What Life Was Like During The War | History Of Britain | Absolute History

Tony talks to a survivor of the Bethnal Green tube disaster, an ATS driver who worked with Princess Elizabeth, a resistance fighter's daughter in Guernsey and a GI bride.
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[@RickityKricks]

Babs just talking about traumatic moments like they were just ordinary experiences. That's grit.

[@naluzoniro]

Oh, I've got an even lovelier story about love transcending war ! I'm french, and one of my great-uncles was sent to Germany for obligatory work service (replacing the soldiers by working in farms and factories). Except he was sent to a farm where the german owners were super friendly, and treated him like a son (their own son, I think, had been killed in battle and was around the same age). He ended up marrying their daughter

[@eddiesroom1868]

42:10 ish pretty dress 😍

[@eddiesroom1868]

Take care beautiful story

[@samplerstitcher]

My mum and her family were bombed out of three houses. On one of those occasions they were running to the shelter in the back yard, mums sister Elsie was carrying the baby of the family, when the bomb hit it blew her off her feet and down into the shelter. She suffered from bad nerves the rest of her life, as did my mum. My mum and grandad used to be wardens, they went round after the bombing and helped people. Grandad pulled a little boy out who was upside down in a trash can. He had no head. My mum joined the Brit army shortly after that, her job was cleaning out the tanks after they came back from the front. You can just imagine what that was like. One of the lids was not properly latched back and it fell crushing her thumb. My dad (a Canadian) was in Italy and Sicily and was wounded twice. He was a sniper. He was not the same man when he came home according to his friends. He would not talk about it at all. The nightmares kind of told the story though. I know this is meant to be presented in a light kind of way, but trust me, there was not much 'fun' going on in real life. Bless every vet that has been through a war...

[@AllDayBikes]

6:19 You can see her remembering her father in her eyes right after she mentions him. Nice.

[@n7565j]

I had 2 great uncles that flew B-17's out of the UK into Germany, (also had another that commanded artillery during the Battle of the Bulge, he also had some amazing stories!!!), the 1st was shot down on his 1st mission, but the 2nd finished his tour unscathed, (physically, not mentally). Uncle Gene once stated that the English were not happy the American's had "invaded" their country, but on one occasion he had been relieved of flying duty due to a cold and inner ear infection, he was in town doing some shopping while the crews were taking off headed for Germany he overheard a senior lady say, "There go OUR boys..."!!! He said at that point, he finally felt accepted by the locals and that he actually teared up... He also said that he felt responsible for his cousins death as Charles had stopped off to see him on his way to his base and his a/c had engine troubles causing him to miss his first mission, and that had he not stopped, he wouldn't have been on the mission that ultimately cost him his life... On a side note, my family and I went on a once in a lifetime trip to the UK in 2017, we went on a tour of St Paul's Cathedral, the back of the Cathedral was bombed by the German's and when it was rebuilt, it was dedicated to the US aviators that gave their lives in defense of their country. The gentleman who was conducting the tour asked if any of us had relatives who lost their lives in the air during WWII, I was the only one who raised their hand, the elderly gentleman snapped to attention and asked me to come up and view the book that contained the names of those brave men, (it's under glass), and told me on the way out we would look through the 2nd book they had on the side to see if we could find his name. Well, we did, and we did find his name and he even allowed me to photograph his name so I could send it to my mother, (she is Charles's first cousin and remembered him headed off to war). You aren't allowed to take photos in the Cathedral, so he asked those of us in the tour to gather around so I could take the pictures for mom. When I got back to our room, I sent mom the pictures and called to see what she thought, she was crying saying, "they didn't forget, they didn't forget"... Hearing her say that made the whole trip worth while!!! Excellent program, thank you :-)

[@healinggrounds19]

I can't imagine today's people adapting to the wartime restrictions. They would die protesting in the streets.

[@OnibiTeru]

People don't believe in the pandemic, I wonder what kind of nonsense would come out if there was a war in that scale as back then. I honestly wonder, what needs to happen in nowadays society, for people to get their heads out of their asses and smell reality :(

[@1337fraggzb00N]

@@OnibiTeru they would die in the streets whilst streaming their own death on some social media platform. No great loss, I guess.

[@OnibiTeru]

@@1337fraggzb00N That sounds very true and it scares me xD !

[@1337fraggzb00N]

@@OnibiTeru at least they die doing what they love: being a shallow nobody with a narcissistic disorder.

[@spunkysparks1779]

People back then were tough as nails!

[@rosaakanatan]

Thanks so much for making your uploads available in Ireland! They had been blocked months past, but I kept trying. So thrilled!

