Kathy Atherton

There is a general belief that during World War II, the nation pulled together for the common good. In reality crime rates rocketed, the black market exploited a need for profit (sometimes with fatal consequences), evacuee children suffered abuse and neglect, and mass fatalities resulted, not from enemy action, but from carelessness and neglect of poorer citizens.

Local author and historian, Kathy Atherton, will uncover aspects of war that were deliberately buried by politicians and propagandists for fear of undermining morale. Opportunities for crime made possible by the blackout and Blitz, peddling dangerous goods, and the neglect of working class communities.