British Culture - User contributions [en]

British Home Guard

2011-11-29T22:31:32Z

Kroikend:

'''The Home Guard''' was a defence organisation that existed from 1940 to 1944. It was announced on 14 May 1940 in reaction to the German invasion of the Low Countries and the problematic situation in the Battle of France. The force consisted of volunteers and included 250,000 members by the end of May 1940. According to Churchill’s suggestion, the original name of the defence force, Local Defence Volunteers, was changed to the ‘Home Guard’ at the end of July 1940.

== Early Development ==
On 14 May 1940, the British War Secretary, Anthony Eden, gave a radio broadcast announcing that he was looking for volunteers to form a new force, the Local Defence Volunteers. They were supposed to guard certain British territories, public services and businesses of strategic value which might be attacked by the Germans, e.g., stretches of coastline, public utilities, airfields and factories. The existence of the LDV would allow the army to concentrate on other issues and to train inexperienced soldiers. Some of the volunteers had the right to receive minimum means of subsistence. However, most of the soldiers were not paid for their work. Nevertheless, by the end of May 1940, the organisation included 300,000 people.
The weapons did not suffice. Especially after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, the defence force was not very well supplied with equipment. Initially, just one third of the men could obtain rifles. The others had to use shotguns, sporting rifles and various improvised weapons. The men were trained by veteran commanders in privately initiated training establishments. As a means of preparation to a potential invasion of the Germans, some of the members of LDV were trained secretly as guerrillas.

== Later years ==
The National Service Act of December 1941 slightly changed the volunteer aspect. Men had to join the home guard just for 48 hours per month. In the same year, rank system was introduced so that the organisation began to resemble “a force of part-time regular soldiers” (Parkinson 160). In time, the British Home Guard was used as a training opportunity for boys of 17 to 18 years before their full call-up and it became a well armed and trained fighting force. When the probability of a German invasion decreased and the air attacks diminished, the volunteers’ duty was to chase downed aviators and service anti-aircraft batteries. By the summer of 1943, the force consisted of I ¾ million men whose average age was below 30. The organisation disbanded at the end of 1944.

== After the disbandment ==
The Home Guard was re-established in December 1951 because of the threat of the Cold War and it existed until July 1957.
Some years later, in July 1968, the writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, created a sitcom, ''Dad’s Army'', based on their own experiences during the Second World War. Between 1968 and 1977, eighty-one half-hour episodes appeared on BBC TV.

== Sources ==
*Dear, Ian. ''The Oxford Companion to the Second World War''. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
*Parkinson, Roger. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern War''. St Albans: Granada Publishing, 1979.
*The University of Manchester Page. "Revealed: the Real Dad's Army." 2007. The University of Manchester. 14 November 2011 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/dads_army_01.shtml >.

British Home Guard

2011-11-29T22:29:54Z

Kroikend:

'''The Home Guard''' was a defence organisation that existed from 1940 to 1944. It was announced on 14 May 1940 in reaction to the German invasion of the Low Countries and the problematic situation in the Battle of France. The force consisted of volunteers and included 250,000 members by the end of May 1940. According to Churchill’s suggestion, the original name of the defence force, Local Defence Volunteers, was changed to the ‘Home Guard’ at the end of July 1940.

== 1. Early Development ==
On 14 May 1940, the British War Secretary, Anthony Eden, gave a radio broadcast announcing that he was looking for volunteers to form a new force, the Local Defence Volunteers. They were supposed to guard certain British territories, public services and businesses of strategic value which might be attacked by the Germans, e.g., stretches of coastline, public utilities, airfields and factories. The existence of the LDV would allow the army to concentrate on other issues and to train inexperienced soldiers. Some of the volunteers had the right to receive minimum means of subsistence. However, most of the soldiers were not paid for their work. Nevertheless, by the end of May 1940, the organisation included 300,000 people.
The weapons did not suffice. Especially after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, the defence force was not very well supplied with equipment. Initially, just one third of the men could obtain rifles. The others had to use shotguns, sporting rifles and various improvised weapons. The men were trained by veteran commanders in privately initiated training establishments. As a means of preparation to a potential invasion of the Germans, some of the members of LDV were trained secretly as guerrillas.

== 2. Later years ==
The National Service Act of December 1941 slightly changed the volunteer aspect. Men had to join the home guard just for 48 hours per month. In the same year, rank system was introduced so that the organisation began to resemble “a force of part-time regular soldiers” (Parkinson 160). In time, the British Home Guard was used as a training opportunity for boys of 17 to 18 years before their full call-up and it became a well armed and trained fighting force. When the probability of a German invasion decreased and the air attacks diminished, the volunteers’ duty was to chase downed aviators and service anti-aircraft batteries. By the summer of 1943, the force consisted of I ¾ million men whose average age was below 30. The organisation disbanded at the end of 1944.

