I was born in a remote country in the middle of a savaged war. I can tell you, having survived it, that war makes the innocent years of childhood feel more precious than gifts of gold and frankincense. I could never forget the first dip of bread in sweetened milk...I had to deliver a lot of coal for it.
They were fighting for their lives and nearly lost. There is a monotonous American parade of cliches, that is this clips only sin. Propoganda should be looked up in the dictionary before being slapped on everything like cheap tomato sauce. The English people that survived it and lived through it should be proud of their resilience. and those who use words without dictionaries, ashamed.
Some posters her can't tell the difference between propaganda and rhetorical journalism. Propaganda is a 'system of the dissemination of doctrine to effect certain behavior that were not there previous or that are desired." I have interviewed Blitz survivors, now old and this reflects the exact attitude that was present, not one that was manufactured.
@dangoat2009: Propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing. It functions to disseminate and to strengthen a particular way of understanding the world, and whether that's a good or bad thing depends on the how/where/why of its use. Of course it reflects the attitudes of survivors: they were a product of it, and, importantly, it was a product of them, as no propaganda can create attitudes whole and entire from nothing, it can only amplify and direct what's already there.
@JustAnotherAmy I agree that propaganda is not per se right or wrong but quite plastic, to be moulded to the good or bad. British propaganda was produced of course, some good some bad, some true, some false but within the nature of war that's expected. I was trying to say that this clip was not propaganda at all. Some posters have had a knee jerk reaction to it calling it propaganda because it is historic, made during a conflict and showed emotive scenes.
@dangoat2009: Helping to keep those attitudes alive under terrible circumstances was one of the jobs of the men and women working at the Ministry of Information, and they did their jobs well, and to a good end. The film industry during the war for the most part enthusiastically and conscientiously followed guidelines set out by the MOI. Where is the shame in recognising and valuing their very real contribution to the war?
@JustAnotherAmy I agree again, totally. I hear the word propaganda thrown around daily in my sphere as if it was a badge of intellectual achievement from people who themselves who are so knee deep in illusion, doctrine and propaganda of their own that they cannot see it. The clip was an American piece, so badly narrated and over poppied with cliches. We today are knee deep in the oil of propaganda and are blind to it.
I found this film to be quite heavily laden with propaganda. For instance..."destiny gave Britain the torch of liberty to hold - she has not dropped it...she has not allowed the stormy waves of terrorism...to let that bright light even flicker" - That's like the kind of nonsense Blair and Cameron churn out. Shameful.
@Yusef100 : Are you simple? Of course it's "heavily laden with propaganda": it's a propaganda film.
The difference between the use of that kind of rhetoric during the Blitz and its use now is that then the govt was trying to keep moral up in a pop that was being heavily bombed on a regular basis, not just to keep them engaged with the war effort, but to prevent the kind of social disintegration and lawlessness that comes from despair and panic. Now they're just lining their own pockets.
@Yusef100 What would have been shameful is if Britain had capitulated. Or the United States had not been persuaded – partly by such sentimental appeals as this – to extend credit to Britain so it could go on fighting when the money ran out. We would have all been living in a very different world if they had behaved differently. By all means have your own ideas about the present, but do not use them to misjudge the past. That IS propaganda.
if you've got no windows we'll clean your chimneys XD i laughed at that :) this video makes me so glad, that life went on as usual (: and all those happy children , i wish i could have a traditional christmas. without the blitz .
The narrator of this film is Quentin Reynolds who was a news reporter for Collier's Magazine which was a weekly publication which competed with Life and Look Magazines. The film was distributed in North America to educate Americans about British resistance to the Nazis and the terrors and horrors inflicted upon Britain for defying Hitler. Quoth Mr. Reynolds, "Destiny gave her [England] the torch of liberty to hold, and she has not dropped it." Good propaganda.
Is this the great Ed Murrow? HMG gave him his head, and unlimited access to London, to get the message across to the USA which was still isolationist.
His great broadcast was the Evacuation of London. Still brings tears to my eyes ( and not just becaiuse my Mother was sent out to safety and then brought back to London in time for the Blitz). This is reporting at the highest level.
My God, those people faught so hard to save themselves only to be sold out a few years later by their version of the democrats. England will be the first modern European country lost to the muslims and no Christmas will be celebrated again.
@joesphx19 If Britain was not fighting for the right for ALL people – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists – to enjoy their own beliefs in peace, then what were we fighting for? The right to keep our Empire (of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists)? I think not. And it would have been a pretty poor cause if that was all it was about. People can choose their own faith – or no faith – and a good job too.
Right you english twats, your British! I'm from ulster and I'm British, if your from Wales or Scotland your still British! Just look at your own passport, if you can read!
You should be proud to be British. I know we do have are faults in history, as do any country of age but we have done alot of good
The English ARE British too, but have their own heritage independent of Welsh, Scots, Irish. Noone would deny them their nationality, would they? Oh yes, the fucking EU would.
@lopzilla There were more people killed down the Underground during the Blitz than from post-war bombings. Feelings of safety were sometimes an illusion; so are feelings of threat.
Brave men and women. They fought for our freedom.
The Americans helped us with supplies until the Japs hit them at Pearl Harbour. Just a pitty that they Yanks now think they were the only ones in it and captured the Enigma Machine.
of course its bound to be focused on london thats the capital city ,if you get an inch of snow in london the whole country knows everything about it of course this was real serious stuff and london was the main target for the krauts,and took a real hammering the americans could relate more to london getting hammered and that was the intention of the film, the americans had good reasons for not entering the war as they seen europeans as war mongerers and at the time had a good point ,, a scouser
Very good and interesting video. But why were the efforts of the people of Northern Ireland and the Belfast Blitz not mentioned. I'm sure the people of Scotland and Wales feel the same way.
My English parents from London fought for my freedom, not to give the Jews a land and for them to drive others off it. Why do Jews always think the war was about them and their suffering.
First of all this comment is entirely irrelevant to the point I was making, which was that someone was complaining because no one mentioned that Belfast suffered under the blitz. I just found this ridiculous because it was a film about London but if one was gonna mention other people suffering it would most certainly be the Jews as they were having an infinitely worse time than the Irish were. Second of all I couldn't give a flying fuck about your parents fighting for your freedom.
