These publications are in some ways the most interesting due to their views and intentions. Over the years, a sentimental myth of the British people unified in the face of adversity has arisen. While it is true that a certain "Blitz spirit" did exist, and neighbourhood communities, distant in peacetime, pulled together under air attack, there were those who were trying to unite and divide the population along different lines.
The best example is the Communist Party of Great Britain, who published numerous pamphlets, some of which are included in the selection seen at right.
The main thrust of such literature was that because factories were the most likely targets for air raids the working classes that lived in close proximity to them were at greatest risk, but not receiving the greatest protective measures from the Government.
Early Government advice to householders also met with stiff criticism; the preparation of gas-proof refuge rooms was of particular concern. Left-wing groups were quick to point out that working class people could not afford the materials that the Government was advising they purchase to use for black-out and gasproofing, not to mention the fact that many working class families lived in Victorian slums - almost impossible to gas-proof or able to withstand bomb-blast.
Respirators, as well as gas-proof rooms also proved a bone of contention; Groups such as the Cambridge Scientists Anti-War Group (formed from academics at Cambridge University) set out to disprove the Government's facts and figures on the subject also claiming in their book The Protection of the Public from Aerial Attack that the civilian respirator did not protect against cigarette smoke, let alone war gases. The official historian for Civil Defence states:
The mask they had put to various tests was of a 'civilian type' bought on the open market, and not the official article. And their book's declared aim of offering a critical examination of A.R.P. measures was faithfully followed, to the exclusion of any positive counter-suggestions. [1]
The Cambridge group was also actually criticised by another left-wing writer, scientist J.B.S. Haldane, writing in his book A.R.P., published (as was the Cambridge group's book) by the Victor Gollancz Left Book Club. Haldane undertook what the Cambridge group had failed to do, namely suggest an alternative to Government policy. Haldane had experienced air raids during the Spanish Civil War and advocated the construction of deep shelters and trenches for the protection of civilians. He also criticised the lack of anti-gas protection for babies; although the Government was still working out a design at the time, Haldane produced his own design, consisting of an air-tight tank, which he offered to any interested reader.
Left-wing publications (particularly the far left) probably had problems in stating their case following the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939, throwing anti-fascist arguments on their head, while the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 made left-wing criticism of the British Government less hysterical. The situation and popular opinion made speaking out against the Government a more delicate affair; while severe criticism was still prevalent, revolutionary sentiments seem to have been toned down. The Labour Research Department's Fire Watching pamphlet of 1941 still criticised the Government's way of handling things, but significantly acknowledged the need for the basic principles.
References
- O'Brien, T Civil Defence (Official History) 1955. London: HMSO p81