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Christmas At War True Stories Of How Britain Came Together On The Home Front
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Book Synopsis Christmas at War - True Stories of How Britain Came Together on the Home Front by : Caroline Taggart
Download or read book Christmas at War - True Stories of How Britain Came Together on the Home Front written by Caroline Taggart and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No turkey. No fruit to make a decent pudding. No money for presents. Your children away from home to keep them safe from bombing; your husband, father and brothers off fighting goodness knows where. How in the world does one celebrate Christmas? That was the situation facing the people of Britain for six long years during the Second World War. For some of them, Christmas was an ordinary day: they couldn't afford merrymaking - and had little to be merry about. Others, particularly those with children, did what little they could. These first-hand reminiscences tell of making crackers with no crack in them and shouting 'Bang!' when they were pulled; of carol-singing in the blackout, torches carefully covered so that no passing bombers could see the light, and of the excitement of receiving a comic, a few nuts and an apple in your Christmas stocking. They recount the resourcefulness that went into makeshift dinners and hand-made presents, and the generosity of spirit that made having a happy Christmas possible in appalling conditions. From the family whose dog ate the entire Christmas roast, leaving them to enjoy 'Spam with all the trimmings', to the exhibition of hand-made toys for children in a Singapore prison camp, the stories are by turns tragic, poignant and funny. Between them, they paint an intriguing picture of a world that was in many ways kinder, less self-centred, more stoical than ours. Even if - or perhaps because - there was a war on.
Book Synopsis All Quiet on the Home Front by : Richard van Emden
Download or read book All Quiet on the Home Front written by Richard van Emden and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-04-30 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “fascinating” look at hardship, heroism, and civilian life in England during the Great War (World War One Illustrated). The truth about the sacrifice and suffering among British civilians during World War I is rarely discussed. In this book, people who were there speak about experiences and events that have remained buried for decades. Their testimony shows the same candor and courage we have become accustomed to hearing from military veterans of this war. Those interviewed include a survivor of a Zeppelin raid in 1915; a Welsh munitions worker recruited as a girl; and a woman rescued from a bombed school after five days. There are also accounts of rural famine, bereavement, and the effects on families back home—and even the story of a woman who planned to kill her family to save them further suffering.
Book Synopsis Christmas on the Home Front by : Mike Brown
Download or read book Christmas on the Home Front written by Mike Brown and published by History Press. This book was released on 2013-09-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The outbreak of war in 1939 saw the disappearance of many traditional British celebrations. Guy Fawkes' Night went immediately--gunpowder production was needed for the war effort and bonfires contravened the blackout. Summer holidays became a thing of the past and Easter all but disappeared as chocolate--and even real eggs--went on the ration. In spite of this the nation remained determined to celebrate Christmas as a time of family and community; a time when war could be set aside, if only for a day. Drawing upon personal recollections, contemporary Mass Observation reports, newspaper articles, advertisements, and personal and archive photographs, Mike Brown looks at each wartime Christmas on the British Home Front, from 1939 to 1944.
Book Synopsis Darkest Christmas by : Peter Harmsen
Download or read book Darkest Christmas written by Peter Harmsen and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2022-10-21 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is of interest to any scholar of World War II, particularly those focused on bridging culture and war. Highly readable, this text is suitable for undergraduate and popular audiences as well. Many should find its analysis to be a refreshing take on the well-trodden field of World War II histories." — Journal of Military History December 1942 saw the bloodiest Christmas in the history of mankind. From the islands in the Pacific to the China front, from the trenches in Russia to the battle lines in North Africa, in the skies over Europe and in the depths of the Atlantic, men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. The Holocaust continued, and innocent civilians were murdered by the thousands throughout the evil Nazi empire, even as the perpetrators celebrated the birth of Christ. Millions stationed in far-off lands amid the greatest conflict in human history feared this was their last Christmas in freedom, or their last Christmas alive. At the same time as the slaughter continued unabated, throughout the world there were random acts of kindness, born out of an instinctive feeling of the essential brotherhood of man. These gestures also straddled religious barriers and sometimes included those of non-Christian faiths. Even some Japanese, otherwise embarked on a self-declared crusade against the West, relented for a few precious hours in acknowledgment of the holiday. At the same time, Christmas 1942 saw the injunction of ‘good will to man’ distorted in ugly and callous ways. At Auschwitz, SS guards played cruel games with their prisoners. In Berlin, the German heart of darkness, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels spent time with his family while still buried in feverish fantasies about the Jewish world conspiracy. Christmas 1942 saw the entire range of man’s conduct towards his fellow man, reflecting the extremes of behavior, good and bad, that World War II gave rise to. The way the holiday was marked around the world tells a deeper and more universal story of the human condition in extraordinary times.