@e172essex it will be fair to say that that new what they were fighting for! ,you claim things that you like to believe ,if you will study the bible you will find lot of things about there history , they have been destroyed and brought back into there land not because you or me like that,but because the wheel of history has its own preset direction and whoever stays in its way will no prevail
This video brought tears to my eyes... despite everyones comments that nationalism creates hate and that scotland and wales weren't mentioned... I can't help but feel slightly proud that everyone just got on with their daily lives even though London was getting the shite blown out of it. All those children happy just for a toy aeroplane when kids today want everything they see on tv. I admit I used to be one of them, but I have to hold my head up high and say I'm proud to be British. MERRY XMAS!
...and if that's how you feel, fahd, in my opinion you'd be very, very welcome here indeed. Being British to me should be about how you think, not about how you look or where you were born.
Yes, a charming - and humbling - film. Delighted to find it here. Thank you.
"I could never understand ethnic or national pride, because to me pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own -- not something that happens by accident of birth." - George Carlin.
@mykcheck1212 George Carlin couldn't understand a lot of things.... For those that have nothing but their Nation or Heritage, to be proud of those is as honorable as one can be. Put aside your temporal posessions and count not the chest of treasure and all you have lsft is you... your heritage and from whence youwere born... proud of it, you DAMN right!
You should be proud to have George Carlin represent your once great country. He is about a million times more respectable than the ultra right wing criminals that you elect as your politicians these days.
During the blitz in London, there were more people killed EVERY DAY than on 911, yet we didn't use it as an excuse to invade every other country in the world just to further our selfish political and economical ambitions.
Americans were decent back then. What has happened?
@Nilguiri "During the blitz in London, there were more people killed EVERY DAY than on 911."
No. The Blitz lasted from 7 September 1940 to 10 May 1941 and around 43,000 civilians died (half in London). That's 246 days, which makes an average of 175 people per day, compared to 2,996 deaths in the 9/11 attacks. (Figures from Wikipedia.)
Both terrible things, and I don't necessarily argue with your sentiment, but you might as well use vaguely correct statistics to support your argument.
@Nilguiri There weren't more people killed every day than on 911. For about six months there were sometimes hundreds killed, occasionally thousands. Don't distort history. That said, who knows how many thousands have been killed by the reckless and illogical war in Iraq which, whatever else you can say about it, was not in any way connected to the 911 bombings.
Merry christmas to everyone, and this vid made me think about how strong the human spirit really is and we should all be proud of that regardless of our origins.........P.S. During the blitz the camera view is always on London but does anyone out know what the second largest city that suffered horrifically during the blitz?
So many Nationalistic comments below,,,,seems man never learns that nationalism creates hatred and all the wars thathave ever been has been becouse someone drew a line on the ground and said "This is Mine,,,i am better than you"
That's because territoriality is a hallmark of mammals in general, social mammals in particular, and the great apes. Man being both a great ape and a social mammal, conflict over territory or possessions is inevitable.
Unfortunately WorldWarBoy i dont subscribe to your Faith that we are no more than Apes and animals. I subcribe to the Scientific Facts that show we are unique to the animal kingdom in that we live without instinct but free will. I guess we will beg to differ... enjoy your Holiday and Take Care
England? It's as if Scotland wasn't involved. Or Wales. Not only were we fighting Nazis, we were fighting ignorance, too. If it hadn't been for Scotland and her fighting men, England probably wouldn't have wojn through.
Everyone British realises and appreciates the efforts of all our home nations.
The film only refers to 'England' as that is/was often the way that Americans and some Europeans refer to the country, especially as the reporter was actually in London, England etc.
@dingus83 It was for Americans. They have a hard enough time understanding as it is. He talks about England and about Britain. That includes everyone. He could also have talked about the Canadians, Australians, Africans, Indians, Caribbean and other peoples of the Empire fighting against Hitler. But he was keeping it simple.
This is the second Blitz the UK suffered. The first was by airship in the Great War, our meagre aeroplanes back then couldnt reach the heights the airships reached and they were all but impervious to attack.
its funny that all country leaders are doing the same but in a diffrent time,the U.N. are the germans and innocent people of the world are the europeans.
Ahh typical British spirit. When war breaks out do we run around like headless chickens? No we keep calm and carry on. Or at least we used to. The the country went to wrack and ruin...
Yeh we really don't have to. I mean, after all, the Americans didn't help us until the very end of WW2. They only helped us because of Pearl Harbour and even then they expected compensation for all the troops and supplies.
So, in theory, we should be demanding the same from them in this war. Compensation for help, weapons, armoured vehicles, infantry, etc. Just like they demanded from us in WW2.
If it wasn't for us the Japs would have kicked their ass'.
Ah but the Americans actually saved us by finding out about these non-existent weapons of mass destruction. With out the Americans we might have all been killed by a country that didn't hate us with weapons that weren't there. We should be thanking the yanks. But in all seriousness, yeah we should at least get something out of this, other than the oil.
Long live Persians, Russians and chinese.... Long live Germans, our only white brothers in west will join their eastern brothers and destroy the foundations which hold the west and far west
Cheers, JimJordan1000. The point these people don't get is that we're meant to remember how Christmas was like in the 40s under The Blitz not point fingers at each other.
Have a great Christmas, and that goes to everyone.
When the Russians soldiers started invading Germany they raped alot of the German women, I know the Russians hated the Nazis but i think it was too far taking it out on helpless women.Who were not Nazis themselves
Have you ever seen 15 million of your people systematically butchered your women used for whores and gang raped by battalions of nazi thugs, your country burnt to the ground, your children hanged, burnt alive or used for blood transfusions for nazi officers, your old made to freeze to death and then you have the sieges were people were driven to cannibalism because the fascists attempted to starve them to death. You go on the main highway to moscow and the bones are still there fro the murderred
I think that's a slightly misguided comment. The US military is the most advanced in the world, it became so by involvement in "illegal" wars such as Vietnam and Iraq, and the ground on which you denounce "failure" may be misleading. The pure financial gain form warfare is the only thing that can keep up with the spending on the armed forces in the US.
It is thus that I can gaurantee you the throughout the last 60 years the US has been involved in warfare continuously, be it directly or not.
