There was a German bomber flying directly towards us – a Dornier, one of the largest. It was so low that we could see the pilot steering it and the gunner in the nose of the bomber aiming the machine gun at us… A student in Kent, during the Battle of Britain. My legs tightened around my father's waist; my arms were almost choking him. The sound of Japanese aircraft was loud enough for everyone to hear now, and panic spread like ink on wet paper. A child bidding farewell to her parents, Singapore 1942. At the beginning of the 2000s, the BBC launched its largest oral history project, recording the lives and experiences of ordinary people who lived through World War II. It resulted in 47,000 testimonies and more than 400 diaries and letters, which remained untapped in the archives for twenty years – until now. In "The People's War," John Willis reveals unexpected stories of everyday bravery, moments of terror, and accounts of revitalizing communities that guide us through the years of World War II. From soldiers in North Africa and prisoners of war in East Asia to evacuated families in the British countryside and women in the factories, "The People's War" is a truly ambitious and comprehensive journey through a destructive and defining period of our history, unlike anything you have read before. Follow the remarkable stories of ordinary individuals who lived, fought, mourned, loved, and survived through war.