Welcome to the Information Section of the Kevin Morrison Collection. We aim to post regular updates of what is new in the world of research into the Home Front during World War Two. If you will like to share some news please e-mail us and we will put it up on the Information Section. It could be a talk that you are giving on the home front, or a display, an event, a book that you have read, an interesting item you have bought recently, you might want to let others know what you collect.

All you need to do is to send an e-mail to: C.McCallum@gcu.ac.uk

Please note this is not a forum - we will post your items onto the board. For Data Protection we will decide if it is appropriate to post personal details on the Information Page.

Countdown to War - Summer 1939

British Army of the Rhine

Hamburg 1945

These Images were taken from a recent photograph album that was purchased for the collection. There are several photographs of soldiers from the British Army of the Rhine who were based in Northern Germany in the immediate post-war years. Two of the photographs show bomb damage in Hamburg, 1945. There are also photographs of a German family including their rabbit! The soldier above is featured in a number of the photographs. What is interesting is that he travelled back to Germany several times after leaving the army up until 1960.

Recent Accessions (June 2009)

Various verses. By John O’ the North. [some with war-time theme] (1945)

The Penguin handyman. By Foster Wiseman. [household maintenance] (1945)

Iron roads. By J.R. Hind etal. [Land, Sea and Air series] [children’s book] [194?]

Pelmanism : supplementary lesson for war-time members of His Majesty’s Forces. [n.d.]

Original photograph of two Soviet artillery soldiers. [b/w] [donated by J. and S. Miller, obtained in Russia] [n.d.]

Recent Accessions (May 2009)

The Red Cross in Angus 1911-1945. By Mabel, Countess of Airlie. (1958)

Films since 1939. By Dilys Powell. (1947). [The Arts in Britain: no. 3]

Waltzing Matilda. Words by A.B. Paterson, music by Marie Cowan. (1940). ['The unofficial Australian national anthem'.] [song sheet]

One of our aircraft is missing. Starring Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Bernard Miles, Hugh Burden, Emrys Jones. Written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. (1942). [VHS]

Persuading the people : Government publicity in the Second World War. By the Central Office of Information. (1995). [Donated to the Collection by A Dougan]

Scotland 1945. Edited by Brian D. Osborne and Robert Craig. (1995). [Donated to the Collection by A Dougan]

The Home Front : the best of Good Housekeeping 1939-1945. Compiled by Brian Braithwaite, Noelle Walsh and Glyn Davies. (1987). [Donated to the Collection by A Dougan]

WRVS in Scotland : seventy years of service. By Norman Watson. (2008). [Property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the 'Morrison Collection]

News

Land Girls and Lumber Jills

Fifty Members of the Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps were guests of Lord Provost, Bob Winter at Glasgow City Chamber's Friday 20th March 2009 to thank them for the important work they did on farms and in the forests for the war effort during the Second World War. The veterans received a special badge 'commemorating their service and acknowledging the debt that the country owes them' (See links below).

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/News/Land+Army+Girls.htm

http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/wla/

Propaganda - a weapon of war

The National Library of Scotland have published a very interesting online display of some of their publications that demonstrate propaganda aimed at providing advice and boosting morale on the home front and undermining enemy morale (see link below).

http://www.nls.uk/propaganda/index.html

Nuremberg Trials

Letters written during the Nuremberg Trials by Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (Britain's Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the trials) to his wife have been discovered by his Grandson. They have been deposited with the Churchill Archives at Cambridge University (see links below).

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/90384/Showdown-at-Nuremberg

http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/collections/Nuremberg.php

Recent Accessions (March 2009)

Henry Moore. By Geoffrey Grigson. (1943).

Small nations. By Archie Lamont. (1944).

No spaghetti for breakfast. Alfred Wagg and David Brown. (1943).

I couldn't help laughing! : an anthology of war-time humour. By D.B. Wyndham Lewis. [New enlarged 3rd edition]. (1943).

Dig For Victory. Grow More Food. Current and topical!

With the recession hitting hard it seems that more people are deciding to 'grow their own' vegetables. Turning part of their gardens over to create a vegetable plot or by taking on an allotment. The BBC Breakfast Programme featured an interesting piece on this subject 7th March 2009. Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins spoke about growing courgettes from a hanging basket! The Royal Horticultural Society are staging several 'Grow your own events' throughout the coming season. While Angus College, Arbroath is encouraging gardeners to 'Beat the recession - Grow your own' by offering a course to gardeners keen to grow their own vegetables and herbs. (for more information on the above follow the links below). The collection has a wealth of information of wartime gardening and farming in the form of books, pamphlets and leaflets. Several examples have been listed here. By following the link below you will be able to see more gardening items, though the list is not complete there are a lot more items that are still to be added. For example just last week 'Middleton's all year round gardening guide 1945' was added to the collection.

Scots War Gardens. Scottish Gardens and Allotments Committee. 1941 Leaflets 1-9. (1.The cabbage root fly, 2. Potato blight and its control, 3. Club root or finger-and-toe-disease, 4. Storage and preservation of garden, 5. Digging and trenching, 6. What to grow and how, 7. Carrot fly and onion fly, 8. Common diseases of potato, 9. Common diseases of vegetables.) "Dig for victory" allotment and holders handbook and guide to the vegetable garden. By Hector Fraser. 1940. Grow for winter as well as summer. By the Ministry of Agriculture. Dig for Victory New Series. ['This plan will give you your own vegetables all the year round'.] [n.d]. Food production. Vegetables in gardens and allotments. The West of Scotland Agricultural College. By Dudley V Howells. [194?]. How to run an allotment (above). By Alec Bristow. 1940. [With a foreword by G. W. Giles Secretary of the National Allotments Society]. Home grown vegetables : an amateur's guide to their cultivation. Edited By H. H. Thomas. [2nd edition]. 1941. How to make a compost heap : manure from garden rubbish. Dig for Victory leaflet No. 7. By the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. [1950 reprint?] Salads and vegetables : attractive methods of using home-produced foods. By the Board of Education. Food Education Memo No. 1. 1940. [Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the 'Morrison Collection]. Practical gardening and food production. By Richard Sudell. [n.d.].

http://www.rhs.org.uk/growyourown/events.asp

http://www.angus.ac.uk/courses/details.asp?ID=2151&P_Dept=&P_Loc=&P_Crse=LC&page=1

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/19-8

http://www.gcal.ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/morrison/homeguard.html

Interesting Fact

http://www.maintainyourchurch.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=aroB2oC0L90%3D&tabid=57&mid=376

http://www.glasgowheritage.org.uk/index.htm

Recent Find (February 2009)

Collection Focus

Recent Accessions (February 2009)

Land girls at the Old Refectory. By Irene Grimwood (former Land Girl). (2005)

In the evening. (Daily prayer and meditation in war-time). By Carol Cochrane. (1942?)

The last enemy. By Richard Hillary. (1943) [has inserted 2 newspaper cuttings: one on Hillary's death, the other on the 'City of Edinburgh' Squadron/Wings for Victory week. The reverse to this cutting has an article called 'Christianity's place in the fight'.]

The war on the civil and military fronts : the Lee Knowles Lectures on Military History for 1942. By Major-General G.M. Lindsay. (1942) [donated to the Collection by Raymond O'Brien]

Destroyer's luck. By Percy Westerman. (1942?)

King of the Commandoes. By W.E. Johns. (1943)

Recent Accessions (January 2009)

The secret service of the air. My Michael Poole [pseud.] [1936]

United notions : more pictures from ‘Punch’. By Sillince [pseud.] (1943)

Pilot-officer Prune’s progress : the genealogical tree of Pilot-officer Percy Prune. By Anthony Armstrong and Raff. (1942)

Leaves in the storm : a book of diaries. Edited with a running commentary by Stefan Schimanski and Henry Treece. [contributors: Stephen Spender, Robet Herring, Rayner Heppenstall, William Sansom, V.S. Pritchett, Gertrude Stein, Alun Lewis, Henry Miller and others.

My struggle. By Adolf Hitler. [abridged]  [Library edition 1938]

The fruits of the spirit. By Evelyn Underhill. [includes letters written to a Prayer Group between Lent, 1940 and Eastertide, 1941] (1942)

Recent Accessions (November 2008)

The rights of engineers. By Hal Hannington. (1944)

Choose your future. By D.N. Pritt. (1941)

Strange conflict. By Dennis Wheatley. (1942 reprint 1952)

Manpower : a study of war-time policy and administration. By H.M.D. Parker. [History of the Second World War United Kingdom Civil Series] (1957)

Winged might. By Percy F. Westerman. [195?]

Why don’t we learn from history? By B.H. Liddell Hart. [P.E.N. Book series] (1944)

Island farm. By F. Fraser Darling. (1944)

Britain’s Merchant Navy. Edited by Sir Archibald Hurd. [1944]

Recent Accessions (September 2008)

The way ahead. Film starring David Niven and Peter Ustinov. (1944). [Donated to the Collection by Raymond O'Brien].

Sand in my shoes: wartime diaries of a WAAF. By Joan Rice. (2006). [Donated to the Collection by Raymond O'Brien].

British literary periodicals of World II & aftermath: a critical history. By A. T. Tolley. (2007). [Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection].

Battle of Britain. Harry Woods England 1939-1941. By Chris Priestly. (2002).

Strength through joy: sex and society in Nazi Germany. By Hans Peter Bleuel. (1972). [Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection].

The Aeroplane Spotter incorporating the Bulletin of the National Association of Spotters' Clubs. [Journal]. (1943: January 26, February 22, December 16. 1944: April 6, June 29, August 24, September 21. 1945: March 8, May 3, July 26.).

RP News. [Journal providing information on aeroplanes and ships]. (January, November/December 1944).

Recent Accessions (May 2008)

Black record : German’s past and present. By Robert Vansittart. (1941)

Roots of the trouble. By Robert Vansittart. [194?]

Worlds Digest : Current Fact and Comment. ‘Hitler’s plan for current domination by a former Nazi’., ‘Tramp v Bomber : a North Sea saga’. by A.D. Divine, The provincial lady gets war work’. by E.M. Delafield. (June 1940).

