on the whole, according to accounts from black American troops, they found the overall reception relatively positive & found they had far greater social leverage in the UK than in the USA. Times have changed, some times it does feel we are going backwards, but that is a moment in history that I think we should never forget.
In 1940 there were just 14,000 black people here in UK. Imagine what it must have been like when all of a sudden there were another 50,000 black people, most of whom had never left their own state before they were inducted into the military.
I've seen another film for American servicemen coming to Britain, and they make a particular point of "don't be surprised to see black and white solders being treated equally".
@@ashleydavall there was no established black population in London at that time either,I lived in london,not far from marble arch,so I know
This made me cry asi did part 1. The sacrifice and pain they went through from risking their own lives to saving others. Going without and not knowing if you can feed your children today or tomorrow. I think it hit home how this country is selling out now, knowing what our ancestors did to save the world. Thank you guys for showing this, I've watched you many times but this truly touched me ❤
My mum was born in 1940 and remembers sleeping in her grandparent's Anderson Shelter. She also remembers drawing lines on the back of her mum's legs to make it look like she was wearing stockings - her dad (my granddad) was captured by the Japanese and holds the Burma Star... he was 6ft 3 and when released his weight was 7 stone.
This was not a propaganda film, it was a kind of public service film for the US troops to enable them to see the different ways that Britain was acting and dealing with the war. At that time Americans never visited Britain and vice versa, two countries being forced together for the first time.
Thank you. I'm so proud of my parents. My Dad (who would have been 103 this month) fought as a Desert Rat in North Africa and my Mum who was a child during the war and experiencedbombings and rationing. She sadly passed this year but would have been 90 last month. These videos keep what they endured and did for the world alive. A truly inspiring generation. Thanks again
My parents would be 111 both born before WW1 - so went through both and the depression- God rest them both 🇬🇧🏴
Appreciate you sharing this, Sarah. It is very important we talk about what our ancestors sacrificed for us. May they rest in peace ❤️
I commented it yesterday, and I'll comment it again today. They were "The Greatest Generation". Both my parents lived through the war. As I said yesterday, my Dad was a young man who fought in the war (Royal Engineers), and my Mum was 6 years old when the war began and 12 when it ended. My Dad passed away at 90 in 2014 and my Mum was a month short of her 85th birthday in 2017.
Thank you for sharing, Bob!
There’s a great collection of series about historic farms, where a historian and 2 archaeologists try and run a farm for a year as it was and they did a Wartime Farm series that’s worth a watch - and of course you’ll see a bit about the Land Army there
Women's Land Army -- Over 80,000 young women were drafted _en masse_ as agricultural workers. My grandmother was one of them. She said it was hard work, but she made friends that lasted the rest of her life.
Just for clarification, these women were needed because the men were in the military forces or in strategic reserved occupations such as coal mining or steel production.
My M I L was in the land army and lost all the toes on one foot when’s he overbalanced on top of a threshing machine and her foot went into the blades. Her dad made her a shoe insert and she took up dressmaking, I called her my war hero . A fantastic woman who got dementia and forgot her daughter but not me. We love you Jean Edmunds nee Dunn.
My Mum was very young during the war. She lived (still does) in Cornwall, high on a hill looking down towards Plymouth. My Grandmother was a nurse based at Plymouth dockyard. One of my mums earliest memory is watching bombs being dropped onto the city and the whole city being on fire. Knowing that her mother was in the middle of it. (My grandmother lived well into her 80's)
My mum was a girl in Plymouth she ran into a strangers house when a fighter machine gunned the street , she could see the pilots face . At least one man was killed .She only told the full story once and it brought home what her childhood was like . War is evil and still going on in far too many places .The children were evacuated after that .
Oh man, that's awful. I'm glad to hear there was an angel looking out for them during all of that. ❤️
"Keep calm and carry on" was the motto for the public.
