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1 the Blackout in Britain and Germany During the Second World War

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1 the Blackout in Britain and Germany During the Second World War The Blackout in Britain and Germany during the Second World War Submitted by Marc Patrick Wiggam to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in March 2011 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. 1 Abstract The impact of air raid precautions in Britain and Germany has received little scholarly attention since the end of the Second World War. Of the protective measures brought about as a result of the invention of the bomber, the blackout was by far the most intrusive and extensive form of civil defence. Yet the historiography of the home front and the bombing war in Britain and Germany has tended to sideline the blackout, or else ignore it entirely. The lack of study given to the blackout is at odds with the scale of its impact across wartime society. This thesis furthers understanding of the blackout and the social history of the British and German home fronts by contextualising the blackout within the development of aviation, and its social and economic effects. It also examines the impact technology could have on the relationship between state and citizens, and addresses the lack of comparative research on Britain and Germany during the Second World War. The thesis draws on extensive research conducted in local and national government archives in Britain and Germany, as well as a wide range of secondary literature on the war and inter-war period. It argues that the blackout was a profound expansion of the state into the lives of each nation‘s citizens, and though it was set within two politically very different states, it brought with it similar practical and social problems. The blackout, as the most ‗social‘ form of civil defence, is an ideal aspect of the war by which to compare the British and German home fronts. Ultimately, the differences between the two countries were less important than the shared sense of obligation that the blackout principle was intended to foster within the wartime community. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Richard Overy for his invaluable advice, encouragement and patience during the writing of this thesis. I would also like to thank the members of the Bombing Group – Professor Andrew Knapp, Dr. Claudia Baldoli, Dr. Vanessa Chambers, Dr. Stephan Glienke, and my fellow PhD student Lindsey Dodd. Their help and insight at our meetings and workshops has been greatly appreciated. I am grateful for the advice of Professor Alex Walsham and Dr. Matthias Reiss, who served on my supervisory committee. My thanks also go to the many archivists and librarians in Britain and Germany whose help I benefited from on my travels, and to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for their financial support. Mum and Dad have been incredibly supportive and understanding over the years, for which I am truly thankful. Elfrid and Øivind provided a wonderful retreat in Norway, and the Brockmann and Schilling clan fed and entertained me when I really needed it during a grey, wet and lonely October. I was grateful for the friendship of Mike Hawker and Justin Davies and their countless emails and distractions, and of Helen Steele, who made me feel a little less isolated. Finally, I would like to thank Inger-Lise, without whose support, proof-reading and innumerable cups of coffee and tea I could not have finished. This thesis is dedicated to her, and to our new life in August. 3 Table of Contents List of Tables and Charts 5 List of Illustrations 6 Abbreviations 7 Chapter One – Introduction 8 Chapter Two – Pre-war Air Raid Precautions and Airmindedness 38 Chapter Three – The Development of the Blackout 68 Chapter Four – Adherence and Enforcement 98 Chapter Five – Crime and Sex 137 Chapter Six – Cultural and Political Reaction 172 Chapter Seven – Industry, Labour and Transport 201 Chapter Eight – Conclusion 237 Bibliography Primary Sources 246 Published Sources 249 Websites 258 4 List of Tables and Charts 1.1 Cities selected 16 1.2 Major archives accessed 17 2.1 Total German bombing casualties from French and British raids 49 2.2 Total British bombing casualties from German raids 50 5.1 Sexual offences against women in Britain, 1935-1945 146 5.2 Sexual offences against women in Manchester, 1939-1944 146 5.3 Sexual offences against women in Bristol, 1939-1941 147 5.4 Sexual offences in Germany, 1937-1943 147 5.5 Sexual offences committed by juvenile Germans and foreigners, 148 1942-1943 5.6 Birth control offences in Britain, 1935-1945 152 5.7 Convictions for illegal abortion in Germany, 1937-1943 153 5.8 Prosecutions for liaisons with POWs in Germany, 1939-1943 153 5.9 Convictions for procuration in Germany, 1937-1943 155 5.10 