Last week, I gave a talk on the University of Oxford’s ‘Their Finest Hour’ project to the veterans, their families, and the sea/marine cadets at the Royal British Legion, Aylesbury. The evening introduced the younger generation to stories and objects from people who experienced the Second World War. Attendees had brought in photos, documents, even tommy helmets and a beach torch, so it was a great opportunity about the online archive that has been created. Their Finest Hour, a two-year project launched in July 2022 and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aimed to empower local communities to preserve these stories and objects before they are lost to posterity. The driver for the digital project was remember the men, women, and children who experienced 1939-1945, whether they served in the armed forces or on the home front. Lest we forget. Along with 73 other digital collection days across the UK last year, I organised a team of volunteers to hold an event at the Great Missenden Library on 30th September 2023.
You can see the 22 stories and hundreds of digital images (medals, documents, photos, diaries, and other objects) collected at Great Missenden here. The digital archive was published on 80th Anniversary of D-Day, 6th June 2024 and provides a rich resource to any historian researching the Second World War with over 25,000 stories and images collected across the UK.
Having listened and transcribed hours of fascinating, rich, and varied stories as part of the project, it changed my perceptions and attitudes to the experiences of the war. Firstly, I’m reminded that although there’s much talk of ‘the greatest generation’, these were ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances. I strongly disagree with the trope that these men and women had some kind of super-power or moral fibre that is no longer present in today’s generation. The stories contain emotions that are entirely human in nature and can be understood by anyone reading them today.
One of the most moving stories I heard was of a POW returning home from 5 years of incarceration, saying goodbye to his mate who had accompanied him back from Germany at Victoria, and being left bewildered by how to get home. It was the first time in 5 years that someone hadn’t been telling him what to do, how to act, and what to think. The photo below shows Mr McGrath briefly escaping by being part of a POW camp play during the long years as a prisoner.
The human frailty also comes across in the number of stories which ended, “my father (or mother) only ever talked about the war after they’d had a drink or two” or ‘he had terrible nightmares after the war’. There’s a strong desire to forget the pain, grief, and hardship as quickly as possible after the war and get on with making a new life. However, the experiences seemingly creep back into their world at moments when their guard is down.
The impact of six years of war had on those who experienced it is no better demonstrated than the following striking image showing photos of ‘Big Eddy Glen’ in 1939 vs 1945. Big Eddy was a military policeman, part of the 51st Highland Division, and was injured in a bombardment near the Mareth line in Tunisia (see https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/A_Military_Policeman_s_Experience_in_the_Desert/25901545):
The variety of experiences reflected in the digital collection demonstrates how the war touched every part of the globe and every social class. There was a relatively small number of people in the sharp tip of the spear engaged in fighting, but a very long tail of support – from accountants to railway engineers to farmers working the land. Their stories are not forgotten. At our digital collection day we heard stories from Burma, Italy, Germany, France, and the Middle East. We also heard about experiences of an Italian girl growing up in London (see https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/Italian_experiences_during_the_War/25901491) and the story of a house in Cheam during the war (see https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/House_in_Cheam_During_the_War/25901500). The image below shows the official papers that needed to be carried by someone from Italy during the war. Reading these stories it is evident that there is no common, shared experience of the Second World War.
Lastly, I’m reminded that although everyone knew about all the pink on the World Map representing the British Empire, relatively few people had actually travelled outside of their communities, let alone to different countries or continents. I contributed my grandfather’s memoir of his time spent in the RAF as a Clerk, which includes stops to Durban, Mumbai, Basra, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Kenya. Before he joined up, my grandfather had never travelled more than 10 miles from his Bedfordshire village! On his return in 1946 (after being away from home for 5 years) he was greeted by the phrase “Yew ‘ome then boy?” (see https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/Maurice_Rowley_RAF_Corporal_s_Middle_East_Memories/25923055). In his memoir my grandfather said he was reminded that throughout all the exotic locations, hours of boredom in the desert, new languages, and RAF discipline, some things had not changed.
If you’re looking for rabbit-holes, I strongly recommend looking into ‘Their Finest Hour’ digital collection!