Kevin Morrison Collection

The Print and Written Word Mobilised for War : An introduction to the Collection

Even before war was declared by the British Government on September 3rd 1939 the printed word was mobilised for war. Leaflets provided advice on which civilian and military services citizens could join. Identity cards were issued in their millions, ration books prepared. Air Raid Precautions manuals were published for Civil Defence workers. Civil Defence leaflets were distributed to householders giving advice on how to mask their windows, black-out their homes and prepare for evacuating their children.

When war did break out the print and written word was mobilised to help win the war on the home front. Books, pamphlets, leaflets, magazines, journals, letters, postcards, photographs, song sheets and other ephemera were all used to inform, instruct, escape and help cope with the war. People tried as best they could to carry on with their normal lives against a backdrop of enemy bombing, evacuation, shortages, restrictions, separation, worry and fear. The printed and written word would prove to be invaluable in this endeavour. Indeed the Government recognised the importance that books would be to wartime morale by exempting them from purchase tax.

Civil Defence

Two years after Adolf Hitler came to power the threat of war again began to hang over Europe. In 1935 Stanley Baldwin's Cabinet put £100,000 into civil defence expenditure. Wing commander E. J. Hodsoll was appointed head of a Home Office department for Air Raid Precautions. The 250 authorities that made up the United Kingdom were to implement the plans for civil defence as laid down by Hodsoll's department.

A circular sent to local authorities in July 1935 stated that they should begin planning for air raid precautions. The Science Guild published a lecture on 'Gas Defence' given at their general meeting by J. Davidson Pratt, 12 June 1935 (available in the collection). In December 1937 the Air Raid Precautions Act was introduced. Local authorities now had to submit their plans for Government approval. The Chief Warden of the Corporation of the City of Glasgow, Air Raid Precautions Department sent out a circular stating:

'The need has arisen for an organisation of citizen volunteers to perform a number of important duties in time of air attack and thereby to augment and relieve the normal resources of the civil authorities for safeguarding the general public'.

H.M.S.O began publishing a series of Home Office, Air Raid Precautions Department handbooks on A.R.P. in 1935. Titles included; 'Personal protection against gas, 'First aid and nursing for gas casualties' and 'Duties of air raid wardens' among others. In the general preface to the books it was stated;

'The handbooks are designed to describe a scheme of precautions which it is hoped would provide effective in preventing avoidable injury and loss of life or widespread dislocation of national activities. The handbooks aim at giving the best available information on methods of passive defence against air attack'.

On March 14, 1938 (one day after German forces marched into Austria) Home Secretary Samuel Hoare broadcast to the nation appealing for 1 million volunteers for the Civil Defence services. This quota image: chaos security - you must decide wasn't reached. At a local level air-raid wardens could be seen going form door to door canvassing for volunteers. The Munich crisis gave a much-needed boost to civil defence. During this period the Home Office published a book for civilians called 'The Protection of Your Home Against Air Attack'.

In 1939 the crisis deepened. Further developments saw German troops march into Czechoslovakia and Britain and France give Guarantees to Poland. In July the Civil Defence Act gave local authorities power to build air raid shelters, requisition premises, prepare for evacuation and fire fighting. Employers with more than thirty employees had to organise ARP training for them.

In June 1939 London played host to the largest pre-war civil defence exercise. Some 400 wardens took part in the exercise. By the outbreak of war in September 3, 1939 there were 1.5 million members of Civil Defence. During this period the Government issued a number of public information leaflets advising the public on civil defence: 'Your gas mask : how to keep it and how to use it', 'Your food in wartime' issued from the Lord Privy Seal's Office. Anti-gas protection of babies and young children' and 'What to do about gas' issued by Ministry of Home Security. And later 'After the raid' issue by the Ministry of Home Security 1940 (Scottish edition).

A wealth of material was issued to members of the civilian services. The collection holds a number of items such as a warrant/duty card and 'Air Raid Wardens Reference Book' written by N. S. Kiddell Munroe (1940) belonging to a Kilmarnock air raid warden, some thirty circulars issued to a Glasgow Special Constable. Many ephemeral items relating to A.R.P. were produced and survive and are contained in the collection. Two ephemeral items of importance are an air raid precautions recruitment leaflet 'Chaos/Security you must decide - For Britain's safety choose your service now', a shelter pass for a public shelter in Glasgow and a leaflet sent out to citizens of the Borough of Heston and Isleworth October 1939 advising them on the provision of "Anderson" shelters.