== 3. After the disbandment ==
The Home Guard was re-established in December 1951 because of the threat of the Cold War and it existed until July 1957.
Some years later, in July 1968, the writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, created a sitcom, ''Dad’s Army'', based on their own experiences during the Second World War. Between 1968 and 1977, eighty-one half-hour episodes appeared on BBC TV.

== 4. Sources ==
*Dear, Ian. ''The Oxford Companion to the Second World War''. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
*Parkinson, Roger. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern War''. St Albans: Granada Publishing, 1979.
*The University of Manchester Page. "Revealed: the Real Dad's Army." 2007. The University of Manchester. 14 November 2011 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/dads_army_01.shtml >.

British Homeguard

2011-11-29T21:58:34Z

Kroikend: moved British Homeguard to British Home Guard

#REDIRECT [[British Home Guard]]

British Home Guard

2011-11-29T21:58:34Z

Kroikend: moved British Homeguard to British Home Guard

A defence organisation of the British Army during WW2

'''(This article will be completed in the next few days)'''

John Galsworthy

2011-11-29T21:56:02Z

Kroikend:

'''John Galsworthy''' (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright inter alia known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

== Life ==
Galsworthy was born on 14 August, 1867 at Kingston Hill in Surrey, England. In the 19th century, his middle-class family became rich because they bought property. His father worked as a solicitor. After having finished Harrow School, Galsworthy began to study law at New College, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1890. However, he recognized that law was not his vocation. Joseph Conrad, the author’s friend whom he met during his voyage around the world, and Ada, Galsworthy’s wife, encouraged him to start writing at the age of 27.

== Work ==
Galsworthy created poetry, short stories, plays and fiction. At the beginning of his career, the author used a pseudonym, John Sinjohn. Such works as From the Four Winds (1897), a collection of short stories, and the novel Jocelyn (1898) were published under the aforementioned name. Galsworthy regarded The Island Pharisees (1904) as his first important work.
The author’s first play, The Silver Box (1906), proved to be successful and was produced by the prestigious Vedrenne-Barker partnership, later called the Royal Court Theatre. This work discusses how the poor were unfairly treated in contrast to the rich. Galsworthy also wrote Strife (1909), Justice (1910), The Mob (1914) and The Skin Game (1920). Strife deals with the confrontation of capital and labour. Justice realistically depicts the prison life and results in a correspondence and several meetings with Winston Churchill who later carries out reforms for the treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement. The Mob and The Skin Game mirror Galsworthy’s reaction to World War I.

Galsworthy is chiefly known for his novel sequence, The Forsyte Saga. The saga focuses on the lives of three generations of a large, property-worshipping, upper middle-class family. In the novels, Galsworthy criticizes, from the moral point of view, people’s aspirations to attain property. The roman fleuve consists of “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1915), In Chancery (1920), “Awakening” (1920), and To Let (1921). After World War I, The Forsyte Saga was expanded by A Modern Comedy (1929) that included The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), A Silent Wooing, Passerby (1927) and Swan Song (1928). This collection of novels shows Galsworthy’s negative attitude towards modernism that he regarded as a nihilistic culture. His wish to write the ‘three-decker’ novel also hints at his preference for the Victorian novel rather than “the modernism’s search for new forms to document new experience” (Shaffer 149).

One year before his death in 1933, Galsworthy, who is well-known for the depiction of Victorian and Edwardian upper middle-class life, got a Nobel Prize in Literature.

== After the Author’s Death ==
Galsworthy is considered to be a very human and compassionate person standing up for “abolition of the censorship of plays, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, divorce law reform, prison reform, slaughterhouse reform, and the human treatment of animals” (Shaffer 150).
The author’s popularity declined after his death and was revived in 1945, 1968, 1990 due to the adaptation and broadcasting of The Forsyte Saga by BBC Radio.

== Bibliography ==
*Barker, Dudley. ''John Galsworthy: Gentleman und Poet''. Wien: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 1962.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica''. "John Galsworthy." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224611/John-Galsworthy>.
*Frenz, Horst. From ''Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967''. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969.
*Shaffer, Brian et al. ''Twentieth Century-British and Irish Fiction''. n.p.: Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

John Galsworthy

2011-11-29T21:51:59Z

Kroikend:

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright inter alia known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

== Life ==
Galsworthy was born on 14 August, 1867 at Kingston Hill in Surrey, England. In the 19th century, his middle-class family became rich because they bought property. His father worked as a solicitor. After having finished Harrow School, Galsworthy began to study law at New College, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1890. However, he recognized that law was not his vocation. Joseph Conrad, the author’s friend whom he met during his voyage around the world, and Ada, Galsworthy’s wife, encouraged him to start writing at the age of 27.

