The government set up food rationing on 8 January 1940. Each person had a ration book and had to register with local shopkeepers. Bacon, ham, sugar and butter were the first to be put on the ration. Housewives had to work out what their family was allowed to buy and could afford to eat. They had to shop everyday and often wait in long queues. Feeding a family became harder as more foods were put on the ration. Without help from neighbours and relatives it was difficult to get by. How to make your family's rations last the week was a real problem. Everyone was asked to produce their own vegetables. If they had the space chickens, pigs and rabbits were valuable sources of eggs and meat. Magazines, newspapers and radio programmes were full of recipe ideas for wartime housewives. Sardine fritters, curried carrots, Woolton Pie and mock bananas made with parsnips and milk. Any leftovers or scraps had to be put to good use and everyone was encouraged not to waste food. Food was not the only thing that was in short supply. Clothes, household furnishings and petrol were rationed too. Most people had to make do with what they had before the war started or look out for second-hand items. Clothing coupons were given out to everyone from June 1941. They had to make allowance of up to 66 coupons last the year. If they had the money they could buy one new outfit. Finding clothes for children was a continuous worry. The 'utility scheme' set up clothes and furniture that made the best use of materials in short supply.
Although life on the home front was hard everyone tried to keep in good spirits. Blackout limits meant that many spent their evenings at home listening to the radio. Over 16 million people regularly tuned into the comedy show ITMA, 'It's That Man Again'. More people than ever before went to the cinema. Films presented a short escape from the difficulty of war. The main features went after government information films and newsreels. War films and romantic ones like 'Gone with the Wind' were popular. Concert halls and theatres continue to stay open and people still visited their local pub. Although beer cost more and spirits were hard to come by pubs were a valuable part of community life. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed British city outside London. The city was a prime target for attack because, with Birkenhead, its 'twin' across the Mersey, it was the country's biggest west coast port. Every week, ships arrived in the River Mersey bringing supplies of food and other cargoes from the USA and Canada. Without these supplies, Britain would have lost the war. The German Luftwaffe (Air Force) made about eighty air raids on Merseyside between August 1940 and January 1942. These reached their peak in the seven-night blitz in May 1941. The bombing was aimed mainly at the docks, railways and factories, but large areas were destroyed or damaged on both sides of the Mersey.
The fall of Norway, Holland, Belgium and France to the German Army by mid-1940 allowed the Luftwaffe to use airfields in each of those countries. It was from these airfields, especially in northern France and Belgium, which German bombers would fly to Merseyside. Having suffered serious losses in daylight raids on Britain, the Germans decided to launch air attacks at night on major British ports and cities. This campaign began on the night of 28th August, when 160 bombers attacked Merseyside. It was the first of many raids on the area over the next nine months. The bombers followed special radio beams to direct them to their target, though British scientists sometimes managed to jam or bend these beams. The majority of bombers move towards Merseyside from the Welsh coast, and could easily check their location by the lights of unbiased Dublin.
Liverpool's air defences, like those of other British cities, mainly involved the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Army. The RAF put up huge, hydrogen-filled barrage balloons above the docks and at sites around the city. These more often than not put off the raiders from attacking below 5,000 feet. The Army's anti-aircraft guns and searchlights targeted the enemy flying above the balloons. From 12,000 feet upward RAF fighter aircraft attacked the bombers. The fighters were based at Speke, near Liverpool, Cranage (Cheshire), Tern Hill and High Ercall (Shropshire), Wrexham, Anglesey and Blackpool. The RAF also lit decoy fires on the sands of the Dee estuary, close to the Wirral shore, to confuse the enemy bombers. These did well in appeal to many bombs that would otherwise have landed on Merseyside.
There were over 50 German air raids on Merseyside between August and Christmas 1940. In September and October, they occurred about once every two nights. Each raid could last from a few minutes up to ten hours. Most raids were by a few aircraft, but the largest involved over 300. The heaviest raids were on the nights of 28 November, 20 and 21 December ('the Christmas Blitz'). The total weight of attacks took a rising toll. By the end of April 1941, the area had suffered over 60 raids, at least five being major. Many had damaged the docks, but only a few badly. Buildings, roads and homes had been destroyed throughout the area. Over 2,000 people had been killed, and many more badly injured.
The Durning Road tragedy
The direct hit on the large underground shelter in Durning Road, Edge Hill, was the worst single incident in the Liverpool Blitz as regards to loss of life. This occurred in the early hours of 29 November 1940, during the heaviest air raid to date. About 300 people were tightly packed into a shelter in the basement of Edge Hill Training College in Durning Road.
