Mixing It: Diversity in Second World War Britain
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Huddersfield
Department Name: Sch of Music Humanities & Media
Abstract
The ethnic and national diversity of the population in Britain during the Second World War was unprecedented, but has played little part in public memories of war. The Mixing It project will produce the first cultural and social history of wartime diversity: a study by the Research Fellow (RF) which will:
- trace the rich transnational histories and encounters involved in unprecedented movements of people to Britain - chiefly from empire, Europe and America
- look at the role of ethnicity, language, gender and sexuality in shaping official and popular responses to different groups
- consider the experiences of those arriving, during the war and in its aftermath, their contributions to the Allied war effort and to British wartime culture and why these have often been forgotten
- examine portrayals of a transnational community of allies in the British media
- assess the significance of the Second World War in the making of multiethnic, multinational Britain
The project will also produce:
- a jointly-written journal article through an international collaboration between the RF and Thomas Hajkowski (USA) on BBC wartime programmes about Europeans continuing the fight from Britain.
- a jointly-written paper on Romanies in wartime Britain through a collaboration between the RF and Jodie Matthews (Huddersfield University).
The project's findings will benefit scholars and students working in twentieth-century British history, migration studies and media studies.
Research for the monograph will feed into a small exhibition produced through a partnership between the University of Huddersfield and Imperial War Museum (IWM) North. It will open for 6 months in September 2015 - the seventieth anniversary of the end of the war - and demonstrate the multinational military effort organised from Britain, focusing on people of diverse nationalities and ethnicities from empire and Europe who served with or alongside the British. It will pay particular attention to troops and airmen stationed in Lancashire and Yorkshire and what happened to them when the war was over. There are various compelling stories here. For example, Austrian and German Jews who came to Britain as refugees and subsequently served in the British army re-entered Germany as victors in 1945 and played an important role in the occupation of Germany. They were recruited to the Intelligence and Interpreters Corps where their work included interrogations and interpreting for trials of Nazi war criminals. Czech airmen who had served in the RAF received a hero's welcome when they first returned to Prague in 1946 but, after the Communist Putsch of 1948, were arrested and imprisoned as 'Western aviators'. The exhibition and its associated visitors' programme of talks, screenings and performances will draw attention to neglected histories and groups who are rarely commemorated.
One aim of the exhibition is to look at wartime diversity in the comparatively neglected context of the North of England. The project will employ a Research Assistant (RA) on a 0.5 post for one year who will undertake 15-20 interviews with people whose family histories are connected with the project - both the wartime generation and their descendants. Where respondents consent, these interviews will go into the IWM sound archive and contribute to the exhibition. The RA will also use local and regional newspapers to investigate the impact of wartime diversity on local communities. Talks to local history societies, drawing on the interviews and newspaper research, will look at connections between local histories and the wider history of wartime diversity.
A Workshop in the later stages of the project will bring scholars and museum professionals together to discuss how to bring questions of diversity into mainstream academic and museum work on Second World War Britain to produce more inclusive history and commemoration.
- trace the rich transnational histories and encounters involved in unprecedented movements of people to Britain - chiefly from empire, Europe and America
- look at the role of ethnicity, language, gender and sexuality in shaping official and popular responses to different groups
- consider the experiences of those arriving, during the war and in its aftermath, their contributions to the Allied war effort and to British wartime culture and why these have often been forgotten
- examine portrayals of a transnational community of allies in the British media
- assess the significance of the Second World War in the making of multiethnic, multinational Britain
The project will also produce:
- a jointly-written journal article through an international collaboration between the RF and Thomas Hajkowski (USA) on BBC wartime programmes about Europeans continuing the fight from Britain.
- a jointly-written paper on Romanies in wartime Britain through a collaboration between the RF and Jodie Matthews (Huddersfield University).
The project's findings will benefit scholars and students working in twentieth-century British history, migration studies and media studies.