No disrespect to some of the comments below. But the United Kingdom of Great Britian & N.Ireland stood for over a year on it own against the might of the Axis powers.
Russia was support the Nazi by supply them with fuel until Barossa.
Not to mention that Sealion was put on hold indefinitely after the Battle of Britain in which there were very few American pilots. Granted there was the tremendous supplies given but Americans churping up saying they saved Britain from being taken over by joining the war is just a bit overexaggerated when by the time they joined there would have been no invasion.
@Golfboy4747 Perhaps this documentary is only on England? Im sure he is aware of the fact scots fought, and the welsh, and the Americans, and the Russians, and the polish, and the Canadians, Australians and all the allies all fought and died, so i dont think this is being intentionally disrespectful to the scots or welsh.
He's talking about his experiences in England, would you have been whining about the other countries being omited if he was talking about Christmas in Scotland?
Also, it was very common to refer to the British as English back then.
Stop crying into your milk and watch it for what it is. That goes for all you tits engaging in the usual pissing contest on youtube too.
The reporter was based in London, and made a film about England. I see nothing wrong about that. had he been in Cardiff, he might have made a film about Wales. For all I know, he also made another one about Wales. Making a film about one place makes no disrespect about another. Don't be so chippy.
To be quite honest i know everyone did there part to win the war but i think the real people who won it for us were the russians.If it wernt for them england would have been crushed under the nazi armys boots.If it wernt for them life today would be much, much different.
The Russians were fighting for themselves,most russian troops fought against one major front from Germans,English,Canadians,Americans,Australians and numerous other brave men and women fought all over the world against enemy opposition.
All countries who fought with the allied forces did tremendous and courageous work,one single nation against the axis countries could not succeed.
This is no discredit to the Russian people who fought against great odds.
Indeed, very silly of Hitler to declare war on the US, mind you with the war turning against him after his even sillier attempt to conquer Russia he probably wanted try and give them a bloody nose on the way down.
@SteffanLlwyd they didn't come to help. They were happy watching us fight for freedom and they stayed in Isolation but yes they were happy to supply. People forget that the reason Britain became involved in the war is because we were defending peoples freedom. America only entered the war because they were invaded.
Sure they delayed, but I'm glad they came! One of the few 'just wars' Britain has fought in. And I'm thankful I didn't have to go through the muck and bullets myself.
Of course you are right to draw attention to Stalin's murder of his own people on a huge scale. However I do think that Nazism left no option but to fight it. (I'm saying this as about the most reluctant soldier you could ever get.)
When British troops liberated Belsen camp, any doubts that the troops had about the justness of the war vanished when they saw 13,000 emaciated corpses in heaps, and 60,000 seriously ill prisoners. Personally, I'm glad that the British honoured their treaty with Poland, and later decided to carry on the war even when there seemed no hope of winning it. If they hadn't, would Stalin have stopped where he did, or would France have joined the Soviet bloc?
@wastedwasted3 The USSR got to stomp across Europe because of Hitler's actions. That's not what he intended. But he was the arrogant idiot who started it.
The US were more than happy to supply, they supplied the german luftwaffe with a patented oil product throughout WW2.
Pearl Harbor was not an invasion, it was a "surprise" attack, which lacked surprise. The Australians warned the US of a huge Japanese task force on route days before the attack, but the US needed that aggression to change the minds of the US population that were adamantly against joining the war.
Americans have adopted the carol that's used in the opening. It's not traditionally American. It seems to have entered the culture by way of a Monty Python Flying Circus episode.
my generation has no idea what they did for us, how much they sacrificed, half of them don't know what true respect is or what its worth. but think they can gain it by carry knifes or guns :/ .
So i thank them for what they have done for us :) and even though they celebrated Christmas that way i bet the the morals and traditions of Christmas was still their, unlike today commercialised holiday :/
I'm a Canadian and I fully realize had Britain crumbled under the Nazi onslaught in those first few years of the war, it would only have been a matter of months before we here in North America would have been overrun with swastikas, stiff-armed salutes, and cries of "hiel Hitler".
From a former US sailor, thank God the British held on in those dark days of 1940-41. Your sacrafice saved many British and American lives and millions their freedom on the continent from the Iron Curtain. Thanks for posting.
There is propaganda on both sides. Any declarative sentence which maintains that either one or the other of two contrary propositions is true, is true.
And many other things, like going into full war production right at the very start of the war, unlike in Germany (where there were as many domestic servants at the end of the war as at the start).
@marvy1118 Feeling proud of national "blood" (which is all the same across man-made borders - just divided by blood group ) is what got us into this mess in the first place!
Thank you for sharing this video with us. It is a great cretit to the British people remaining so strong at the darkest hour and in this instant, providing Christmas for the children regardless of the war. These were tough times and people were great.
Charged with keeping a torturous grip on Liberty ...Well nothings changed then ...Except the face of the enemy NOW Its our own Politcians and Bankers ..It matters not one iotta how much they try and dumb down the youth with cheap drugs engineered social problems and a defunkt MTV Culture ..The TRUTH Propogandernised or not will always shine through ..Peace
That's not exactly true. Propaganda is used to boost morale at home rather than counter the opposing side. Germany used propagada just as successfully as the British or anyone else.
Very true, but both the British and Germans shipped their propaganda overseas. Goebbels himself commented on a Hitchcock made propaganda movie with the phrase, "Why can't we do that?" German propaganda was always based around a very teutonic point of view, the British knew how to appeal to a wide western audience, especially the United States.
Yes, German propaganda was successful when it was aimed internally, but the Germans failed to export their ideas. The Nazi party even formed a swing jazz orchestra to sweeten the pill of its bitter radio broadcasts, but they couldn't resist changing the lyrics to sneering ones.
An impressing movie full of strenghth, hope and faith. @ RENFEMikado: make your perspective wider: If only we western nations could stand so strong today against our cultural and religious decay, we would exist another 2000 years. The foundation of everything: 7:37
OMG... LOL.. you just said "we Anglo Saxons". I am sure at one point in history the Angles said "If only we could stand strong against the Saxons"....