We dont owe the world anything we've paid enough in one way or another- to think otherwise is an insult to my parents and the parents, grandparents of everybody in this country- now we are being attacked from within and need the balls and strength of will of those people now 🇬🇧🏴
👏👏👏👏
It was reiterated a few times in the video that the whole country was fighting for, among other things, their country, freedom of speech and their children's future. My parents, grand parents and great grandparents would be disgusted with what this country is becoming and their sacrifices were for nothing if we don't make immediate changes
@@prepcon-1exactly- there was more cohesion and pride amongst people back then- wokeness has destroyed that , many being more concerned about their own twee world and perceived"needs"than loyalty to their country and fellow citizens- wokies put the needs of aliens before loyalty- the irony is the same aliens consider it their right to take what isn't theirs and disrespect with an arrogance that is breathtaking 🇬🇧🏴
@@mick6721certainly are- also by enabled woke activists and the pronoun warriors who seem to think we give a shit about their selfish feelings🇬🇧🏴
@@CarolWoosey-ck2rgactually Carol, all of that is online 'divide and conquer' propaganda tactics from Russia and China, and you've fallen for it because you have no compassion for other people in your own country. You are being used as a tool for Britain's decline. Congratulations.
One thing this film missed is that at the beginning of the war most of the children from the cities were sent away on a national scheme to live with people in the countryside in order to spare them the horrors of the expected air raids. Many never saw their families again and more than a few ended up under the governance of abusive carers.
I hope this video goes some way to explain why it's so offensive to many when Americans blithely claim to have 'won the war' given the vast majority of Americans know so little about what Britain endured throughout the war, even civilians.
That's interesting that you say that, because I've literally never heard a single American say WE "won the war," in reference to WW2. Maybe it was a generational thing back then? But I've never witnessed this.
@@reactingtomyroots Nope. Even today some Americans will say it, especially online. Take a look at Quora as one example, on that platform they love telling British people how we'd all be speaking German if it wasn't for them and they genuinely believe that's true. Also, research how the US stole the blueprints for nuclear warheads from the UK. The US was ultimately enriched by WWII, while the UK utterly broke herself and what thanks do we get around the world today... we're treated like poop, even by some traitors among us.
@@reactingtomyroots Unfortunately, over the years, I've heard it a lot from various age ranges. There does seem to this thing where many Americans, sadly, believe that America somehow single-handedly won WWII, completely dismissing the role of Britain ('we saved your asses') and Russiain the war. You probably don't hear it because you're not British and therefore it's not a thing someone would say to you. There's at least 18 people who recognises what I've said.
@@ulyssesthirteen7031 There are a LOT of totally clueless and totally brain-dead Yanks who believe THEIR OPINIONS are facts. I'm 82 and English and have lived and worked in the US and find many Yanks to be obnoxiously arrogant and self-serving opinionated jerks. Sure - U WUN DA WAR 4 US - in a pigs ear. Yank soldiers were called green and not battle ready until 1943 by THEIR OWNGENERALS, with some saying not until 1944. US troops were lacking in discipline, lacking in respect for their officers and acted like gung-ho down-on-the-farm UNPROFESSIONAL Mavericks. Many killed each other by "friendly fire". Read some honest US history - IF you can read.
@@reactingtomyroots I think there is a certain hollywood-isation of events that in Britain can be viewed as narrative changing.
Its funny, most of the movies about British involvement in WWII was made either during WWII itself (as propaganda) or in the two decades after the war, We pretty much stopped making movies about WWII in the 70's
But Hollywood has continued and so most films and tv series of the last 30 years tend to be very much from the American perspective, so it creates that perception that WWII was all about the americans.
And a lot of it, like the recent Masters of the Air series take a lot of liberties with the truth and their portrayal of the British sadly.