Humiliation with honour. By Vera Britain. (1942)

Camera at war. By Henry Hensser. [1944]

Find, fix and strike : the work of the fleet air arm. By Terence Horsley. (1945)

Blitzcat. By Robert Westall. (1989)

Blitz : the diary of Edith Benson 1940-1941. By Vince Cross. [My Story series] (2001)

You and your ships : a guide to Merchant Nay power. By A.C. Hardy. (1942)

High School Blog

Collection News

Marlene a volunteer has been working on a diary purchased by the university and housed in the collection. Marlene has written this piece on the diary.

Geoffrey Chivers Diary, 1941 – 1942 : Notes

The Diary details the daily life of a 19-year-old lad in Penarth, South Wales, who is a member of the famous jam and preserves family – Chivers & Co.  Although his brother, John, is in the Army, Geoffrey is unfit for National Service, probably due to his poor eyesight, and works in the family business.  Every day is meticulously recorded in miniscule handwriting, in a foolscap size ‘Boots’ desk diary.

An avid reader of boys’ school stories and mysteries, Geoffrey’s favourite authors are Anton Lind and Hylton Cleaver.  A regular cinema-goer, to the ‘Washington’ and the ‘Windsor Kinema’, he gets movie magazines every week, and the Diary is full of cuttings from them, at the dates when he saw the films.  Cycle rides, tennis, country walks and attending boxing matches are other interests, as well as keeping chickens!   Most evenings are spent listening to the radio –  to comedy programmes, plays, current events; but mainly dance bands.  He spends quite a bit on records and sheet music

Geoffrey reports daily on the progress of the War, noting the times of air raids and the damage caused; as well as the number of aircraft, British and German, destroyed.  He comments enthusiastically on the action on various Fronts – especially in Russia and Libya. 

Geoffrey was very concerned with the war in Lybia and Russia. He writes on June 21st 1942:

'The Germans, after penetrating our defences at Torbruk have now captures it ... and our large garrison there. The Russians are being very hard pressed near Sebastopol in the Crimea'   

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who has any knowledge of Geoffrey’s later years, to help us round out the picture of this chap of whom we have become rather fond!

The Scottish Farmer

Karen Carruth has written an excellent article on the Womens Land Army called "Recognition at Last for Britain's 'Land Girls'". As well as providing information on the Land Girls the article also features the story of three Scottish Land Girls. Information is given in the February 9th 2008 issue on how former Land Girls can claim the special badge that the Government is introducing to honor their valuable war time contribution. Please follow this link for more information.

http://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/lifestyle/womenslandarmyfeature/introduction/

Time Team and the Home Guard (February 10th 2008)

Channel 4's archaeology program Time Team carried out a three day dig in Shooters Hill, South London to uncover hidden secrets of the defences known as 'stop Line Central'. In the summer of 1940 when the threat of German invasion was thought immanent these make shift defences were all that stood between the German Army and the Centre of London. The archaeologists uncovered a barrage balloon tether, a shrapnel shelter, a spigot mortar platform, a pill box gun position, a flame fugas emplacement, a bunker that might have been used by Home Guard Axillaries. Time Team also uncovered Bronze Age remains. For more information please follow the link below.

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2008/south_london/index.html

Recent Accessions (February 2008)

Armistice and Germany’s food supply, 1918-19. By Bernhard Menne. [A Fight for Freedom Publication]. [1944]

The Readers Digest. ‘They get damaged warships back to sea’. By David O. Woodbury, ‘So you are going to North Africa! : how the U.S. Army introduced its soldiers to the land they were invading’, ‘Army slang, 1943 edition’, ‘White collars go on the production line’ by T.E. Murphy. (April 1943)

Russia and the West : lecture delivered on 25th February, 1942 at the Institute Francais, London. By Hubert Ripka. [1942?]

Action. By Lionel Curtis. [The Atlantic Charter, international affairs etc.] (1942)

Private battles : how the war almonet defeated us: our intimate diaries. Edited by Simon Garfield. (2006) [property of GCU]

Evacuation Manor House

CBBC are currently running a program where 12 modern day children live as evacuees in a large country estate for two weeks. This week the children have to make an air raid shelter (31st Jan. 2008). The children chosen for this experiment are realising how hard life could be for wartime evacuees. For more information follow these links.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/whatson/thursday/

http://library.digiguide.com/lib/programme/Evacuation+Manor+House-632952

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-life/liverpool-lifestyle/2008/01/22/st-francis-of-assisi-pupil-stars-in-bbc-s-evacuation-manor-house-100252-20376915/

Recent Accessions (January 2008)

Master race : the Lebensborn experiment in Nazi Germany. By Catherine Clay and Micahael Leapman. (1995) [property of GCU]

The moral of the flying bomb. By the Peace Pledge Union. (1944/5?) [leaflet property of GCU]

Crime in wartime Britain : a social history of crime in World War II. By Edward Smithies. (1982) [property of GCU]

Hitler and his generals : military conferences 1942-1945. Edited by Helmut Heiber and David M. Glantz. (1984) ['The first complete stenographic record of the military conferences - from Stalingrad to Berlin'.] [property of GCU]

Denazification. By Constantine Fitzgibbon. (1969) [property of GCU]

Merry Christmas from the Kevin Morrison Collection

Land Girls Tribute Former Land Girls - this includes the Women's Timber Corps - are to be given a special commemorative badge by the Government. They can wear this badge on services such as remembrance sunday. Please use the following links for more information.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1908472007

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3013377.ece

Junior Archaeologists Club Christmas Party at the Hunterian Museum Glasgow On December 1st 2007 I was invited to display items from the collection at the Junior Archaeologist's Club Christmas Party. The theme this year was World War Two. The children dressed up as air raid wardens, Red Cross nurses, spys and Winston Churchill!! The young archaeologists were shown a number of medals held in the Coin and Medal collection, Including a Victoria Cross. War time food was on offer as well as period music.

The Club meets on the first saturday of the month at the Hunterian Museum, 10 a.m. (see the link below for more details).

http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk:443/museum/whatsOn.php?pg=jac&past=jac

Remembrance Sunday In Memory of Mac (Drowned in the Vistula while unloading a large Graudenz) Not in the dust shall our remembrance lie, Nor in the spoken word that dies with time; But we would merge into the morning sky A sacred thought. We knew him in his prime. So as the bugle chills us by the tomb, And from the wooded distance echoes back, We shall not sink within the realms of gloom, But bid him as he'd wish it: "Goodbye, Mac." Taken from 'The Poems of a Prisoner of War' by Charles Dick. October, 1946.

Recent Accessions (November 2007)

The Countryman. ‘Flowering shrubs : a wartime expedient in war-time by the Bishop of Turo, ‘Beware the bank-balance – Squander Bug, issued by the National Savings Committee’. (Autumn 1943)

Decision and Action. By Lionel Curtis. [The Atlantic Charter, international affairs etc.] (1942)

A guide to the thought of Reinhold Niebuhr. By E.L. Allen. [194?]

The Love of God. By Oswald Chambers. (1941)

German industry on the warpath, 1860-1939. By Bernhard Menne. [A Fight for Freedom Publication]. [1942]

Peace verboten. By Rennie Smith. [A Fight for Freedom Publication]. [1943]

Recent Accessions (October 2007)

Wartime pilgrimage : some account of a hopeful journey. By H. L. Gee. (1943)

Everybody's medals : including medals, decorations, honors and orders: how to recognise them , how to wear them correctly. By S.C. Johnston. [n.d. wartime]

Strangers under our roof. By Jean Ross. [romantic novel] (1943)

Berlin diary : the journal of a foreign correspondent, 1934-1941. By William L. Shirer. (1941)

Europe in arms. By Liddell Hart. (1937)

Recent Accessions (September 2007)

The way to the stars. Starring Michael Redgrave and John Mills. [video format]. (1945)

Return to base. By Percy Westerman. ([1946])

Roots of the trouble. By Lord Vansittart. [194?]

The Readers Digest. ‘They get damaged warships back to sea’. By David O. Woodbury, ‘So you are going to North Africa! : how the U.S. Army introduced its soldiers to the land they were invading’, ‘Army slang, 1943 edition’, ‘White collars go on the production line’ by T.E. Murphy. (April 1943)

Russia and the West : lecture delivered on 25th February, 1942 at the Institute Francais, London. By Hubert Ripka. [1942?]

Collection Focus

This recent accession: Greater London plan 1944. By Patrick Abercrombie. H.M.S.O. 1945 builds on other publications in the collection that relate to post-war planning for reconstruction of towns and cities. As early as 1940 Winston Churchill had appointed Sir John Reith to head the new Ministry of Works. Part of his remit was to consult departments and organisations on the rebuilding of British cities post-war. Reith prepared the ground for later reports and plans for reconstruction.  Reith proposed in 1940 a central planning authority whose goals would be; ‘Controlled development of all areas and utilization of land to the best advantage: limitation of urban expansion: development of congested areas: correlation of transport and all services; amenities: improved architectural treatment: preservation of places of historic interest, national parks and coastal areas’. (The road to 1945 : British politics and the Second World War by Dr. Paul Addison. 1975) With victory almost certain and in line with Winston Churchill’s four year plan a Ministry of Town and Country Planning was established in early 1943 and in November (1943) Lord Wolton transferred over to the new post of Minister of Reconstruction with a seat in the war cabinet. In July and September 1943 the Scott and Uthwatt reports respectively came out. The Uthwatt committee set up by Lord Reith in November 1941 was: ‘To make an objective analysis of the subject of the payment of compensation and recovery of betterment in respect of public control of the use of land’ (Country and town : a summary of the Scott and Uthwatt reports [penguin Special 1943]. It recommended that the state should nationalise development rights in land that had not yet been built upon. Naturally as this was a blow to private property it was welcomed by the Labour Party and blocked by the Conservative Party. In 1944 the Town and Country Planning Act came into being. Local authorities were able to purchase property to meet the needs of the cities destroyed by German bombs. Like the Beveridge plan it was popular with the left but frowned upon by the right. Patrick Abercrombie and J.H. Forshaw were appointed by Reith’s successor Portal Wyndham with the approval of London County Council to prepare a plan for the post war rebuilding of the London area (a plan was also prepared by the City of London for the square mile that made up the central of London). The County of London Plan and the Greater London Plan were produced in 1943 and 1944 respectively. For the Greater London Plan 1944 Abercrombie and Forshaw consulted with many departments and organisation and even employed the help of a sociologist. The report is illustrated and has many coloured detailed plans/maps. There are chapters on decentralization, industry, communication, open spaces and out door recreation, agriculture, public services, provision of dwellings. Abercrombie stated in his foreword: ‘The plan thus prepared, with this multifarious guidance and collaboration is now completed, so far is possible to say that a stage of finality can be reached by a living organism. There is now a chance-and a similar one may not occur again-of getting the main features of this programme of redistributed population and work carried through rapidly and effectively, thereby reducing overcrowding and locating industry in conjunction. The difficulties in normal times of moving people and industry are rightly stressed; but people and industry will go where accommodation is made available. Moreover the war has made migration a familiar habit. Give a man and his wife a first rate house, a community, and occupation of various kinds reasonably near at hand with a frame work which enables them to move freely and safely about to see their friends and enjoy the advantages of London; add to these a wide freedom of choice, and they will not grumble in the years immediately following the war’. Some related items in the collection Country and town : a summary of the Scott & Uthwatt Reports.  [Penguin Special], 1943. The County of London Plan ; explained by E.J. Carter and Erno Goldfinger. 1945. County of London Plan : prepared for the London County Council. By J.H. Forshaw and Patrick Abercrombie. 1943. [property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection] People’s homes.  Report conducted by Mass-Observation.  1943 A Plan for Plymouth. With appendices on agriculture and soil; and map. 1943. Planning our new homes : a report by the Scottish Housing Advisory Prepared by the Dept. of Health for Scotland, 1945. Committee.

