Wartime Childhood
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Transcript of Wartime Childhood
Created by: Bridgette, Cheyenne, Ikeem, Thea, Kylowe.
The impact of evacuation on children depended to
an extent on which social strata you were in at the
time. Parents who had access to money invariably
made their own arrangements. Children at private
schools based in the cities tended to move out to
manor houses in the countryside where children at
that school could be kept together. But 1.9 million
children gathered at rail stations in early September
not knowing where they were going nor if they
would be split from brothers and sisters who had
gathered with them.
World War Two was the first war where
Britain itself was the target of frequent
attacks by the enemy. With the success of
the Battle of Britain and the suspension of
‘Operation Sea Lion’, the only way Ger-
many could get at mainland Britain was to
bomb it. This occurred during the Blitz and
seemed to reinforce the government’s
decision to introduce evacuation at the start
of the war.
Children did go to school though some schools
moved from towns to the country side. As well as
ordinary lessons children learned air raid drills;
leaving classrooms when the sirens sounded to go to
air raid shelters.
To raise money for the 'war effort', schools started
'Spitfire Funds' and National Savings Groups. More
than 6,000 school savings groups started in 1940.
Children saved money each week. Many schools
gave children free milk, and there were school
dinners too, for a small charge.
Food rationing was introduced in stages, beginning
in January 1940. Foods that were rationed included
bacon, butter, sugar, meat, tea, cooking fat, jam,
cheese, eggs and milk.
Rationing started on January 8th 1940, when
bacon, butter and sugar were rationed (by weight),
followed by meat in March 1940. In July 1940, tea,
cooking fat, jam and cheese were also rationed (by
weight). Eggs and milk were rationed by allocating
supplies to shops in proportion to the number of
customers registered there.