Hollywood has really shaped what people think happened in WWII
As for the other, I've been told "If it wasnt for us you'd be speaking german" more times than I can remember :D
I'm 60 years old, British born & bred... I have NEVER heard the word "Britisher" ... Whether we are just 1 or 1,000,000 we ARE BRITISH
Bless you Lindsay, when you eventually make it over here, both of you & your little one will be highly thought of once people see your true humble characters 😘😘
'Britisher' appears pretty frequently in C19 newspapers/magazines etc in the UK.
You might find it interesting to learn about Malta and all they endured, so much that the whole country was awarded the George Cross.
And about the former American ship the Ohio, and how she limped into Malta with much needed fuel. Remarkable story
Thank you both for your interest and comments. I was born in 1953, proud to be a Londoner. Grew up with stories of the Blitz and my playgrounds were "bomb sites", the meaning of which only hit me in my teens, that we played in rubble where there used to be houses and people had died! My recently deceased father was a mid upper turret gunner in bomber command and had several close calls, one of which was ditching in the North Sea and being in a life raft there for 2 days b4 rescue. He also crewed planes bringing people, diplomats and other important people, back from the concentration camps. He was a very quiet, lovely placid man but used to explode when he heard the concentration camp deniers speak!! In his later years, laid up after a hip replacement, i and my 2 children, asked him to write his memoirs. He did, reluctantly, i typed them out and a copy is in the Bomber Comand Museum. Would send you a copy if interested. My mother was in the Land Army, and life for these ladies was tough, really tough. Very few farms had heavy-duty machines then, she ploughed with shire horses. I cringe when I see all these people going off about life today, they have NO IDEA and the way they behave I thank goodness my parents are no longer here to see what the UK they risked their lives for has become😢. My late father in law was 2nd in command on the flagship of the Malta Convoy, Operation Pedastal, and was awarded the DSC by King George. You will probably be interested in learning about the German invasion of our Channel Islands early on the in war and the islanders lived many years under occupation of the Germans, the only part of the UK to be invaded in the war. Life was tough under occupation. Thank you for your interest. Do you know anything about your British ancestors? Nana Karen UK
Appreciate you sharing your family's perspective and contribution of the war with us, Karen. It helps us understand a little bit better what life was truly like back then for you all.
How special that you were able to get him to share all of his memories and compile it. Would be an interesting read!
As far as our British ancestors, we don't know a lot but Lindsay's ancestry that we've traced so far is primarily from the southern part of England. My UK ancestry that I've traced so far is a bit more varied: Mid-England, Ireland, Wales... so I'm a mutt 😂
@@reactingtomyroots The thing about drafting men in their 50s is happening right now in the Ukraine,my nephews father in law couldn't attend his daughters wedding because he was afraid of been drafted if he left his city
Is this book for sale anywhere?
My Dad was 7 when the war started. He met a lot of American servicemen after the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. His home (my home town) was under 10 miles from the coast, so the exhausted soldiers were brought to civilian homes to sleep. My Grandparents gave up their bedroom and my Dad went into his sisters room, top to tailing in her bed. They had 6 soldiers in the home for 3 days - two in each of the vacated bedrooms and 2 in the tiny sitting room. My Grandparents slept on the kitchen floor. No one complained. And Gran managed to feed the extra mouths - plain food, but 3 meals a day. And they received a lot of treats for many years, at Christmas, from the soldiers who survived later battles. (4 were either killed or injured - they never knew which)
I am married to a man 22 years older than me. He is 84 and was born in 1940. He lived through 5 years of war in London. The one time he was evacuated to the countryside, his Mum was able to go with him for 4 months as she had a smaller child, too. He remembers bombing and bomb sites. He remembers rationing and only seeing 'tropical' fruits at Christmas. He also remembers food parcels arriving from New Zealand (where we now live) containing old formula cans, filled with lard (in short supply in the UK) with whole, raw eggs suspended in it for baking - and how it was his task to find the eggs without breaking them. One of his more lasting memories was having his tonsils removed in a hospital some distance from London.. Visiting was once a month. And he wasn't there for that day, so for 10 days saw no-one he knew. There was a playground - but it was out of bounds because it had just been painted, and the paint took a week to dry. And, as is the norm, he was given ice cream to eat while his throat was sore - but it had bones in it (actually not bones,but huge ice crystals) so he wouldn't eat it! That experience put him off certain foods for over 50 years!
