Best Websites
These sites can tell you about civilian life in Britain during WW2, says Jonathan Scott
Online clues to your forebears’ life on the home front
Asense of national pride stems from our collective vision of life on the Home Front. We like to see ourselves as the plucky outsiders who knuckled down and endured. When George VI spoke to the nation via radio on the evening of 3 September 1939, he told listeners to expect difficult times ahead. Indeed, Operation Pied Piper had already begun, which would see thousands of children and other “vulnerable civilians” moved from cities and centres of industry.
The Women’s Land Army, which had been disbanded in the wake of the First World War, was reformed, and in May the following year Anthony Eden addressed “men of all ages” via the BBC’s Home Service, launching a new drive for Local Defence Volunteers. In January 1940, the British government introduced food rationing in a bid to overcome national shortages, while the first concentrated German bombardment began in the summer of 1940. All of these hardships proved to be a crucible, a forge, that brought together an indomitable generation. As family historians, it is our job to uncover, record and share their stories.
MOI DIGITAL
w moidigital.ac.uk/reports
This fascinating resource hosts free-to-use digitised intelligence records from the Second World War. These were created by the Ministry of Information to canvas and monitor public opinion, and to research aspects of Home Front life. As detailed on the site’s homepage, they served as a “valuable source of information for the ministers and civil servants charged with steering the country through a total war”. There are two sets: Home Intelligence reports, which showed what people were thinking, produced daily from 18 May to 26 September 1940, and weekly from 9 October 1940 to 27 December 1944; and the Wartime Social Survey – statistical reports that are the beginning of what would eventually become the Office for National Statistics.
THE 1939 REGISTER
w findmypast.co.uk/1939register
Many websites covering this period feature memories and oral histories. But when it comes to hard evidence, the 1939 Register is the nearest we have to a census. It records the 40 million-plus people alive in England and Wales on 29 September 1939, just weeks after Operation Pied Piper began. The register reveals more about your ancestors’ war-time experience than just a census. It includes Home Front roles such as ARP warden, special constable or St John’s Ambulance volunteer. The register is also available via ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61596, and The National Archives has uploaded a useful webinar to YouTube at bit.ly/yt-1939-reg.
HOME GUARD PERSONNEL RESEARCH GUIDE
w nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/
home-guard-personnel
Another useful resource from The National Archives is the latest iteration of its guide to the Home Guard, which details Army and government records of those who served as Local Defence Volunteers. Although online records are limited, you can get a taste of what may survive. Via TNA’s online catalogue discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk, you can search and download enrolment forms for Durham Home Guard personnel. If you visit TNA in Kew you can also browse records of Home Forces in WO199, including regimental histories and nominal rolls of Home Guard Auxiliary Units.
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
w iwm.org.uk/history
The IWM’s ‘Stories’ section is full of short, illustrated articles that cover almost every subject you can think of relating to conflict in the 20th century. For example, scroll down to the Second World War category, click the ‘Read More…’ button and links to 214 articles appear, including American airmen in Britain; the Luftwaffe’s ‘Baedeker Raids’ on English cities; popular pastimes and entertainment; Home Front posters; and the liberation of the concentration camps. Although some areas are covered in more depth than others, there’s all sorts of interesting material relating to childhood, work and social life, and lots of inspiration for possible avenues of research.
WW2 PEOPLE’S WAR
w bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar
The BBC asked the public to contribute memories of the war between June 2003 and January 2006, and the result was this archive of 47,000 stories and some 15,000 images. Click the ‘Full Archive List’ button to browse entries grouped by Armed Forces, Internment, Occupation and the Home Front, which includes reminiscences about living through the Blitz, the Land Army, domestic life, reserved occupations, and childhood and evacuation. This last category is the most richly populated section of the site with 14,336 stories. These are not primary sources, but constitute a key database of witness testimony from the Home Front.