British WW2 Newspapers

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by paddle14, Aug 10, 2018.

  1. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    Hello,

    I am looking for British newspapers published after the D-Day and dealing with the Battle of Normandy.
    I am looking for articles about the relationships between the British soldiers and the French civilian in Normandy (like the Rex North's article in the Sunday Pictorial, June 28th 1944).
    Do you know if it exist a website for the newspapers or something else ?
     
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

  3. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    Thank you.
    It's a shame that they require payment...
     
  4. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    British Newspaper Archive is free if accessed from your local library (it is here in Scotland anyway) I just spent yesterday downloading a ton of articles about St Valery and the 51st Highland Division.
     
    Chris C likes this.
  5. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Yeah but I doubt anyone would go to all that effort and expense - digitise, index and host - out of the goodness of their hearts. From time to time (like Ancestry) Findmypast offer free access to some of their catalogue.


    For info, Paddle's intro post:
     
    Tony56 likes this.
  6. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Ok, so not likely they will be in the UK to make use of free library access then!

    If I remember next time I’m in I might try having a look for related articles.
     
  7. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    Another source would be the Trove service at the National Library of Australia (www.nla.gov.au) - they always carried stories provided by the British wire service as filler to let people over here know what was going on around the world.

    The service is online and free - just try a couple of obvious search words (normandy civilian) and then drill down to decade / year / month for the period you are interested in.

    You can screenprint the pages or download the text as a word file (assuming it has been tidied up as the scanning process and word recognition is only around 90% accurate).
     
    4jonboy, Incredibledisc and Dave55 like this.
  8. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    dbf : Yes I understand that.

    Incredibledisc : Thank you for this information. If you can remember it it will be great.

    DaveB : Thank you, I will try that right now.
     
    Incredibledisc likes this.
  9. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    F852F824-328F-4B94-928E-68543F588891.png
    I think you can search the British Newspaper Archive for free - you just can’t read the articles you find (although you do get 3 free articles once you register)

    Here’s a screenshot of what I got with the search “Normandy Civillians” for the year 1944.
     
  10. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    Great ! Thanks
     
  11. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    There might be some relevant information regarding relationships between the British Army and French civilians contained in the BBC series WW2 People'War.

    BBC - WW2 People's War

    Might be worth trawling through what's there.From what I gather,but not from the BBC WW2 People's War that some events were not cordial.

    Good luck Paddle with your project.
     
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  12. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    Thank you for this information Harry.
     
  13. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    For another (free) online source, you could also search the oral histories on the IWM website - recorded interviews of veterans.

    Search objects | Imperial War Museums
    (use filters - sound, second world war
    try searching keywords like - French civilians, etc.)
     
    Roy Martin and Harry Ree like this.
  14. paddle14

    paddle14 Member

    Thank you, I'll search on this website.
     
    Incredibledisc likes this.

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