This along with Leslie Howard's From The Four Corners is one short clip I've not seen in decades. Thanks BFI for posting this.
rbrooks2007 2 months ago
8:51 omg Stalin
MrPiens 9 months ago
@MrPiens
He actually looks like him.
askjiir 8 months ago
Amazing. It certainly was our finest hour and we certainly proved ourselves worthy of that high honour! I'm really moved and touched by this video.
Vevey2004 11 months ago
I was born in a remote country in the middle of a savaged war. I can tell you, having survived it, that war makes the innocent years of childhood feel more precious than gifts of gold and frankincense. I could never forget the first dip of bread in sweetened milk...I had to deliver a lot of coal for it.
Microglia1 1 year ago
What a stunning report. Makes me so very proud to be a Londoner.
LimehouseDan01 1 year ago 2
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philgyford 1 year ago
They were fighting for their lives and nearly lost. There is a monotonous American parade of cliches, that is this clips only sin. Propoganda should be looked up in the dictionary before being slapped on everything like cheap tomato sauce. The English people that survived it and lived through it should be proud of their resilience. and those who use words without dictionaries, ashamed.
dangoat2009 1 year ago
Some posters her can't tell the difference between propaganda and rhetorical journalism. Propaganda is a 'system of the dissemination of doctrine to effect certain behavior that were not there previous or that are desired." I have interviewed Blitz survivors, now old and this reflects the exact attitude that was present, not one that was manufactured.
dangoat2009 1 year ago
@dangoat2009: Propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing. It functions to disseminate and to strengthen a particular way of understanding the world, and whether that's a good or bad thing depends on the how/where/why of its use. Of course it reflects the attitudes of survivors: they were a product of it, and, importantly, it was a product of them, as no propaganda can create attitudes whole and entire from nothing, it can only amplify and direct what's already there.
JustAnotherAmy 1 year ago
@JustAnotherAmy I agree that propaganda is not per se right or wrong but quite plastic, to be moulded to the good or bad. British propaganda was produced of course, some good some bad, some true, some false but within the nature of war that's expected. I was trying to say that this clip was not propaganda at all. Some posters have had a knee jerk reaction to it calling it propaganda because it is historic, made during a conflict and showed emotive scenes.
dangoat2009 1 year ago
@dangoat2009: Helping to keep those attitudes alive under terrible circumstances was one of the jobs of the men and women working at the Ministry of Information, and they did their jobs well, and to a good end. The film industry during the war for the most part enthusiastically and conscientiously followed guidelines set out by the MOI. Where is the shame in recognising and valuing their very real contribution to the war?
JustAnotherAmy 1 year ago
@JustAnotherAmy I agree again, totally. I hear the word propaganda thrown around daily in my sphere as if it was a badge of intellectual achievement from people who themselves who are so knee deep in illusion, doctrine and propaganda of their own that they cannot see it. The clip was an American piece, so badly narrated and over poppied with cliches. We today are knee deep in the oil of propaganda and are blind to it.
dangoat2009 1 year ago
I found this film to be quite heavily laden with propaganda. For instance..."destiny gave Britain the torch of liberty to hold - she has not dropped it...she has not allowed the stormy waves of terrorism...to let that bright light even flicker" - That's like the kind of nonsense Blair and Cameron churn out. Shameful.
Yusef100 1 year ago
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JustAnotherAmy 1 year ago
@Yusef100 : Are you simple? Of course it's "heavily laden with propaganda": it's a propaganda film.
The difference between the use of that kind of rhetoric during the Blitz and its use now is that then the govt was trying to keep moral up in a pop that was being heavily bombed on a regular basis, not just to keep them engaged with the war effort, but to prevent the kind of social disintegration and lawlessness that comes from despair and panic. Now they're just lining their own pockets.
JustAnotherAmy 1 year ago
@Yusef100 What would have been shameful is if Britain had capitulated. Or the United States had not been persuaded – partly by such sentimental appeals as this – to extend credit to Britain so it could go on fighting when the money ran out. We would have all been living in a very different world if they had behaved differently. By all means have your own ideas about the present, but do not use them to misjudge the past. That IS propaganda.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
Poignant and stoic. A timely reminder of Christmas past.
andysnap 1 year ago
More should view this poignant film.
...lest we forget.
GGStringsSF 1 year ago
Thanks for posting this, I've been looking for it. Still very relevant.
ConstanceMarkiewicz 1 year ago
how I long for an old fashioned Christmas
debzeppeliniv 1 year ago
if you've got no windows we'll clean your chimneys XD i laughed at that :) this video makes me so glad, that life went on as usual (: and all those happy children , i wish i could have a traditional christmas. without the blitz .
Levax3 1 year ago
The narrator of this film is Quentin Reynolds who was a news reporter for Collier's Magazine which was a weekly publication which competed with Life and Look Magazines. The film was distributed in North America to educate Americans about British resistance to the Nazis and the terrors and horrors inflicted upon Britain for defying Hitler. Quoth Mr. Reynolds, "Destiny gave her [England] the torch of liberty to hold, and she has not dropped it." Good propaganda.
pt45g46 1 year ago 3
@Jezake - Surely, one should not start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction of the type 'And'! :)
wells3773 1 year ago
@wells3773 A misapprehension. As Bill Bryson says. You can start a sentence with and. "And that's all there is too it."
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
Well done.
82abnoff 1 year ago
Is this the great Ed Murrow? HMG gave him his head, and unlimited access to London, to get the message across to the USA which was still isolationist.
His great broadcast was the Evacuation of London. Still brings tears to my eyes ( and not just becaiuse my Mother was sent out to safety and then brought back to London in time for the Blitz). This is reporting at the highest level.
idle44 1 year ago
@idle44 It's Quentin Reynolds, like it says.
princeminski47 1 year ago
Beautiful.
rosrychaplet 1 year ago 3
I love it so much it makes a change from the shit on here as it's all about sex ewwww this is great I love histery yay bve !!!
