How effective were the preparations made for the onset of war by the British government between August 1938 and August 1939?

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How effective were the preparations made for the onset of war by the British government between August 1938 and August 1939?

                                                                                         

Between August 1938 and August 1939 Britain were getting ready for the war against Germany. To protect the citizens and Britain as a whole, the British government made various types of preparations. In this essay I will discuss those preparations in great depth and decide whether or not they were effective.

                                                                         

Firstly I will discuss their preparation of blackouts. As a whole they weren’t very effective because of many reasons. Firstly, the blackouts caused many accidents as a result hospital emergency departments were the full of people who had broken bones from falling over kerbs, or had walked into walls, or were the victims of serious road traffic accidents. Secondly, it also caused crime in the cities because it would have been easy to rob things when it was very dark. Also, the use of incendiary bombs meant that the blackouts were less effective.

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Secondly, there were air-raid shelters built as another preparation. ‘Anderson’ shelters which if properly erected and covered with earth were quite effective, but 65% of Londoners had no gardens. This was a major disadvantage. The shelter was issued free to those on low incomes, and over two million were put up, since 1938. It could withstand anything except a direct hit and would ...

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