69

SECRET
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
Weekly Report by Home Intelligence - No. 38
Copy No. 32

(From Wednesday, June 18th to Wednesday, June 25th, 1941)

In reading this report, it is important to bear in mind that it is not meant to be a record of facts , except in so far as public opinion is itself a fact. It is a statement and reflection of the public's views and feelings about the war in general. Therefore, in matters on which public opinion is ill-informed, prejudiced or inconsistent, the report does not imply any endorsement of the views which are expressed in it.

70 1 71 2 72 3 74 5 75 6 76 7

HOME INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY REPORT
No. 38 - June 18th to June 25th, 1941 .

Note : The figures in brackets refer to sources of information, a list of which is given at the end of this report.

I. GENERAL COMMENTS

1. General state of confidence and reaction to news .

In the earlier part of the week there was again a slight rise in general confidence. The factors making for greater cheerfulness were, in the main, the same as those of last week:- the freedom from heavy raids, increased hope of American aid, and the absence of any obvious impending disaster. Added to these there was the fresh tale of R.A.F. successes (in daylight sweeps, night raids on Germany, and against enemy night bombers) and the fact that the announcement of radiolocation was taken by many people as a proof of our growing superiority in the air. (In this connection, the R.I.O. North Western Region reports that “press prominence given to radiolocation, coinciding with Mr. Bevin's statement about the conquest of night bombing and the lull in raids, has produced an unfortunate reaction. There is a widespread tendency to infer that night bombing is now likely to disappear. It is said that relief in some cases is as great as if people had been told the war was over. This attitude is felt to be bad for morale, as optimism is likely to deteriorate when the next heavy night raids are experienced”. Though the attack on the Sollum area was considered a failure in some quarters “in spite of official reassuring statements”, R.I.O.s report that on the whole “the operations in the Western Desert caused satisfaction”; and our withdrawal at their close “was not accompanied by cynical comment such as has marked the reception of this kind of news in the past; this is probably because we took the initiative in attacking the enemy”. It is also reported that “the allied progress in Syria is contributing to the rise in confidence, though there is considerable anxiety that we should hurry”. Yet another factor making for cheerfulness was “President Roosevelt's action in closing the German Consulates and agencies in the U.S.A.; this is welcomed as further evidence that America means business”.

On the other hand, there were still “some residues of the Cretan agitation, chiefly in the form of a conviction that we do not appear able to beat the Germans on land”; distrust in our Higher Command; grave concern about the state of industry; and in the background a fear summed up by the feeling, “Hitler is saving up for something”. A new cause of anxiety this week was “the signing of the pact between Germany and Turkey, which was regarded as a further serious diplomatic set-back”. There has been comment on the Government's apparent anxiety to find every excuse for the Turks, and to “play down the significance of the pact”. But on balance, before the announcement of the German attack on Russia, it was said that morale was “rather higher than it had been for some time”.

The reception of the news that Germany and Russia were at war has been reported as “jubilant, with a strong under-current of caution”, and as having a further “tonic effect on the morale of those who had previously shown signs of war-weariness and apathy”.

Reactions so far seem mainly to be:-

(1) A belief that Germany has been forced into this attack, since the time chosen - before the harvest - is generally regarded as unpropitious.

(2) A feeling of relief that Hitler, engaged in the East, “will not have much time for us, and will lose equipment and men, while we strengthen our resources”.

(3) Satisfaction at what is called “a final demonstration to the world of the complete worthlessness of any pact into which Germany may enter”. It is added that “the public have been told many times that no agreement with the present rulers of Germany will ever be possible, but the latest development has brought that fact home with a force which no other means could have achieved”.

The disinclination to believe in good news, recorded last week, seems to be responsible for a certain amount of vague foreboding which has been expressed. Actual reasons given for regretting the news were:-

(1) An unprovoked attack must be taken as “a mark of German strength”. Hitler's “cheek” in attacking Russia while we are still unconquered is commented on.

(2) “Hitler has always known what he was doing up till now”.

(3) Our position would be adversely affected if the German onslaught were successful, “since the enemy would then have much larger resources to draw on, which would do much to offset American aid to Britain”.

