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Entertainment and the Arts in Wartime Britain
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I
Women's Voluntary Ser\'iccs. In eleven n1onths, the year s target 0£ 50,000,000
books had been rcache<l. FiYe thousand exarnincrs- librarians, booksellers and
other experts-scrutinized the volumes and d ividcd them into three categories:
for paper salvage; for the Forces; and for bombed libraries. About 7,000,000 \vent
to the Forces and 1,500,000 to the libraries.
The latter category included many valuable editions, discovered son1eti1nes after
centuries of oblivion, during the scrutiny. In Bristol, for example, \vas discovered
a copy of Paolo Sarpi's Histor) of the Co1111cil of Trent, translated by Nathaniel
Brent ( 1676), whid1 originally belonged lo William and Mary College. British
Secret Service Records of the Napoleonic. Wars, and first editions of Shaw and
Kipling, have also corne to light.
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BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES
AN
AGENCY
OF THE
BRITISH
GOVERNMENT
ID 524
INFORMATION DIVISION
ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS
IN WARTIME BRITAIN
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1. Council for tp.e Encouragement of Music and the Art!
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2. Entertainments National Service Association
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INTRODUCTION •
The following pamphlets may be obtained free, on request, from
British Information Services, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y.
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General Restrictions
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5. British Institute of Adult Education .
Material p11blished by British Infor111ation Services will be sent reg11larly
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THEATRE.
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MOVING PICTURES
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JUNE, 1944
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MUSIC
FILMS (16 mm. soun<l films). For descriptive catalogs and Lenns apply
to any office of British Information Services.
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ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH CULTURAL
ACTIVITIES IN WARTIME
Rehabilitation in Great Britain
British Youth Activities in Wartime
Women's War Work in Britain
A Picture of Britain ( iil11strated)
John Britain (iJlustraJed)
Progress in Freedom (illustrated)
EXHIBITIONS (photographic exhibits mounted on screens). For parti cu la rs apply lo Exhibitions Section, British Information Services,
New York.
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NEWYORK20 . .
WASHINGTON, 0. C. 5
CHICAGO I
SAN FRANCISCO 11
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360 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE
260 CALIFORNIA STREET
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Circle 6-5100
Executiv• 8525
Andover 1733
Sutt•r
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ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS IN
WARTIME BRITAIN
INTRODUCTION
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The outbreak of war on September 3, 1939, found the British people uncertain
what conditions of modern war would mean to them, but prepared for the worst.
In the expectation that there would probably be an immediate and intense bombardment of the island the Government's interim action in regard to entertainment was,
on the first day of war, to close all places of entertainment and prohibit "all large
gatherings for purposes of entertainment and amusement whether outdoor or indoor." Before long the impracticability of complete entertain1nent "blackout" was
realized, and on September 9 a statutory order allowed places of entertainment to
open up to 10 p.m. in "neutral and reception areas," that is, areas from which
there was no evacuation or to which evacuees were taken. By September 15 general
reopening was allowed except in the one and a half miles around Leicester Square,
the entertainment center of London. Not long afterwards, even this area was
allowed to remain open until 10 p.m.; and by December 5 the police commissioner
in London was allowed to authorize closing hours later than 11 p.m., while the
limits were lifted altogether in reception areas.
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Since those first uncertain days the provision of entertainment and relaxation
has come to be recognized as essential in maintaining the efficiency of a nation
at war. This view was expressed by the Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, in
the:: I louse:: of Commons, March 12, 1942:
"The Government's wartime policy with regard to entertainments has been to
pern1it them to continue on a restricted basis in the belief that, within reason, popular entertainments act as a lubricant rather than a brake to the war machine. The
Government will not impose more restrictions than war requirements render expedient, but such requirements must obviously be the first consideration and there
wi ll be no hesitation to impose such further restrictions as may be needed in the
interests of the war effort. On the other hand there is no intention of i1nposing
needless hindrances to recreation or of carrying restrictions so far that total war
unnecessarily becomes total misery."
Gene1·al Restrictions
The conditions of total war ob' iously rnakl rec rcation on a peacetime scale
impossible and undesirable. Four particular factors make it necessary to reduce
or control entertainment facilities: civil defense sccuritr. transport restrictions, the
necessity that recreation should not interfere \vith working hours, an<l the manpov.er shortage.
1. Because of the dangers that may result from air attack upon l.trge crov.·ds
the Government has empowered the police to restrict the nun1ber of persons attending entertainments or to control the capacity lo which a theatre or stadium may
be filled.
T he blackout that is enforced over the British Isles every night makes outdoor
events at night impossible. I t has also necessitated a thorough and expensive
'blacking-out' of all theatres. Lighte<l marquees an<l neon light advertisements
are a thing of the past and theatre-goers must enter through dark curtains and
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lobbies. To some extent the blackout has discou raged potential pleasure-seekers
from venturing out into uplighted streets, though as people have become accustomed
to the blackout it has become less of a deterrent.
ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH CULTURAL
ACTIVITIES IN WARTIME
1. Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts ( C.E.M.A.)
2. No concessions are made to pleasure-seekers in regard to transport facili ties.
Government patronage of the arts has in wartime been granted on an unprecedented scale. I t is exercised primarily through the Council f or the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (generally known as CEMA) . In D ecember, 1939,
the Council was set up by the Pilgrim T rust, at the suggestion of the Board of
Education, to protect the interests of artists and to encourage the development of
art, music and drama under war conditions. For the first two years of the Council
the Pilgrim Trust and the Board of Education shared the expenses ($100,000 annually) and Lord MacMillan, chairman of the Trust, led the organization of the
new enterprise. In March, 1942, the T reasury, acting through the Board of Education, undertook the whole cost. At the same time Mr. J. M. (later Lord) Keynes
became chairman of the organization. At present the Treasury grants some
$400,000 annually to the Council. The principal aim of CEMA is to provide the
people with music, drama and painting at popular prices- taking "the best to
the most" at prices within the reach of all, ana visiting particularly those places
least accessible to entertainment of high quality. No tendency to vulgarize the
arts in order to achieve quick popularity has been permitted. Instead the Council
has worked with extraordinary success to raise the general standard of artistic
appreciation.
The work of the Council is divided into three parts-music, art and drama.
In December, 1942, the President of the Board of Education appointed three
specialist panels of persons closely connected with these arts to assist the Council
in ead1 branch. The <:;entral Council continues to direct general policy and expenditure, but the panels, each in its own field, consider all applications for assistance and all activities. Regional officers (often themselves accomplished in one
or other of the arts) of the Council are established in the twelve Civil D efense
Regions of the country and maintain and encourage local contacts and local initiative.
Details of the Council's activities in each field are given below (see Music,
Gasoline is obtainable only by persons whose car is essential to their business or
public duties, and private cars may not be used for private pleasure. The promoter
of a boxing match , or a newspaper reporter may, if no other transport is available,
use a car to attend the match. But the spectators may not.
No extra trains or buses are at any tin1e run for recreational purposes. Apart
from the fact that all available transport is needed for the use of war industry or
the Forces, it is considered that in every locality sufficient entertainment facilities
within walking distance are, or can be made available. No longer can people
travel from all over Britain to attend national sporting events like the Derbyor theatrical events like the Annual Shakespeare Festival at Stratford-on-Avon.
Each center of population increasingly provides its own amusements. During the
summer holiday season the Government encourages local authorities to organize
"Holidays at Home" schemes. Holidays which were formerly spent at the seaside
or in the country are now spent enjoying the variety of fairs, music, open-air plays
and dances offered by local talent and by touring companies.
3. In order that entertainment, particularly sports, should be strictly recreational and should not trespass on working hours the Government has taken steps
to control the times of games. For example, professional association football
(soccer) is confined to Saturdays, public holidays and local half-holidays, dog
racing may be held on one day a week only-and the times of races may be fixed
by the Home Office to prevent interference with working hours.
4. In general no exemption is granted to entertainers, either men or women,
who are liable for national service. The deferment of musicians is considered by
an Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Labour. Deferment of men under
thirty is never recommended. Other Advisory Committees deal with actors appearing in the commercial theatre· and those appearing for Entertainments National
Service Association (ENSA- see below). Thirty is the lowest age limit for actors
also. Actors who are deferred must undertake to perform for not Jess than six
weeks a year for ENSA through the Theatres War Service Council, and the employer makes a similar undertaking for his show. Physically unfit men in full-time
employment as actors or musicians are usually allowed to remain where they are.
