Please remember that we are still here ,living amongst you. I was born in the year before the start of the War ,so my earliest memories are of what is in this video. I stayed in London with my family all of that time , experienced the sounds of war and thought that the deprivations of rationing and other material things were normal. Fortunately the part where we lived, in the North-west area was not under attack like other parts, but we all suffered the same conditions of blackouts and tight governance .Air raids ,seeing searchlights and hearing the anti-aircraft guns going off in the large Parks, barrage balloons in the skies and going to school later ,stepping over the fire hoses still laid out in the street from the night before . I was lucky ,my father came home ,but in a time when the doctor was paid for every visit so no one went unless very ill ,my mother later told me that after such a visit ,because she thought I had been poorly for too long a time ,she was told I was just pining for my absent Father .I must have been about four .
In my country the doctor still has to be paid for every visit. It's very expensive. For a long time, I couldn't even go to the doctor's when I was sick because I couldn't afford it. So I would take my children's leftover antibiotics because they received medical assistance from the state, but I couldn't because I am married. I don't know what you went through. I was born in 1980. But I do understand the older generations better than my own. I can appreciate what you went through. My dad was born in '47 and my mum was born in '49, but they are Americans so they didn't have as much privation as the UK during that time.
I was born in January 1940 but in the north Midlands in a part relatively safe from bombing but rationing was a part of my life until I was 13. However, on reflection it was a boon because our mandated diet was excellent for the healthy future I've enjoyed. The so-called nanny state strikes back :) My father was disabled and unable to fight but he was in the ARP as an ambulance driver. My mother died in 1944 from complications of an ectopic pregnancy which probably cost money as the NHS didn't exist then. Like you, I grew with us at war and it seemed normal. Interesting that the video started with music by a German composer :)
I completely agree. It should be compulsory showing in schools. (More important than asking them what gender they might like to be) I was born in a bombing raid in 1940 and can remember quite a lot about the war - especially rationing. I went to boarding school with a ration book, and took it home with me when I left! Don't think people understand how long the hardships lasted after the war finished, in fact into the 1950's.... There were many many hardships; but communities were very strong, everyone knew and helped their neighbours; everyone was in it together. I look back on my childhood and, oddly, remember the 1940's with great affection. A happier atmosphere in our country, than now
You're right: he'd have been sorely disappointed that his grandson turned out to be a miserable foreigner-hater with no education, culture or intelligence.
"Was it worth it?" In so far as he played his part in helping to crush Nazism - the greatest example of ORGANISED Evil to date - well, yes - of course it was. But it terms of what later, irresponsible and treacherous politicians have ALLOWED to happen to our fair nation, any sense of 'betrayal' on his part would have been _more_ than understandable. But just imagine what _would_ have happened if that peerless generation had NOT made the sacrifices it did! Yes?
I was there from 1946. It was not better Rationing Scarcity Food Clothing Coal . etc etc. A cold winter. and the USSR creeping across Eastern Europe. You coud not stand it!
I remember it all too well, we took it in our stride, and we all pulled together. We went through a that, and this government are taking us right back. Great British people stand together
Not entirely spivs cheated the public printing false passes and uniforms to raid bombed premises and domestic houses of goods that were sold on the black market so it wasn't all friendly bonhomie.
So what? Don't talk such rubbish - there is always a negative element in society, but it was minuscule in comparison to the positive as portrayed in this video.
My dad fought in World War 2 and my Mum was in the land army. My mum had to hide under barricaded tables with her parents. They knew from first hand experience. I still have my mums little paperback recipe book. Simple recipes to match their ration book.
My parents generation, they fought and died to preserve their country, it's traditions culture and way of life, it grieves me much to see their bravery and determination to keep what they had so it could be handed down to their children only for politicians, the very people entrusted to represent them and carry out their wishes, to betray them utterly, every single one of those brave souls are turning in their graves, in quiet moments i hear them, and their one question, why?.
I was waiting at a bus stop when this feral youth was kicking the end of the shelter an old lady said to me imagine having to depend on that if there was another war how right she was it’s incredible hoe bad the country has got in such a short time
I was born in 1946 as a teenager I remember The south London /Surrey area as a lot better than it is now. The only migrant we had was an Italian Ex WWII POW who ran the mobile ice cream stall. Everybody loved him.
