Crime.

This is coolbert:

"one side-effect of the war was the change in the public's attitude to crime. 'It introduced people to crime and the possibilities of crime that they hadn't necessarily been aware of before'"

Thanks here to the Guardian:

"London in the blitz: How crime flourished under cover of the blackout"

"As the 70th anniversary of the start of the blitz approaches, Duncan Campbell reveals how black marketeers, thieves and looters took advantage of the misfortunes of war"

The image of England and the English people, as it was prior to 1939, tarnished to some degree - - by this article, these revelations, this book?

The English people - - prior to the Second World War [WW2], considered to be THE MOST LAW ABIDING PERSONS ON THE PLANET, however, as well might be expected, not in absolute totality.

Criminal elements, released from prison - - taking advantage of a situation to commit crime of a worse type on a greater scale!

"As the declaration of hostilities was announced in 1939, the gates of the country's prisons swung open for any inmate with less than three months left to serve and all the Borstal boys who had completed six months.

"A borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people."

The hope that criminal elements, done a good turn by having early release conferred upon them, would turn to "good" while aiding and assisting with the war effort was merely that - - a hope. Rather, the instantaneous, intuitive, and normal reaction for such persons was to TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION FOR THEIR OWN GAIN!!

Criminals by and large, almost without exception, make poor material when it comes to soldiering. Persons very ill-disciplined, contemptuous and surly when confronted by authority, possessing a poor character to begin with, NOT fit to wear a uniform and quite often latent cowards - - NEVER have and NEVER will make for a good soldier!

coolbert.