Actors employed full time by ENSA, and thus devoting their whole time to entertai ning the Forces and factory workers, are more likely to obtain deferment than
actors in the commercial theatre. Women arc deferred more freely than 1nen,
especially if they are in theatrical companies doing good work in entertaining
members of the Armed Forces and factory workers.
Actors in the Forces are occasionally given leave to act in moving picture or
stage productions considered important to the war effort.
Entertainment producers must, of course, rely for their general labor on such
men and women as are not liable to national service in the factories or Forces.
Youths and girls under eighteen are often found in positions of considerable
responsibility, back stage, as stage hands and electricians.
Admission to entertainments is subject to taxation. The tax on living entertainment (stage plays, ballet, concerts, lectures, vaudeville and circuses) is somewhat less than that on moving picture shows. For a $1.50 (7 /6d.) theatre seat
the additional tax is roughly 60¢ (3/ - ). For an 85¢ moving picture seat the
additional tax is roughly 84¢ and for a 25¢ seat the tax is about 21¢. This heavy
rate of taxation has not had any perceptible effect on attendance at entertainments.
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Theatre, At·t).
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During the winter of 1940-41 CEMA's .first duty was the provision of entertainment in badly bombed cities- especially in air-raid shelters and rest centers.
For some months sixty parties visited the centers of damage in London every week.
This work still goes on when towns are bombed and CEMA has 'flying squads'
of entertainers ready to go to the scene of air raids if required by the local authorities.
Today, however, the most important part of CEMA's work is the encouragement of local artistic projects and the provision through its own artists and resources of entertainment of high quality for civilian workers and members of
the Forces.
2. Entertainments National Service Association (E.N.S.A.) was
formed as a voluntary society in 1938 with the intention of providing a pool of
theatrical talent for entertaining the Forces in case of war. On the outbreak of
war, it was ready to take up this work actively and set up headquarters at Drury
Lane Theatre in London. Its first performance was given on September 9, 1939,
six days after the outbreak of war. In 1941 it was recognized as the sole official
organization (except CEMA ) responsible for the enterlainment of the Forces.
The Association has no funds of its own and is subsidized by a Treasury grant
administered by Navy, Army and A ir Force Institutes (a nonprofit-making company responsible for providing comforts and amenities for British Servicemen) *
* For an
account of NAAFI see "Service for the Services," obtainable from British In·
formation Services, New York.
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Charges of 5¢ for enlisted men, 10¢ for N.C.O.'s and .20¢ for officers are usually
made for admission to ENSA shows. The total expenditure now amounts to about
$8,800,000, of which $1,600,000 is borne by the Ministry of Labour, for industrial entertainment (see Theatre below) .
Besides stage performances ?NSA ~l~o co-operates with th_e British Broadcasting Corporation (see below) 1n prov1d1ng broadc~st enterta1.nment for w_orkers
and the Fighting Forces. An Advisory Broadcasting Counal representative of
all sections of the entertainment world supervises this work.
ENSA is closely associated with the commercial t~:atre, as most of its l?erformers and administrators come from it, and the Bntish Theatre War Services
Council-representative of commercial entertainment- arra~ges th~l cerlain popular
commercial productions are offered to ENSA w~en they finish their run, and those
selected make six-week tours under ENSA auspices.
As official entertainer of the Armed Forces, ENSA goes overseas wherever
units of the Forces are stationed.
After Dunkirk, in July, 1940, when the vital work of rearming Britain necessitated extremely long hours of work, a correspond ing n~ed for entertainment and
relaxation of the workers became apparent. ENSA s service was the refore extended
to include civilian workers. Today the organization provides music and concert
parties for factories and workers' hostels, as well as in army camps and stations.
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To meet its wider responsibilities the activities of the organization were coordina,ted in October, 1940, by the formation of an Inter-Departmental Ent~r­
tainments Board.* In May, 1941, on the advice of this Board, a National Service
Entertainments Board was set up, comprising represcntat~ves .of the Ser~ice Departments, the Ministry of Labour, and_ ~AAFI. Under 1~s. ~1rector, Basil Dean,
this Board became responsible for organ1z1ng all ENSA activities.
3. The British Broadcasting Corporation is a public corporation in-
vested by its Royal Charter ~ith the re_sp?nsibility of broadcasting in. the United
Kingdom. A nonprofit-making body, 1t 1s financed .not by. commercial sponso:s
but by parliamentary grants and by revenue fro~ 'v!reless licenses ($2 a year is
paid by all wireless owners) and froi;n B.B.C..Publ1cat1ons. Its Boa.rd o~ Govern~rs,
nominated by the Government, appoint the Director General, who 1s chief executive
officer of the organization.
In June, 1939, there were 9,009,000 radio license holders, estimated to represent about 3 2,000,000 listeners out of a population of s?me 47 ,000,000. More
than seven out of every ten families in Great Britain are listeners.
In wartime the Government, through the Ministry of Information, has the
power to control the policy of the corporation in matters affecting the .war eff?rt,
the publication of news, and the conduct of pr_opaganda. But 7ven 1n wa~me
the corporation enjoys wide independence of policy. News bull_e~1ns are compiled
objectively from the same sources and under. the same cond1t1o~s. as ~pply to
newspapers. The go"ernors remain entirely 1n control of adm1n1stration and
technical services.
Owing to its position of public trust as th~ ~~l~ b~oadcast!ng service of the
United Kingdom, the B.B.C. has. heav~ respons1b11tt1es in ~art1~e. It broadcasts
a variety of programs to Europe, 1nclud1ng 140 news bulletins daily. It must also
carry the news to the people at home and relay important Government. announcements and speeches. But besides all this, it provides broadcast enterta1nment for
Servicemen and for civilians.
* Sec
FifJh ReporJ of SelecJ Commiuee on NaJional Expenditure, (HCR 58/1941-2).
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Before the war entertainment was included on several National and Regional
programs. In wartime, broadcasts within the British Isles are restricted to two-the Home Services and the General Forces Program. Civilians and Servicemen
listen, of course, to both stations according to taste. On the whole the General
Forces Program contains more light entertainment, while the Home Program is
more serious, including broadcasts for schools and housewives, talks and music.
In January, 1944, the Forces' Program was amalgamated with the Overseas Program, which formerly went to the Forces overseas, so that today overseas troops
hear the same broadcasts as their families at home. Both programs begin at 7 a.m.
and cease at midnight.
Of the various divisions of the B.B.C., the Program Division is the one mainly
concerned with entertainment broadcasting- music, plays and features, variety, outside broadcast, children's hour, and gramophone programs.*
4. Central Institute of Art and Design
The C.l.A.D. was founded in 1939 as an organization co-ordinating national
societies representative of artists, designers and craftsmen in Britain. Its objects
include the development of .fine and applied art and design, as well as the representation of artists before the Government and public bodies. The membership
of the Institute now consists of more than forty federated associations concerned
with art and design, and over 3,000 individual subscribers. Federated associations
include the Artists International Association, the Contemporary Art Society, the
Royal Drawing Society, Society for Education in Art and the National Register of
Industrial Art Designers.
With the object of increasing employment opportunities for artists both during
and after the war the Institute has taken an active part in the promotion of artistic
activities in Britain. It has negotiated with the Government on several matters
affecting artists in wartime, playing an important part in the initiation of the
"Recording Britain" scheme (see below). It has provided artists who undertake
camouflage work, publicity, cartography and the decoration of canteens and British
Restaurants. A Loan Scheme has been organized to supply R.A.F. and Army nurses
with pictures and other works of art. It originated lhe idea of Local Art Centers,
which have been formed as foci of local art activities- lectures, discussion groups,
exhibitions, sketching classes and post-war town and country planning. By February, 1942, twenty-seven of these centers had been formed.
Long-range plans of the Institute include the encouragement of a revival in
craftsmanship; the mobilization of craftsmen to help in the reconstruction of
Britain; a National Art Center in London; international co-operation in the sphere
of the arts, for which/urpose meetings of representatives of Allied countries have
already been organize _by the Institute.
The Institute has issued a memorandum outlining its plans for "A National Art
Policy."
* In
selecting material for broadcasting the Division is aided by a Listener Research
Department which is responsible for keeping in touch with the tastes and opinions of listeners.