What a marvellous collection of pictures. You have to wonder how people coped but if there’s no option then I suppose you just have to get on with it. London was badly bombed but when you see films of German cities it’s hard to see how they ever managed to rebuild them given the absolute destruction.
This made me cry , remebering my mum and dad and what they went through in WW2 , both widowed with young children , until they met toward the end of the war and later married, they never complained , just told their stories , they never saw themselves as victims , the victims had been those who died or badly maimed for life .
My father had joined the Army in 1933 and was fighting in North Africa when the blitz was on, he later went on to serve in France and right through to Germany. My mother was in the Womens Auxiliary Forces, in London at the time of the Blitz manning an Anti Aircraft Gun. Her brother had joined the British Air Force and was shot down over France, fortunately he survived, got back to England and lived to fight another day. My mother's father had fought on the Somme during the First World War. My sister, my brother and myself all served in the Australian Navy during the Vietnam War.
The bombed railway station is St Pancras which is next to King's Cross. The Bass breweries at Burton on Trent sent their ales for London and the South East by train to St Pancras. I wonder how much beer was lost when the station was bombed as it was stored under the platforms. I remember my Dad saying that beer was ofter in short supply and of poor quality during the war but Guinness always seemed available. Thanks Ireland. Just one of the many ways you helped us during those terrible days.
My parents knew a lovely English couple, he was a builder and his wife was in service at one of the large country homes. During the Blitz he was a volunteer fireman, I considered him a hero amongst the many thousands who had that ingrained sense of duty to self and others to place themselves in danger without hesitation. He was a Eastender, with so many fascinating stories to tell in a matter of fact kind of way, but their humour was something else. They were part of an amazing generation.
Can you imagine if the same circumstances were replicated today? Half of the population would be down to the Doctors quick and lively complaining about "mental health issues, anxiety and depression" - as if those things didn't exist during the war.
EXCELLENT, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT, I'VE SEEN ALL THE PHOTOS, AMONG MANY FAMOUS ONES, COME'S NEW ONES. BORN IN 1941, TWO MINOR GRIPES, NO MENCH OF OTHER CITIES, OR THAT TERRIBLE WINTER, OF 1947. BUT, MAYBE THERE WILL BE PART 2. ?
There is a deep poignancy to some of these photos. The 88 bus in the Balham bomb crater was the external sign of tragedy in the underground station, where about 70 people died, when a water main fractured. The modern building painting is at the head of a deep bomb shelter, on the A3, just north of Clapham North tube station. It could hold 8000 and was open between 1942 and 1944. The bus queue @ -0:43 is on the W side of Sloane St, just north of Sloane Square and opposite Holy Trinity Church. Bus stop A is still there but has shifted 10 yards up, opposite the steps and railings.
It was to the Clapham deep shelter that the first West Indian immigrants were taken from the Windrush as they came off the ship. The nearest labour Exchange was in Brixton & so they naturally looked for rooms there.
mikefraser. Then you had better have another think! If you had slept in an air raid shelter for night after night of bombing for months, as I did, you wouldn't make such ridiculous comments.
You must have noticed how 14 years of Tory misrule have decimated this country. Can we recover from this appalling period. Time alone will tell. But the Labour Party will try, and will work for all of us. 'Spanner' Starmer? How can you criticise him for all the damage we face? He's only been in power for little more than 14 weeks, not 14 years. And the country was better run and more prosperous under Tony Blair. My dad, a brave war-hero, fought for fairness and decency to survive in this country. He loathed the Tories for the threat they posed to these values.
My mum is 91 and now and again mentions things and how it was a wonder to get an extra egg she was a young girl at the time today's generation have nothing realy to moan about especially the offended brigade
We used chant, play breaks at school "Sticks and stones can hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me." How times have changed. For the worse.... People need to get over being offended by "hurty words."
Fun fact. Rubble from bombed out London now holds up a freeway/motorway around New York. It was used as ballast on returning empty cargo ships after they had unloaded war supplies from the US
I’ve often walked past railings like the ones shown and never given them a moment’s thought. Born in London in 1958 it was still relatively common even in the 1960s to see boarded up gaps between buildings that were bomb sites. My father died last November aged 96. He was the youngest to have seen active service having being called up in 1945, aged 18, and after just six weeks basic training shipped out to the far east. My mother was from Sheffield and went through the Blitz there.