Many books were published in wartime providing accounts of air raids on British cities. Five examples from the collection include; 'We went to blazes : an auxiliary foreman's reflection' by David Godfrey (1941), 'Our Blitz : the Daily Dispatch and Evening Chronicle's record in story and picture of the German bombing attacks on the Greater Manchester area with special reference to the nights December 22 and 23 1941 : red sky over Manchester', 'Heroes and heroines of London' by Lord Provost of Glasgow P. J. Dolland and Co-ordinating Officer of A.R.P. Gavin McArthur, Negley Farson's 'Bomber's Moon' (1941) and 'All Clear' Blitz edition. Sheffield 1941 (a record of the December 1940 bombings).

On the night of Sunday 29 December 1940 the City of London was devastated by incendiary bombs. Offices and buildings had been locked up over the weekend and were left unattended. This made it more difficult for the fire and rescue services. As a result the Government implemented a firewatchers' scheme in January 1941. There are a number of items held in the collection relating to fire guards including; a Civil Defence duties enrolment letter for a Glasgow man dated November 1941; City of Glasgow fire guard duty rotas; a report of a meeting of London fire watchers, March 1943 and a time table and programme for a public fire guard rally at Crossland Moor (Huddersfield) May 1942.

What People were Reading

People read in wartime for a number of reasons. Books and magazines were read for pastime and escapism in the blackout and shelter. They helped those at home and those living in billets and barracks to cope with separation and boredom. War workers, civil defence, the home guard, land girls, householders and farmers read manuals, books and pamphlets for instruction.

There was a thirst for the classics in wartime as a form of escapism: Charles Dickens, William Thackery and Anthony Trollope among others. Picture the London air raid warden reading Jane Austin's 'Emma' by day in the war factory and the Civil Defence control centre at night. One of the most popular books in wartime was Tolstoy's, 'War and peace'

Despite a need to escape the war by plunging into novels such as Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the wind' people were anxious to read books and pamphlets on political, international and military affairs. H.M.S.O., Penguin Specials, Communist Party of Great Britain pamphlets and Left Wing Book Club books all provided this. This genre provided some of the best sellers of the Second World War, 'Guilty Men' by 'Cato' (1940) and H.M.S.O.'s 'Battle of Britain' (which sold 5 million copies). His Majesty's Stationary Office publications mixed Government propaganda with fact, whereas Penguin Specials were more analytical, left wing and radical. The latter were popular with civilians and soldiers alike. Soldiers were able to put 'Penguins' into the large side pocket of their trousers or into their canvas gas mask holders.

Many novels were written with a wartime theme. Some titles included in the collection are; Phylis Bottom's 'London Pride' (1941), Evelyn Waugh's 'Put out more Flags' (1943), J. B. Priestley's 'Daylight on Saturday' (1943), Frank Laskier's 'Log Book' (1942) and Gun Buster's 'Grand Barrage' (1944)

image: book production war economy standard

The Book Production War Economy Agreement

Paper was in short supply in wartime. Most of the allocation of paper for publishing went to the Government leaving inadequate supplies for publishing houses. The Government threatened a complete standardisation of printed books. The Book Production War Economy Agreement with its familiar lion logo was designed to eliminate unproductive use of paper supply and to avoid complete standardisation by the Government. The above was born from a conference held by Britain's main publishers, January 1st 1942. They agreed to eliminate: chapter and cross headings, wide margins, and large type, over heavy paper, bindings and excessive line spacing. Books were thinner but not lacking in content. Book jackets remained to give a little colour to wartime dreariness and sparseness in shops.

Music

Music was a good way of escaping from the rigours of war. People sung in the shelters, war factories, on the land and in the forces. Radio was a very popular medium in wartime. Sheet music and 78 records were inexpensive. Topical songs were sung (Hey Little Hen!). Escapist songs were sung ('In the Land of Begin Again'), songs were sung about love, separation and optimism ('When the Lights Go On Again' ['all over the world'])

'When the soldiers come home again, rain and snow is all that would fall from the sky, when the ships will sail again. Then we'll have time for things like wedding rings and free hearts will sing'.

There are many song sheets in the collection from the very popular such as 'We'll meet again' to the lesser know 'Come and have a drink in the Victory Arms' and 'The Eagle-Owls : the Polish night fighters song'.