There is little confidence in Russia's military capacity, which is judged by her performance against Finland, and a large section of the public feel that the most that can be hoped for is that she will be able to hold out long enough to give us some real advantage. It is accepted by many people that the true object of the attack is not the Ukraine and its riches, but Hitler's desire “to make 100% sure that he would not be stabbed in the back while attacking England”. There is eagerness that we ourselves should, in some way, “strike now, while the Nazis are tied up, before it is too late for us to strike at all”. Unless we do this, it is feared we may have to “sit down for defence when we are still more savagely attacked”.

Mr. Churchill's pledge, on the part of the country, to give aid to Russia has been “generally accepted as both a practical and logical move,” and it is felt that he “discharged a difficult task well when he spoke of our support for Russia, after he had for many years voiced his contempt, and at times his abhorrence, for the Bolshevik regime”. His speech was greatly admired, and has more than offset the recent fear that his touch was not quite so sure as it had been.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 20 Inverness, Cardiff P.C.s, 23)

2. Public Opinion on Russia before the Nazi attack .

Two months ago, the British Institute of Public Opinion put the following question to a sample of 2,200 people:-

“Would you like to see Great Britain and Soviet Russia being more friendly to each other?”

The results were as follows:-

The question is admittedly so worded that it carries a slight bias in favour of friendship with Russia. However, an analysis of the spontaneous comments shows that definite reasons were usually advanced for the opinions held:-

44% of spontaneous comments followed these lines:-

“It would help us...Russia is powerful...The more friends we have, the better....Better for us than against us....It would be one in the eye for Hitler”.

Frank self-interest is the keynote of this group.

19% followed these lines:-

“It's our own fault it hasn't happened before... They're progressive, or go-ahead, or Socialist”.

These are the rather more ideological comments.

18% were antipathetic:-

“Don't like Russia.....Don't trust them...They were never any good.....No truck with Communism”.

19% were miscellaneous non-committal comments:-

“Don't know anything about Russia.....I'm not interested in politics.....I would agree if they kept Communism out of it”.

3. Public feeling on Invasion Prospects .

There is still much discussion of possible points for enemy landings. In the South Western Region, fear is reported that the overcrowding of the coastal districts with evacuees and summer visitors might considerably hamper military efforts in the event of invasion from the west. In Wales anxiety about our defences is again expressed, especially in connection with the defence of aerodromes. It is thought also that there 73 may be “successful landings from Eire by air-borne forces strong enough to establish themselves”; and that invasion of Wales from Eire is not unlikely. In this connection, although Eire's desire for neutrality seems to have been strengthened by the bombing of Dublin, the feeling that “the time has come for action” appears to be increasing both in England and among pro-British elements in Eire. “Unless we can be sure the Hun won't get the ports, we should take them now”....“If you know how we (Southern Irish) despise you for not taking them!” A report, quoted by R.I.O. Northern Ireland, says, “There is a growing opinion that America could save us by occupying the Eire ports, as Eire would not (and could not) fight her own kith and kin”.

(7, 8, 13, 20 Inverness, Reading, Cardiff P.C.s)

4. Syria

There is now some disappointment that our progress is not “overwhelming and rapid, in the grand German manner”. Two theories are widely held to explain its slowness:-

(1) That Britain is not hitting as hard as she might for fear of offending French susceptibilities.

(2) That the strength of the Vichy resistance is greater than had been expected.

The daily repetition of the news that we were nearing Damascus resulted in “people becoming a little impatient, with no capacity for enjoying the final occupation of the city”. The statements that “some captured French soldiers were not aware of German penetration, and did not know against whom they were fighting” is held to be a reflection on our propaganda.

(2, 3, 6, 7, 13)

5. Presentation of news

“Pungent criticism about the nature and quality of official news is still prevalent”, but there is “some appreciation of the lack of ‘frills’ of which there were formerly many complaints”. The public is as insistent as ever on hearing “the whole truth as far as war news is concerned” in so far as this will not “give the enemy any actual advantage”. It is frequently reported that public confidence mounts “when plain facts are plainly expressed, even though the news may not be wholly encouraging”. There are again comments that the 10 a.m. European news bulletins in English are much better than the Home news bulletins. From those who listen to our foreign broadcasts, there are suggestions that the compilers of the Home News have much to learn from the “Les Francais parlent aux Francais” service.

Vernon Bartlett's Sunday postscript (standing very high in popularity compared with those of Mr. Herbert and others) has been eclipsed in general appreciation by Mr. W.J. Brown's postscript on the Polish slave in Germany. This is described as “the most consummate piece of defensive oratory yet heard”.