The irony of the fireplace in the street, right beside a gated community. Where once we were threatened by the germans now were threatened by each other. As always, nothing learned.
What these people had to endure - my mum and nan and great aunt were sll there during the london blitz close to St Paul's - shocking. My mum said her mum was terrified. They went to a shelter on Goswell Road EC1
My Father was in charge of the West London Heavy Rescue service. He could handle this with his experience as an infantry soldier in 3 years on the Somme, and all the great battles there. He was out all night every night during the Blitz , and used to return home with his blue battle dress covered in white dust. My mother spent everyday cleaning it and his gasmask and helmet full of dirt and dust. It was a tough job , but they were a happy and great team who felt they were part of the fight.
I was born in 53 in London, i can say I perhaps knew one of the greatest generations ever, that of my parents both in the KK and elsewhere. Today I see gutlessness, creepy politiicans who are evil, right being made to look wrong and wrong made ok. We have a sexually confused generation, lets not worry about child preditors, im worried about the evil taught in schools and moral bankrupcy that is ok because everyone else is like that. Thank god i wont live for ever, i also believe a time is coming when our action will will have consequences Also the bombed out scene with the church in the background is St Giles Cripplegate which is close to Moorgate station.
My nann was on the ack ack guns and my grandfather was injured by shrapnel which caused him pain for the rest of his life but they were proud to fight for their country but they used to say they were hard times with a lot of deaths and uncertainty having their city bombed and most of the men off fighting not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again and the threat of invasion it all sounds awful but they cherished the memories of the time..
I had just started School in 1939. We had to be fitted with gas masks , and always carry them with us to school. The headmistress and a man teacher gave us lessons in how to protect ourselves from blast if caught out in a raid. She also tested us that we knew every air raid shelter on the way home, and where the nearest gas cleansing station was. We were harde3ned to high explosive very quickly and were like little front line soldiers as we knew so much and how to take care of ourselves. Many hours weree spent in the school shelters , and I can still see Miss Lee the head making marmite sandwiches for us in the shelter. In the battle of Britain we lived in an area where the Germans would roar over at top speed , going south , and would drop their bombs to get rid of the weight in order to escape from the spitfires and hurricanes. The Gilbert Scott church was a beacon south of London on the top of Richmond hIll..My most vivid memories even though I am now 90!
My mother drove American pilot officer's around air bases in a jeep. She would also drive lorries just like the queen. My uncle in law was based at an English airbase where many went out but less and less each time came back. I still have my identity card. If only they'd reproduce them
The bomb seen at 27:16 is an SC1000 [a 1,000 KG/2,000LB thin walled high explosive designed to crater roads & destroy under ground gas & water pipes as well as building foundations, this one looks remarkedly undamaged & i suspect if it was dropped by a german plane it was done at a very low level as the speed retarding Kopf Ring is still in place near the front & the tail fins are complete & even more strangely is the fact it appears to have been put there as part of an exercise with the fuse pocket conveniently on the up side, so i think what we are looking at is a training exercise for bomb disposal units in how to deal with them during 1941 to 45.
@southface6684 Don't be silly, of course it is true. Wake up, @southface6684 someone has brainwashed you! My parents lived in London, my father was a Spitfire pilot and my mother worked in radar. I have a reel of chaff still...look it up!
I have realised in my life that it matters in which era one is born. I always have felt regret for my parents generation who suffered and took a very active part in both World wars one and two. Whereas to-day people have had rarely had to put up with the slightest inconvenience. The modern generation knows nothing really ,but are full of a lot of talk., but should take time out to really study what a previous generation not only lived through ,but coped with in such classic style.
Cue, the tear jerking piano sonata. Cue the nonsense in the comments section about how life was better before the foreigners ruined it and how young people should stop being so woke. All this from an older generation that never had to live through the war and received a much better deal from the state than the younger generations do today.
I lived through both the blitzes and the V weapons that followed, so I can tell you out of my own experience of those times that you are talking absolute rubbish. You are making assumptions for which you have no basis, and are as abysmally ignorant as others you choose to criticise, and arrogant into the bargain. I am astonished by the number who confidently comment in these columns, who, although they weren't there, presume to tell those of us who were, what it was like.
philwilliams. You also display your ignorance when you perpetuate all that sickeningly tiresome rubbish about how much better we had it than today's young people, who actually are pampered silly by comparison. Again, you have no idea what it was like.