Really appreciate you sharing all the personal anecdotes, Liz. It definitely helps give us a better sense of what life would have been like for you all back then. Much love to you and your family. ❤️
My dad was born in Glasgow in 1940 and was never evacuated.
@@sueKay
My father was born in Glasgow in 1935 and never left the city until he came south in the 60s. My mum was born in North Herts (Herts borders the northern side of London) in 1936, so grew up watching waves of German bombers flying overhead and the southern sky lit red every night. Fortunately though only 3 bombs ever fell on this town with all 3 failing to detonate (that's some precision German engineering for you). The 3rd was only discovered in 1989, if I could be so bold and give an anecdote about the day: I was working a part time evening job at a local car dealership, one evening there was a knock at the door, it was a policeman. He explained that a demolition crew bringing down the old long derelict factory (that produced shell casings during the war) had discovered a WW2 German bomb lodged into the foundations of the basement (likely randomly ditched by a lost plane or one retreating from RAF fighters) and the bomb squad were on route to deal with it. 20 minutes later the same officer returned and explained that for safety reasons they were not going to attempt to defuse it, instead they would detonate it. So I made a cuppa and sat outside, just a road width away from the factory wall and lit a cigarette. The bomb went off, it was the closest thing to an earthquake I have experienced, and I realised that no matter how I tried I was incapable of conceiving what people went through during the Blitz. We have had things so comfortable and peaceful due to that one single generation's sacrifice and grit.
Many people who were either infants or not yet born at the beginning of the war didn’t know what a banana or an orange looked like until after the end of hostilities and when such fruits became available they had to be taught how to peel them prior to eating them. There were a few youngsters who were fortunate to have relatives who had served in foreign countries or had shore leave in more exotic harbours and had returned home either on leave or that had left the forces for civilian life, who brought a few fruits that were rare or even unknown in this country as gifts for their families, but such treats were few and far apart, in some cases they didn’t become widely available until well after the war even into the 1950’s. And as others have also mentioned general rations of some items such as candy remained on ratio until the Queen was crowned. Of course there was always someone who knew someone else who knew a man who could obtain things for a price.
You need to check out exactly how LITTLE people were allowed to have in food etc during rationing.
Weekly rations were,
BUTTER; 4 OUNCES
BACON; 4 OUNCES
TEA; 2 OUNCES
SUGAR; 8 OUNCES
MEAT; 1 SHILLINGS WORTH
CHEESE; 1 OUNCE
JAM; 1 POUND EVERY 2 MONTHS
MILK; 3 PINTS
EGGS;1 PER WEEK
It didn't end until 1954 !
Children in the major cities, especially London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, were sent to the countryside and smaller towns to live with strangers to keep them safe from the German bombings. There was a film made in the 70s, filmed my home town, called The Ecavuees that was about children sent from Manchester to live around Blackpool and the Fylde.
About 25 years ago when I was a teenager my dad took me for a (slow) walk to a place near past Middleton near Rochdale that's now a country park.
You can just see the City of Manchester from there and reminisced about watching bombs drop from there as a young man with his father.
He had me when he was very, very old (somehow). He was born in 1927.
As a relatively younger person born into a time with comfort, tech my Dad finds utterly bewildering and access to stuff he never saw like fruit it's unimaginable.
He has some terrifying memories of the war, rationing, people passing, a time and life I can never hope to understand.
My Mum used to use tea to stain her legs to look like stockings and draw a line down the back of her leg to look like a stocking seam. She was born in 1929
A lot of families were separated when the kids were taken out of the cities to stay with families in the countryside
Had no idea this happened until someone else pointed this out as well. Thanks for sharing!