(6, 7. 9. 10. 13, 34)

6. The Battle of the Atlantic

The Prime Minister's insistance that the debate on shipping must be held in secret was considered “a bad omen”, coming at a time when public confidence in our war effort as a whole was still “considerably shaken by our losses in Crete”. Much anxiety was felt, especially after the postponement of the announcement, lest our Atlantic losses for the month should prove to be appalling. Due partly to the fact that they were lower than was feared, and partly, it is thought, to the general improvement in spirits, there is now some belief that secrecy was necessary “because of the increasing success of our counter-measures”.

(6, 8,)

7. War-weariness .

Reports of apathy in industry continue to come in, but there are also reports of some apathy among other sections of the general public. “Indifference, and reluctance to discuss the war”, are alleged. “People are not listening so closely to B.B.C. bulletins, and confess to being fed up with eternal speculation”.....“In some districts indifference to war news is associated with a growing fear that the war will last much longer than earlier estimates indicated”.... “This lack of interest, and the absenteeism and slackening of effort which is widely thought to prevail in factories” seem, to some people, “to indicate a degree of war-weariness” in the whole country. It is added, however, that “it may be attributable in part to the excessively long hours of work, and the need for recreation and holidays”.

(1, 5, 7, 8,)

8. Rumour

Russian soldiers are already reported to have landed at Dover; and from Wales come rumours of “suspicious characters in British uniforms, who speak poor English and wear no distinctive badges”. It is also said that “Jehova's Witnesses' are suspected of encouraging conscientious objectors, and are on the staff of the Ministry of Food at Colwyn Bay.

(8, 23)

II SPECIAL COMMENTS

9. Billeting Difficulties

Although billeting systems are much the same in all areas, they operate less efficiently in some places than in others. One of the chief difficulties is the frequent reluctance of the billeting officer (who may be the Town Clerk, the Sanitary Inspector, or some other local official) to enforce his powers. If he himself lives in the neighbourhood, he may fear the annoyance of other residents, particularly if they have “influence” which may prejudice his position with the local council. If the council is a supine body, he may hesitate to take steps in which it may not give him adequate support.

The responsibility for the reception of evacuees is vested in local authorities, to whom the Ministry of Health has delegated its powers in this matter. Complaints about billeting must, therefore, be made to local authorities, and only if they remain inactive can a direct appeal be made to the Ministry of Health. But sometimes when such an appeal has been made, the Ministry is said to have been reluctant to override the decision of the local authority.

Although there is a fairly general feeling “that billeting should not be left in the hands of the local agents”, (this is very strongly felt in some areas) there is no agreement as to what might be a better arrangement. Some think the power to appoint billeting officers should be transferred from local authorities to the County Councils. Others think that they should be responsible to, and appointed by, a Government Department.

It is frequently suggested that the owners of large country houses are shirking their billeting responsibilities. This is said to be the “cause of perpetual minor grievances in many districts”. Stories are told of billeting officers who say: “If this goes on, I shall have to start on some of the big houses”. In another case the officer is alleged to have discouraged a man who was anxious to take evacuees by telling him that, in doing so, he would be “letting down” owners of other large houses in the neighbourhood.

Complaints, however, are by no means confined to large houses. Enquiries in one area suggest that “there is far more persistent difficulty and resentment regarding the 5-7 bedroom type of house, where the occupant is a person of some local consequence whom the billeting officer or local council do not wish to offend”. A reliable report states that, in one area, out of twelve billeting officers, “only two would face up to the occupant who was unwilling to accept evacuees”.

The following is a summary of complaints mentioned in recent reports from the London, Eastern, Southern, South Western, Welsh and North Western Regions, and also from Northern Ireland, and other sources. Districts mentioned by name include: Cornwall, Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, mid-Wales, North Bucks, the Thames Valley, Horsham, Welwyn and Budleigh Salterton.

1. Many large country houses are already used as hospitals, hostels etc., or are earmarked for future use as such by one of the Services or the Red Cross, etc. In one area the bigger houses are said to have been reserved for the Air Ministry for 18 months and the bulk of them are still unoccupied.

2. In some cases old houses have inadequate water and sanitary arrangements for the number of available rooms.

3. Householders, though obliged to provide water and sanitary arrangements, are not required to give cooking facilities and may prevent the local authority from putting in cooking stoves and heating arrangements, etc., by objecting to structural alterations. There are said to be cases of evacuees being “frozen out of country houses through lack of comfort”.

