One of the biggest effects that come to people's minds when they think about the Blitz is the evacuation of thousands of children to the countryside and America. These children were taken out of the cities and away from their families and placed in the care of someone who was out of dangers way. This meant that many children were saved from death, but some had nothing to come home to. A few mothers would not let their children be evacuated, and had them stay with the family. This was probably because the mother didn't want to have someone else look after her children.
However the children were effected in more ways then just being taken away from their families. The education was disrupted which meant that the children couldn't go to school, sometimes the school had been bombed, so they didn't have anywhere to go. It also caused psychological problems. The children were constantly tired. If they were lucky enough to be able to go to school, it was difficult for them. Especially if their friends or teachers didn't come in because they had been killed.
The building of Anderson shelters in many gardens took place. These shelters were provided from the Home Security. Anderson shelters were sheets of corrugated steel under 18 inches of soil and were three metres into the ground. The steel was corrugated to help absorb the blast. The Andersons were very effective and saved thousands of lives. The only thing it couldn't protect you from was a direct hit.
Censorship meant that the people of Britain were shown images of the Andersons being clean and cheerful, with people singing and having a nice time, but in reality, they were dirty, crowded and full of scared people. The government set up field kitcheins in an attempt to appear organised.
Another way in which people were effected was how the bombing pscylogically effected them. Some where so scared that they joined with other groups of people and began "trekking". Trekking was were the people left the city at night and went 5/10 miles away to stay in places such as woods, caves and fields. London trekkers stayed in Epping Forest, Bristol trekkers stayed in Clifton Caves and in Plymouth they slept out in the open. The government didn't like trekking as they thought it was a sign of weakness and that the bombing was getting to the British people.
Alternatives to trekking included the homeless going to rest centres which were often set up in schools, or living in an abandoned house. The other two alternatives were to go and stay with relatives or simply staying put.
In conclusion the British people and their day-to-day life was disrubted, but the people held on and fought back. They coped extremely well and the support groups were heavily relied on to help out. Andersons and Air Raid Precuations helped save lifes, but overall the British people managed to survive with a huge change in their normal routines.
