Britain at War 1939-1945

by pupils in Years 3 and 4

Lifeworlds Learning

This book was made by the pupils in years 3 and 4 of Burnwood Community School, Stoke on Trent

It was made on 13 March 2013 with help from Rob Bowden and Rosie Wilson.

ContentsBritain goes to warEvacuationDaily LifeFood and rationing

Peace at last!By 1943 the allies were gaining the advantage. Then in 1944 the British army went into the French territory to help liberate them from German occupation. Later on in 1945, realising he was loosing, Hitler went into a secret bunker and killed himself with a pistol shot. Germany had surrendered for good. War with Germany was over for ever, but millions had died. The war had changed life for everyone, Britain would never be the same.

Britain goes to warWar beginsWorld War 2 began in September 1939. The war started because the German army had invaded Poland. Soon after Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany as they refused to leave.

The people of Britain listened on their radios as prime minister Neville Chamberlain announced the news to the country. The war continued until September 1945.

Who was involved?World war 2 was fought between two groups of countries. On one side were the Axis powers including Germany, Italy and Japan on the other side the Allies which Included Britain, France and the USSR. Some countries did not train for the war but stayed neutral on neither side.

Timeline

1st September 1939 Germany invades Poland

3rd September 1939 Britain declares war on Ger-many

10th May 1940Winston Churchill becomes prime minister

7th September 1940 The blitz

30th April 1945 Hitler commits suicide

2nd September 1945 End of world war 2

A soldier kisses goodbye to his son as he leaves for war.

A map of Europe showing the countries involved in World War 2.

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of Gt Britain during most of the war from 1940-1945 and led Britain to victory. His speeches boosted morale during their darkest moments.

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889. Under his leadership the Nazis sought to make Germany the most powerful empire in the world and exterminate all they viewed as inferior.

 

Families enjoying a VE day party celebrating the end of the war.

What was an evacuee?During WWII hundreds of thousands of people were evacuatedfrom their homes. The first official evacuations began on 1st September 1939 two days before the declaration of war. This was called ‘Operation Pied Piper’. Evacuees were children who left cities to live with strangers or friends to keep safe during the war, because cities were targets for enemy bombers. They left because of the Blitz, which was the name for the heavy bombing on British cities by German planes. Their mums and dads stayed in London and other cities, where bombs hit. Children had to say goodbye quickly. Their parents were told to pack a small bag for each child.

The BlitzThe government warned British people to prepare for attacks by German planes, called air raids. Air raid shelters were built to help protect people from bombs. Or if there was no shelter near people had to go into underground railway stations for their safety. Blackout curtains were hung in windows.

Getting evacuatedMost children travelled by train and bus. They waited at crowded stations. Children wore gas masks and labels in case they got lost. The WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service) took children to the station and looked after them on the way there. People even hung blackout curtains in the windows of the trains, to stop light from escaping. Most children were from London, and most children travelled north. When they arrived, children were chosen by adults, mostly volunteers, who took them home and looked after them.

Evacuation

Life as an evacueeWhen the children moved into their new house many of them sent postcards home. Children would find out information about the bombing by listening to the radio or ‘wireless’ as it was called then. Children often worked on the farms where they stayed. Some evacuees called the people who looked after them ‘uncle’ and ‘auntie’.

Staying strongEvacuee children had to cope with difficulties. For example some brothers and sisters couldn’t stay together. Some got a shock because they had never seen the countryside before.

Children might have been sharing two or three in a bed because there wasn’t much room. Children had mixed experiences in their new homes: some liked the countryside, whereas others when interviewed later said they missed their homes.

 

 

The children travelled on buses and trains to the countryside.

War Fact For some

evacuees, arriving in the countryside gave them their first ever opportunity to see a cow, sheep or pig!

War Fact The British Evacuation was called ‘Operation

Pied Piper’ after a famous tale where all the children

leave a town to follow a piper.

How would you feel to be an evacuee?

Scared? Excited? One year 3 opinion of evacuees was that: “Obviously they did not like it but it had to be done!”

This is probably similar to opinions and feelings at the time, as WWII is where the phrase ‘Keep Calm and Carry On” comes from.

Families went to see dancers in their villages. There were lots of different types of dance. Many people enjoyed listening to the radio to things such as Gracie Fields and Vera Lynn’s popular songs and comedy shows. Families also listened to Winston Churchill on the radio.