[@RoseMarie-qz3kg]

One of the few stories I can remember of my grandma, who died in 2003, was her telling me how loud the booms were when the bombs dropped in London. She She covered her ears when she said it for emphasis and it gave me chills. Even though they were underground it felt like it was all around them. Terrifying to imagine being in darkness with this going on.

[@dariusanderton3760]

I've seen a lot of WW II documentaries, and this one was really interesting. Lots of unusual and interesting stories about things I had not heard much about before.

[@honeyvitagliano3227]

I love Absolute History 💞💫

[@bobbaker9395]

It really is my greatest KZbin discovery to date!

[@resnonverba137]

2:08 How very elegant the lady was despite her situation.

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

That's British ladies for you...

[@1337fraggzb00N]

@@gozerthegozarian9500 that's Bri'ish! Wit a bo'o o' wa'a.

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

@@1337fraggzb00N I stand corrected!

[@1337fraggzb00N]

@@gozerthegozarian9500 splendid, old chap!

[@tristansmyth6802]

My mum was machine-gunned in Southampton while staying there, it wasn't long before she was back in London in the Anderson shelter, she never forgot the machine-gunning incident, nor the other horrors of the war, like so many people committing suicide because they believed we would be invaded

[@1tundra11]

😭 that's so awful

[@visassess8607]

Wait, what do you mean? A German plane did a gun run?

[@tristansmyth6802]

@@visassess8607 yes, exactly that.

[@MegaAstroFan18]

I feel like Babs' mom was kind of awesome. Definitely interesting to look at history that's recent enough for many people in the world to have some link to, via a grandparent or a parent or something.

[@Nstone53]

I like to tease my father-in-law and ask him how many kids over seas he has. Really sweet gentle man, very calm demeanor and when hes mad he just talks sternly. Never yells. His wife likes to point out how much of a ladies man he was in his youth. He was a navy man from age 16- to 35 almost 20 years. Got married and had kids in his 40's.

[@guernseydonkey17]

Thank you so much for covering the invasion of the Channel Islands, so many war documentaries don't which I think is wrong because we are British

[@inkyguy]

Yes, were it not for "Island at War," the 2004 television drama about the Channel Islands' occupation, I would have no idea it ever happened.

[@amandabricker3059]

I actually didn’t know about the Channel Islands, I was never taught about it in school, so I was really intrigued and glad he spoke about that also. Sounds so sad what those people went through, probably walking on eggshells the whole time.

[@eddiesroom1868]

Ya thanks absolute history or timeline or whatever, I like this weird little man.

[@A_Salted_Fishe]

"I'm meeting Alex Jones" nearly had me spitting me tea out!

[@jasonwomack4064]

I immediately pictured Alex dressed like Winston Churchill, and screaming about gay frogs.

[@jacquelinecrabb6088]

Wonderful. Thank you for this historic informative documentary. I lost my mother in January 1987. My mother was in the ATS, married an 82nd Airborne soldier in 1944. Wish I could have watched this with her. I have so many questions now.

[@danrook5757]

Jacqueline Crabb : my father was 16 and living through what Germany and Russia had unleashed in poland

[@mastrofnone8025]

I salute the Brits. They stuck it out with dignity

[@gilaschannel1855]

Born in early sixties, my brother and I grew up hearing loads of stories about life in wartime London and its suburbs from my parents, who were born in the early thirties. Stories of many many nights in a bomb shelter down the bottom of the garden. My mother's school was bombed in 1943 and she lost two years of schooling, only finally leaving school at the age of twenty. She could never stand listening to the sound of German bombers flying when on TV. My dad remembered and apparently enjoyed eating powdered egg. He had to do National Service for two years when he was eighteen. And rationing went on for many years after the end of the war.

[@hieithefox]

It’s so crazy that so many were killed not by a bomb or building collapse but by crushing each other because of slippery stairs

[@mipmip4011]

I love this show it just makes me happy learning about history

[@carolefreeman2544]

My Dad lived in the east end and his house got hit twice by bombs. Finally his family moved to Windsor. I still have my parents ration books. In the first house where I lived in the 50’s had an Anderson Bomb Shelter at the bottom of our garden which my Dad turned into a Shed. As soon as my Dad was old enough he joined the RAF in 1943 and then the Royal Navy.

[@bitsnpieces11]

Princess Elizabeth mucking in with the other girls still has its' effect to this day. What other ruler can say they have done their part in the effort, and I'm 76.

[@martyshannon7542]

I learned about her being a Driver in the 70's. I believe in the Sunday paper. Here in Texas.

