"We owe them so much" We certainly do,without them we would have no NHS,no welfare state,no trade unions,which along with strikes would be outlawed under a fascist regime who would work hand in glove with big corporations to bring about low business costs by employing cheap labour,no doubt slave labour would exist,perhaps being named workfare with badges stitched to their working attire proclaiming "Work sets you free" You would no doubt have an alarming increase in professional curtain twitchers being paid some blood money by the state to denounce their neighbour as a suspected socialists or heaven forbid being gay.
Yes we do owe them so much,ask Harry Leslie Smith,there's a series of his articles in the Guardian taken from his book "Harry's Last Stand"

Do you reckon that 70 years on we'd still be in such a state?