4. The hostility of owners who do not refuse evacuees, but who make them feel unwelcome. The case is quoted of a house in the Thames Valley which “has repeatedly had evacuees pumped into it; they have regularly retired, beaten by the unsympathetic attitude of the owner and his wife”.

5. The difficulty of accommodating children in houses where an elderly couple have been looked after by two or three maids, and who are now reduced to making do with one. Cases are known of old servants threatening to leave, and actually doing so, on the arrival of evacuees.

6. Problems also arise from the billeting of war workers; e.g. the shift system, which dislocates the domestic time-table of a household.

7. Responsibility is sometimes said to be evaded by securing exemption on medical grounds.

8. Some householders have taken the precaution of filling the house with relatives and friends, not necessarily from bombed areas, so as to leave no room for evacuees.

9. The isolated position of some houses, remote from urban amenities, such as fried fish shops, cinemas, and public houses, is such that many evacuees will not remain in them.

(4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 34).

10. Evacuation

There are still reports, particularly from the Bristol Region, of evacuated children being brought back to blitzed areas. Various reasons are suggested:-

1. A wave of optimism caused by the radiolocation announcement, and the resulting confidence, felt among certain sections of the public, that night bombing will have been overcome by the winter.

2. The extra cost of keeping children's clothes mended and repaired.

3. The distance separating children and parents - particularly in the case of Bristol evacuees in Cornwall.

4. Children's homesickness, or local billeting maladjustments.

(7, 10,)

11. Food

Black markets and illicit trading : Although the existence of black markets seems to be taken for granted by a large section of the population, evidence that they 77 do exist is scanty and unreliable; and it is thought that talk about them is in most cases little more than an emotional outlet, and that they are a scapegoat for difficulties in obtaining goods. Few people, however, seem to doubt that illicit trading is extensively practiced, and there is a “strong undercurrent of public resentment at all manifestations of the food racket”. This discontent tends to link up with feeling about the war effort as a whole. It is pointed out that “people are ready to accept the ‘guns before butter’ system of rationing, but object to being swindled either by profiteers or by those who can pay any price”. This feeling is expressed by the remark “We all know you can get plenty of butter in the West End, if you like to pay for it”: but criticism is somewhat vitiated by the “fact that so many people appear to have no moral scruples if the chance to get a little extra comes their way”.

There is said to be a good deal of trafficking in eggs by motorists visiting outlying farms, and one case is mentioned of a dealer getting 60 dozen eggs a week in this way, by paying a slightly higher price. There appears to be a certain amount of “bartering”. People in agricultural and rural districts feel certain shortages, and have little opportunity to shop in the towns, and they are glad to barter eggs or pigs or rabbits for tinned produce which may be unobtainable in the shops. The practice of illegal slaughter is said to “obtain throughout the Region”, according to the Bristol R.I.O., the meat being distributed to various butchers.

A certain amount of illegal retail trading is admitted, and is excused on the grounds that if a shop-keeper were to adhere strictly to the law he would go out of business. Thus, a greengrocer maintains that, unless he is prepared to pay enhanced prices at Spitalfields and Stratford, he could not supply his customers. In Manchester recently, on the day when the maximum price for gooseberries was announced as 5d per 1b, the greengrocers complained that they could only buy them in the market at 1/8d. There is some feeling that the wholesalers are often responsible, but that the retailer is blamed.

The public appear to welcome any signs of action being taken to stop illicit trading and to punish profiteering. Great satisfaction is said to have been expressed in Leeds at the magistrate's decision in sending a man and wife to prison for a month for profiteering in eggs and jam, and there is a wide hope that Lord Woolton will be able to carry out his promise to stop food racketeering.

There is thought to be a certain amount of trafficking in cigarettes. People ask how it is that hotels often have such large supplies. Some tobacco wholesalers are said to be selling all their supplies retail, and a man on duty at a shelter, largely used by Jews from Bow and Poplar, said that he was offered practically anything he wanted, including 500 Players.

Egg distribution scheme : Criticism still tends to come more from the country than from the town, though in both it is from the ‘small man’. The fact that a shop must have a minimum of 50 registered customers before it can sell eggs is taken in some quarters as “further evidence of Lord Woolton's supposed animosity towards small traders”. People with a small flock of hens are said to resent the scheme “as being a kind of encroachment on their personal liberty”; and to regard the taking of their eggs as being “like taking the cabbages out of their garden”.

