Blitz Kids Review – amazing video, great value | Television

OhFor many years since the second world war, the “spirit of the blitz” has been guilty of being a small part of the world’s faith. The latest in the Covid-19 pandemic, it is used to refer to a special British pluck; a sense of stoicism as a resource that the UK can always call upon in times of crisis.

Inevitably, the term “blitz spirit” is a term often used by people who do not remember the blitz. This is because everyone who remembers the blitz now is in the 80s. But that’s because, as a live event, the blitz obviously wasn’t something that lent itself to romantic couples. This amazing, moving film is, for both reasons, an important piece of human history. The words of these witnesses to the “lightning war” of the Luftwaffe are musical, angry, determined and deeply regretful. We see them playing with grandchildren, visiting old places, going to yoga classes. Their experiences during the war are events in their lives but they exist all the same. They are offered not really as a correction to nationalistic myths, but certainly with a more difficult border than tradition; as a sobering reminder that evoking the blitz is evoking the greatest danger.

What this film is documenting is not the actual blitz, but the experience of any war that occurs between any group of civilians. Made to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the end of the blitz in May 1941, this film represents our last chance to hear the history of the era, told by people who remember its hardships. It is a story of uncertainty and loss and of survival.

“Don’t worry. We have big hard slates on our roof.” Liverpudlian Ernie Gaskell (now 100 years old) remembers his father’s assurance when the bomb went off. As they both knew, the slates weren’t enough. There is no longer much security in Coventry or Belfast, in Cardiff or Sheffield. Appropriately, the blitz is analyzed as a global phenomenon rather than, as it is, a London one.

The main story is told through small, mind-bending themes. Ted Bush in Cardiff remembers going to the pictures with his father. When he returned home, he found a pile of debris: Ted’s father’s first response was to retrieve his son’s Hornby train from the ruins of his home. Meanwhile, in Sheffield, Jean Whitfield’s mother was killed by a bomb as she was hanging out her clothes. Jean remembers that a neighbor used to pour lemonade on her. Death and destruction were everywhere. What is this doing to the child?

The answer to this question is one of the main things that the film revealed about how we lived then and how we live now. “You didn’t tell anyone what you heard,” says Monica White, who spent most of the war in Croydon. “And I don’t know who would listen.” Instead, the idea of ​​a dry upper lip was introduced. He recalls: “You had to keep everything moving. “You can’t add to your parents’ unhappiness.” Is this the origin story of the concept of the “spirit of the blitz” – not as a force but as a way to deal with psychological problems? It sounds like that.

This kind of access to the inner life of children in a time of war is precious and it is impossible not to give these ideas to confuse the minds of today’s children of Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. After that, Monica was transferred to Sussex and, when she saw Mr. Downs, she suddenly realized: “I’m not afraid anymore.” Even now, his relief when he remembers this happy time is palpable. Such memories are still present in the lives of the interviewees – tears are near the surface everywhere.

In this spring model, it is recommended that this time be preserved for this person. Calmly and wisely, there is an acknowledgment that similar methods were used by allies; that from Hamburg to Dresden, almost the same stories could be told by German civilians of the same vintage. “Would we have bombed German cities there?” amazing David Rawdon from Hull. “I don’t know.”

Then, suddenly, the war ended. Everyone involved had learned too much, too late, about the fragility of human life. In Liverpool, Roy Babbs learns of the death of his father Charles in Germany, as the war ends and the celebrations begin. “Please remember my father,” she says, speaking to the camera, voice overflowing with sadness. “He gave his life for you.” Suddenly, Roy is not a normal old man. At 89 years old, he is a child of the blitz again. If the “spirit of the blitz” has a face and meaning, it is this. Loss is grief. In a world that, as many of these survivors show, is so dangerous, we would do well to remember.