From: Tim Merry (timmerry@mitmania.net.au)
Date: Thu Mar 22 2001 - 16:11:59 PST
Hello again Chris To continue from where I left off yesterday - ----- Original Message ----- From: <hmemor@YOUTH.NET> To: <timewitnesses@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 9:06 AM Subject: [timewitnesses] good ole' winnie > I am also curious about your communication technology at the time. > Did people primarily get their news from radio or newspapers? If > someone wanted to just say "hi" would they call on the telephone or > write a letter? Wich was more formal? what were telegraphed messages > for? We always listened to the radio for news - and views. I can only remember seeing the occasional newspaper at home - probably a Sunday paper. At school (where I spent 8 months of the year) each house had its own choice of daily papers - the Times and Telegraph were favourites. The radio news would comment on the most recent air raids, how the desert war was going, and describe the "battle of the Atlantic" (merchant ships sunk by u-boats); and I well remember hearing news relating to a particular ally: for instance, they would start by playing a national anthem of, say, the Netherlands, and then talk about events concerning that country (which, remember, was occupied by the Germans). Of course they couldn't tell us everything because of the need for secrecy. At home we used the telephone mostly, but in those days few people outside the middle class had phones - though there were of course public phone-boxes everywhere. When I was away at school I'd write a letter home every week - this was common practice. At prep school before the war we had to write a letter home every Sunday after chapel - whether we liked it or not! So we were trained from an early age to write home regularly. Telegrams were used for urgent communication, as always; and the War Office would inform next of kin by telegram in cases where sons and husbands we killed - or missing. There was another interesting use of the telegraph system: my father joined up and served in the army in the Middle East, and we sometimes received a letter from him which had been telegraphed to the Post office in London, and then passed on to us. Before that, a letter from our troops overseas could take ages to arrive. > Did anyone hear the actual broadcast of this speech? What did you > think of it? Did it help inspire ypou more than you already were? What > did you personally think of Churchill and what about after you heard > it? Did the country respond well to this speech? Oh yes, and it was no doubt repeated from time to time. I thought it was great.. I was 16 at the time remember. We didn't really need inspiring, but others might have. Churchill was the man - the only man - the country needed in time of war. Most of us already knew he had his head screwed on properly (which few politicians at the time had); he ran the show better than any other person could have. He had an "inner cabinet" comprised of four men only, and these four men made all the important decisions ( I know this only from his memoirs). In his position I'd have done the same! I think the whole country did respond - kept the faith as it were. What he said made sense, and he was positive. When the war was over he was thrown out, because the vast majority of voters wanted better social services - which may no have been Winnie's strong point :o) > I would appreciate any information. This website is such a good idea > I have found all the personal accounts fascinating. It makes it much > more real then any history book. That is a major reason why I would > love to hear from anyone. Okay Chris, if I can help just fire away. Regards, Tim timmerry@mitmania.net.au