Beneath the Surface: The Subtle Presentation of the British “People’s War”
Interpretive Blog
Erik Ehrenfeld
Some of the museums that the World War II study abroad group visited in Britain were focused on a particular topic or person, such as code breaking at Bletchley Park and the Prime Minister’s wartime command from the Churchill War Rooms. Others attempted to present an all-encompassing narrative of the war, as seen at the Imperial War Museum. Nevertheless, these facilities told their stories through individual displays that portrayed WWII as a “People’s War.” The idea of the People’s War holds that the conflict erased Britain’s societal barriers through communal suffering and a shared determination for victory. Following days of site tours and reflection, I found that patterns emerged in the museums’ content and presentation that subtly implied a classless struggle against a common foe.
Two artifacts in the Churchill War Rooms suggested this interpretation. The first was the Prime Minister’s Colt .45 pistol that he carried during World War I and owned thereafter.
While notable because of its ownership, the pistol was indistinguishable from others of the type and could have been issued to a common soldier rather than the future Prime Minister. This similarity suggested that Churchill and his soldiers used the same equipment and shared the dangers of the trenches. Another display contained sugar cubes that an RAF wing commander had hidden in his desk.
The officer probably stashed the cubes to prevent theft, as rationing limited the availability of sugar; however, another possibility is that he illegally acquired the cubes and concealed them in his desk. Wartime rationing and the black market, therefore, affected all Britons, from enlisted soldiers to wing commanders. Thus, while neither of these objects’ captions mentioned the concept, the People’s War narrative existed beneath the surface of the displays.
