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MINISTRY OF INFORMATION .
THE NORTH-EASTERN REGION .
1939-1946

INTRODUCTION .

The pages which follow should be regarded as an assessment of the work of the Ministry of Information in the North Eastern Region rather than a detailed history of all its activities. Although the treatment is, wherever possible, objective, where comment is made it must inevitably reflect the views of the writer who was responsible for the conduct of the Regional work throughout the war years. It is, perhaps, enough to claim that nought has been set down in malice, and that for any success that may have been achieved in the Region, the writer is deeply conscious of the debt he owes to help from the Headquarters of the Ministry and to the untiring efforts of his staff. In acknowledging his debt to the Regional staff the writer has refrained from the invidious task of mentioning the names of individual Officers who made outstanding contributions to the success of the Regional work, in the knowledge that that would be in accordance with their wish. They, like him, are aware of how much was owed to the co-operative spirit which informed the office, and the value of the contribution made by those who performed many of the less spectacular duties associated with the work of the Region.

This survey of the Region should begin in September, 1939, when Commander J.B. (“Bill”) Adams took up his duties as Regional Information Officer. But on those early days the archives throw little light. The announcement that the regional organisation of the Ministry of Information was to be disbanded, in a Sunday night broadcast, induced Commander Adams to present himself to the Regional Commissioner the following morning, with the assertion that he had had many curious experiences in his life, but had never been sacked by wireless before, and adding an emphatic “Good morning!” he took his adieu of the Region and of this record. In November, steps were taken to reconstitute the Ministry's regional organisation, and the writer took up his duties as Regional Information Officer on December 7, 1939. Mr. D.B. Briggs had temporary charge of the office, and the new R.I.O. found that his arrival synchronised with “moving day”. New premises had been found in Westwood Chambers, Albion Street, and the first task concerned the physical transportation 43 - 2 -of the furniture and equipment from the Yorkshire Post Buildings to Westwood Chambers. The staff consisted of a clerk and a shorthand typist.

LOCAL INFORMATION COMMITTEES .

It appeared to the R.I.O. that the first essential was to cope with the local committee situation. Twenty-nine Committees were in various stages of formation or disintegration. Some had met, while in other cases nominations had been received but no formal meeting had been held. All had been instructed to suspend action until further notice. There thus appeared to be some real danger of irritation and loss of goodwill, and early action to obliterate the memory of a false start seemed required. Letters were, therefore, addressed to the Committee Convenors or the Honorary Secretaries where they existed, promising an early visit from the R.I.O., with a view to arranging committee meetings. The need for staff became immediately apparent. Committee work began to take the R.I.O. away from the office at a time when correspondence with Headquarters was heavy, and when numerous contacts were developing in the Region, particularly those with Lord Harlech, the Regional Commissioner, who throughout his term of office was an enthusiastic supporter of the Ministry's efforts.

The arrival of the Press Officer provided relief, but the appointment of a Committee Officer and a Meetings Officer were delayed by an anxiety not to employ in the Ministry's service anyone who could be suspected of having political affiliations. It should be borne in mind that these were the pre- Coalition Government days, and it was desirable that party hostilities or suspicions should not be aroused.

The work of getting the local committees into shape proceeded satisfactorily, though the absence of an all-party Government found expression in occasional local difficulties. An attempt to organise a mass meeting in Leeds, under M.O.I. auspices - the first of such meetings in the Region - had to be abandoned because the local Labour party felt they could not provide an all-party platform for the Speaker, who was Lord Halifax. The meeting was therefore held under civic auspices. But party influence did little to disturb the steady development of the Committee organisation, and after the formation of the Coalition Government can be said to have been completely non-existent.

The policy of basing local Committee areas on Parliamentary Constituencies 44 - 3 -proved unworkable in many instances, particularly where the constituency covered a widely scattered population. The Parliamentary Constituency is not an administrative area, and wartime difficulties, notably lack of transport and the blackout, soon made it apparent that modification would be required if active Committee work was to be expected.

An outstanding example was provided by the Skipton Division of Yorkshire, one of the largest, if not the largest, Parliamentary Division in the country. The town of Skipton is the natural centre of the area, but the distance between Skipton and, say, Sedbergh is some 40 miles, while most of the other centres of population are scattered at distances of 15 to 25 miles from Skipton. After experimenting with one Committee for the whole Division, it became apparent that sub-Committees would be required if the ground was to be intensively covered, and these were ultimately formed in the main centres of population. It was arranged that correspondence should be conducted through the Secretary of the main Committee at Skipton, but this procedure was found to throw too great a burden on the Skipton Secretary, and to lead to unnecessary delay; so that in the end, the sub-Committees became, for all intents and purposes, independent Committees. Similar developments occurred in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and in the Barkston Ash Division, while in other instances minor modifications were made in the areas served by Committees, so as to create an efficient administrative unit.

The most efficient Committees were, as a rule, found in the small towns, where an intensive coverage could be given by one Committee and where the members were, as a rule, not so heavily engaged with other preoccupations. In Leeds and Sheffield, for example, Committee members were, for the main part, prominent citizens. The claims upon their time were numerous and varied, and many of them were members of innumerable committees. The fact that both these Cities were well served with M.O.I. activities was due, not so much to the Committees, but to the existence of the Regional Office in Leeds and to special arrangements at Sheffield, which included full-time paid secretarial assistance.

