Impact of the second world war on society 1939-1950

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The Blitz: n. An intensive air raid or series of air raids. The blitz started on the 7th November, 1940. It happened largely by accident. On the night of August 24th, 1940, Luftwaffe bombers aiming or military targets on the outskirts of London flew off course and dropped their bombs on the centre of London destroying several homes and killing civilians. Churchill, believing it to be a deliberate attack, ordered the bombing of Berlin the following night.

About 40 British planes made it to Berlin and inflicted minimal property damage, but the Germans were stunned by the attack. It was the first time Bombs had fallen on Berlin, and they had been assured this couldn’t happen by the Luftwaffe Chief, Hermann Gring that this could never happen.

Two more British attacks followed, resulting in Germans killed on the ground. German nerves were frayed, the Nazis outraged. Hitler threatened “…When the British Air Force drops two or three or four thousand kilograms of bombs, then we will in one night drop 150-, 230-, 300- or 400,000 kilograms.” They were not going to take this lying down, and beginning September 7th London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights, but the blitz continued until May 1941. During this time other cities were also bombed including Portsmouth, Exeter, Bath, Manchester and Belfast.

However, this decision to bomb London and other major cities proved to be the most fateful decision of the war. Up to that point, the Luftwaffe had targeted RAF (Royal Air Force) airfields and support installations and had nearly destroyed the entire British air defence system. Switching to an all out attack on British Cities gave RAF Fighter Command a desperately needed break and the opportunity to rebuild damaged airfields, train new pilots and repair aircraft.

The air attacks left 1.4 million homeless and 40553 dead. Hitler’s aim was to break the moral of England, but instead it had the opposite effect, bringing the English people together to face a common enemy. German hate grew, and phrases such as “A good German is a dead German” soon sprang up. 18000 tons of high explosive was dropped on England during eight months of the Blitz. A total of 18629 men, 16201 women, and 5028 children were killed along with 695 unidentified charred bodies.

During the nightly air raids, people had to take the following precautions: -

Blackout: n. The extinguishing or concealing of lights that might be visible to enemy aircraft during an air raid at night. On September 1st, 1939, it became an offence to allow any light to be visible from outside a building at night. This was to prevent German bombers finding their targets.

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ARP (Air Raid Patrol) wardens patrolled the streets looking for chinks of light from a window. Their cry soon became a regular part of life: - “Put that light out!” Motorists had to turn off their car lights during the blackout, and in 1940 there were 9000 car accidents.

Bomb shelters:  A shelter, often below ground, built to withstand attacks by bombs. At the beginning of 1939, the Government announced the introduction of the small air-raid shelter that could be constructed in the back garden of a house. The 'sectional steel shelter' as it was officially known soon became known ...

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