What Life Was Really Like for Ordinary Britons in World War II

Comments · 103

• NA

  @navysailor · 2 months ago

  I would have loved to see a series of Blackadder and Baldrick in WWII living on Guernsey outsmarting the Germans.

  8

• DA

  @DavidLJarvis · 2 months ago

  I'm a retired US army vet. Ravenous history sponge. There's no greater deed to solidify resolve than leadership right in the muck with everyone else. There's no beating a fighting force with that asset. None. Ukraine is a current prime example.

  27

• CA

  @canuckzed · 2 months ago

  I have the clock my dad ran with when the Nazis bombed Belfast in 1941. He learned tomatoes from seeds to sales during those yearsl. He became a doctor, clock collector, and the finest gardening dad in the universe. I start seeds every year on St Patrick's, and harvest on his birthday in August.

  14

• FO

  @Foxglove99 · 2 months ago

  This was fascinating. I enjoy history from the perspectives of ordinary people. The struggles of daily life & how they got through them can be inspirational. Thank you.

  20

• KI

  @kirkmanning6232 · 1 month ago

  My English nanny in Canada in the 1960’s would talk about the war and the buckets of sand they kept to put out the phosphorus bombs… I remember that!

  4

• LE

  @leslieannetarkin · 2 months ago

  Before Diana came along, Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) was 'The People's Princess'. I have a lot of respect for her b/c when war came, she went right into the thick of it helping people. King George VI gave her the option of moving & living in the countryside. In WW2, according to my grandmother, there was a feeling of real community as, 'We're all in this together'.

  32

• EL

  @elizabethclark394 · 1 month ago (edited)

  My respect for my parents increased watching this,,from the food rations through to the war effort, both of my parents were in reserved occupations dad and engineer with Scottish Aviation at Prestwick airport/RAF Prestwick, and mum in the BOAC offices there to. Found out quite by accident that she'd been responsible for the travel and accommodation for the officers coming over to help plan Overlord, when she exclaimed "Oh that's where it is!" When she first saw the hotel in Clifton overlooking the gorge...and therefore had to explain herself, and dad was not only servicing the aircraft engines, but repairs, plus travelling all over Scotland to service the aircraft flying the North Atlantic Route and forced down by weather and/or engine problems - he'd bought his own US aeroengine tools . And unlike his RAF equivalent he was in the Home Guard too, so no off duty for him.

  1

• CH

  @chrisforrest9482 · 2 months ago

  I wasn&apos;t surprised to learn that service people, men and women, were well taken care of when not involved in combat. However, I watched the civilian information with tears streaming down my face. We, who did not experience the war, think we could have stood civilian life through the wae, except perhaps for the blitz, but the pàthetic amount of food a house wife could get with her ration book, food that was supposed to last a WEEK, was enough to curdle my blood. And I pride myself on the economy and health of my cooking.<br>I am an old woman now, but I have lived my life grateful that Germany lost the war. It has been only a few years that I learned the staggering debt the world owes to the magnificent, wonderful and stubborn British people and Winston Churchill. I bow to you all and send you blessings and my most heart felt thanks for allowing me to have had this particular life of mine.

  15

• MA

  @maudwelford1843 · 3 days ago (edited)

  I remember the party at school in the local park all the balloons and flags, we got war medals too and bunting etc.🇬🇧🙋‍♀️

• CA

  @CashelOconnelly · 10 days ago (edited)

  It wasn’t the Tory, Churchill who kept the home fires burning but Clement Attlee,the deputy prime minister and leader of the Labour Party who dealt with the domestic running of Britain

  1

• DA

  @daisymouse6990 · 7 days ago

  WW2 is still having an impact on a lot of people - the few remaining Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, and Gen X. We grew up without the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins that we should have had, and the life-long grief of relatives who had lost their loved ones. It sickens me to hear younger generations lacking all respect and pride for what their ancestors went through so they could live the comfortable lives they have now. They need to watch documentaries like this.

• DA

  @davidoquias6061 · 2 months ago

  Finnaly found a great show, with one of my favorite presenter.

  2