Zippy1998 1 year ago 3
I'm not complaining about a single thing in this video. I love it. Every part of it. It's a part of our history and we should never forget it.
mellaphoric 1 year ago 2
this puts the troubles these days
in their place!
gottotownie 1 year ago
Some nice footage, but not a great speech. Words or the speaker.
rODIUMuk 1 year ago
My God, those people faught so hard to save themselves only to be sold out a few years later by their version of the democrats. England will be the first modern European country lost to the muslims and no Christmas will be celebrated again.
joesphx19 1 year ago
@joesphx19 If Britain was not fighting for the right for ALL people – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists – to enjoy their own beliefs in peace, then what were we fighting for? The right to keep our Empire (of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists)? I think not. And it would have been a pretty poor cause if that was all it was about. People can choose their own faith – or no faith – and a good job too.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
One of my favourite PIF's, priceless
homefrontfriends 1 year ago 2
Priceless video created a shoving heart!
SnappleTeaAddicted 1 year ago
yeah i live in wales
joshie702 2 years ago
Right you english twats, your British! I'm from ulster and I'm British, if your from Wales or Scotland your still British! Just look at your own passport, if you can read!
You should be proud to be British. I know we do have are faults in history, as do any country of age but we have done alot of good
charliec188 2 years ago 2
The English ARE British too, but have their own heritage independent of Welsh, Scots, Irish. Noone would deny them their nationality, would they? Oh yes, the fucking EU would.
macthornberg 2 years ago 7
We felt safe on underground stations from air raids, now I feel unsafe in (peacetime) with Islamic threats of terrorism.
lopzilla 2 years ago
@lopzilla That's kinda sad
rODIUMuk 1 year ago
@lopzilla There were more people killed down the Underground during the Blitz than from post-war bombings. Feelings of safety were sometimes an illusion; so are feelings of threat.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
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naartjie99 2 years ago
Brave men and women. They fought for our freedom.
The Americans helped us with supplies until the Japs hit them at Pearl Harbour. Just a pitty that they Yanks now think they were the only ones in it and captured the Enigma Machine.
relshar 2 years ago 4
Thank you for posting this. My mother was in London for some of the Blitz, a horrifying experience.
cailleanmc 2 years ago 3
do you know that there are people that are going through this same experience or perhaps much worse than it at this very second?
cherryhewit 2 years ago
of course its bound to be focused on london thats the capital city ,if you get an inch of snow in london the whole country knows everything about it of course this was real serious stuff and london was the main target for the krauts,and took a real hammering the americans could relate more to london getting hammered and that was the intention of the film, the americans had good reasons for not entering the war as they seen europeans as war mongerers and at the time had a good point ,, a scouser
joningle 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Ffffffff
jgmc101 2 years ago
well made this before December 7th
liammcool 2 years ago
Very good and interesting video. But why were the efforts of the people of Northern Ireland and the Belfast Blitz not mentioned. I'm sure the people of Scotland and Wales feel the same way.
TheBossman1976 2 years ago
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oh and why were the victims of the holocaust not mentioned???
TheJunglesound 2 years ago
@TheJunglesound 1941, no-one knew about them in the UK at that time.
UK5098 2 years ago 10
@TheJunglesound.
My English parents from London fought for my freedom, not to give the Jews a land and for them to drive others off it. Why do Jews always think the war was about them and their suffering.
Dumb post on your part IMO.
e172essex 2 years ago
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@e172essex
First of all this comment is entirely irrelevant to the point I was making, which was that someone was complaining because no one mentioned that Belfast suffered under the blitz. I just found this ridiculous because it was a film about London but if one was gonna mention other people suffering it would most certainly be the Jews as they were having an infinitely worse time than the Irish were. Second of all I couldn't give a flying fuck about your parents fighting for your freedom.
TheJunglesound 2 years ago
@e172essex it will be fair to say that that new what they were fighting for! ,you claim things that you like to believe ,if you will study the bible you will find lot of things about there history , they have been destroyed and brought back into there land not because you or me like that,but because the wheel of history has its own preset direction and whoever stays in its way will no prevail
rovidius2006 2 years ago
@rovidius2006 Oh god, your a total moron
magusson 1 year ago
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@rovidius2006 Oh god, your a total moron
magusson 1 year ago
@rovidius2006 Looks like spelling and punctuation are the first things to go!
lowstarchdiet 1 year ago
@lowstarchdiet And going with it, your lack of a complete sentence! Those who criticise are usually the ones whom deserve it themselves!
Jezake 1 year ago
im not british im english and proud to be
DocPwn4g3 2 years ago
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exactly! i was born in ENGLAND and i live in ENGLAND! so how does that make me british?
SinclairisCool 2 years ago
Brilliant just brilliant Go Britain
agentindy417rules 2 years ago
I'm British and I'm proud to be British. GO BRITIAN!
assassinsduel3000 2 years ago 3
not scared then, not scared now
richbickle 2 years ago 4
This video brought tears to my eyes... despite everyones comments that nationalism creates hate and that scotland and wales weren't mentioned... I can't help but feel slightly proud that everyone just got on with their daily lives even though London was getting the shite blown out of it. All those children happy just for a toy aeroplane when kids today want everything they see on tv. I admit I used to be one of them, but I have to hold my head up high and say I'm proud to be British. MERRY XMAS!
Emz351 2 years ago 38
I am not British,
but I am sure I would be proud if I were one....
Marry Xmas
fahd1951 2 years ago
...and if that's how you feel, fahd, in my opinion you'd be very, very welcome here indeed. Being British to me should be about how you think, not about how you look or where you were born.
Yes, a charming - and humbling - film. Delighted to find it here. Thank you.
osmposm 2 years ago
@osmposm Thanks alot for being such great person...
thanks
fahd1951 2 years ago
@Emz351
"I could never understand ethnic or national pride, because to me pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own -- not something that happens by accident of birth." - George Carlin.
mykcheck1212 1 year ago
@mykcheck1212 George Carlin couldn't understand a lot of things.... For those that have nothing but their Nation or Heritage, to be proud of those is as honorable as one can be. Put aside your temporal posessions and count not the chest of treasure and all you have lsft is you... your heritage and from whence youwere born... proud of it, you DAMN right!
Jezake 1 year ago
@Jezake I don't like George Carlin, just another typical loud mouth know it all from NYC, that does not represent REAL Americans in the least.
debzeppeliniv 1 year ago
@debzeppeliniv
You should be proud to have George Carlin represent your once great country. He is about a million times more respectable than the ultra right wing criminals that you elect as your politicians these days.
