What effect did World War II have on life in Barking and Dagenham?

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What effect did World War II have on life in

Barking and Dagenham?

    World War II brought about many sudden changes for the inhabitants of Barking and Dagenham. Like everywhere else in London, they had to endure rationing of not just food but clothes as well, in June of 1941. We can say that a woman’s role in society changed the most. They were encouraged to join the Women’s Land Army which was set up in June of 1939, at the start of the war. Their role was changing from dutiful mother and wife to much needed aid for the nation. They were seen to be as important as their men in France. They held everything together even though their families were being torn apart. Fathers, brothers and sons had to become soldiers as young as 18, when the government issued conscription notices. Conscriptions were introduced as there were not enough forces, the first conscription being issued in September 1939 conscripting all men aged between 27 and 41, later a conscription for men aged between 18 and 26 was also issued on the governments orders with many young men never returning.  Furthermore, mothers had to tolerate their children being taken away from them and evacuated to rural areas as early as September of 1938. Children under the age of 9 had to live with strangers because of the Blitz going on in London which began on September of 1940 and lasted until April of 1945, when the blackout formally ended. As a result of the Blitz, about 2.5 million Londoners were left homeless. Conversely, World War II brought about an encroachment in technology with V1 and V2 rockets being used by the Nazis on London. In June of 1944, V1 flying bombs hit towns in England resulting in the evacuation of at least 1 million people from south-east London including Barking and Dagenham. However, it was only until September 1944 that V2 rockets were used and they caused a larger amount of damage to London and increasing the ever growing death toll. This did not augment British morale and family life in the community became harder.

    Civil defence was the collective name for all the measures taken by the government and boroughs to protect residents from the bombings and  was very important everywhere in London. Civilians could not attack the German Aeroplanes nor could they stop the Air raid. Their only means of defence were blackouts, shelters, sirens and so on. A circular called Air Raid Precautions was published by the British prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, in September 1935. It invited local authorities to make their own plans to protect their residents in case war broke out. In some town that did respond to this, air raid shelters were built. These were different shelters to the Anderson shelters. These shelters were built of bricks and the roof was reinforced concrete. By contrast, some boroughs ignored this circular and because of this, the government decided to create an Air Raid Warden’s Service in April 1937 and as a result around 200,000 volunteers were recruited in the next few years. There were also Air Raid Precautions volunteers and when the government feared that war would break out, these volunteers were mobilized and they had to use and cellars or basements for shelters and had to dig trenches in parks of large towns. Among these, barrage balloons were ordered to be flown over London by the government.

  "Blast these air raid warnings."

This cartoon of a public shelter was published in Britain in February, 1941.

    This cartoon shows us how lives were disrupted in communal shelters and how you couldn’t be free to do whatever you wanted as there were lots of people in the same room who you don’t know. These communal shelters were built in march 1940 in rural areas, where most people did not have a garden and could therefore not erect an Anderson shelter. Although they were stronger than the Anderson shelters, space soon started to run out as they only held up to 50 people who lived in the same area, concrete was starting to run out and no more could be built.

     But public shelters were not enough and as a result Anderson shelters were designed by William Patterson on the orders of Sir John Anderson. It was within just a few months that around 1 million of these shelters were built and distributed to the areas that were thought to be bombed the most by the Luftwaffe. The shelters were only distributed for free to the poor. Those who were not poor or who earned more than £5 a week could purchase one. The Anderson shelters were made of steel plates and dug in the ground of the garden. An earthen blast wall and a steel shield was used to protect the entrance. By September 1939, soon after World War II started, over 2 million families were in possession of this shelter in their back garden and this rose to 2.25 million when the Blitz began. When the Luftwaffe started to attack at night, everyone was expected to sleep in the shelter. Air Raid Sirens were used when the Luftwaffe was spotted and this informed the residents that they were to make their way to their shelter as fast as they could before the bombing started.

Woman: "Is it all right now, Henry?"
Man:
"Yes, not even scratched."

,  (November, 1940)

    This cartoon was published in a newspaper read by many people and it is trying to show the Blitz as not very damaging which was not true as many people were killed and even more buildings were destroyed. This cartoon though, could be propaganda used by the government to try and raise British morale. The old woman in the Anderson shelter seems happy and comfortable enough although many people thought that they were,’ dark and damp,’ and would not use it if they didn’t have to as some shelters flooded and the noise of the siren and the bombings could be heard making sleeping near enough impossible.

    The trenches dug in the parks were also lined with steel and could hold 50 people but they were very uncomfortable as the flooded regularly.

  Although London was the worst hit city in England with the most civilian deaths, it was discovered in a census in November 1940 that the majority of Londoners did not have a proper shelter nor did they go to an official shelter. In fact, 27% used domestic shelters, 9% went to public shelters, and 4% used tube stations. The rest, that is, 60% were either on duty at night or didn’t take any precautions and stayed at home.  

    Most people in London who didn’t have access to a garden, a trench in the park or a communal shelter could either take a train out of London or take shelter in the tube stations. Special trains were run from London to Chislehurt in Kent every night. They could then sleep in the caves and return back to London in the morning. So many people went to Kent that shops were established in the caves and music concerts and church services were also held there. However, another popular place to go was the Tilbury Archers in Stepeny which could hold 3,000 people. Tube stations were also very popular with London residents. They would buy a tube ticket for a penny halfpenny and would sleep there throughout the air raid. Tube stations were the most popular because unlike the other shelters, they were comfortable, warm and dry and most importantly they were quieter. When the government thought they would overcrowd and tried to stop people getting in he was forced to back down as the people would not give tube stations up. In the end the government actually closed down stations to be used as official shelters for the public. Although tube stations were thought to be safe they were not that safe as the bombs from the Luftwaffe could penetrate as far as the stations. In Marble Arch station, 20 people sheltering there were killed on 17th September 1940. The worst incident though occurred in Balham tube station where about 600 people were either killed or injured in October 1940.

    It was as a result of this and the fact that roughly 60% of Londoners were not protected that the government issued Morrison shelters. These shelters were made of heavy steel and could be placed in the living room. They meant that people could be secure in their own homes. They could only hold 2-3 people but people could sleep in them and could also use it as a table in the daytime.

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"By the way, did you remember to feed the canary?"

Cartoon showing a Morrison shelter in May, 1941

   

    In the end the government built 8 shelters, deep in the ground in London. They were supposed to have held around 8,000 people each but they were not finished in time and not used.

    This is an account by Evelyn Rose, who was a child during the , on the Blitz in 1987.

      “If you were out and a bombing raid took place you would make for the ...

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