Ephemera

Ephemera, that is items that are not designed to last a long time such as; calendars, labels, time-tables, milk-bottle tops, ticket-stubs, food containers, wrappers, greetings cards, leaflets, newspapers, paper toys and theatre programmes are important because they record every-day life in wartime Britain. They show us how the Government informed people and how they used propaganda for the war effort. How people spent their spare time and what they were eating. Because of wartime shortages and rationing people hoarded in wartime and everyone kept little momentous of their war. As a result a lot of wartime ephemera survives and can be accessed in the Kevin Morrison Collection. From wartime milk bottle tops with the following message: 'Milk is rationed but our quality is not', a bus ticket with the message: 'Everybody can save more waste paper. Everybody should' to a pressed flower found in a copy of Richard Hillary's 'The last enemy' (1942).

Poetry

Every aspect of living was affected by the war. Children were evacuated to the country. The front line began in the home for civilians. It was there that they struggled with rationing, the blackout and growing their own food. Women were conscripted into the factories. Food couldn't be imported so had to be grown at home. The Women's Land Army was re-formed to help farmers on the land. Men and women served overseas in the forces. The urban landscape changed with the blackout, barrage balloons, air raid shelters and sandbags.

With these changes in lifestyles and landscape people felt that they needed to express how they felt. To do this they turned to poetry. Ordinary people were writing verse in direct response to their personal experiences of war. War heightens emotions, pain, death, love, fear, tragedy, beauty - be it in the shelter or on the battlefield. The poetry boom came from the stimulating and stressful experience of war; writing was a release for emotions. It might not have been of high literary content but it was immediate, truthful and sincere. On a practical level poetry boomed because volumes were slim. This satisfied the demand for new material without using up paper supplies. It was also cheaper.

Three books of poetry in the collection that include home front verse are; Olga Katzin's [Sagittarius] 'London Watches' (1941) with titles such a; 'Walking in the Black-out 1940', 'Fire Watch' and 'The last all image: siren song by a p herbert clear'. 'Siren Song' by A. P. Herbert (1940) titles include; 'Ballad for Britains', 'Ode to the schedule of reserved occupations' and 'Civil Defences'. Gordon Boshell's ('BEE' of the Daily Mail) 1941 book 'My pen my sword'. Titles include 'In an air raid shelter', 'Two bombed houses' and 'Laud Woolton's warriors'.

Anthologies such as Horizon and Penguin New Writing were popular in wartime providing established and lesser-known poets with a platform for their work. While Cyril Connelly's Horizon was committed to maintaining cultural standards in wartime, Penguin New Writing (edited by John Lehman) recorded the war as it unfolded. As well as poetry, anthologies also included features on artists; short stories; articles and prose.

Cyril Connelly stated that poets writing in wartime were not war poets, but peace poets writing on wartime themes. It has been said that there was a lack of war poets to match that of World War One. This is not necessarily true. The poets of the First World War were reporting the horrors of modern war for the first time. The poets of World War Two did not need feel a need to do this. The horrors of modern war were apparent to most. The international situation of the 1930s meant that war was considered inevitable and therefore September 1939 came as no surprise. The war was also accepted by those involved as a just war against Hitler's dictatorship.

The Second World War was an impersonal war. It was a war of machines of mobile warfare. War was an abstraction; the front line was blurred death came from a distance; it could come in the home as well as on the battlefield. Poets were recording the war from a personal point of view. Soldiers and civilians were writing poetry because of their observations and experiences and not necessarily to get published.

This is true of 'Ragged Rhyme' the poetry written by Lance Corporal Alexander Barr, 193 Field Ambulance, R.A.S.C. They record his thoughts and feelings on loneliness, love and war. Most were never shown publicly apart from a few published in a local paper. Titles include 'Anticipation', 'Tae Hitler' and 'No More'. (Copies are available in the collection). Service men and women were writing about their experiences from strange lands, new landscapes and cultures.

Many felt that they were just a small part in a large war machine. Poets such as Sidney Keyes, Alun Lewis, Keith Douglas, Roy Fuller and Henry Reed felt that writing down their thoughts, experiences and emotions helped them to retain their individuality.

Three books of poetry in the collection written by service personnel are; 'Sidney Keyes 'the Cruel Solstice' (1944), titles include: 'War poet', 'A hope for those separated by war' and 'Epithalamium'. 'Arctic Convoy' by Kenneth Greenwell (1943), titles include 'At sea', Battle and 'In God's care'. Anthony Richardson's 1943 book of poetry, 'These our children : more verses of the Royal Air Force', titles include; 'Ground crew', 'Aerodrome landscape' and 'Reported missing'.

