London and the Second World War 1939-45

Question 1

Why was London a target of Germany in bombings?

Answer 1

-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

Question 2

Preparations for war in London 1939

Answer 2

• 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”

Question 3

Evacuation plans

Answer 3

-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

Question 4

Amount of people carrying gas masks 1939-40

Answer 4

1939: 70%
1940: 1%

secret reporters who kept an eye on civilian morale took these figures

Question 5

Example of unpreparedness distributing gas masks

Answer 5

St Pancras only assembled 5k gas masks so needed to drag 200 men out their normal work to do the rest.

Question 6

What was the government attitude regarding air raid shelters

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

What are Anderson Shelters

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

What are Morrison Shelters

Answer 8

Steel cage meant to replace dining table downstairs

Question 9

Aims of German bombing campaign

Answer 9

-Destroy national treasures,civilians, urban areas to break civilian morale
-Damage transport and communication to disrupt war effort

Question 10

Between what dates was the main Blitz? What was the death total?

Answer 10

7 sep 1940 - 10 may 1941
30k dead

Question 11

Why were attacks initially concentrated on the East End

Answer 11

Concentration of docks and railways was at the East End

Question 12

When was Black Saturday

Answer 12

7 sep 1940

Question 13

What was Black Saturday

Answer 13

First night of bombing
lasted 12 hours
400 killed

Question 14

Early domestic problems in London

Answer 14

London was not united. East Enders claimed some people were better protected than others and blamed to government

Question 15

The South Hallsville School Disaster

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Mickey’s shelter

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Types of bombs used 1940-41

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Problems dealing with Incediaries

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Second fire of London 1940

Answer 19

One raid caused 1500 London fires and 163 deaths

Question 20

How many consecutive nights of bombing in 1941 First Blitz

Answer 20

57

Question 21

Impact of First Blitz on civilian life

Answer 21

-disrupted gas
-disrupted transport
-blackouts
-homelessness: 250,000 lost their homes and only 7000 rehomed
-demoralising looting of bombed houses
-54k killed

Question 22

Limitation and success of censorship

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Why did the government use propaganda

Answer 23

-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

Question 24

Who was in charge of Propaganda?

Answer 24

Ministry of Information

Question 25

Cinemas showing newsreels

Answer 25

over 1 billion attendances newsreels played in the cinema. These newsreels were censored

Question 26

What were spotters?

Answer 26

Introduced to reduce time spent by workers in shelters.
Spotters stood on top of factory roofs and only rang bell when plane was nearby

Question 27

unit set up to report on civilian morale

Answer 27

Home intelligence reports collected opinions from range of people, eg large businesses and police

If morale was broken then war was lost

Question 28

Extent of devastation at end of First Blitz

Answer 28

5% of total homes destroyed
30k lives lost
London population dropped by 44%

Question 29

When was the Lull

Answer 29

1941-44

Question 30

What was the Lull

Answer 30

German bombings during 1941-44 would be the night after an Allied raid on Germany. So Londoners went to shelter day after they heard of a Allied raid.

2000 killed in the Lull

By now, most things were ready:
-new deep shelters built
-ticketing system and new bunks in shelters
-large shelters had activities eg dance and drama

Question 31

What was the Baby Blitz

Answer 31

final bombings on London, limited by the fact that Britain had aerial superiority so less bombers got through

4000 killed

Question 32

What and When was Bethnal Green Disaster

Answer 32

1943

173 die in crush due to panic after anti aircraft rockets fired and believed to be German bombs

Censored till after the war

Question 33

V1 attacks

Answer 33

new bomb introduced near end of war

-brought day time bombing to London
-didnt trigger air raid warnings
-Tended to use same routes so Deptford and Croydon heavily damaged

Question 34

Impact of V1 attacks

Answer 34

-Casualties were high because it was day and people werent in shelters
-Government informed public of the bomb late and hid how powerful it was

-after 2 weeks:
1600 killed
200,000 homes damaged

Question 35

V2 attacks

Answer 35

Ballistic missile carrying warhead and too fast to hear or stop

First V2 hit London in 1944 and last in 1945

Government censored the existance of the missile and claimed it to be exploded gas mains, leading to the public calling the rockets “flying gas mains”

Question 36

Deptford V2 disaster

Answer 36

1944

Hit Deptfords largest shop (with a rush because new scarce tin pans were just stocked) , Woolworth killing 160 and injuring 200

Question 37

Scale and impact of V1 and V2 attacks

Answer 37

-Civilian morale low, more absence at factory work than in First Blitz

-559,000 evacuated in new wave of evacuation in 1944

-1.3 million houses damaged

-30,000 killed or seriously injured

-People angry at government for late admitance of the attacks

-81,000 sleeping in shelters daily

Question 38

Monarchy during Blitz

Answer 38

Monarchy stayed in London throughout Blitz and were visible. This boosted morale. Visited bombed regions and ensured appropriate action taken

Question 39

Government during Blitz

Answer 39

Stayed in London
-Key buildings strengthened and special shelters made
-Cabinet War Rooms created as nerve centre for control of war and housing for members

Question 40

Continuing of leisure activities during Blitz

Answer 40

-Dancehalls remained open during Blitz and were very popular

-Concerts at lunchtime for workers funded by the government were very popular

-late 1939 professional football games attended by max 8000

-Cinema attendance increased by 50% during war years and was powerful force of national unity and propaganda

Question 41

Safeguarding of art and important buildings during Blitz

Answer 41

-National Gallery sent its paintings to quarry in Wales.
-British Museum stored treasures in tunnels
-Stained glass windows removed from churches but not much else could be done. eg the medieval Guildhall was destroyed

Question 42

Dig for Victory campaign

Answer 42

Government encouraged people to grow their own food and not rely on food shipped to England.
eg Moat at tower of London turned into vegetable patch aswell as other places

Question 43

how many evacuated

Answer 43

1.5 million mothers and childrens and 2 million homes destroyed

Question 44

ROYAL FAMILY SERVING DURING WW2

Answer 44

princess elizabeth joined the auxilary teritorrial service