My Grandfather worked as an engineer in a munitions factory in Coventry during the blitz of 1940. Coventry was a huge centre of aircraft manufacturing and, as such, was almost totally levelled by the Luftwaffe. The entire city had to be pretty much rebuilt in the aftermath of the war, resulting in its somewhat drab concrete appearance nowadays. The Blitz gave rise to the German verb Koventrieren (literally to Coventrate'), meaning "to annihilate or reduce to rubble". I have no idea how he managed to survive but am so grateful that he did because he was a wonderful kind, gentle man. He was not very tall, but he had the upper body strength of an ox. He would easily carry around concrete breezeblocks that I couldn't even lift when I was in my 20s. A few months before he died at the age of 78 I remember him wanting to go out to buy a new pick axe because he had worn his old one down to a nub working in the garden!
My grandad was in the home guards and worked making tanks, my dad remembers waking up to air raid sirens and going into the shelters, my auntie caught diphtheria at 3 from being in the air raid shelter with such a concentration of people, sadly died in an isolation hospital, I never knew where she was buried until recently when I located her in an unmarked grave, she will never again be lost or forgotten, Agnes Beryl Wall 1937 - 1940
My Grandmother Lydia also died of Diphtheria in 1940 age 28, her children, my father was 5 & his sister my aunt was 3.
@@paulinetill1043 my dad was 7
My Dad when he went from Liverpool to New York during WW11 told me he was always met by an American family who would take him back to their place and give him a cooked meal, the friendship between the UK and USA will always be strong because of our shared values.
I think this is why we are so supportive of Ukraine as a people, we remember how it feels
That's Child Trafficking e.t.c. so totally different
@@mikeoxlong4110 wotcha Ivan
We don’t remember anything, virtually every Brit alive today werent back then 😂
@@MrMyers758 Most older Brits have grown up with parents and grandparents who remember the war vividly. My gran had what I only realised as an adult was PTSD. She was a stern, doughty character, but if the weather even looked thundery she would start to tremble and stutter. Bombed more times than many a soldier.
@@eh1702my mum was bombed out 3x.
Never had a bed next to a wall ‘cos when her house was bombed the wall fell on her bed & she had a poorly leg… was in Alderhey Hospital (Liverpool)…
I grew up with stories about the war as all of us ‘baby boomers’ did… still bomb sites in L’pool for decades after the Blitz…
My Aunty had a great time with American servicemen … apparently 😉😂
Stoic generation 👍
Very much appreciate both of you having such a genuine interest in things like this.. thank you
My nanna and my husbands parents who have passed away used to talk about the war with rationing and even hiding under the table years later after the war had finished when planes flew over. My in-laws even were careful and looked after things years later. I think the war made a great impression. On my fathers side my relatives didn’t go to war as they were miners and on my husbands side they were farmers so remained to grow crops etc. people were asked to make their gardens into allotments to grow veggies too.
My grandparents kept their ration books up until they passed away. I have fond memories of my nana explaining them as a young kid. A common bit of history but the story behind them will never be forgotten.
My mother was born during an air raid in 1941. One of her earliest memories is of being a toddler in an air raid shelter. Somebody had painted sheep varieties on the wall to cheer the place up. Her favourite was the fluffy Merino sheep.
I’m British but I’m so humble with your assessment of us Brits. You came to our rescue no doubt and we will be forever grateful . Britain and America are as one and always will be ❤️
Winston Churchill's mother was American and the speech he made in the film was in front of the US Congress.
One of my grandfathers served in the RAF during the war, and my other grandfather was born at the height of the blitz. My grandmother and great grandmother told me stories about living in England during World War Two.
