Southampton at War, 1939–45
Reeks: Your Towns & Cities in World War Two
John J. Eddleston
- In
- the
- Great
- War
- of
- 1914–1918,
- Southampton
- played
- a
- vital
- role
- in
- the
- war
- effort.
- Designated
- as
- Port
- Number
- One
- it
- saw
- hundreds
- of
- thousands
- of
- men
- and
- many
- tons
- of
- equipment
- sail
- for
- the
- fields
- of
- Belgium
- and
- France.The
- Second
- World
- War
- was
- a
- completely
- different
- type
- of
- war.
- Hitlers
- blitzkrieg
- tactics
- led
- to
- a
- more
- mobile
- war
- and,
- arguably
- for
- the
- first
- time,
- airpower
- played
- a
- crucial
- role.
- Whoever
- had
- superiority
- in
- the
- air
- had
- a
- massive
- advantage
- in
- any
- particular
- theater,
- or
- battle.
- This
- does
- not,
- however,
- mean
- that
- Southamptons
- role
- was
- relegated
- to
- a
- minor
- one.Southamptons
- men
- still
- enlisted
- in
- their
- hundreds.
- Her
- women
- took
- over
- roles
- in
- factories,
- on
- buses
- and
- trams,
- and
- many
- of
- them
- also
- served
- in
- the
- armed
- forces.
- Her
- citizens
- formed
- defense
- groups
- and
- helped
- to
- watch
- for
- the
- enemy
- invasion
- and
- those
- same
- citizens
- suffered
- greatly
- when
- the
- bombs
- fell.
- The
- Southampton
- Blitz
- claimed
- many
- lives
- and
- this,
- perhaps,
- was
- the
- greatest
- difference
- the
- town
- saw
- in
- this
- second
- global
- conflagration.
- It
- is
- true
- that
- her
- citizens
- had
- also
- served
- in
- the
- Great
- War
- but
- now,
- through
- the
- efforts
- of
- the
- Luftwaffe,
- these
- men,
- women
- and
- children
- were
- now
- also
- in
- the
- front
- line.Hitler
- once
- described
- Germanys
- plans
- as
- total
- war.
- The
- phrase
- is
- certainly
- apt
- when
- one
- considered
- how
- the
- towns
- and
- cities
- of
- Britain
- suffered
- during
- the
- Nazi
- supremacy.
- One
- of
- those
- towns
- was
- Southampton,
- a
- town
- that
- once
- again,
- just
- 20
- short
- years
- after
- she
- had
- given
- so
- much,
- had
- to
- brace
- herself
- for
- long
- years
- of
- war
- in
- which
- every
- single
- person
- had
- their
- role
- to
- play.And
- once
- again,
- Southampton
- and
- her
- citizens
- were
- not
- found wanting.
