A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46

213

SECRET
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
Weekly Report by Home Intelligence - No. 71
Copy No. 193

11th February, 1942

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.

214 222 9

SECRET
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
HOME INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY REPORT NO. 71

11th FEBRUARY, 1942

(Covering period from 2nd February to 9th February, 1942)

Note : The figures in brackets refer to sources of information, a list of which was issued with all reports up to and including No. 66, 7th January, 1942.

Special attention is drawn to this week's appendix on Home Opinion and Morale during the past three months.

I. GENERAL COMMENTS

1. General state of confidence and reaction to news

Reports indicate that there has been a further slight decline in public spirits this week. The main causes seem to be:

  1. Our continued reverses in the Middle and Far East, which are giving rise to a feeling that “we do not seem able to achieve anything anywhere.”

  2. The “disappointing” changes in the Government, which are generally regarded as “merely another reshuffle.”

The continued success of the Russian offensive is considered “the only bright spot in the news”, though it no longer counteracts the depression caused by “the realisation of the gravity of the situation in the other theatres of war”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

2. The Middle East

Libya : Profound disappointment and anger continue to be reported over Rommel's “triumphal progress through Cyrenaica”. It is said that “people would be much more philosophical and would give full credit to the difficulties if the Prime Minister and other Government spokesmen had not been so confident at the outset.” The public also appears to be extremely bewildered by the reversal of conditions in Libya, and fails to understand “how Rommel with less men, less material and with serious transport difficulties, can put up a show like that.”

The following theories are advanced to account for it:

  1. That he has received considerable reinforcements through the complaisance of Vichy. (This was before Mr. Dalton's statement in the Commons on 10th February).

  2. That our successes in attacking enemy convoys must have been less than was supposed.

  3. That some of our troops, aircraft and war material have been withdrawn from Libya to the Far East.

  4. That our army Command, by its handling of the military situation and by repeatedly under-estimating the enemy's strength, is responsible for our reverses. There is again mention of our “inferior armament” and of “Libya tanks.”

Egypt : The Egyptian crisis appears to have aroused very little interest but has caused some vague fears of the stability of our position in the Middle East.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

3. The Far East

There now seems to be an almost fatalistic acceptance of Japan's continuous successes in the Far East though this is to some extent offset by the belief that “we'll win in the end, once the Americans and ourselves really get going.”

Singapore : The disappointment and criticism with which the general public watched the Malayan withdrawals has now given place to “a sense of keen drama as the onslaught upon Singapore begins”. Surmise as to whether adequate help will reach the besieged island in time, and whether the reinforcements will go to the island itself, has been stimulated by General Wavell's special order of the day. Nevertheless, there appears to be little real hope that we shall be able to hold the place. There is renewed impatience with over-confident official statements, made both in the past and present, a typical comment on them being: “As soon as we heard ‘Singapore will be defended to the last man’ we knew the game was up.”

The Americans and the Dutch : There is continued admiration for General MacArthur's stand in the Philippines, and also for the Dutch resistance in the East Indies. Some comparisons are made between their activities and our own “lack of achievement in Malaya.” Criticisms of British methods in comparison with those of America have also been made recently, chiefly with regard to the swift and thorough investigations into the Pearl Harbour disaster, followed by a frank report and immediate charges; this is compared unfavourably with our investigations into the loss of the “Prince of Wales” and the “Repulse” and what is regarded as attempts to keep the truth from the public.

The Burma Road : Interest in the Burma Road is considerable, and feeling for the Chinese tends to become “not dissimilar from the warmth of feeling shown towards Russia”. There is also some belief that the best hope of “finally smashing Japan will be from a fully equipped China”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

4. Ministerial changes

As mentioned in the first section of this report, considerable disappointment has been caused by the Ministerial changes which are dismissed as “just another game of general post”. It is believed in some quarters that “the Premier has not made the changes as a matter of conviction but as a matter of political expediency”. Eleven R.I.O's report continued criticism of the Government and from some quarters this criticism is said to have increased in intensity since the debate on the war situation. Although there is unabated confidence in the Prime Minister and “everybody desires that he shall be upheld in every way”, fears are discernible as to “whether in his management of his Government he may not weaken his own position.” It is noteworthy, however, that few people have any constructive suggestion to make; Sir Stafford Cripps is the only name which reports mention as a possible addition to the Government.

Minister of Production : There has been in general a favourable reaction to the appointment of a Minister of Production. This has given rise to a feeling of hopefulness that “this move will help to get things done”, though some anxiety is expressed as to what the relations of this new Minister will be with the other supply departments. (This was before the issue of the White Paper defining the new Minister's powers).

