In a post-war, bomb-blasted city, where food, clothing and petrol were still rationed, the exhausted population seized the opportunity to hang up the bunting and fly the flag.
As Janie Hampton explains in her entertaining account, the 1948 Olympics were a triumph of thrift and improvisation on the part of London's 'make-do-andmend' society.
Work to upgrade the rotting greyhound track to an international-standard sports stadium was completed (below budget) in less than two months.
H S Bignall (right) hands over the Olympic torch at Redhill, Surrey
German prisoners of war (surprisingly, still detained in 1948), helped build the Olympic Way road up to Wembley Stadium. The world's top athletes were accommodated on camp beds in schools, army barracks or in people's homes.
Teams were ferried to events on red buses or via the Tube. British athletes had to provide and often sew their own kit, Boy Scouts were roped in to run messages and buy cups of teas for competitors, and 1000 students, sleeping in tents, volunteered to be washers-up and floor-sweepers.
Apart from a free pair of Y-fronts for every British male competitor and a complimentary mug of bedtime Horlicks, the perks were few.. were few.
When Britain's rowing gold medallist returned to work he found his wages had been docked. Visiting teams had to bring their own food supplies.
The Irish team had to borrow money for their boat and rail fares and survive the teetotal journey from Dublin on sandwiches.
Food provision was, in fact, a huge headache for the organisers. The British team were training on basic rations of 2,600 calories a day, increased to 3,300 (the same as a coalminer) after selection.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-1023118/Gold-standard-Olympians-Austerity-Olympics-Janie-Hampton.html#ixzz20RcIozmt
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