Christmas on the Home Front in 1939
by Fenella Miller
 |
| Photo by Phil Gyfford, courtesy of Flickr |
1939
was the last of what could be thought of as a ‘pre-war’ Christmas. Although
there were restrictions and the blackout was in place civilians were determined
to celebrate. An advert that ran sums up
what people felt, “As dusk falls, the fairy lights on the Christmas tree
outside St Paul’s Cathedral will go out… we must await victory to again see
them at night in all their colours.”
Amazingly
over 4000 civilians were killed on the
roads that winter compared to 2500 the previous period in 1938. There were 155
lives lost in accidents on the road in December of 1939 –the highest recorded
number of deaths.
The
weather that year was very seasonal – most of the country was blanketed in
snow. In fact this was the coldest winter for nearly fifty years. Families were
without their sons, fathers and brothers and over half a million men were
serving in France.
The
government wanted the population to know what they were fighting for –
celebrating as always would reinforce this message. The radio, magazines and
newspapers all stressed the importance of community spirit, family values,
neighbourliness, faith and tradition. They wanted families to celebrate in
style. Rationing didn’t begin until January so there was no shortage of the
traditional Christmas fare. No doubt many remembered the shortages experienced
in WW1 and were already hording food in the expectation that things would be in
short supply very soon.
Children’s
toys were still available but even in 1939 suggestions were being made for ways
civilians could ‘make do and mend’. Rubber toys for the bath could be made from
old inner tubes or hot water bottles. These are cut with scissors and stuck
together with the rubber solution used to end a puncture. They were then packed
with kapok or chopped up bits of rubber or cork sawdust from fruit packing.
These don’t sound especially attractive – I can’t imagine any five year old
being thrilled to find a dingy grey rubber toy in their sock on Christmas
morning. Card games called ‘Vacuation’ and ‘Blackout’ were also popular. My
husband remembers being delighted to have an orange, nuts, a sugar mouse and a
couple of wooden farm animals in his sock. For him, a rural working class
family, presents under the tree didn’t feature.
Folk
were asked to send parcels to the troops in France containing men’s magazines
and darts. A personalised Christmas card was also added – the cost was only 3s
6d. Women’s Pictorial suggested families sent boiled sweets, jam, biscuits,
chutney, plum cake as well as soap and razor blades.
Nothing
much has changed even after almost seventy years. I was sending parcels to out
brave troops in Afghanistan last year with more or less the same things in –
minus the darts and razor blades. Nothing sharp is allowed in BFPO parcels.
Christmas
day radio broadcast would have been an important part of the festivities –
although church would have come first. Her is small selection of what would
have been listend to:
7.00: Christmas Greetings – a sackful of stories,
verses and records.
7.40: The Reginald King Trio
8.15: Christmas Carols
…
10.00: A Nativity play by Bernard Walker ‘Bethlehem’
…
1.10: An Orchestral Concert conducted by Guy Warrack.
…
2.15:
The Empire’s Greeting. (This involved
messages form navy vessels, an airborne RAF aircraft, a Welsh miners’ choir, a
shipyard worker’s house in Northern Ireland and many other similar things
3.00
The King’s Speech ).
I
doubt anyone stands to attention when the Queen addresses the nation nowadays.
Hope
you enjoyed this brief glimpse into Christmas in 1939.
Fenella
J Miller
As war rages over Europe, Barbara Sinclair
is desperate to escape from her unhappy home which is a target of the German
Luftwaffe. Caught up by the emotion of the moment she agrees to marry John, her
childhood friend, who is leaving to join the RAF, but a meeting with Simon
Farley, the son of a local industrialist, and an encounter with Alex Everton, a
Spitfire pilot, complicate matters. With rationing, bombing and the constant
threat of death all around her, Barbara must unravel the complexities of her
home life and the difficulties of her emotional relationships in this gripping
coming-of-age wartime drama.
World War II brings divided loyalties and
tough decisions in this page turning drama from Fenella Miller.
Hannah Austen-Bagshaw’s privileged
background can’t stop her falling in love with working-class pilot, Jack, but
Hannah has a secret. Torn between her duty and her humanity, she is sheltering
a young German pilot knowing she risks being arrested as a traitor. Hannah’s
worst fears are realised when Jack finds out what she has done and their love
begins to unravel.
Will her betrayal be too much for Jack to
forgive?
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