It maintains three correlated sources of information for this purpose. Every day the number
of listeners to all programs is ascertained by direct personal .interviews of a sample of the
population. These interviews are supplemented by the reports of Listening Panels. There is
one of these, consisting of 600-1,000 ordinary listeners for each of the main types of broadcasting. The members are sent questionnaires relating to individual programs. From the completed forms detailed reports of listeners' reactions to the fifteen most important programs
of each week are issued. Finally, there are 2,000 civilian and 700 Servicemen local correspondents whose views are collected every month and used in assessing public opinion on
any matter affecting B.B.C. policy. Their answers are based not only on personal taste but
on discussions with their friends. Some 200,000 letters of comment or criticism received by
the Corporation every year are also carefully analyzed.
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Accommodation for the Institute during the war has been provided by the
National Gallery. The Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts
contributes a substantial grant.
operative body, admitting as shareholders only the players themselves and excluding
all other interests. A committee of five orchestra me1nbers is elected to undertake
the major responsibility and to make final decisions. Another committee prepares
programs which are confirme~ by the ~anagemcn_t. a:°d the conducto~ conce~ne~.
A third , the Orchestral Committee, considers the cnt1cisms and suggestions of 1ndi.
vidual members of the orchestra. Audiences, too, have shown a fine co-operative
spirit. When Queen's Hall in London was destroyed during the air raids the
instruments of the London Philharmonic were also lost; a public appeal was made
for instruments to enable the orchestra to carry on and in a great demonstration
of public good will more than 2,000 were contributed.
5. British Institute of Adult Education
The Institute was founded in 1921 for the purpose of furthering the idea of
adult education and suggesting new developments as they seemed necessary.
The Institute has always considered the training of people in the appreciation
of art as an integral part of adult education, and in 1935 it undertook a sd1eme
for promoting exhibitions of cultural value under the title "Art for the Pe.opl:."
Usually the Institute limits itself to experimenting with new schemes ~nd .maintaining them until some other body is encouraged to take over the organization. The
Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts has now taken over the
"Art for the People" scheme, but it still receives considerable assis~ance and advi~e
from the Institute. The scheme, now grown far beyond the experimental stage, 1s
more fully described under Art, below.
l"unch Hour Concerts
The most notable London musical enterprise has been the series of one o'clock
lunch hour concerts which were inaugurated at the National Gallery by Dame
Myra Hess in 1939. The National Gallery was cleared of its art treasures at the
outbreak of war and was vacant when the idea was conceived of using it as a concert
hall. The scheme was devised especially for office workers with a free lunch hour.
A cafeteria in another part of the galleries enables the aud~ences t? have a 9.u}ck
lunch of sandwiches and coffee before the concert. Admittance 1s one shilling
(about 20¢) . Most of the finest musicians in the country have played at the
National Gallery and it has also been a testing ground for young performers.
Chamber music, instrumental solos and songs have been most successful under the
informal conditions of the Gallery. Attendance is estimated at about 3,000 a week.
Not a single concert has been postponed, despite the blitz, ftnce October, 1939,
when the enterprise began.
Since 1940 the concerts have been assisted by a CEMA grant. Similar concerts
are given at the Royal Exchange for workers in the heart of the City of London,
an<l other cities liave taken up the idea. During the summer lunch band concerts,
arranged by the London County Council, are given in the London parks while
the audience picnics on the grass.
MUSIC
Music, like the other arts, has successfully survived the blitz; indeed, concerts
now draw larger and keener audiences than in pre-war days.
The great orchestras of the country are all active, des.pite the difficulty of finding artists, and new ones have been formed (e.g., the National Syll?-phony Or~estra
in London) while the H~lle Orchestra of ~anchester and th.e L!verl?ool Ph1lha~­
monic have been reconstituted. Other Br1ttsh orchestras still carry1ng on their
work often over a wider area than ever before, are the London Philharmonic,
Lond~n Symphony, Northern Philharmonic, Bournemouth (Wc:ssex) Philharmonic
and Scottish Orchestras.
Until the beginning of 1942 the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which has a
long-term policy for encouraging music, gave financial aid .to these orchestras to
enable them to give a limited number of concerts outside their home towns. Thus
many places were given the opportunity to hear :·live" orchestral music _for the first
time. From January, 1943, CEMA took over this work an~ the Carnegie Trust has
confined itself to the encouraO'ement of amateur work while CEMA has assumed
responsibility for helping professional orchestras, operas and soloists.
On April l, 1944, four orchestras-the Halle? Liverpool Ph.ill~armo~ic, London
Philharmonic and London Symphony---entered into full association with CEMA,
with the result that the Council now supports the whole work of the orchestras,
rather than helping them on a conce.rt-by-coi:iccrt ~asis. The. object ~f this ~rrange­
ment is to enable orchestras to continue their policy of tounng outside their home
towns and to maintain the best possible working conditio~s an~ artisti~ s~andar~s.
The Northern Philharmonic and Scottish Orchestras continue 1n assooahon with
CEMA for a limited number of concerts.
Not subsidies, however, but the enterprise and energy of the orchestras ~hem­
selves have been mainly responsible for their success. When the war came it appeared that the complicated and expensive mechanism of symphony orchestras
would be shattered. It was the musicians who took the bold decision to take the
orchestras to the untried audiences of provincial towns. In peacetitne it is difficult
to tour a full-sized orchestra. In wartime it is almost i1npossible. But the experiment has achieved the reward of creating an entirely new and enthusiastic audience
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for serious music.
Indicative of the new spirit of ~ritish orche~tras was the way .in which the
London Philharmonic, when faced with collapse in 1939, reformed itself as a co-
C.E.M.A. and Music
Music Organizers and Regional officers in all the Civil Defense Regions of
England and Scotland encourage and organize local musical enterprise. In Wales
arrangements are made in co-operation with the Welsh National Council for Music.
Besides supporting the national symphony orchestras (see above) CEMA is
associated with a number of chamber orchestras and string orchestras. A form of
association has been evolved which "while leaving the orchestras full artistic
independence, will help to consolidate their position, maintain a high standard of
performance and improve conditions of work." The New London Orchestra, a
chamber orchestra, and the Arthur Catterall, Boyd Neel, Jacques, and London
Women's String Orchestras are thus associated. They tour the country under the
same conditions as the drama companies associated with CEMA (see Theatre,
below).
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During the heaviest air raids CEMA's primary responsibility was to bring the
consolation and encouragement of music to homeless people in rest centers. Even
more important today is the work that is being done in bringing first class music
to remote districts and industrial centers which for years have suffered from
"musical starvation." An entirely new and fresh audience has been introduced to
good music during the war and has received it with appreciation and enthusiasm.
This has been as marked in the Army and factories as among civilians. Over 150
concerts a week are given under the patronage of CEMA, and more are due to its
encouragement. Two types of concert are provided. First, there are those given
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by orchestras and soloists touring under the Council's auspices. They take place in
workers' hostels, factory canteens, rest centers, army huts, centers for American
and other Allied troops and for members of Allied Merchant Navies. In 1942 a
successful series of concerts was given in the seamen's hostels in the Dockland
area of London. In villages the concerts are given in churches, schoolrooms, village
halls, country inns or, in the summer, on village greens. First in this field were
the Music Travellers who were appointed in January, 1940, to meet Sir Walford
Davies' conception of fine performers traveling around the country making music
for and with the people and organizing their own concerts.
The concerts provided at lunch time, in factory canteens, are constantly increasing. To meet the difficulty of competition between the music and the food
the lunch hour is often divided into two halves-the first for the meal, the second
for the concert.
In accordance with CEMA' s policy of encouraging audiences to pay for what
they like, directly-provided concerts are not free, except for special wartime audiences of factory workers or Servicemen. Sometimes a small admission fee is
charged, sometimes the returns are derived from sale of programs, sometimes a
collection is made. Factory managements are asked to make special donations.
These returns are put back into the work of providing more and better music.
Artists engaged in the work are enrolled on special panels drawn up by CEMA.
They are paid flat-rate fees and the work they do is recognized by the Ministry
of Labour.
The second type of concert is that guaranteed against loss by CEMA. The
guarantee enables local clubs to employ the best artists and to maintain high
standards in their programs. Either orchestras or organizing bodies (e.g., music
clubs or committees) can apply for guarantees to cover one or a series of concerts.
Only orchestras and soloists of high quality are subsidized in this way as CEMA
insist on providing only lhe best available entertainn1ent for its audiences.