During the lockdown in 2020-2021, the queue to go into the supermarket was very, very long. The food and drink was rationed by the supermarket, and there were various things that weren’t getting into the shops for us to buy. Many people got sick and died without their families being allowed to be with them to say goodbye to them.
I told my grandmother that I couldn’t complain, because I was grateful to have a roof over my head, at least some food to eat, and I wasn’t dead, and she said that’s similar to what they felt when they had been evacuated from the cities during the war. There wasn’t much food, there were long queues for everything, and they couldn’t be around their loved ones when they were being killed by bombs or bullets, but they were grateful to have a home, a little bit of food, and no immediate threat of death.
Rationing was so effective during WW2, that the general health of the UK population actually improved.
Even though I was born five years after the war, I still have in my box of useless stuff, my ration card which my mother kept for me. Meat rationing didn't end until 1954.
You sound like a propaganda machine. I dispute that. There were plenty of mal - or under - nourished children (and adults) due to rationing, which meant essential nutrients were in short supply/bare minimum. Also, the effects of rationing persisted for decades after it ended, with attitudes around food. 'Waste not, want not' was a common phrase that was around long after rationing ended, along with children being forced to clear their plates still in the 60s/70s/80s and if they didn't, then punished/chastised/guilt-tripped for not doing so. Rationing 'ptsd' led to the pendulum swinging too far in the other direction; an unhealthy attitude toward especially 'filling' stodgy food that was filling but not particularly healthy. That, in turn, led to health problems for at least a generation or two of conditions such as clogged arteries, high cholesterol, heart problems and generally being overweight. Tell me again how rationing was ultimately beneficial? Let's hope somebody with the same mindset as you is never put in charge of the nation's food consumption, talk about being blind in one eye, yikes.
I saw a very touching segment on Antiques Roadshow where during the war English children were being sent by ship to Canada and they were showing a letter written and sent by a little girl to her parents as she was due to embark. The family received the letter but the little girl, and all the children, were lost when the ship was bombed by the German luftwaffe. So sad. 😢
My mother and her sister were supposed to be evacuated to Canada from Middlesbrough ( then an important port and steel city) but the ship prior to theirs was torpedoed and my grandmother refused to send them
My husband remembers being rushed down the garden to the air raid shelter during air raids because “the jerries are coming”. I have always maintained that my positive outlook is because I was born 9 months after peace was declared, I was obviously a celebration.
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Sounds a bit like my family.
Grandfather was a former Guardsman working in the Post Office with a baby daughter and got recalled in '39
Grandfather was wounded at Dunkirk, Mum was born in '41
Grandfather was wounded in Italy, One of my Aunts was born in '44
Grandfather Demobbed and my youngest Aunt was born within the year
It is sad that a lot of people in the UK despised Americans for the first few years of the war. From Joseph Kennedy supporting Hitler, to the cost of lend/lease and the pure isolationism of American politicians. I know that a lot of my parents generation found it very hard to forgive our supposed oldest allies.
They only ever join the winning side late enough for the outcome to be reasonably certain, as in the Great War. Japan perhaps forced their hand with Pearl Harbour. On their own they lose: Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan... Never trust any nation willing to throw tea into a dock."Special relationship"? Not really.
Who is our supposed oldest ally? It certainly isn't America! Even France, our oldest enemy, has been an ally longer than America and an ally that didn't sit on it's arse doing nothing for the majority of two world wars!
Thank you Steve and Lyndsay, covering this honours all those men (and women) who sacrificed so much for the freedoms of others. You are an amazing couple.