During the blitz in London, there were more people killed EVERY DAY than on 911, yet we didn't use it as an excuse to invade every other country in the world just to further our selfish political and economical ambitions.
Americans were decent back then. What has happened?
Nilguiri 1 year ago
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@Nilguiri "During the blitz in London, there were more people killed EVERY DAY than on 911."
No. The Blitz lasted from 7 September 1940 to 10 May 1941 and around 43,000 civilians died (half in London). That's 246 days, which makes an average of 175 people per day, compared to 2,996 deaths in the 9/11 attacks. (Figures from Wikipedia.)
Both terrible things, and I don't necessarily argue with your sentiment, but you might as well use vaguely correct statistics to support your argument.
philgyford 1 year ago 3
@Nilguiri There weren't more people killed every day than on 911. For about six months there were sometimes hundreds killed, occasionally thousands. Don't distort history. That said, who knows how many thousands have been killed by the reckless and illogical war in Iraq which, whatever else you can say about it, was not in any way connected to the 911 bombings.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
@andwhynotindeed
So, you are saying I'm right, just haggling over the numbers.
Nilguiri 1 year ago
@Nilguiri I'm saying, if you're stating facts, get them right.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
@andwhynotindeed
Tell that to the septics who invaded the WRONG COUNTRY!
Nilguiri 1 year ago
Merry christmas to everyone, and this vid made me think about how strong the human spirit really is and we should all be proud of that regardless of our origins.........P.S. During the blitz the camera view is always on London but does anyone out know what the second largest city that suffered horrifically during the blitz?
EBOWARRIOR 2 years ago
@EBOWARRIOR Guessing you mean Hull?
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
So many Nationalistic comments below,,,,seems man never learns that nationalism creates hatred and all the wars thathave ever been has been becouse someone drew a line on the ground and said "This is Mine,,,i am better than you"
Merry Xmas --War is Over
blackcountrykid 2 years ago
@blackcountrykid thanks for this comment. nationalism can blind the people.
johneunson 2 years ago
That's because territoriality is a hallmark of mammals in general, social mammals in particular, and the great apes. Man being both a great ape and a social mammal, conflict over territory or possessions is inevitable.
worldwarboy 2 years ago
Unfortunately WorldWarBoy i dont subscribe to your Faith that we are no more than Apes and animals. I subcribe to the Scientific Facts that show we are unique to the animal kingdom in that we live without instinct but free will. I guess we will beg to differ... enjoy your Holiday and Take Care
blackcountrykid 2 years ago
This made me weep real tears!!!
UFOIST 2 years ago 4
This has been flagged as spam show
Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Check out
TIGER WOODS A MISTRESS CAROL remake lol
MegaDarkrainbow 2 years ago
England? It's as if Scotland wasn't involved. Or Wales. Not only were we fighting Nazis, we were fighting ignorance, too. If it hadn't been for Scotland and her fighting men, England probably wouldn't have wojn through.
dingus83 2 years ago
Everyone British realises and appreciates the efforts of all our home nations.
The film only refers to 'England' as that is/was often the way that Americans and some Europeans refer to the country, especially as the reporter was actually in London, England etc.
iwfgb 2 years ago
@dingus83 It was for Americans. They have a hard enough time understanding as it is. He talks about England and about Britain. That includes everyone. He could also have talked about the Canadians, Australians, Africans, Indians, Caribbean and other peoples of the Empire fighting against Hitler. But he was keeping it simple.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
Ahh the good old days,a cup of tea in the air raid shelter.
gaelgeseomra 2 years ago
This is the second Blitz the UK suffered. The first was by airship in the Great War, our meagre aeroplanes back then couldnt reach the heights the airships reached and they were all but impervious to attack.
downfader2 2 years ago
yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaah got to love england!
armendstarmend 2 years ago
It's pretty cool how everybody types like I am just because we're English.
NoobieTube 2 years ago 2
its funny that all country leaders are doing the same but in a diffrent time,the U.N. are the germans and innocent people of the world are the europeans.
ugene1975 2 years ago
Extremely tough times... People and families living in tube tunnels.
ShroudedFury 2 years ago
Good to see free speech on here... wonder if freedom would exist without the folks of the 40's ?
Great to see BFI shorts, thanks for the history
Merry Xmas :)
markymark398 2 years ago 3
Yeah, but in would be Nazi freedom, where you are free to do exactly what the fuhrer tells you to do! XP
tsimon1234 2 years ago
Ahh typical British spirit. When war breaks out do we run around like headless chickens? No we keep calm and carry on. Or at least we used to. The the country went to wrack and ruin...
tsimon1234 2 years ago
We still have a certain amount of resolve today. We just get involved in stupid wars that we really shouldn't be in.
ShroudedFury 2 years ago
Yeah that's true. We're fighting the war well out there. Sad thing is, we shouldn't be fighting it at all.
tsimon1234 2 years ago
Yeh we really don't have to. I mean, after all, the Americans didn't help us until the very end of WW2. They only helped us because of Pearl Harbour and even then they expected compensation for all the troops and supplies.
So, in theory, we should be demanding the same from them in this war. Compensation for help, weapons, armoured vehicles, infantry, etc. Just like they demanded from us in WW2.
If it wasn't for us the Japs would have kicked their ass'.
ShroudedFury 2 years ago
Ah but the Americans actually saved us by finding out about these non-existent weapons of mass destruction. With out the Americans we might have all been killed by a country that didn't hate us with weapons that weren't there. We should be thanking the yanks. But in all seriousness, yeah we should at least get something out of this, other than the oil.
tsimon1234 2 years ago
What?
tsimon1234 2 years ago
An amazing generation, humbling.
We could never thank that lot enough.
JimJordan1000 2 years ago 4
Long live Persians, Russians and chinese.... Long live Germans, our only white brothers in west will join their eastern brothers and destroy the foundations which hold the west and far west
hilda69arya 2 years ago
SPIT FIRE OVER LIVERPOOL!!!!!!!
benyuef91 2 years ago
thats quite a stange comment but yer burn the scouses
reddwarffreak1 2 years ago
4lkjlkjlk
headshothack 2 years ago
Lets hope we have peace throughout the world
mugsmeans 2 years ago 4
What the hell is up with you people? This is history, take it in, don't debate it.
theprogrocka 2 years ago 5
Well said mate.
