Christmas Under Fire

Page 3 of 8

• 1. Introduction
• 2. 1939 - 1940
• 3. 1940 - 1941
• 4. 1941 - 1942
• 5. 1942 - 1943
• 6. 1943 - 1944
• 7. 1944 - 1945
• 8. Find out more
• Print entire article

1940 - 1941

This was the first real wartime Christmas. In the previous year western Europe had fallen to Hitler's forces, and thousands of British servicemen had been killed, wounded, or captured. In September the Blitz on London had started; in November the devastating raid on Coventry had taken place. December targets of the Luftwaffe had also included Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Gosport and Leicester. The nation had survived the Battle of Britain, and the expected German invasion of these islands had not materialised, but Britain was still under siege. There was a break in the bombing over the Christmas holiday, but everyone was aware that this was only a brief respite.

'For Christmas, practical gifts were in vogue - gardening tools, books, bottling jars, seeds.'

This was also the first Christmas 'on the ration', with food rationing having been a part of everyday life for almost a year. By this time weekly rations were four ounces of bacon and/or ham, six ounces of butter and/or margerine, two ounces of tea, eight ounces of sugar, two ounces of cooking fats and meat to the value of 1/10d (9p), although in the week before Christmas, the tea ration was doubled and the sugar ration increased to twelve ounces.

There was still plenty of non-rationed food available, however - at a price. Wines and spirits were plentiful, but French goods were almost completely gone, and imported fruit was extremely expensive. For Christmas, practical gifts were in vogue - gardening tools, books, bottling jars, seeds. Some gardening magazines even recommended a bag of fertilizer as a gift, and the most popular present for Christmas 1940 was soap.

The usual seasonal football matches took place that year, although many players were in the forces, and transport problems meant long-distance fixtures were a problem. So the pre-war league was replaced by a regional structure, while scratch teams were the order of the day. Two famous football players, Tommy Lawton and Ken Shackleton, both played for two different teams on Christmas Day 1940 - Everton and Tranmere, and Bradford and Bradford City respectively. Brighton and Hove Albion, away to Norwich, could only muster five players, and their team was supplemented by Norwich reserves and supporters. Unsurprisingly Norwich won 18-0.

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