Research for the monograph will feed into a small exhibition produced through a partnership between the University of Huddersfield and Imperial War Museum (IWM) North. It will open for 6 months in September 2015 - the seventieth anniversary of the end of the war - and demonstrate the multinational military effort organised from Britain, focusing on people of diverse nationalities and ethnicities from empire and Europe who served with or alongside the British. It will pay particular attention to troops and airmen stationed in Lancashire and Yorkshire and what happened to them when the war was over. There are various compelling stories here. For example, Austrian and German Jews who came to Britain as refugees and subsequently served in the British army re-entered Germany as victors in 1945 and played an important role in the occupation of Germany. They were recruited to the Intelligence and Interpreters Corps where their work included interrogations and interpreting for trials of Nazi war criminals. Czech airmen who had served in the RAF received a hero's welcome when they first returned to Prague in 1946 but, after the Communist Putsch of 1948, were arrested and imprisoned as 'Western aviators'. The exhibition and its associated visitors' programme of talks, screenings and performances will draw attention to neglected histories and groups who are rarely commemorated.
One aim of the exhibition is to look at wartime diversity in the comparatively neglected context of the North of England. The project will employ a Research Assistant (RA) on a 0.5 post for one year who will undertake 15-20 interviews with people whose family histories are connected with the project - both the wartime generation and their descendants. Where respondents consent, these interviews will go into the IWM sound archive and contribute to the exhibition. The RA will also use local and regional newspapers to investigate the impact of wartime diversity on local communities. Talks to local history societies, drawing on the interviews and newspaper research, will look at connections between local histories and the wider history of wartime diversity.
A Workshop in the later stages of the project will bring scholars and museum professionals together to discuss how to bring questions of diversity into mainstream academic and museum work on Second World War Britain to produce more inclusive history and commemoration.
Planned Impact
Who benefits?
IWM North.
IWM archives, particularly their sound archive.
Visitors to the IWM North exhibition, related events and visitors' programme.
Local historians and local history societies.
Family historians and people with family and community connections to the history that is represented in the exhibition.
Museum professionals and archivists.
The journal article and monograph will benefit researchers across a range of disciplines (see academic beneficiaries).
How?
The Second World War is a topic that attracts a large public history audience in Britain and occupies a significant place in national self-representation. There has been increasing public debate on war memories over the past 20 years and there is evidence of increasing interest in more inclusive commemorative practices (see Case for Support). In this context the IWM North exhibition, the associated visitors' programme and performances of the scripted monologue will be of interest to many museum visitors, promoting public engagement with aspects of the history of Second World War Britain that have not been widely acknowledged and have played little part in public memories and raising the profile of this history.
The exhibition's Northwest England theme will be of interest to local and regional communities and historians. The talks by the RA on this theme to local history societies will stimulate interest in ways in which their local histories have intersected with transnational histories, the impact of wartime diversity on local histories, and the legacy of war in generating further migration and refugee movements.
The project will engage people with family connections to the history of wartime diversity through outreach work. They will be encouraged to join Veterans North - a group of veterans and eye-witnesses who have been directly affected by war and conflict and are willing to share their stories and experiences with the museum and its visitors. Interviews on their family histories will be recorded using a University of Huddersfield digital recorder. Where respondents permit, interviews will go into the IWM sound archive, and together with other primary source material from their family histories that they may agree to loan or copy, will make material additions to IWM collections and be of benefit to archivists and researchers. Wider access to films on the imperial war effort and empire troops in Britain has already been achieved through the AHRC-funded colonial film project. Through digitisation, the Mixing It project will achieve wider access to some of the wartime documentaries held by IWM that tell the story of Europeans in Britain continuing the fight. Many demonstrate the national and ethnic diversity of British wartime cinema - people of diverse nationalities worked as directors, script-writers and cinematographers.
IWM North will benefit from Mixing It research, which draws on a range of archives to develop an exhibition theme that looks beyond histories of wartime service to the aftermath of war. The development of more inclusive versions of national heritage is an increasing focus of museum work.
The project Workshop will engage potential beneficiaries through its discussion of ways of incorporating diversity into mainstream academic and museum work on Second World War Britain and commemorative practices. The late twentieth century saw increasing commemoration of groups that had suffered double-forgettings. (see Case for Support). The exhibition will mark a further stage in this process.
The RA will gain transferable skills in public speaking, interviewing and newspaper research and will be able to attend sessions in the Huddersfield Staff Development programme, for example on presentational skills. These skills will enhance his/her potential contributions to the academy and/or other employment areas, including the museum sector.
IWM North.
IWM archives, particularly their sound archive.
Visitors to the IWM North exhibition, related events and visitors' programme.
Local historians and local history societies.
Family historians and people with family and community connections to the history that is represented in the exhibition.
Museum professionals and archivists.
The journal article and monograph will benefit researchers across a range of disciplines (see academic beneficiaries).