What Happenned in the Month of August 1939-1945

St Columba's School, Kilmacolm finds out that evacuated children from Park School, Glasgow will be billeted on them 1st September. Plans were 'hurried forward' for bed and blankets and to put the black-out in place. (Taken from the St. Columba's School, Kilmacolm Magazine 1939-40. Copies are also held in the collection for 1940-41, 1941-43 and 1943-45). Late August 1939

Winston Churchill makes his famous speech: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many by so few'. August 20th 1940.

Some 1666 fire authorities in England and Wales merge and from the National Fire Service. August 1941.

Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy after several Brazilian ships are sunk. August 22nd 1942.

Picture Post publish an article on clothes without rations made from animal skins. 28th August 1943.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces in the House of Commons that he could not deny that victory 'perhaps' might be near. 2nd August 1944.

Russia declares war on Japan. 8th August 1945.

Recent Accessions (August 2007)

When hostilities cease : papers on relief and reconstruction prepared for the Fabian Society. By Julian Huxley Etal. (1943)

The Daily Telegraph story of the war, 1939-1941. Edited by David Marley. (1942)

Scotland’s war losses. [No. 28] By Duncan Duff. (1947).

Our hidden lives : the remarkable diaries of post-war Britain. By Simon Garfield. (2005)

Make your own soft toys. By Ruby Evans. (1941)

Mikey Hughes Militaria

I was at a Glasgow collector's fair last sunday and meet a really interesting dealer in original World War One and World War Two British and German items. Mikey is a really nice and approachable dealer. He has a wealth of knowledge on the subject matter and years of experience in dealing. Mikey remembers me buying a German Winter Relief collecting pot at a Glasgow Militaria Fair in 1992! I bought a small sticker from Mikey for the Winter Relief campaign in Vienna for 1943-1944. The collecting pot that I have is from Gau (district) Vienna. Mikey has a web site (details below) which includes dates of fairs that he will be attending. www.mikeyhughes.btinternet.co

The World at War DVD Daily Mail DVD offer

The Daily Mail began an excellent promotion on Saturday 7th July. For fourteen days they are giving away free with each days paper episodes of the World At War. All you need to do is present the voucher for that day to WHSmith shops. For instance today's episode [the 3rd on offer] (10/7/07) is 'Home fires: Britain 1940-1944'. There is still time to get the whole 14 episodes. All you need to do is collect eight different day tokens and send them with a cheque for £6.99 to the address they will be publishing later on in the offer.

What Happened in the Month of July 1940-1945

Britain's Government created the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) to work in secret to encourage resistance to Hilter's regime. 22nd July 1940

Churchill launches his great European ‘V for Victory’ propaganda campaign, in a broadcast to occupied countries. 20th June 1941

Picture Post feature 'How to spend a day in London' as part of the 'Holidays at Home' government initiative. (The Collection holds a large number of wartime Picture Posts). 25th July 1942

Great Britain and the United States warn neutral countries not to give war criminals shelter. 30th July 1943

The King [George VI] arrives in Italy on a visit to the troops. 23rd July 1944

Picture Post cover a story where provincial areas of England had 'adopted' London boroughs and through the Womens' Voluntary Services provided 'bombed out' families with household items. 3rd March 1945

Recent Accessions (July 2007)

Hitler's home front : Wurttemberg under the Nazis. By Jill Stephenson. (2006) (property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection)

The Second World War : the home fronts, Volume IV. Edited By Jeremy Black. (2007) (property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection)

William the dictator. By Richmal Crompton. (1938)

Ambulance handbook on the principles of first aid to the injured. [Appendix II. Protection of the civil population in chemical warfare. By Major F. R. Humphreys.] by Eric. G. Gerstenberg. Et al. (5th ed. 1938)

Stars in battledress : a light-hearted look at service entertainment  in the Second World War. By Bill Pertwee. (1992)

What Happened in the Month of June 1940-1945

Mussolini declares war on Britain and France. 10th June 1940

First coupon sale at Derry and Toms of Kensington. 'Bargains yes-but quality always. Be sure that what you buy is worth the coupons you spend'. (Daily Telegraph advertisement). 23rd June 1941

Lord Beaverbrook visits an Anglo-Russian rally in Birmingham. It is declared at the rally that a second front was needed without delay to take the pressure of the Russians. 22nd June 1942

Airliner from Lisbon to Eire shot down over Bay of Biscay, killing 13 civilians, including actor Leslie Howard. June 1st 1943

George Beardmore records in his diary that he saw a dooglebug being shot out of the sky by a Spitfire. 25th June 1944

First Anniversary of D-Day! Celebrations on Normandy beaches. 6th June 1945   

Recent Accessions (June 2007)

The young civilian : a Glasgow wartime boy. By Bob Crampsey. (1987)

Food and planning. By J.R. Marrick. (1946)

It’s happening again. By Ernst R. Troughton. [German rearmament] (1944)

Wild river. [a novel of the Dneiper Dam] By Anna Louise Strong. (1944)

William and the Brains Trust. By Richmal Crompton. (1945)

Recent Accessions (May 2007)

Roots of the trouble. By Lord Vansittart. [194?]

Food or freedom : the vital blockade. By William Agar. [America Faces the War series, No. 7. (1941)

Per Christum Vinces : prayers in time of war. [new edition revised] (1939)

Why Hitler? By Runtham Brown. [194?]

The war : as before? By George Glasgow. [193?]

What Happened in the Month of May 1940-1945

Sir Oswald Mosley leader of the British Union of Fascists is arrested. May 23rd 1940.

Rudolf Hess: Hitler’s deputy flies on a peace mission to Eaglesham near Glasgow. He hopes to contact the Duke of Hamilton whom he had met at the Berlin Olympic games in 1936. 10-11th  May 1941.

Heydrich is fatally injured in an attack by Czechoslovakian resistance fighters in Prague: he dies eight days later. May 27th 1942.

Spitfires block an attempt by German bombers to make a daylight raid on London. May 8th 1943.

The first wartime conference of empire Prime Ministers begins in London. May 1st 1944.

Thanks giving service is held at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. 13th May 1945.

Recent Accessions (April 2007)

Scotland’s war losses. [No. 28] By Duncan Duff. (1947).

Our hidden lives : the remarkable diaries of post-war Britain. By Simon Garfield. (2005)

Make your own soft toys. By Ruby Evans. (1941)

Return to base. By Percy Westerman. ([1946])

Return via Dunkirk. By Gun Buster. (1941)

What Happened in the Month of April 1940-1945

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain makes his famous speech announcing that ‘Hitler had missed the bus’. 5th April 1940.

Coventry is subjected a third heavy air raid. 10/11th April 1941.

King George VI awards Malta the George Cross. 16th April 1942.

General Wladyslaw Sikorski: head of the Polish government-in-exile and Commander in Chief of the Free Polish Forces meets with Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden to discuss the Polish-Russian situation. 27th April 1943.

The royal Air Force drop the largest tonnage of bombs to date on French railway centres (4000 tons plus). 19th April 1944.

Colditz Castle is liberated by Allied troops. 16th April 1945.

Recent Accessions (March 2007)

William dictator. By Richmal Crompton. (1938)

Ambulance handbook on the principles of first aid to the injured. [Appendix II. Protection of the civil population in chemical warfare. By Major F. R. Humphreys.] by Eric. G. Gerstenberg. Etal. (5th ed. 1938)

Stars in battledress : a light-hearted look at service entertainment  in the Second World War. By Bill Pertwee. (1992)

When hostilities cease : papers on relief and reconstruction prepared for the Fabian Society. By Julian Huxley Etal. (1943)

The Daily Telegraph story of the war, 1939-1941. Edited by David Marley. (1942)

What Happened in the Month of March 1940-1945

Britain and France agree not to sign a separate peace treaty with Nazi Germany. 28th March 1940

Jam, marmalade, etc. (all sweet spreads) rationed to 8 oz. per person per month. 17th March 1941

New Defence Regulations made civilians liable for any work necessary to resist invaders. 6th March 1942

House of Lords condemns Nazi persecution of Jews.  Viscount Samuel is first to use the word ‘holocaust’ to describe what is happening. 23rd March 1943.

U.S.A.F. begin daylight attacks on  Berlin. 6th March 1944

Last of 1,050  V2 rockets lands on Britain.  27th March                                  

Recent Accessions

Press and Journal. Aberdeen. 'Nazi terror drive on Scots East Coast : three steamers down: fishing vessels gunned'. [newspaper] (Wednesday, January 10, 1940).

