Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I'm Still Laughing":

I am not suggesting that things were not tough in Britain after the war, however, Britain in fact was the biggest monetary beneficiary of the Marshall plan, followed by France, Italy, and then (West) Germany.
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I was eleven years old when the Second World War began and sixteen when it ended.
The Marshall Plan started some time after.
I'm not sure how reliable my impressions are 
I do remember the Lend/Lease agreement with the United States It was regarded as a Godsend.  It allowed Britain  and Commonwealth countries to carry on until the U.S. was herself attacked and entered the war. 
But  Lease/Lend wasn't aid. It had to be paid for. Britian's massive debt  to the States was the reason for continued austerity twelve years after the war ended. 
I do remember the irony of the victors  being weighed down by debt and  the losers  recovering with the help of  the U.S.
But  debt was not the only problem. For years after, the threat of a new war with the Soviets  hung over our heads.
Germany was still occupied by allied troops. 
There was no peace. 
I am  not suggesting  the comment above is incorrect. 
It just doesn't fit with my memory of the way thing were.