Warfare: London And The Second World War Flashcards

1
Q

Why was London a target?

A

-Capital city/ centre of govt

-Britain’s most important port

-Major industrial centre

-Britain’s biggest city 8.6mil people

-London is on the coast, close to France and the Netherlands and Thames was easy as a route finder for bombers

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2
Q

What is the LCC

A

London County Council

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3
Q

How many london boroughs are/were there?

A

28

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4
Q

What is the role of the LCC?

A

Responsible for:

-Fire service
-Ambulance service
-Heavy Rescue Service

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5
Q

What is the role of each borough?

A

-First Aid
-Local ARP wardens (1 per 500 people)

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6
Q

What us the WRVS?

A

Women’s Royal Voluntary Services

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7
Q

What is the role of the WRVS?

A

-Ran canteens for troops
-Helped organise evacuations
-Served as ARP wardens
-Served in Emergency Services

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8
Q

When were blackouts mandatory from?

A

1st Sept 1939

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9
Q

When was the evacuation beginning date?

A

August 1939

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10
Q

What groups of people were organised to be evacuated?

A

All children over 5 and teachers

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11
Q

What is the The National Service Brochure (NSB)?

A

A brochure that asked families to register if families were willing to take children in the countryside.

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12
Q

When was the date of gas masks being issued?

A

Monday 26th Sept 1938

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13
Q

What was the price to replace gas masks?

A

£5

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14
Q

What was the Percentage of people carrying gas masks 4th Sept 1939 Vs 31st March 1940?

A

70% (Sept 1939) –> 1% (Mar 1940)

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15
Q

What is a Dispersal Policy?

A

Small surface shelters 1 per household rather than people sheltering together deep underground

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16
Q

Describe Two Features of Anderson Shelters

A

-Was dug partially underground and the earth displaced was piled on the top and sides of the shelter

-Were given out by the government 1 per household with a garden which had to be built by the families

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17
Q

What are Domestic Surface shelters?

A

Shelters Built from brick or concrete by better off families in own gardens

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18
Q

What are Communal and Public Surface Shelters?

A

-Built from brick or concrete by councils
-often in the middle of streets
-people didn’t feel safe

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19
Q

What and how were Basements used?

A

-Some modern houses had deep cellars
-People used these as shelter

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20
Q

What are Public Basements?

A

-Larger modern buildings had a steel or concrete frame
-This was over a deep basement
-People felt safer here

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21
Q

What are Trenches?

A

-Built by councils
-Dug in parks with a roof over most of it
-People didn’t feel safe

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22
Q

When was the First German Air Raid on London?

A

25th August 1940

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23
Q

When is Black Saturday?

A

7th September 1940

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24
Q

What was the Duration of the First Blitz?

A

7th Sept 1940 –> 10th May 1941

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25
Q

How many Deaths from first blitz?

A

28,556 could say (~28/29,000)

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26
Q

What was the Number of injured from first blitz?

A

25,578 could say (~25/26,000)

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27
Q

What were the initial targets of the bombings?

A

-Military Installations
-Industrial Areas
-Energy supply centres
-Communications centres

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28
Q

When did Hitler postpone the invasion of England?

A

19th September 1940

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29
Q

What were the New primary targets as a result of a postponed invasion?

A

-Civilians and their homes (wanted high death” & rate and destruction of national treasures to reduce morale)
-Industry and Communications

30
Q

READ ONLY:

What are some Sources used to study the Blitz?

A

-Memories
-Diaries
-Official Records (war cabinet minutes)
-Newspapers and radio news transcripts
-LCC Bomb Damage Maps

31
Q

What was the East Enders Vs
West Enders?

A

East Enders, typically working class people, thought the West Enders were better off for they received largely lower numbers of bombs than the East End and the area was wealthier too.

32
Q

What was the South Hallsville
School disaster (1940)?

A

-Schools used as temporary shelters
-1,000 moved to South H.ville
-9th Sept Evacuation plan failed when buses didn’t turn up
-Buses came 10th Sept but during an air raid, so sent away
-That night the school was hit with a bomb

33
Q

Location of Mickey’s Shelter

A

Basement shelter under the buildings, etc.

34
Q

What was the Capacity of Mickey’s
Shelter, how many came and the effect?

A

5,000 but twice as many arrived there leading to awful conditions, so many fainted

35
Q

What were Mickey’s effect on his shelter?

A

-Organised cleaning and beds
-Persuaded a GP to visit and give free healthcare
-Persuaded M&S to build a canteen for the shelter
-Used canteen profit to provide free milk for the shelter
-Toilets and bunks put in

36
Q

What are Incendiary bombs?

A

-Dropped by first wave of bombers

-Started fires which could be used as targets for other bombers

-Out of control fires did more damage than conventional bombs

37
Q

What are High Explosive Bombs?

A

-Dropped by later wave of bombers
-Had a fuse so delayed explosion, killing rescue workers

38
Q

How do Mines Act/work?

A

-Dropped with parachute to be silent
-Exploded when they touched metal
-Lot more powerful than other bombs

39
Q

When was the Second Fire of
London?

A

29th December 1940

40
Q

What happened at the Second Fire of
London (29th December 1940)?

A

-Raid started 1500 fires
-163 killed

41
Q

How many hours were Some fire fighters working?

