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MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
Home Intelligence Division Weekly Report No. 88
SECRET

11th June, 1942

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

1. General state of confidence and reaction to news

Public confidence, which during the past six weeks has been steadily mounting, now appears to have reached a further stage; in two Regions it is reported as “stronger than over before”; in a third it is felt that “so long as events continue to prove the United Nations' power of offensive it will continue to rise. It will become so infectious that its influence will be inversely felt in Axis and Axis-occupied countries”.

The “electrical effect” of our mammoth air-raids on Germany is still mentioned as the primary cause of this continued rise in spirits; in one Region it is said to have given the Government's popularity curve a “steep upward turn”. Subsidiary causes contributing to this rise include:-

At home the Government's “new coal plan” appears to have aroused considerable interest but not much discussion; opinions are being reserved.

Expectation of the end of the war : The feeling, mentioned in last week's Home Intelligence Report, that “the war may be over this year”, continues to be widespread in many Regions, and is confirmed by Postal Censorship Reports. Reasons for belief in the approaching disintegration of German morale include the following suggestions:-

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Inverness, Leeds, Manchester, Special P.C.s, 29)

2. The R.A.F. raids on Cologne and Essen

The “elation and incredulity” which greeted the “astounding” news of the 1,000-bomber raids over Germany is reported now to have sobered down to some extent, giving way to slight speculation as to the value of raids of such magnitude. Satisfaction and pride are nevertheless reported; the fact that the planes were “British made” gave particular pleasure: “People now realise that we can deal the enemy staggering blows, and although they cannot yet consider without astonishment the terrific concentration of aircraft which these attacks represent, the idea of continued bombing on this scale is now accepted” - though a minority doubt it.

From seven Regions, many people - among whom women appear to predominate - “whilst expressing satisfaction, have also deplored the inevitable loss of civilian life”. It is pointed out that “this is not said in any weak or pacifist way - it is realised that these things must be”.

Reprisals appear to be fairly widely expected, but on the whole they do not seem to be feared to any great extent.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21 Cardiff, Edinburgh, Bristol, Inverness, Leeds, Manchester P.C.s)

3. Libya

During the past week Libya has become the most discussed theatre of war. Judgment on this campaign is, however, being reserved. Although difficulty seems to be experienced in following its course, people are stated “to have had their leg pulled about Libya so much in the past that they are not going to be had again”. They are reported to be adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude.

From two Regions respectively come reports of relief at the cancellation of the German threat to starve our prisoners; and of appreciation of the part being played by the Free French.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 29)

4. Russia

Preoccupation with the Libyan campaign appears to have caused a decline of public interest in the Russian front. Confidence in her ultimate ability to hold the Germans is strong, but widespread disbelief in the communiqués of both sides continues in many Regions. On the whole, it is said that the public is not critical, “and is inclined to trust Stalin's military and propaganda technique in the long run”.

Some scepticism is expressed over Marshal Timoshenko's announcement that he had never intended to take Kharkov; on the other hand, satisfaction is felt at reports of large reinforcements of men and material reaching the Russians, and at the use of British equipment in that sector.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 21 Manchester P.C., 29)

5. Death of Heydrich

Widespread satisfaction at the killing of Heydrich is reported from eight Regions (there is some speculation over the possibility that he was shot by the Nazis) and some regret exists “that he couldn't have lived on to share the punishment that all other Axis leaders have coming to them”.

A “fairly responsible” type of opinion is said to favour the public trial of “these people”. “Any representative of the German people who causes innocent lives to be sacrificed should definitely be put to death when hostilities cease”. Bitter comment has been aroused by the Czech executions.

(2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 21, Nottingham P.C.)

6. Far East

Interest in the Far East may again this week be described as “practically non-existent”. This theatre of the war appears, on the whole, to be considered the business of the United States. Anxiety is reported among parents in Wales who are said to be without news of sons missing at Singapore; there is an “urgent call” for information.

China : Admiration is reported for China as well as a desire to help, coupled with anxiety about her supply position “now that she is cut off from her allies”. Little general interest is, however, reported, and the Japanese menace to her is not thought to be fully realised.

India : Satisfaction is reported at the recent arrival in India of a large military convoy. The purpose of the troops out there appears to have caused some speculation, and the suggestion is made that they have been “sent to guard against internal trouble”.

