WAS THERE REALLY a phoney war in 1939-40? Historians have discovered a series of panicky inter-departmental communications released in secret files recently published. It transpires that the official Parliamentary journal Hansard had not been correctly collated and lodged during the latter stages of 1939 and important aspects such as the declaration of war were inexplicably filed under the year 1839.

The gaffe came to light in the early years of 1940 when to the astonishment and surprise of the Foreign Office, diplomatic communications with the Third Reich were 'strained' and the German Navy was becoming 'suspiciously edgy, aggravated and ungentlemanly'.

Thanks to the timely intervention of a shrewd parliamentary clerk who recalled some of the headlines and events of  September 1939, all of the files were recovered by June 1940 and a state of war was reinstated.

This photograph resurfaced several times in 1939-1940 and was seen by many as proof that any "conflict" occurring was actually a hoax.

Mrs Trudith Wainstabble was an ardent unbeliever in the war. In 1940 she corresponded frequently with her cousin, Mrs Delores Faffle, in New York, and asked her on a number of occasions if she could see any war happening over that way, to which she was repeatedly told "no."

By Christmas 1940, things had reached a head and the Ministry of Defence, in order to sway public opinion, arranged a "show event" in Trafalgar Square, in which a German prisoner of war from was paid a sum of £5 to punch George Formby in front of gathered press and onlookers. Things got out of hand and a full-scale riot ensued, which had to be broken up by Dame Vera Lynn.

Some folks really can't be convinced, look at this family shot taken near London Piccadilly, note the casual manner in which the family in the foreground go about their business, there's even some fellow playing a spot of Badminton

So unconvinced was the population during mid 1940, Churchill repeatedly had to resort to ordering the Royal Navy to fire barrages of 16 inch shells at the most sceptical communities. Eventually believing that these were in fact 'invisible German bombers' most of them had changed their minds in time for the beginning of the battle of Britain and real enemy bombing.

Unfortunately the mayor of Norwich proclaimed that it was all still a
'enormous conspiracy' and had his townsfolk arrange and take part in many open air night time events including concerts and camping, causing devastating damage to the populace.

Poster introduced to nurseries and schools in summer of 1940, to increase paranoia and bed-wetting. Declassified MoD documents from later in the war indicate this poster campaign was a emarkable success, and the number of mattresses and sheets being donated to the war effort sky-rocketed.