http://www.massobs.org.uk/images/booklets/Blitz.pdf PDF to download Accounts of the Blitz in Britain September 1940-May 1941
Thanks for this- I did my Masters thesis on the Mass Obs diaries (it was a linguistics degree, so not really very interesting in this context alas) - they're a fascinating read. I was surprised at first, for instance, to find people relating a fair amount of defeatism in 1939-40: not unexpected in itself at all, I now realise, but also rather contrary to the Churchillian narrative of universal stubborn resistance we're all familiar with today and which I was anticipating. For this kind of detailed perspective, the Mass Obs diaries are wonderful. Cheers, Pat Edit: to forestall an angry mob brandishing pitchforks, I don't mean the diaries are filled with defeatism! Just I hadn't really expected any, so it caught me out a bit - it was a very useful indication of the nuances such original sources can present.
23th September 1940 Litherland,Lancashire 150 STEPHENS JM - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Aged 1 Month 151 STEPHENS AP - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Aberdeeen,Scotland 129 RALPH T - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Holborn,London 137 SAMEK G - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Czech citizen Finsbury London 111 MONTGOMERY V - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 112 MONTGOMERY E - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 113 MONTGOMERY J - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 114 MONTGOMERY K - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Epsom,Surrey 095 LARSEN H - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEA Hastings,Kent 176 WINBORN LA - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 177 WINBORN R - - 23/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
29th September 1940 Edinburgh,Scotland 080 MCARTHUR ME - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Bloomsbury,London 067 KEOGH AW - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Lowestoft,Suffolk 123 THACKER BE - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Ealing 001 AGASSIZ FWB - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Willesden,North West London 114 SHEPHERD C - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 115 SHEPHERD AA - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 116 SHEPHERD A - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Bexhill,East Sussex 070 LAWRENCE M - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 071 LAWRENCE MI - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Southampton 051 HOCKLEY CJ - - 29/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
30th September 1940 Grantham,Lincolnshire 033 DERBYSHIRE F - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Sherborne,Hampshire 076 LE GALLAIS AL - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEA Liverpool 172 WILLIAMS J - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Chingford,London 147 TAYLOR RA - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Ealing,London 088 MITCHELL PM - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 089 MITCHELL EDE - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 090 MITCHELL EM - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 091 MITCHELL JC - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 092 MITCHELL JC - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 093 MITCHELL OM - - 30/09/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
1st October 1940 Manchester 001 AKERS B - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 002 AKERS AA - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 144 TUDOR J - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 145 TUDOR E - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 146 TUDOR BM - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 122 PRICE R - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 123 PRICE H - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Birkenhead,Merseyside 139 STUBBS L - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEA Lewisham South London 151 WELLER E - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Finchley,North London 085 HUNTER DA - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 086 HUNTER GHC - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 087 HUNTER WA - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 088 HUNTER WH - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Wimbledon,South West London 059 GODDARD GH - - 01/10/1940 - - 31/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Ilford,East London 036 COOPER HR - - 01/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
2nd October 1940 Harrow North West London 008 ARNOLD AS - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 009 ARNOLD CM - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 201 WALDRON I - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 202 WALDRON PE - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 203 WALDRON JH - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Eastbourne East Sussex 171 SHADBOLT H - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 089 GURR TH - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Grantham,Lincolnshire 060 EMBERSON JA - - 02/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
3rd October 1940 Hammersmith,London 006 ASHBORN G - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 007 ASHBORN K - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Rushden,Northamptonshire 143 SANDERS HG - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Colchester,Essex 162 STRONG EM - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD 163 STRONG BJ - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Worcester Park,South West London 161 STOPPANI MV - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD Salford,Manchester 134 REDSHAW F - - 03/10/1940 CIVILIAN WAR DEAD
BBC - WW2 People's War - London, October 3rd, 1940 I wrote the poem “London October 3rd 1940” published in a book of poems in 1941 and later the subject of a broadcast alongside poems by Eric Gill and Edith Sitwell." LONDON, OCTOBER 3RD, 1940. A mighty city trembled in its heart As one by one its buildings tumbled down. Ah, Wordsworth, what would you say now Were you to see the ruins of this town? Perhaps, like me, you’d read the bitter tale Writ underneath these sad and crumbling walls Of people who have lived and loved and dreamed, Then vanished ere those dreams had been fulfilled. Eyes that like yours have watched the flowing Thames, And faces that have smiled with self-content. Yes, still they smile, though homeless and unslept, And breathe a grateful prayer that still they live. Aye, Wordsworth, people pray in London now— For where death comes, God knows and sees and cares. Death’s chilling breath hangs nightly overhead Amid the thunder of a thousand guns. A breathless hush, and then Death’s finger points Unerring claim upon a home condemned, Then waits awhile before it stabs again And passes on while people sob and groan. Within those homes once lived the friends I knew, And once their laughter echoed in their rooms. Now all is silent. Slowly fall the clouds Of brick-dust where the alcove used to be. A book lies idly by a tattered gown— The story of a life abruptly ends. And I could tell of countless lives that gave A promise of far better days ahead. Of eyes that gazed into another’s face And set the heart a-flutter with their light; Of thoughts of love that shaped a thousand dreams; Of minds that planned a future full of hope. And as I make my way among the stones A thousand stories clamour in my ears, Of wounds in many hearts that cannot heal, And eyes that gaze out through a mist of tears. Some loved and died together hand in hand, And some have loved and left a lonely heart. And there are some who should have dearly loved But left too late the word that could have brought An hour of joy within the anxious days. The stars shine down upon a ruined street, The moon-light shows the gaps among the walls. Somewhere among those wrecks there faintly beats Unsteadily the hearts of those who seek Protection from the awful touch of death. And with their problems pressing on them still They battle on and on from day to day. And some there are whose hearts will ache no more, For now refreshing sleep has closed their eyes Till God has set each soul upon its course.