Book Synopsis Wartime Summer by : Caroline Taggart
Download or read book Wartime Summer written by Caroline Taggart and published by John Blake. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We take summer holidays for granted but, back in the 1940s, the picture was very different. War had gripped Britain. Wave after wave of bombs fell, beaches were closed off, and petrol was rationed by the forbidding question, 'Is your journey really necessary?' But the summer days (with double summer time) seemed to go on forever, war or no war - and British families were determined to make the best of their paralyzed country. For evacuated children, this meant freedom that is unimaginable today: wandering at will, discovering wildlife in fields and ponds, foraging from orchards and hedgerows and swimming in the streams. Elsewhere, country estates were requisitioned for the war efforts, the tennis courts given over for training and the Lord and Lady of the manor sent packing! Dances attracted people from all walks of life - from ballroom dances to the thrill of the arrival of the GIs and the jitterbug. But the shadow of war was never far away; the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, and the D-Day Landings in 1944 took place in June - with unreliable summer weather playing a part in both. In this book, Caroline Taggart shows us how Britons succeeded in keeping up spirits in spite of the constant devastation of battle. It is a revealing and entertaining collection of first-hand reminiscences from people who lived through those six long years. Touching, tragic, occasionally hilarious, it shows the British soldiering on as best they could.
Book Synopsis The Day War Broke Out by : Jacky Hyams
Download or read book The Day War Broke Out written by Jacky Hyams and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-05 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sunday, 3 September 1939: the dawn of a new conflict that would engulf the world, following the words of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain: 'This country is at war with Germany'. By the time World War II ended in 1945, nearly half a million people from Britain and its empire had lost their lives, and the world had changed forever. Eighty years on, a look back at the lives of British people in September 1939 reveals a very different world from the one we know today. Unprecedented hardship lay ahead for a country where free healthcare for all was unknown: strict rationing of food and petrol, conscription for both sexes, and personal tragedy year after year amidst the chaos of Britain's bombed out cities and ports. What was it really like to be living in Britain in September 1939? The Day the War Broke Out is a fresh insight into the hearts and minds of a nation on that fateful day. With exclusive personal interviews, untold stories, wartime diaries and newspaper reports, it reveals the innermost fears and hopes of a society on the brink of war: through the eyes of young mothers fearful for their families, bewildered children painfully cut adrift from loved ones, and men of all ages, many now facing combat for the second time in their lives. These are personal, intimate snapshots from eighty years ago - when the entire world, virtually overnight, seemed to have been turned upside down - and of how a nation faced this new world with courage, humour and stoicism.
Book Synopsis God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers by : James McIvor
Download or read book God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers written by James McIvor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-10-31 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of the bestselling Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce, the true story of a Civil War Christmas miracle In the waning days of 1862, Union and Confederate troops set up camp within earshot of one another in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Christmas had just passed, and for many of these battle-wearied young soldiers the holiday season was a melancholy reminder of the families and loved ones they’d left behind. Bands from both camps played patriotic songs in an attempt to raise spirits, a musical duel that presaged the bloody battle to come. Then, something extraordinary occurred. One of the bands began playing a popular sentimental tune called “Home Sweet Home.” Soon, bands from both sides picked up the tune, and before long thousands of Northern and Southern soldiers had joined together in song. God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story tells the tale of this yuletide interlude, which came at a time when the early optimism of the Civil War had given way to the bitter realities of seemingly endless bloodshed. Told through soldiers’ letters and period songs, God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers is the hopeful and touching story of human compassion in the midst of unspeakable violence.
