What was the home front?

Question:its something to do with world war 2 i think!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: its something to do with world war 2 i think!

You are quite right, the "Home Front" was back here in UK and it involved all of the Civilian Workers and everyone else as part of the War Effort.

First we have to go back to the Battle of Britain 1940. Below are some video clips to give you some experience of the sight and sound of that era of our history.

In this first video clip, you will hear the voice of Winston Churchill, Prime Minister, speaking after the fall of France and telling us of the coming of the Battle of Britain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjIqE0Mh3...

For the first and possibly the only time in our entire history, the British People united behind their Prime Minister and their Government, as one nation. We rolled up our sleeves and got on with it, for the very survival of our nation depended upon us winning the battle to come.

In the next link, you will hear the voice of James Joyce [briefly] otherwise known to us as Lord Haw Haw. He was an Irishman who worked for the Nazi Ministry of Propoganda. Most of this is in German and it's what the German folk had to listen to. Tune to the BBC in Germany and it was the end for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uircGC2aU...

In the next clip you can see Nazi TV - our own dear BBC TV had simply gone off air at the outbreak of war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEYfl-X2J...

In the next clip you can see the Royal Air Force Memorial Flight. This will give you some experience of the sight and sound of RAF fighter aircraft of the period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIKdc3W5...

The next links take you directly to information about the Home Front.

World War Two - Home Front
Information about the Home Front in Britain during world war two.
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/home_... - Cached

Home Front ... World War II
The Second World War lasted for 6 years. Just think of that ... pretend that the
war just started today. How old will you be in 6 years? ...
http://home.freeuk.com/elloughton13/wwar... - Cached

World War II: The Homefront
Simulation follows a typical American family through a school year during the
war, covering day-to-day life and period culture, such as television, movies, ...
http://library.thinkquest.org/15511/ - Cached

WWII Women & the Homefront
Women and World War II - Female Soldiers - Roles of Women - Home Front ...
Records from War Ration Books for Genealogy | World War Two (1942 - 1945) ...
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIHomefront.h...

The following links help explain about the Home Guard - these were the men who would have had to take on the German Army had it landed on our shores. But don't worry, we were well prepared, inspite of what people think and say about it now and back then.

Home Guard
In October 1939, Winston Churchill suggested to Sir John Anderson, the head of
Air Raid Precautions (ARP), that a Home Guard of men aged over forty should ...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW...
http://www.home-guard.org.uk ? The Home Guard - History of the ...

The Home Guard - History of the Home Guard 1940 to 1944 + Chatham Home Guard
Living History Unit.
http://www.home-guard.org.uk/ - Cached

History of the Home Guard
The Home Guard was formed when there was a real risk of invasion. Most men who
could fight were already in the forces, those that were left were either too ...
http://www.home-guard.org.uk/hg/history....

THE LONDON BLITZ SEPTEMBER 1940

YouTube - London Can Take It!
Aug 15, 2006 ... THe Blitz on London started at around 5pm on Saturday 7 September 1940, with the
first of the massive air raids on the city. ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mXGy38xL...

In this next clip about the London Blitz, you will hear the voice of Laurence Olivier talking about the bombing of the City of London. You will also hear the voices of British Civilians telling of their experiences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts3zmpTRV...

The British Government wanted to raise the morale of the people and to this end films were made, such as the one in the clip below, with rousing speeches.

In the clip below, you can see part of a movie made by Laurence Olivier - Wm. Shakespeare's "Henry V".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jXFnQUU7...

Laurence Olivier was then a fighter pilot flying with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm - he flew over 460 sorties against the enemy during the war.

Here is a couple of clips from a famous BBC TV comedy series, "Dad's Army" - it came out in the late 1960s and was watched by millions of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwldGmw4y...

Now back to the real war effort and the dreaded subject of Rationing. Rationing started in c1939 and continued until c1954 - in fact quite a long time after the end of the war.

Food Rationing in World War 2
What was Food Rationing really like in World War 2. ... World War 2 ex raf.co.uk
... (the 'Unterseeboot') during World War Two to the Atlantic lifeline, ...
http://www.worldwar2exraf.co.uk/Online%2... - Cached

Food Rationin Books in World War 2 part 2
What was Food Rationing really like in World War 2 what were ration books. ...
World War 2 ex raf.co.uk. What was Food Rationing really like in World War 2? ...
http://www.worldwar2exraf.co.uk/Online%2... - Cached

BBC - h2g2 - World War Two Rationing in Britain
Created: 23rd May 2001. World War Two Rationing in Britain ... Rationing did not
end with the war. It was years before the country was rebuilt and life got ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A533918 - Cached

BBC - Children of World War 2 - Rationing Challenge
Discover how rationing worked, which foods were rationed and which were unavailable
during the Second World War. An interactive game.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2children...

Winston Churchill had a great sense of humour. When the Americans joined us here in 1942 they brought with them, among other things, a product called SPAM. Winston decided that this was a non-meat product thus it was never rationed. You just try and get a tin of it. There was a Black Market for such things.

Black Market
Two and six was a lot of money in those days, and Henry, our obliging butcher,
was able to start up a shop of his own after the war on his black-market ...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW... - Cached

Treachery during World War Two
Home - Spying - World War Two - Treachery .... Joseph Jan Vanhove was heavily
involved in the Belgium black market activities. As he was being pursued by ...
http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/treac... - Cached

corporate video productions black market blackpool interviews
The Black Market and Second World War Blackpool ... Preston & Lancaster, Lancashire
in the North West of the UK, I frequently work in Leeds, Manchester and ...
http://www.alan-howarth.co.uk/War%20Memo...

How was public morale maintained? Comedy mostly. Here is Max Miller a famous comedy star of the 1930s and 1940s. In this clip he sings his signature tune, "Mary from the Dairy". Max had a Sussex Coast accent which is often confused with Cockney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUfMNBjB...

Here's George Formby Englands greatest ever Jazz singer, and in my opinion greatly under estimated then and now. Just brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYo7a0GZl...

Here is the sort of cartoons we saw back then when we went to the cinema.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiRfFGIBb...

Now for the surprise.

ROYAL AIR FORCE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
ROLLS ROYCE SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvDDDKnNh...

The home front is the U.S. in North America during World War II. For the British, it's Great Britain.

the Home Front during World War II was the struggle of the people back at home in the U.S. Women took over men's jobs, and many people had drives that recycled tin foil and other products to help the war production. There was also rationing on food, in other words you were given a coupon book that allowed you to purchase x amount of a certain food product.

The words "home front" identified the British Isles in WWII because it was being attacked by German bombers and thus qualified as a war front (more information below).
When America entered the war they also had a "home front", but this had more to do with producing war materials (2nd site below).

The Home Front, was first coined in 1916 when the original Air Campaign started over the South East of England with the Zepplin raids. However is was maily used in the UK from 1939.
All English speaking countires asopted the phrase during the war to denote any incident that happened within the respective country