An example of how one CEMA concert leads to another and the provision of
good music becomes a cumulative process is given in the CEMA bulletin of September, 1942:
of
"In the spring and summer of 1941 the authorities
a badly bombed town
asked for help in the provision of music for their working people. A series of
10¢ lunch tin1e concerts was arranged, CEMA taking full responsibility. The
music was appreciated and the series repeated ; and by the autumn the town council
felt able and anxious to try something more ambitious of their own. They began
a series of Sunday concerts at the theatre (which had been closed since the beginning of the war) with a CEMA guarantee against loss. Twelve were given and
they produced an average attendance of 1,300 and a handsome pro.fit which was
used partly to buy a really good piano and partly to launch the next winter's
season." '"fhus CEMA provides the impetus for cultural activity in many towns,
encouraging local enterprise and stimulating musical appreciation.
for arranging concerts for the Forces and organizing orchestras and choirs and
chamber music groups composed of Service men and women. A very high
standard has been attained and festivals have been held in which orchestras, conductors and soloists were all members of the Forces.
In October, 1943, with the co-operation of the Ministry of Labour, EN~A
organized a series of 160 concerts for war workers throughout the country. Price
of admittance to these is 10¢-20¢ and some of the finest orchestras and soloists
in the country have taken part. Attendance varies from about 400 to 2,500. Admission is strictly limited to workers who obtain vouchers from their factories and
exchange them for tickets at the box office. Concerts for miners are to be developed
during 1944.
Gramophone circles in the Armed Forces or among factory workers are numbered in hundreds. These circles collect their own library of records and are also
able to borrow them from ENSA libraries.
The Y.M.C.A. has organized a fleet of mobile music vans. These carry one
or two musicians, a small piano and gramophone equipment. One large sightseeing bus has been converted into a traveling concert hall complete with tiny
stage and auditorium. With these resources short concerts are given for Serv~ce­
men on isolated stations. Often the audience is only ten or twelve men operating
an anti-aircraft searchlight in some remote area, but two concerts are always
given each day and the vans reach large numbers of men scattered throughout
the country. The service has a definite policy of encouraging a taste for good
music and its programs arc largely composed of classical music.
Musicians and Composers in Wartime
Like other artists musicians are not exempt from national service. This has,
of course, been the greatest difficulty of music organizations, the number drafted
having been very large. There is, however, a special Committee of the Ministry
of Labour to consider deferment from Military Service for musicians whose work
is considered of national importance; most of these are associated with CEMA
or ENSA.
Composition has suffered during the war. To encourage new works by new
composers the Arrangers, Composers and Copyists Section of the Musicians' Union
has formed a Committee for the Promotion of New Music, and has organized
experimental rehearsals of new orchestral works followed by discussion and
criticism. The Committee has the support of CEMA.
In view of the serious effect of war on the finances of musical institutions on
which the supply of musicians depends the Board of Education and Treasury have
appointed a committee to consider giving these institutions special grants.
Broadcast Music
CEMA is not the only organization providing music for the people. ENSA
programs include musicians and orchestras. Most of these offer dance music and
other light music of entertainment value. This type of music is, of course, very
popular in workers' canteens and hostels as well as army camps. But ENSA too
has not been content to provide nothing but popular and well-known music. After
October, 1940, when an experimental symphony concert for soldiers of the Aldershot Garrison met with unexpected success, an Advisory Music Council was set
up and made responsible for the development of serious musical activities among
Service men and women, defense workers, miners, and members of the Wo1nen's
land Army. Advisers attached to ea<ii of the Military Commands are responsible
Of the two stations now used by the B.B.C. the Home Service provides more
serious music and the Forces Program more light music. A high general level has
been maintained. Three developments are worth noting. First, there has been an increase of community singing and other forms of participation by listeners. Secondly,
broadcasts have encouraged amateur music-making by educational talks and by
bringing amateur performers to the air, either in person or on recordings. Thirdly,
intelligent listening to good music has been encouraged by talks on musical appreciation both for children and adults.
The Promenade Concerts at the Albert Hall in London, so-called because there
are no chairs for the audience on the floor of the house, continue their successful
career under the auspices of the B.B.C. Some five broadcasts a week are given from
10
11
these concerts which present the finest of Britain's orchestras, conductors and soloists. Sir Henry Wood in 1943 conducted his forty-ninth season of these concerts.
The B.B.C. has played an important part in the work of entertaining factory
workers, through its program "Music While You W ork"-short programs of light
music heard by over 8,000,000 workers daily. The broadcasts are relayed to
workers at the bench.*
.
THEATRE
War conditions have affected the theatre as severely as any other branch of
the arts. The present 'boom' in theatre productions has not been achieved without much ingenuity and perseverance among members of the profession in overcoming difficulties due to the war.
Th~ blackout regulations have necessitated a thorough and expensive 'blackingout' of all theatres. Lights outside the theatre are, of course, prohibited, and as
a fuel economy measure lighting within the theatre is restricted to one watt per
square foot except on the stage and in the artists' dressing rooms.
As trains and buses do not now usually run after 10 p.m., theatres and other
en'tertainment centers must start their last program between 5 : 30 and 7 p.m. Most
evening entertainment is over well before midnight.
Make-up for the artists is difficult to find and costs double the pre-war price.
Chorus girls must show a letter from the stage management before they can obtain
make-up and must often wait weeks before they can get the special types required.
Producers must make-do with old scenery, cut up· and repainted. Canvas costs
one and a half times as much as it did before the war, and plywood, four times
as much. The wardrobe mistresses must remake old costumes and make constant
search for unrationed materials such as net, feathers and lace. The Board of Trade
grants a certain number of clothing coupons for stage productions. These go to
the stars, and chorus girls must wear re-made or off-ration garments. Only one pair
of shoes, instead of six, is allowed to each girl.
Despite these various difficulties, the theatres have rarely been so successful.
In Lonaon, at the end of 1943, there were about thirty shows running. Both
musicals and serious plays are popular. Revivals of classics (sometimes sponsored,
though not guaranteed by CEMA) e.g., Turgenev's "Month in the Country" and
Congreve's "Love for Love," and war plays (e.g., "Flare Path") have all been
successful. A considerable number of American plays have been produced in London. "Arsenic and Old Lace," "Dubarry was a Lady" and "Petrified Forest" are
only three of many American successes.
More significant than the success of the London stage, however, has been the
work done during the war to bring theatrical productions to people who have
hitherto rarely seen a stage play. Much of the credit for this goes to CEMA which
has particularly interested itself in this work.
The first theatre organization to come directly under the Council was the
Old Vic Theatre- a nonprofit-making company famous in pre-war London for
its revivals of the classics. The actual theatre was destroyed during the air raids
and the Council's assistance saved the company from disbandment. Under CEMA's
auspices, the Old Vic sent one company, headed by Dame Sybil Thorndike, to
play "Macbeth" in the Welsh mining valleys and another to perform comedies
in industrial areas of the North Country. The plays were given in village halls
and schools to packed audiences. These companies have been on tour ever since,
though there has been interchange of players in London and the provinces.
*For an account of these program' see "Music While You Work" (ID 420), obtainable
from British Informaton Services, New Yorlc.
12
1•
\
Other nonprofit-making theatres have since received the Council's financial
assistance in return for the work they are doing in entertaining war workers.
Birmingham and Liverpool repertory companies were given financial help. The
Sadlers Wells Theatre, an associate of the Old Vic and a center for ballet and
opera, assisted in touring a "miniature opera" outside London.
A traveling company, called the Pilgrim Players, has been guaranteed by the
Council against loss in its tours of factories, schools, churches, community centers,
air-raid shelters and army huts. The Company consists of ten players who design
and make their own costumes and look after their own advance publicity. They
receive Servicemen's pay plus traveling allowances. Their repertoire includes
Shaw's "Village Wooing," Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" and two plays by
James Bridie especially written for the company. Their performances of religious
plays in churches have brought back into popularity a medieval custom. The
Market Theatre is a similar venture toured by the Council and specializes in
open-air performances on village greens and market places. A Welsh company
has been formed to tour plays in the Welsh language. Numerous others give onenight performances in hostels, canteens, etc.
CEMA has also been responsible for Britain's first experiment with a theatre
owned and managed by the State. The scene of the experiment is the Theatre
Royal at Bristol, one of the country's oldest and finest theatres with a great stage
tradition going back to the eighteenth century. Early in 1943, when the theatre
was about to be closed for financial reasons, CEMA stepped in and leased it.
Today traveling companies are playing at the theatre on two-week stands. Concerts arc given every other Sunday and art exhibitions are held in the foyer and
vestibule. The Theatre Royal has become a new kind of community center for
the people of Bristol, and an example to the other cities of the country of the
advantages of public aid to the theatre.