In large Cities a case might well be made for the establishment of a local Committee in each Parliamentary Division, which would provide specialised knowledge of each district, and an intensive coverage, quite unobtainable from 45 - 4 -one central Committee. Alternatively, Constituency Committees attached to a central Committee could be set up. It is not suggested, however, that population and geography are the sole determining factors in the success of Committee work. Probably the most important single factor is the personality of the Honorary Secretary. We had a remarkable demonstration of this in the Region when, after a change in the Secretaryship, forced against the will of the occupant of that office, one of the most difficult and backward Cities so far as M.O.I. work was concerned became, perhaps, the most outstanding example of the successful development of Committee work in the Region.

So far as keeping contact with members of Committees is concerned, apart from the regular meetings of officers from Regional H.Q. with members in Committee, it is impossible to lay down any useful generalisation. Commentaries on the war situation by the R.I.O. or D.R.I.O., explanations from Officers of other Government Departments such as the B.O.T. or Ministry of Fuel & Power on the work of their Departments, discussions on spontaneously suggested topics for the weekly home-intelligence report or on subjects for specially requested reports for H.Q. helped, together with the arrangements for meetings, film shows, exhibitions and campaigns, to foster in the committees a lively interest in the work of the Ministry and led to a steady flow of correspondence between the Regional Office and the honorary Secretaries or members of Committees. Some Committees maintained an insatiable demand for literature of all kinds, and made most effective use of it in their contacts with the bodies they represented; others were inclined to criticise most of our literature as a waste of paper. It can perhaps be said that those with fewest opportunities to do their own reading most welcomed our publications, which gave them the background material they required to take an intelligent interest in the war. But “Question and Answer” appeared to be appreciated by nearly every section of the community, not necessarily on account of its originality, but because it provided a convenient summary of answers to some of the pressing questions of the moment. In this Region we provided “Question and Answer” material on a regional basis, selecting questions which our Home Intelligence survey showed to be most in the public mind.

The amount of assistance given by local Committees to the Films, Home Intelligence, Meetings and Campaigns sections varied greatly from place to place. 46 - 5 -For the organisation of meetings, Committees proved invaluable in nearly every area, but on the films side contacts were developed outside the Committees in many places: these contacts being frequently people who took a specialised interest in the use of the film as an instrument of propaganda, and whose enthusiasm and interest could not have been matched inside the ranks of the local Committee, with whom, however, they worked in friendly co-operation. The Home Intelligence section was very largely dependent on the weekly reports submitted by Committees or Committee members for the material from which both the weekly and special reports to H.Q. were compiled. In campaigns work, the Honorary Secretary of the local Committee invariably provided a local contact who made the arrangements for meetings, the use of rooms, the display of posters and co-operation with the Local Authorities.

Yorkshire is said to be Committee-minded, and it may be for this reason that the Committee system justified itself in the North East Region. It is true that the work, in the main, fell on the Honorary Secretary, but it must be borne in mind that we could not have obtained the services of senior Corporation Officials and other prominent people unless we had had the backing of a local Committee composed of representatives of the Local Authorities and other bodies of repute in the locality. The Committee members themselves, while in many cases doing little direct work for the Ministry, served as valuable contacts for the Honorary Secretary in the arrangement of his programme of meetings and film shows, and in obtaining material for the Home Intelligence work. No less important was the Committees’ function as a buffer between a Government Department and the public. They not only provided the necessary all-party backing for our activities, but cushioned off local criticism which might arise on, say, the question of holding public meetings and film shows on Sundays, or the display of ‘horror’ films. The fact that these activities had the approval of a Committee on which the churches of all denominations were represented saved us from attack on many occasions.

One incident concerning local Information Committees calls for special comment. In July of 1940, the Ministry was under fire from the Press on account of its Home Intelligence activities, and the phrase “Cooper's Snoopers” had been coined to suggest that the Ministry was engaged in an attempt to pry into the affairs of private individuals. The Press attack coincided with the 47 - 6 -appearance of a News Letter issued from the Regional Office to members of local Information Committees. In the course of a second News Letter the writer made some observations on this Press attack, and quoted a paragraph from “The Economist” in support of the Ministry's intelligence work, in which there was a reference to the stupidity of certain Members of Parliament. The Yorkshire Evening News published extracts from this News Letter, and attacked it on the grounds that a Government Department was entering into controversy. Some of the national papers took up the cry and a question was put down in the House of Commons. Lord Harlech, the Regional Commissioner, supported the letter in the strongest possible terms, emphasising the desirability of members of the Ministry's local voluntary organisation being provided with some answer to criticisms which must otherwise have proved very disturbing. But a letter from Lord Harlech to the Minister, although delivered to the Ministry several days before the question came up in the House, did not, for some inscrutable reason, reach the Minister until the question had been dealt with. Whether, but for this unfortunate occurrence, the Minister might have been tempted to resist the suggestion, in a supplementary question, that it was most undesirable for this kind of material to be issued by the Ministry, remains an unanswered question. The writer is not inclined to deny that he displayed a combination of enthusiasm and rashness, which his few months’ experience in the Civil Service had not been sufficient to modify, though he yields to none in his appreciation of the importance of the principle that the Civil Service should not become engaged in controversy.

REGIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE .

Before leaving the subject of Committees, reference should be made to the work of the Regional Advisory Committee. This Committee had no organic relationship with the local Information Committee system, but was set up with the idea of providing an advisory body composed of representative leaders of opinion throughout the Region. Its function was to meet periodically and advise the R.I.O. on the development of the work of the Region. This Committee cannot be said to have played an important part in the Regional work and organisation. Some of the members, in their individual capacity, were of great assistance to the Ministry's work. This would have been true in any 48 - 7 -case, because of the links that existed between them and the Ministry on other grounds. The Committee occasionally provided some useful discussions, but as it was composed, in the main, of people who had important responsibilities in their own spheres, they had little time, and less inclination, to travel to Leeds for periodic discussions on the work of the Ministry. Most of the members realised that they had no real job to do, and no close acquaintance with our organisation. An arrangement was made under which members of the Regional Advisory Committee could attend local Information Committee meetings in the area in which they resided, with the object of enabling them to become better acquainted with actual operations in the Region, A few members took advantage of this, but the arrangement served little purpose since the R.A.C. member attending a local Information Committee could do little but watch the proceedings. To be effective, a Regional Advisory Committee should have functional relationship with local Information Committees. If, for example, the Chairmen of local Information Committees had been formed into a Regional Advisory Committee, there would have been created a body of men with detailed knowledge of our work, who could have given practical advice on the development of regional activities. As it was, we had an ornamental committee, whom we tried to interest at quarterly meetings with new M.O.I. films or speakers of special distinction, but whose contribution to the work of the Region was hardly commensurate with the energy and time required to keep it alive.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION SERVICE .

The Emergency Information Service in this Region was firmly founded on the local Information Committee system. Preliminary work for the dissemination of instructions, information and guidance following severe air raids had been done by 1940, by the Committees in all parts of the Region. When, in April, 1941, Emergency Information Officers were to be appointed, nomination of an official of the Information Committee was the logical step. Honorary Secretaries, or Chairmen of the Committees were nominated by us for the post of E.I.O. and approved by the local authority in the twelve County Boroughs in the Region, whether target areas or not. By September, 1942, E.I.Os had been nominated, and in most cases appointed, in all towns with a population of over 5,000, except in a few areas where two or three towns in close proximity to one another were grouped together under one E.I.O. Again, it was generally the Honorary Secretary 49 - 8 -or Chairman of the local Information Committee who was appointed in view of his already established contact with the local authority, and of the prestige of the Committee, arising out of its various local activities.

The co-ordination of the activities of a number of E.I.Os under a group E.I.O., as suggested by headquarters, was not considered necessary, but close contact was established in all areas between the E.I.O. and the County or local authority, Controller and the Invasion Committees.

In addition to the arrangements for the dissemination of news and instructions after air raids, a scheme was prepared to cover the whole Region for the dissemination of news in case of the disruption of the usual news services by invasion. The practicability of the scheme can only be assessed from the exercises which were run to test the machinery but these all indicated that the arrangements were satisfactory. The plans included the collection of news and official announcements mainly through the headquarters of the Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence; the preparation of a news bulletin; the distribution by means of despatch riders of copies of the bulletin to all E.I.Os in the Region; the duplication of the bulletin and its posting on approved and adequately guarded official notice boards in all towns and villages in the Region; the broadcasting of news and announcements on the short range transmitters of the B.B.C. The Emergency Information Officers did an enormous amount of detailed work in planning for the duplication of the bulletins, preparing and listing sites for their posting, scheduling routes and arranging agents for the distribution, establishing contacts with the necessary organisations such as the Invasion Committee, and the local Military Authority.

With the outstanding exception of the coastal area, the North East Region suffered little from enemy air attack. The industrial West Riding suffered only slight disturbance to its production, though Sheffield in the south-west was twice severely bombed, in December, 1940, but thereafter was left unscathed. On the east coast, Hull was subjected to persistent and heayy raiding, which continued long after attacks elsewhere had ceased. The City's claim to be the most severely damaged town in Great Britain, though not undisputed, can certainly be supported with formidable evidence. Leeds experienced but one attack, which though sharp, did little to dislocate the City's life; while a comparable attack on York destroyed several historic buildings and part of the 50 - 9 -railway station, but left the Minster untouched, and did not overtax the City's resources.

The first heavy raids which the Region suffered were at Sheffield in December, 1940. The experience gained at Coventry had enabled plans to be prepared, but lack of equipment such as loudspeaker vans and the difficulty in operating an untried plan, necessitated a considerable amount of extemporisation and adjustment in detail.

Experience amply demonstrated that the loudspeaker van was the most effective instrument for disseminating information to the public in an emergency. The recommendation that loudspeaker vans should be used for this purpose was first made by this Region, in the summer of 1940, after the fall of France, following which Lord Harewood, as Chairman of the Regional Advisory Committee, offered to support a public appeal for funds for the purchase of loudspeaker vans, to be attached to local Information Committees and certain strategic centres in the Region. The R.I.O. considered such a course undesirable, but continued to press for the inclusion of the loudspeaker van in the emergency information system that was then being evolved. The attack on Coventry rendered further advocacy to this course unnecessary, and a scramble for loudspeaker equipment ensued.

