Today my treasured new purchase is officially 75 years old!! Having broken the news of the second Great War to an expectant public it was also a wealth of useful information into everyday situations in wartime.
The 1939 Daily Express offers hints and tips into what to do when the air raid sirens sounded. Whether you were driving a car, at home or just walking in the street.
From shelter etiquette through to how not to annoy your fellow shelterees, there are civilised, oh so British, instructions for all situations.
Here the paper suggests that one of the most undesirable companions in an air raid shelter is the man who continually beseeches people to “keep calm”. Apparently he is himself probably in a state of suppressed hysteria!
This initial robust optimism and no nonsense approach to the idea of war is what would help a nation pull together, survive the blitz and manage, somehow, to endure watching an almost endless stream of boys depart who would never come home.