How?
The Second World War is a topic that attracts a large public history audience in Britain and occupies a significant place in national self-representation. There has been increasing public debate on war memories over the past 20 years and there is evidence of increasing interest in more inclusive commemorative practices (see Case for Support). In this context the IWM North exhibition, the associated visitors' programme and performances of the scripted monologue will be of interest to many museum visitors, promoting public engagement with aspects of the history of Second World War Britain that have not been widely acknowledged and have played little part in public memories and raising the profile of this history.
The exhibition's Northwest England theme will be of interest to local and regional communities and historians. The talks by the RA on this theme to local history societies will stimulate interest in ways in which their local histories have intersected with transnational histories, the impact of wartime diversity on local histories, and the legacy of war in generating further migration and refugee movements.
The project will engage people with family connections to the history of wartime diversity through outreach work. They will be encouraged to join Veterans North - a group of veterans and eye-witnesses who have been directly affected by war and conflict and are willing to share their stories and experiences with the museum and its visitors. Interviews on their family histories will be recorded using a University of Huddersfield digital recorder. Where respondents permit, interviews will go into the IWM sound archive, and together with other primary source material from their family histories that they may agree to loan or copy, will make material additions to IWM collections and be of benefit to archivists and researchers. Wider access to films on the imperial war effort and empire troops in Britain has already been achieved through the AHRC-funded colonial film project. Through digitisation, the Mixing It project will achieve wider access to some of the wartime documentaries held by IWM that tell the story of Europeans in Britain continuing the fight. Many demonstrate the national and ethnic diversity of British wartime cinema - people of diverse nationalities worked as directors, script-writers and cinematographers.
IWM North will benefit from Mixing It research, which draws on a range of archives to develop an exhibition theme that looks beyond histories of wartime service to the aftermath of war. The development of more inclusive versions of national heritage is an increasing focus of museum work.
The project Workshop will engage potential beneficiaries through its discussion of ways of incorporating diversity into mainstream academic and museum work on Second World War Britain and commemorative practices. The late twentieth century saw increasing commemoration of groups that had suffered double-forgettings. (see Case for Support). The exhibition will mark a further stage in this process.
The RA will gain transferable skills in public speaking, interviewing and newspaper research and will be able to attend sessions in the Huddersfield Staff Development programme, for example on presentational skills. These skills will enhance his/her potential contributions to the academy and/or other employment areas, including the museum sector.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Wendy Webster (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Webster
(2020)
Mixing It: Diversity in World War Two Britain
Wendy Webster
(2018)
Mixing It: Diversity in World War II Britain
| Description | Through its investigation of the unprecedented diversity of the population in Britain during the Second World War, Mixing It research offers a offers a new way of thinking about society and culture in Britain during the conflict. A Reader commissioned by Oxford University Press to referee the book of the project commented, 'The cumulative effect is to add a new dimension to our perception of wartime Britain. I doubt if anyone who reads the book will ever picture the home front in quite the same way again'. The arrival of so many people of different nationalities and ethnicities produced much mingling and mixing-on buses and trains, in the forces and workplaces, in hospitals, schools, pubs and dance halls and in the domestic space of private houses. Mixing involved novel experiences. For Alwyn Pindar-a volunteer from the West Indies-it brought his first experience of being served tea by white people rather than the other way round. Encounters across national and ethnic differences also brought changes in British attitudes. Mass Observation reported that 'personal meetings with either American Negro troops or Indian troops' had made people 'more friendly and more pro-colour'. In their turn, encounters with the British could change the attitudes of those arriving. An Irish volunteer reported that he had been brought up to believe that the English had 'fought and starved us', but found that 'they were kind and they were helpful and you made some tremendous friends'. Within transnational communities there were many close friendships, but there was also considerable inter-allied tension sometimes extending to violence which went under-reported. Some of the main causes of tensions and conflicts were colour bars that were widely operated in wartime, especially for people seeking accommodation in hotels and boarding houses. British women's relationships with men who were not native-born Britons-whether white or non-white-also attracted criticism and hostility and were a main cause of inter-allied violence. But military uniforms worn by those arriving were also likely to exempt them from criticism. They were increasingly regarded as a sign that they were fighting with or alongside the British and were therefore welcome-more welcome than those who came as civilians or refugees. In mid-1940, when imminent invasion by Germany was widely expected, hostility to foreigners in Britain was intense and widespread. This project traces two main shifts within varied and sometimes contradictory popular attitudes. It argues that after 1940, there was a shift towards greater tolerance away from the intense anti-alienism of the mid-1940 moment, but that in the aftermath of war the climate shifted again to one of increased hostility to foreigners. A visitor to the Mixing It display at Imperial War Museum commented, 'People post-war wanted Polish fighters to leave despite the help we were given-sad reflection of "Brexit Britain" '. The comment was prompted by a panel in the display on Polish soldiers and airmen which recorded that when a Gallup Poll held in Britain in June 1946 asked people whether they agreed with a government decision to allow Poles who wanted to remain in Britain to do so, more than half answered no. Project findings therefore resonate with the current debate about immigration to the UK. |
