Tyneside 1939-1945 : a study of the regional impact of total war

Armstrong, Craig (2004) Tyneside 1939-1945 : a study of the regional impact of total war. Doctoral thesis, University of Northumbria at Newcastle.

Preview

PDF (PhD thesis) 416336.pdf - Accepted Version Download (38MB) | Preview

Abstract

Accounts of the wartime experience in Britain's provinces remain few in number and, given the importance of the area to the war effort, a study of Tyneside during this period of national crisis is long overdue. Following a brief introduction which attempts to ground the thesis in a framework and to consider the historiography of this topic, the first chapter consists of a background study outlining the continuing importance of Tyneside to the national war effort. This focuses attention on the significance of the area's heavy industry, especially shipbuilding, armament
production, engineering, and coal mining. Having established the vital nature of the area to the war effort chapter two considers the industries that were present on
Tyneside. This is a wide ranging study which includes analysis of corruption, industrial disharmony, managerial structures, and the effects of wartime restrictions on industrial development.
The central chapters in the thesis deal with the organisations that were created to provide protection from enemy aerial attack and from invasion. As such they include sections dealing with, amongst others, the Warden Service and the Home Guard.
Chapters five and six are interlinked in that they deal with the reactions of the Tyneside public to the war. This includes, but is not limited to, sections dealing with evacuation, internment and alien policy, putatively bad behaviour (such as criminal activity), the upkeep and analysis of morale, and the impact of the air raids on Tyneside. A final conclusion follows chapter six and outlines areas in which further study would be beneficial, along with attempting to provide a description of the factors that faced the area at the conclusion of the war, including the impact of the war on local politics. This section also attempts to draw together previous arguments
and to locate the study into a national framework.

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads