World War II, The Home Guard, the New Dad's Army Film and the Spy.

Imagine the scene.  Children dressed as evacuees, on a school trip to the Seven Valley Railway.  They're happily waving flags and singing at the top of their voices,"Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?" Launched in 1968, the BBC TV series Dad's Army has brought WWII to another generation ensuring that the work of the Home Guard is remembered!

In 1939 Civil Defence plans were introduced to combat the threat of mass bombing and enemy occupation of Britain.  This included the distribution of 38 million gas masks to protect the Home Front against enemy attacks using poison gas. Local Defence Volunteers later became the Home Guard and then became known as Dad's Army, guarding the country against a threatened invasion.  Keeping watch over our coastline, public buildings, roads and railways, they also brought in enemy pilots who had baled out of damaged aircraft. Many of these volunteers had seen action during WWI and the Home Guard became a professional uniformed army equipped with weapons.
In October this year filming began on the new Dad's Army film which is set towards the end of WWII.  The discovery of a radio transmission from Walmington-on-Sea to Berlin reveals the existence of a spy.  Captain Mainwaring and his platoon are on hand to deal with this threat! Will this new remake capture the magic of the original TV show? Don't panic! With Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring, Bill Nighy as Sgt. Wilson and Catherine Zeta Jones playing a glamourous journalist and lots of other stars including Bill  Paterson, and Tom Courtney  - it promises to be an entertaining film. It's also keeping history alive!
Source
Britain at War by Maureen Hill
Dad's Army (2015 film) https://www.wikipedia.org/

ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM COSFORD EVENT 2015 - RE-ENACTORS REQUIRED !

WWII re-enactors are wanted for RAF Cosford Air Show on Sunday June 14th 2015.  Also vehicles are required for the1940s event taking place at the Victory Village.
Camping facilities are available on Saturday 13th June and there is a marquee for displays that need to be under cover. You can contact them via the website at www.cosfordairshow.co.uk. Their address is Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, Shiftnal, Shropshire TF11 8IP and there's also information about this event at Rods 1940s events calendar at www.40s-events.co.uk

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS

FROM THE 1940s PICTURE POST

Christmas Shopping at Walsall Leather Museum's Vintage and Retro Fair.

If you're still shopping for some last minute Christmas presents, why not visit some of the many vintage and craft fairs at this time of year.  There's lots of bargains to be found. Located in the West Midlands, Walsall Leather Museum's Retro Christmas Fair brought the opportunity to find unusual gifts, vintage clothes and accessories including 1940s goodies!  There was also the opportunity to make your own individual presents.

Stall holders Vintage Duo were there with some novel gifts, and they also organise Vintage and Handmade Fairs. You can contact them at vintage.duo@hotmail.co.uk or you can find them at Vintage Duo's Vintage Fairs on Facebook.

This event also included Second to None who specialise in period clothing, from Edwardian costume through to the 1980's, including 1940s clothes and accessories. You can visit them at 226 Stafford  Street, or email them at second2none226@yahoo.co.uk.

There was of course lots more to see.  For nearly two hundred years Walsall has been making its mark on the world and with nearly 90 businesses still manufacturing leather goods, it still has a thriving industry. Walsall Leather Museum, its restored Victorian factory and friendly staff are well worth a visit!

The 1940s Picture Post and the story of the Home Front in WWII

The story of the Home Front during World War Two was about how to turn a democratic and freedom loving people into a formidable war machine! A booklet, published by the Ministry of Labour in 1944, describes the mobilisation of the British people and how the nation was prepared for war.

Legislation was passed to ensure that the nation's workforce was available for the war effort, and the Trade Unions co-operated. Some people were required to leave their jobs and retrain. Skilled workers considered absolutely necessary for the war effort became reserved occupation. The governments compulsory powers extended to rich and poor alike.

 For example, hundreds of young women left their homes and families in Scotland, travelling to stay in hostels in Birmingham and work in the factories. Tanks, guns, aircraft and munitions were needed and the nation's women volunteered. The miners, dockers and railway workers and the Merchant Navy were now also considered to be essential to the war effort and food production had to be increased.

In 1940, during a hot summer, determined factory engineers worked themselves to a standstill. This was considered to be not good at all, either for health or productivity, so more planning was introduced. Despite this, many full-time workers also became part-time air raid wardens and fire wardens or helped in other ways. Everyone contributed to the war effort, by doing whatever they could.

Britain also had to ensure it could defend itself against the threat of invasion and that despite continual air raids that essential services and basic living standards were maintained.

Motivating speeches were supplied by the nation's leaders via radio and the press, and The Picture Post published moving pictures of ordinary people at war.

The mobilisation of the nation required a  phenomenal effort. Even our allies thought it couldn't be done. WWII had demanded and received an extraordinary response from the British people.  "We could never have survived at all if we had not mobilised our manpower......if the people had not been willing."

Source:  Manpower - The Story of Britain's Mobilisation For War
Prepared for the Ministry of Labour and National Service by the Ministry of Information. (First published 1944)

The Picture Post Album by Robert Kee

1940s PICTURE POST AT THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY

There's something special about a visit to the Severn Valley Steam Railway! The sights and sounds we experience allow us to travel back in time to the 1940's. It is now how it was then.  Add the re-enactors and the past is re-created and re-visited.

Attracting tourists from all over the world the Severn Valley Railway is also a highly popular venue for 1940s re-enactments. Usually their WWII Weekends feature vintage military vehicles, plenty of music and entertainment, battle re-enactments, re-enactors in civilian dress and uniform, exhibitions and displays at every station and flypast from a World War II spitfire!

Shoppers can enjoy plenty of bargains on sale at the many stalls and there's also vintage clothes, shoes, hats and lots of memorabilia and bric a brac.

During WWII the trains carried troops, military vehicles, resources and weapons across the country and evacuees away from the cities, providing ambulance and armoured support alongside the track. Often a frequent target of enemy attacks, the railways and their workers played a vital role in WWII.

CHURCHILL's SECRET ARMY - THE BRITISH RESISTANCE WWII

Churchill's hidden army was kept top secret.  The existence of the British Resistance and Auxillary Units and also the Special Duties Section remained covert until the 1990's. Then, a book and a film by Owen Sheers revealed the contingency proposals for Britain's secret army.

 In 1940 following Dunkirk and the occupation of Europe, plans for the British Resistance Organisation to defend the Homefront were put into action. Underground Operational Bases were created and patrols were trained in combat, intelligence and the use of weapons and sabotage. 

 Little is still known about Britain's Resistance and mostly the families were never informed. In occupied Britain the life expectancy of the members of the Resistance would have been only two weeks!

However, more details have emerged about the underground soldiers and spies in Wales. In September 2014 at Bantock House Museum in Wolverhampton, there was an exhibition about the work of the Resistance in Wales displaying the type of weaponry   issued to "The Scallywags" or GHQ Auxillary Units. These were to be used in the event of the invasion of Britain.

This is a fascinating and little known story and if you want to know more about The British Resistance and the Auxillary Units you can visit the www.auxunit.org.uk  Other links include www.coleshillhouse.com and www.abergavennymuseum.co.uk

A Grand Tea Dance

We all stepped back in time at this costumed WWII themed event! The Grand Tea Dance was the venue for Susan's 65th birthday party and the location was Aston Wood Golf Club, Little Aston in the West Midlands.

 There was Hollywood glamour and top hats and white ties, with some officers wearing their dress uniforms and of course the Homefront and the Army, Navy and Air Force were also represented. Wartime rations were provided for us and there was lots of music and dancing 1940's style. Holly Hewitt sang for us and sparkled in a beautiful red sequinned dress and later everyone joined in a jolly community sing song.

The re-enactors set the scene making us feel we had travelled back in time  to 1939. We all listened to speeches from Field Marshall Montgomery and Prime Minister Winston Churchill who both recreated the mood of the time.  Fire wardens were on hand to ensure everyone survived a dramatic "air raid" and the noise of the Blitz, and the drama continued with the arrest, by the Home Guard, of a spiv trying to peddle black market goods to the guests!

The Grand Tea Dance was an enjoyable and entertaining event and as the guests and re-enactors left I heard someone say,"can't we do this again next year?" Exactly! Thank you Susan.    