Download or read book Silent Night written by Stanley Weintraub and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-11-11 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was one of history's most powerful -- yet forgotten -- Christmas stories. It took place in the improbable setting of the mud, cold rain and senseless killing of the trenches of World War I. It happened in spite of orders to the contrary by superiors; it happened in spite of language barriers. And it still stands as the only time in history that peace spontaneously arose from the lower ranks in a major conflict, bubbling up to the officers and temporarily turning sworn enemies into friends. Silent Night, by renowned military historian Stanley Weintraub, magically restores the 1914 Christmas Truce to history. It had been lost in the tide of horror that filled the battlefields of Europe for months and years afterward. Yet in December 1914 the Great War was still young, and the men who suddenly threw down their arms and came together across the front lines -- to sing carols, exchange gifts and letters, eat and drink and even play friendly games of soccer -- naively hoped that the war would be short-lived, and that they were fraternizing with future friends. It began when German soldiers lit candles on small Christmas trees, and British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other on Christmas Eve. Soon they were gathering and burying the dead, in an age-old custom of truces. But as the power of Christmas grew among them, they broke bread, exchanged addresses and letters and expressed deep admiration for one another. When angry superiors ordered them to recommence the shooting, many men aimed harmlessly high overhead. Sometimes the greatest beauty emerges from deep tragedy. Surely the forgotten Christmas Truce was one of history's most beautiful moments, made all the more beautiful in light of the carnage that followed it. Stanley Weintraub's moving re-creation demonstrates that peace can be more fragile than war, but also that ordinary men can bond with one another despite all efforts of politicians and generals to the contrary.
Book Synopsis The British Home Front 1939–45 by : Martin Brayley
Download or read book The British Home Front 1939–45 written by Martin Brayley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-07-20 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The population of Britain was mobilized to support the war effort on a scale unseen in any other Western democracy – or in Nazi Germany. They endured long working shifts, shortages of food and all other goods, and complete government control of their daily lives. Most men and women were conscripted or volunteered for additional tasks outside their formal working hours. Under the air raids that destroyed the centres of many towns and made about 2 million homeless, more than 60,000 civilians were killed and 86,000 seriously injured. This fascinating illustrated summary of wartime life, and the organizations that served on the Home front, is a striking record of endurance and sacrifice.
Book Synopsis The True Story of the Christmas Truce by : Anthony Richards
Download or read book The True Story of the Christmas Truce written by Anthony Richards and published by Greenhill Books. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'One of them shouted "A Merry Christmas English. We're not shooting tonight." . . . [then] they stuck up a light. Not to be outdone, so did we. Then up went another. So, we shoved up another. Soon the lines looked like an illuminated fete.' Rifleman Leslie Walkington On Christmas Eve 1914, a group of German soldiers laid down their arms, lit lanterns and started to sing Christmas carols. The British troops in nearby trenches responded by singing songs of their own. The next day, men from both sides met in No Man's Land. They shook hands, took photos and exchanged food and souvenirs. Some even played improvised football games, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using helmets for goalposts. Both sides also saw the lull in fighting as a chance to bury the bodies of their comrades. In some parts of the front, the truce lasted a few hours. In others, it continued to the New Year. But everywhere, sooner or later, the fighting resumed. Today, the Christmas Truce is seen as a poignant symbol of hope in a war that many people regard as unnecessary and futile. But what was the real story of those remarkable few days? In this fascinating new book, historian Anthony Richards has brought together hundreds of first-hand reminiscences from those who were there - including previously unpublished German accounts - to cast fresh light on this extraordinary episode.
Book Synopsis I'll Be Home for Christmas by : Library of Congress
Download or read book I'll Be Home for Christmas written by Library of Congress and published by Gramercy. This book was released on 2006-10-03 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America is ready to remember and honor the men and women who courageously served the nation during World War II. To celebrate those brave souls and their families, and the spirit that carried them through our nation's darkest days, the Library of Congress has created a magnificent gift book. Themed around memories of Christmas during the war,I'll Be Home for Christmasis a unique and handsomely packaged collection of poignant stories, correspondence, more than 100 photographs and illustrations, and diary excerpts from those who went off to war and those who kept the home fires burning. One of the key events that shaped the twentieth century, World War II left an indelible mark on mankind. All too often overlooked in the shadow of official accounts and the sheer volume of documentation of the war are the millions of individual stories and experiences of those who served in the war and of the loved ones who waited for them to come home. Never were the personal sacrifices made both here and abroad more heartfelt than at that special time for family that is Christmas. Now the Library of Congress has opened its treasure trove of more than 110 million items (maps, photographs, drawings, recordings, rare books, published and unpublished writings, music, and motion pictures) to craft the perfect gift for anyone interested in World War II. With more than 100 beautiful photographs, cartoons, and illustrations,I'll Be Home for Christmascaptures in brilliant relief how the worst of times can bring out the best in humankind.
