Lucy Worsley explores the phenomenon of the Blitz Spirit

We hear much about the spirit of the Blitz and the dark days of World War II when the people of Britain faced relentless enemy air attacks with courage, humour and tenacity.
We imagine mothers gathering children to their sides as the bombs rained down, hurrying into the shelters where they would sing or recite nursery rhymes to keep their spirits up.
We envision resolute but calm policemen or cheery posties and milkmen  whistling as they trudge determinedly through the rubble with their deliveries.
We think of communities banding together and facing with steely resolve the awful threat as night after night Luftwaffe bombers tried to blast them off the face of the earth. Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?
Was it really like that? The eight months of Nazi bombings in 1940 and 1941 were truly awful. More than 43,000 civilians were killed. But the British population of 50 years ago was seriously divided by class, prone to racial tensions and had its fair share of shameless profiteers.
The ‘spiv’ would go onto be absorbed into popular culture as a semi-comedic  character. Think Private Walker in Dad’s Army or Flash Harry in the St Trinians films. It’s perhaps strange that it took only a handful of years for these cheats and conmen to become  objects of entertainment. At the height of wartime they presented a very real threat.
A new BBC documentary by historian Lucy Worsley asks did Britons really come together with resilience and good humour during the Blitz?
The answer of course is that some them did, some of the time. But war is brutal, divisive and terrifying. It was a nightmare. Not the stuff of an Ealing Comedy. The Blitz spirit definitely existed but it was far from universal. It did however provide a very useful propaganda tool.
In the documentary to be screened at 8.30pm on BBC1 tomorrow (Tuesday 23rd February) when she follows the stories of six people living and working through the Blitz to find out what it was really like.
Apart from her documentary work and her day job as Chief Curator of Royal Palaces, Lucy is also a regular speaker with Clive Conway Productions. There are a series of forthcoming events. Dates may change but keep an eye on the what’s On section of this website.