| Exploitation Route | The display at Imperial Museum North is on-going. A Mixing It website which is planned to go live in early April will make this display available to a wide audience together with some of the oral history material and photographs collected during the project. There are also links on the website to project interviews that are available on the Imperial War Museum website. I propose to write a piece for BBC History Magazine for Armistice Day 2017 which will bring the project's findings on memories of the war to a wider audience. BBC History Magazine have expressed interest in bringing this out and it will be timed to coincide with the publication of the book of the project. The publication of this book will make the detailed findings of the project available. Readers' reports commissioned by Oxford University Press comment that the book tells 'a powerful tale', at times is 'very moving' and 'is both a first class scholarly history and a parabel for our own day'. These comments echo reports by an agent-'extremely good, very topical and often moving'. I continue efforts to persuade the publisher to publish at an appropriate price to reach a wide audience. |
| Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | There were three main strands in the dissemination of this research to non-academic audiences. One was the display at Imperial War Museum (IWM) North. Another was the recruitment of participants who came to wartime Britain as troops, refugees and prisoners-of-war and their descendants. Participants gave interviews and information and in one case provided translation from Polish to English. A third strand comprised a range of public engagement events associated with the project which are detailed under 'engagement activities'. The involvement of a number of study participants at these events meant that speakers and audiences reflected some of the diversity which is a main theme of the project. At the display at IWM North-'Mixing It: the Changing Faces of Wartime Britain'-visitors see a display of photographs and text, hear audio recordings from interviews carried out during the project and watch a slide show. The stories told are about a Maori pilot; Norwegian seamen and airmen; West Indian and Indian women who broadcast on the wartime BBC; Polish soldiers and airmen; an Irish nurse; Czech and Slovak airmen; a German who arrived on the Kindertransport and served in the British army; Chinese seamen who were deported by the British government when the war was over; a Nigerian pilot. There are more details of the scripted monologue performed at the museum under 'engagement activities'. Imperial War Museum conduct audience research that is mainly quantitative. In addition an evaluation of the Mixing It display was commissioned from Impact Heritage. This focused on collecting qualitative data through questionnaires and interviews. Initial analysis of audience research by Imperial War Museum indicated that a higher proportion of people from black and minority ethnic background visited the Mixing It display than other IWM exhibitions. I have not yet received an update of this analysis. The evaluation showed a variety of responses to the display which resonates with current debates about immigration to the UK. Some people used the display to make comments on these debates--for example, 'People post-war wanted Polish fighters to leave despite the help we were given. Sad reflection on Brexit Britain'; 'Everybody should be made aware of it. Why don't you invite Nigel Farage to visit'; 'Touched that this was introduced. we need more of this than at any other time. Honoured'; 'Keep it going, so important to remind people of the international effort'. Another common response was emotional with some visitors commenting that the stories told--especially the stories of individuals-were powerful and moving. Some 33% of respondents chose to comment on an individual story or theme that they found particularly striking. Themes relating to the little-known experiences of discrimination, hardship and lack of recognition following the war proved particularly powerful and led a number of respondents to highlight the need for these stories to be more widely known. Other visitors reflected on the connections between the display and their family history. One commented, 'My father served and died with African soldiers and Poles at Monte Cassino'. Another visitor whose father had been picked up by Norwegian seamen after his ship was torpedoed commented on the story about Norwegian seamen and 'how little they'd been appreciated'. There were no critical comments on the content of the display. Poor lighting was the most common criticism and here were also comments on over-loud audio. There was also one comment from a museum volunteer on poor promotion of displays in the Waterway Area. Oral history interviews have been made available to a wide audience through sound clips at the display and through deposit on the Imperial War Museum website. There are more details on this in 'Research Databases'. An invited piece in BBC History Magazine published online 'Britain's love/hate relationship with 'foreigners' during the Second World War' attracted 274 likes, 7 comments and 85 shares on Facebook. The original press release for the project generated publicity in the Yorkshire Post and Huddersfield Daily Examiner. The press day at IWM North generated publicity in the Sheffield Star, Jewish Telegraph, Manchester Evening News CityLife (a double-page spread), Huddersfield Daily Examiner and Lancashire