"Look, duck and vanish' : the Home Guard in rural Lincolnshire. Edited by C. E. Hall. [1995]

Guns or butter : war countries and peace countries of europe revisited. By R.H. Bruce Lockhart. (1938)

Lowlands of Scotland. By the Festival of Britain Office. [About Britain No. 11] (1951)

Outside Britain : a guide to this grave new world. By Dower and Riddell. [political cartoon and satire] (1938)

News

On 14th March 2007. five veterans were invited into the University to talk to our third year Making History students about their experiences of evacuation and what it was like to be a child during the Second World War.

Making History is a third year Social Sciences module. Students are not asked to study particular events in history or 'analyse change through time' instead they have to understand 'How and why history is written in the first place'. Students examine 'The role of the professional, academic historian, investigating, the methods by which such historians select, process and evaluate the raw material of history - that is original 'primary' sources, usually found in archives and research collections'. (Taken from the Making History course handbook.)

This year the Kevin Morrison Collection is being used by two Making History groups who are analysing resources in the collection relating to children in wartime and the evacuee experience. The day was a great success. A big thanks goes to the five veterans (from left below): Isobel, Jenny, Marlene, Eric and Audrey. Thanks also to Andra and Philip two placement students from the MSc Cultural Heritage course for all their help.

News

For five years Ian Payne has been compiling information on battles throughout history.[See link below]His website Battle File is now live and is an excellent resource for those interested in military history. In particular there is a wealth of relevant information for historians of the Second World War. The website has a search option and a quick search for World War Two brought up a number of WW2 battles. There are various fields for each battle including: what war, when the battle was fought, where, why, information on the armies, casualties and a description of the battle. The website is well worth checking out.

http://www.battlefile.info/

News

A new website was launched: Monday 10th February, 2007 called ‘Films From the Home Front'.[See link below]Over the last year Screen Archive South East, at the University of Brighton, in partnership with six other English Regional film archives have been digitising important original film footage in their holdings from the home front. The result is this incredible on-line archive of wartime amateur films and home movies. The site offers free on-line access. The project received funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘Their Past Your Future’ initiative.

http://www.movinghistory.ac.uk/homefront/

Collection Focus This recent accession was published in 1943 by the Alliance Press Limited. It is packed full of interesting photographs of various aspects of the Home Guard: the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers, training, exercises, patrols and parades. Two photographs that I found very interesting are of Home Guard teams manning a Northover Projector and a Spigot Mortar. Also of interest is the list of other publications at the back. Tiltes include among others: The P.M. Winston S. Churchill : as seen by his enemies, Tueton Torturers, Meet Our Russian Allies and More Babies for Britain.

Recent Accessions

My name is Frank : a merchant seaman talks. By Frank Laskier. (1941)

Poetry in wartime : an anthology. Edited by M. J. Tambimuttu. (1942)

Daily Mail Year Book 1942 (War Edition) Edited by David Williamson. (1942)

Letters to a sister. [fictitious letters span the war years] By Christopher Hollis. (1947)

Daylight on Saturday. By J. B. Priestley. (1943)

What Happened in the Month of February 1940-1945

The British destroyer H.M.S. Cossack enters Jossing Fjord, Norway and releases 299 prisoners (captured by the Graff Spree) held in the German naval auxiliary transport ship the Altmark. 16th February 1940.

Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that the war was costing Britain £10,500,000 a day. 6th February 1941. 

Fall of Singapore to the Japanese. Prime Minister Winston Churchill calls this the ‘worst disaster’ and ‘largest capitulation in British History’. 15th February 1942.

The last German troops in the besieged Russian city of Stalingrad surrender. 2nd February 1943.

The second ‘blitz’ on London begins. There followed seven days of raids. 19th February 1944.

British and Canadian troops reach the south bank of the Rhine opposite Emmerich. 14th February 1945.

What Happened in the Month of January 1940-1945

Food rationing begins in Britain. Bacon, butter and sugar are rationed. 4oz of ham or bacon, 12 oz of sugar, and 4 oz of butter per week for adults. 8th January 1940.

Daily Worker and Week is suppressed by the British War Cabinet. Prior to this a People’s Convention was held by members on the left. On the agenda was better shelter provision, a people’s peace, better living standards among others. The convention and the various campaigns by the Communist Party was seen by the War Cabinet to be causing disaffection in wartime and decided to ban the Communist Party’s newspaper in order to stem the Communist Party’s growing influence. 21st January 1941.

A letter is written to H.M.S. Borstal Institution Portland, Dorset 16th January 1941. written on the back: 'p.s. 'I dare'nt use another envleope', owing to wartime restrictions. [envelope held in the 'Morrison Collection Letters and Postcards section] 16th January 1942.

Daylight raid on London. A school building is hit. 45 children and 6 teachers are killed in the blast. Fourteen German bombers are shot down. 20th January 1943.

General Montgomery arrives in Britain to take up appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the armies under General Eisenhower.  3rd January 1944.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives back in Britain after visiting General Eisenhower and Filed Marshall Montgomery in France. 5th January 1945

Recent Accessions

ENSA complete recordings. Break for Music : Henry Hall and His Orchestra, Over to You : Geraldo and His Orchestra, Top of the List : R.O.C. Blue Rockets Dance Orchestra, Journey into Melody : Bob Farnon and his Orchestra, Break for Music : Lou Preager and His Orchestra, Top of the List : R.O.C. Blue Rockets Dance Orchestra. [2 CD set] [property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection] (2003)

Card board wedding cakes : the lives of ordinary people of Fife during the Second World War. By Chris Neale. [property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection] (2005)

Blackouts, bombs and bananas : childhood memories of wartime. By Maggie Gray. [‘Compiled from the recollections of local people, gathered in schools and libraries as part of Fife Libraries’ Home Front Recall Project’.]  [property of Glasgow Caledonian University, housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection] (2005).

The Jewish national home : the second November 1917-1942. Edited by Paul Goodman. (1943)

Priority dockets for curtain material, floor-covering. [correspondence]  Utility Furniture Section, Lancashire. [‘Your application has been considered but it is regretted that the permits for which you ask cannot be issued. ….. in order to be eligible a person must NOW be setting up house for the first time after losing his or her home to bombing’.] [n.d.]

‘By command of H.M. King Neptune. Lord of the Seas. Ruler of the Waves. Sovereign of all the Seas. This is to certify the George Petrie of His Majesty’s transport ‘Strathaird’ has been duly initiated as a subject of Neptune according to the ancient rites and ceremonies existing from time immemorial. 16/3/43’. [certificate]. (1943)

Glasgow Volunteers Wanted!

Leeds based Second World War Experience Centre are looking for volunteers from Glasgow to interview Scottish veterans of the conflict. For more details call: Dr Peter Liddle on 0113 258 4993. For more information on the Centre's work follow the link below.

http://www.war-experience.org/index.html

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Kevin Morrison Collection

Post card sent from an R.A.F. lance corporal serving with the British Liberation Army. Christmas 1944.

This month we follow a slightly different format instead of recent accessions we have some interesting Christmas items held in the collection.

Light the lights by A.P.Herbert, 1945.

Christmas Cards. (extract)

1.- For Downing Street

‘We do not think that everything is well,
But we do know that the obstacles are large;
So we are worried by the men who yell,
But follow quickly the men in charge’.

December 24 1944

Anthology of puddings. By Irene Veal. 1942

‘Sago is unpopular with many people, but if used as directed in the puddings described in this group of recipes it is quite unlike the starchy substance more generally known as sago, and helps to produce puddings almost as light as air. As do ground rice and tapioca, used in some of these recipes’.

‘Sago Christmas Pudding heads the list and is most economical’.

Housewife Magazine. December 1941.

‘Let’s talk about food’. Ministry of Food, information page.

‘I’d like a recipe for Christmas pudding without eggs’.

‘Going to parties’. Mothercraft section by Anne Cuthbert.

Feature on home made Christmas cards.

A wartime Christmas. Compiled by Maria and Andrew Hubert. (1995)

The Christmas companion. Edited by John Madfield. (1939)

Britain at war : under fire. The G.P.O. Classic Collection. (video)

Seven short films made in wartime. Of interest: Christmas under fire. (1941) ‘Quentin Reynold’s second film despatches from London shows Christmas 1940, the year of the Blitz’.  – sleeve notes

What Happened in the month of December 1939-1945

The first four months of the war are relatively quiet on the home front. With only a few air raids on Britain many evacuated children return home for Christmas. Christmas 1939.

The Second Great Fire of London. During the Christmas holidays. German bombers drop a large amount of incendiary bombs in the city centre causing widespread damage. In particular many publishing houses of Paternoster Row are destroyed. December 29th 1940.

In his broadcast to the British Empire King George IV emphasises the importance of family morale to winning the war. He also mentions young people. How they should train themselves in body, mind and spirit for the coming trials and tribulations that they would have to endure. Christmas Day 1941.

‘With best wishes for your health and happiness at Christmastide and through the coming year. From Flossie with love’. R.A.F. Station Poling. Christmas 1942. [Christmas card held in the ‘Morrison Collection]

‘Times have changed so many things. Travel clothes, places. But still with us unchanged remain the thoughts of well loved faces. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and bright and prosperous New Year. From Jimmy on Active Service. Christmas 1943’. [Christmas card held in the ‘Morrison Collection]

‘With best wishes for Christmas and New Year. To Ma and Dad. Xmas in Italy ’44’. Christmas 1944.  [Christmas card held in the ‘Morrison Collection]

What happened in the Month of November 1939-1944

Neville Chamberlain announces in Parliament that the New Years honours list would be suspended. 'When men win heroes decorations by risking their lives, the award of peace time honours would strike an incongruous note'. Taken from; News Review.  November 23rd 1939. [held in the 'Morrison Collection]
 
Neville Chamberlain dies at home in Hampshire. His ashes are buried in Westminster Abbey - the War Cabinet form the pall bearers. 9th November 1940.

Details are announced of a new coupon scheme for large quantities of canned foods due to arrive from America (to begin operating 17th November). 2nd November 1941.

Changes to the War-Cabinet. Sir Stafford Cripps Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons gives up both these posts to become the New Minister of Aircraft Production. 22nd November 1942.

