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    watchers
  • 35
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Coal House at War

Specials 2008

  • BBC Two
  • 30m
  • 30m (1 episode)
  • United Kingdom
  • Documentary, Reality
This fascinating living history series transports three families back to 1944 and the Second World War. Having given up their comfortable lives, they are faced with the many hardships that war presented. The families experience all aspects of life as it was in 1944. The men work long, punishing days down the coalmine, followed by tending the Stack Square shared allotment as people were encouraged to ‘Dig for Victory’ to overcome food shortages. They also have to endure the arduous Home Guard training, each getting a taste of army life and discipline. The women have to juggle their relentless household chores with compulsory work at the munitions factory, undertaking a variety of different tasks for the war effort. The children, meanwhile, have their own worries with daily doses of cod liver oil and the ever present threat that their pet rabbits may be served up for dinner. Joined by the Bevin Boys, young lads sent by the Government to work the mines, the families struggle to cope with strict regimes, rationing, air raids and blackout fines but rediscover the strong community spirit that war evoked.

5 episodes

In 2008, a group of young people joined three Welsh families in BBC Wales's landmark living history series Coal House at War. They were transported back in time to 1944 to face the hardships of life in a World War II mining community. This programme looks back at the experiences of the four Bevin Boys and the young evacuees, and reveals how they felt when they returned to modern life.

In 2008, three Welsh families took part in an extraordinary social experiment - they were transported back to 1944 to experience life in a World War II mining community. In this programme, we take a look back at the Griffiths family's time in Stack Square and reveal how Rose, Hywel, Mandy and the boys felt when they returned to modern life.

In 2008, the Tranter Davies family from Merthyr Tydfil took part in BBC Wales' landmark living history series Coal House at War. For a month, they were transported back in time to 1944 to face the hardships of life in a World War II mining community. In this programme, we look back at their time in Stack Square and reveal how Laura, Geraint and the five girls felt when they returned to modern life.

In 2008, the Paisey family from Cardiff took part in BBC Wales' landmark living history series Coal House at War. For a month, the Paiseys and two other families were transported back in time to 1944 to face the hardships of life in a World War II mining community. In this programme, we see how Natalie, Stephen and their four children coped with their time in Stack Square and how they felt once they returned to modern life.

2008-11-03T21:00:00Z

Special 5 Dance House 1944

Special 5 Dance House 1944

  • 2008-11-03T21:00:00Z30m

Dance House 1944 takes a look at how people faced the music and danced during the Second World War despite bombs falling and bad news from abroad. Veterans of the fighting front and the home front describe how important dancing was for them and chart the changes in fashion from strictly ballroom to jitterbug and jive.

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