It is stated in one Region that at M.O.I. meetings where India is discussed “the point is still constantly raised that the ‘terrific’ surrender only came when Great Britain thought she was likely to lose Indian allegiance”.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12)

7. Midway Island battle

Although nine Regions refer in various terms to the stimulating effect of this Japanese reverse, few reactions have so far been received. Some feeling is apparent that “the Japanese are now stretched to the limit; they aren't so hot after all”.

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

8. Desire for a second front

A decrease in the “clamour” for a second front is reported from many Regions. People are said to be “waiting, with more confidence than a few weeks ago, for the leaders' decisions”. A few are reported to be connecting the Ruhr bombing with a second front; “others say that the return of Mountbatten from America will herald our attempt”.

(4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13)

9. Broadcasting and presentation of news

There is little criticism this week of news presentation.

European News Service : Liking for this Service continues to be reported, and “the alteration in time is welcomed”.

“Marching On” : This series is again praised.

Welsh life as depicted by the B.B.C .: From Wales comes the following report: “Several protests have been heard recently against the incorrect and unfair presentation of Wales in some broadcast plays alleged to depict Welsh life. The hybrid accent of the industrial valleys is not the pure Welsh accent and, in any case, the perpetuation on the radio of a pronunciation of English which educational institutions in the industrial valleys are gradually eradicating is said to be neither illuminating nor intelligent”.

Listener Research Report on criticism of B.B.C. news : evidence which confirms criticism of news presentation as reported in past Home Intelligence Reports is given by a Listener Research Report just issued. In April, a number of current criticisms were laid before Listener Research Correspondents who were asked to indicate the extent to which each statement represented the views of the people with whom they came in daily contact. From their replies, it appears that the following criticisms were very prevalent:-

The examples cited as evidence for these statements are precisely those which have been referred to in our own reports as arousing the most criticism; that is to say, “the toning down of reverses” such as the February 1942 set-backs in Libya and the fall of Singapore, etc.

B.B.C. news bulletins and the Press : Evidence, from 1,130 reports from civilian correspondents, has been collected by Listener Research on the public's estimation of the relative standings of B.B.C. news bulletins and the press in respect of reliability, promptness, frankness in treatment and “punch” in presentation. The findings are given in the Listener Research Bulletin of 30th May, 1942.

One third of the Correspondents' reports express no clear preference on each issue. Where definite preferences are expressed the results are as follows:-

“Next of Kin”

There has been “a good deal of praise” for this film which is said to have made “a very big impression”. From one area in the North Midland Region “much indignation” is reported “about the rivalry between film circuits and vested interests which has prevented large sections of the public from seeing ‘Next of Kin’. It is thought that where it is in the interest of the nation that a propaganda film should have nation-wide exhibition all cinema circuits should be compelled to show it”.

(3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 21 Bristol P.C.)

THE HOME FRONT

10. Fuel and the Miners

The new proposals, contained in the Government's White Paper on coal, appear in general to have produced only mild interest and comparatively little comment. Discussion is reported chiefly about domestic fuel rationing, though in view of the weather and uncertainty as to whether rationing will eventually be introduced or not, there is a tendency to “wait until nearer the time”.

Fuel rationing : There appears to be a slight but unmistakable increase in the number of people who favour some form of rationing, “if it is sensible and not too difficult to understand”, and who are “willing to leave the means to the Government”. This is said to be the case particularly in “poor districts where there was distress last winter through the coal shortage”. Many people, however, still claim that “rationing will not work, will have a bad effect on morale next winter, and could still be avoided if the position were handled vigorously”. Different classes of consumers continue to express their own particular and familiar fears. The only regional reactions reported so far are from: (a) the High Peak District, “who wish to be regarded as the North - and not the Midlands - which they fear will be the case”; and (b) a few “Southerners”, who maintain that “in the South just as much fuel is needed as in the North, where the houses are better built”.

Voluntary rationing appeal : Although “some sections of the public have displayed interest in the widely publicised Kemsley fuel economy drive”, there appears to be a fairly strong feeling that “it's no good depending on voluntary economy, because the greedy and rich would only score”.

