Things are going great.......then!

[DoDTS]

Just imagine, life is good, you study well, get a good job, meet a girl, marry, get a mortgage for a nice house and then along come the kids. You've done everything right and the future is brilliant.

Then imagine this was your father or grandfather and the year was 1939, you've got a good but expensive lifestyle but then you can afford it, until the War starts and you get called up. Apart from the fact that your putting your life on the line, your reduced to army pay, your condemning your family to debt and poverty as the following extract from the standard explains:

FAMILIES OF THE FORCES
From all parts of the country complaints concerning the disparity between the present Services allowances and former civilian income. Numbers of families have commitments out of all proportion to their existing reduced income and as a result debts are accumulating and hardship arising.
From the Southend Standard 26th October 1939

This is just my little tribute to the long forgotten people that got caught up in this trap.

Glory and Poverty.

DoDtS

 

[Benfleet A1]

Bang to rights and an great find. My father was half way across the Atlantic homeward bound from the States when they found out that they were at war. He went from pretty good seamans pay in the Merchant Service to pretty poor seamans pay in the Merchant Service in wartime in one radio broadcast. What he said to me was that it was the last thing on their minds as german U-Boats were known to be patroling and British Merchant Ships were now fair game. Money was the last thing on their minds, getting home and doing their bit took president and that makes me incredible proud of that generation.

 

[osymandus]

Bang to rights and an great find. My father was half way across the Atlantic homeward bound from the States when they found out that they were at war. He went from pretty good seamans pay in the Merchant Service to pretty poor seamans pay in the Merchant Service in wartime in one radio broadcast. What he said to me was that it was the last thing on their minds as german U-Boats were known to be patroling and British Merchant Ships were now fair game. Money was the last thing on their minds, getting home and doing their bit took president and that makes me incredible proud of that generation.

Mainly because his society wasnt obssed with having a value on everything and they would come together to provide for each other as well (plus the people still had the capacity for greater self seficence .

 

[DoDTS]

It was a bit rough on professional footballers as well, with the out break of war all contracts were cancelled, the players had to find jobs or join the forces and when football did resume in friendly form a couple of weeks later, they were only paid if they played.

If you had bought a season ticket, no refunds I'm afraid, you could either use it to watch that seasons meaningless games, or defer it until football resumed.

DoDtS

 

[Lester Bangs]

I've been led to believe that the 30's were very tough to times to live in the UK with the average families finding the cost of living to be almost beyond reach. The price of food was incredibly high and wages were low.

Although the war knackered the national economy it actually helped the standard of living of the average family. Women had replaced men in the factories and for the first time the norm was to have the two parents in a family drawing a wage. Rationing meant that wages had a limited value as there was not to buy with this money so there was a surplus of wages.

In terms of health of the nation, rationing actually reduced child mortality rates and illness amongst adults. The people of 1945 were leaner and healthier than their 1939 counterparts.

Great thread btw.

 

[Ron Manager]

I've been led to believe that the 30's were very tough to times to live in the UK with the average families finding the cost of living to be almost beyond reach. The price of food was incredibly high and wages were low.

Although the war knackered the national economy it actually helped the standard of living of the average family. Women had replaced men in the factories and for the first time the norm was to have the two parents in a family drawing a wage. Rationing meant that wages had a limited value as there was not to buy with this money so there was a surplus of wages.

In terms of health of the nation, rationing actually reduced child mortality rates and illness amongst adults. The people of 1945 were leaner and healthier than their 1939 counterparts.

Great thread btw.

So, we should declare war on Germany to improve the standard of living in the UK, reduce unemployment and cure childhood obesity?

:clap:

(just jesting of course, a very interesting thread)

 

[BrettieAngell]

I'm reading a book about D-Day at the moment, its mindblowing what that generation went through.

 

[osymandus]

I'm reading a book about D-Day at the moment, its mindblowing what that generation went through.

Yes and especially as they were also the generation to pass through the great depression the Spanish Flu epidemic and obviously their parents WWI.

Necessity (and maybe fate ;) ) prepared them and made them what they were but many did wish they never had to, and all they did was life their lives and do teh right thing. Thats what makes them great. plus the invention of spam fritters

 

[canveyshrimper]

I'd say one of the worst things was the evacuation of children from London & other cities to the "saftety" of the country. My Grandad & Grandmother had to send my two uncles (both still alive) aged 6 & 9 to the station and to destination unknown. I can't imagine what that could be like to be suddenly torn from your family and placed with a foster family far away. They were among the lucky ones for on both occasions they were evacuated they ended up with good & caring families, and the stories they tell of that time are hilarious. Other children weren't so lucky in who they were placed with, no searches of previous history in war time.

My Uncle Jim was killed at Caen on 10th July 1944, barely 19 years of age, and mentioned in despatches for bravery. I suppose that most families in the country lost loved ones, and I for one cannot imagine how difficult that is to bear when the knock comes at the door with the telegram. And that shock can be no easier to bear now as it was then.

 

[Lester Bangs]

After a lot of reading around WWII, especially the social history of the war I'm often left wondering how would our current generation cope in such a scenario if we had to deal with it.

The 'we just got on with it' mentally amazes me both on the Battlefield and back in Blighty back in war time. I can't see that happening nowadays.