Letter Writing

In wartime Letter writing was very important for keeping in touch, for comfort and re-assurance. It wasn't easy to make telephone calls and there wasn't the luxury of the Internet. People sent letters into magazines to get advice or to complain about Government controls and measures. There was many ways of corresponding; air-mail, air-graphs, telegrams, field service cards, green mail air service, lengthy letters posted in envelopes often using re-usable economy labels and postcards.

The skill to letter writing in wartime was to know what to leave out. Letters had to be upbeat, not anxious sounding. Women's magazines advised readers to convey reassurance, strength, hope and comfort in the letters that they wrote. Picture Post published an article in September 1944 on the importance of letter writing. The article went so far as to say that letters were as important as food to those serving in the Forces. It featured a little girl writing a letter to her father in France and a sergeant scribbling a few valuable lines to his wife and child to say all was well.

The collection is rich in letters, one in particular provides a unique snapshot into the war fought on the home front. The letter was sent to a flight lieutenant based at R.A.F. Yatesbury from his sister - late June 1944. This mentions the opening up of the 'Second Front' in Normandy, cutting up material to make clothes, their mother having friends round to the house to knit, admiration for men in R.A.F. uniform, rationing and the Home Guard.

Journals and Diaries

Letter writing was often the first step to keeping a journal, diary or writing poetry. Journals were truthful in the sense that they were personal, intimate and not meant for public consumption. They give a unique insight into the thoughts and feelings of individuals in wartime. The soldier in the front line, the factory worker working long hours away from home. The middle class mother recording the strains of war having to cope with housework, rationing, loneliness, separation, fire watching and working as a volunteer with the W.V.S. A child's perspective of air raids and designing a poster for War Weapons Week. Diaries tend to stay with families, this is right and fitting. Some have been published and because of their importance to research they have been accessioned into the collection. Such as Nella Last's unique diary of life on the home front told through the eyes of a middle class housewife. The following is an extract from one of the unpublished diaries held in the collection;

December 25th 1939.
'What a blessed morning it was. The air was cold and clear and the frost looked beautiful as if to mock the opposing armies building up behind their respective borders. Father did his best to make it a normal Christmas. He said we ought to make an effort because we didn't know what the future might hold'.

Magazines

Magazines were important in wartime for providing readers with information, advice a platform for discussion and a chance to escape from the war for a while. Magazine Publishers found that their main source of revenue came from providing space for Government departments to give advice and information to the public. Departments such as the Ministry of Food, the Ministry of Fuel, the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Health

Paper was in short supply, magazine publishers helped by slimming down their issues. People were encouraged to pass magazines onto members of the forces (magazines usually provided lists). Shortages meant that it was important to place an order with your newsagent as the policy of 'sale or return' was suspended during the war.

For women on the home front magazines were manuals for survival. They provided valuable advice on home economy and how to keep up morale. Practical help and general tips were given on the blackout, food rationing, air raids, beauty, cooking, nutrition, health, maternity, children, dress making, clothes rationing, gardening and relationship problems.

Agony aunts and problem pages were important to women. Relationship and sexual problems were seldom talked about in the open or with family and friends. Woman's magazines such as 'Woman's Own' and 'Woman and Home' were the only outlets for women to discuss issues such as: the role of women in the post-war world.

The collection holds a number of magazine titles including; 'Picture Post', 'Men Only', 'Lilliput', 'Everybody's', 'The Leader', 'London Calling', 'War Illustrated', 'Radio Times', 'Woman's Companion', 'Woman's Friend' and 'Home Chat' among others.

Kitchen, Garden and Farm

In order to grow more food, leaving vital shipping space for war materials and to compensate for lost overseas markets farmers, were encouraged to plough up more land. A number of farmers wrote books on farming practice such as Clifton Hill's four books on 'Glory Hill Farm' and Duncan McGuffie's two books 'Spring Onions' and 'Cabbages and Committees'. Gardeners wrote books offering tips to civilians who were encouraged to turn over their flower beds and lawns to 'Grow More Food' and to 'Dig for Victory' by taking on allotments. Two interesting books that are available in the collection are; Percy Izzard's 'Grow it yourself : Daily Mail practical instruction book on food from the garden in war-time' (1940) and C.H. Middleton's 'Your garden in wartime' (1942).

This was a war that was being fought in the kitchens and gardens as well as in the fields, factory and battlefield. Just as manuals were published providing help to civil Defence Workers and Home Guard members. Housewives were offered help on food production, nutrition, rationing and shortages. Books such as the Ministry of Food's 'Food facts for the kitchen front : a book of wartime recipes and hints' (1941), Susan Croft's 'Stork wartime cookery book', Elizabeth Craig's 'Cooking in wartime' (1940) and M. Pearson and M.M. Mitchell's 'Cookery under rations' (1941).

