Morning All, Interesting piece on the BBC website When truth trumped propaganda with a link to the MOI Digital site which has published a complete run of the Home Intelligence reports produced by the ministry. Am intrigued to read the special report produced after the Coventry Blitz
There's some really good stuff here - Weekly Report, 7th June 1944 Anti-semitism, January 1942 An American looks at American Troops in Britain, March 1943
Well done John Excellent to see the comments on how people felt re D-Day below. “At last.... Thank God it's started!” sums up the general feeling of profound relief from the tension and the strain of waiting. Many were surprised when the news first broke, having expected a more sensational start, more “fuss” and dislocation of civilian life; some cheered; some wept hysterically; some felt “flattened out” ... “sick in the stomach”. The great majority, however, are described as confident, calm and steady, and excitement - even when intense - is usually restrained. “Everyone is inwardly thrilled”, but people are undemonstrative, and there are few signs of jubilation. Many are said to be awed, both by the magnitude of the operations and the issues at stake. There is, too, much anxiety for the safety of those taking part, relatives - and especially women - being particularly fearful. Nevertheless, the “browned-off” feeling of recent weeks completely vanished. The hunger for news is intense, and many people are said to keep the wireless on permanently. People hang round every available radio in offices, shops and houses. Some complain they cannot get on with their work for excitement and interest in the bulletins. There are queues for papers, which are soon sold out. But now that some of the initial surprise has worn off, people are said not to be talking about it much, at any rate in public; many find it “too big to talk about”. Reaction to the actual operations : People are deeply impressed by the scale of operations - the immensity of which makes many gasp - by the planning, organisation and execution and, above all, by the number of planes and ships involved.... “I simply can't visualise 11,000 planes”.