The Home Front in World War Two Read online

  “This work the women are performing in the munitions factories has to be seen to be believed. Precision engineering jobs which a few years ago would have made a skilled turner’s hair stand on end are being performed with deadly accuracy by girls who had no industrial experience.”

  As the war continued, many women were working for about 80 hours a week, or even longer in aircraft factories. Shifts of 12 hours a time, seven days a week were not unusual and there were few holidays.

  With men away fighting, female workers were indispensable. One out of every three workers in the factories was a woman, yet most women earned significantly lower wages than their male counterparts. The majority accepted this. Personal rights were usually put aside in the knowledge that everyone was ‘in it together’ and ‘there’s always someone worse off than you’. Nevertheless, many women still realised how undermined they were. Generally, unskilled male workers earned more than skilled female workers. In 1943, in a shocking move (for the times), women at the Rolls Royce factory in Glasgow went on strike. The public made them feel they were being exceptionally unpatriotic and when they were on a street demonstration, they were pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes – until those pelting them realised just how little they were being paid. The women soon returned to work and were paid slightly more, but it was still less than their male equivalents. It was usual for women to earn half or occasionally two-thirds of the salaries of men. In 1944 the government set up a Royal Commission “to consider the social, economic and financial implications of the claim of equal pay for equal work.” Two years later, the Commission’s report gave reasons why women earned less: they were not as strong as men and they only worked (outside of wartime) before they were married. Overall during the war, most women accepted lower pay, as winning the war was of paramount importance. Individual disgruntlement was considered selfish and anyway, most women were earning more than they had done in peace time and they had more independence than ever, for which they were grateful. It may be difficult for those living in the twenty-first century to comprehend the strength of patriotism and selflessness of the time. Meanwhile, advertising posters urged people to work harder. Using emotive, fictitious imagery such as “Phyllis Brown” in Britain gossiping over a cup of tea, while “Paula Braun” in Germany carries on working, or “Mr Coleman” going home early, while “Herr Kaufmann” keeps working, government propaganda kept people feeling guilty and so working harder. But despite the rules, lack of freedom and feelings of inadequacy, the sense of unity remained strong. Mary Hollings, who lived in Southampton for most of the war, remembered the collective attitude:

  “Despite the worrying news and threats, we took the war in our stride and made the best of circumstances which could have been so much worse. There was an overpowering feeling of accord that we have got to stand together to win this war – we would not be overwhelmed as the French had been. We felt stronger and more independent because we were an island and news of the courage and daring of our Air Force made us even more determined not to let the enemy beat us. During air raids, we made sure we had plenty of the famous British ‘stiff upper lip’ and certainly did not show any fear or panic. Indeed, while bombs were dropping all around us, most women I knew did their knitting.”

  Humour played a huge part in keeping up morale during the war. Tales of laughter and foolishness are often relayed by those who were there despite the atrocities they were experiencing and hearing about. The government tried to keep morale buoyant with rousing speeches and optimistic messages and newspapers printed jokes and cartoons.

  Worker’s Playtime

  The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was initially established by the government to brighten the lives of those in the armed forces and later, civilians. Over 80 per cent of all British dancers, musicians, singers and actors belonged to ENSA. Many were heard on the BBC’s Home Service and Forces programmes in live broadcasts. The three most famous female singers of the period were Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields and Anne Shelton, who sang of hopes for a happier world. Vera Lynn became known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart”, visiting troops serving abroad and releasing songs that inspired both civilians and servicemen and women. In 1941, she launched her own BBC radio show called Sincerely Yours, where she read out messages from loved ones, connecting those fighting abroad and those at home. Her songs: We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover spread hope and happiness and made her the most popular female entertainer in Britain. The simple tunes of the most popular songs in the war were often churned out in sing-songs in air raid shelters or around dinner tables across Britain.

  Long shifts meant that all workers tired. From June 1940, the BBC began broadcasting the radio programme Music While You Work. Featuring two half-hour sessions of continuous popular tunes each day, it was played over tannoys in factories and businesses throughout the country, something that had never happened before. From 1942, a night programme was broadcast for shift workers. Before the war, the BBC had been accused of being dull, but during the war it gained a new lease of life and became exceptionally important to the British. The upbeat tunes on Music While You Work helped to lift everyone’s mood and to keep them working. Any tune that included clapping or other similar rhythmic beats was not played as it was discovered that it distracted listeners and disrupted their output. The following year, in June 1941, the BBC introduced Worker’s Playtime, a revolutionary new radio show. Broadcast live from a secret factory canteen “somewhere in Britain”, it was a comedy and music programme, one of the first touring variety shows on the BBC. Originally scheduled to run twice-weekly for six weeks, it continued for 23 years and became one of the longest running radio shows in history. Short on excitement and things to smile about, audiences appreciated even the corniest of comedians, but there were also some genuinely funny acts along with the more mediocre. The government fully supported the programme as it brightened everyone up. The Ministry of Labour chose which canteens the show would visit and broadcast from. Periodically, Ernest Bevin the Minister of Labour and National Service, who had been one of the instigators of the programme, spoke to offer his encouragement to workers.