Telegraph. The display has also been publicised on the following websites: About Manchester, Alpha Galileo, All About History, Crinolinerobot, Culture 24, Huddersfield University, IWM, Manchester CityLife, Museums and Heritage Advisor, Time Out Manchester (including a critics choice pick). As part of IWM publicity, the display was advertised in Black History Month events. When Oxford University Press seemed unenthusiastic about publishing the book of the project as a trade book, I sent it to an agent for a view. He commented 'I think it is extremely good-often moving and very topical-and I would have thought there would be a general as opposed to a narrowly academic readership for it'. These comments have now been echoed by OUP readers who call the book 'a powerful tale' and 'a parable for our own day' with individual stories that are 'very moving'. I am continuing efforts to persuade OUP to bring the book out at a price which will attract a wider audience than academics and libraries and increase its impact. Mixing It was published in March 2018 and has attracted publicity in BBC History Magazine and History Revealed (where it was book of the month). Since my last submission, the book has been reviewed not only in a range of academic journals, but also in The Guardian, Times Higher Education, New Statesman and London Review of Books. The Guardian called it 'a fascinating study'. Times Higher Education said: 'She has constructed a beautiful narrative that anyone working on Second World War Britain should read'. The New Statesman review said 'What makes Mixing It both highly readable and on multiple pages genuinely heartrending is the space the author dedicates to personal testimonies. The picture she paints is fresh and exhilarating, in part because the stories and the voices she has exhumed from the archives have for so long been marginalised and forgotten'. Mixing It has now been published in paperback and generated a wide range of invitations to give talks to various organisations, many of them online (because of the pandemic) and reaching larger numbers. They included the Imperial War Museum, Oxford University Press, the Holocaust Learning Centre at Huddersfield University, Edinburgh University, Kellogg College University of Oxford (for the Bletchley Park week), Edinburgh University Second World War Studies Group and the Leeds Literary and Philosophical Society. Mixing It was one of History Today's books of the year in 2019. |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Title | 15 Oral History interviews |
| Description | These interviews were conducted in 2014-2015 with Chinese, German, Norwegian and Polish people who came to Britain during the Second World War (and their descendants). 8 of the interviews have been deposited in the Imperial War Museum sound archive where they are accessible online. They include interviews with Jewish refugees who came on the Kindertransport, men who came as prisoners-of-war, Poles who came to serve in the Polish army-in-exile, and the daughters of Chinese and Norwegian merchant seamen who have campaigned for more recognition of the contributions of Chinese and Norwegians to the Allied war effort. Other interviews, with the consent of interviewees, will be made available online from the Huddersfield University repository. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The accessibility of these interviews make it possible for a wide range of listeners, including scholars and students of the Second World War, people researching their family histories, and the wider public to hear them. The Imperial War Museum collections have also benefited from these additions. |
| URL | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80033328 |
| Title | Eprints University of Huddersfield |
| Description | Eprints is the University of Huddersfield's research outputs and data repository, it is where both physical data and metadata for the project is stored. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The Data is stored but not shared/available for external download. Therefore download statistics cannot be used for evidence of impact. |
| URL | http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/26657/ |
| Description | Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain |
| Organisation | Imperial War Museum North |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Providing stories from research on the wider project, selecting stories to be told in consultation with the Advisory Board, writing the text of these stories, picture research and copyright clearance, selecting extracts from oral history interviews for sound clips, selecting pictures for the slide show. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Organising, mounting and publicising the display. |
| Impact | Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain. Display at Imperial War Museum North, opened September 2015 for one year, but was then extended and is still open. Various events at Imperial War Museum North associated with this display are recorded under 'engagement activities'. The collaboration is not multi-disciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | 'Meet the researchers' event at Imperial War Museum North |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This event was part of the Imperial War Museum North's visitors' programme. The presentation on the display and the wider project was followed by questions and discussion. A number of participants in the research who had given interviews or provided information made rich contributions to the discussion which ranged over highly topical questions of migration and refugee movements to Britain. Several people commented that they had found the story about Chinese seamen in the display and presentation particularly striking. They had not previously known that Chinese seamen served in the wartime merchant navy and were repatriated and deported by the British government when the war was over. The event was also an opportunity to thank the participants. Raised awareness of diversity in wartime Britain. In e-mails received after the talk, several people commented on stories told during the presentation that they had not previously known. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.iwm.org.uk/exhibitions/iwm-north/mixing-it-the-changing-faces-of-wartime-britain |