By December that year we had one large loudspeaker van, and this, together with another two borrowed from Manchester Office, served in co-operation with police loudspeaker cars, to provide Sheffield with a loudspeaker information service. In addition, emergency news bulletins were posted daily throughout the City, for a period of six days; this covering the two attacks which followed in close succession, the first on the night of Thursday, December 12, and the second on the following Sunday.

Subsequent and much more extensive experience at Hull taught us to place increasing reliance on the loudspeaker van, of which by this time there were adequate supplies. Psychologically, announcements from the vans gave the public a feeling of reassurance in that a link had been established between the authorities and the community; while the even more practical demonstration of their good effect was the way in which the queues standing in front of Information Centres would diminish after a van had pulled up and made its announcements. Further, the announcer accompanying the van was often able to 51 - 10 -bring back useful information on the anxieties disturbing the public, about which some announcement could usefully be made. It is not to be imagined that this work was plain sailing, nor that amid the confusion it was always possible to secure much needed guidance for the public. An assessment of the damage to gas and water mains, to electricity circuits, industrial premises, transport facilities, the location of unexploded bombs and a mass of other detailed information was necessary before directions to the public could be given. There might, on occasion, even be disagreement in the Local Authority on the correct policy to adopt. The only course was to accept no announcement for broadcasting unless it bore the signature of the head of the appropriate department.

Although the use of loudspeaker vans was found to be a more flexible method of getting information over to the public than the posting of bulletins, the latter method proved to be a very useful supplement, especially in places such as factories, where large numbers of people were already collected together.

Reference should, be made to the Searcher Service, which was originated by Sheffield Information Committee. The Sheffield police were inundated by some 700 telegrams and telephone messages from people throughout the country seeking information about the welfare of their relatives and friends, and appealed to the Local Information Committee for help. A team of Searchers, including older schoolboys, was organised and went the rounds making enquiries as to the welfare or whereabouts of the persons specified in the enquiries. In most cases they were able to bring back information that the persons named were at home and had suffered no damage; had had their homes damaged or destroyed, but were in the care of neighbours, or had been injured or killed. Naturally, in some instances it was found impossible to obtain any information. This service proved so valuable that the Regional Commissioner (Lord Harlech) asked us to report upon it in full, to him, for subsequent transmission to the Ministry of Health. Ultimately, this Service was adopted throughout the country and became the responsibility of the Local Authority.

A very useful service was performed in Hull by a small Committee of three members of the Information Committee who went round the heavily bombed areas as early as possible after raids, and reported their impression of the morale of the people and the opinion of the public on the organisation and work of the 52 - 11 -post-raid services.

FILM DEPARTMENT .

The Film Department in the Region got under way at the end of September, 1940, with 5 units. At first reliance was placed almost wholly on the Information Committees, who for the first six months or so were persuaded to take the responsibility for a block of bookings covering one, two, or even more weeks. Some 50 bookings a week were needed to keep the units busy. Not all the Committees were working in active operation at this stage and it became clear that Committees alone could not absorb all the time of the units. Accordingly we circularised all the Working Men's Clubs and Women's Institutes in the Region and a substantial number of bookings accrued. Simultaneously we made contact with the factories through the Regional Controller of the Ministry of Labour. The films were so much appreciated in the factories that the step towards regular monthly shows, taken early in 1942, was an easy one.

It became apparent in 1941 that to achieve intensive coverage of the whole Region, particularly rural areas, the Information Committee system would have to be reinforced by the appointment of voluntary Local Agents responsible either for a single village or for a group of villages. The Local Agent system worked well and by mid 1942, when there were 9 units, it could be claimed that all the villages in the Region and every sizable factory were taking shows or had been offered them, apart from the urban organisations on the list. Three further units, including a 35 mm. unit for the service of large size factories, were added to the strength towards the end of 1942.

With these increased projector resources and a regular supply of films, it was possible to consolidate the work in two very important ways. A greatly enlarged four-weekly rota of factories was created, in the Summer of 1942, occupying the noon time (and often mid-night) daily activities of nine out of the twelve units. Correspondingly for the rural areas, well-knit circuits of village shows were established at this period on a regular two-monthly basis. While it was not possible, of course, to cover every village in the region, a very high proportion of rural communities in the East Riding and big stretches of the Dales received (and still do receive) assured periodic visits.

This expansion of activity was not solely a matter of increased resources. In the closing months of 1942, much time was spent in meeting personally 53 - 12 -existing film contacts and new ones largely secured through the co-operation of the Committee Department.

Already in 1942, a beginning had been made with the directly purposive use of films to selected audiences. At mobile shows end particularly at Sunday shows in public cinemas (Scheme A) the instructional film FIREGUARD was shown to big audiences. At country cinemas, farmers assembled to see films of interest to them. In the early months of 1943 certain specialised activities were being carried on which pointed the way to significant later developments in this side of our work. A series of strictly utilitarian training films was shown to practically every member of the National Fire Service throughout the Region, both in public cinemas and at Fire Stations. The film SCABIES brought to some thousands of doctors and nurses in the Region, the latest diagnosis and treatment of that malady. Our co-operation in the West Riding “Dig for Victory” campaign elicited a notable tribute from Whitehall.

