In the summer of 1914, Britain felt secure that the old order was firmly
in place. Britain, through its navy, ruled the waves, and a fair part of
the world through its Empire. Yet this security was an illusion, a war
of unimaginable scale was just days away. The war would affect every
level of British society, first through the urgent need for a massive
expansion of the armed forces, drawing in ever-more men from civilian
life. This in turn denuded the factories, shops and farms of labor at a
time when industry needed to expand to clothe and supply the armed
services, and agriculture needed to fill the shortages of food created
by the U-boat assault on our merchant fleet. The armed forces had first
call on men, food, and material so shortages hit the civilian population
hardest; replacement labor was found in women, who began to take on work
previously the reserve of men, in the factories, transport, commerce,
and agriculture. Food remained a problem, shortages led to food queues,
leading to increasing Government control and eventually rationing.
Civilians were also hit by shortages of petrol and clothing, leading to
petrol rationing, gas-cars, and `standard' cloth. There were also more
immediate dangers, raids by German ships on coastal towns and air raids
throughout the country by Zeppelins, and later, aeroplanes. In Dear Old
Blighty, Mike Brown looks in depth at the experience of the civilians,
men, women and children, of Britain throughout those four momentous
years.