When a parachute mine hit the building, it collapsed into the shelter below, crushing many of its occupants. Boiling water from the central heating system and gas from fractured mains poured in. Raging fires overhead also made rescue work extremely dangerous. In all, 166 men, women and children were killed. Many more were badly injured. The German air raids of 1940-42 caused annihilation on both sides of the Mersey. About 4,000 people were killed, including 2,736 in Liverpool, 454 in Birkenhead and 424 in Bootle.
In Liverpool, many docks and their regions were reduced to rubble. A number of ships were sunk in the docks and river. Much of the city centre was devastated, including the main shopping and business areas. Some of the city's best-known buildings were destroyed, including the Customs House, the Cotton Exchange, the Rotunda Theatre and Lewis's department store. The City Museum (now Liverpool Museum) and Central Library and their fine collections were also badly damaged.
Houses, churches, hospitals, factories and other buildings were bombed throughout the city and its suburbs. Many roads, railways and tramlines were made unusable. While vital services were quickly restored, other damage often took years to repair.
The bombing of Merseyside reached its peak in the seven-night blitz of 1-7 May 1941. This was the most intense series of air attacks on any British city area outside London during the war.
The May Blitz on Merseyside was one of the last series of big raids on Britain before the German invasion of Russia. It involved 681 bombers in all. They dropped about 870 tonnes of high explosive bombs and over 112,000 firebombs. This was the last chief air assault on Merseyside during the war. It caused massive damage to the city centre, the port and the entire area. Half of the Liverpool docks put out of action, 500 roads closed to traffic, Railways and tramlines badly damaged, Over 700 water mains and 80 sewers damaged, Gas, electricity and telephone services badly damaged, 400 fires attended by the fire brigade on the night of 3 and 4 May alone 9,000 workers from outside the city and 2,700 troops helped to remove debris from streets
Although the docks and city centre were the main targets of the May Blitz, residential areas also suffered massive damage. Nearly one third of the houses in Liverpool were damaged or destroyed. Worst hit was Bootle, a small town outside the city boundaries but next to the port's biggest docks. Already heavily bombed in earlier raids, Bootle only had about 15% of its houses left after the May Blitz. Over 1450 people were killed in Liverpool and 250 in Bootle. Many more were seriously injured. Casualties would have been far worse if thousands of people had not left the city and dock areas each evening, to return the next day. 1,453 people killed in Liverpool, 257 in Bootle, 28 in Birkenhead, 3 in Wallasey. 1,065 seriously injured in Liverpool, 26 in Bootle, 44 in Birkenhead, 19 in Wallasey. 4,400 houses destroyed in Liverpool, 16,400 seriously damaged, 45,500 slightly damaged. 51,000 people made homeless in Liverpool, 25,000 in Bootle, "Kirkdale is for the time being practically finished, almost wiped out on Merseyside, as in other blitzed areas, the bombing was sometimes so bad that people did lose heart. Many criticised the authorities for failing to protect them. Many also felt that news reports unfairly played down events on Merseyside in comparison to other places. However, the people of Merseyside refused to give up.
The 2,000 officers and men of the Liverpool City Police played a major role in Liverpool's blitz military protection. About 400 special constables assisted them. Eleven policemen were killed during the raids, and many received medals for saving lives and property. As well as their usual duties, police officers took charge of every blitz event. They helped to rescue people and to put out fires. They controlled traffic and cleared whole areas until bomb disposal squads could make unexploded bombs safe. The Chief Constable, Herbert Winstanley, was in control of the Police, the Fire Brigade and ARP, civil defence. Hundreds of police instructors helped with local ARP training in gas drill, bomb drill and firefighting.
The Liverpool Fire Brigade, the Auxiliary Fire Service and the Liverpool Salvage Corps were in the front line of rescue work during the Blitz. Though short of men and materials, they were very much help out by volunteer fireguards and firewatchers. Over 100 other fire brigades from as far as the Midlands and London also helped with crews and equipment when needed.
The 'fire bobbies', as they were called, worked bravely in very dangerous and difficult circumstances. Forty were killed and many more injured whilst on duty. Men from the Liverpool Fire Brigade and Auxiliary Fire Service received a number of medals for bravery and for saving lives.
Liverpool Fire Brigade was a police brigade, under the Chief Constable of Liverpool. It had about 250 men, including 50 policemen trained as auxiliary firemen
The Auxiliary Fire Service had about 2,000 full-time and over 3,000 part-time firemen, Medical, relief and welfare. The staff of the city's hospitals, and of the newly established emergency hospitals, worked all through the Blitz to cope with the wounded. A number of hospitals were bombed, and many staff killed or injured. The Liverpool Ambulance Service, boosted by auxiliary ambulances driven by women volunteers, also played a front-line role during the Blitz.