In the following eighteen months, campaigns on a massive scale were conducted in Civil Defence instruction in factories with such films as FACTORY FIRE GUARD and to other audiences with DEBRIS TUNNELLING, FIGHTER HAS CRASHED, and RESCUE RECONNAISSANCE: BOILER HOUSE PRACTICE was shown widely at the request of the Ministry of Fuel and Power; previews of agricultural teaching films were given to the technical staffs of two County Executive Committees at Ripon and Beverley late in 1943 and these proved to be the most effective ways of inducing the technical advisory staffs to push the use of these films in discussion group activities during the rest of the season. The film SUMMER ON THE FARM was used to interest factory audiences in the Ministry of Agriculture's voluntary camps.

The increase in sheer size of our mobile film activities over this period is conveyed by statistics for the months of March in two years - whereas during March, 1942, 320 shows were given, in March, 1944, 614 shows were given to total audiences of 105,000 people. This month, March, 1944, was admittedly a record one, but our totals during other months of the year 1943-44 often approached the 600 mark. The clerical staff handling this work remained the same in size. Their capacity for dealing with this enlarged scale of activity was due mainly to refinements and improvements; checks and counter balances were progressively introduced into the system of booking film shows and programmes, 54 - 13 -and an effective administrative machinery evolved. The appointment of one of the clerical staff as Film Librarian was an essential feature of this evolution.

One type of show undertaken for the Ministry of Labour in the early months of 1944 gave some indication of what was to be an important function of our work from then until the closing months of the war. This was a series of shows for training purposes to the staffs of this Ministry which recognised that film was a way of bringing actuality into the impression their interviewers and administrators had of industrial conditions. During the year an extensive series of shows organised through local juvenile advisory committees and labour exchanges of programmes based on such films as NEW BUILDERS was given as a means of finding recruits for industry. Our supply of specialised films went on steadily growing and the provision of programmes on cookery and catering, on the technical aspects of fuel economy and on other specialised topics were increasingly provided for other Government Departments.

By the early months of 1945, the ratio of this specialised kind of activity to our general work had grown and Government Departments and public bodies had come to rely fairly completely on our advice as technical experts in the field of film presentation. For the County War Agricultural Committees, the second preview of agricultural teaching films was a much more considered and successful affair and led to the preparation by a member of the Executive Committee of an important document on the technical aspects of the films presented. In 1944 we also inaugurated a series of mass demonstrations of medical films for doctors and nurses in public cinemas. The series in Leeds were notable occasions in that audiences of some 1,500 - 2,000 medical people met at bi-monthly intervals to see specialised films.

The interest of adult educational organisations in the use of film as a stimulus to the discussion of such topics as town planning, world affairs and citizenship has also steadily grown. Shows have been given as a means of helping youth and adult study groups and in connection with civic exhibitions. From a diversity of ad hoc activities, mention may be made of the long and successful co-operation with the Blood Transfusion Service of the Ministry of Health and with the educational and police authorities in both Ridings in the showing of the road safety film to school children. The closing phases of the 55 - 14 -war in Europe saw the establishment in many parts of the Region of groups and societies strongly linked to the University, College and school authorities in such places as Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Doncaster and Huddersfield, and interested in the use of the film in education.

Looking back, it may be said that a flexible and highly effective machine for non-theatrical film distribution was created during the war. A considerable body of experience was gathered on such problems as the type of films and programmes calculated to interest different sorts of audiences, and on technical and other problems affecting mobile film shows. War time conditions made it difficult to spend time on any other valuable aspects of the work. Thought and effort might have been given to more creative ways of presenting the films to audiences. It is to be hoped too that the acoustical drawbacks still present in substandard film projection will be energetically tackled in the post-war era. More imaginative and ample methods of publicising film shows would pay good dividends. Already the Department is a centre of advice for many educationists using films in the Region as projectors become available in greater numbers to schools and to cultural organisations; the expansion of this service and the creation of a Regional film library system would seem to be logical and worthwhile future objectives.

PRESS DEPARTMENT .

In its early days the Press Department was engaged in a wide variety of activities extending far beyond the confines of newspaper work. A daily report to Home Intelligence on public morale, rumours, etc., was at one time an important aspect of the Department's work. This report was prepared from a study of the local papers, a series of telephone calls and general observation. In due course, Home Intelligence became a separate organisation and took over the preparation of this report. Similarly, questions on censorship were answered by the Department until the formation of a Censorship Unit for the Region in the early days of 1941.

As the work of the Region became more stabilised, the Department was able to devote the whole of its attention to work more strictly concerned with the Press, and soon there was established a feeling of goodwill between the Regional Office and the newspapers which was to prove of immense value later on. From the first, emphasis was laid on the establishment and maintenance of 56 - 15 -the closest possible personal contacts with responsible journalists.

At an early stage, arrangements were made to provide the Press with official information on air raid conditions. Conferences with Regional Editors on this subject (as on others) were of great value. Under the emergency news plan a direct P.A. line and a direct B.B.C. line were installed, and arrangements were made with the Railway Companies for the use of their telephone lines. Happily, the need to put the arrangements into full operation never arose. Useful work was done by the Department when an enemy attack on York with incendiary bombs put the Yorkshire Evening Press out of action. Arrangements previously made for printing the paper in Leeds (by the Yorkshire Evening News) were put into operation, and contact was made with the Linotype Company, who sent a representative to examine the possibility of repairs to plant and machinery. Help was also extended in securing a permit from the Ministry of Works for repairs to the building.