| Description | An article in History Revealed, a magazine that chose Mixing It as 'book of the month'. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | History Revealed has a large audience. Information about Mixing It was widely disseminated by this article and the choice of Mixing It as 'book of the month'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Article in BBC History Magazine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | BBC History Magazine published an interview with me about the book of the Mixing It project. This was a substantial 3-page spread. Through this, Mixing It was disseminated to a large general audience, but none of the descriptions of 'impact' below fit it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.scribd.com/article/372088839/In-Its-Finest-Hour-Britain-S-Population-Was-Multiethnic-And... |
| Description | Mixing It Project Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The purpose was to bring together panels of mid-career and early-career scholars to talk about aspects of multinational, multi-ethnic Britain during the Second World War to the general public. The audience included members of a number of local history societies, people who had participated in the research, independent scholars and postgraduate and undergraduate students. There were papers on British Romanies, on English-Welsh identities, on Europeans in the armed forces and in broadcasting, on forgotten histories and on volunteers from the British empire who served in Britain. There were also screenings of two documentary films made during the war--one on the Chinese in Wartime Britain and one on Germans who served in the British armed forces. Papers and screenings were followed by questions and discussion. A number of people commented on the Chinese in Wartime Britain as a 'forgotten history'. E-mails from participants afterwards commented 'an excellent event' and 'I thoroughly enjoyed it'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mixing-it-the-changing-faces-of-wartime-britain-project-workshop-ticket... |
| Description | Online talk with Louise Ryan at Holocaust Learning Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An online talk on Refugees, Migrants, Memories and Identities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://holocaustlearning.org.uk/events/refugees-migrants-memories-and-identities/ |
| Description | Online talk, Kellogg College, Oxford University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk organised by Kellogg College, University of Oxford as part of Bletchley Park week |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2nciTNG0E |
| Description | Panel chair at RAF Museum conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Chair of a panel at RAF Museum Conference on The RAF and a World Transformed: 1945-49. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Historian/rafm-2020-conference-programme.pdf |
| Description | Panel chair at RAF Museum conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Chair of a panel at RAF Museum Conference on The RAF and a World Transformed: 1945-49. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Historian/rafm-2020-conference-programme.pdf |
| Description | Performance of monologue at Imperial War Museum North |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The monologue was scripted and performed by a professional from 'History's Maid'. It was based on an interview collected by the Mixing It project team with a Czech woman who came to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939 aged 11. Several members of the audience reported being moved by the performance. Please note that the most significant outcome/impact of this activity was requests for further information. Although I ticked this box it is recorded on the portfolio as increase in requests about further participation and involvement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Press day for the Mixing It display at Imperial War Museum North |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | During the press day, a number of people were interviewed by various media, including the project's PI and several participants in the research. The result was extensive publicity for the display on radio, newspapers and websites. Please note that the most significant outcome/impact was requests for further information. Although I ticked this box, it is recorded on the portfolio as increase in requests for participation and involvement. After the press day, the Mixing It display attracted publicity in a range of newspapers, websites, radio and television. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/press-release/Mixing%20It%20IWM%20North%20press%20release_... |
| Description | Press release for the Mixing It project and display |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The initial press release from the University of Huddersfield generated publicity for the project in the Yorkshire Post and the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. It also led to an invitation from BBC History Magazine for the PI to write a piece about the project for their website. Please note that the most significant outcome/impact of this activity was requests for further information. Although I ticked this box it is recorded on the portfolio as increase in requests about further participation and involvement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/education/how-did-post-war-britain-s-attitude-toward-refugees-ch... |
| Description | Roundtable, Edinburgh University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An onlilne panel organised by Edinburgh University where four people spoke about their recent books on the Second World War and discussed a range of questions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.ed.ac.uk/history-classics-archaeology/news-events/events-archive/2021/expert-round-table... |