The drama department of CEMA bas also taken ballet under its wing. The
Sadlers Wells, Ballet Jooss and Ballet Rambert companies have all toured under
its auspices. Ballet, which was already one of London's most popular entertainments, has been brought before a far wider audience throughout the country.*
In \VOrkers' hostels, army huts and factory canteens it has been received with
enthusiasm. An art exhibition of ballet design has also been toured by the
Council.
Open-air plays in the summer and lunch hour productions for workers have
become popular during the war. During the summer of 1943, the Parks Committee of the London County Council and CEMA co-operated in producing ballet,
musical comedy and opera in two London parks.
Admission prices to CEMA performances are not high, but some charge, from
25¢ to $1, is usually made, as it has been discovered that audiences tend to underrate free performances.
While CEMA entertains civil defense workers and civilians in general, the
work of rroviding theatrical entertainment for the Forces is primarily the responsibility o ENSA. The Drury Lane headquarters of the Association are the scene
of constant auditions and rehearsals by top-rank British actors and comedians.
ENSA has attracted artists of every degree of fame into its ranks. Salaries are
.fixed at a basic National Service rate-maximum $40 per week. Chorus girls
average $20. Many famous stars give their services. The object of ENSA, however, is not an occasional all-star show but a regular service of good entertainment
to supplement ordinary commercial entertainments. Troupes do regular one-night
stands wherever Fighting Forces are stationed-often under the roughest conditions
* A season of ballet, opera, and musical
plays will shortly open at Covent Garden for the
6rst time since the war began.
13
•
ART
on tours which may last anything from a few days to many months. During tours
they are accommodated either in special hostels (in November, 1942, there were
forty-two scattered throughout Britain) or in billets. Over 3,000 performers are
employed.
The confusions of war necessarily interrupt the work of development of artists.
But as far as possible war conditions in Britain have not been allowed to obscure
the contributions of permanent value that artists make to the cultural life of their
country. There has even been during the war increased appreciation and utilization
of the talents of artists in Britain, reflected in large attendances at exhibitions,
increased purchases (and not only by wealthy collectors) of original paintings and
in Government employment of artists.
As in every other branch of artistic activity there have been severe material
limitations on artists. Canvas and paint, wood and metals, are all difficult to
obtain. All artists have had to dean or use the backs of old canvases to obtain
material for their new works. Landscape artists were restricted at the beginning
of the war by the anti-espionage Control of Photography orders which applied
equally to sketching. Artists approved by the Central Institute of Art and Design
are now issued with permits to allow them to do outdoor sketching.
Four types of shows are provided: large revues or plays given in permanent
build_ings f~r camp audiences; smaller_ tro~pes that go to less permanent places
carrying their own portab~e stag7 and hg~t1ng equipment;. mobile cinemas; parties
of ab?ut four per~ons _with their o~n piano who lead sing-songs in camps and
factories and provide simple entertainment not requiring stage effects.
By the end of ~943 ~~SA was giving an average of 3,070 performances a
week to the Forces 1n Br1ta1n. Camp halls have been built by the War Office or
take': over by NA_AFI and us~d by ENSA as fully equipped garrison theatres. An
A?visory Int~rnat1onal Council arranges that Forces of Allied Nations are entertained 1n their own lan~~age by artists of their own nationality. In December,
19~2~ ENSA _was also g1v1ng fifty performances a week for American soldiers in
Britain. Special arrangements are made for hospitals and the staff of prisoners-ofwar camps.
Lunch hour entertainments are popular among defense workers. By the end
of 1913 an avera~e of 1,375 performances a week were being given. Nearly 2,000
f actones were being regularly supplied with entertainment.
Encouraged by the outstanding success of its venture in taking serious music
to the Forces, ENSA extended its activities to full-scale stage productions at the
end of 1943. Sever~! ~ondon play~ were _offered by producers for a three-week
season for the Assooatton, t-0 play 1n garrison theatres and naval establishments.
The plays ~ave been very popular in the Armed Services. Alfred Lunt and Lynn
Fontanne, 1n Robert Sherwood's "There Shall Be No Night" are among many
artists who gave their services.
'
The Government and the Artist
Amateur Drama
. Ama_teur ~cting has been encouraged by the British Drama League, an organization _wh1c~ aims at the development of the theatre and the promotion of a close
rel~~1onsh1p between drama and the life of the community. Over 570 units of the
Bnt~s~ Armed Forces were affiliated to the League by the end of 1943 and were
rece1v1ng costumes, books, scripts, etc.
Through the Board of Education amateur acling was encouraged by the League
among youth clubs. Regular courses are held for youth leaders. By the end of
1943, 413 youth clubs and committees were affiliated.
Air-Raid Shelter Entertainment
Various voluntary and official organizations have worked for the entertainment
and relaxation of persons in air-raid shelters. The West Ham Shelter Entertain~ents Group and the Bermondsey Shelter Council did great work in making shelter
hfe more tolerable through organized entertainment.
. Toynbee Hall, the great settlement house in London's East End, also organized,
in October, 1~4~, shows f o_r London shelters. The players were provided by
ENSA, the or1g1nal expenditure by Toynbee Hall. An interest in drama was
aroused amongst shelterers, who soon began to present plays of their own. In
order that they should have a real stage to perform on Toynbee Hall's new theatre
was opened to the~. This led in its turn to organized Drama Festivals, the first
of wh1?i was held in October, 1942. These last about eight weeks, being held on
successive Saturday afternoons. Four plays are given each afternoon. The judges
are generally well-known producers and the prize is a sum of money to be spent
on books on dramatic art.
Similar amateur festivals have been held elsewhere in the country.
•
In 1939 an Artists' Advisory Committee, under the auspices of the Ministry
of Information, was for med to commission suitable artists for recording significant aspects of the war and to advise on the purchase of works of artistic merit for
the national art collections. The committee includes such well-known artists and
connoisseurs as Sir Kenneth Clarke, Sir Muirhead Bone and Professor Randolph
Schwabe. Well over 2,000 works have been purchased, including some of the
finest paintings produced in Britain during half a century.
The paintings are collected by the Committee in a variety of ways. A few
artists have been officially appointed as full-time salaried artists attached to the
Arrned Services and to the Ministry of War Transport. Artists attached to the
Admiralty have seen active service at sea in pursuit of scenes suitable for painting.
War Ofl1ce artists have followed and recorded the Bux of battle in the Middle
East, North Africa and the European continent. William Coldstream, Graham
Sutherland, Stanley Spencer, Edward Ardizzone, Eric Ravilious (who lost his life
while returning from Iceland in 1943), Eric Kennington, Sir Muirhead Bone,
Paul Nash, and Anthony Cross are among the best known of these artists. Others
are commissioned for a certain period, on a salary, to cover one specific subject,
e.g., the R.A.F. bomb damage, barrage balloons, the Women's Land Army. Numbers of single works have been commissioned at fixed rates and any artist, whether
in the Services or not, can submit origin~! pa!ntings of Britain ~t war to the
Committee. Forty or fifty are often subm1ttca in a week under this scheme, _b~t
only about five per cent are usually suitable as they must b~ of first-clas.s artistic
merit and picture an aspect of the war effort not yet covered 1n the collection.
Portrai~s, ba~tle scenes,_ landscapes, still-lifes, paintings o~ men an~ ~?men at
work and 1n act1on are all included-. Few aspects of war, as 1t affects civilians and
members of the Forces, have been neglected. Since January, 1943, 1,100 works
have been accepted.
Paintings thus collected have been shown in several War Artists Exhibitions
held periodically at the National Gallery in London. ~ubsequently condensed versions of the exhibitions are sent on tour by the Counal for the Encouragement of
Music and the Arts. In Britain they are shown in provincial art galleries, British
Restaurants and factory canteens, and they have also been sent overseas.
A Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime was set up in 1?39
under the Ministry of Labour. This committee has made many recommendatio~s
to the Government, one of them resulting in the "Recording Britain" scheme. This
scheme, which was financed to the extent of over $24,000 by the Pilgrim Trust, was
15
14
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the most interesting art development of the war has been the provision
of exh1b1t1on fo r parts of the country which have never before had opportunities
of seeing painting of high quality. Much of the credit for this goes to the cooperation of the British Institute of Adult Education and the Council for the
Encouragement of Music and the Arts. The B.I.A.E.'s "Art for the People" scheme
was started before the war and included three or four exhibitions annually which
toured the country. In 1940 it received a grant from CEMA. The number of
exhibitions was increased and in 1942, when CEMA started organizing them on
its own, no less than 326 exhibitions were held. D uring 1942 it is estimated that
at least 500,000 people visited 30 exhibitions circulated by CEMA and B.I.A.E.
