A closer look at the life of a child growing up in Britain during World War 2

Created by: Ally D, Kirstyn T, Eric P, James S

A closer look at the life of a child growing up in Britain during World War 2….

Created by: Ally D, Kirstyn T, Eric P, James S

Children were affected a lot by World War Two.

Approximately two million children were

evacuated from their homes at the start of

World War Two; children had to endure

rationing, gas mask lessons, living with

strangers etc. Children accounted for one in

ten of the deaths during the Blitz of London

from 1940 to 1941.

It was designed to save the

population of urban or military areas

in the United Kingdom from bombing

and military targets such as docks.

Civilians, mostly children, were

transported to areas thought to be

less at risk. . Further waves of

official evacuation and re-evacuation

happened from the South and East

coast in June 1940, when a seaborne

invasion was expected, and from

affected cities after the Blitz

started in September 1940. There were

also official evacuations from the UK

to different parts of the British

Empire, many non-official evacuations

inside and from the UK. Other big

movements of civilians included

British citizens coming from the

Channel Islands, and displaced people

arriving from continental Europe.

In some kitchens people cooked on a 'stove' heated by

a coal or wood fire. The stove heated the room and

cooked meals. Most kitchens had a gas cooker, though

some had electric cookers.

People went shopping to buy fresh food most days.

To keep flies away from meat, they kept meat in a

small cupboard called a 'meat safe'. They kept bread

in a bread bin and biscuits in tins. Families ate some

tinned foods, such as tinned meat, peas and baked

beans, but hardly any frozen foods.

You could only buy fresh fruit grown in Britain, such

as apples or pears. Fruits that had to come in ships,

like bananas, vanished from the shops. Many ships

were being sunk by enemy submarines, and precious

ship-space was needed for war materials (such as oil

or guns) not bananas.

Almost every home had a radio or 'wireless. In Britain,

all the programmes came from the BBC. People listened

to the radio news, and read newspapers, to find out

what was happening in the war.

To keep in touch, people sent telegrams (letters).

Evacuees wrote postcards and letters home.

School was badly affected

during World War 2-they

learnt how to use their gas

masks and getting out of

the house in air raids

instead of learning

according to their proper

curriculum. Children

actually enjoyed it

because there were so

many children at school so

they went to school at

certain times. This meant

that they were not

properly educated there-

fore at the end of the war

they had to catch up!

Food rationing began in 1940. This meant

each person could buy only a fixed amount of

certain foods each week.

Much of Britain's food came from other

countries in ships. Enemy submarines sank so

many ships that there was a shortage of some

foods. Rationing made sure everyone got a

fair share. You had to hand over coupons from

your ration book, as well as money, when you

went shopping. When you had used up your

ration of one food (say, cheese or meat), you

could not buy any more that week.

Vegetarians could swap meat coupons for

This short article is all about the World

War 2 and how Britain survived, what

happened with the evacuees and their

education. It is full of brief information

and examples of the families that went

through this.