| Description | Screening of a film about Czech airmen in the RAF at Holmfirth Film Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This event was attended by several descendants of Czechs who came to Britain during the war. In discussion afterwards they contributed information and memories about the Czech presence in wartime Britain. They became participants in the wider project, providing information and attending subsequent events. Please note that the most significant outcome/impact of this activity was requests about further participation or involvement. Although I ticked this box it is recorded on the portfolio as requests for further information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://holmfirthfilmfestival.co.uk/directors/jan-sverak/ |
| Description | Talk at the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide studies, Amsterdam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This provided an opportunity to speak to a predominantly Dutch audience and generated some wide-ranging discussion. There was an exchange of information about Dutch people who journeyed to Britain, often on small boats, to continue the fight--called 'England-farers' by the Dutch. There was also discussion of Louis de Jong, a Dutch Jewish exile in Britain who worked in the wartime BBC and went on to write a multi-volume history of the Netherlands during the Second World War. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.historici.nl/agenda/professor-wendy-webster-mixing-it-multinational-britain-second-world... |
| Description | Talk organised by Leeds Lit and Phil Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk on Zoom organised by the Leeds Literary and Philosophical Society about Europeans in wartime Britain |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.leedsphilandlit.org.uk/events/europeans-in-britain-in-world-war-ii/ |
| Description | Talk to History in Action day, University of Huddersfield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This talk prompted lively discussion and debate. People of Caribbean descent in the audience commented on this as their own history that was rarely acknowledged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.hud.ac.uk/sound-vision-place/events/historyinaction.php |
| Description | Talk to Imperial War Museum Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This Imperial War Museum project involved staff from a range of museum across the UK who are developing exhibitions on World War II diversity, hence the relevance of my talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk to local history society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 30 people attended this talk to Marsden local history society: 'Allies, POWs and Refugees: the Colne Valley and Huddersfield Home Front in World War Two'. A comment afterwards was that 'the linkage of wartime arrivals and post war immigration to this country was something I had not previously considered'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Talk to local history society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 85 people attended this talk to Huddersfield local history society: 'The Huddersfield Home Front in World War II'. By offering a local angle on the 'diversity in Second World War Britain' theme of the Mixing It project, the talk generated a lot of discussion, including people's reflections on their parent's experiences of encountering foreign refugees and troops during World War II. The talk also provided an opportunity to publicise the Mixing It display at Imperial War Museum North. Please note that the most significant outcome/impact of this activity was requests for further information. Although I ticked this box, it is recorded on the portfolio as increase in requests for participation and involvement. The talk raised awareness of communities of refugees, prisoners-of-war and allied troops eg. Americans in the local area during the Second World War. Several people commented that they had never considered this before and there was discussion of whether the Second World War had been a catalyst for change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Talk to staff at Oxford University Press |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to talk to staff at Oxford University Press which published the book of the Mixing It project about my work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk to the Holocaust Learning Centre, University of Huddersfield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Joint talk on Refugees, Migrants, Memories, Identities drawing on Mixing It research with Professor Louise Ryan |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://holocaustlearning.org.uk/events/refugees-migrants-memories-and-identities/ |
| Description | Tours of the Mixing It display at Imperial War Museum North |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tour of IWM North's iconic building, included a special focus on the 'Mixing It' display. Please note that the most important outcome/impact was requests for further information. Although I ticked this box, the Portfolio records this answer as 'increase in requests about participation and involvement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-north/iwm-north-museum-architecture-tour |
| Description | Webpage on 'Irish Nurses in Wartime Britain: Mary Morris's Diary' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This is a contribution to an AHRC funded collaboration between the University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, Runnymede Trust and OCR Exam Board to provide an online resource on the long history of migration to Britain for use by GCSE students. The resource aims to support the teaching and learning of the two new OCR GCSE History modules on migration to Britain, which started in September 2016. It links academic research on migration to Britain with schools and young people in an accessible way and joins up the many disparate resources on migration to Britain that already exist. Although I am not aware of any specific impact from my own contribution to this website, its overall impact is likely to be considerable and to strengthen the opportunities that a changed history curriculum offers to reconsider concepts of British identity.This website has been awarded the Royal Historical Society's Public History Prize for Best Online Resource in 2018. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/irish-nurses-in-wartime-britain-mary-mulrys-diary |