  Other forms of entertainment included the cinema (picture palace) and theatre, or dancing. Dance halls and cinemas were diverting, lifting the moods of all those who attended. Most plays and films were uplifting realism or escapism. Gone with the Wind from Hollywood opened in early 1940 and continued to run throughout the war. American films were far more colourful and exciting than the more earnest and lower budget British films, but all films were greatly enjoyed and cinemas – of which there were several in every town – developed into a huge business, attracting 25 to 30 million paying customers every week. Every town and village throughout Britain also had a hall where dancing could take place. Church and school halls often doubled as dance halls too. Larger dance halls had orchestras; smaller ones often had a three-piece band, someone playing a piano or a record player. Being together in a well-lit hall, with lively music helped many forget the suffering, shortages and perils of the war for a short time. Mirrored balls in the centre of the ceiling scattered beams of magical light or coloured spotlights created a bright glow. Most halls had chairs and tables around the walls. As there was a shortage of men, girls often danced with other girls, but everyone knew all the main dances. During the first few years of the war, these were the waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and samba. Then, between 1942 and 1945, more than one and a half million US servicemen moved to Britain. Among other things, they introduced the jive and the jitterbug, which although outrageous to some, caught on immediately. It was incredibly lively, fast and exciting. Soon everyone was twirling, spinning and throwing each other about on dance floors across the country. Dancing was also an excuse for women to dress up and to feel feminine once more after the stringent rules of their working days, where the majority wore uniforms or overalls and had to scrape their hair under turbans or hats.

  The art of war

  At the end of Decembe
r 1939, the government set up the CEMA, the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, which after the war became the Arts Council. In the same year, it also set up the War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), led by Kenneth Clark. Art during wartime was viewed by the authorities as a necessity, to raise everyone’s mood. The WAAC encouraged artists to produce works that focused on heartening themes of heroism, patriotism, energy and defiance and travelling art exhibitions were set up across London and other locations across Britain, including factories and military bases. A total of 400 WAAC official war artists were selected; 52 being women and all invited to propose ideas. This was the first time that females were officially encouraged to capture their impressions of war. The WAAC sent artists on paid short-term commissions. There were still considerable inequalities between female and male artists; male artists were given more important commissions, more pay and greater publicity. But amateur artists also made sketches, capturing their perceptions of what they saw in factories, at the shops and in air raid shelters, for instance. Such unofficial drawings were discouraged however; as the authorities tried to control war imagery to ensure that no negative ideas emerged. Yet most of the art produced by women war artists was vivid and forceful, capturing the realities of life at home and how war was affecting the ways in which they lived and worked. Some of the most famous artists of the period were Dame Laura Knight, Anna Airy and Margaret Abbess. Their creative and insightful portrayals depicted salient aspects of life on the Home Front during some of the darkest hours, but remained emotive and inspiring.

  A woman’s place

  Despite the enormous changes to everyone’s lives, with disruptions caused by women working outside the home, the shortages and rationing, the separations and fears, regular life had to continue. Many young women – and men – were lonely, anxious and not sure what was ahead of them. The war prompted a surge in marriages, but also a boom in illegitimate births. These babies were usually born in nursing homes and adopted within a few days. With no social security and plenty of social taboos, there was little else young unmarried women could do. Additionally, with husbands and wives separated for lengthy periods, the temptation to stray was often strong. Whatever happened, in the main, it remained women’s responsibility to maintain the home, as mothers, wives and daughters; cooking, cleaning, shopping, caring for everyone and generally making sure that home life was as close to ‘normal’ as possible. Advertising posters, government leaflets and magazine columns were all intent on giving advice and helping to build a sense of solidarity between the women of Britain and in general, they spurred each other on. In 1943, Good Housekeeping ran an article, “Danger – men at work”. It described how more men, if they were still at home or had returned on leave from the Forces, had to help with the housework and to adapt to women being altered through their wartime experiences. The tongue-in-cheek article commented on men feeling themselves to be “victims of circumstance” who could barely recognise their newly independent wives who could now hold down men’s jobs and undertake household repairs while continuing to do traditional women’s household tasks. But as everyone realised, with their enterprise, strength and courage and their determination to succeed, the war changed women’s lives irrevocably.