Close contact was maintained throughout its existence with the Regional Commissioner's Office which frequently needed instant Press publicity for statements by the Commissioner, urgent Civil Defence arrangements and so on, and help was given to Editors in such matters as the issue of M.O.I. Press Certificates.

Early in 1940 a Press cuttings service was started with the assistance of a voluntary body of ladies whose work was beyond praise. Government Departments found the service of the utmost value; indeed, the demand for cuttings was always in excess of our capacity to supply.

Routine work which the Department undertook from the first included the Press publicity for visits to the Region by Royalty, Cabinet Ministers and others, and the Department played its part in the various campaigns of a national or purely Regional character. Perhaps most use was made of the Department by the Blood Transfusion Service and by the War Agricultural Executive Committee for the East Riding. Close contact was maintained with the Deputy Director of Public Relations, Northern Command, with the result that some overlapping was avoided. Help was given, from time to time, to journalists from the Empire and foreign countries.

The distribution of material from News Division - Departmental handouts, Officer-Observer stories from the battlefronts, etc. - was always a part of 57 - 16 -the work of the Press Room. The record monthly total of handouts issued to the Press of the Region was 236 (in March, 1945). Throughout that year,

2,250 handouts were issued by the Department, compared with the previous year's 1,773, which itself was more than double the total (856) for 1943.

Successful as the Department's work has been, more could have been accomplished if greater use had been made of its services by all Government Departments. Some appreciated the value of a Regional organisation, while others were largely content to approach the Regional Press direct from London, ignoring that vast store of goodwill that had been built up by a succession of Press Officers in the Region.

MEETINGS DEPARTMENT .

Public meetings activity on an intensive scale was a characteristic of the North-Eastern Region throughout the war. In the early days, we were not exempt from the suspicion that we might be engaging in party propaganda, or even from the hostility of one or two Members of Parliament, who believed, that public meetings were unnecessary, or undesirable. As our purpose became better understood, and our meetings better known, this hostility died and we began to enjoy not merely immunity from the criticism of M.P. s but their co-operation and, in some cases, active support. In one case only - Elland - was the veto possessed by M.P.s over our meetings activities exercised to any appreciable degree, though in one or two constituencies exception was taken to individual speakers. For a period of some twenty months no Ministry of Information meetings were held in Elland, and the Local Information Committee in consequence suspended operations. On the lifting of the veto the Committee became most active, and the area has yielded many of our most successful meetings.

In general, it can be said that after the first two years relations with Members of Parliament in regard to public meetings ran smoothly on the understanding that we acquainted them with all meetings of special interest, and invited their presence on the platform on occasions of importance.

The range of meetings followed the national pattern, though efforts were made from time to time to organise meetings in serial form rather than in the usual somewhat haphazard fashion. Whenever this was tried, however, difficulty was experienced in obtaining suitable speakers to complete the series.

An early example of the serial type of activity was the programme of Library meetings held in Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Hull in the winter of 1941-42, at which speakers of national repute addressed meetings at each of these centres in turn. With the active co-operation of the local M.P., himself a member of the Government, a series of five public meetings was organised in Huddersfield at about the same time, addressed by prominent representatives of all parties.

A less ambitious series was begun in 1942 in the Branch Libraries of about eight towns in the West Riding. The speakers were all nationals of different Allied countries, and the meetings were held at fairly regular monthly intervals. This series continued well into 1943, and in one case - Cleckheaton - into 1945, as it was possible to maintain continuity by the use of our local panel when suitable speakers from Headquarters were not forthcoming.

In the early days of the war a series of Sunday evening war commentaries was organised in half-a-dozen centres in the Region. The purpose of these meetings was to interpret the current war news to the general public, and for this series a special panel of eight speakers was recruited, chiefly from the staff of Leeds University. Meetings were held at weekly or fortnightly intervals, and this useful activity might well have been further extended, but suitable halls were not easy to find and speakers competent to undertake this type of work were scarce and were usually heavily engaged in lecturing and other kinds of war work.

The serial type of meetings activity reached its peak in this Region with the organisation of the Dominions and Colonial campaigns. These outstanding series, which at the time formed the subject of exhaustive reports, deserve a special word of commendation. The latter was launched by Mr. Oliver Stanley, then Colonial Secretary. They were lecture meetings consisting of two separate series of four, held in some forty centres throughout the Region, and supported by informative leaflets, photographs and films. The success of these meetings indicated that attractively-presented information about the Empire will not fall on deaf ears, despite the notorious lack of public interest in Empire affairs.

Indeed, it was generally felt that meetings organised in this way, with adequate publicity and a definite theme, attracted more interest and attention 59 - 18 -than isolated meetings and established a feeling of continuity in the public

mind. Whereas the “celebrity” lecturer will always attract an audience, whatever his subject, it is the comparatively unknown speaker with something to say who merits careful presentation and upon whom the reputation and success of an organisation such as this eventually depends.

One meeting which calls for special mention was the Red Army Day Celebration held on the 21st February, 1943. Sheffield was chosen as one of the national centres for this activity, and Sir Stafford Cripps addressed a mass meeting in the City Hall. The meeting was preceded by a parade, and it was estimated that his address, which was relayed outside the hall, was heard by some fifty thousand people.