 

[Benfleet A1]

I'd say one of the worst things was the evacuation of children from London & other cities to the "saftety" of the country. My Grandad & Grandmother had to send my two uncles (both still alive) aged 6 & 9 to the station and to destination unknown. I can't imagine what that could be like to be suddenly torn from your family and placed with a foster family far away. They were among the lucky ones for on both occasions they were evacuated they ended up with good & caring families, and the stories they tell of that time are hilarious. Other children weren't so lucky in who they were placed with, no searches of previous history in war time.

My Uncle Jim was killed at Caen on 10th July 1944, barely 19 years of age, and mentioned in despatches for bravery. I suppose that most families in the country lost loved ones, and I for one cannot imagine how difficult that is to bear when the knock comes at the door with the telegram. And that shock can be no easier to bear now as it was then.

My dads kids from his first marriage were evacuated to Derbyshire from Hadleigh but were brought home about 3 months later as nothing had happened in the area. The funny thing was they then moved to Liverpool to be nearer the port he seemed to sail from mostly and were bombed out twice. One of the stories he told me was about his wife how slept the sleep of the dead and nothing would wake her up. One night the air raid warning went off and the kids couldn't wake her so left her in bed while they headed for the shelter in the garden. Bootle got hit hard that night, very hard with many houses being levelled and alot of injuries. She slept through the lot. In the morning she drew back the curtains and looked out to see the opposite side of the street just a pile of rubble with two of her kids clambering over the wreakage.

He always made jokes about the war and what he went through but I found out that he lost 3 cousins and 2 uncles in battle and an aunt in the London Blitz. I don't think any family got away without losing someone.

 

[SARF]

Myold man got packed off to Redcar! from sunnt Hornchurch.., There were afew rearranged houses in his road when he cam home.. His brother (15 yrs older) was in the combined services (fore runner of the commandos) He got caught on a raid ans spent most of the war as a POW.. my old man still maintains bomb sites were more fun than any TV game could ever be. My mates Grandparent was a copper in Germany.. He didnt buy into the Nazi deal but as a Copper was respected enough to be left alone..toweards the end of the war when the Russian were coming him and a mate were the last to leave the village making sure everyoen had got away.. They had to travel miles west to get to the allied lines with one biek between them.. One of them would cycle a km marker then leave th ebike and walk.. The other walking would pick up the bike then over take and so forth.. Bit of a ****er if your bike bit coincided with all th euphill sections!!

 

[Davros]

So, we should declare war on Germany to improve the standard of living in the UK, reduce unemployment and cure childhood obesity?

:clap:

(just jesting of course, a very interesting thread)

on the contray... we should declare war so that the football gets cancelled (by 6pm tonight would be good), and we can defer relegation to another year...

 

[DoDTS]

I've been led to believe that the 30's were very tough to times to live in the UK with the average families finding the cost of living to be almost beyond reach. The price of food was incredibly high and wages were low.

Great thread btw.

Although this is true of the country as whole it differed from area to area. SouthWales for instance with the Pits on short time was a prime example, but Southend was different. The growth of Southend had been because of City workers wanting to move out of London, lto ive somewhere nice (Southend) and commute to London daily, because of this there was a sense of affluence in the town for some anyway. Added to this the importance of the ECKO works was an important local industry which was growing.

Hence when the war came the affluent found the army pay not enough to maintain their bills, and as had been said food and consumer goods were limited by rationing, but if you can't pay the mortage for six years you've got problems. When the soldiers returned they had no guarantees that their jobs would be there.

Please keep the wartime stories coming they are facinating.

DoDtS

 

[Lester Bangs]

Can I recommend this book of anecdotes and first hand experiences, its a bit of a read but ultimately fascinating.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Although this is true of the country as whole it differed from area to area. SouthWales for instance with the Pits on short time was a prime example, but Southend was different. The growth of Southend had been because of City workers wanting to move out of London, lto ive somewhere nice (Southend) and commute to London daily, because of this there was a sense of affluence in the town for some anyway. Added to this the importance of the ECKO works was an important local industry which was growing.

Hence when the war came the affluent found the army pay not enough to maintain their bills, and as had been said food and consumer goods were limited by rationing, but if you can't pay the mortage for six years you've got problems. When the soldiers returned they had no guarantees that their jobs would be there.

Please keep the wartime stories coming they are facinating.

DoDtS

As opposed to the current effluence. :unsure:

Going back to the evacuee theme, I have a book by former Echo editor Jim Worsdale about Southend during the war, he was evacuated a couple of times with his brother. It's a very good read with a lot of photos of the town post war and of buildings etc which are no longer there for the sake of progress.

My mum's side of the family were from Tottenham, and after my uncle was killed Grandad moved the family to Southend (Napier Avenue), my mum being the eldest followed along with her two brothers who had been evacuated, and the other two who were in uniform. It was a big old house, but times were hard, with rationing etc, although Grandad was a master baker so he was never short of a job, just materials to work with. As times got hard my Uncle Ernie was assigned the task to take Grandads best suit to the pawnbrokers in Tottenham everyt few weeks or so to make ends meet.

To add a happy postscript to this although born and raised Spurs supporters, Grandad and the youngest brothers soon became great Blues supporters, all being in attendance at Roots Hall for the first game there. I also have Grandad to thank for my love of SUFC as he took me to my first game in August 1962 against Reading.