Numbers killed similar to present day Gaza, around 40,000 people although there are likely many more people buried under the rubble. Fascism never changes.
It was war, and that is how it was. Do you imagine, that if the Luftwaffe in 1940 had had the firepower the Allies had in 1945, that any of London would have been left standing? Why do idiotic do-gooders like you always paint Britain as the bad guy?
You are right most German cities were razed to the ground thank goodness. But then what about Rotterdam and the 6 million Jews murdered? Then if you want to talk about the Germans what about St Petersburg or Stalingrad or the 20+ million Russians killed? So all of Europe paid the price of total war and sadly it was the first true civilian war. I have no pity for the Germans (Nazis)
Yes, Germany suffered terribly for its deluded decision to elect a madman with racist views in a war like vengeful attitude and grudge towards his neighbour. Germany has since repented of its war like ways to the betterment of its society… any political entity or terrorist organisation which will stop at nothing and its people for temporary gain makes its people pay a very high price. Live peaceably with your neighbours and never start a war.
Please remember that we are still here ,living amongst you.
I was born in the year before the start of the War ,so my earliest memories are of what is in this video.
I stayed in London with my family all of that time , experienced the sounds of war and thought that the deprivations of rationing and other material things were normal.
Fortunately the part where we lived, in the North-west area was not under attack like other parts, but we all suffered the same conditions of blackouts and tight governance .Air raids ,seeing searchlights and hearing the anti-aircraft guns going off in the large Parks, barrage balloons in the skies and going to school later ,stepping over the fire hoses still laid out in the street from the night before .
I was lucky ,my father came home ,but in a time when the doctor was paid for every visit so no one went unless very ill ,my mother later told me that after such a visit ,because she thought I had been poorly for too long a time ,she was told I was just pining for my absent Father .I must have been about four .
In my country the doctor still has to be paid for every visit. It's very expensive. For a long time, I couldn't even go to the doctor's when I was sick because I couldn't afford it. So I would take my children's leftover antibiotics because they received medical assistance from the state, but I couldn't because I am married.
I don't know what you went through. I was born in 1980. But I do understand the older generations better than my own. I can appreciate what you went through. My dad was born in '47 and my mum was born in '49, but they are Americans so they didn't have as much privation as the UK during that time.
I was born in January 1940 but in the north Midlands in a part relatively safe from bombing but rationing was a part of my life until I was 13. However, on reflection it was a boon because our mandated diet was excellent for the healthy future I've enjoyed. The so-called nanny state strikes back :) My father was disabled and unable to fight but he was in the ARP as an ambulance driver. My mother died in 1944 from complications of an ectopic pregnancy which probably cost money as the NHS didn't exist then. Like you, I grew with us at war and it seemed normal.
Interesting that the video started with music by a German composer :)
Today's young should watch this. And stop faffing about being offended by being called he, she, or whatever nonsense they can come up with next.
I completely agree. It should be compulsory showing in schools. (More important than asking them what gender they might like to be) I was born in a bombing raid in 1940 and can remember quite a lot about the war - especially rationing. I went to boarding school with a ration book, and took it home with me when I left! Don't think people understand how long the hardships lasted after the war finished, in fact into the 1950's.... There were many many hardships; but communities were very strong, everyone knew and helped their neighbours; everyone was in it together. I look back on my childhood and, oddly, remember the 1940's with great affection. A happier atmosphere in our country, than now
As long as the tinternet keeps on working the precious young will survive.....pizzas all round.😊😊😊😊
Absolutely correct 🙂
THE ENEMY IS HIDDEN, WITHIN. POISONING OUR YOUTH.
You should be made to read the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists That book should be compulsory for schools
Thanks for showing. An era where the greatest generation were active.
A time when we were united as a nation. Over sixty thousand civilians died and their names recorded so they would never be forgotten.
War is so heart breaking and unnecessary for anywhere.
Really Informative. I Never Knew Those Railings Were Old Stretchers.
My grandad Served his country in World War II I’m glad he can’t see what has happened to his beloved country now. Was it worth it?
You're right: he'd have been sorely disappointed that his grandson turned out to be a miserable foreigner-hater with no education, culture or intelligence.
You obviously have no idea. Stupid question.
Me to
"Was it worth it?"
In so far as he played his part in helping to crush Nazism - the greatest example of ORGANISED Evil to date - well, yes - of course it was.
