The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

war. Somehow, almost overnight, these things had become normal. When
tea was rationed on 9 July, Daidie barely batted an eyelid; rather, she
wondered whether people would come to appreciate their new abstemious
habits before the war was over. The same day, she had some concrete
blocks delivered, which were to form a blast wall at the front of the house.
With the man who delivered the blocks, she discussed whether the Germans
would continue bombing once autumn arrived; already she was thinking of
a future beyond the next few days. They both thought English fog would
help them. ‘Still, whatever does come,’ thought Daidie, ‘I think people will
be well prepared for it.’
Confidence was definitely mounting. At the end of June, Olivia Cockett
was convinced that they could not possibly win. Three weeks later, her level
of morale, she felt, was still much the same but she no longer felt the end of
life as they knew it was nigh; she was still spending time doing things for
the future both in the house and in her garden. ‘I still feel that WE are
bound to win the war,’ she jotted, having forgotten her earlier pessimism,
‘but I don’t know why.’
It was Harold Nicolson’s task, as a member of the Committee for Home
Morale, to keep a close watch on the spirits of the people. Daily reports
would reach him, taken from observers and pollsters around the country.
Yet another invasion date had been predicted for 19 July, the date of Hitler’s
speech. ‘People cheerful and optimistic at weekend when Hitler failed to
invade Britain on Friday as threatened,’ ran a report of 22 July. ‘General
feeling now that war will last a long time as invasion cannot succeed and
we shall then settle down to hammering away at Germany by RAF.’
What was bothering ‘all classes’ was the new Government decision to
prosecute people for defeatist talk or for spreading rumours under what was
called the ‘Silent Column Campaign’. Olivia Cockett and her colleagues at
the Pay Office at New Scotland Yard were appalled. She felt that people
liked a good moan. ‘Opinion unanimous that it was much better to let
people talk as they thought, instead of bottling up worries and grievances,’
she noted, ‘and that anyway, surely one of the things we’re fighting to
restore to Europe is FREE SPEECH.’ The campaign had been a Ministry of
Information initiative and had been launched with posters and
advertisements. In the press there were even accusations that the Ministry
had begun spying on the people. ‘There is no doubt,’ noted Harold