Liverpool Corporation set up a very well organised billeting service to find temporary homes for people whose houses had been destroyed by bombing. After the May Blitz, however, almost 10,000 people had to be found somewhere to live outside the city.
Among other services catering for people whose homes had been destroyed by bombing were Rest centres run by the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS)
Mobile canteens run by the WVS, providing hot drinks and snacks to people in blitzed areas.
Thousands of Liverpool people assisted their country through war. As so many men were called up to serve, the country depended on women to carry out much of the war work. Some jobs, however, were protected occupations meaning the men doing them were exempt from being called up. Many local people served in the forces at home or abroad and others volunteered for the Home Guard, emergency or Women's Voluntary Service.
In 1939 the government revived the Women's Land Army. It was formed during the First World War to avoid food shortages as farm employees left to fight abroad. Thousands of women left varied careers to become land-girls. By 1941 20,000 women had signed up and at its peak in 1943, over 80,000 had joined up. The women learned and performed tasks from all characteristic of agricultural manufacture with about a quarter of them employed in milking and general farm work. Six thousand worked in the Timber Corps, felling trees and running sawmills. Some women lived in hostels but most lived on farms. Circumstances were often poor and pay was low but many women enjoyed the work. The Women's Land Army remained in existence until 1950.
For thousands of people the war was fought far from home, away from their families. Men aged between 18 and 41 were call up - they had to join the forces unless they worked in a 'reserved' occupation. Local men joined the King's Liverpool Regiment or served in other units of the Air Force, Navy or Army.
Women did not fight in battle but they could join the forces. At first their roles were limited to cooking or clerical work but they soon took on more wide-ranging work. For example, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) helped to direct anti-aircraft gunfire. The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAFs) worked as mechanics on aircraft and controlled barrage balloons. The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS) served on shore as radio operators and ambulance drivers.
In the run up to the war many munitions factories were opened in the northwest. They supplied the guns and ammunition needed by the armed forces. Many local companies also turned their factories over to wartime production.
The Rootes factory at Speke produced 60 Halifax bombers a month and employed over 13,000 people. By 1944 Littlewoods had 16 factories in operation employing 14,000 workers. They produced shells, parachutes and barrage balloons.
Many women worked in war factories. This was voluntary until 1941 when women were recruited. By 1943 90% of single women were employed in the war factories.
The Government also set up a munitions factory at Kirkby to produce detonators and to fill shells. It employed over 10,000 people, 8000 of whom were women. A factory at Fazakerley opened in 1941 to produce machine guns and rifles. Managers and key workers were drawn from parent factories at Woolwich and Enfield. However, the main workforce was made up of 68% local women.
There was a shortage of skilled engineers. In 1941 the government hired skilled workers from the West Indies to help out in factories in the northwest.
The war left many people broken-hearted and disturbed. While most celebrated, many knew that their loved ones would never return. Only once the anxiety of war ended did this hit home. Many in the city today still grieve the loss of relatives and friends during the war.
In 1951, ten years after the May Blitz, the city unveiled a memorial at Anfield Cemetery. It marks the communal grave of 554 victims, of whom 373 were unidentified. An inscription was added to the cenotaph memorial for the First World War. A specific memorial was unveiled in St Nicholas's Churchyard in 2000. St Luke's Church the 'bombed out church' on Renshaw Street, was not rebuilt and remains today a memorial to the Liverpool Blitz.
Liverpool was left with huge areas of docks and homes shattered. The rebuilding was to take years. Some well-known buildings were never rebuilt, such as the Customs House, which occupied the site of Chavasse Park. As early as 1941, the City Council considered how to restore the city centre. The first proposals come into sight that year, together with the plan for an inner ring road.
The Labour Government set about establishing a new society. People were strong-minded never to return to pre-war unemployment. The war had equipped people for more state control and the government nationalized many industries. New laws for education, social services and housing shaped the welfare state. In 1946, Parliament set up the National Health Service. For the first time people had a right to free medical care.
Employers laid off workers once existing contracts had been completed. Liverpool was still a thriving port but the city and the country as a whole were crippled by the cost of the war.
Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945, when the Allied forces closed in on Germany from the east and west. The government declared VE day for Victory in Europe. People planned street parties for the children and shared rations to make cakes and jellies. They decorated the streets with flags and bunting.
In July, there was a general election. Churchill was beaten and Labour won by a landslide. Japan surrendered on 2 September after the Allies dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities. VJ Day marked the end of the war. After years of anxiety, hardship and sacrifice people knew that they were finally safe. Service men and women began to come home.