WWII Day at Jones of Shropshire

Visitors to the first World War Two themed event by Jones of Shropshire, Bridgenorth, enjoyed hot chocolate and homemade brownies while watching "The Dam Busters" in "The Mess" and other vintage film.
 

This Aladdin's cave of antique and vintage goodies re-created the atmosphere of the 1940's with costumes and music and a raffle raising funds for Help for Heroes. Hand knitted poppies were also on on sale to support the Royal British Legion. 

 Visiting re-enactors and enthusiastic members of the public helped to make this day a fun and memorable occasion. You can find Jones of Shropshire at Rudge Heath Nurseries, Bridgnorth Road WV6 7EE, they're also on Facebook and there are more photo's on the Jones of Shropshire page.

Remembrance Day 2014

"At the going down of the sun,

 and in the morning, we shall remember them."

                      

Churchill, Bletchley Park, the Radio Spies and "The Imitation Game"

Churchill's experiences during World War One had prepared him for the national web of secrecy and espionage needed to help defeat Hitler in World War Two.  This included Bletchley Park and it's famous code breakers. Also, the radio interceptors or radio spies who were based at listening stations throughout Britain, listening and writing down enemy morse code transmissions which were sent to Bletchley Park for decoding. Further support came from the Voluntary Interceptors, who were recruited early in the war, radio hams with the expertise and often their own radio equipment needed to listen in to enemy transmissions.  They also worked in secret, often from their own homes, the other occupants of the house unaware of their activities.

"The Imitation Game," a new film starring Benedict Cumberbatch is a bio-pic of the work of the mathematician Alan Turing at Bletchley Park, decoding the information from the radio interceptors and working with colleagues to develop the "Bombe" an early computer to assist with and speed up the process of code-breaking. The success of Bletchley Park saved over three million lives and helped to shorten the war. The  work and accuracy of the Y Service or listening station was also vital. For example, a listening station at the Old Rectory, Whitchurch, Shropshire intercepted foreign diplomatic transmissions from the Japanese Embassy in Berlin to Japan, giving detailed information about German defences in northern France in 1943. helping with the success of D-Day. The importance of safeguarding "Ultra" the intelligence received from Bletchley Park and of keeping Germany unaware of our ability to break the Enigma code is well known, but Churchill's vast network of secrecy also extended to the homefront with the British people's contribution, well aware that "careless talk costs lives."

Tribute to the Land Girls

A sculpture has been unveiled this week at the National Memorial Arboreteum, Alrewas, Staffordshire to commemorate the work of the Women's Land Army. The tribute to the work of the Land Girls is a sculpture by Denise Dutton and features a Land Girl and a Lumber Jill. The Land Army worked the land while the men were away fighting and helped to keep Britain supplied with food and wood. 

The Land Girls are also a popular theme with the re-enactors who wear dungarees, headscarves and wellington boots and of course the green woollen jumpers associated with the Land Army, also often carrying baskets of vegetables, fruit and flowers. The photographs accompanying this article were taken at the "Step back to the 1940's" weekends at the Severn Valley Railway 2014.

 Often at 1940's events there are examples of "work on the farm" and this year Bantock House World War Weekend, Wolverhampton and Rushden Transport Museum Homefront War Weekend, Northamptonshire featured displays, with Blist's Hill Homefront Evening, Shropshire, inviting visitors to "join" the land Army and help with a demonstration of a working shire horse.

Home Front War Weekend at Rushden Transport Museum, Northamptonshire

This was a friendly and lively event with 1940's memorabilia and clothing stalls, displays, and a civilian vehicle display for visitors.  The Blitz Sisters, a popular singing duo, recreated the music of the 1940's, entertaining us all and made this a memorable day!  The Blitz Sisters, who recently appeared at Northampton and Lamport Steam Railway can be contacted by event organisers on Facebook:The BlitzSisters or via their website at WWW.The BlitzSisters.co.uk.

The re-enactors also helped set the scene with a greater than usual naval presence at the event, although there were also lots of people in "40's civies". Photo's from this event are on The Homefront War Weekend at Rushden page.