Government control of the mines : Approval of this is reported from two Regions. It is said that “among a number of people interest in the proposals is mainly in the manner in which the Government handles this urgent and major problem, which has bearings both upon the prosecution of the war and upon the social make-up of the post-war world”. It is suggested that “among the working classes there is virtually no opposition to the nationalisation of the mines, and that among the middle classes the conviction grows that ‘nationalisation will have to come’”.

The miners : Public feeling about the miners can be classed almost entirely under two headings:

Some resentment is also expressed at the country's present situation being used by “sectional groups to advance their own ends”, and “the coal owners and managements” are accused of “tightening up discipline and using the war situation to introduce all manner of administrative changes without due notice”.

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

11. Industry

Again this week there is very little general criticism or comment on the industrial situation as a whole, the only subject on which there appears to be a good deal of discussion in more than one Region is the question of wages and disparity in pay.

Wage disparity : Discontented discussion is reported on the difference in pay between:

Dissatisfaction over conditions and rates of pay is reported from the North Western Region on the part of “men returned to the mining industry from the Army and from other industries”. It is also anticipated that there will be trouble among the “thousands of munition workers who are being directed back to the cotton mills where they will receive lower rates of pay”.

The following points are referred to in reports from only one Region this week:

Part-time work : “A number of reports mention complaints over the difficulty women experience in finding part-time work”, and of the inability of Labour Exchanges to give much help in this connection. As a result of the proposal to employ wardens on part-time industry, many have undergone training, “but, in spite of all efforts made to secure material, little or no response has been forthcoming from the Government departments concerned”, and a sense of frustration appears to have resulted. (5)

Workers' transfer : A good deal of comment is reported from the Midland Region, when “workers are switched from one factory to another. The fact that they are ‘given their cards’ is said to give rise to the rumour that they are being ‘put off’. It is also felt that more explanation should be given to workers who are unavoidably idle through change-over of machinery or discontinuance of certain manufactures”. (9)

Leciester War Work Campaign : It is reported that “in spite of the ambitious programme and much effort, only about 25% of the target figure was reached”. The following reasons are suggested to account for this:-

Hairdressing : The difficulties experienced by workers in getting their hair cut is mentioned in a report from the South Eastern Region. An instance is quoted of a man going to the barber at 8.20 a.m., when there were already seven people waiting: he did not leave the shop until 10.20 a.m., when there were eleven waiting. Similar difficulties on the part of women workers are referred to in a Special Home Intelligence Report on “Workers' Shopping Difficulties” (No. 20, 2nd June, 1942), complaints on this subject having been received from three Regions. In the North Midland Region some firms were reported to have started a hairdressing department, “with excellent results”. (12)

“Selfish husbands” : A number of women are said to be kept out of industry, or else forced to leave, because of the “selfishness of husbands who refuse to help with the housework and who seem to expect their wives to provide all their meals”. As a result, the women are either too tied to the home to undertake war work at all, or are too exhausted to be able to carry on with their jobs. It is suggested that propaganda is needed to break down the husbands' prejudice. (3)

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

12. Transport and petrol

Transport : Difficulties over inadequate transport - particularly in rural areas - are mentioned in reports from four Regions. It is complained that special buses engaged to take workers to various factories are often not filled, but that other workers going in the same direction are left at the stopping places. There are also complaints that people living near aerodromes cannot get into the buses at certain times of day, as they are crowded with aerodrome personnel, and it is urged that special buses should be run for aerodrome workers in such cases. Concern is expressed that these and similar difficulties “will become even greater when private cars are laid up and their owners join in the scramble”.

Immobilisation of cars : Lack of enthusiasm and even resentment is reported at the proposed scheme to leave car parts with the police. Some people fear that it will “ruin thousands of cars if they cannot be run for five minutes now and again in garages”, while others think that “thousands of parts may be in a police station and will all go west” if it should be bombed. In some instances “Lord Dudley is held personally responsible for the scheme in the Midlands, and has been referred to as a ‘Gauleiter’”.

Petrol restrictions : Complaints are said to be “pouring in from rural districts regarding the alleged insufficient petrol rations allotted for what are regarded as essential purposes”.

Particular hard cases mentioned include children in remote Chiltern villages who will not be able to go to school more than twice a week, and semi-invalids of various kinds who are obliged to travel some distance to work but who cannot walk to a bus stop or fight their way onto crowded buses. People with varied responsibilities - such as business men on the local council and in Civil Defence or the Home Guard - who previously used their cars to get rapidly from one kind of work to another, are now said to be finding it difficult to do all that they have undertaken in the time at their disposal.