But it terms of what later, irresponsible and treacherous politicians have ALLOWED to happen to our fair nation, any sense of 'betrayal' on his part would have been _more_ than understandable.
But just imagine what _would_ have happened if that peerless generation had NOT made the sacrifices it did!
Yes?
OF COURSE IT WAS. YOU AND I WOULDN'T BE HERE, THAT'S FOR SURE. I WAS BORN IN 1941,
Marvelous video, very well done. I grew up listening to many war stories. Britain sure WAS great.
Thirty years ago we all felt totally connected to this period. Now the soul of the country has been ripped out.
You did a good job putting this together.
My Mother was in London during the war, it has always been a period of history that has fascinated me.
Do you look for her face in the pictures taken? I look for my mother as she too was in London during a lot of the war.
A damn sight better than it is today . We kept our enemies out then
I was there from 1946. It was not better Rationing Scarcity Food Clothing Coal . etc etc. A cold winter. and the USSR creeping across Eastern Europe. You coud not stand it!
I don't recall anyone saying it was better.
Wonderful. Thank you so much for this. It made me cry. For something lost. But I can't find the words to express it.
You're very welcome
London was a great example of keeping up spirits during those terrible times. Thank you London!
Actually, there are archives Which prove that it was all a bit of a myth. The mood was not great. It was a project but I cant remember the name.
Thankyou.
My parents were Londoners and their stories were chilling...
And mine they were very brave
Me too. Remarkable people!
My mother always had an admiration for Londoners.Said if they had panicked we'd be telling a different story.
I remember it all too well, we took it in our stride, and we all pulled together.
We went through a that, and this government are taking us right back.
Great British people stand together
Well said
Not entirely spivs cheated the public printing false passes and uniforms to raid bombed premises and domestic houses of goods that were sold on the black market so it wasn't all friendly bonhomie.
So what? Don't talk such rubbish - there is always a negative element in society, but it was minuscule in comparison to the positive as portrayed in this video.
O dear what can the matter be your leaders have forgotten you. I am coming to the end of my life I wish you the best of luck. I remember the 1940s
My dad fought in World War 2 and my Mum was in the land army. My mum had to hide under barricaded tables with her parents. They knew from first hand experience. I still have my mums little paperback recipe book. Simple recipes to match their ration book.
Morrison shelter indoors with a tabletop.
What are you babbling about
amazing. Thank you.
Thank you too!
The music and editing, colour etc is perfect for this filming. Well done
My parents generation, they fought and died to preserve their country, it's traditions culture and way of life, it grieves me much to see their bravery and determination to keep what they had so it could be handed down to their children only for politicians, the very people entrusted to represent them and carry out their wishes, to betray them utterly, every single one of those brave souls are turning in their graves, in quiet moments i hear them, and their one question, why?.
Thank's for the photos of my playground, when I was a boy. I was put in Hospital by a V1 in 1944.
Painfull to watch. Thankyou - a brilliant piece of documentary work.
At least then both we and the government were on the same side and knew who the enemy was
My grandfather was in WWII England, I learnt a lot in this video thank you ❤
An excellent compilation, many thanks!
Thank you for a wonderful & remarkable set of images from this time.
Many thanks!
Look at all those beautiful English people. proud tobe British.
Young people say they are stressed now then people just got on with it.
Wow what a great video thank you
Absolutely fascinating video…..thank you.
Thanks for this , some sad and some inspiring images .
I was waiting at a bus stop when this feral youth was kicking the end of the shelter an old lady said to me imagine having to depend on that if there was another war how right she was it’s incredible hoe bad the country has got in such a short time
I was born in 1946 as a teenager I remember The south London /Surrey area as a lot better than it is now. The only migrant we had was an Italian Ex WWII POW who ran the mobile ice cream stall. Everybody loved him.
Fantastic video, thank you
GREAT WORK
What a marvellous collection of pictures. You have to wonder how people coped but if there’s no option then I suppose you just have to get on with it. London was badly bombed but when you see films of German cities it’s hard to see how they ever managed to rebuild them given the absolute destruction.
This made me cry , remebering my mum and dad and what they went through in WW2 , both widowed with young children , until they met toward the end of the war and later married, they never complained , just told their stories , they never saw themselves as victims , the victims had been those who died or badly maimed for life .