The touring exhibitions are shown in every type of public building-cathedrals,
schools, town halls, factories, museums, civil defense centers and libraries. Small
civic art galleries eagerly look for these exhibitions which add variety and quality
~o their own permanent possessions. CEMA pays all the ~x.penses of transport and
insurance while borrowers pay an average of $20 for a minimum two-week period.
Larger exhibitions cost $20 a week and photo exhibitions $4 a week. Free posters
for local over-printing, free lectures, and catalogues for sale are proviaed by
CEMA. Admittance to exhibitions is usually free and catalogues are about 5¢ each.
The exhibits are generally borrowed from private collectors or artists. Those
by living artists are for sale and no commission is charged by the Council. Pictures
bought cannot, of course, be removed from the exhibition until the end of the
tour. CEMA pays a small hiring fee to the artist for ead1 picture borro\ved.
The exhibitions have covered a wide range of subjects; three major efforts of
the Council have been tours of original paintings by Sickert and Wilson Steer, and
of the Tate Gallery's wartime acquisitions, including works by Blake, the preRaphaelites, French impressionists. Other exhibitions more dependent on photographs and reproductions have been "English Art and the Mediterranean," "The
Artist and the Church," "Designs for the Ballet," "Twentieth Century French
Paintings," "Portrait and Character," "Design in the Home," "Town and Country Life in the Reign of George III," "British Landscapes," etc. Some of the
exhibitions have an obvious educational purpose. "Design in the Home," for
example, showed the public that good design is not necessarily more expensive
thah bad, and "The Artist and the Church" was designed "to encourage the demand
for the employment of the artist in the reconstruction of our bombed churches
and the building of new churches," in accord with the great tradition of English
Church art. (A similar goal is being pursued by the Council of Industrial Art
and Design's Church Committee.)
As a contribution towards the education of the public in the princi pies of
town and country planning CEMA toured the exhibition "Rebuilding Britain"
which was organized by the Royal Institute of British Architects. For canteens,
factories, army units, a smaller version was prepared. "Living in Cities" and
"Plan Scotland Now" were similarly designed with an eye towards post-\var
planning.
In factories and canteens exhibitions of original paintings and reproductions
of famous paintings have been organized by CEMA, C.I.A.D. and the British
Institute of Adult Education. Exhibitions for the Forces held in army camps
have been so popular that the War Office has offered to pay for more guide lecturers
in order to enlarge the scheme. A scheme started by the C.I.A.D . in 1942 for
the loan of works of art to R.A.F. units has proved a great success. Artists have
Jent nearly 3,000 of their own paintings in every sort of media and these have
been borrowed by almost 200 stations. Special exhibiti.ons, discussion hours, and
lectures have also been arranged by C.I.A.D. in co-operation with Army Education
authorities.
The British Council has organized a series of circulating exhibitions in the
clubhouses of the various Allies whose Governments have found refuge in Britain.
These exhibitions are helping to spread a genuinely international culture.
To assist artists whose works have not been purdlased by the Artists Advisory
Committee because their talents do not lie in depicting the scenes of war, CEMA
has formed its own collection of oils and water colors. A maximum of $84 is
paid, in accordance with the Council's policy of a fiat rate for all services rendered.
A grant for this purpose was made by the Pilgrim Trust. This collection, too, has
been sent on tour. The idea behind the exhibition is to encourage more people to
buy the work of modern artists and to show that "painting is not solely a thing for
public galleries any more than flowers arc things for public gardens."
16
17
organized for the purpose of securing a permanent artistic record of Britain's
"Itc:rit.age of be~uty.". Subjects to be recorded were d1osen by the Committee.
Bwld1ngs and views ltkely to be destroyed for one reason or another took priority.
More. than ~,800 such views, many in the best tradition of English topography, and
coveni:g th1rty-tw~ English and four W clsh counties, had been bought for the
colJect1on by th~ time the sche~e was brought to an end early in 1944. These
9.wet and charming l~ndscapes in watercolors, gouache, pen or pencil arc in striking contrast to the pictures of the war and wartime life collected under the War
Artists scheme. John Piper and Kenneth Rowntree arc two of the artists who have
contributed outstanding work to this collection.
Several exhibitions of new accessions have been held in London. The whole
collection will eventually be housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Art in London
The danger of air raids in London has necessitated the evacuation of most of
the important ~ollections of l?aintings and sculpture in the capital. The greatest
of these collcct1ons, at the National Gallery, has been stored away in air-conditioned
cav~s 300 feet ':1ndergroui:~ and many miles from London. The Tate Gallery, a
nation~! .collection of British and modern foreign paintings and sculpture, has
been s1mtlarly evacuated. As a result there was no loss to the collection when the
Gallery was severely damaged in air raids.
. The lull in the air raids, however, and growing public interest in art exhibitions, ha~·e encouraged museums and art galleries to exhibit some of their treasures.
1:h.e National Gallery has adapted itself \vith particular success to wartime conditions. Concerts and a canteen have been added to its attractions (see M11sic).
Although u~able to show its whole collection, since 1941 the Gallery has exhibited
one maslerp1ece every month, and this attracts a constant stream of visitors. Explanatory notes and analytical photographs are exhibited with it to aid critical
appreciation. At night the painting is stored in a shelter.
. .Sine: the war began tlie ~~t~ Gallery has had one of the most active periods
1n its history as regards acqws1ttons and by 1942 the governors were anxious to
allow the public to see some of these. Owing to bomb damage they were unable
to u~e their own building, but in 1942 the Gallery was provided with rooms at the
National Gallery to show 140 of its newest possessions. In three months this
exhibition was visited by 40,000 people. Encouraged by its success the Gallery
held an equally popular exhibition of Modern European Painting in the summer
of 1943. The Royal Academy continues to hold its annual exhibition of contemporary paintings at Burlington House. At its 1943 season there was an unusual
increase in sales- 40 per cent of the works exhibited being sold. T he many smaller
galleries and sales rooms of the city have continued almost uninterruptedly with
their exhibitions and their sales.
"Art for the People"
Per.h~rs
•
'
The following figures illustrate the success of CEMA exhibitions, most of
which show to audiences hitherto unfamiliar with artistic work of high quality:
Visitors
Visitors
Visitors
Visitors
during 1942 to 30 CEMA and B.I.A.E. exhibitions ............ 500,000
to the CEMA collection exhibition during 5 weeks in London .... 18,000
to "British Landscapes" during 1 week in Bristol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000
to "Recording Britain" during 2 weeks in Bristol. . : . . . . . . . . . . . 13,000
At Colchester, a town of 43,000 people, the Royal Academy touring exhibition
was visited by 17,000 persons.
Decorations in Restaurants an<l Canteens
The 2,144 Government-owned British Restaurants, where 618,000 meals are
served daily, offer an admirable opportunity for painters to bring their work before
the public and to provide suitable decoration for public buildings. A most successful scheme was organized in London by the B.I.A.E. in June, 1942. By the
end of the year 130 British Restaurants had been provided with pictures, 1200
lithographs had been selected, 220 original pictures had been borrowed, and 500
Wa.r Artists pictures had been exhibited. Large, brightly colored lithographs, on
sub1ects unconnected with the war were found most suitable. Both originals
and reproductions of masterpieces have been used. The lithographs are sold in
bulk to the Restaurants at very moderate prices.
No real school of mural painting exists in Britain. But a beginning has been
made during the war and murals have been painted in many restaurants, canteens
and merchant navy hostels, sometimes according to the designs of such well-known
artists as John Piper, sometimes entirely done by local arl students. CEMA has
allotted $200 to five art schools to enable them each to decorate a local industrial
canteen.
Service men and women and civil defense workers have been encouraged to
decorate the walls of their quarters under the supervision of qualified artists. A
conference called by the Artists International Association in February, 1944, prepared a national scheme for promoting mural decoration in industrial and civic
premises, and the M inistry of Food has appointed an expert art adviser to see that
such decoration is suitably designed and carried out.