[@laurielyddy4890]

I adore this show

[@maryduhon9769]

Love your docs though, robinson one of best hosts of all time

[@seanpaula8924]

Tony IS a treasure.

[@SessaV]

As a female semi truck driver, this makes me wonder what I would have been doing WW2. My grandma was a Rosey the riveter and switch board operator, and she was a teacher before that, so being a professional trucker back then...

[@martyshannon7542]

The Queen of England was a Driver during the war.

[@SessaV]

@@martyshannon7542 yeah I found that out after posting this months ago. That's pretty awesome!

[@juliestevens6931]

My mom was born in 1933 in Wisconsin. She was #4 of 5, but her younger sister was born an invalid. My mom was lucky that she lived on a farm where her dad was a dairy farmer who also raised chickens and turkeys. They had a large garden. Rationing was not as much of a problem for them. I think things like sugar that they couldn't make themselves was scarce, but they could make their own butter.

[@smittywerbenjaegermanjensen]

It's interesting to hear about American behavior overseas during the war. I have only heard of the war time activities, I didn't know that they went to dances and had time off. This documentary series is very valuable, it is nice to put a voice to the shadows of the past.

[@A_Salted_Fishe]

I've been eagerly anticipating this specific episode

[@davidsradioroom9678]

What a wonderful series!

[@nabilahkarenpitaloka-kelom5332]

I would like to say, "thank you so much, this is amazing channel"🤩

[@bmoisgood3228]

Incredible. Not really looking forward to the inevitability of this happening again... Glad to have learned a few things to prepare.

[@indy_go_blue6048]

If there's another war, it won't be like this.

[@bmoisgood3228]

@@indy_go_blue6048 I agree, it won't look like this. I meant it more from a civilians mentality standpoint.

[@bmoisgood3228]

@1manuscriptman welp looks like I found my goal for the month. I'm also losing my health insurance next month so that's fun (: thanks for the advice! Non perishables... sending you good safe vibes!!

[@shlomster6256]

I'm really loving the sound design...

[@Mysucculentchinesemeal]

I really enjoyed this video, I always enjoy these videos though.

[@themcgeefamily7514]

LOVE! This series!

[@1tundra11]

That was great! 💕

[@frofrofrofro900]

OMG so diffrent than in Poland during war time.... you were lucky not live near Germany....

[@reginaromsey]

Reference the Channel Islands: the fishing fleet had been commandeered by the navy for the sealift of the Army from Dunkirk. These boats were not returned until after the War, a very few were returned , and then they were in poor condition.

[@aaronpilkington1604]

Marvellous series

[@rogerauger7766]

Nothing but Respect for the British People for their Courage during the War. Greetings from Canada. 🙂

[@lindxey2]

now i have a reason to watch that guernsey literary & potato pie society movie. I'm invested through this history lesson. ty

[@rayhatter8315]

I love this channel and all the history I learn here. But some videos I can not watch Why is that?

[@Jenny-uv4dl]

I've only heard of WW2 frm historical docs. Like this my grandfather who fought in the pacific only spoke of it in passing I only saw him as a "gentle person" the day of my grandmother's funeral how hard the great depression then the war its effect it had on him I know in my heart I wish humans would take lessons frm history but sadly we most often dont

[@Guillermo-lr9es]

Every time I've use to travel to London I always wanted to go to their museums. Their history is fascinating and interesting. The weird way I learned English was from my stepdad born in the USA. He's father was a German that arrive in the USA after WW1 It was difficult to me to choose between German, English. Whatever. Both are great and I hope we remain in peace between both countries.

[@gricklegrass9114]

Best channel

[@barrydysert2974]

One NEVER 'Knows' what one MAY DO in the moment until that moment!:-) 🖖

[@meghanmonroe]

😏"....GIT STUFT!" I cackled.

[@barrydysert2974]

Add another deep layer to the "Special Relationship" between Britain and the US!:-) 🖖

[@Kittensarecute111]

A great video from a great service, but this title was horribly misleading. Only about 5 minutes, max, talks about the actual Bethnal Green disaster, and not even all that in depth.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

I just LOVE the Brit Stiff Upper Lip! God Bless!

[@imalikconnor]

My mother was born in London in 1939. I remember the stories of dodging bombs.

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestion: The Weird History Of Trading Stamps (S & H Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps).

[@paddyodriscoll8648]

I like the sign in the background that said, “Learn English here” ,,,, in English.

[@MymilanitalyBlogspot]

There is a marvelous book called, "The. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" about experiences on Guernsey under the Nazis.

[@akoilady9097]

Great book!

[@stanlygirl5951]

I loved that book!

[@rhinehardt1]

I'm glad that this ended on a happy note.