'Well about the war. I don't think that it will be long before it is all over and not before time because I am sick of it'. Letter sent from a soldier of the Black Watch recuperating in Gartloch Hospital, Glasgow to a friend in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Monday 8th November 1943.

Prime Minster Churchill visits France. While there he observes Armistice Day ceremonies. 11th November 1944.

Recent Accessions

War in the air 1940-1945 : a 3 part documentary on the battle for the sky. Includes:
The fight for the sky (An Army Air Forces film), Target for today - presented by the 8th Air Force High Command, Target for tonight - presented by the British Ministry of Information.  (DVD) (2004).

The problem of Germany : an interim report by Chatham House Study Group. [post-war problems series] Royal Institute of International Affairs. (revised ed.) (1943).

New Scotland : 17 chapters on Scottish reconstruction highland and industrial: with a special prefatory letter from the London Scots Self-Government Committee. London Scots Self-Government Committee. (1942).

Science at war. T.G. Crowther and R. Whiddington. [Department of Scientific and Industrial Research] (1947).

Holland fights the Nazis. L. De. Jong. [1941].

Recent School Visit to St Monica's Primary School

A big thanks goes to St. Monica's Primary School, Pollock; for making our recent visit to their school to talk about the home front so enjoyable.

Primary Six and Seven children were shown a wartime video of evacuees. After this they had to write a pretend evacuee 'we are safe' postcard home to their family. They listened to an actual air-raid in progress and were allowed to handle wartime artefacts such as: an incendiary bomb, a fire guard's arm-band, a 'paratrooper's friend', an air raid warden's gas bell. They were also given a talk on the home front.

The children split into six groups and while they listened to wartime music they answered questions set for them from children's books. [The collection holds some sixty children's books on the Second World War.]

Below are the three winning 'we are safe postcards'. The children won actual books that were published in wartime. Since all the postcards were so good all the children were given a Glasgow Caledonian University bookmark!

'To Mum and Dad,

I'm very well. I am getting looked after perfectly fine and they are very sweet to me. There is no one else here. We went to the cinema last night and we are gong to the beech tomorrow if it is nice. I feel very spoilt because they took me shopping and I got loads of new clothes. Mum I miss you lots I hope Dad's alright and you to. Kieran as well. My brothers are fine and I hope no one we know has died. Miss you lots'.

'Dear Mum and dad,

I'm well. I have a bad family. I really want to come home. It's boring, the people I am living with have a daughter and she is not nice and Mum can you bring me home. I keep having a bad dream about Hitler. I wish you were with me. Is dad ok? Are you safe?'

'To Dad,

I'm trying my best to enjoy myself but I can't because I miss you very much. Will I ever see you again. I am safe and well but I am upset because I miss you and I didn't want to leave you. I got split up from my brother. How can this get any worse? I miss you lots. Dad, I hope to see you again. Your Son'.

The children sent us a beautiful hand-made thank you card with this message.

'Dear Kevin. Thank you for coming see us. Thanks also to Marlene (a Research Collection's volunteer). We enjoyed your visit. What you told us about the Second World War was very interesting, especially the bomb. We were very interested in what happened to children during the war. Thank you loads. P6/7. St Monica's Primary'.

'Civilian casualties due to air raids in the UK in September were the lowest since May 1940 when only three were injured and none killed. Since the beginning of the war 48, 282 civilians have been killed and 62,192 have been injured'.  October 3^rd 1943.
(Diary extract from Joan Strange [Worthing, England] Taken from 'Dispatches from the Home Front : the war diaries of Joan Strange 1939-1945. Jak Books. 1994. [copy of book in the 'Morrison Collection])

During the month of November our thoughts turn to those who have lost their lives because of war. In particular we use these web pages to remember those who lost their lives on the Home Front during the Second World War. Poet Elsa Beattie has written very moving lines to help us remember.

Elsa is the daughter of the late Lance Corporal Alexander Barr. Alexander wrote many poems while on active service with the RASC during World War 2. Having had her father's poems in her possession for 40 years, Elsa wanted to keep her father's memory alive by sharing his poetry with others, and in publishing them hopes to raise money for the families of ex-servicemen killed or injured in the service of their country. In her own words, "Being only 15 years old when my father died of Parkinson's disease at the age of only 50, I was too young to do a great deal for him while he was alive, so it has been an honour and a privilege to have his poems published in his memory and hopefully to help others by doing so."  Elsa can be contacted at elsabeattie@hotmail.com

The small book of poems has been published by SSAFA Forces Help and is called: 'A Soldier's Wartime Thoughts' it can be purchased by sending your request and a cheque made payable to SSAFA Forces Help for £3.00 (which includes postage) to SSAFA Forces Help, The Pentagon Centre, 36 Washington Street, Glasgow G3 8AZ    The telephone number for any enquiries is  0141 221 7251     This book would make an excellent gift for ex servicemen, and all proceeds from the sale of the books will be for the benefit of ex soldiers, sailors, airmen and their families.          

Home Front Heroes

Today as we remember those who died during active service fighting for our country, we should also remember those who lost their lives while active on the 'Home Front'

We must not forget those killed who had worked tirelessly in munitions and clothing factories, or the Land girls who toiled to provide food for our country.  Farmers, shop assistants, Police Officers, Firemen, Hospital workers, Shipbuilders and all others who contributed to the war effort in their own way without actually fighting on the ' Front Line' 

We remember particularly all those who died during the Blitz of the UK from 7th September 1940 - 10^th May 1941. 60,595 civilians were killed during this period - many of them people who were doing their best to help the war effort in any way they could, and who lost their lives during these terrible onslaughts.

As we remember those who fell on the battlefields, let us also remember those who died on the 'Home Front', fighting in their own way for the freedom we enjoy today.

Let us pay tribute to those 'Home Front Heroes' whose lives and deaths played a large part in shaping the world we live in today. As we think of them in the silence on Armistice day let us remember them in words of Laurence Binyon  'At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.'

Recent Accessions

Sport fur Jugend : zeitschrift des jugendfuhrers des Deutschen Reichs dur dei leibeserzichung unserer judgend. (Magazine for youth leaders of the German Reich for the physical education of our youth. 3 copies:  December 1942, November 1943, January-February 1944. [part of the Germany 1933-1950 collection,  purchased and owned by Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection].

New Statesman and Nation : the Weekend Review. Saturday, October 16, 1943.

Can conscription save peace? By Harry Pollitt. (1939). Donated to the collection by Audrey Canning (curator of the Gallagher Memorial Library, Housed in Research Collections @ GCU)

Borough of Woodgreen distribution of respirators slip. Issued to the public to collect their gasmask from St. Gabriel's Church Hal, Bounds Green Road. [n.d.]

Permit to visit Rome.  Issued to a captain of the Royal Army Service Corps give to visit Rome on military duty. Stamped: 1^st August 1944. Signed by the Brigadier Commander, 57 Area. (1944).

Host Families wanted - a new book by Victoria Seymour

What Happened in the Month of October 1939-1945

British bombers fly over Berlin and drop leaflets informing the populace that while they live on rations their leaders were sending vast sums of money out of the country. October 1st 1939.

The War Illustrated magazine covered a story regarding the Minister of Labour. Mr Bevin. He instructed experts to produce a special protective hat made of rags instead of steel. It was claimed that if could withstand rifle bullets almost as good as steel. Being half the weight of steel they were earmarked to be used by war workers. (magazine held in the collection) October 18^th 1940.

Mr Robert Hudson, Minster of Agriculture reads out a message from P.M. Winston Churchill at a meeting of farmers and farm workers in Norwich. The Prime Minister praised the work that farmers had made to-date on the food front. But warned them that the shipping situation would get worse and that space would be needed for war material (both for Britain and Russia): therefore they would have to 'release more ships by growing still more food in this country, and so hasten the day of victory'. October 18^th 1941

1376 German Prisoner's Of War was chained in reply to the shackling of British Prisoners.  On the night of 3-4^th of October 1942 British commando raid took place on the Island of Sark in the Channel Islands. German propaganda reported that German soldiers had their hands tied behind their back and were shot trying to escape (claims were also made by the Germans that their soldiers were shackled during the Dieppe raid). German prisoners were indeed taken and had their hands toggled and their belts and braces removed (a practice used by commandos). Several tried to escape and were shot.  Hitler in a rage issued the Commando Order this being that all commandos were to be killed even if they surrendered.October 10^th 1942.

Hitler and the Party Chiefs appeal for the maintenance of home front morale. October 8^th 1943.

'Hope you  are feeling better, will write a letter tomorrow, received a letter from you today. I am ok Pal keep smiling all my love Fred xxxx. (soldier of the Royal Army Service Corps (GT), British Liberation Army sends romantic postcard home. Front of postcard: photograph of couple and horseshoe. [Postcard held in collection]) October 30^th 1944.

United Nations Charter comes into force. 29 countries sign this. October 24^th 1945.

Collection Focus

What Happened in the Month of September 1939-1944

National Registration Day takes place in order to supply the British populace with identity cards and ration books. September 29^th 1939

'Dear Pupils,  many thanks for the smokes, received today 4^th September 1940. wishing you all the best. A Sailor'. (Postcard of thanks sent by sailor to Bedrule School, Harwick). September 1940

Minister of supply Lord Maxwell Aitken Beaverbrook announced that all the tanks produced in Britain for seven days: beginning September 17^th would be sent to aid Russia. September 17^th 1941.

'Help build aerodromes with waste paper. You have heard a great deal of how your waste paper helps the war effort. Here is a new one - Waste paper is used for making expansion joints for the concrete runways in aerodromes'. (Picture Post announcement) September 26^th 1942.

British and American troops land at Salerno and Taranto in Italy. September 9^th 1943.

First V.2 rocket reaches Britain, landing at Chiswick near London. September 8^th 1944.

Recent Accessions

A people's war. by Peter Lewis. (1984)

The County of London plan. by E. J. Carter and Erno Goldfinger. (1945)

The re-housing of Britain. by John Madge. (Target for Tomorrow Series No. 9). (1945)

War and peace. by Leo Tolstoy. (Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude). (1942 ed.)