In 1944 and 1945 many Officer Observers and other Service speakers from the Western and Far Eastern Fronts visited the Region, and an activity which proved popular and helpful at that time was the “interview” type of meeting with relatives of men serving in the Far East, at which an Officer recently returned from the battlefront answered questions regarding the conditions and welfare of the men out there.

National speakers were supplemented with perhaps a larger volume of local speakers than was used elsewhere. In 1944, for instance, out of a total number of 2,835 meetings, no fewer than 1,848 were addressed by Regional speakers, and we acquired a good number of voluntary speakers among people with experience, preferably war-time experience, abroad. Many of these established considerable local reputations and they were, almost without exception, anxious to be of all possible help, and long-suffering and uncomplaining in their endurance of the rigours of war-time travel and the often uncomfortable conditions with which they had to contend.

The staff speakers also did good service, and remained in demand from voluntary organisations as long as we continued to employ them. Their numbers were subject to considerable fluctuations; starting with six, they rapidly diminished to one, then rose to five and down again to four, at which number they remained until they were finally disbanded in November, 1943. Without staff speakers, ready to turn out in the black-out and in all weathers, it would have been impossible to have covered the Region intensively. All kinds of activities came their way, from the open-air meeting on village green or 60 - 19 -market square in the early days of the war, to the many and varied publicity and recruiting campaigns in which we were asked to co-operate with other Government Departments, and all were tackled cheerfully and competently. Hacks some of them may have been, but they spread, in many places to widespread communities, greater knowledge about the war effort at home and abroad, and deserve to be remembered with respect for the part they played in our meetings organisation.

The total number of meetings held in the Region in any one year rose from 830 in 1941 to 2,835 in 1944, bringing this Region from ninth to second place in the Regional totals. This increase was achieved partly by means of intensive campaigns of the Dominions type, but chiefly by the gradual growth and establishment of the Ministry's reputation amongst local organisations of all kinds, thus creating a spontaneous demand for the services of Ministry speakers.

HOME INTELLIGENCE.

Headquarters early realised the need for reports from the Regions on the principal trends of public opinion, but staff to which this duty could be assigned in the Regions was not appointed until 1941. Meantime, contacts made by members of the staff in pursuance of their duties, press cuttings and the reports from York and Leeds, enabled the Deputy Regional Information Officer to prepare reports on public opinion.

Intelligence work by a Government Department was something new to the British public and the Ministry's mistake was to allow itself to be “caught at it,” rather than to proclaim that this work was essential in wartime. The episode of “Cooper's Snoopers” enabled the Press to ridicule the Ministry and to voice with more than customary exaggeration the public resentment at being “spied upon” and interrogated; consequently, the atmosphere in which Home Intelligence work was carried on was one of almost oppressive circumspection, an atmosphere which clung to every “secret” and “confidential” communication from Headquarters on this most delicate of departmental transactions. It was not until an Intelligence Officer was appointed in the Regions, in August, 1941, that intelligence work in the Region was put on a satisfactory basis, and further improvements followed when the Home Intelligence section at headquarters 61 - 20 -was given autonomy as a separate Division in 1942. At the end of 1941, a circular went out to all Honorary Secretaries asking that Committees should keep the Regional Office informed of trends of public opinion. As in other aspects of the York in this Region, the Committee system proved its sterling worth. Some Committees appointed a special member to act as district correspondent; others decided to send reports weekly to the Regional headquarters through the Secretary. Most Committees included Home Intelligence in the Agenda at their meetings and the result was that the response to our circular letter exceeded all expectations. One local Information Committee even established a weekly session for members to raise matters in which they had found the public were keenly interested. In addition to Committee contacts, special correspondents were appointed for their connection with specialised sections of the community. This select band included a University lecturer; members of the medical profession; contacts in dispersed war factories and employees in the principal industries such as mining, iron and steel manufacture, the woollen industry and agriculture.

Some friction was caused with other Regional Government Departments, who complained that we were reporting to their headquarters on work for which they were responsible. In order to obviate this difficulty, we agreed to let each Government Department have a copy of the section in our weekly report dealing with matters which came within their jurisdiction. The response from the Regional Officers of these Departments varied considerably. In the case of the Ministry of Food a detailed reply was given in writing to all the points mentioned in our report on the subject of food and food distribution. The Board of Trade officials replied in writing, or in cases where complaints appeared to be strong, they would attend meetings of the local Information Committee and were able, in most cases, to remove the cause of complaint by arranging for remedial action to be taken, or by explanation to the Committee members. From this arrangement of reporting direct to Government Departments regionally in addition to the report to Headquarters, a system was gradually built up whereby local complaints were frequently removed as a result of early action. Action with Local Authorities, as distinct from Government Departments, at first proved difficult, but the Deputy Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence proved a great help in solving this problem.

In March, 1942, we began to issue to Local Committees a bulletin of information called “Question and Answer”. This dealt with matters which we knew from inquiries received to be exercising the public mind, and the replies were the official answers given to the questions by the appropriate Government Department. This service continued to grow in popularity till the end.

In addition to the regular weekly Home Intelligence report, we were frequently asked for reports on public reaction to various war-time developments. These, before the appointment of an Intelligence Officer, were excessive and unreasonable, but when a small department dealing with the weekly report was opened a system was evolved which was capable of dealing with all the demands made by Headquarters for special reports.

