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 as the 'Anderson' after the Home Secretary and was supplied free of charge to the poorer inhabitants of danger areas, and for a small fee to anyone else. It was delivered in sections and had to be assembled by the new owner. This ment digging a large hole in which the shelter itself was half buried and the leftover earth piled on top for added protection.
Although being half buried certainly added to the Anderson protection, it also caused flooding in wet weather. For the people without back gardens, it was recommended that a downstairs room be strengthened as a shelter, or an under stairs cupboard and a table. At the end of 1940, the Government introduced an indoor shelter nicknamed the Morrison after Herbert Morrison, the Minister of Home Defence. It was a low steel cage, which when not in use could double up as a table. It was also delivered in sections and put up by the householder, or if not possible, by local youth groups such as the Scouts.
Many buildings, such as churches were used as public air raid shelters. The underground stations in London were also used, and many people who had been bombed out took up permanent residence there. In some boroughs, like Dover or Chislehurst, caves were used and they were even fitted with facilities including first aid posts and toilets!
Bombing: To attack a place using bombs, an explosive weapon German Bombing The Germans bombed England heavily, because they needed to control the air if they wanted to have any chance of invading England. To start of with they concentrated heavily on military targets, such as airfields and runways, anti-aircraft defences and military intelligence centres. However, when they accidentally bombed central London, the Blitz began (See The Blitz above.)
English Bombing Initially, strategic bombing was very restricted to avoid civilian casualties. Most missions were against warships or involved dropping propaganda leaflets. The results of these missions were minimal. After the fall of France aerial bombing became almost the sole means for the UK to attack Germany. Very heavy bomber losses led the British to switch to night bombing. Navigation was a tremendous problem however and it was not unusual for planes to release their bombs many miles from the actual target. Sometimes even finding the right city could be a challenge let alone a specific industrial target within that city. These problems led the RAF to switch from precision bombing to area bombing. Elite pathfinder aircraft (usually Lancaster or Mosquito bombers) with special navigation equipment marked the target area with flares and incendiaries for the main force of bombers. The heavy bombers would then drop their bomb loads on the fires started by these markers. Combined with the use of more incendiaries bombs and a shorter time over the target British strategic bombing finally began to really hurt the Germans. Bombing accuracy gradually improved during the war until RAF bombers could bomb targets at night almost as good as U.S. daylight bombing. Despite having this capability though Bomber Command led by Sir Arthur Harris continued to pursue the policy of targeting cities ("area bombing".) Destroying the dwellings of workers, killing, wounding them and their families was supposed to have the strategic effect of reducing war production (decreasing morale, disrupting travel, reducing man-hours of work available, etc.) It was also hoped that if the war became "unpopular" enough among the civilian populace this might lead to a general uprising and possible overthrow of the government with a subsequent surrender. There were some daylight low-level precision attacks during the war but these were conducted at great cost in terms of training, losses of experienced crews and aircraft, and were not always successful. They could not be conducted very often as a result.
Home Guard: A volunteer force formed to defend a homeland while the regular army is fighting elsewhere. The Home Guard was formed on the 14th May 1940. Its job was to work in its local area to help defend Britain from attack. ¼ million people volunteered in the first 24 hours. They were all men between 17-65. They worked part time and it was unpaid.
The idea behind it was that if the Germans ever defeated the British army or invaded England, there would be another army their to fight it. However, the Home Guard was under equipped, having to use wooden rifles, or even broom handles for practice. There were no uniforms at the start, and as many of the volunteers had been in WW1, they simply came in their old uniforms. One Home Guard unit had 6 generals from WW1, all dressed up as generals!
Safety and Precautions: Safety: Freedom from or prevention of danger, risk or injury. Precautions: an action taken in advance to protect against possible danger or failure. There were many safety precautions taken in WW2. Concrete pillboxes were built around the country, road signs were painted over or removed so that if there was an invasion the enemy would not be able to move around quickly (but neither could visiting British people!) If there was an invasion, motorists had to make it impossible for people to drive their cars. Church bells were banned from ringing except as a warning of an invasion. Beaches were covered in barbed wire, and some had stakes driven into them to prevent enemy gliders from landing. People where issued with gas masks by the government. They came with caring cases and where meant to be carried everywhere. However, they were never used and a good thing to. They smelt so strongly of rubber and disinfectant that they made people sick. Some even nearly suffocated while trying them on!
Economising: The careful use or management of resources. There were many changes ahead for people entering the war. Limits were put on things like hot water, petrol, food, clothes and unwanted metal. You were meant to share hot baths, and use no more than 5 inches of water. Clothes were made differently with fewer pockets and skirts were made shorter to save on cloth. People donated extra pots and pans they had to have them melted down to make aircraft and other items of war. Paper and cardboard was recycled. Because of the food shortages, Rationing was introduced (see below).
The main type of propaganda was the poster campaigns that soon became common place in every display board or shop window. The main poster campaigns where: -
Dig For Victory: This was an important propaganda method used to encourage people to grow their own food. Many posters such as the one below are instantly recognisable.
Blackout: (See also Blackout above) There were many posters used for this including many still recognisable today.
Gasmasks: (See also Safety and Precautions above) There were many posters used for this including the ones below.
Entertainment: The act of entertaining: to hold the attention of; especially, to perform for the pleasure of, amuse. Without television, the main source of entertainment in the home was the radio. The BBC World Service broadcast up to date news of the war, while other stations held host to a whole range of shows. The cinema (flicks) were also very popular. At first they were closed during the war, because if they were bombed then there would be a lot of people in one place at the same time, but they were re-opened due to public demand. From then on they stayed open even during air raids.
Propaganda was also used at the cinema, and before each film there could be a short news flash or advertisements encouraging you to join up in either the Army or the RAF.
Evacuation: To withdraw or depart from; vacate. In September 1939 everyone who was not needed for the war effort work were supposed to be evacuated from London and other big cities in case they became bombing targets. The people to be evacuated where mostly children, but pregnant women and disabled people too. However, in January 1940 no bombs had fallen, and as many people did not like their new foster families they started to return to their cities. . When bombing did begin, some returned but many stayed at home.
For those that did get evacuated and the new families, the experience could be exciting or boring, enjoyable or sad. Many evacuees did not like their foster families or vise versa, and many evacuees came from poor families and were unclean and uneducated.
Rationing: A fixed portion of; especially, an amount of food, clothing, fuel, or the like. Rationing began on the 8th of January, 1940 because of the imports being sunk by German U-boats. Most people liked it because it was fair and everyone got the same. Clothes were also rationed from May 1941.
Typical weekly food ration
Bacon 6oz
Cheese 4oz
Butter 4oz
Eggs 2
Milk 1pint
Tea 3oz
Sugar 12oz
Sweets 3oz
Dried milk 4pints
Dried eggs 12 (every 8 weeks)
Points were given every 4 weeks for luxury items, 16 points a week..
Bibliography: www.british-forces.com
www.danshistory.comwww.danshistory.com
Peace and war (John Murry)
The era of the second world war – Tony and Steve Lancaster (Causway)
“ - Philip Sauvain (Stanley Thorns)