Ways in Which the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain

Ways in Which the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People of Britain

During the war the British tried to hide the effects of the Blitz from

the people of England. They did this in three main ways; firstly the

government employed censors to cut out ‘negative’ information that may

damage morale and the war effort. Secondly the government sensors only

let ‘positive’ information about how the British were handling the

Blitz to be published. Thirdly the Ministry of Information produced

propaganda that encouraged people to think they were winning the war.

The Ministry of Information’s censors cut out information about mass

deaths so that morale would not be damaged. Reports of people

panicking were restricted. In November 1940 a report was censored said

that Coventry was in a terrible state and was unable to cope. Reports

of people looting, breakdown of morale and bombings of homes were also

not shown. A report of people desperately running away from their

homes to sleep in the countryside was also never published.

Information about deaths, casualties and the damage left due to German

bombing was held back so that the Germans could not see that they were

winning the war. The government tried to hide the effects as they

feared that if people saw the devastation they may panic and lose the

war. Consequently they needed to do this to retain support for the war

and to keep up morale even if they were losing.

Censors were encouraged to only publish information that showed the

British smiling and showing victory signs. They were shown as they had

high morale to boost the morale of the rest of country; this was done

to help keep support for the war effort. The public was shown as very

calm and carrying on with normal life even in bombed areas. The media

showed heroics of the air raid precaution wardens and the emergency

services while they were helping and rescuing people in the bombed

areas. Reports showed how people had helped each other to survive in