Engines of war : the mechanised army in action. Produced in collaboration with the War Office. (1942 Second ed. rev.)

The Second World War Experience Centre - Seventh Annual Lecture Series

The SWWEC are holding their seventh set of annual lectures in October and November 2006. Themes explored include; 'Total war: Total Propaganda, 1939-1945', 'Italy's Sorrow: the War in Italy, 1944-1945. Reappraised', Bungling, Betrayal and Bravery in Churchill's Secret War' and 'The Forgotten Few: the Polish Air Force in the Second World War'. For more in formation follow the link below.
http://www.war-experience.org/about/events.asp

September Talk by Author Midge Gillies

What Happened in the Month of August 1939-1945

Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact signed in Moscow by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav M. Molotov. The pact's main stipulation was that each would not support a third party in a conflict with either. This paved the way for Adolf Hitler to invade Poland and avoid a war on two fronts. 23rd August 1939.

Eagle Day (Adler Tag).  The Luftwaffe's air offensive against the Royal Air force begins in earnest with some 1500 sorties being flown by the Luftwaffe against British airfields in Eastchurch, Southampton, Hampshire and Kent.  (the largest to date). The aim of the German High Command was to cripple British air defences in four days and then completely destroy the Royal Air Force's capacity to fight in four weeks. Thus clearing the way for Operation Sealion (the invasion of Britain) to begin. 13th August 1940.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt meet in Newfoundland to formulate the Atlantic Charter. The charter outlined the common principles of both countries national policies and their aspirations for a better future for the world.  The eight point charter conveyed their commitment to free elections for all nations, economic prosperity and well-being for all nations, the disarmament of countries who used force to obtain their will and the abandonment of force as a national policy so that nations could live in peace and security. 9th-12th August 1941.

Operation Jubilee the British, Canadian, American and Free French commando raid on Dieppe. Although the raid was heavy in loss of life and many prisoners were taken, valuable lessons were learnt for the Allied invasion of France in June 1944. 19th August 1942.

'I am glad to see that our respective residences still successfully defy the terrors of the flying bomb. We have had windows out in our flat though. Nothing serious however'.  Letter sent from R.A.F. man S.H.Q. Benson to Flt. Lt. Officers Mess, R.A.F. Yatesbury. 6th August 1944.

Operation Centreboard. American B29 bomber 'Enola Gay' drops the first ever atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima with devastating effect causing 80,000 dead. Two days later a second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki causing 40,000 deaths. Japan surrenders the following week ending the Second World War. 6th-15th August 1945.

Collection News

A copy of Gloryhill Farm : One hundred acres farmed by an amateur: second year 1941-42 by Clifton Reynolds was recently obtained for the collection. This completes the collection's set of four volumes that Reynolds wrote of his experiences of farming in wartime.  The others are:

Gloryhill Farm : One hundred acres farmed by an amateur: first year 1940-41.

Gloryhill Farm : One hundred acres farmed by an amateur: third year 1942-43.

Gloryhill Farm : One hundred acres farmed by an amateur: epilogue 1943-44.

Summer Offer from the 1940's Society

'Sounds Like War : authentic sounds of the war years for the re-enactor and enthusiast' is the follow up CD to 'Listen with Auntie'. 'Listen with Auntie' is an excellent CD that I have used in a number of talks that I have given. Especially the sound of a 'Heavy Raid' and 'Mrs Buggins on the Kitchen Front'. 'Sounds Like War' includes a variety of attacks and incidents, broadcasts such as King Geroge VI, seaman Frank Laskier and Morse code as well as a selection of Allied National Anthems. In all over 70 minutes.  The CD is available from the 1940's Society Shop at the excellent price of £9.99 (postage free). Just quote 'July Offer'. For more details of this, the 1940's Society and their future events follow the link below.

http://www.1940.co.uk/acatalog/Sound_Effects___Broadcasts___Speaches.html

What Happened in the Month of July 1940-1945

'Tuesday, I had to go to the First Aid Post .. I got Bobby's dirty clothes home this morning to wash and return as soon as possible (a soldier) .. Jenny is going to Paisley so I am sending her into Brown's to send you some sweets'. Written to a soldier who had arrived safely back from the evacuation of France May/June 1940 (taken from one of three letters held in the collection). 12th July 1940.

'Another perfect hot boiling lovely beautiful day. Bright and sunny lovely blue sky. We had the 1st very bad raid for a long while last night. 1 o'clock till 2-45. Very heavy firing and over a half-dozen bombs or landmines fell in and around Cardiff'. (Extract from a diary written in South Wales recently purchased by Glasgow Caledonian University and housed in the Diaries section of the Morrison Collection. There are two full years of entries 1941 and 1942.) 1st July 1941.

Operation Gomorrah - Royal Air Force bomb Hamburg in one of the heaviest raids of the war to date. Creating a firestorm - a deadly cocktail of fierce winds and extreme heat. 26th/27th July 1942.

Operation Husky the Allied landings in Sicily begin. 10th July 1943.

Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg a leading member of a conspiracy against Adolf Hitler plants a bomb in the temporary conference room at the 'Wolfs Lair' Rastenburg East Prussia (Hitler's main Headquarters in the East). The bomb fails to kill Hitler and a spate of executions follow as the Nazis bring revenge down on suspected conspirators. 20th July 1944.

British General Election results. Labour wins the election by a landslide. The result of the election was delayed from the 5th July until the 26th to allow the votes of service men and women to come in from overseas. Clement Attlee becomes the new Prime Minister taking over from wartime leader Winston Churchill (Conservative candidate). 26th July 1945.

John Heartfield Donation

Recently donated to the Kevin Morrison Collection by Dr. Douglas Chalmers from the Caledonian Business School is this believed John Heartfield photomontage.

The postcard depicts a scene of Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Neville Chamberlain and Duff Cooper (?) dressed in nurses clothing tending to a baby Adolf Hitler. 

John Heartfield, (1891- 1968) "a revolutionary artist in the true sense"[i]came from a strong political background. Heartfield's Father was a Socialist writer and his Mother was involved in the Trade Union movement. John and his brother were abandoned by their parents and spent a childhood living in "social decay and rising militarism"[ii]

Heartfield went to study Poster Design within Munich at the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule. Training that would influence all his life. Influenced by the radicalism of students at university and introduced to political art, Heartfield alongside George Gorsz developed the art of photomontage.

David Evans describes the art of photomontage as the "technique by which a composite photographic image is formed by combining images from separate photographic sources"[iii] With this technique Heartfield from 1917 onwards, started to publish photomontage works within first the Neue Jugend (New Youth)[iv], a pacifist magazine published in Germany and then more famously for his front cover work of AIZ (Arbeiter-Illustrierte Zeitung.)[v] A strong pacifist, Anti-Nazi and Socialist, Heartfield stood up and fought during his life time against exploitation and war.[vi]

From the period of March 1936 with the reoccupation of the Rhineland, through to the Austrian Anschluss of 1938 and the Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Neville Chamberlain was to embark on the ill fated road for appeasement, determined to gain "peace for our time."[vii]  Chamberlain determinedly fought for reconciliation believing that Adolf Hitler could be reasoned with and war diverted. Within the photomontage, Chamberlain is positioned holding the baby lightly, smiling adoringly down and holding a bottle ready to feed. Unaware of the babies' behaviour, Chamberlain appears unobservant and naive of a possible change in temperament.

Duff Cooper who after what occurred in Munich; dismayed at the Munich Conference and the attitude and actions imposed on Czechoslovakia resigned from Chamberlains Government as First Lord of the Admiralty[viii]. Yet, although resigned was still a strong defender of appeasement. This can be viewed within the photomontage. As noted, Cooper is the only man standing that is not looking at Chamberlain, but is instead focused on Hitler himself. Cooper having lost faith in the Prime Minister due to the Munich Conference is solely interested in the baby Hitler, almost wary of Neville Chamberlain, watchful and alert that the baby could change behaviour at any moment.

Anthony Eden who resigned in February 1938 over fundamental differences with Chamberlain is portrayed starring, verging on glaring at the prime minister within the photomontage. Eden who resigned over how Chamberlain was handling Italy, had argued on numerous occasions, each man taking an opposite view and approach on foreign affairs, Eden being far more cautious of the Italian and German dictators and their past involvements.

Winston Churchill is in the foreground of the photomontage smiling at Chamberlain and his antics. Churchill, a strong critic of appeasement entered Chamberlain's government in 1939 so as for when war did commence he would be in prim position to launch naval warfare.[ix] The position and mannerisms of Churchill show a man waiting for he right moment to intervene.

The positions of the British politicians within the photomontage highlight their individual personalities and views in regards to Adolf Hitler. Analysing the photo and the contents and the interaction of each member proves rather insightful as it shows the relationships each man had towards Neville Chamberlain and also their approach to Adolf Hitler. The photo focuses on the disillusionment of the Prime Minister and the caution expressed by those around him in regards to Adolf Hitler and also Chamberlain himself.

The article above was researched, written and designed by Gillian McFadyen. Gillian is a Fourth Year Social Sciences student at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has been working as a volunteer with Research Collections @ GCU during the summer 2006.

Recent Accession

Recent Accessions

Communist Election Policy. Communist Party. (1945)

This is the Victory by Leslie D. Weatherhead. (1940)

The Thin Blue Line by Charles Graves. (Spring 1941)

Hitler's Whistle by A. G. Street. (1944)

Hare Joins the Home Guard by Alison Uttley. (4th Ed 1946)

Images from 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Display in Scotland Street School Museum, Glasgow

Women and the Threat of Invasion 1940

Author of 'Waiting for Hitler : voices from Britain on the brink of invasion', Midge Gillies has written an interesting and informative article for the Guardian G2 on how women in Britain planned to cope with the threat of German invasion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1800683,00.html

Events in July to Watch Out For in July

The annual War and Peace Show takes place between 19th-23rd July 2006 at Beltering, Paddock Wood, Kent.
http://www.thewarandpeaceshow.com/

The 1940's Society, Sevenoaks will be holding a Film Evening. They will be screening 'The New Lot', 1943. Written by Peter Ustinov and Eric Ambler and directed by Carol Reed. 8 p.m. Otford Memorial Hall near Sevenoaks 28th July 2006. See below for more details.
http://www.1940.co.uk/index.shtml

What Happened in the Month of June 1940-1945

An Armistice between France and Italy was signed. Adolf Hitler the German war leader proclaimed 'The war in the west is ended'. June 24th 1940.