== Work ==
Galsworthy created poetry, short stories, plays and fiction. At the beginning of his career, the author used a pseudonym, John Sinjohn. Such works as From the Four Winds (1897), a collection of short stories, and the novel Jocelyn (1898) were published under the aforementioned name. Galsworthy regarded The Island Pharisees (1904) as his first important work.
The author’s first play, The Silver Box (1906), proved to be successful and was produced by the prestigious Vedrenne-Barker partnership, later called the Royal Court Theatre. This work discusses how the poor were unfairly treated in contrast to the rich. Galsworthy also wrote Strife (1909), Justice (1910), The Mob (1914) and The Skin Game (1920). Strife deals with the confrontation of capital and labour. Justice realistically depicts the prison life and results in a correspondence and several meetings with Winston Churchill who later carries out reforms for the treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement. The Mob and The Skin Game mirror Galsworthy’s reaction to World War I.

Galsworthy is chiefly known for his novel sequence, The Forsyte Saga. The saga focuses on the lives of three generations of a large, property-worshipping, upper middle-class family. In the novels, Galsworthy criticizes, from the moral point of view, people’s aspirations to attain property. The roman fleuve consists of “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1915), In Chancery (1920), “Awakening” (1920), and To Let (1921). After World War I, The Forsyte Saga was expanded by A Modern Comedy (1929) that included The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), A Silent Wooing, Passerby (1927) and Swan Song (1928). This collection of novels shows Galsworthy’s negative attitude towards modernism that he regarded as a nihilistic culture. His wish to write the ‘three-decker’ novel also hints at his preference for the Victorian novel rather than “the modernism’s search for new forms to document new experience” (Shaffer 149).

One year before his death in 1933, Galsworthy, who is well-known for the depiction of Victorian and Edwardian upper middle-class life, got a Nobel Prize in Literature.

== After the Author’s Death ==
Galsworthy is considered to be a very human and compassionate person standing up for “abolition of the censorship of plays, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, divorce law reform, prison reform, slaughterhouse reform, and the human treatment of animals” (Shaffer 150).
The author’s popularity declined after his death and was revived in 1945, 1968, 1990 due to the adaptation and broadcasting of The Forsyte Saga by BBC Radio.

== Bibliography ==
*Barker, Dudley. ''John Galsworthy: Gentleman und Poet''. Wien: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 1962.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica''. "John Galsworthy." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224611/John-Galsworthy>.
*Frenz, Horst. From ''Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967''. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969.
*Shaffer, Brian et al. ''Twentieth Century-British and Irish Fiction''. n.p.: Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

John Galsworthy

2011-11-29T21:48:50Z

Kroikend: /* Life */

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright inter alia known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

== Life ==
Galsworthy was born on 14 August, 1867 at Kingston Hill in Surrey, England. In the 19th century, his middle-class family became rich because they bought property. His father worked as a solicitor. After having finished Harrow School, Galsworthy began to study law at New College, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1890. However, he recognized that law was not his vocation. Joseph Conrad, the author’s friend whom he met during his voyage around the world, and Ada, Galsworthy’s wife, encouraged him to start writing at the age of 27.

== Work ==
Galsworthy created poetry, short stories, plays and fiction. At the beginning of his career, the author used a pseudonym, John Sinjohn. Such works as From the Four Winds (1897), a collection of short stories, and the novel Jocelyn (1898) were published under the aforementioned name. Galsworthy regarded The Island Pharisees (1904) as his first important work.
The author’s first play, The Silver Box (1906), proved to be successful and was produced by the prestigious Vedrenne-Barker partnership, later called the Royal Court Theatre. This work discusses how the poor were unfairly treated in contrast to the rich. Galsworthy also wrote Strife (1909), Justice (1910), The Mob (1914) and The Skin Game (1920). Strife deals with the confrontation of capital and labour. Justice realistically depicts the prison life and results in a correspondence and several meetings with Winston Churchill who later carries out reforms for the treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement. The Mob and The Skin Game mirror Galsworthy’s reaction to World War I.

Galsworthy is chiefly known for his novel sequence, The Forsyte Saga. The saga focuses on the lives of three generations of a large, property-worshipping, upper middle-class family. In the novels, Galsworthy criticizes, from the moral point of view, people’s aspirations to attain property. The roman fleuve consists of “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1915), In Chancery (1920), “Awakening” (1920), and To Let (1921). After World War I, The Forsyte Saga was expanded by A Modern Comedy (1929) that included The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), A Silent Wooing, Passerby (1927) and Swan Song (1928). This collection of novels shows Galsworthy’s negative attitude towards modernism that he regarded as a nihilistic culture. His wish to write the ‘three-decker’ novel also hints at his preference for the Victorian novel rather than “the modernism’s search for new forms to document new experience” (Shaffer 149).

