London and the Second World War 1939-45 Flashcards
Why was London a target of Germany in bombings?
-capital city, centre of government. Harming civil servants would slow war effort
-Most important port for shipping of food and military supplies.
-Industrial centre - vital infrastructure
-Population of 8.6 mil
-London by coast: not far from german owned countries and the Thames glimmered as a map in moonlight
Preparations for war in London 1939
- Munich crisis 1938: war got so close that gas masks were given to all Londoners.
-Air raid precautions act and ARP system formed and funded
-LCC responsible for fire and ambulance service
-Each borough made responsible of first aid. 1 ARP warden for every 500 people
-Jan 1939 major push for defence recruitment “civil defence”
Evacuation plans
-take all children and as many mothers as possible out of London
- Evacuations should occur before war took place
-National service asked families if they were willing to take in families for 50p a week
-Women’s Royal Voluntary Service supplied thousands of volunteers to help with evacuation
Amount of people carrying gas masks 1939-40
1939: 70%
1940: 1%
secret reporters who kept an eye on civilian morale took these figures
Example of unpreparedness distributing gas masks
St Pancras only assembled 5k gas masks so needed to drag 200 men out their normal work to do the rest.
What was the government attitude regarding air raid shelters
Dispersal: small surface household shelters
This would mean people are more likely to leave than they would deep underground ones. Keeping people at work during war time is important to keep wartime production and economy high.
What are Anderson Shelters
Shelters offered to the public
People dug a hole in garden/ communal garden for flats so some of the shelter was underground and used the dirt to pile onto sides of Anderson Shelter.
What are Morrison Shelters
Steel cage meant to replace dining table downstairs
Aims of German bombing campaign
-Destroy national treasures,civilians, urban areas to break civilian morale
-Damage transport and communication to disrupt war effort
Between what dates was the main Blitz? What was the death total?
7 sep 1940 - 10 may 1941
30k dead
Why were attacks initially concentrated on the East End
Concentration of docks and railways was at the East End
When was Black Saturday
7 sep 1940
What was Black Saturday
First night of bombing
lasted 12 hours
400 killed
Early domestic problems in London
London was not united. East Enders claimed some people were better protected than others and blamed to government
The South Hallsville School Disaster
First nights of bombing had made 16,000 East londoners homeless. This meant thousands were made to live in schools.
Part of school was hit and resulted in anger at Civil Defence and mention of it being banned in newspapers because it would be so bad for morale.
Mickey’s shelter
Many people stayed at mass shelters as they felt safer than they did in anderson shelters. One of these was Spitalfields. This place could hold 5000 but often was used by 10,000. The conditions were horrible (no toilets, many fainted)
Mickey took over the shelter and introduced a free GP, toilets and food
Types of bombs used 1940-41
Incendiary bomb: started fires more harmful than bomb explosion
High explosives: some had delayed fuses to kill rescue workers
Mines: silent as they dropped by parachute and only exploded when they touched metal
Problems dealing with Incediaries
Civil Defence: 90% of damage caused by fire
Fires had to be put out quickly otherwise they would take hold and burn atleast 1 building. This meant civilians were encouraged to take action and were given sand and water buckets to smother the fire.
Fire watching teams created to look after streets and soon they were conscripted due to lack of volunteers
Second fire of London 1940
One raid caused 1500 London fires and 163 deaths
How many consecutive nights of bombing in 1941 First Blitz
57
Impact of First Blitz on civilian life
-disrupted gas
-disrupted transport
-blackouts
-homelessness: 250,000 lost their homes and only 7000 rehomed
-demoralising looting of bombed houses
-54k killed
Limitation and success of censorship
Censorship meant Germans didnt know their successes and civilians werent demoralised. Countless bombings such as Balham tube disaster killing 66 not heard of
However often civilians spread rumours which were worse than the truth
Why did the government use propaganda
-keep up civilian morale
-make people act way government wanted them to
-stress importance of war effort eg “digging for victory” to find scrap metal to reuse for armanents
-warn dangers of spies
-win support from other countries like USA
Who was in charge of Propaganda?
Ministry of Information
