The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth

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Francesca Osborne

11CD

Assignment Two: Objectives 2 and 3

  1. Study all Sources and use your own knowledge.

The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth

Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain whether you agree with this statement.

The impression that the British faced the Blitz with courage and unity is a myth to some extent. The British government were justified in their concern of the courage and unity of the British people as when war was declared on September 1st 1939 Britain became involved in a new kind of warfare completely alien to the people of Britain, total warfare. The government’s concern over the unity and courage of the British people was completely understandable, as victory in total war was dependent on the unification of the people. As Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister expressed in 1940, “ The whole of the warring nations are engaged not only soldiers but the entire population men, women and children.” For the first time not only would soldiers be involved in the war but ordinary civilians on the Home Front. It is said by many historians that the capacity to withstand bomb attack owed much to the “militarising” of civilians.

With the outbreak of war, the Government began “Operation Pied Piper” in which thousands of children  were evacuated from cities to the countryside. This was in order to try to ensure their safety from the expected German bombing raids. Despite Government propaganda encouraging evacuation, as it gave children “a chance of greater health and safety”, sending children away to strangers was an extremely courageous act as it defied all natural parental instincts that a family should be together in a time of danger. In addition, strangers accepting children into their homes showed that the country was united as people were prepared to help others unknown to them. However, host families were sometimes very particular about the “type” of child they wanted,   preferring girls to boys and younger children rather than older children, “nobody wanted the awkward combination of a girl of eleven and such a small boy.”This attitude shows a lack of unity within Britain as some families would only care for certain children. In addition, many of the host families did not show unity as they treated their evacuees badly. A further example of when the people of Britain showed a lack of unity was when a young child was evacuated with their mother. The presence of another adult in the home often caused problems and the host would be hostile. Evacuated mothers were accused of not helping around the home. Though, the experiences of evacuees must not be generalised as they were all different and there were those who “loved every minute of it” so much so they returned to the countryside after the war.

 Following the declaration of war there was a period called the “Phoney War” in which there was almost no fighting and no bombs were dropped on Britain. The Phoney War prompted many parents to bring their children home as you can tell from source E as it tells the “Citizen Advice Bureau is inundated with mothers and young children.” In one sense this source  showed courage and unity as it showed that families wanted to be together in this time of great adversity and because of the lack of bombing raids, they deemed it safe. However, when the bombing started many families once more tried to evacuate their children to ensure their safety and once again courageously decided to separate the family unit for the good of the children.

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As Hitler realised that France and Britain were not going to make peace he planned an offensive in the West in Spring 1940. This offensive completely changed the war with the Fall of France. This presented great concern for the British government over the courage and unity of the British people as Britain was left alone without the support of her allies. This also meant that Britain was extremely vulnerable to invasion from the Germans. In July 1940 Hitler gave orders for the preparation of Operation Sealion, which was a cross channel invasion of southern England. To make the invasion ...

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