In addition to the usefulness of the weekly report to Headquarters and to other Government Departments in the Region, the Regional intelligence work kept us acquainted with public feelings in the Region and provided a most useful background to all our activities.

It is impossible to conclude this section without a tribute to the co-operation and help given by the Home Intelligence Division to this Region, and to the value of the weekly intelligence reports prepared at Headquarters.

CAMPAIGNS AND EXHIBITIONS

The Campaigns and Exhibitions Department was responsible for so wide and varied a range of activities, that it is difficult to sum up this aspect of our work in any useful generalisation. The larger campaigns in the Region included those for the recruitment of women workers in the Leeds area, with a subsequent and much bigger campaign for similar labour in the Sheffield area: while perhaps the largest of all campaigns we conducted was an endeavour to persuade some three thousand women from the industrial West Riding to volunteer for work at Swinnerton Royal Ordnance Factory. Large-scale recruitment campaigns for the A.T.S. and for nurses and hospital domestic assistance were also undertaken. These campaigns had varying degrees of success, but it can be claimed that none but the very earliest failed to make a useful contribution towards the object in view.

All our campaigns have been designed to overcome reluctance on the part of women to undertake onerous duties or services of which the community stands urgently in need. The chief requirement has usually been to emphasise the 63 - 22 -attractiveness and the amenities and conditions of service, while not losing sight of the national interest motive. The task has inevitably been an uphill one, and the cost, in relation to the results, high, but it is reasonable to claim that the results of a campaign should not be assessed wholly in terms of immediate recruits, for the campaigns did result in the widespread dissemination of knowledge about the particular branch of work concerned, and therefore induced a more responsive attitude from the public over a long term.

Campaigns have invariably involved close co-operation between the Ministry of Information and other Government Departments, and have frequently suffered from lack of adequate preparation and precise information regarding terms and conditions of employment. Detailed criticism, from which this Ministry would claim no immunity, is to be found in our records, but, in brief, it can be said that the outstanding lessons are that before a campaign is launched the supporting Departments should survey the field and define the problems with great care and precision, while the Department responsible for the publicity work should ensure that the necessary publicity material is available when required.

One of the first lessons learnt in Exhibition work was that the public in the larger towns expected from an exhibition something more than a display of photographs, though in the smaller centres such a display would make a popular appeal and be well attended. It was wisely decided, therefore, to make a distinction between displays and exhibitions, the latter to include, besides photographs, working models, demonstrations, and film shows. Exhibitions were frequently, though not invariably, associated with some campaign; where they were purely conventional and instructive, organised visits from schools and youth clubs played a valuable part in stimulating interest.

Experience amply demonstrated that the greatest success attended exhibitions which could be associated with the life and work of the Region. Where local industries could display their products (grouped, if necessary, to avoid advertising implications), or local Service units contribute equipment and personnel, the effort became a co-operative one, and the Region became not merely a spectator of an imported product, but an active participant in the exhibition. Thus not only was the appeal of the exhibition increased, but 64 - 23 -there was created a group of supporters identified with the exhibition and eager to contribute to its success.

INDUSTRIAL PUBLICITY .

The most significant development in relation to industrial publicity - by which is implied publicity among factory workers designed to secure increased output and enthusiasm for the Job - was the decision taken early in 1943 to set up, as a committee of the Regional Production Board, a Regional Industrial Publicity Committee, with the R.I.O. as Chairman. This development brought to an end a period of unregulated and unrelated industrial publicity. Hitherto, the Supply Ministries (Admiralty, Ministry of Aircraft Production and Ministry of Supply) had provided publicity services and, in the case of the Ministry of Supply, a film service for the factories for which they were responsible, while the M.O.I. had been the main purveyor of films to factories outside the scope of the Ministry of Supply. Speakers and posters were provided by all Departments. All these activities were co-ordinated and fostered by the new Committee, on which were represented the Supply Departments and employers and employed, while later in 1943, the establishment, under the auspices of the Committee, of a Works Relations Centre at Sheffield, (and subsequently on a smaller scale in Leeds), provided a Joint organisation to which industrialists could look for information and guidance on all aspects of industrial publicity.

A regular stream of visitors, both employers and trade unionists, from the factories in the Region passed through these Centres; while, with the object of keeping industry acquainted with current developments and the range of publicity facilities available, a Monthly Bulletin was issued from this office, on behalf of the Committee. The Centres themselves were managed by the Ministry of Supply acting on behalf of the Committee.

It cannot be pretended that these Centres ever filled the ambitious role that was originally conceived for them. It was contemplated that they would be responsible not only for industrial publicity, but for the stimulation of welfare work in the factories. In the field of industrial publicity to which they became confined, however, the Centres gave great impetus to the process of creating among factory workers a consciousness of the significance of the task upon which they were engaged, and the increasing support forthcoming from both employers and trade unionists, suggests that the techniques evolved were 65 - 24 -worthy of a permanent place in our industrial organisation. They were based primarily on the belief that the worker in the factory should be fully acquainted with the significance of his, or her, individual contribution to the output as a whole, and, in turn, the contribution the factory's output was making to the struggle in which the Nation was then engaged. The possibilities of this approach to industry's peace-time problems, including the discovery of new incentives, have perhaps not been given sufficient attention.