Some advice needed please! :)

[Jon]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if any of you would be able to help (though i'm sure at least some of you will be able to point me in the right direction), but I'm doing some research at the moment and need to know what life was like directly after WW2 in England (especially London).

If you know of any books, films or anything of the sort that deals with post-war London, I would be extremely grateful.

If you have any ideas or anecdotes you've heard and could list them here, that would again be a great help.

I came into this project expecting it to be a breeze, but it's actually quite difficult to find much information about what it was like for the common man when the war ended.

Thank you for your time, and I really appreciate your help

Jon

[Cpl Rootes]

Watch the film "Vera Drake".

There is a scene in it where a group of men are talking about their service in the war and post war (National Service). Really does show what life was like in those days (costumes are accurate too).

History of London - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also just ask around. Ask people you know who were about then etc.

[Jon]

Thanks very much Alex

[the_historian]

Jon,
You could also watch The Blue Lamp, the film which introduced George Dixon, of Dixon of Dock Green fame. Filmed in the East End in 1949, there are quite a few shots of bomb sites etc, as well as day-to-day living.

[Ron Goldstein]

Originally Posted by Jon

Hi all,

I'm not sure if any of you would be able to help (though i'm sure at least some of you will be able to point me in the right direction), but I'm doing some research at the moment and need to know what life was like directly after WW2 in England (especially London).

If you know of any books, films or anything of the sort that deals with post-war London, I would be extremely grateful.

If you have any ideas or anecdotes you've heard and could list them here, that would again be a great help.

I came into this project expecting it to be a breeze, but it's actually quite difficult to find much information about what it was like for the common man when the war ended.

Thank you for your time, and I really appreciate your help

Jon

Jon

If you want a first class reference book (and cheap too) look no further than:

Wartime Britain 1939-1945 by Juliet Gardner ISBN 0-7553-1028-4 Paper back £8.99
The last chapter is entitled " A brief period of rejoicing" and should be of help.

Ron

ps
At the risk of stating the obvious, GOOGLING "Life in Post War Britain" will give you official statistics galore and for a reasonably palatable picture of the times have a look at : Post-War Britain - ninemsn Encarta

On a more personal note, I had a Post-War leave in London in 1945 and listed the shows I saw here:
BBC - WW2 People's War - Shows running in London during 1945

[Rich Payne]

Jon, you're quite right about this being an underdocumented period and difficult to research. 'Vintage Roadscene' magazine had an article on the winter of 1947 in their March edition which gives some useful background on the years of austerity.

Many 'Duration of Emergency' servicemen (at least the younger ones) were of course still overseas for some time after the cessation of hostilities.

Good luck !

[Jon]

Guys, thank you all so much... this has given me some food for thought for a while

Ron - cheers for the links... both of those will be a great help!