Just Finished Reading: Waiting for War – Britain 1939-1940 by Barry Turner (FP: 2019) [342pp] 

Despite the expectation of many, after war was declared on Germany on 3rd September 1939 nothing happened. The expected air attacks did not occur despite an overzealous sounding of an air-alarm siren moments after the announcement. The so-called ‘Phoney War’ had begun and would last 8 months. It was a strange time for everyone. 

Most people's experience of war had ended in 1918. For those not involved in the front lines, and especially for those not living in London or on the South coast, they had practically no idea of what was going to happen next. Naturally the government sent out ‘information’ leaflets which were, as usual, not that informative. The overriding message, it seemed, was not to panic and that most things would continue pretty much as usual. Even after war was declared the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain still hoped that Hitler could see the error of his ways and come back into the family of nations. Hence the dropping of leaflets, rather than bombs, on Germany in the early months. Unsurprisingly these had very little effect. Actually, the RAF was quite keen to start dropping bombs on German targets but were constrained by Government restrictions against damaging private property (I kid you not) and angering Hitler resulting in him being pushed further from the negotiation table. 

Meanwhile, in England, wartime restrictions had come into place – including a countrywide blackout. Most of this was completely pointless and, paradoxically, caused a lot more injuries and even deaths than any enemy action did. Likewise, the evacuation of hospital patients away from the capital and the restriction of the availability of hospital beds (in anticipation of mass casualties due to bombing) caused people to miss their required procedures thereby probably hastening their deaths – and still, week after week, without any enemy action. Along with hospital patients and the elderly living in the predicted ‘danger zones’, thousands of mothers and young children were moved out into safer areas to prevent both mass casualties and mass panic during the expected bombing. It wasn’t long before people started moving back into places like London and other cities because of the many practicalities overlooked by government guidelines. 

One thing that did interest me was the issue of gasmasks. Although gas was never used it was thought that it might well be, so every adult (and child) in the country was issued with a mask and was required to carry it on them at all times. Failure to do so could get you a talking to by the police or even the issue of a fine. When it became obvious that gas wasn’t going to be an issue a growing number of people simply stopped carrying them. After a while the police & the government just had to turn a blind eye to this to save on the effort of enforcing a non-sensical rule. [Side note: for years in High school the bag I used to carry my books & stuff in was my dad's gasmask case which was quite brilliant. I loved it!] 

With the Second World War being an unprecedented event, it's hardly a shock that at least some of the government’s plans were either irrelevant or actually counterproductive. Partially it was various departments working at cross purposes or interpreting instructions in various conflicting ways. Partially, of course, it was the result of guesswork that had to be rolled back or rescinded once policy hit hard reality. Partially it seemed to be the reluctance of the Chamberlain government to accept reality – they were at war and sooner or later war-like things were going to start happening. This was an interesting insight into some of the chaos in the early months of the conflict and particularly how the ‘Phoney War’ impacted civil society. I think, for me, the thing that stood out the most was the cynicism and scepticism of the public and their willingness to break what they saw as pointless regulations. Maybe the people in that time were not as compliant as we assume they had been. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the early part of WW2 and its impact on the average person in the street.