My father had joined the Army in 1933 and was fighting in North Africa when the blitz was on, he later went on to serve in France and right through to Germany. My mother was in the Womens Auxiliary Forces, in London at the time of the Blitz manning an Anti Aircraft Gun. Her brother had joined the British Air Force and was shot down over France, fortunately he survived, got back to England and lived to fight another day. My mother's father had fought on the Somme during the First World War. My sister, my brother and myself all served in the Australian Navy during the Vietnam War.
The bombed railway station is St Pancras which is next to King's Cross. The Bass breweries at Burton on Trent sent their ales for London and the South East by train to St Pancras. I wonder how much beer was lost when the station was bombed as it was stored under the platforms. I remember my Dad saying that beer was ofter in short supply and of poor quality during the war but Guinness always seemed available. Thanks Ireland. Just one of the many ways you helped us during those terrible days.
Yes St Pancras
My parents knew a lovely English couple, he was a builder and his wife was in service at one of the large country homes. During the Blitz he was a volunteer fireman, I considered him a hero amongst the many thousands who had that ingrained sense of duty to self and others to place themselves in danger without hesitation. He was a Eastender, with so many fascinating stories to tell in a matter of fact kind of way, but their humour was something else. They were part of an amazing generation.
Please look for the Good in today’s society! It is there as in 1940!
Invaluable Record ❤
One nation coming together through adversity, no diversity and multiculturalism fracturing that coming together Imagine that happening now ?
I was born in 1930 and saw a lot of life including the blitz! You had to get on with life as of today!
Anything would have to be better than now...
Even during the wars, Britain was still beautiful and worth fighting for... Not now...
Can you imagine if the same circumstances were replicated today? Half of the population would be down to the Doctors quick and lively complaining about "mental health issues, anxiety and depression" - as if those things didn't exist during the war.
EXCELLENT, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT, I'VE SEEN ALL THE PHOTOS, AMONG MANY FAMOUS ONES, COME'S NEW ONES. BORN IN 1941, TWO MINOR GRIPES, NO MENCH OF OTHER CITIES, OR THAT TERRIBLE WINTER, OF 1947. BUT, MAYBE THERE WILL BE PART 2. ?
There is a deep poignancy to some of these photos. The 88 bus in the Balham bomb crater was the external sign of tragedy in the underground station, where about 70 people died, when a water main fractured. The modern building painting is at the head of a deep bomb shelter, on the A3, just north of Clapham North tube station. It could hold 8000 and was open between 1942 and 1944. The bus queue @ -0:43 is on the W side of Sloane St, just north of Sloane Square and opposite Holy Trinity Church. Bus stop A is still there but has shifted 10 yards up, opposite the steps and railings.
It was to the Clapham deep shelter that the first West Indian immigrants were taken from the Windrush as they came off the ship. The nearest labour Exchange was in Brixton & so they naturally looked for rooms there.
An excellent compilation. At 3.40, where is that building please?
Saint Clement Danes church in Strand
@@LondonPower Thanks. I thought it might be a church.
I am not sure we would ever survive to day people s mentality is not the same 😢
Couldn't even find their way without satnav!
Mo they are all snowflakes
Despite the war, it was better than today!
@@Paratus7 People respected eachother😊
@@sallyannwheeler6327 Certainly was. Glad my parents are not alive to see the threats to our country today,
Very sobering photos thank you.
Imagine being asked to hand over your mobile phone for the war effort.
I think London was a safer place in 1940 to live than now.
mikefraser. Then you had better have another think! If you had slept in an air raid shelter for night after night of bombing for months, as I did, you wouldn't make such ridiculous comments.
London had it bad in the war, now they are having another bad experience. 😢
And then came along Tony Blair ending with Spanner Starmer.
You must have noticed how 14 years of Tory misrule have decimated this country. Can we recover from this appalling period. Time alone will tell. But the Labour Party will try, and will work for all of us. 'Spanner' Starmer? How can you criticise him for all the damage we face? He's only been in power for little more than 14 weeks, not 14 years. And the country was better run and more prosperous under Tony Blair. My dad, a brave war-hero, fought for fairness and decency to survive in this country. He loathed the Tories for the threat they posed to these values.