One year before his death in 1933, Galsworthy, who is well-known for the depiction of Victorian and Edwardian upper middle-class life, got a Nobel Prize in Literature.

== After the author’s death ==
Galsworthy is considered to be a very human and compassionate person standing up for “abolition of the censorship of plays, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, divorce law reform, prison reform, slaughterhouse reform, and the human treatment of animals” (Shaffer 150).
The author’s popularity declined after his death and was revived in 1945, 1968, 1990 due to the adaptation and broadcasting of The Forsyte Saga by BBC Radio.

== Bibliography ==
*Barker, Dudley. ''John Galsworthy: Gentleman und Poet''. Wien: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 1962.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica''. "John Galsworthy." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224611/John-Galsworthy>.
*Frenz, Horst. From ''Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967''. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969.
*Shaffer, Brian et al. ''Twentieth Century-British and Irish Fiction''. n.p.: Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

John Galsworthy

2011-11-29T21:42:25Z

Kroikend:

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright inter alia known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

== Life ==
Galsworthy was born on August 14, 1867 at Kingston Hill in Surrey, England. In the 19th century, his middle-class family became rich because they bought property. His father worked as a solicitor. After having finished Harrow School, Galsworthy began to study law at New College, Oxford and he was called to the bar in 1890. However, he recognized that law was not his vocation. Joseph Conrad, the author’s friend whom he met during his voyage around the world, and Ada, Galsworthy’s wife, encouraged him to start writing at the age of 27.

== Work ==
Galsworthy created poetry, short stories, plays and fiction. At the beginning of his career, the author used a pseudonym, John Sinjohn. Such works as From the Four Winds (1897), a collection of short stories, and the novel Jocelyn (1898) were published under the aforementioned name. Galsworthy regarded The Island Pharisees (1904) as his first important work.
The author’s first play, The Silver Box (1906), proved to be successful and was produced by the prestigious Vedrenne-Barker partnership, later called the Royal Court Theatre. This work discusses how the poor were unfairly treated in contrast to the rich. Galsworthy also wrote Strife (1909), Justice (1910), The Mob (1914) and The Skin Game (1920). Strife deals with the confrontation of capital and labour. Justice realistically depicts the prison life and results in a correspondence and several meetings with Winston Churchill who later carries out reforms for the treatment of prisoners in solitary confinement. The Mob and The Skin Game mirror Galsworthy’s reaction to World War I.

Galsworthy is chiefly known for his novel sequence, The Forsyte Saga. The saga focuses on the lives of three generations of a large, property-worshipping, upper middle-class family. In the novels, Galsworthy criticizes, from the moral point of view, people’s aspirations to attain property. The roman fleuve consists of “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1915), In Chancery (1920), “Awakening” (1920), and To Let (1921). After World War I, The Forsyte Saga was expanded by A Modern Comedy (1929) that included The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), A Silent Wooing, Passerby (1927) and Swan Song (1928). This collection of novels shows Galsworthy’s negative attitude towards modernism that he regarded as a nihilistic culture. His wish to write the ‘three-decker’ novel also hints at his preference for the Victorian novel rather than “the modernism’s search for new forms to document new experience” (Shaffer 149).

One year before his death in 1933, Galsworthy, who is well-known for the depiction of Victorian and Edwardian upper middle-class life, got a Nobel Prize in Literature.

== After the author’s death ==
Galsworthy is considered to be a very human and compassionate person standing up for “abolition of the censorship of plays, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, divorce law reform, prison reform, slaughterhouse reform, and the human treatment of animals” (Shaffer 150).
The author’s popularity declined after his death and was revived in 1945, 1968, 1990 due to the adaptation and broadcasting of The Forsyte Saga by BBC Radio.

== Bibliography ==
*Barker, Dudley. ''John Galsworthy: Gentleman und Poet''. Wien: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 1962.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica''. "John Galsworthy." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224611/John-Galsworthy>.
*Frenz, Horst. From ''Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967''. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969.
*Shaffer, Brian et al. ''Twentieth Century-British and Irish Fiction''. n.p.: Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

John Galsworthy

2011-11-29T21:34:30Z

Kroikend:

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright inter alia known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

----

John Galsworthy

2011-11-20T17:59:22Z

Kroikend: Created page with 'Born Aug. 14, 1867 - died Jan. 31, 1933 English novelist and playwright '''(This article will be completed in the next few weeks)''''

Born Aug. 14, 1867 - died Jan. 31, 1933
English novelist and playwright

'''(This article will be completed in the next few weeks)'''

British Home Guard

2011-11-10T18:02:17Z

Kroikend:

A defence organisation of the British Army during WW2

'''(This article will be completed in the next few days)'''

British Home Guard

2011-11-10T14:37:40Z

Kroikend: Created page with 'A defence organisation of the British Army during WW2'

A defence organisation of the British Army during WW2