World War II

The life of an evacuated child

Hello I’m Betty and I was there when we were

all evacuated it’s my job to tell you about a child's view of World War II . We will talk about the food (or the lack of it).Shortages of clothing ,fuel and furniture. We will also look at make do and mend with toys and whether or not children went to school.

But first I need to tell you about the evacuation (operation pied piper).

Introduction

The evacuation of children from cities to the

countryside in order to keep them safe from air raids began in September 1939.

Many of London’s children were sent to Wales, Cornwall or Devon. Children were also evacuated to other rural areas, such as East Anglia.

The children who were evacuated were known as evacuees and the families they stayed with in the countryside were called host families.

Operation Pied Piper

Throughout the war to make sure everyone had their fair share of

food each person was issued a ration book. These books had coupons for different items of food in them.

Different people had different coloured books for example children had blue books and adults had buff books

Rationing in Britain lasted for 14 years starting in January 1940 and finally ending in July 1954 9 years after the war ended

Food

During world war II there was a shortage of materials people were urged to make do and mend so clothing factories could be used to make Para shoots and other equipment to fight the Germans. Everyone was given a Clothing Book with coloured coupons in it. Every item of clothing was given a value in coupons. To buy clothes people handed over their Clothing Book to the shopkeeper. who cut out one of the coupons. They then handed over money to the shopkeeper to pay for the clothes.

Often when we were evacuated we would have to pack • Vest• Pair of knickers• Petticoat• 2 pairs of stockings• 6 handkerchiefs• Slip (like a very long vest with shoulder straps)• Blouse • Cardigan• In addition boys would also pack 2 pairs of pantsPair of trousers2 pairs of socks6

handkerchiefsPullover or jersey

Clothing

Because many toy factories were now making guns or plane parts or

other war equipment, there was a shortage of new toys. Children swapped old toys at 'toy-exchanges'. Many wartime toys were made of paper or card, because rubber, plastics, wood and metal were needed for the war.

Lots of toys had a war theme. There were toy planes, toy tanks and toy battleships to float in the bath, There were books such as the 'ABC of Airplane Spotting', card games with pictures of soldiers and sailors, and a darts game with a picture of Hitler as the bull's-eye to throw at!

Toys

Rationing timeline

1939 -WorldWar II starts Petrol rationing begins

1940/1941 All food stuffs rationed

1941/1942 Rice, soap, coal, gas and electricity become rationed

1943 Sausages rationed!!

1945 War ends. Rationing continues untill 1954 !

1948 End of rationing begins.

1954 Rationing ends, 9 years after the end of the war.