The Children's War

The children's war was different from that of adults. For the former war was exciting - in some ways an adventure. The blackout, gas masks, barrage balloons, air raids, evacuations, spies, soldiers, war souvenirs, schools closed, collecting for the 'Spitfire Fund' and 'War Weapons Week' and air craft spotting. Though many children however suffered in wartime because of evacuation, fathers serving overseas, lack of schooling, air raids and shortages.

Children's books and magazines were affected by war, some to the extent of having to cease publication because of paper shortages (The 'Magnet' and the 'Skipper' to name two). Most books and magazines took on wartime themes. Richmal Cromton's 'Just William' character was immersed in wartime activity in 'William does his bit'. 'Oor Wullie' of the Sunday Post was 'Digging for victory'; the 'Oor Wullie' annual began publishing in wartime but became a victim of shortages (publication skipped a year in 1944). Even children's comics such as the Beano carried wartime references.

As stated the war caught children's imagination - schoolboy's annuals were full of wartime stories. Battles such as Dunkirk, Burma and the Battle of Britain captivated boys. Young children's books were also given wartime themes such as elephants that wanted to be barrage balloons ('Daily Mail Book for Boys and Girls' edited by Enid Blyton, 1944) and 'Hare joins the Home Guard' by Alison Uttley (1942). image: the scout Clemence Dane's 'The shelter book : a gathering of tales, poems, essays, notes and notations : for use in shelters, tubes, basements and cellars in war-time' (1940) gave advice to parents on what to read to their young children in the shelters to help them sleep (when the shelter was too noisy). Such as: A.A. Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh', Lewis Carrol's 'Alice in Wonderland' and James O Halliwell's 'Nursery Rhymes of England'.

Wartime children liked to play out doors but during the long blackout nights when they were forced indoors they read books and magazines. The Brighter Blackout Book by Thomas Howard (1939) provided children with games, puzzles and stories to read. Children read a wide mix in wartime just like their peers. They read to escape the rigours of war: evacuation, shortages, air raids and schoolwork. When paper shortages made it difficult to obtain comics such as 'Wizard', 'Rover' and 'Adventurer' they would trade copies on the playground. Children kept scrap books and jotters where they stuck in topical news stories, tickets and programs, drew pictures and wrote stories. The collection holds a scrapbook kept by a Nottingham schoolboy who pasted in clippings from magazines and newspapers, such as; 'Keep warm and comfortable in the shelter' by the Ministry of Home Security. He designed a programme for a pretend concert that he had in his shed for the 'Spitfire Fund' in 1941 (including a performance by the popular wartime entertainer George Formby!).

Magazines such as 'Boys Own', 'Girls Own' and the 'Scout' provided children with a mix of stories, book reviews ('Coastal Command' by S. T. James and 'Worrals of the WAAF's' by W. E. Johns), articles of special interest, features, advice and advertisements. The 'Scout' had a 'Wolf Cub's' section where 'Wig and Wam' showed children how to make toys from scrap material (such as an anti-aircraft gun). 'Girl's Own' gave advice on shorthand writing, careers and vocational training and gardening. One article by Elizabeth Cross was titled 'Charm school : take care of your couponed clothes'.

Children read a mix of books in wartime; spy stories, adventure stories, factual books, training manuals among others. The 'Scout' Magazine advertised the following books for Scouts to read in October 1941; 'Night Scouting', 'Signalling for Scouts', 'Mastering Morse' and 'General Knowledge for Home Guards'. 'Jill' reviewed the following books for 'Girls Own' readers; 'Careers and Vocational Training', 'The adventures of Georgina Pauline' by Sybil Clarke and 'Mary Stuart - Young Queen of Scots' by Mildred Cross. Two books in the collection with a wartime theme are; Dorothy Carter's 'Comrades of the Air' (1942) and 'Engage the Enemy Closely' by Percy F. Westerman.

There are also a number of books in the collection that look at child deprivation in wartime and the future of education. Such as; 'Young Children in War-time : in a Residential Nursery' by Dorothy Burlingham and Anna Freud (1942), 'Branch Street : a Sociological Study' by Marie Paneth (1944) and 'The Public Schools and the Future' by Donald Hughes.