My mum is 91 and now and again mentions things and how it was a wonder to get an extra egg she was a young girl at the time today's generation have nothing realy to moan about especially the offended brigade
We used chant, play breaks at school "Sticks and stones can hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me." How times have changed. For the worse.... People need to get over being offended by "hurty words."
Fun fact. Rubble from bombed out London now holds up a freeway/motorway around New York. It was used as ballast on returning empty cargo ships after they had unloaded war supplies from the US
This is unbelievable, but it makes sense! Thanks for the info
I’ve often walked past railings like the ones shown and never given them a moment’s thought. Born in London in 1958 it was still relatively common even in the 1960s to see boarded up gaps between buildings that were bomb sites. My father died last November aged 96. He was the youngest to have seen active service having being called up in 1945, aged 18, and after just six weeks basic training shipped out to the far east. My mother was from Sheffield and went through the Blitz there.
The irony of the fireplace in the street, right beside a gated community. Where once we were threatened by the germans now were threatened by each other. As always, nothing learned.
My dad spent his 21st birthday manning anti aircraft gun
No more brother wars.
What these people had to endure - my mum and nan and great aunt were sll there during the london blitz close to St Paul's - shocking. My mum said her mum was terrified. They went to a shelter on Goswell Road EC1
Humans have forgotten..we saved the world 🌏🌎🌍
Ah, the time of deference when everyone knew their place and did as they were told.
Hungry, cold, uncomfortable, dark, poor and no sweets. It was horrible but at least the bombs stopped. Funny you should cloose German music.
I longed to have a doll. By the time my parents proudly gave me one; I was eight, and it was too late! So sad. (I still have the doll.)
Mr Tony. The bombs did not stop completely until June 1944 at the end of the 2nd Blitz. Then after that we got the V weapons.
My Father was in charge of the West London Heavy Rescue service. He could handle this with his experience as an infantry soldier in 3 years on the Somme, and all the great battles there. He was out all night every night during the Blitz , and used to return home with his blue battle dress covered in white dust. My mother spent everyday cleaning it and his gasmask and helmet full of dirt and dust. It was a tough job , but they were a happy and great team who felt they were part of the fight.
I was born in 53 in London, i can say I perhaps knew one of the greatest generations ever, that of my parents both in the KK and elsewhere.
Today I see gutlessness, creepy politiicans who are evil, right being made to look wrong and wrong made ok.
We have a sexually confused generation, lets not worry about child preditors, im worried about the evil taught in schools and moral bankrupcy that is ok because everyone else is like that.
Thank god i wont live for ever, i also believe a time is coming when our action will will have consequences
Also the bombed out scene with the church in the background is St Giles Cripplegate which is close to Moorgate station.
The clothes were fabulous, I have photos of my mother who looked fabulous. Love the 40’s lol 😀😀😀🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
Wonderful
The expression on the lad's face at 2:17 really made me sad. The RAF pilots at 22:51 are from 310 Czech squadron.
The little boys face is shown in the opening scene of "The world at war."
My nann was on the ack ack guns and my grandfather was injured by shrapnel which caused him pain for the rest of his life but they were proud to fight for their country but they used to say they were hard times with a lot of deaths and uncertainty having their city bombed and most of the men off fighting not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again and the threat of invasion it all sounds awful but they cherished the memories of the time..
I had just started School in 1939. We had to be fitted with gas masks , and always carry them with us to school. The headmistress and a man teacher gave us lessons in how to protect ourselves from blast if caught out in a raid. She also tested us that we knew every air raid shelter on the way home, and where the nearest gas cleansing station was. We were harde3ned to high explosive very quickly and were like little front line soldiers as we knew so much and how to take care of ourselves. Many hours weree spent in the school shelters , and I can still see Miss Lee the head making marmite sandwiches for us in the shelter. In the battle of Britain we lived in an area where the Germans would roar over at top speed , going south , and would drop their bombs to get rid of the weight in order to escape from the spitfires and hurricanes. The Gilbert Scott church was a beacon south of London on the top of Richmond hIll..My most vivid memories even though I am now 90!
My mother drove American pilot officer's around air bases in a jeep. She would also drive lorries just like the queen. My uncle in law was based at an English airbase where many went out but less and less each time came back. I still have my identity card. If only they'd reproduce them
The underground shelter entrances should be listed as historic buildings, protected, restored and the so call "art" removed.