Three R.I.O's mention that Lord Beaverbrook's appointment has met with unconditional approval, but a considerable section of the public appears to view it with reserve. While it is recognised that Lord Beaverbrook has “great drive and initiative” it is suggested that “his methods have their own dangers: if tanks are needed then he will bust himself to get tanks, but he may forget Spitfires in the meantime”.

Sir Stafford Cripps : There is widespread popular enthusiasm for Sir Stafford Cripps, and considerable regret that he has not been absorbed in the Government and “harnessed to the war effort”. There is some speculation as to why he has not been included, but it is hoped that he will be given an “outstanding job before long”. His B.B.C. Postscript met with lavish and almost unanimous approval and was considered “one of the best speeches we've had”. People were impressed with both the manner and substance of his address.

5. Russia .

The continued Russian advance continues to cause admiration and is welcomed as a relief from “depressing news from other fronts”. It is beginning to be asked, however, whether their great achievement will be enough to prevent an even more powerful German counteroffensive in the Spring.

There is a growing tendency to compare Russian successes with British and American failures and “the brilliant conduct of the Red Army's offensive is contrasted with our own generalship”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

6. Relations between American Troops and British Troops in Ireland .

The R.I.O. Northern Ireland reports that the rumour is prevalent that relations between British and American soldiers are rather strained. Two reports have been received of fights between these men in the streets of Belfast, and some contacts repeat a phrase often heard in the last war; that the Americans are saying “We have come to win the war”. But according to the R.I.O. “there is a total absence of hostility towards the Americans among the civil population, and these troops have, in fact, expressed their appreciation of the hospitable welcome they have received. Many people are asking if, as this contingent is obviously only the first, American troops will eventually replace British troops in Northern Ireland. Uneasiness is noted among many people that the defence of Belfast might be left to these men and there is a general desire that British troops should remain”.

(13)

7. Broadcasting and representation of news

Minimising of news : Dissatisfaction with the news bulletins is reported this week by eight R.I.O's, and it is said to have increased slightly in one Region. The “completeness and veracity” of these bulletins are questioned; “lack of real news” is said to arouse suspicion that bad news is being withheld, and to induce listeners “to give greater credence to the exaggerated claims” made on the German radio. Objection is made to official statements still being “too often tinged with that sort of hearty, almost perfunctory, optimism, which, in the past, events have often failed to justify”. Criticism is again made of the practice of boosting the importance of territorial gains, and if they are afterwards lost, of making them out to be of trifling value. The news from Libya especially is thought scanty, compared with the “fulsome accounts of our advance.”

Premature announcements : Again there are complaints that “innovations or reforms” are announced before the department or authority concerned has received its instructions. Though the particular matters may be regarded by the public as “faits accomplis”, the local office involved may not receive further details for several weeks. “Nurseries, school meals, milk scheme etc., are all said to have been introduced in this way.”

A.E.F. in Eire : There has been a good deal of criticism in Northern Ireland of the publicity given to this event, and particularly to the mention of the troops being billeted in houses. This kind of information is looked on as “a direct invitation to the enemy to bomb civilians”.

European News Service : The popularity of this is mentioned by three R.I.O's. One report comparing it with the Home Service News says it is “repeatedly mentioned as giving a wider and more comprehensive grasp of the war situation”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

II. SPECIAL COMMENTS

8. Industry

“This week there seems to have been a new wave of talk about slackness in factories”; this is mentioned by six R.I.Os - against three who referred to it last week - in spite of the suggestion that “the promise of a Minister of Production appears to have had the effect of temporarily decreasing criticism”. The complaints follow the familiar pattern: the workers blame the managements (for profiting out of the war and encouraging slacking); the managements blame the Government (for the necessity of “form-filling” and “official indecision”) and the workers (for not pulling their weight and for absenteeism). Government inspection is said to be “nullified by unholy co-operation” between management and workers. “When an inspector comes round everyone goes raving mad. The workers are told to look busy; then, when the inspector leaves, the ‘All Clear’ is given”. Resentment at the criticisms by the Russian Delegation appears to have given way to “over-whelming approval of the points made in their reports, and a general conviction that their criticisms were an understatement of the facts”.

War profits : Workers' criticism of the cost plus 10% system, though much less than it was three months ago, still continues, together with the feeling that “there are lots of people making tremendous profits out of this war”. It is suggested that “some explanation of Excess Profits Tax still seems to be needed”. This grumbling appears to be directed chiefly against “those owning big firms which do Government work”, and “elements in the Government who are in with the big industrialists and do not want the war to finish too soon because war is a paying business”; but there is also some feeling about sections of the working population “who do not worry if the war goes on for years - as long as they have their jobs”.

