How did WW2 effect civilians in England and Wales

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How were civilians in England and Wales affected by WW2?

By Chloe Halloran 11C

World War II began in September 1939 and ended in May 1945. The war brought considerable hardship to British civilians and greatly disrupted their way of life. In this essay I will be investigating and exploring the effects of propaganda and rationing on civilians living in England and Wales.

In the months leading up to the declaration of war, the British Government devised a plan to introduce rationing. Under the Defence of the Realm Act, the Ministry of Food had to exercise their plans and implement ‘The Rationing Order’ on January 8th 1940.

The first step in executing their plan was National Registration Day on 29th September 1939. Every householder had to fill in a form giving details of the people who lived in their house. Using the information gathered on National Registration Day, the government issued everyone with an identity card and ration book. The books contained coupons that had to be handed in or signed by the shopkeeper every time rationed goods were bought. This meant that people could only buy the amount they were allowed.

Rationing was unavoidable as the majority of food that Britain consumed was imported. During WW II many of the countries that supplied Britain’s food became unable to continue exportation - this was due to the fact that many became involved in WW II themselves. Another problem was transportation: it became highly dangerous to ship food by sea and air due to the risk of enemy sabotage. A number of ships were sunk by German U-Boat attacks and so it was decided that importing food via the Atlantic and other regular shipping routes was too risky. The government was aware that shortages would occur and that the most common control was price increase. They felt that this method was unfair as the rich would eat and the poor would starve. Therefore it was decided that rationing should be implemented.

People had to register and buy their food from their chosen shops. There were no supermarkets, so people had to visit several different shops to buy meat, vegetables, bread and other goods. Some people considered food rationing to be very unfair. Eggs, butter and meat could be obtained fairly easily without coupons in rural areas. By the summer of 1941 greengrocers in the towns were taking their lorries into the country to buy vegetables direct from growers.                                                                                                            

Left, is a photograph of an adult’s weekly rations. Food was rationed by weight or points – meat was rationed by cost. In addition to the food pictured, everyone was allowed 16 points per month to use on what ever food items they wished.

Food rationing in particular caused a great deal of hardship, with goods in short supply, it became common to see large queues outside shops.

My Grandmother remembers queuing outside shops as a highly typical war time chore. Named Doris Jones, she was aged just 15 when war broke out. Now 83, she recalled some of her memories from the time she spent as a teenager living in Neath.                                                                                             “One of my daily tasks during the war was to collect the rations for my Mother. She used to send me every day, as she was ill, to get different items from different shops she had registered with in town. Our family was registered at …. Grocers, …. Bakery, and …Butchers. We were lucky to only have to register with 3 separate shops as some people had to register with around 5 different ones! However, the queues were almost always horrendous! During peak times, I never used to be able to get anywhere near the door of the grocery shop and the end of line would be somewhere out of the shop across the road. One day I remember queue for 45 minutes at the butchers, only to be told that there was no meat left and I’d have to come back tomorrow. Queuing was a very tedious job, but we had to do it - we had no choice. I vividly remember the walk home from town and my shoulder aching from carrying all the shopping. Rationing during the War was a struggle, but we made the best of what we had and we survived!”                                                            Despite the fact that my Grandmother is now elderly and it is now around 70 years since her teenage war time experiences, she can vividly recall details of rationing without hesitation. This source is very useful as it tells me as a historian exactly what process civilians had to endure to obtain rations in Neath; it provides information which tells us which shops people visited and what the queues were really like. However, we must still question its reliability as it was recorded a long time after the war: this could mean that its contents are not entirely accurate due to memories fading over time. As it was obtained during conversation, this causes us to question its integrity as we must take in to account any exaggerations which may occur during the verbal recollection of memories.    

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To alleviate adversity, the government encouraged people to develop ideas to make the most out of the little they had. In October 1939 the Government launched 'The Dig for Victory' campaign. People were urged to use gardens and every spare piece of land, such as parks, golf clubs and tennis courts to grow vegetables. Even the moat at the Tower of London was used to grow vegetables! Items grown would usually be staple foods such as potatoes, carrots, cabbages and peas which could be eaten to supplement the national diet. Many people also reared chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs in ...

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