When families were together they played board games to pass the time. If the family had to go into the shelters they played card games and jigsaws. There was no TV during WWII. People would shut there blackout curtains and read newspapers. There were toys like model planes, toy tanks, and battle ships to float in the water. Some people learnt to make toys from scraps of wood and odds and ends like toy soldiers and toy horses in their free time.

Women’s workMost men went to join the war. so the women, who stayed at home, took their jobs or worked alongside the men who stayed. They drove fire engines, worked as plumbers and mechanics or in the munitions factories. Early in the war 43,000 women volunteered to join the women’s services, and looked after evacuees. Many women worked alongside men, doing the same jobs.

Make Do and MendDuring World War II, there was a shortage of many things because ships carrying food, oil and other materials were attacked by the enemy. The government had a solution that helped people to lead a better life. A ‘Make Do and Mend’ campaign encouraged people to recycle food and other materials.

People swapped clothes instead of buying new ones and children wore hand-me-downs. Women knitted jumpers from wool because it was cheaper. They also made clothes from blankets and curtains. Food was rationed so it was rarely wasted. However, food scraps were sent to farmers to feed their animals.

Daily LifeThe Second World War was a difficult time for many children; they had to grow up very quickly. Many fathers went to fight in the war and mothers went to work on farms or factories to help provide for the war effort. Children still found time to play but it was sometimes very dangerous. Houses were sometimes damaged due to bombing, and often fell down.

Children still went to school during the war but were short of teachers, pens or paper. Teachers tried to keep school life as normal as possible. Children liked skipping, monopoly or games of scrabble. At home they liked to read comic books such as The Beano.

ClothesClothes were rationed in the war so fashion was not a main priority. Clothes were plain and did not use much material. Women’s skirts were knee length with few trimmings. Men’s trousers didn’t have turn ups to save fabric.

People had 66 clothes coupons a year to dress them from head to toe. Mothers and grandmothers learnt how to knit and sew to make their own clothes; this saved coupons. Boys’ shorts cost 3 coupons and girls dresses cost 5 coupons. Girls didn’t wear trousers in the 1940’s but blouses and skirts cost 9 coupons! Also most children wore caps and hats.

Stockings were hard to find in the shops so women had to be imaginative! They would colour their legs with gravy or tea to pretend they were wearing them. They also wore beetroot juice as lipstick.

Free timeIn the Second World War many families were often working on farms or factories to help provide for the war and had little free time. When they had free time they did lots of different things. They went to the cinema to watch films like Gone with the Wind or newsreels of war.

Boys knitting to ‘make do and mend’

A women making munitions during WWII

Carrot ice creams anyone?

Food and rationingWhy was food rationedin the war?Food was rationed because everyone needed their fair share of food. The war made it difficult to bring in food from abroad so all food had to be produced in Britain. Britons got food from other countries in ships but lots of ships sank during the war and there was a shortage of some foods in the shops, so the British government decided to introduce a system of rationing.

Food rationsPeople had ration books so everyone had the same amount of food to eat. Some of the food that was rationed was eggs, butter, cheese, sugar, tea and bacon. This was so that people had enough to eat. People listened to the radio to find out what food was rationed that week. People went to shops with a ration book where they used coupons to buy food. People were allowed 16 points a month.

One coupon =

- Butter 100g- Tea 50g- Bacon 100g - One egg- Cheese 25g- Sugar 200g- Meat- Vegetables

Growing foodPeople were asked by the government to grow vegetables in allotments. Allotments are small plots of land near your home, for growing vegetables. People grew onions, potatoes and cabbages. They found all sorts of places to grow food like rubbish tips and bomb sites. People grew vegetables in window boxes. Children and women worked on allotments . The campaign was called Dig for Victory.

War recipesWomen got advice from the radio programme called Kitchen Front. They made rabbit stew, using vegetables that they had got. When they had cheese they made cheese pudding using milk and stale bread crumbs.

For pudding they had apple pie, blackberries, rhubarb, strawberry and raspberries when the fruit was in season. In the summer and autumn they made jam with children, and ate a lot of jam sandwiches for their tea. They also ate liver, bacon, sausages, heart and kidney.

Feeding BritainWomen did lots of cooking. Woman made food for rescue workers and people whose houses got bombed. Women had to think of clever ways of using food rations to feed their families. Meat was important for protein. Some people kept chickens, rabbits, or pigs.

War Fact During WWII there was a popular suet

pudding recipe called National Roly Poly.