Agree
The bomb seen at 27:16 is an SC1000 [a 1,000 KG/2,000LB thin walled high explosive designed to crater roads & destroy under ground gas & water pipes as well as building foundations, this one looks remarkedly undamaged & i suspect if it was dropped by a german plane it was done at a very low level as the speed retarding Kopf Ring is still in place near the front & the tail fins are complete & even more strangely is the fact it appears to have been put there as part of an exercise with the fuse pocket conveniently on the up side, so i think what we are looking at is a training exercise for bomb disposal units in how to deal with them during 1941 to 45.
very interesting
Great images, the music drove me nuts 😂 had to mute it
Sorry to hear that
Where is the fireplace?
It is a 15 minute walk from Big Ben 0.7 mile to Vincent Square
@@LondonPower Where is the rubble of the Blitz? At 12:37
❤❤
The ration book was dated July 1943...my birth month! Thanks for that! The kitchen???? Posh or what??
Yeah, kitchen looks pretty fancy!
🇬🇧 i atill have my ration book
a tin of spam.
1:22 still has it's back boiler.
Should be MANDATORY history lesson content in ALL schools . Far more important than gender pronoun BS.
For those that wonder why Britain should support Ukraine against Putin and Russia, this is why.
11:32 ❤❤❤ untrue!
What's untrue.
Were you there.
My family was in London.
They know exactly what it was like.
I've heard many of the stories...
@southface6684 Don't be silly, of course it is true. Wake up, @southface6684 someone has brainwashed you!
My parents lived in London, my father was a Spitfire pilot and my mother worked in radar. I have a reel of chaff still...look it up!
Absolutely, I was there and yes it was better. A very pronounced esprit de corps.
I have realised in my life that it matters in which era one is born. I always have felt regret for my parents generation who suffered and took a very active part in both World wars one and two. Whereas to-day people have had rarely had to put up with the slightest inconvenience. The modern generation knows nothing really ,but are full of a lot of talk., but should take time out to really study what a previous generation not only lived through ,but coped with in such classic style.
Cue, the tear jerking piano sonata. Cue the nonsense in the comments section about how life was better before the foreigners ruined it and how young people should stop being so woke. All this from an older generation that never had to live through the war and received a much better deal from the state than the younger generations do today.
I lived through both the blitzes and the V weapons that followed, so I can tell you out of my own experience of those times that you are talking absolute rubbish. You are making assumptions for which you have no basis, and are as abysmally ignorant as others you choose to criticise, and arrogant into the bargain. I am astonished by the number who confidently comment in these columns, who, although they weren't there, presume to tell those of us who were, what it was like.
philwilliams. You also display your ignorance when you perpetuate all that sickeningly tiresome rubbish about how much better we had it than today's young people, who actually are pampered silly by comparison. Again, you have no idea what it was like.
Vile
This is just London, London, London, not Britain at all.
It does show some land girls!
Shows commando training Inverness
It was shite. They hated it and many were traumatised by it. I can't stand this fetishisation of a dark time
Numbers killed similar to present day Gaza, around 40,000 people although there are likely many more people buried under the rubble. Fascism never changes.
Terrorists picking on the Jewish people.
Imagine what it was like for the people of BERLIN AND DRESDEN OR HAMBURG?? They had NO cities left!!
It was war, and that is how it was. Do you imagine, that if the Luftwaffe in 1940 had had the firepower the Allies had in 1945, that any of London would have been left standing? Why do idiotic do-gooders like you always paint Britain as the bad guy?
They started it, Dresden and Hamburg attacks were organised by the Americans.
Wait til you hear about Warsaw, or Guernica for that matter.
You are right most German cities were razed to the ground thank goodness. But then what about Rotterdam and the 6 million Jews murdered? Then if you want to talk about the Germans what about St Petersburg or Stalingrad or the 20+ million Russians killed? So all of Europe paid the price of total war and sadly it was the first true civilian war. I have no pity for the Germans (Nazis)
Yes, Germany suffered terribly for its deluded decision to elect a madman with racist views in a war like vengeful attitude and grudge towards his neighbour. Germany has since repented of its war like ways to the betterment of its society… any political entity or terrorist organisation which will stop at nothing and its people for temporary gain makes its people pay a very high price. Live peaceably with your neighbours and never start a war.
An amazing video. Many thanks indeed for this comprehensive compilation.
Many thanks!
We need that fighting spirit to day to fight the enemy within