Dispatches from the People's War: Home Intelligence and Army Morale reports, October 1940-May 1945

1939年战争爆发后，内维尔·张伯伦政府成立了新闻部（MOI），其任务是处理公共关系，更广泛地说，是维持士气。然而，MIO由于试图与公众沟通而没有任何评估公众情绪的手段而受到阻碍。这是在与英国对话，而没有倾听英国的声音：一种片面的对话。1939年12月，情报部成立了一个家庭情报部门，负责调查和监测民众的士气。从1940年5月18日至9月27日，该单位编制了关于舆论状况的每日秘密报告。从1940年10月9日到1944年12月27日，这些报告每周都有。国内情报报告涵盖了联合王国的所有地区和所有被认为影响士气的问题，是一套了不起的文件。他们提供了一个独特的窗口，了解英国人民在其历史上最高危机之一的态度和行为。这些报告在内政部内部和白厅其他相关部门传阅，并在英国公众和政府机器之间形成了重要的联系。与此同时，陆军部对军队的士气深感担忧，其中大部分驻扎在英国，直到1944年6月的跨海峡入侵。因此，副官部建立了自己的系统来收集有关部队的情报，并从1942年1月到1945年5月，为陆军理事会制作季度士气报告。就像国内情报报告一样，它们为我们提供了一个无与伦比的洞察力，让我们了解到国内军队在为海外服务做准备时的心态。如上所述，2010年5月，保罗·艾迪森博士和我共同编辑了一本书，其中包含了1940年5月18日至9月27日期间的一组未删节的每日国内情报报告，标题为“倾听英国：英国最好的时刻，1940年5月至9月的家庭情报报告（The Bodley Head）我们现在希望编写一本主要的后续卷。这将包括1940年10月至1944年12月（这些报告终止时）的每周国内情报士气报告和1942年1月至1945年5月的季度军队士气报告。因此，这一新的卷与2010年5月出版的卷一起，将构成1940-1945年英国人民在大后方的士气的全面调查。

On the outbreak of war in 1939 Neville Chamberlain's government set up a Ministry of Information (MOI) with the task of handling its public relations and, more generally, of sustaining morale. The MIO was, however, handicapped by the fact that is was trying to communicate with the public without any means of assessing the public mood. It was talking to Britain without listening to Britain: a one-sided conversation. In December 1939 a Home Intelligence department was established within the Ministry of Information to investigate and monitor popular morale. From 18 May until 27 September 1940 this unit compiled secret daily reports on the state of public opinion. From 9 October 1940 until 27 December 1944 these reports were produced on a weekly basis. The Home Intelligence reports, which cover all regions of the United Kingdom and all issues that were thought to affect morale, are a remarkable set of documents. They provide a unique window into the attitudes and behaviour of the British people during one of the supreme crises in their history. The reports were circulated within the MOI, and to other relevant Whitehall ministries, and came to form a vital link between the British public and the machinery of government. In the meantime, the War Office was deeply worried about the morale of the army, most of which was stationed in Britain until the cross-Channel invasion of June 1944. The adjutant-general's department thus set up its own system for gathering intelligence about the troops and, from January 1942 until May 1945, produced quarterly morale reports for the Army Council. Like the Home Intelligence reports, they offer us an unparalleled insight into the mindset of the troops at home as they prepared for overseas service.As outlined above, in May 2010 Dr Paul Addison and I published a co-edited volume containing an unabridged set of the daily home intelligence reports from 18 May to 27 September 1940 under the title 'Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May-September 1940' (The Bodley Head). We now wish to produce a major follow-up volume. This will include a selection of both the weekly home intelligence morale reports from October 1940 to December 1944 (when these reports terminate) and the quarterly army morale reports from January 1942 to May 1945. This new volume, together with the volume published in May 2010, will thus form a comprehensive survey of the morale of the British people on the home front from 1940-1945.