The German invasion of Soviet Russia began. 22nd June 1941.

Hugh Dalton President of the Board of Trade banned pockets, pleats and long socks as part of austerity measures. June 1942

Following repeated air attacks, Italian civilians in Naples and Sicily were advised to leave their homes. June 19th 1943.

'Well by now everyone at home I suppose will be following the latest war news with real interest now that the second Front has started. Do you know anyone at all who is engaged in this new venture? Well all of us boys here wish the boys the very best and a speedy victory'. Air mail letter (house in the Letters section of the 'Morrison Collection) sent from a soldier serving in Italy to his fiancé in England June 8th 1944.

United Nations Charter signed by representatives of 50 countries. 26th June 1945.

Churchill Volumes Complete

A recent accession to the collection of war speeches by war-time British leader Winston Churchill 'Onwards to victory : war speeches by the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill C.H., M.P. 1943'. Compiled by Charles Eade and published by Cassell and Company Ltd. (1947 3rd ed.) completes a set of six. The other volumes that span the years 1938-1945 include:

Into Battle. (speeches covering 1938-1940)
The unrelenting struggle. (1940-1941)
The end of the beginning. (1942)
The dawn of liberation. (1944)
Victory. (1945)

Waiting for Hitler - exciting new book on the Home Front

Writer Midge Gillies new book comes out on June 5 th , 2006 'Waiting for Hitler: voices from Britain on the brink of invasion published' by Hodder & Stoughton. Midge visited Glasgow Caledonian University in the Winter of 2004 to access the Frank O'Brien letters and to look through relevant material on the 'invasion scare' of 1940/41 from the Kevin Morrison Collection. On commenting on the collection and the Frank O'Brien letters Midge states:

'The Kevin Morrison Collection is an Aladdin's Cave which will delight anyone interested in the social history of World War Two. The collection's wide variety of documents and artefacts - from personal letters and scrapbooks to song sheets and official publications - offers a unique insight into life on the Home Front'.

'Frank O'Brien's letters home reveal the genuine voice of the ordinary soldier. His correspondence charts the course of the conflict: from the boredom of the Phoney War to the horror of Dunkirk and the moment when Britain waited for invasion. He writes with humour and emotion of his experiences in North Africa , Italy and Greece and offers a fresh insight into the impact of war and how it affected a Scottish soldier and his family'.

Former Home Guard Tony Benn read over the manuscript for 'Waiting for Hitler' stating that it was 'A brilliant book'.

Collection Focus

This month we feature Guilty women written by Richard Baxter published in 1941 by Quality Press Limited.

Baxter's book explores the role and 'influence' of women in the success of fascism in the 1930's and early 1940's. The first chapter looks at women in politics as perceived by Adolf Hitler. The second the 'Mystery women who influence Hitler'. The rest of the chapters explore as the sleeve note explains 'the part which women have played in making world war'. Women such as Edda Ciano, 'the mysterious Elsa', Frau von Ribbentrop, Magda Goebbels among others. The book though coated in sexist overtones gives an interesting insight into fascist women on the international political arena during the period. The book is housed in the Politics/World Affairs/War Production section of the collection (Library SIRSI catalogue number SC300628MOR. There are some seven hundred catalogue records for the Kevin Morrison Collection which can be accessed on the Glasgow Caledonian University catalogue)

Recent Accessions

Among you taking notes : the wartime diary of Naomi Mitchison, 1939-1945. Edited by Dorothy Sheridan. (2000)

World War II in cartoons. By Mark Bryant. (1989). Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection, Reference Section.

The C.O. and the Tribunal: a critical guide for objectors to the National Service (Armed Forces) Act. Joint Advisory Bureau. (n.d.) Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection, Politics/World Affairs/War Production section.

Poetry in wartime: an anthology edited by M.J.Tambimuttu. (1943)

The Journey home: a report prepared by Mass Observation for the Advertising Service Guild (the fifth of the "CHANGE" wartime surveys). (1944) Property of Glasgow Caledonian University housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection, Politics/World Affairs/War Production section.

What Happened in the Month of May 1940-1945

Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. May 10th 1940.

'Dad went to an A.R.P. lecture and walked a little way with Mother and I to the park. Mother and I walked along the beach and up Beach Hill home via Plymouth Road . I read my book 'Leave it to the rags'. We have had 1 short three-quarter hour air raid warning this evening at 8-10. More German airborne troops have landed at Crete . The H.M.S. Rodney was the ship who put the German Bismarck guns out of action and blew up the Bismarck 's magazine. At 9-35 till 10-15 we heard Joe Loss and his band with Bennett and Williams guests. (Extract from a diary written in South Wales recently purchased by Glasgow Caledonian University and housed in the Diaries section of the Morrison Collection. There are two full years of entries 1941 and 1942.) May 30th 1941.

Viachislav M. Molotov the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs visits London to sign the Anglo-Soviet Alliance. Under the agreement each would give the other military assistance against the Axis and not conclude a separate peace treaty with the enemy. May 26th 1942.

Dambusters Raid. Wing Commander Guy Gibson leads 19 Avro Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron to bomb the Ruhr dams. The bombers are specially adapted to carry scientist Barnes Wallace's 'bouncing bomb'. Two dams were breached the Mohne and Eder. May 16-17th 1943.

Red Army captures Sebastopol, liberating the whole of the Crimea in Southern Russia . May 9th 1944.

Heinrich Himmler German leader of the SS commits suicide while in British captivity. May 22nd 1945.

Helping Researcher in the USA

We have been helping recently James Hodges a student at the University of Washington , Seattle .

James explains:

'I am 35 years old, and I attend the University of Washington in Seattle , USA . I was born in Sidcup , Kent . I am currently two thirds of the way through a Family History and Genealogy course. I am conducting research in to the Second World War life of my grandfather, Cecil Richard Sealy Hodges. My grandfather worked at a top secret RAF target map-making facility in Buckinghamshire. It was given the. My grandfather was there from about 1941-1945. He ran the print room at Hillside , and was responsible for the accurate printing of the target maps which were used by Bomber Command. He was responsible for the printing of the 1943 Dams Raid target maps, and also the map for the bombing of Hitler's Alpine retreat, the Berchtesgaden , among many others. The print room ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week'.

'I contacted Kevin as I was researching, and trying to locate, primary evidence of World War II London for a presentation I will be giving to my classmates /teachers. Part of my research is to place my grandfather in a historical context. Materials are available in the USA for wartime London , but they are far and few between. I was looking for information about what it would have been like living in London during the war - what would my grandfather have seen, eaten, felt, heard? What entertainment was available? With the assistance of Kevin and his volunteer I have answered these questions and more'. 

James is keen to find out more about the mapmaking facility, codename ' Hillside ', based at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire during World War II. ' Hillside ' produced target maps for Bomber Command. His grandfather worked there throughout the war. Please e-mail me with information at k.morrison3@gcal.ac.uk and I will forward this to James.

Visit by Children of Sighthill Primary

Research Collections hosted a one day home front event on campus for children from Sighthill Primary, Glasgow. 29 th March 2006

There was barely time for the children to take off their coats, put on their evacuees luggage label and receive an introduction to the university by the Research Collections Manager, before the air raid sirens wailed. The children were directed to No.4 air raid shelter, Glasgow Caledonian University , Cowcaddens Road , where they had to show the local warden their shelter ticket (see below).

Once in the shelter they were given a short talk on evacuees by Kevin Morrison and shown two short Government films on the 1939 evacuation. This was followed by a book handling session. The children were given books to search through to find answers to six questions. Books such as; Digging for Victory (2000) by Jack Wood, Investigating the Home Front 1939-45 (1996) by Alison Honey, World War II : Facts, things to make, activities (1994) by Rachael Wright, and Great Battles of World War II (2000) by Ole Steen Hanson.

(The collection holds some forty children's publications on the Second World War. These form a Children's Reference Library on the Second World War. This library is available to children, parents and teachers who are looking for information on the Second World War. Children, Mums, Dads and teacher can come into the University and access these resources in the Research Room) .

After this the children were given a talk by a former Glasgow evacuee Isobel McEwen. The children were captivated by Isobel's talk. After lunch the children were introduced to wartime art, song, poetry, story and writing. The children have been invited to design a piece of art with a wartime theme; this could be a song sheet cover, a painting or a picture of an air raid or an evacuee or something else of their choice. They can also submit a story, a poem, a song or a pretend diary. The winning three entries will each receive actual wartime books and have their winning entries added to this website. The day ended with a short wartime film on 'make do and mend'.

The day was a success and we are hoping to repeat this in the summer with six summer school visits. (to be arranged). A big thanks for making this a success goes to the Manager of Research Collections @ GCU, Marlene Macowan (a volunteer for the Kevin Morrison Collection), Margaret Houston (from Glasgow City Council who organised the visit by Sighthill Primary) Sighthill Primary School (especially the children, who were brilliant!), Isobel MacEwen (our resident evacuee who never refuses to help us with talks and provides us with a wealth of information on the home front) and Mark Galloway from Audio Visual Services who took the photographs below of the event.

Children from Sighthill Primary get a chance to hold artefacts from the Second World War. Including a civilian gasmask, an A.R.P. gas 'all clear' bell, an air raid warden's helmet, an incendiary bomb, a civilian duty gas mask, a fire warden's helmet and a Hitler Youth dagger.

What happened during the month of April, 1940-1945

Lord Woolton takes over as Minister for Food (famous for his Woolton Pie). 3 rd April 1940.

The first registration of women for war work under the New Employment Order. 19 th April 1941.

The British Government and its military advisers provisionally accept the American plan 'Belero' for the American build up of troops and supplies in Britain in preparation for a Second Front in North West Europe. 20 th April 1942.