A

48

42
Q

What was the Announcement by Herbert Morrison, April 1941 about?

A

Conscription for fire watching

43
Q

How was homelessness in london during the blitz?

A

-In first six weeks of the Blitz, 250,000 Londoners made homeless
-Only 7,000 re-homed

44
Q

Why shelters smelt?

A

They were connected to sewers

45
Q

What was the The Balham Tube Disaster 1940?

A

-People in a tube station, a bomb hits gas pipes directly above the tube station shelter
- The people inside were trapped and it was filling up with sewage and gas
- 66 Casualties

46
Q

When and what was the Lull?

A

-May 1941 - January 1944
-Raids not happening every night
-58 Casualties per month

47
Q

When and what was The Baby Blitz?

A

-January - April 1944
-3,793 died
-948 Casualties per month average

48
Q

What was the bethnal green disaster?

A

-3rd March 1943
-Underground shelter in East End
-Usually 200-300 regular users
-1500 users on the night
-New AA rockets fired outside shelter, exacerbating the panic as people thought they were bombs
-People rushed down the staircase
-A women with a baby fell at the bottom of the stairs resulting in a piling of people
-173 died
-Lead to more ticketing for shelters but therefore more people arrived last minute

49
Q

When was the First Vl attack on London?

A

Night of 12/13 june 1944

50
Q

What was the Duration of Vl and
V2 attacks?

A

June 1944 - March 1945

51
Q

What were the V1s?

A

-Brought day time bombing back to London for the first time since Autumn 1940
-Didn’t trigger air raid warnings, 12 seconds after they were heard by an individual they exploded
-Tended to use the same routes

52
Q

Why did the Vis have such a big impact?

A

-As attacks happened throughout the day, casualties were high
-Caused flying glass from explosions which caused the most deaths
-The Government didn’t inform me the people until l6th June and even then didn’t say of their destructive capabilities

53
Q

How many Injuries, damage and deaths were caused by V1’s in the first two weeks?

A

-10,000 injured
-1,600 killed
-200,000 homes damaged

54
Q

What were the Features of the
V2 bomb?

A

-The first ballistic missile, a rocket that carried a warhead
-So fast that it arrived and exploded before people heard it.
-It had a double bang sound, because it broke the sound barrier

55
Q

When were the First and Last V2
attacks on London?

A

First: 8th September 1944
Last: 27th March 1945

56
Q

When was the Last V1 attack on
London?

A

29th March 1945

57
Q

How did newspapers report the first two V2?

A

-As exploding gas mains
-Londoners therefore nicknamed the bombs, flying gas mains

58
Q

When was the Deptford V2 disaster?

A

25 November 1944

59
Q

What happened at the Deptford V2 disaster (25 November 1944)?

A
  • A V2 hit woolworths on a busy saturday lunchtime
  • 160 killed and 200 injured
60
Q

What was the Scale and Impact of V1 and V2 attacks

A
  • Civilian morale badly affected
  • New wave of evacuation began July 1944, 559000 evacuated
  • More people sleeping underground
  • Over 30000 homes destroyed, 1.3 million damaged
  • Governments popularity fell with its inability to protect London
  • Killed/ seriously injured nearly 30000
61
Q

What are the statistics of the Beckenham Disaster?

A

-Number injured 1085
-132 dead
-1013 fully demolished
-71 bombs dropped

62
Q

How were the Monarchy during the Blitz?

A

-Royal family stayed in London throughout Blitz
-Visited communities during the Blitz, heightened morale

63
Q

How was the Government during the Blitz?

A

-Stayed in London because it would be be bad for morale if they ‘abandoned’ it
-Cabinet War Rooms built June 1938 - 27th August 1939

64
Q

When were Cabinet War Rooms built?

A

June 1938 - 27th August 1939

65
Q

What are some Features of the Cabinet War Rooms?

A

-Had Meeting rooms, offices, a canteen, bedrooms and the Map Room
-Map Room was the nerve centre of the government’s control of the war handing all latest status reports

66
Q

Fill in the gaps (READ OUT LOUD):
Planners decided to close places for (…..) activities but the government realised the these were vital for (……).

A
  • Leisure
  • Morale
67
Q

What was dancing like at this time?

A

-Very popular
-Dancehalls stayed open throughout the war

68
Q

What were Theatres and Concerts like at this time?

A

-Allowed to reopen in Sept 1939
-Programmes included instructions for during an air raid
-Lunchtime concerts for workers were very popular and were paid for by govt.

69
Q

When did professional football start in lomdon?

A

Started in late Sept 1939, crowds limited to 8000 people in London, 16000 elsewhere

70
Q

What was the point of Safeguarding art and important buildings?

A

-National Gallery sent its paintings to a slate quarry in Manod, Wales
-British Museum sent books to Aberystwyth
-British Museum sent its most precious treasures in an unused Underground tunnel at Aldwych
-St Paul’s Watch for St Paul’s Cathedral was important for morale

71
Q

What was the point of Cinemascopes?

A

Allowed to reopen a week after the start of the war, mainly used for propaganda

72
Q

What was the “Dig for Victory”?

A

British campaign to increase food production. Fields normally reserved for athletics were turned over to citizens plant gardens.