Industrial publicity : The need for talks and films in war factories is again stressed this week. According to one report: “Many of the workers stand by their machines, day in, day out, week in, week out, making nothing but nuts and bolts or sprocket holes, but often they ask in a tired sort of way ‘What good is this towards the war effort?’ They have not grasped the idea that their job, however small, is but one part of a great whole.”

“Any proof that war material manufactured here has actually arrived in Russia is said definitely to raise production”. An instance is mentioned by the Works Manager of a Wolverhampton factory, where the receipt of a couple of telegrams about British tanks in Russia, containing parts made by this particular factory, “made the machines fairly hum”.

Call-up : The public is said to be puzzled at the “slowness of the intake of young men and women into the Forces”, which is thought to be at varience with the “plea of urgency”. In the case of women, complaints come both from the girls themselves, who are “unsettled because they do not know whether they will be left in their jobs or not”, and from employers, who “complain that their work is suffering as a consequence”.

Women volunteers : A three weeks campaign which has just taken place in Northamptonshire to get volunteers for munition factories has resulted in about 200 volunteers actually signing up, according to the R.I.O. North Midland Region. Over 1,000 were hoped for, “but local conditions, and actual opposition, weighed heavily against success.” Some of the causes of the failure are summaried briefly as follows:-

  1. Feeling that if the Government really wanted them, they would be taken.

  2. Good wages and short hours in the boot and shoe trade, and pride in their craft.

  3. Feeling that they are doing a war job already (in comfort), linked with local evidence of slack time in munition factories.

  4. Opposition of employers, all of whom probably use at least indirect pressure. It is alleged that all boot and shoe firms displayed a notice stating that workers were “regarded as engaged on work of national importance and essential to the nation's war effort”.

  5. Wish to retain the goodwill of employers, “because of after the war”.

War workers' shopping difficulties : These are again reported from several Regions, as the cause of both resentment and absenteeism. One engineering firm reports over 50% absenteeism due to early closing of grocers' shops on Saturdays. The need for special shopping facilities for war workers is again emphasised. In many cases, however, the attitude of shop managements and assistants appears to be unco-operative. In spite of the fact that large shops and multiple stores are thought to be better supplied than the smaller shops, there is now said to be an increasing tendency for workers to prefer the latter as they are more sympathetic to shoppers' difficulties.

Various remedies have been tried or are under consideration. In one factory, the women voted 100% for two late shopping nights a week; in another a rota system has been successfully introduced, whereby the workers have every sixth day off. In Luton, under a scheme awaiting Home Office sanction, shops will remain open on Friday evening to serve women with factory passes. “Considerable exasperation is reported that a straightforward experiment of this kind should be held up, and perhaps frustrated, by red-tape”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)

9. Income Tax

This is mentioned by eight R.I.O's as a subject of much discussion, and, in many cases, of misapprehension. It is even suggested that “the belief that the firm gets the income tax is not dead”. “Continued resentment amongst first-payers is reported, and it is thought that, in spite of the publicity, there is little appreciation of the fact that paying income tax is helping with the war.” The following points are emphasised:-

  1. Income tax is still reported to be causing absenteeism. This is said to be particularly serious in the mining industry.

  2. The aspect which is now most discussed among the workers themselves is “the lag whereby a manual worker, in what may be a lean period, pays tax on his earnings during the half year ending some three months before, when his earnings may have been very much higher”. There is “a wide-spread demand” that tax should be deducted from the current week's earnings, “even if this does cause some bother to the bureaucrats”; in view of which it is suggested that some explanation is needed to show that such an arrangement might cause even more bother to the worker, as well as unfairness.

  3. Scepticism about post-war credits continues, together with the wish for some form of non-negotiable certificate to show how much is accumulating. It is also feared that “compulsory savings will be retained to meet arrears of tax due when, after the war, a man may become unemployed.”

  4. There is some feeling that special exemptions should be made on: (i) Overtime pay; (ii) “Proficiency pay of young volunteers in the Services”; (iii) Dependants' allowances received by married women at work.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10)

10. Transport

“Reports of inadequate services, overcrowding and disorders at stopping places continue”.

It is reported that where skeleton late tram services are run (as in Southampton) this has proved a “boon to war workers”.

(1, 2, 6, 10, 11, 20 York P.C.)

11. Service dependants' allowances

Very little reaction is reported to the recent changes in Service pay and allowances, though some approval is mentioned by one R.I.O. at the increase in the children's allowances. There is said to be continued dissatisfaction over the long time that elapses between the application for a supplementary grant and its payment. It is pointed out that “the machinery can work quickly enough if it is a question of stopping a grant; if a woman takes up work the grant is stopped immediately, but if later on she has to give up work for health reasons, it takes about five weeks to get the grant again”.