Book Synopsis How Churchill Waged War by : Allen Packwood
Download or read book How Churchill Waged War written by Allen Packwood and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analytical investigation into Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s decision-making process during every stage of World War II. When Winston Churchill accepted the position of Prime Minister in May 1940, he insisted in also becoming Minister of Defence. This, though, meant that he alone would be responsible for the success or failure of Britain’s war effort. It also meant that he would be faced with many monumental challenges and utterly crucial decisions upon which the fate of Britain and the free world rested. With the limited resources available to the UK, Churchill had to pinpoint where his country’s priorities lay. He had to respond to the collapse of France, decide if Britain should adopt a defensive or offensive strategy, choose if Egypt and the war in North Africa should take precedence over Singapore and the UK’s empire in the East, determine how much support to give the Soviet Union, and how much power to give the United States in controlling the direction of the war. In this insightful investigation into Churchill’s conduct during the Second World War, Allen Packwood, BA, MPhil (Cantab), FRHistS, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, enables the reader to share the agonies and uncertainties faced by Churchill at each crucial stage of the war. How Churchill responded to each challenge is analyzed in great detail and the conclusions Packwood draws are as uncompromising as those made by Britain’s wartime leader as he negotiated his country through its darkest days.
Book Synopsis The Home Front in World War Two by : Susie Hodge
Download or read book The Home Front in World War Two written by Susie Hodge and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2013-02-19 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings an era to life with vivid stories and information from those who were there. During World War Two, 90% of the British population remained civilians. The War affected daily life more than any other war had done before. The majority of British people faced this will fortitude, courage and determination and this is their story, the telling of events and situations that forced their ingenuity and survival instincts to rise. Make do and mend came to mean so much more than reworking old clothes and this book describes the enterprise that went on and has long been forgotten. From the coasts and the countryside, this is how those at home faced and fought the war passively, particularly women whose job it was to keep the home fires burning. These ordinary people were crucial to the war effort; without their courage and inventiveness, the outcome could have been very different. Packed with interviews, photographs and other firsthand information, this book will appeal to all those who were there, but even more for those with little or no experience of World War Two, who will gain insights into the humor, strength and creativity that emerged in the face of hardship and tragedy. The book explores how people lived in Britain during times of fear, hardship and uncertainty; how they functioned and supported those away fighting and how they dealt with the enormous challenges and adversities
Book Synopsis The World's Greatest War: The events of 1917 and summary; the events of 1918; the armistice and the peace treaties by :
Download or read book The World's Greatest War: The events of 1917 and summary; the events of 1918; the armistice and the peace treaties written by and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 778 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis The Book of History: The events of 1916 ... 1917 and summary by :
Download or read book The Book of History: The events of 1916 ... 1917 and summary written by and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A profusely illustrated summary of world history from an Euro-centric view but in great detail up to the end of World War II.
Book Synopsis Christmas in the Trenches by : John McCutcheon
Download or read book Christmas in the Trenches written by John McCutcheon and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2006-08-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This moving book about peace, understanding, and unity is based on the real-life World War I event known as the Christmas Truce. It is cold and clear on Christmas Eve night in 1914. Suddenly, a strange sound pierces the darkness. Someone is singing a Christmas carol in German. Francis Tolliver and his fellow British soldiers are holed up in muddy trenches along the Western Front. Their enemies—German soldiers—lie in wait just across a field known as "No Man's Land." As the Germans' carol ends, Tolliver and the other British soldiers sing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Soon carols are being sung back and forth. Then a figure emerges in the dark, carrying a small Christmas tree with lighted candles. The British and German soldiers slowly leave their trenches—and the war—behind to stand together in the open field. This haunting story is adapted by award-winning songwriter John McCutcheon from his song of the same name. Henri Sørensen's traditional, full-color oil paintings reinforce the emotional power and dignity of the story. Back matter provides more information about the historical event, and a CD featuring readings of the story and recordings of "Silent Night" and "Christmas in the Trenches" is included.
Book Synopsis The British Home Front and the First World War by : Hew Strachan
Download or read book The British Home Front and the First World War written by Hew Strachan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-12-31 with total page 707 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First World War required the mobilisation of entire societies, regardless of age or gender. The phrase 'home front' was itself a product of the war with parts of Britain literally a war front, coming under enemy attack from the sea and increasingly the air. However, the home front also conveyed the war's impact on almost every aspect of British life, economic, social and domestic. In the fullest account to-date, leading historians show how the war blurred the division between what was military and not, and how it made many conscious of their national identities for the first time. They reveal how its impact changed Britain for ever, transforming the monarchy, promoting systematic cabinet government, and prompting state intervention in a country which prided itself on its liberalism and its support for free trade. In many respects we still live with the consequences.
