The Dark Days: Andrew Y F block

THE DARK DAYS TOUGH TIMES FOR CIVILIANS IN ENGLAND DURING WORLD WAR II

By Andrew Yoo

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CIVILIANS OF ENGLAND DURING WORLD WAR II In September of 1939, train stations in England were flooded with over a million children and woman evacuating big cities such as London and Birmingham because of the war between Britain and Nazi Germany. World War II was a tough time for civilians in Europe because of constant fear of Nazi attacks, lack of food and supplies and having to leave their homes.

Fear of Nazi invasions and bombs As the war grew bigger, the Nazi gained control of more land including France and Norway. As a result, the civilians living in England had to live in fear of bombs and Nazi invasions.

This is a photo of the HMS Royal Oak. It was a Royal Navy ship(England). It was torpedoed by a German U-Boat off the coast of Scotland in 1939. 834 men lost their lives.

By July of 1940, Hitler and Nazi Germany were in control of Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and Norway.

People fled from their homes but many came back after the Phoney War which was a period of time from 1939 to 1940 where no major battles were fought in Western Europe. England was on Hitler’s target list and the first bombs were dropped in September 1940 for 57 days straight. After the attacks started, the British government prepared for an oncoming invasion by telling civilians to hide their guns and radios and taking off all of the signs along the road. As written in a BBC article, “In the spring of 1939, Whitehall predicted an enemy bombing campaign against Britain in which 700 tonnes of bombs could be dropped every day that could kill 600,000 civilians and injure 1.2 million.” The people of England were aware of this campaign and regularly feared its arrival. Food and supply shortages also didn’t help to the civilian’s worries.

At the beginning of World War II, the Nazis had 56 U-boats. Because they were not allowed to have submarines because of the treaty of Versailles, they trained the crew by teaching antisubmarine warfare which meant that they had to teach about submarines.

Limited Food and Supplies From January 1940 to April 1940, 143 ships were sunk by German submarines off the coast of England and France.

Many were cargo ships that carried food and supplies. The German U-Boats used torpedoes to sink ships that were trying to cross the English Channel. After the Nazi took over France and the channel islands of England, they stopped the British ships from getting across the narrow channel.

Food shortages meant that civilians needed to get ration cards to get specific foods such as meat or butter and the price of the food increased. Many people planted a garden in their yard to grow plants so that they wouldn’t have to use up their ration cards. Mines also played a factor in the destruction of the ships.

According to historylearningsite.org, “Uboats were to play an important part in World War Two. Winston Churchill claimed that the U-boat war was the only time that he felt that Britain might have to contemplate surrender.“

The lack of food definitely affected the British and their ability to fight back the Nazis. As a result of the lack of food, many people moved away from their homes to the countryside.

Evacuating London People evacuated their homes for multiple reasons. The most important was to protect the children and women from Nazi attacks. Over a three-day period in September of 1940, an estimated amount of 1.5 million children and women were evacuated. Civilians that lived near the water or in big cities were evacuated to avoid an invasion.

The government strongly suggested that the children be evacuated by putting up posters and announcing it. Civilians also moved due to the lack of food. London was a very densely populated city during World War 2 which meant that there were less food for everyone. People moved to a place where they could grow food or where they could find more of it.

This is a map of Europe in 1940. The Nazi controlled most of Western Europe. By 1942, the Nazi took over most of Western and Central Europe. England wasn't invaded by water at all during the war. Hitler planned to invade England but the plan was later cancelled.

From a iwm.org article it reads, “Evacuation was voluntary, but the fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers.� The government also tried to evacuated the kids by shutting down the schools and having schools leave for the countryside. Leaving their homes probably seemed exciting for the young children but it meant that they had to leave everything they knew and start everything new.

World War II was a dark time. In the pacific, the Japanese empire was fighting the Americans while in Europe, the Nazi fought the Allies from two different sides.

The holocaust affected the Jews and their life forever but England was also a hard place to live in. There are multiple reasons but the three most noticeable are the fact that they lived in fear of invasions and attacks, the lack of food, and having to relocate for the war.

Bibliography: Evacuation During World War Two. Web. 02 June 2017.

The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline: The Blitz. Web. 02 June 2017.

Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The War That Saved My Life. London: Text, 2016. Print.

"History - Germany Bombs British Towns and Cities (pictures, Video, Facts & News)." BBC. BBC. Web. 02 June 2017.

Jalter. "The Evacuated Children Of The Second World War." Imperial War Museums. 05 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 June 2017.

"Sinking of HMS Royal Oak." Scapa Flow Historic Wreck Site. Web. 02 June 2017.

"The U-boat War 1940." History Learning Site. Web. 02 June 2017.

URL for pictures: http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/img/wrecks/royal-oak/photos/photo6.jpg http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/public/cms/70/92/147/606/ChAoum_ web.jpg http://liverpoolblitz70.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/evacuation-limestreet.jpg https://previews.123rf.com/images/dapoomll/dapoomll1206/dapoomll12060 0004/13952910-grunge-style-border-in-white-background-Stock-Vector.jpg http://tiefenbrun10a.wikispaces.com/file/view/timelinewwII.jpg/122641805/8 00x343/timelinewwII.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/vE2YU8JlVV0/VFnKYT0vQnI/AAAAAAABXGI/gP5jBijAtsc/s1600/U-505.jpg