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My Ma & Pa lived thru Ww2. Dad joined the Royal Air Force. Mum the War Office. They were blessed & came home. I think rationing went on into the 1950's. I came along in 1967 when my Pa was 45. They r still my heroes, although in heaven now. My Ma Ma was 93 when God called her home.💕
You in the USA are a great nation and also heroes to me.Thank you for all u gave and all u did.❤
God blessed us all.🩷🇺🇸🇬🇧
P.s. my sister is a a US citizen of some 25 years. So u r my family😊.
what I find incredible is that Rationing lasted 14 years it started January 1940 and ended July 1954
That's cos we were also feeding Europe especially Germany after
Nothing more incredible than hearing Spitfires flying overhead, even today, the rumbling of those engines is just so spine tingling
Except the Lincoln/( Lancaster modified) bombers which used to growl their way over our bungalow one mile from the runway both day and night on training exercises. RAF Watton , Norfolk. 1955ish. Phil
My nan was born in May 1949 and was in her early 70's when she passed 2 years ago. So those who lived through the war would be late 70's onwards
Wow that was a real tear jerker of an ending, couple of storys you may enjoy:
My Great Grandmother got married during the Blitz, she had a wedding dress made from old parachutes that she and friends had saved and swapped for. Her wedding cake was just a plain fruit cake with no icing but they would put a biscuit tin over the top of it that was plastered and painted to look like a huge fancy cake, it was known as a 'dustmans wedding cake' (dustman aka garbage man). During the ceremony there was an air raid and they all decided to remain in the church and finish the proceedings rather than stop and all head to the air raid shelter. She lived until her late 80s and was a beautiful soul, our family still use some of her hilarious one-liners. She used to called sausages 'widows memories' 🤣
My Grandfather (on the other side of the family) was a teenager during the war, he was an apprentice bookbinder in Canterbury, one night during the blitz almost half of Canterbury town was flattened and the fires melted all of the lead paint on the buildings, he had a vivid memory of riding his bike to the book binders and through streams of multi-coloured paint as it ran through the streets. He had fond memories of the powdered eggs during the war, as you could make an omlette with them as big as you liked! A little bit like pancake batter I suppose. He was desperate to join the army but was only old enough to join right at the very tail end of WW2, he still received a service medal, he ended up being deployed to Palestine during the 1948 war there.
I've watched both of your videos on this film and have noticed quite a few negative comments from us Brits, particularly about the 'special relationship'. Please know that this is directed at the many governments since the war years and not the American people, who I've only known to be kind and polite in person. God bless.
I was born in 1955, the year after rationing ended. My dad was born in 1933 and was evacuated from London as were a majority of kids. My nan wanted him back, she said it was her responsibility to look after him. Unfortunately he died 2 years ago, the stories he told was fascinating. As a kid he enjoyed the war, he went missing from school and would collect shrapnel, amongst many other things.
I was born in 1958 _(two older sisters and a younger brother)_ ; my mum and dad _(including all the neighbours and friends)_ still had the 'rationing mentality' for many years afterwards. So food was VERY hearty and healthy, with nothing going to waste. In fact, as a kid, we ONLY had a pantry and NO fridge until about the middle of the 60's! I always remember a huge pan of soup on top of the cooker which was 'topped up' each day and ALWAYS started the evening meal. It had a ham bone for stock, along with lentils, barley and veg etc. Even as I write this I can 'taste' it and now want to go and make some... 😋
I don't think Americans realise just how hard it was for Britain fighting alone until they were pushed by Japan in 1941 to joing the war..,
Bombed every night, rationing, evacuation etc,
Even Queen Elizabeth 2nd worked as a mechanic! Palace grounds turned in to gardens to help grow food...
So you can imagine why the British bite back to Americans who say "if it wasn't for America, Europe would be speaking German "
In European eyes America only joined when it was attacked by Japan.
This isn't a 'dig' at you , just a bit of context... love your channel!
In fairness we weren't alone, we had India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in our corner. No one ever seems to want to remember the commonwealths
@@ItsSpecialHands The phrase 'Britain fought alone' refers to the country not the people. Every single person in Britain is fully aware of the part our Commonwealth allies played, thanks.
Thank you both. Very informative video. Makes me so proud of my country.