The fourth service was also present to represent the hazardous work of the Merchant Navy during World War Two including bringing food, fuel and ammunition from America to Britain and transporting troops.   Campaigning by the Merchant Navy Association has brought recognition to the role of the Merchant Navy, and presently they're busy with lobbying activities to achieve official recognition for their veterans to march alongside HM Forces Vets on Rememberance Sunday. You can find out more about the Merchant Navy Association and it's activities at WWW.red-duster.co..uk. or there's more advice and guideance for veterans and their families at www.veterans-uk.info.

WWII, Coventry,and the Blitz

 

 

In the summer of 1940, and until the spring of 1941, Germany began their relentless aerial attacks, targeting British cities, ports and industrial areas. During November a devastating raid levelled the centre of Coventry leaving the city's cathedral in ruins. 

Roy from Northamptonshire, a small boy at the time, was in Coventry visiting relatives.  "My Uncle held me up to the window to see the glow from Coventry while it was being bombed in 1940."  "I had to spend the night in an Anderson shelter, it was the first and only time!

 

Change of Venue for Four Ashes 1940s event 2015

As the 1940s event season is drawing to an end and the re-enactors are getting a well deserved rest, so its likely that they are all looking forward to, or making plans for 2015! So whether you're a re-enactor or a 1940s enthusiast, here's  an early addition for your diary!
Four Ashes are changing their venue in 2015.  The new location is Willenhall RUFC, Essington, Staffordshire. This promise to be an exciting event with plenty of stalls and a hairdresser for the vintage vamps! Also displays, re-enactments, entertainment, military and vintage vehicles, lots happening, and its all  for charity. Almost forgot to add the date, its Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of May!

Welcome to 1940′s Picture Post!

 Welcome to 1940′s Picture Post!

The Picture Post will be publishing your WW2 stories, reporting events and bringing you photo's, interviews in fact anything and everything connected with the 1940's!

Your Stories from Bantock House War Weekend

 

It was a great weekend with lots of visitors, re-enactors, events and exhibitions!  But the main reason I wanted to write this blog was to share your stories. So here goes.
John Harris was a young boy during World War 2.  He lived in Walsall with his grandparents, parents and brother. Whilst he and his brother were busy working in the garden  (their job was to keep the Anderson shelter covered with soil and grass)  they noticed a man at the back of the garden tying ariel wire to a tree.  Because the need for security had been drummed into them he told his mother about this who then told the local ARP warden Mr. Reeve, who was also the local chemist and had a shop at the top of the road.  “I thought he was probably a spy,” said John, ”it turned out that he was a listener, a voluntary interceptor, who was visited by an army despatch rider.
Thought this was a very interesting story because we are only just beginning to find out more about the UK’s network of voluntary interceptors, who listened into german transmissions and sent the information to Bletchley Park, often using despatch riders.
Bantock House War Weekend also featured an exhibition about Geoff Hanley who was a radio technician in World War One and a Voluntary Interceptor from 1940 -1944.  Harry Platt, who told me that Geoff had his own transmitter and mast, was also a member of this group of amateur radio hams. Harry said,”everyone made their own wirelesses called  ’breadboards’.
Another visitor to Bantock House Museum was veteran Geoffrey Ensor, who served on HMS Jason, and was a Leutenant in the RNV Reserve.  Geoffrey was at the Normandy landings, serving on the landing crafts and transferring troops onto the Normandy beaches.
Thanks to everyone who took time to talk to me at what was a very busy and successful event, and apologies to the re-enactors Karen and co and The Scallywags for not yet posting photos. A temporary gliche I hope!

TV, DVD and FILM

 

World War II in Colour is currently being screened at 7.OO pm, Fridays on Channel 5. This series started Friday 12th September, so if you missed the first episode they’re all on You Tube!

War Weekend



It’s World War Weekend at Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th September and entrance is free.  The theme is communication and includes a profile of radio spy Geoff Hanley who was a voluntary interceptor, and the role of Bantock house as an army communications centre during the Second World War.  There are also displays and re-enactments and an exhibition featuring the work of war correspondent Ernie Pyle, and  some moving letters written by soldiers during the First World War.