(1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10)

13. Communist activities

Resentment continues to be reported against the Communists over “their demand for a second front and the line they are taking over India”, and it is thought that “tolerant sympathy for them is once again decreasing”. A report from Birmingham mentions “curiosity as to where the Communists are getting the money from to open such good offices”.

A report from the North Midland Region mentions, as being typical of many others, the opinions of a contact on Communist activities in a mining area: “Concern is felt at the infiltration of Communist activity in underground ways. The Party is operating under various guises and working on public sympathy with Russia and her part in the war. In this way it obtains the services of well-known leading men, who are certainly not in favour of purely Communist ideas, but who do not object to taking part in functions arranged solely for Aid to Russia funds. At these gatherings the sale of Communist literature is always a feature and prominent Communists stress their ideas. The organisers of these events are always the same people, masquerading under various titles introducing the word ‘Russia’, but the Party is becoming bolder and is beginning to use its own title”.

It is pointed out, however, that “notwithstanding the suspicion in which the Communist Party is held by the majority of people, ‘home made communism’ is becoming an increasingly attractive concept”.

The “decided slant to the left” which is sometimes encountered, is attributed to “a belief that the Russian political system is responsible for Russia's successes in the field”.

(3, 4, 9, 12)

14. German raids on this country

Contempt is expressed for the Germans in their choice of Ipswich and especially of Canterbury as targets for reprisals. It is felt that the bombing of these towns cannot in any way affect the outcome of the war, and there is much satisfaction that the Luftwaffe appears unable to attack in large numbers.

Canterbury (1st and 2nd June) : Further reports continue to stress the good morale in Canterbury following the raids on that city. Among factors contributing to this are reported to be:

The Emergency Services appear to have worked well, though some criticism is reported of the mortuary arrangements which appear to have been affected by a shortage of staff.

“The establishment of essential services such as the Assistance Board, Food Office, etc., at widely separated addresses entailed a good deal of ‘trapsing about’ by victims of the raid”. It was felt that “a concentration of such services would at least ease one of the difficulties of homeless persons” by eliminating extra fatigue.

The Elephant and Castle explosion : This does not seem to have caused any particular alarm in the London Region, though there is said to be some speculation as to whether there are any more unexploded bombs in London, and whether this explosion was due to negligence by the Civil Defence or the Police.

(3, 4, 5, 12, 14 South Eastern Region)

15. Food

In general, satisfaction with the food situation continues, particularly with the rationing system. The desire for the extension of rationing “so that everyone should get equal shares of goods in short supply”, is again mentioned this week.

The National loaf : This is still blamed for digestive troubles and skin rashes, and some people are said to be “unable - as the national bread upsets them - to fill up on white bread as they used to do, and therefore remain hungry”. It is, however, suggested that the reason why “some people blame the new loaf for indigestion while others find it palatable”, may be “the variations in its texture and keeping qualities, due to differences in the baking of it”.

Fruit : People are said to be “longing for fruit” and there is some anxiety lest plans for dealing with “the bumper fruit crop expected this year” many not be sufficiently comprehensive to eliminate wastage.

Ministry of Food recipes : Complaints are reported that recipes for “leek sauce” have been appearing in the Press though “leeks have been out of season in most places for at least a fortnight”.

Wastage of coal in cooking : “Housewives with coal ranges” are reported from the North Midland Region “to be stupidly wasteful of coal, even lighting a fire to boil the kettle or make a piece of toast. This is thought to be chiefly due to habit and prejudice against gas, the shilling in the slot being a more obvious expenditure of money”.

“Food propaganda” : It is reported from the Eastern Region that “a fair proportion of people believe that the Government in its food propaganda is trying to make us content with the foodstuffs we have, and are sceptical of the scientific bases for the Government assertions that we still have a full health-giving diet”. From Postal Censorship comes another version of the same suspicion: “The stuff we are eating is rotten, they try to tell us we are a better nation than before the war, but if them that said it had to eat it they would know different”.

(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 21 Cardiff, Edinburgh, Inverness, Leeds, York P.C.s, 29, 32)

16. Constant topics and complaints