Blitzkrieg, Beer and Boredom
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Blitzkrieg, Beer and Boredom |
| Creator: | Ted Carnell |
| Date(s): | Printed August 1940 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| Topic: | British fandom during WWII, relations between American and British fans |
| External Links: | Hosted online by fanac.org |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Blitzkrieg, Beer and Boredom was a 1940 essay by English fan Ted Carnell, written in response to a short piece by Sully Roberds called Blitzkrieg and Beer.
Roberds' three-paragraph article was published in the March issue of Fantasy Fictioneer. In it Roberds suggested that British fans were hardly ruffled by the onset of World War II and the ongoing bombing campaigns. For the upcoming Chicon I, he recommended while fans should be free to discuss the war, any mention should be kept private and off the floor.[1] Carnell's response was printed in the August edition of Fantasy Fictioneer, which was the last issue.
Excerpts
...It was with considerable surprise that I read the not-so-subtle editorial of Sully Roberds in the March-April Fantasy Fictioneer. That the Chicago Convention should not discuss the European War except in dark corners I heartily endorse, but I can see no real reason for drawing useless similes to the fact by ridiculing so-called colleagues who happen to be in the thick of things.... The "average" American never meets the "average" Britisher, and vise versa. The only people one or the other side meet are those with too much money or leisure; a class of individual, while small in number, who seem to successfully create a false impression of what the man-in-the-street of the other nation is really like.
...I feel that Roberds forgets the difference [in opinions] since the war commenced. Also that 4000 miles is a mighty long way off to try and analyse the reactions of anyone under war conditions.
When the war started here last September many issues of fanmags were already in course of preparation. My own pet in particular, New Worlds, was three-parts completed... The logical thing to do was to try and complete it in as short a time is possible, to save the waste of money, material and time, and to suspend operations untill a more propitious era loomed on the sky line. This was done. Some of the other mags eventually did likewise, and I quite fail to see where any flood of amateur magazines have been issued from this country during the past six months. That one or two have managed to continue at long intervals is true, but all of them fail to guarantee that there will ever be a further issue or when such an issue can be expected.
Also on the contrary, Mr. Roberds, our fandom did not blossom anew under war conditions, it was merely carried on under difficult conditions for the sake of the friendships it entailed. About one half of the active fans in Britain either evacuated with their firms to the country or were called to service with one of the Forces.The other half endeavoured to keep contact with all the absent colleagues and also the vital link with America, so that we should not become to out of touch with happenings in the fantasy market. Very few fans or readers have had an oppertunity to read even one professional magazine since the outbreak of war (except the reprint editions), yet the links [of] friendships which were formed in a calmer age seem to survive the missing focal point of fandom.
The war may be important to our future existence, but we can't all get in it at the same time. Some will not be in it at all, either through age or the particular job they are assigned to on the Home Front. From the ranks of these non-combatants there will always some survivors to carry on the torch of fantasy....
Why should we not keep up our correspondance with you Americans? At that, there never were a spate of letters either way -- but many of the friendships formed through correspondance will survive the holocaust of war, I have no doubt. That "friendship" is actually the focal point of fandom, not the magazine science-fiction which gave birth to it. The present actions and activities of British fandom (all too few when surveyed from this side of the Atlantic), are not the actions of "muddling through" but the will to "carry on" despite adverse conditions....
So let the Chicon ignore the European war, for it certainly has very little bearing on fantasy fiction -- but, when you are there enjoying yourselves, you might spare a thought for us fellows who can't even be sure that we shall still exist on Labor Day 1940.
References
- ^ Sully Roberds, Blitzkrieg and Beer. Fantasy Fictioneer #3 pg. 2 (March 1940)