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  NO BANANAS

  “Many people are still unaware that the greatest profession or

  business is that of housekeeping. There are more people daily

  employed in it than in any other form of work. In wartime,

  housekeeping becomes even more important than in peacetime. If

  those who keep house went on strike, the war would be lost in a

  week.” ~ Good Housekeeping, 1942

  Before the war, about 60 per cent of food was imported; Britain only grew enough to feed one person in three. Yet on 9th September 1939, the new Minister of Food, William Morrison stated in The Daily Telegraph, that there were ‘splendid stocks of food in the country, and there was no need to fear any shortage. Within a short time however, when Hitler realised invasion would not be possible, he aimed instead to starve Britain into submission. German U-boats frequently attacked and sank supply ships trying to reach British shores and from June 1940, the Germans also occupied the Channel Islands, effectively cutting off the last of Britain’s supplies. Stocks of staple goods such as tea, sugar, fruit, coffee and even rubber, were particularly scarce.

  Initially, after the experiences of World War One, Morrison had reckoned that the rationing scheme would come into operation by October 1939, not through scarcity, but because “food had to be fairly and evenly distributed”. Ration books had originally been printed in 1938 but as it turned out, they were not used until January 1940 (and continued in use until 1954). Most people actually welcomed rationing, as the severe shortages impinged adversely on nearly everyone, except the rich who were hardly affected and had been able to stock up on most goods. Rationing was run extremely efficiently and made everything fairer. Nevertheless, long queues still formed outside shops that were rumoured to have received fresh supplies of any items.

  Ration books

  Everyone was issued with a ration book allowing them to buy a limited amount of certain foods. Adjustments were made to cater for special needs, like pregnant women, young children and vegetarians, but even so, parents often relinquished some of their food rations to their children to keep them healthy and strong. People registered with their local shops and, as items were bought, the shopkeeper stamped their ration books or, later on, accepted small paper coupons from the books. The first items to be rationed were butter, sugar, bacon and paper, followed closely by meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, lard, milk and tinned fruit. Bread, potatoes, coffee, vegetables, fresh fruit and fish were never rationed, though availability and choice of the last three were often severely limited. Bread and potatoes became the principal bulk items in everyone’s diet and the government launched advertising campaigns to encourage healthy eating – especially among children – using these more readily available foods, based on the characters “Potato Pete” and “Doctor Carrot”. Created into cartoon characters and featuring poems and songs, the campaign was a popular one. For instance, a poster featuring Potato Pete gave people ideas for using potatoes freely:

  Potatoes new

  Potatoes old

  Potato (in a salad) cold

  Potatoes baked or mashed or fried

  Potatoes whole, potato pied

  Enjoy them all, including chips

  Remembering spuds don’t come in ships.

  Exotic fruits like bananas, grapes, peaches, melons and lemons were not available at all throughout the war and most children born during it or very young at the start, never tasted bananas until it was all over. (A popular song in 1943 was called When can I have a banana again?) Tea was the main beverage of the nation and when it was rationed at the rate of two ounces a week, which made barely two cups a day, many felt demoralised – even more so than with the rationing of other foods. As it was considered so important to public morale, the government rationed it carefully to make sure it would last. Many hoarded their tea rations, drank it weaker or kept it warm in flasks to take to the bomb shelter. Rather than throw the precious substance away, even leftover cold tea was reheated and drunk later. Acknowledging the drink’s popularity, Winston Churchill said, “Tea is more important than bullets.” Some tried tea substitutes, such as pouring boiling water on dried apple, pear cores or nettles, but these were intensely disliked. Coffee, although not as popular as tea at the time, was often replaced by substitutes made from various roasted grains. Acorn coffee became infamous as something the Germans enjoyed, so acorn coffee did not take off in Britain, but Camp Coffee essence, made with chicory was at least British and so became a fairly successful product. The magazine Country Life, which frequently featured articles on recipes and nutrition, ran a piece on substitutions, including: “A note on nettle tea: nettles can be used satisfactorily as a vegetable, for nettle tea and so
up, even when in flower.”

  Rationing entitlement varied at different times and further items were added as they became increasingly difficult to obtain. In November 1941, a points system was applied to breakfast cereals, condensed milk, biscuits, canned meat, fish and vegetables, allowing housewives to choose between various goods, which were each given a fixed points value. Under this system, each person had 20 points which had to last for four weeks. The points system gave people a degree of choice; for example, a tin of soup was six points, a tin of fruit 24 points and condensed milk 10 points. By 1945, half of all Britain’s food was rationed. People often saved their coupons to buy particular things (for instance, children frequently saved their sweet rations in order to buy a larger amount at once – and many children bought boiled sweets that lasted longer than say, chocolate). Most rationing was dictated by weight, but some things, such as meat, were rationed by price. Sweets and chocolate, although sharply reduced in variety, were rationed in a different way again. Everyone had ‘personal points’, which could be spent anywhere, without registration and these points or sweet coupons were cut out by the shopkeeper, who then tied a batch together and handed them over in return for his or her next delivery of sweet supplies. Grumbling occurred, but not usually over the rationing. Instead, grievances were mostly about the unavailability of goods that were not rationed. Women frequently queued for hours outside shops where it was heard that certain food items were available, but many were still sent away disappointed and numerous shops only opened on a few days a week as their stocks sold out so quickly and were not replenished quite as speedily.