JimJordan1000 2 years ago
Cheers, JimJordan1000. The point these people don't get is that we're meant to remember how Christmas was like in the 40s under The Blitz not point fingers at each other.
Have a great Christmas, and that goes to everyone.
theprogrocka 2 years ago 4
When the Russians soldiers started invading Germany they raped alot of the German women, I know the Russians hated the Nazis but i think it was too far taking it out on helpless women.Who were not Nazis themselves
ianm4n 2 years ago
Have you ever seen 15 million of your people systematically butchered your women used for whores and gang raped by battalions of nazi thugs, your country burnt to the ground, your children hanged, burnt alive or used for blood transfusions for nazi officers, your old made to freeze to death and then you have the sieges were people were driven to cannibalism because the fascists attempted to starve them to death. You go on the main highway to moscow and the bones are still there fro the murderred
hsybcmpny 2 years ago
Can you imagine if this generation lived back then? Would we be speaking German?
440100045022 2 years ago
i think i speak for all the armed forces and public services when i say that i completley resent that comment.
andreww507 2 years ago 3
yeah, you're right. But alot of civvies i know would cower.
440100045022 2 years ago
If you look at every war the United States has fought alone, you see a pattern of complete failure.
You see Yanks, when you sit on the sidelines during war time (something you always do) You fail to learn how to be a successful military.
Sparkanoid1 2 years ago 2
I think that's a slightly misguided comment. The US military is the most advanced in the world, it became so by involvement in "illegal" wars such as Vietnam and Iraq, and the ground on which you denounce "failure" may be misleading. The pure financial gain form warfare is the only thing that can keep up with the spending on the armed forces in the US.
It is thus that I can gaurantee you the throughout the last 60 years the US has been involved in warfare continuously, be it directly or not.
UKSDragunov 2 years ago
1:08 This man was shortly arrested after filming for his brutal serial killings of innocent trees
SpyWhoLovedHimself 2 years ago
No disrespect to some of the comments below. But the United Kingdom of Great Britian & N.Ireland stood for over a year on it own against the might of the Axis powers.
Russia was support the Nazi by supply them with fuel until Barossa.
The USA was in isolation mode until 1942.
Samstoaster 2 years ago 5
thats true stalin was shipping supplies to hitler until the very day he invaded russia
sambo2566 2 years ago
Not to mention that Sealion was put on hold indefinitely after the Battle of Britain in which there were very few American pilots. Granted there was the tremendous supplies given but Americans churping up saying they saved Britain from being taken over by joining the war is just a bit overexaggerated when by the time they joined there would have been no invasion.
ilh86 2 years ago 4
That's the first thing I thought of too. Why not'Britian' as a whole?
MikeHudson65 2 years ago
This guy mentions only England.
Doesn't he know that Glasgow and Belfast and Cardiff were badly bombed?
That Scots and Irish and Welsh fought and died to defeat Hitler, and (per capita) in greater numbers than English people.
Yet all I hear is England, England.
It's so disrespectful.
Golfboy4747 2 years ago
@Golfboy4747 Perhaps this documentary is only on England? Im sure he is aware of the fact scots fought, and the welsh, and the Americans, and the Russians, and the polish, and the Canadians, Australians and all the allies all fought and died, so i dont think this is being intentionally disrespectful to the scots or welsh.
darthsmidge 2 years ago
He's talking about his experiences in England, would you have been whining about the other countries being omited if he was talking about Christmas in Scotland?
Also, it was very common to refer to the British as English back then.
Stop crying into your milk and watch it for what it is. That goes for all you tits engaging in the usual pissing contest on youtube too.
swinkyuk 2 years ago 5
@Golfboy4747 carm down, it was made by yanks they dont even know the diffrence between england, britain or the UK.
I would also like to see those "per capita" figures tho, because more english civilians died or got wounded than scottish soldiers.
Allyness92 2 years ago
The reporter was based in London, and made a film about England. I see nothing wrong about that. had he been in Cardiff, he might have made a film about Wales. For all I know, he also made another one about Wales. Making a film about one place makes no disrespect about another. Don't be so chippy.
lindybeige 2 years ago 8
To be quite honest i know everyone did there part to win the war but i think the real people who won it for us were the russians.If it wernt for them england would have been crushed under the nazi armys boots.If it wernt for them life today would be much, much different.
BlindEyeProduction 2 years ago
@BlindEyeProduction
The Russians were fighting for themselves,most russian troops fought against one major front from Germans,English,Canadians,Americans,Australians and numerous other brave men and women fought all over the world against enemy opposition.
All countries who fought with the allied forces did tremendous and courageous work,one single nation against the axis countries could not succeed.
This is no discredit to the Russian people who fought against great odds.
rk001f7684 2 years ago
Thank goodness the US came to our help. I often think of those young Americans - and many others, who died for me 10 years before I was born.
SteffanLlwyd 2 years ago
Indeed, very silly of Hitler to declare war on the US, mind you with the war turning against him after his even sillier attempt to conquer Russia he probably wanted try and give them a bloody nose on the way down.
mrshushie 2 years ago
@SteffanLlwyd they didn't come to help. They were happy watching us fight for freedom and they stayed in Isolation but yes they were happy to supply. People forget that the reason Britain became involved in the war is because we were defending peoples freedom. America only entered the war because they were invaded.
tomthegreat29 2 years ago 3
Sure they delayed, but I'm glad they came! One of the few 'just wars' Britain has fought in. And I'm thankful I didn't have to go through the muck and bullets myself.
SteffanLlwyd 2 years ago 2
just war? so the USSR could stomp across Europe for half a century?
this war was not just by any means
wastedwasted3 2 years ago
Of course you are right to draw attention to Stalin's murder of his own people on a huge scale. However I do think that Nazism left no option but to fight it. (I'm saying this as about the most reluctant soldier you could ever get.)
SteffanLlwyd 2 years ago
When British troops liberated Belsen camp, any doubts that the troops had about the justness of the war vanished when they saw 13,000 emaciated corpses in heaps, and 60,000 seriously ill prisoners. Personally, I'm glad that the British honoured their treaty with Poland, and later decided to carry on the war even when there seemed no hope of winning it. If they hadn't, would Stalin have stopped where he did, or would France have joined the Soviet bloc?
lindybeige 2 years ago
@wastedwasted3 The USSR got to stomp across Europe because of Hitler's actions. That's not what he intended. But he was the arrogant idiot who started it.