My Grandfather was 75% deaf so he couldn't go into service. But he worked at Shell before the war in the offices but during war they relocated him (with Grandma and one kid) to a pumping station. He drove petrol around the country making it double dangerous - first from the possibility of driving into an air raid area and second from racketeers.
I'm English and old footage of wartime like this, makes me cry. The population was so strong and united in those days, and they sacrificed, and gave, so much. Imagine all that being asked of people in the West today - people who get upset when the internet is down for half hour, or have to go into the office 5 days a week. Despite all the nefarious bs going on these days, we honestly don't know we're born.
When you look at a total ration for a week in the war, today some people eat that in one meal, my grandmother would go mad if I ever left any food on my plate.
My step fathers dad worked in East moors steelworks in Cardiff on the furnaces, and he did fire watching on buildings also.
People were so resilient then, thank god.
Mate you are so right- it's a crisis if they breakl a nail!😂
So true, but that's what they wanted for us - an easier life. I agree, we're too soft now though. Pity.
I’m not sure we can say that when we have just been through covid and people pulled together, for the most part followed the rules and made sacrifices for the greater good. People do what they need to when the chips are down. Let’s just be grateful it hasn’t been necessary in the same way in our lifetimes.
Hello, I went back to work as a home carer during covid and met a older lady that said she was more scared of covid than when she was in the war. The reason was that covid was/is invisible and even her own children could catch it, (which she couldn't have visit) as this could kill her in her fragility. I made sure I worked on her 97th birthday and I cleaned all the cards/gifts left outside her door so she could have some happiness in that time. The stories she told me were awesome and I am grateful for that time.
My granddad was an electrical engineer in the merchant navy during ww2, even when all the ships around him were being torpedoed, his never was, so he was considered a lucky charm lol people would request to be on the same ship as him!. He had webbed toes, and the superstition about people with webbed goes is that they'll never drown!
It was really nice hearing those credits given to the people of the days of war. There were some really nice insights into deeper, unspoken topics. Really informative and always builds respect for all those involved from every part of the world. Their sacrifices were for decency to survive. We will always remember them.
As a "boomer", I did not experience the war. However, i think that I am who I am because my parents lived during the war. Mum was aged 6 to 12, my dad, 9 to 15. Dad started his working life right at the very end, so he would have done war work.
As a result of their experiences, mum and dad were frugal, hated waste, lived for the moment, and took pleasure in simple things. They passed these traits on to me. As I grew up, this was how my neighbours were as well. Now, at 70, I think that those traits, forged in adversity, have given me a good life.,
You guys got me in tears again . Second day running. My granma was in the Land Army and My grandad in the Home Guard as he was considered an essential worker being a farm labourer. They told me a lot of stories and this brought it all back. Im so proud of my ancestors. They gave up virtually everything to ensure we had a future.. it majes me sick to thonk what a mess is being made of our country now. My other grandparents . Nana worked in a munitions factory that was regularly bombed and my other Grandad also worked down the coal mines in horrific conditions to get fuel for the Ships. Wow what amazing people they were. We should never ever forget their sacrifices. Everyone was on the front line in one way or another. Thank you for showing this and your honest reactions. You are good people and our firm allies no matter what politicians say or do, we ARE cousins of the closest kind. Nanas sister even married an American soldier and spent the rest of her life in the US.
My great great Scottish uncle fought in boer war 1898, WW1 then was a merchant seaman in WW2 . I have his many medals . He died in 1962 but I had met him x
Bless you both for your kind comments.❤🇬🇧
My friends mum was pulled out of a bombed home as a child during the Blitz. She was 3-ish I think & the experience stunted her physical growth and she remains under 5ft tall. Rationing that created the 'bland food' idea as women had to be creative with very little - there was something called Murkey, which was a fake turkey, there are books on recipes from that time.
yeah, americans would go home after the war and say the food was terrible. and the opinion stuck.
They still had rationing when I was born in 1953, my parents and grandparents told me lots of war time stories, I loved listening to them