BBC WDYTYA Series 10 Episode #9: Marrianne Faithful

[larkspur]

When I started trying to find out things about my family history (in the days before there was so much information readily available) my dad struggled to be able to give me much to go on as a starting point -and the things he knew to be "fact" turned out to be wrong! He was a child in the 1920's and said that in that era parents just didn't talk to their children in the same way as today. Whether they thought their children wouldn't be interested or whether they in turn hadn't been told anything that they could pass on I don't know. It's one of my greatest regrets that my dad died before I found out all the stuff I have - the times I've cursed at not being able to tell him the latest little snippet!

I 100% agree with you, exactly the same for me and my dear dad. Mine wasn't always wrong, just remembering from the perspective of a child. Listening to grown ups and getting the facts mixed up.

[stormtroop]

I have just read all the posts on this topic.

"Falling asleep" seems to be something that comes across strongly, if this is down to a days honest work then bless you all, but if it is down to boredom, lack of interest then I will give you a French saying often quoted to British Soldiers towards the end of the Second World War and   in the immediate aftermath; " consider yourself  fortunate you have not been occupied" . The trauma suffered by Miss Faithfull's female relatives  is of an enormity the like of which we could never understand and is not likely to be understood by a British audience -ever! then or now.
If any of your own grandfathers could not speak of what they witnessed in Europe maybe this is so.

I hope I have not " bored" you!!.

[Maggie.]

I'm not bored at all stormtroop and welcome to Rootschat.

Actually I'm one of the few who was both fascinated and horrified by what this family had to cope with and I didn't fall asleep. As I said on page one, Ken Follett's novel 'Winter if the World' tells of the horrifying effects of WW2 on various families - the sections about the Russian 'liberation' of Berlin and what they did to the women were horrific.

Only a novel I know, but it helped me understand a bit of history about which I knew nothing, and mirrored MF's family experiences.

Maggie 

[loobylooayr]

Hi stormtroop,

Personally the subject topic of Marianne's family history did not "bore" me. 
However the presentation, editing and padding out of some of the episodes of this current run of WDYTYA has....unfortunately

The horrors and suffering of WW2 are an emotive subject. And you are correct, I am thankful, I've never experienced that trauma.

Looby

[bearsome]

I have just read all the posts on this topic.

"Falling asleep" seems to be something that comes across strongly, if this is down to a days honest work then bless you all, but if it is down to boredom, lack of interest then I will give you a French saying often quoted to British Soldiers towards the end of the Second World War and   in the immediate aftermath; " consider yourself  fortunate you have not been occupied" . The trauma suffered by Miss Faithfull's female relatives  is of an enormity the like of which we could never understand and is not likely to be understood by a British audience -ever! then or now.
If any of your own grandfathers could not speak of what they witnessed in Europe maybe this is so.

I hope I have not " bored" you!!.

I don't think anyone on here was bored by the subject of the programme, stormtroop, nor were they in any way belittling or diminishing what MF's mother and grandparents went through. What those of us who fell asleep or found boring was the presentation. I have a passionate interest in Stuart history, and Nick Hewer's episode involved mostly that. Yet, I wandered away from the tv, because the way the whole thing was presented reminded me just why I hated history so much at school.  History needs to brought alive, or you might as well just sit and read dry text books at home. and that, I'm afraid, was exactly why I found MF's programme tedious - it was all pieces of paper! Stephen Fry's ancestors also went through very similar (and worse) to those of MF, but the programme was never boring. It's all in the presentation, or not, as the case may be!

[larkspur]

I totally agree bear. There is a scientist, who's name I will not mention, he presents the occasional programme on something I am fascinated with. But he is so DRY I turn off after ten minutes of watching him. On the other hand there is a historian, who has me hooked within the first three minutes. It is all in the presentation, and with the current series that IS boring.

[bearsome]

  larkspur. I know what you mean. I have no great interest in children generally, other than my own, but I'm a great 'fan' of Sir Robert Winston and his childhood studies on tv. So much so, in fact, that I went off and spent a fair amount on a couple of OU courses on the subject. I'm sure most people can remember teachers at school who brought a subject alive for them, and those who turned them right off their subject, maybe permanently. The presentation of a programme on tv can make a huge difference to viewing figures and, sadly, I suspect the figures for WDYTYA may have dwindled a bit this series.

[stormtroop]

Again, thank you for your replies.

Mind W.D.Y.T.Y.A. may not be presented in a way people can relate to. There is a book called " Savage Continent" also a dvd which was banned in France for 20 years I think it was called "The Sorrow and and Pity" about the Nazi occupation of France, I could not watch it after 15 minutes and what I did watch , I will carry with me to my grave.  We criticise older people for not liking "abroad", they saw enough of it after the war during the retributions which went on in the aftermath which in some cases were even worse than the conflict itself.

[bearsome]

Hi Stormtroop! I've posted elsewhere that I have a copy of a letter, sent by my husband's great-uncle (brother of husband's maternal grandfather) to his mother, shortly before being sent to the Front in WWI. He was in Oz, but enlisted because his brothers back in England had done so. He writes that he has as much chance of surviving as anyone, which he didn't. It's written with such cheerfulness and hope, that it brings a lump to my throat, and I've read it through any number of times. That sort of document brings a person to life again, somehow.  The ironic thing is that all three of his brothers back in England did survive, although one died a couple of years after the war, possibly as result of wounds.