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Dear Old Blighty: Britain's First World War Home Front
Price:
£7.00
In the summer of 1914, Britain felt secure that the old order was firmly in place. Britain, through its navy, ruled the waves, and a fair part of the world through its Empire. Yet this security was an illusion; a war of unimaginable scale was just days away.
The war would affect every level of British society; first through the urgent need for a massive expansion of the armed forces, drawing in ever-more men from civilian life. This in turn denuded the factories, shops and farms of labour, at a time when industry needed to expand to clothe and supply the armed services, and agriculture needed to fill the shortages of food created by the U-boat assault on our merchant fleet.
The armed forces had first call on men, food, and material, so shortages hit the civilian population hardest; replacement labour was found in women, who began to take on work previously the reserve of men; in the factories, transport, commerce, and agriculture. Food remained a problem; shortages led to food queues, leading to increasing Government control and eventually rationing. Civilians were also hit by shortages of petrol and clothing, leading to petrol rationing, gas-cars, and ‘standard’ cloth.
There were also more immediate dangers; raids by German ships on coastal towns, and air raids throughout the country by Zeppelins, and later, aeroplanes.
In ‘Dear Old Blighty’, Mike Brown looks in depth at the experience of the civilians, men, women and children, of Britain throughout those four momentous years.
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Crime in the Second World War: Spivs, Scoundrels, Rogues and Worse
Price:
£15.00
At a time of national emergency, the average person could be forgiven for thinking that crime rates would go down as everyone tried to help the war effort. However, the reality was that criminals saw the war as an opportunity to exploit the emergency conditions and those with a previously unblemished reputation found themselves tempted off the straight and narrow.
Criminal activity wasn’t just a civilian occupation. The military services had its share of crime and the influx of foreign troops added to the problem. American and Canadian troops found themselves transported to Britain in preparation for D-Day. Lonely and far from home, some rioted and many looked for other distractions with desertion being a significant problem and one which was often funded by crime.
Heavily illustrated with both contemporary and modern photographs Penny takes you back to some of the most infamous wartime crimes such as the blackout ripper, the bath chair murderer and the last person to be prosecuted in Britain for witchcraft. She also delves into the murky world of Spivs, Gangs, prostitutes and Robbers.
At a time when rationing, shortages and the blitz meant feeding the family became ever more difficult it was all too easy for the increasingly blurred line of criminality to be crossed. Penny Legg shows how and why crime was committed during the Second World War and what became of those Spivs, Scoundrels, Rogues and Worse who strayed into the underworld.
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