Britain 1940

This portrait of early-WWII British life “nicely weaves together anecdotes and stories of actual individuals that help illustrate the overall experience” (The NYMAS Review).

On New Year’s Day 1940, the people of Britain looked back on the first four months of the Second World War with a sort of puzzled unease. Wartime life was nothing like what they’d imagined. Unlike in the First World War, there was no fighting on the Western Front. Indeed, there was no Western Front. There had been no major air attacks. Four days into the war German bombers had approached the East Coast, but no bombs were dropped. Everyone carried their gas masks, but there was no poison gas. Petrol was the only commodity rationed, and there was no noticeable shortage of food. Young men called up to join the forces were largely idle. They certainly were not fighting the Germans. In January 1940, life in wartime Britain was simply an inconvenient version of life in peacetime. Even the hitherto strictly enforced blackout regulations were relaxed when it became obvious that, because of them, people were being killed in road accidents.

But on New Year’s Eve 1940, Britain was deep in the throes of war. In September the Germans had launched what was to be an eight-month bombing campaign that targeted every one of Britain’s major cities. By the end of 1940, German air raids had killed 15,000 civilians. This book tells the story of this dramatic year, as the war in Britain progressed from dull to devastating.