There have been complaints of misleading information in the Press. An article in the “Daily Sketch” of June 14th is 78 said to have given the impression that people need not register for eggs, as the scheme had been shelved.

Queues : The position appears to be unchanged. Queues for unrationed goods, mostly cooked meats, sausages, tinned goods, biscuits and cigarettes, and even green-groceries, are still reported from a number of towns. There continues to be strong criticism against the responsible authorities for not taking sufficient account of the “influx and deflux of population caused by war emergencies”. It is suggested that the billeting of Service men and women has not been allowed for in the population figures. Shops are still blamed for encouraging queues for advertising purposes.

General food matters : There appears to be no lessening of the demand from dockers and other heavy manual workers for an increase in rations. Miners are still said to be very “dissatisfied with the amount of foodstuffs available for taking down the pits” and railway men “continue to grumble because so little is available for sandwich meals which they need when out working long journeys, etc.”

There is a feeling that the sedentary worker does not need as much as the physical worker.

The beer shortage appears to be on the increase, and consternation is reported at the closing of public-houses in some towns for certain periods. In Rugby three out of four “pubs” are said to close one night a week. It is suggested that, psychologically, this shortage appears to have more effect upon the factory workers than any naval disasters; they “interpret this shortage to mean that we are in a worse position than is being disclosed”. Shortage of coal, labour and transport are suggested as causes of the beer shortage.

Before the new announcement about sugar for home jam making, there was still widespread dissatisfaction about the jam scheme, and most housewives were said to be “saving their sugar so that they will be able to make their own jam with their own fruit”; those without sugar were said to be preparing to bottle their fruit. This possibility, and the dubious prospects of the fruit harvest, might, it was feared, make something of a fiasco of the scheme. There was also the feeling that much fruit would be wasted because of transport difficulties and the “impossibility of running to the jam centre with each few pounds of fruit as it ripens”.

British Restaurants : There is continued praise for British restaurants, and a demand for even more of them. It is hoped that they will be better advertised because it is often very difficult to find them. There is some talk of local authorities, with suitable buildings commandeered, and anxious to begin, being held up by endless correspondence and delay until given the permission to start. The question is raised as to how British restaurants can get enough supplies to have a meat meal every day, while some factory canteens are only allowed enough for one meat meal a week.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20 Glasgow, Manchester, Aberdeen, Inverness, Reading P.C.s, 23, 34).

12. Coal

That the coal shortage is causing less comment this week is said to be due to the warm weather, but it continues to be reported from several places and is still said to “agitate every part of the Midland Region”. It is continually 79 urged that there are not sufficient stocks to enable people to lay in supplies for the winter. There are still protests against “draining man-power from the mining industry for munitions work and the armed forces, especially in view of the serious coal shortage.” The miners themselves are said to be “very upset at the use being made of the figures for absenteeism, pointing out that this is common in every industry and that it is unfair to make use of this against men who are as patriotic as any”. The attendance bonus proposal is reported to be meeting with strong criticism from the miners and their organisation, and to be regarded as a slur on them.

(2, 5, 6, 9, 10)

13. Transport and Holidays

Feeling about so-called ‘joy-riding’ seems to be growing and the Government's appeal to people not to travel long distances during the holidays has led to increased resentment at the amount of pleasure motoring, particularly in connection with the recent race-meeting at Newmarket. In the Midland Region, “holidays at home” is said to be “honoured more in the breach than the observance”. At one holiday resort resentment is apparently felt at so many young people taking more than two weeks' holiday and using their cars so much. Strong criticism has been made lately of people who drive out of Bristol every night to sleep in the country, thus taking advantage of those who have no cars or who are too patriotic to use petrol in this way. This contrasts with the reports of crowded conditions in trains and buses and the “inadequate transport facilities for war workers”. Criticism continues of people who motor round the countryside looking for eggs.

Resentment at the “bad and selfish driving” which is said to “characterise the officers and men of the army” has not been altogether allayed by the recent War Office statement on the subject. In a “heavily militarised region”, where “few people have not had unpleasant adventures owing to the rottenness of khaki-clad drivers”, the statement is described as “the sort of thing which discredits official ‘hand-outs’”.

(3, 5, 6, 7,)

80

REFERENCES .