A reader of the Artist magazine requested information) on where it was best to obtain paper to design posters for his/her factory (due to wartime shortages). The Artist advised to buy a role of white wallpaper. If the wallpaper shop couldn't provides this then the reverse side of pale paper would do. (The Artist April 1943 Vol. 25. No. 2, 146 th issue)

Punch's page 'Charivaria' reports 'The Easter egg filled with chocolates and sweets was again non-existent this year, although some people were lucky enough to get hold of an egg filled with egg'. Punch 19 th April 1944. Vol. CCVI, No. 5385.

German leader Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun in the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin. 29 th April 1945.

Recent Accessions

Letters to my daughter : A chronicle of day-to-day events in a North Country household told with a ready wit which makes ordinary routine tasks of housekeeping, cooking, poultry management, appear interesting and even exciting. The author varies the tale of everyday life with shrewd comment on world affairs from week to week. Containing many useful and delightful recipes for war-time cooking by Kathleen Macpherson. (1941) (Property of Glasgow Caledonian University , housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection)

Text of a speech delivered in the Reichstag, January 30th, 1939 by Adolf Hitler Fuhrer and Chancellor. (1939)

'Distribution of Respirators' slip. Borough of Wood Green. 'To be taken to St. Gabriel's Church Hall, bounds Green Road '. On surrender of the slip the recipient would receive their gasmask. (1938/39)

The County of London plan. Explained by E. J. Carter and Erno Goldfinger. (1945)

Making History at Glasgow Caledonian University

The Kevin Morrison Collection is again taking part in the Glasgow Caledonian University level 3 history module 'Making History' . Semester B, 2006.

In this module students are asked not to study particular events in history or 'analyse change through time' instead they have to understand 'How and why history is written in the first place'. Students examine 'The role of the professional, academic historian, investigating, the methods by which such historians select, process and evaluate the raw material of history - that is original 'primary' sources, usually found in archives and research collections'. (Taken from the Making History course handbook.)

Each year the Research Collection's @ GCU Team put forward a number of topics in which the students have to choose a group project from. They then use the collections and archives within Research Collections and further a field to gain experience of 'information retrieval, source evaluation, and oral and written presentation'. (as above). This also gives the students a chance to meet professional archivists and collection management teams.

This year the two topics that the 'Morrison Collection will be involved in will be; 'The experience of women during the Second World War' and 'Sustaining the home front in World War Two : the print and written word mobilised for war'.

Archive of No. 2 Radio School (was No. 2 Signals School ) RAF Yatesbury & No. 3 Radio School Compton Bassett.

I received an e-mail from the Archive Officer for RAF Yatesbury Association asking if I had any material that they could copy to add to their archives.

I was able to supply him with a copy of a flyer for a Play Reading Circle of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. Dated February 26 th , 1945.

The Yatesbury Association records the history of RAF Yatesbury, RAF Compton Bassett, RAF Townsend and RAF Cherhill up to their closure. During the Second World War, RAF Yatesbury and RAF Compton Bassett were major radio and radar training schools, RAF Townsend a satellite landing ground and RAF Cherhill was 27 Group Headquarters Technical Training Command.

You can find out more about the Association's work at;

http://www.rafyatesbury.co.uk/yaindex.html

Cultural Heritage Collections Management Module

Research Collections @ GCU are to play a part in a new MSc running at Glasgow Caledonian University . Over a six week period the students will attend lectures given by the Research Collections Team on subjects as diverse as; Management and care of collections, archives, the diversity of collection types, storage, handling, crisis management, conservation, exhibitions and outreach work.

The 'Morrison Collection's output will be to participate in a seminar on the work of special collections. Kevin Morrison's contribution will be to give a power point presentation on World War Two collectors. Kevin has taken four of the Cultural Heritage students out to a talk to school children in Pollock Library, Glasgow on the Home Front (February 28 th ). The 'Morrison Collection has been working with Glasgow City Council Children's Team over the last four months delivering talks on the Home Front to children in libraries in the Glasgow area. Commenting on the talk the students stated;

'A really useful educational resource. The hands on experience was of particular benefit to the children allowing them to get a clear picture of the home front and war'.

'I learned a lot about outreach education. The talk was great and the children certainly enjoyed it and touching the artefacts. I really enjoyed it'.

Recent Accession

The 'Tuck' postcard featured below (post mark 3rd December, 1943) was recently purchased for the collection on e-bay. It will be featured on the front cover for the new leaflet that is being developed for the collection. I think that it sums up the Home Front. The message on the back reads, 'Do you ever help like the little girl on the card. I bet you would like to. Do you still remember? Rinse the clothes. Mince the meat'. I recently discovered that premises of Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd. were destroyed by enemy action 29th December 1940. Many of the original copies of their postcards were destroyed. For more information please check out this site.

http://www.henrywimbush.co.uk/id20.htm

What Happened during the month of March 1939 - 1945

• First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill gives a speech in the House of Commons on the strength of the British Navy, March 16 th 1939.
• Russia and Finland make peace. March 12 th 1940.
• Clydeside, Glasgow and Merseyside in Liverpool are heavily bombed by German bombers. March 12 th - 14 th 1941.
• British bombers raid on historical Lubeck in Germany . Adolf Hitler orders reprisal raids that culminate in the 'Baedeker Raids' on British cities with historical and cultural importance in April. March 29th 1942.
• A captain in the Royal Artillery serving in Tunisia writes to a public school teacher in Hertfordshire , England . While he was in a slit trench, taking cover from German shells he came across a copy of the World Press Review. In it was an article covering the teacher's interview with Aneurin Bevan on the 'Public School System'. As a result the officers mess had a debate on this and 'There was number of lively exchanges between your party and Aneurin Bevan's party. The motion for the present public school system was carried 23 votes to 12'. March 5 th 1943. (letter held in 'Morrison Collection).
• The R.A.F. fly a bombing mission to Nuremberg , Germany . The raid is costly, 96 planes are lost out of 795. The R.A.F.'s highest loses in a single mission during the war. 30-31 st March, 1944.
• Prime Minister Mr Churchill was back in London after a weekend visiting the Western Front and Germany . March 6 th 1945.

John Hughes, Royal Army Service Corps to be Honoured by Glasgow Citizens

Glasgow City Council, the Royal Corps of Transport, Poet Elsa Beattie and a cousin of John Hughes have planned a tribute to forgotten war hero John Hughes in the form of a small ceremony at St Francis Centre, in the Gorbals area of Glasgow on Saturday 25th March at 10.30 a.m.

Elsa wrote:
'I wrote a poem in honour of this brave hero which will be used (on a tape) and a bagpipe lament (written to go along with my poem) played as the tribute plaque is unveiled'.

John was a 'Brave 19 year old Glasgow lad (Joseph Hughes) who died on March 23rd 1946 (60 years ago) in Hong Kong. A soldier with the Royal Army Service Corps, he was helping to clear land mines in Hong Kong after the war ended. He was driving his ammunition truck back into barracks when it began to smoulder and caught fire. He tried to put out the flames, but even though his clothes caught fire he continued to drive the truck away from the barracks and a nearby town. The truck exploded and he died a few days later from his injuries. He was awarded the George Cross for Gallantry - if it had been during wartime he would have had the Victoria Cross'.

World War Two Tea Dance

The 'Morrison Collection' was on display recently at World War Two tea dance, Kilmarnock Grand Hall. 26th January, 2006. This was organised by Cultural Coordinator for East Ayrshire Elaine Scott to say thanks to four primary schools who took part in the 'War Detectives' project.

http://www.wardetectives.info/projects/wardetectives/eastayrshire/

Images courtesy of Elaine Scott Cultural Coordinator East Ayrshire Council

For November, the month of Remembrance, Elsa J Beattie has
contributed this poem which she wrote.

	Let Us Remember Let us remember Let us never forget Those who laid down their lives To whom we owe a great debt. Wear a poppy with pride For those of our nation Who fought for our freedom With brave dedication. Fathers and sons, sisters and brothers Some never brought home, they lie where they fell Just memories left for those whom they loved And who of their great courage they tell. And as we remember Let us all pray for peace That now and forever All wars may cease. © Elsa J Beattie		Recent Accession This is a recent accession to the collection (purchased and owned by Glasgow Caledonian University to be housed in the Kevin Morrison Collection). C. W. Glover's 1938 book on civil defence contains a wealth of information. There are over 300 pages of information on air raids, air raid shelters, bomb types and poisonous gases. There is even a section on air raid protection for animals. The book is packed with photographs and illustrations, including this one of the German "Ant-hill" public shelter. There is also a wealth of advertisements for A.R.P. equipment. Including one for the 'Austral urine or vomit container' for use in an air raid shelter!

'They Shall Not Grow Old'

The collection will feature in the above display at Scotland Street School Museum. The display - running from 12-29 January 2006 has been organised by Glasgow Museums. Anne Wallace (Museums Education Officer) along with a photographer, a poet and three Normandy veterans visited the Normandy beaches in the Summer of 2005. They will be displaying pictures of the visit and poetry written by the children.

Both print-based and three dimensional items will be on display from the 'Morrison Collection. Glasgow Caledonian University Archives Department have kindly agreed to loan the D-Day flag carried by 308 Battery 128th (Highland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 51st Division, from 7 June 1944 until 7 May 1945 made at The Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science (Incorporated).

The BBC People's War Project

The Collection will be featured in a primary school visit to BBC Broadcasting House, Glasgow, December 16th 2005. This is part of the BBC People's War Project. This will be in the format of a short talk using print based and three dimensional items. Some with a Christmas theme!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2

Home Front Recall/BBC People's War Talks

In November/December 2005 the Kevin Morrison Collection participated in several talks arranged for primary school children and senior citizens at Dennistoun Public Library and Learning Centre, Glasgow. Kevin Morrison gave the talks using scanned images of print based material and three dimensional items form the collection.

Three dimensional items such as; gasmasks, an incendiary bomb, an air raid warden's helmet, a fire guard's helmet and armband, a tin of Ministry Food tin of emergency coffee and a set of wartime Monopoly Themes included; Air Raid Precautions, Fire Guards, Children and Rationing.

The talks were arranged by Glasgow City's Cultural and Leisure Services as part of Home Front Recall and the BBC People's War projects. Future children's talks are planned in January 2005 in Partick, Easterhouse and Ibrox (all in Glasgow).

Last Updated: 22 July, 2009
Edited by: Learning Services Web Team