•
Civil Defense Artists
Men and women in the Civil D efense Services probably have more time and
opportunity for painting, during stand-by duty, than most Service people. A number of artists have also volunteered for, or been drafted into, the various branches
of these Services, varying from Fire Guards to full-time firemen. This explains,
in part, why two successful associations of artists have been formed within their
ranks- Civil Defense Artists and Firemen Artists; but these groups also include
many amateurs who for the first time have found in the practice of art a new outlet
for experience.
Many successful exhibitions have been held by these organizations. An exhibiof firemen's paintings toured the United States. As well as portraying very successfully the vivid incidents of the blitz, artists in the Civil Defense Services have
also turned their hand to posters, stage designs and costume design.
materials, including celluloid, the call-up of men and women performers, technicians and stage hands, and the commandeering of studio space for Government
purposes have seriously affected British film producers. Though business at the
theatre is 33 per cent over the peacetime norm, fewer British movies are being
produced to meet the demand. As a result the quota of British films that every
film distributor is required to include in his stock has been reduced to 15 per cent
and American films are filling the gap.
But although the quantity of British films has declined there has at the same
time been a marked improvement in quality. All the available skill and ingenuity
of the industry has been focused on a few productions. Several of the finest of
British commercial films have been produced during the war years under war conditions; for instance, Noel Coward's " In Which We Serve," Gabriel Pascal's
"Major Barbara," Leslie Howard's "Spitfire," and "The Gentle Sex." Actors who
have been drafted into the Forces are occasionally released temporarily to make
films which are considered to be of national importance. Though restricted as to
numbers p roducers have on the whole concentrated their talents on the best available stories and have found countless ways of economizing in material. To save
celluloid, only forty-one copies of films arc now made and certain areas now get
their films later than before.
Before the war many excellent documentaries were being produced in Britain,
particularly by the General Post Office Film Unit founded by John Grierson. During the war their vigorous tradition, combining dramatic action with first class
photography, has been continued and developed. A very high general standard
has been maintained, with several landmarks in cinematic art such as "Target for
Tonight" and "Desert Victory."
The Government has made considerable use of documentaries. The G .P.O.
Film Unit was reorganized at the outbreak of the war, renamed the Crown Film
Unit, and placed under the Ministry of Information as the official film-producing
unit. However, it produces only 10 per cent of the Ministry's total output as there
are a number of independent film units, such as Paul Rotha's, from whom documentaries are commissioned. The Ministry is also in charge of the public release
of films produced by the units attached to each of the Fighting Services, sud1 as
the Army Film Unit which shot "Desert Victory" at the expense of four cameramen killed, seven wounded and six prisoners. Many films are produced at the
request of other Government D epartments- for instance, fuel economy films for the
Ministry of Fuel and Power, films about youth clubs for the Board of Education,
films on blood transfusion for the Ministry of I-Iealth, and films of up-to-date farming methods for the M inistry of Agriculture. The Ministry also sponsors films in
collaboration with Allied Governments or on Allied subjects-such as "Silent Village," the story of Lidice transposed to a Welsh setting, and "World of Plenty,"
a dramatic presentation of international food problems.
In the year September, 1939-September, 1940, the Ministry released only nine
films. But in 1940-1 the total rose to 107, and in 1941-2 to about 300. The
films are distributed to exhibitors, schools, libraries, local organizations, etc.,
through the Central Film Library in London, the Scottish Central Film Library and
the Film Library of the South West. Films are withdrawn as they lose their
topicality. The Central Film Library contains almost 400 titles. Over 18,000,000
people in Britain saw the nontheatricat films distributed by the Ministry in 1942-3.
Before the war over 200 commercial films were being produced in Britain each
year. In 1943 this total had fallen to about fifty. A variety of causes, all originating in war conditions, contributed to this serious decline. Shortages of all essential
Documentaries released by the Ministry for home consumption fall into four
categories:
( I ) Newsreel 'trailers' about two minutes in length illustrating some particular
point that the Government wishes to d rive home to the pcople-"Eat M ore Potatoes," "Save Fuel," "H ow to Extinguish an Incendiary Bomb," etc.
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MOVING PICTURES
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(2) Five-minute films occasionally picturing the work of the Armed Forces,
least <)00,000 books \\"ere destroyed in public libraries ,\nJ approximately 20,000,000
books in publishers· houses. bookstores, etc. Nor is this the final tally: in one raid
in 1944 O\'Cr a 1nillion books and periodicals ready for dispatch to the Services
oYerseas \\'ere destroyed. 1.fany of the publishing houses of London suffered
damage and thic; affected the whole book trade as w•ll as libraries. The total
destruction of Simpkin, Marshall's Ltd., the \vholesale booksclling corporation, was
a blo\v to every bookshop in the country. But it was replaced within a few days
by a co-operali\e nonprofit-making association of publishers and booksellers. Similar enterprise has n1arked the whole history of books in wartime Britain.
but more often instructional, e.g., how to make the best of rationed foods, the
care of clothing, the danger of gossip, the value of Civilian Advice Bureaux. Many
of these are handled with considerable humor.
( 3) Short films of wartime life intended to inform each section of the community at war what the others are doing. At the end of 1942 it was decided to
release thirteen-minute films monthly instead of the weekly five-minute films.
( 4) Feature-length films such as "Target for Tonight," " Coastal Command,"
"Desert Victory," which were commercially released.
Libraries
All of these films, except those in category ( 4), are supplied free to moving
picture theatres throughout the country, by arrangement with the Cinematograph
Exhibitors' Association. Every theatre in Britain includes one sud1 f rce short film
in each program. The Min~stry also hires mov~ng picture theatres at hour~ wh~n
they are not in use for special free shows. This was done on 1,640 occasions in
1942-3 and over 1,000,000 people received special instruction or training through
the films thus shown.
More than 140 mobile units of the Ministry's Films Division make it possible
for any club or society throughout the country to book a free show of films of
interest to it. Remote districts and villages sometimes without a cinema of their
own are also served by this means. Each unit is fully equipped and self-contained
with a car, screen, 16 mm. projector and an operator in charge. Women pr?jectionists, as well as men, have been trained for the work. They work on a regional
basis under the control of the Ministry's Regional Information Officer. Special
audiences are shown programs of specialist interest. Farmers see movies on the
latest methods of ploughing, silage, ditching, etc. Civil defense workers ~tudy
the technique of fire fighting and gas protection. Wo1nen are shown instructional
films of wartime cooking. Factory workers during lunch hour breaks learn how
the war material they make is used by the Armed Forces. A special "film-magazine" for factories entitled JV orker and JVar f,.ont is now shown in about 500
factories a week. In the year ending September, 1943, 59,821 shows were given
and audiences totaled 10,757,868. About 2,000 factories are visited every month
and shown 25-minute programs during meal breaks.
BOOKS
There has been a remarkable increase of reading in Britain during the war.
Public libraries are issuing 10 per cent more books than before the war. Circulating libraries have 25 per cent more subscribers than in 1939. The bookst?res are
experiencing a boom 1n the sale of both new and secondhand books. Th~s. tre~d
can be attributed to several causes-the long hours of blackout and of waiting 1n
shelters during air raids, difficulties of travel (it is pleasanter to stay at home and
read), the occasional boredom of men in isolated units of the Serv.ices, and of c~vil
defense workers during stand-by duty hours. But more than a des1re for recreation
is shown by the type of books being bought, and it is clear that increased in.tellectual activity plays some part in the demand. Unfortunately at the same time
there has been a decrease in the number of books available, due partly to the
destruction of books in air raids, partly to restrictions on the publication of new
ones.
Public libraries have suffered considerably from bomb damage. Municipal
libraries at Coventry, Exeter, Liverpool (25,000 books lost) and Plymouth (75,000
books lost) were severely damaged. The libraries of Kings College and Uni~ersity
College (in the University of London~ have suffered. heavy los~. The Guildhall
Library lost 25,000 books and the Natt~nal. Cen.tral Library, wh1c~ acts as c~llect­
ing center for rare books for all public Iibranes, was h1t. During the bhtz at
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fhe GoYernment does not assi::,t bombed libraries except in so far as they are
compulsorily insured under the War Dan1age Act, but local authorities have generally secured S\vift reinstate1nent of library services. Emergency premises are
opened in shops or houses and a general appeal for books from private homes is
made. Even in most heavily bombed towns there has been an increased demand
for library books. Occasionally it is difficult to meet this with depleted stocks and
a scarcity of new books, but generally supply has kept up \vith demand.