Two R.I.Os report a belief that “Service dependants and widows are not even as well treated as refugees in this country”.

Some ill-feeling is reported about “the hardship caused if a wife moves out of London for a few weeks (as she is encouraged to do) for the arrival of her baby, as she thereby forfeits the right to the 3/6d a week London allowance; this is considered to be very hard, as almost always her London rent continues during her enforced absence”.

(3, 5, 8, 10)

12. Womens' Services Committee

Four R.I.O's report strong public feelings, ranging from indignation to ridicule, because (a) there are no women on the Committee, and (b) because “the men on it are too closely connected with the different Service Departments to be unbiased”. This is cited as “another example of actions by the Government which are so surprising because they seem to offend, against ordinary common-sense”.

(3, 5, 6, 12)

13. Drunkenness among young people

The high wages paid to young people are held to account for “the many reports of rowdyism and drinking on the part of young men and girls”. “Disquiet is being caused by the amount of drunkenness among young people which is visible not only in public vehicles but also in factories”. Though various causes are suggested, the main one is thought to be “the difficulty, owing to rationing, of finding other outlets for greatly increased incomes”.

(2, 10, 21 Carlisle)

14. Soap rationing

Reports on the public's reaction to soap rationing have been received from five Regions. This appears to have caused very little resentment or surprise. A rumour that it was to be rationed was reported from the North Western Region at the end of last week, but it has been reported several times from different parts of the country during the last six months, and there is no suggestion that the secret had leaked out. It is not thought that the ration is likely to be inadequare except, possibly, in the case of:-

  1. Those whose work makes them especially dirty,

  2. Mothers with small children and babies,

  3. People who cannot afford to send washing to a laundry,

  4. Areas where the water is exceptionally hard and where, it is alleged, twice as much soap may be necessary as in places where it is soft.

(5, 7, 9, 10, 12)

15. Food

Points Rationing General approval of the extension continues, with the following reservations: (a) that the extra points are disproportionate to the greater variety of goods now covered (b) that single people and small house-holds are now at a greater disadvantage than ever (c) complaints from retailers that they are unable to get renewal of stocks on presentation of coupons. In spite of the inclusion of fruits, tinned meats, especially the American brands, still seem to be considered the best “points value.”

Milk : Some sense of grievance over the milk rationing is reported by three R.I.Os, and in Wales it is said that the need for such rationing had not been given enough publicity; also that “a general ignorance exists over the uses of tinned milk”.

Fish : Five Regions report complaints of the shortage and high prices of fresh fish.

Oranges : It is thought that if there are going to be new consignments of oranges a more orderly method of distribution will be needed, and that “specific registration would be justified”.

British Restaurants : Approval of British Restaurants and the wish for more of them continues. But one R.I.O. reports, apropos of this, that there is annoyance with Lord Woolton for “kowtowing to the caterers” who are thought to have vested interests in the restriction of such Restaurants. A considerable minority, however, is still reported to misunderstand and criticise the scheme, their chief objections being that meals without coupons undermine the rationing scheme and that wealthier people have an unfair advantage.

(1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12)

16. Clothes rationing

The demand continues for special price and coupon concessions to those working in “dirty trades”.

Farm labourers and working women are reported to be “hard hit” by the high prices, inferior quality and coupon value of woollen socks and stockings.

There are some complaints from miners that the extra coupons for their use are not easily negotiable, as they are in units of 5 and no change in coupons can be given.

The additional allowance of forty coupons to boys of 14-18, together with an extra thirty if they are colliery workers, is thought to be excessive.

(3, 10)

17. Constant topics and complaints

Various Government Departments are criticised for their waste of paper in using unnecessarily large envelopes, and for “the enormous number of forms issued”. One R.O.F. is reported “to employ a man to burn cardboard, paper, and wood”; and the Services too, are said to be “careless in salvaging paper”.

The demand for day nurseries continues.

Waste of petrol by the Services and the N.F.S. is again reported.

“Further caustic comments have been made on the absence of the promised utility lighters .”

The main shortages this week are said to be:

Cheap crockery (especially cups) and kitchen equipment, vacuum flasks, prams. Wellingtons and other goods made of rubber, men's, women's and children's underwear, sanitary towels, combs and hairpins, razor blades, lighters and flints, matches, wines, spirits and beers, fruit, fresh fish, eggs, chocolate and confectionery, cigarettes and tobacco.

A wide shortage is reported of “all batteries except those for cycle lamps”. Wireless valves are still difficult to obtain.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

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