[@Amethyst_Dragon_]

She got a beautiful wedding dress..

[@ememmeme8722]

it was bought from a gravedigger. back in those days, a dress like that would be confiscated by the army to be used as a bandage.

[@j.miller5565]

She is absolutely lovely.

[@pepper419]

Your idea of Victoria Park being "Just over the road there" is a bit daft. It's about half a mile away Bethnal Green Station.

[@danhanqvist4237]

Why "within" and not just "in"?

[@olivierdk2]

Wait, they waited until 2017 to make a memorial ?

[@PurnceNMe]

He didn’t marry Muriel on his leave before he left?!

[@jdd8826]

Many did not marry because the soldier might die, or he worried he would be disabled, or receive a disfiguring injury, did not want to burden her. This was common.

[@maryduhon9769]

What about the tunnels that flooded

[@MerchantOfLies]

at 15:12 jock looks like putin lol

[@Marcus-yn7wc]

I thought that soldier statue was real

[@indy_go_blue6048]

"From the shrill sound of bugles at 6 am..." They got to sleep until 6 am? Pampered, they were. We'd already been up for 2 hours, had an hour of drill, an hour of calesthenics and were at breakfast by 6 am.

[@healinggrounds19]

Yes but did you do it in heels and skirts?

[@sleeps_in_october]

The ladies needed to look well rested to keep up appearances, after all!

[@lynnleigha580]

So basically, if you tried to strike up small talk to a Brit, you was being rude and intrusive? Lol!

[@ronalddonner3396]

My dear father (RIP) who left England for Canada in the 60's,told me that had he known what would become of the country he would have turned right around!(or maybe joined the other side.)

[@crunchies4me]

That evil man and his nazis had a hell of alot of nerve dropping bombs on the England!!! Im so glad he lost the war!!!

[@danrook5757]

And than Europe had to live through 75 years of communism

[@MegaAstroFan18]

Also Princess Elizabeth, that just sank in.

[@osohista]

I can't properly express how much I fucking detest this series' sound design.

[@bellelise.]

Its kinda funny to think that if the British had continued to fight the war as imperialists and the U.S.A as isolationists.. We all could have lost WWII. Say what you want about both. Im glad we didnt do that. It was both countries finest hour.

[@teenapittman4241]

The word "Absolute" in 'Absolute History', in this day of governmental BS, makes me want to question it. But it was an excellent and well made video. Edit: He said that a memorial was recently put there. I have noticed that there have been many government memorials recently installed, such as the New Zealand airplane crash,1979, in Antarctica.

[@Garblegox]

Air raids causing tragedy? I didn't even know they did that. Sounds implausible.

[@barrydysert2974]

So very dry good Sir!:-) 🖖

[@resnonverba137]

@@barrydysert2974 Dry was a very kind way of putting it.

[@lindaedwards5598]

Americans! Overfed, overpaid and over here. Haha

[@robinmiller5256]

Are these the women that became Jackdaws?

[@TrapperAaron]

I imagine it's not difficult to imagine how an air raid caused tragedy. Kinda redundant title. Maybe it means something else in British I dunno.

[@kaythegardener]

The tragedy was not from the bombs, but the crushing of the civilians on the staircases before they could even get into shelter!!

[@markcantemail8018]

Cats The Krauts are eating Cats , Put that on a Propaganda Poster ! Thank you for the Video .

[@horehoundbasedcandy8736]

The female infantry got paid less because they weren’t forced to go into enemy territory to die a horrible, gruesome death. And the women knew that fact, and appreciated it.

[@vysharra]

There were plenty of men in non-combat roles too. These women were specifically paid less because they were women, not because they weren’t getting shot at. Non-whites experienced even worse discrimination, up to 3x less than white male counterparts, despite being in those combat roles (as citizens) you spoke about. The discrimination by way of less pay is not some byproduct of their circumstances, it was just terrible people in leadership getting away with being terrible people.

[@dumbasses_R_us]

So sad to be losing this generation who just got on with the job so the next generation could live a better life than them. So upsetting watching that generation (the Baby Boomers) carry on with their sense of entitlement and rampant xenophobia. They show nothing but disdain for their parent's generation, their children's generation and now their grandchildren's generation as they insist on trying to control everything. Methinks they'd be better off trying to enjoy the finite and relatively small amount of time they have left on this earth so they don't die miserable. Take warning!

[@junestanich7888]

We’re not all like that

[@bowenfzakrx6635]

The narrow opinion preferentially impress because wax ethically enter barring a itchy gum. aloof, descriptive flat

[@wonderlove4515]

Is this a parody? Seriously?