Homosexual offences in Britain, 1935-1945 157 5.11 Punishment of youth offences in Glasgow, 1939-1940 162 5.12 Executions in Germany, 1938-1945 165 6.1 References to Christmas in broadcast news items and front 185 reports, Christmas Eve, 1940-1942 7.1 Productive value of better lighting on industrial processes 206 7.2 Electricity consumption in Britain, 1937-1947 219 7.3 Electricity consumption of public lighting, 1937-1947 220 7.4 Carrying white items in the blackout, London, MO survey 1941 226 7.5 Carrying white items in the blackout, London, MO survey 1942 227 7.6 Traffic deaths and injuries in Metropolitan Police District in September- 227 August 1939-1943, expressed as a percentage of the number in 1938- 1939 7.7 Deaths on roads in Metropolitan Police District, 1938-1943, expressed 228 as percentage of peace-time levels 7.8 Accidents on roads in Metropolitan Police District, 1938-1943, expressed 228 as percentage of peace-time levels 7.9 Traffic census from the Metropolitan Police District, 1937 and 1942 229 5 List of Illustrations 1 Prussian Hussars chase a balloon escaping the Siege of Paris, 1871 43 2 ‗Within two hours Germany will be covered with bombers‘, 1933 60 3 ‗Zones for Lighting Restrictions.‘ The division of Britain into zones of 82 threat from an early draft of the Police War Instructions, October 1935 4 ‗Trial Blackout‘: David Low cartoon from 1938 94 5 The idealised German ARP 'family', 1939 128 6 Anticipation of juvenile blackout crime, 1937 160 7 ‗Time marches on‘: George Strube cartoon from 1939 174 8 German moonlight chart, 1944 190 9 Lighting experiments conducted over Stonehenge, circa 1943 215 6 Abbreviations ARP Air Raid Precautions BA Berlin Bundesarchiv Berlin (Federal Archives, Berlin) BA-MA Bundes Militärarchiv Freiburg (Federal Military Archives, Freiburg) BAYHSTA Bayerische Staatsarchiv (Bavarian State Archives) BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BRO Bristol Records Office IR Infrared IWM Imperial War Museum MO Mass Observation MOA Mass Observation Archive NAS National Archive of Scotland NSKK Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps (National Socialist Motor Corps) RAF Royal Air Force RDI Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie (Association of German Industry) RLB Reichsluftschutzbund (National Air Raid Protection League) SA Sturmabteilung (Stormtroopers) SD Sicherheitsdienst (SS Security Service) SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (German Social Democratic Party) TNA The National Archives USAAF United States Army Air Forces 7 Chapter One – Introduction On the evening of 1 September 1939, the people of Glasgow watched their city darken under the first night of the wartime blackout. People arrived from the suburbs to see the city centre in the gloom, with the mood of the crowd varying between nervous excitement and ‗happy-go-lucky abandon.‘1 From the roof of The Glasgow Herald‘s offices the view was less ambiguous; in its words, ‗the city stretched to the horizon black and forbidding‘.2 To the south, a severe electrical storm was building. The city would not be lit up again for another six years. Across the cities, towns and villages of Britain and Germany the lights were dowsed, covering them with a dark that seemed at odds with the pace of modernity that had been so fast and transformative since the turn of the century. Civilised nations were once again at war; those of a philosophical mind could not help but wonder if the darkened cities and towns were a symbol of technology‘s capacity for ruining, rather than building civilization. The preceding six years in Germany had seen an unprecedented mobilisation of civilians into a permanent readiness for war and, most notably, the potential devastation of air war. Across the country, bombs on plinths had advertised air defence exhibitions and branches of the local air raid precaution organization. These strange menhirs of the air age, which always stood as though primed, only an instant away from striking ground, were evidence of a profound shift in the German public‘s knowledge of space and of the militarization of it. By comparison, British preparations for air raid precautions during the inter-war years were far less evident. Moves towards international disarmament by the British government had come 1 'First Blackout of the War', The Glasgow Herald, 4 September 1939, p.7. 2 Ibid. 8 to little, and with a domestic political climate that was unfavourable for militarisation, ARP was given very little profile before the Munich crisis.3 Yet despite their apparent differences, both countries were to experience the most complete blackout in Europe over the course of the war. It would be maintained for every day of the war in every house and office block, every factory and shipyard, and on every vehicle on land and water.
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