Religion

Britain was fighting her second major conflict in just over twenty years. How had this happened, how had God allow this (thought most considered it a just war)? Titles published in wartime looked at this for instance Martyn D. Lloyd-Jones 'Why does God allow a war : a general justification on the ways of God' (1939). How would civilians and service people alike cope with battle, with air raids, with separation and personal loss? When people are faced with danger they pray to God for help. Civilians prayed in air raid shelters during air-raids or to keep their loved ones safe while they were away from home in factories, on the land, evacuated or in the services.

Prayer books were published to help people with prayer. Be it private or family prayer. People needed direction in their prayer and books of arranged prayer were published. Prayers were made relevant to wartime situations such as those in 'Each returning Day : a book of prayers for using in time of war' (taken from the BBC broadcast 'New Every Morning') (1940) and C. M. Fox's 'At the Door' (1941) including; 'For our enemies', 'For our people', 'For Courage', 'For peace', 'For the forces of the crown', 'For those at sea' and 'the 'Sick and wounded'.

Prayer books, Bibles and pamphlets were published for members of the forces. The collection holds several. Such as the 'Prayer book for Jewish Members of H. M. Forces', (1940), 'At the front : thoughts and prayers for the fighting forces by A Chaplain' (Catholic Truth Society, 1940). One particular Bible held in the collection was carried through the battle for Torbruk, March 1942.

The Archbishop of York, William Temple wrote a number of religious and theological books during the Second World War. One was the best selling Penguin Special 'Christianity and Social Order' (1942) advocating social reform. In 'Thoughts in wartime' (1940) Temple stated that it was important to pray for one's enemies in order to come closer to God and to remain aloof from vindictiveness. The 'People's Bishop' was one of the main protagonists at the 'Malveren Conference' (looking at the Church's role in post-war reconstruction) held by the clergy and laity January 7th 1941. Two pamphlets were produced of its findings, selling 1 million copies.

Parish newsletters were important in wartime. They were distributed to members of the community who were in the services or to those who were working away form home. They communicated news and gave religious instruction to the above (as well as parishioners). Despite wartime shortages the parish newsletter and magazine were given priority. This was important as it sent a message to readers that life was carrying on as normal.

Two examples from the collection are; the Vicar of All saints Woodland's with George Highfield's July 1944 message; 'Dear Friends, the second front overshadows all else. We have had some special services when we remembered all the Parish by name in our prayers'. And the quarterly leaflet of the North Church Skelmorlie and Wemyss Bay's Pastoral letter informed readers of the 'Day of national prayer' and the importance of writing letters to members of the forces.

Radio broadcasts were often published in print. One example from the collection is; 'The Padre presents : discussions about life in the forces with : the naval padre, an army padre, another army padre, a padre in two wars, an air-force padre, the Radio Doctor and the Commandant of a Special Training Unit.' (1944). Ronald Selby Wright was known as the 'Radio Padre'.

Many religious books looked to the post-war world. Reverent E. L. Mascall in his introduction to 'The Church Looks ahead : broadcast talks by J. H. Oldaham, Maurice B. Reckitt, Philip Mainet, Dorothy L. Sayers, M. C, d'Arcy, V. A. Demant and T. S. Elliot published by Faber and Faber 1941, stated; 'Whatever the outcome of the war may be, be cannot, when it is over, just put the clock back to 1939 and go on from where we left off then'.

The National Bible of Scotland celebrated the end of the Second World War in Europe by printing a commemorative-boxed Holy Bible with a picture of King George VI on the front.

Germany 1932-1950

Germany 1932-1950 is a collection of books, pamphlets, booklets, journals, certificates, citations, personal documentation, postcards, letters, field-post, photographs and ephemeral items. They provide a unique insight into how ordinary people experienced the German Dictatorship in peace and war.

Subject areas include; Winter Relief, the German Labour Front, German Labour Service, Armed Services, the S.A., National Socialist German Labour Party, Civil Defence, Hitler Youth and the role of women in Nazi Germany.

The collection has recently acquired a photograph album of a S.A. rally and march from 1932 and 1933 respectively. Contained in the album are two original photographs of Herman Goring in S.A. uniform in Heide 1932.

There is an online display of materials from the German collection, please click on the image of Herman Goring on the right to enter the display pages

Other Sections

There are many other sections and features in the collection that have not been featured above such as; Military : Mobilisation and Demobilisation, War Production : Politics : World Affairs, War Maps, Rationing, Newspapers, Wartime Cartoons, Photographs, Post-War, Christmas at War, Film and Documentary.

Please e-mail Kevin Morrison (the Curator) for further details of materials in the collection.