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A problem \vhich has faced all libraries has been the depletion of trained
staffs. Librarians are not reserved from national service and a large proportion
of both men and \\"Omen has been drafted. To case the shortage, librarians are
staying at work after reaching retiring age and others who had left the service,
such as 1narried women, are returning. Many women not liable for national service
are volunteering to do library \VOrk part-time. This is regarded as useful war
work since the libraries, in peace or war, are information as well as recreational
centers.
Owing to the widespread shifting of population in wartime, it has been difficult
for librarians to estimate the f ulure demand for books. Evacuation might send
half the population out of one to\vn and double that of another. Importation of
labor for \\'ar factories or the stationing of a unit of the Armed Forces in a town
or village ~vould also affect book circulation. To make it easier for workcrrs and
soldiers to obtain books wherever they arc sent, library cards are generally interavailable and can be used at any library.
More branch libraries have been opened to meet increases of population in
rural districts, and in parts of towns where workers find it difficult to reach the
library.
For isolated areas, especially for troops, there are mobile libraries. Some of
these arc n1:tintained by county lihrary scr' ices and were used even in peacetime
to reach lonely villages. Others arc no\v run by the Y.M.C.A. and the Women's
Voluntary Services. The books arc carried on shelves constructed in large vans
and are exchanged weekly.
·
In large air-raid shelters there arc often libraries bought with contributions
from the shelter occupants. 'fhc greater part of the stock is usually composed
of paper-backed publications-both novels and nonfiction.
Book Publishing
The shortage of paper in Britain has had serious effect on publishers who are
restricted to an annual allotment of '10 i:er cent of their paper supplies .during the
year ending August 31, 1939. The quality of paper has markedly detenorated and
the format of the books shows that every effort has been made to. economize.
Under the Book Production War Economy Agreement of January, 1942, between
the Ministry of Supply and the Publishers' Association, typographical standards and
maximum paper substance and binding specifications were established. Narrow
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margins, smaller print, poor quality paper, absence of blank pa~es, are _tnarks of
a wartime book. It is estimated that by means of these economies publishers are
producing about 60 per cent of pre-\\'ar production out of their ration. Boo~s
produced solely for export are exempt from restrictions, but publishers are still
expected to obserYe reasonable economy and war conditions affect the export as
well as the domestic trade.
Occasionally supplies of paper are obtainable for ii:iportant boo~s . A publishers'
reserve pool of 1, 700 tons of paper per year is set aside ?Y.the Mirustry of S~pply
and allotted by a committee of the Pu~lishers' Association, under a ~hairman
appointed by the Board of Trade, to publishers who need more than their ~nn~al
quota. About one fifth of the r~scrve goes to medi~l _books, one fifth to sci~nh.fi~
and technical one fifth to educational, one fifth to rehg1ous books. The Publ~shers
Association has instituted a system of subject priorities. Highest on ~he list are
educational books, yet although other "general in~erest" books are .being starved
for their sake only half as much paper now goes 1nto textbooks as 1n 1939. (As
more words ~re now used to the page, this does i:ot mean that only hal~ the
number of textbooks are being produced.) There is also ~ sho:tage of B1~les.
Although the Oxford University Pr~ss ~evotes 6~ .per cent of its ration to the Bible,
it can now print only 25,000 copies 1n an ed1t1on compared to 100,000 before
the war.
In 1943, 6,705 books were published and t~ere v:'cre 1,201 reprints in new
editions, compared with 16,219 and 5,307 respectively in 1938.
Apart from the paper shortage publis~ers ac:d printers ~re. affected by the
.
general labor shortage. Much or their staff ts unskilled or semiskilled.
All books that are published find a ready market an~ booksto~es are experiencing remarkable prosperity. The Government recognizes the importance of
books by not levying a purchase-tax upon them. One London firm ~ells 4,?00,000
books annually compared with 2,000,0.00 before th~ war. Non.fict1onal htera~ure
is as popular as fiction. Practical technical books telling how to ~o o~ make thu:igs
and how to become more efficient in one's work or hobby ar: high in popularity.
So too are those concerned with religion, post-w~r rec?nstructlon and th.e prog~ess
of the war. Poetry has come into new populanty, eighty more _new titles be1n_g
published in 1943 than in 1942. Where new books a.re unobtainable ~e pu~ltc
turns to secondhand bookstores. Here they buy particularly the classics which
publishers can rarely afford to reprint in wartime-Trollope, Jane Austen, ~hack- .
cray, Dickens, the Russian novcli~t.s, etc. So popular are these that they are difficult
to find even in a secondhand edition.
American books are being read more than ever. A ~0eme has been or~anized
by the National Central Library on behalf '?f the ~1!11stry of. Information for
supplying books by Americans or about America to ~rihsh libra_nes. Books rang·
ing from A Tree Grozv.r i11 Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, to A T1n1e for Greatness,
by Herbert Agar have been v.·idely popular.
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Book tokens as gifts are increasing in pop~1arity. Under the adm1n1stratlon
of the nonprofit-making National Book Council, cards cai: ~e bought anywhere
in the British Isles at various prices and exchanged by the rectp1ent at any h?okshop
for books to the same value. In 1941 the total bought was 740,702 and in 1942
it reached 1 235 044. One explanation of this rise may be that books are one of
the few pre;ents 'in Britain requiring no ration points.
Government Publishing
Through the medium of the Ministry of Information and with the co-operation
of other departments, the Government has published ~any books of national
interest during the war. Extra supplies of paper are occasionally allowed for these
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publications on the grounds that they are of public interest and designed to give
the people authoritative reports on various aspects of their war effort. Best-sellers
have been the Battle of Britain ( 4,300,000 copies), Front Line ( 500,000), Battle
of Egypt (1,400,000), Bon-iber Co11itna11d ( 1,350,000) and Coastal Command
(1,000,000). In rather a different class is the Beveridge Report, which in full
and abridged editions sold 600,000 copies in five months. Practically no profits
are made on these booklets as they are sold at cost price.
Books for the Services
To organize the collection of books for the Forces at home and overseas, there
exists the ~ervices' Central Book Depot. The Depot purd1ases and collects books
and magazines of every type for the men and wo1nen of the Services. Most of its
work depends on ~e voluntary contributions of the people at home and 16,000,000
books and magazines have been handed over post-office counters for this cause.
The books can be handed over unwrapped and unaddressed and are delivered by
the Post Office to the Central Book Depot.
Since the war began, 1,100 new libraries have been provided for the Army
and the R.A.F. at home and 300 libraries overseas. In addition to recreational
reading, the Central Boole Depot supplies educational textbooks for members of
the. British and ~Hied Forces. Any Serviceman requiring books on a particular
subject can obtain what he needs through the Depot. Stationary service units
at home, out of reach of municipal libraries, are suppled with small ones of their
own, which are periodically replenished.
The Pilgrim Trust has granted the Women's Voluntary Services money for
300 traveling libraries in the form of specially designed boxes that can also be
used as shelves. Each contains about forty-five books. They are in circulation
among isolated anti-aircraft and searchlight sites.
Hospitals are supplied by the Red Cross and St. John's (Hospital Library),
which has distributed over 2,000,000 books to Service hospitals at home and
overseas. The Red Cross also supplies books to prisoners of war, including technical books to enable then1 to continue· their education.*
The Royal Navy is served by the Royal Navy War Libraries which in the year
ending March, 1943, supplied 600,000 books to the Fleet. Technical, scientific
and educational books are supplied on demand. Ninety-two per cent of the books
are donated by the public. For the Merchant Navy the Ocean Libraries Service
of the British Sailors Society provides ships with miniature libraries of thirty books
in stout wooden cases. The books can be changed at any British port and at some
ports overseas. The Sea War Library Service also issues over 520,000 books and
magazines for sailors. British shipowners have provided a Seafarers' Education
Service which has fitted nearly 600 ships with up-to-date libraries. These contain
45 per cent fiction and a good proportion of ted1nical and educational books.
At the end of ead1 voyage, the library is restocked.
National Book Recovery and Salvage Campaign
In 1942, it was felt that the various demands for books needed for paper
salvage, for the Forces, and for bombed libraries were conflicting and leading
to unnecessary waste. In particular valuable and even irreplaceable documents
were being lost in the paper salvage campaign. To avoid this a National Book
Recovery and Salvage Campaign was launched under a committee representing
the Ministry of Supply, the National Book Council, the Waste Paper Recovery
Association, the Antique Booksellers Association, the Library Association and the
* See "Prisoners of Wa.r"
(IDH 485) available f com British Information Services, New
York.
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