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
Just to add some points of interest.
The US were more than happy to supply, they supplied the german luftwaffe with a patented oil product throughout WW2.
Pearl Harbor was not an invasion, it was a "surprise" attack, which lacked surprise. The Australians warned the US of a huge Japanese task force on route days before the attack, but the US needed that aggression to change the minds of the US population that were adamantly against joining the war.
UKSDragunov 2 years ago 2
Americans have adopted the carol that's used in the opening. It's not traditionally American. It seems to have entered the culture by way of a Monty Python Flying Circus episode.
ZenPapageno 2 years ago
my generation has no idea what they did for us, how much they sacrificed, half of them don't know what true respect is or what its worth. but think they can gain it by carry knifes or guns :/ .
So i thank them for what they have done for us :) and even though they celebrated Christmas that way i bet the the morals and traditions of Christmas was still their, unlike today commercialised holiday :/
123Rae123 2 years ago 5
Wonderful. Where have the old ideals gone? Merry Christmas!
Shanniquitie 2 years ago 2
I'm a Canadian and I fully realize had Britain crumbled under the Nazi onslaught in those first few years of the war, it would only have been a matter of months before we here in North America would have been overrun with swastikas, stiff-armed salutes, and cries of "hiel Hitler".
Barndancer61 2 years ago 6
they couldnt of done it without you Canadians and aussies!
HailToTheSkunk 2 years ago 2
A reminder of what is was like to like in a British society with social cohesion. Something that was recently destroyed by New Labour.
tobias89 2 years ago
Comment removed
cricketbat08 2 years ago
Brilliant!
XmasFLIX 2 years ago 2
as an east ender, i find this video, and others like it, really humbling.
They gave so much, they gave US so much, and what have we done with it? would WE give as much for future generations?
franl155 2 years ago 6
Well done to the britons ! you deserve more than that ! German gave you a good lessons !
lookgooddz 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Life was shit under the Conservatives.
groeslon 2 years ago
God bless them all.
stokecitysupporter 2 years ago 11
The village church scenes were filmed, I believe, in the village of Turville in Oxfordshire.
Check out the brilliant 1942 propaganda film made by Cavalcanti, (a Brazilian), entitled "Went the Day Well?"
Filmed entirely in Turville.
This is also the village, but particularly the church, where the BBC filmed "The Vicar of Dibley," starring Dawn French.
MartinHH1953 2 years ago 6
From a former US sailor, thank God the British held on in those dark days of 1940-41. Your sacrafice saved many British and American lives and millions their freedom on the continent from the Iron Curtain. Thanks for posting.
andrewdehart 2 years ago 10
Propoganda. Its always a right laugh but sadly meanwhile on the continent in Christmas 1940 an almost unimaginable nightmare was coming true...
Marksism123 2 years ago 3
There is propaganda on both sides. Any declarative sentence which maintains that either one or the other of two contrary propositions is true, is true.
A very moving film.
NihilNominis 2 years ago
victory = enigma cracking
ditkaq 2 years ago 19
Plus RADAR and the Merlin engine as well.
MegaBrits 2 years ago 14
And many other things, like going into full war production right at the very start of the war, unlike in Germany (where there were as many domestic servants at the end of the war as at the start).
lindybeige 2 years ago
A stirring look at Formerly Great Britain in her darkest hour. Makes me proud to be of English blood.
marvy1118 2 years ago 29
@marvy1118 Feeling proud of national "blood" (which is all the same across man-made borders - just divided by blood group ) is what got us into this mess in the first place!
andwhynotindeed 1 year ago
Thank you for sharing this video with us. It is a great cretit to the British people remaining so strong at the darkest hour and in this instant, providing Christmas for the children regardless of the war. These were tough times and people were great.
mollynolan1 2 years ago 32
Charged with keeping a torturous grip on Liberty ...Well nothings changed then ...Except the face of the enemy NOW Its our own Politcians and Bankers ..It matters not one iotta how much they try and dumb down the youth with cheap drugs engineered social problems and a defunkt MTV Culture ..The TRUTH Propogandernised or not will always shine through ..Peace
2QBUFF 2 years ago 4
This is why the Brits won the propaganda war over the Germans, they clearly understood audiences at home and abroad and how to appeal to them.
AHPMB 3 years ago 17
That's not exactly true. Propaganda is used to boost morale at home rather than counter the opposing side. Germany used propagada just as successfully as the British or anyone else.
celticlofts 3 years ago
Very true, but both the British and Germans shipped their propaganda overseas. Goebbels himself commented on a Hitchcock made propaganda movie with the phrase, "Why can't we do that?" German propaganda was always based around a very teutonic point of view, the British knew how to appeal to a wide western audience, especially the United States.
AHPMB 3 years ago 13
Yes, German propaganda was successful when it was aimed internally, but the Germans failed to export their ideas. The Nazi party even formed a swing jazz orchestra to sweeten the pill of its bitter radio broadcasts, but they couldn't resist changing the lyrics to sneering ones.
lindybeige 2 years ago
A wonderful film that was no doubt instrumental in getting our friends stateside to help us in our darkest hour.
wallygator100 3 years ago 21
An impressing movie full of strenghth, hope and faith. @ RENFEMikado: make your perspective wider: If only we western nations could stand so strong today against our cultural and religious decay, we would exist another 2000 years. The foundation of everything: 7:37
tubi333 3 years ago 11
my mum was 15 and had to step over all the ppl undergound to go to work
GARYMOORE1952no1fan 3 years ago 9
if only we Anglo Saxons could stand so strong against our enemies today, both foreign and DOMESTIC...
RENFEMikado 3 years ago 2
OMG... LOL.. you just said "we Anglo Saxons". I am sure at one point in history the Angles said "If only we could stand strong against the Saxons"....
Commentarian1 3 years ago 4
Its really touching, having an English family.. But the Americans narraters voice is kind of creepy...lol
iLoveJbMcFlYTakeThat 3 years ago