Crow Sister,
I think you asked about how the UK reduced its deficit after WW2. I found this interesting paper from the IFS

MEASURING THE UK FISCAL STANCE SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR

See page 6 therein. The debt was reduced by a combination of inflation, economic growth, and low annual deficits in the 1950's, but also because it was so big it would have been hard not to to actually borrow enough to keep it that high (that's what they seem to be saying).

I guess the difference between now and is that there are many more places investors can put their money now (not just UK Gov bonds), and we had competitive manufacturing industry to help growth.
cheers
KP