By HILARY GAVIN
I’M SORRY to say but I doubt that many of our youngsters living in our divisive po-faced nation today are aware that the British were once renowed worldwide for their legendary sense of humour.
In fact, I’m certain that some people who stumble upon this blog post of mine nowadays will take one look at the print of one of my late Dad’s Second World War photos (see above) and immediately jump to the wrong conclusion about him and his fellow Second World War British servicemen, and one servicewoman.
As you can see they are sat together on either a Jeep, or Land Rover, with my late father at the back, all taking the mickey out of Hitler by defiantly throwing him the Nazi salute.
I’ve no idea where Dad and his British chums where on this crazy world of ours, or the time and place back in the 1940s when a mystery photographer took this photo – but I also have another group photo of them sitting together looking pensive.
Now, I can only assume the photographer got frustrated and told them to “Smile, God-damn you”, possibly adding: “Come on folks, let’s give the Nazis what-for – throw us a Heil Hitler salute.”
You’ll be thankful to hear that I’m not going to spend long on this WordPress blog post this morning – but I have posted links below from BBC Culture, the BBC Council along with the British humour Wikipedia page explaining our deadpan sarcasm in-depth.
Undoubtedly, the best people for us to ask to convey the absurdity of the First and Second World Wars were the ordinary servicemen, and latterly servicewomen, who served our country.
Unfortunately, there are so few Second World War veterans left to share their experiences – so I’m thankful that we can raid the TV vaults for clips like this one (below) from comedian Spike Milligan.
I only hope Aunty Beeb, or the ITV production companies, will forgive One Sunny Day for videoing this clip of Spike, presumably addressing an audience in a TV studio in 1996, off the telly for their YouTube page to enable me to share it with you here. (See YouTube for parental guidance)
I hope you agree with me that Spike’s wacky sense of humour is invaluable in understanding how the English, Welsh, Scots, and our fellow Irish men and women, tick. Enjoy!
See links below for futher research:
Exploring and Understanding British Humour: A Guide for English Learners – © 2025 British Council. The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).
How Britain fought Hitler with humour – BBC Culture
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Hilary Gavin
Freelance Journalist and Writer
6 Southover Way
Hunston
CHICHESTER
West Sussex
PO20 1NY
email: grumpywoman@hilarygavin.blog
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