A closer look at the life of a child growing up in Britain During World War II….

Created by: Rebekah, Megan, Onako , Danielle.

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Children liked the fact that, due to the war, the school holidays were expanded giving

them more time to relax away from school. For entertainment children used to play board

games. Many kids enjoyed the freedom with no adults to tell them what to do. They liked

collecting war-time souvenirs and played imaginary games. Card games were also

considered fun pastimes. There were many themed games and toys for the children to use.

Because of the limited materials, children would usually play with home-made toys. They

helped with activities such as farming and cooking. They read books and listened to the

radio as well as watching cartoons and short films.

The British government was worried that when Hitler came to power in 1933 that there

would be a war. When war was declared the government chose to evacuate the children,

pregnant women, disabled people and women with young children. It was vital that the

children packed there own gas

masks. They were evacuated by

train and bus. They were

evacuated to the country where

there was less chance of being

bombed. Billeting officers were

the ones that found the

evacuees homes to stay in

during the war. They were first

evacuated on the 31st of

August 1939 at 11:07am. When

the children arrived at the

station they had name tags

attached to them. They were scared and did not even know if they would be separated

from their brothers and sisters. They did not want to leave their families but were

excited to be going to a place they had never been before. When they arrived they were

tired hungry and uncertain about what to do next. They were taken to the village hall and

they were chosen by the locals as to which house they would be staying in.

Schools were not allowed to be opened until they had a proper

functioning air-raid shelter, this enabled kids to have longer holidays.

When school was opened children did not learn things like Mathematics

or Science, instead they learned first aid and knitting they were also

taught farming or gardening and instead of fire drills they had bomb

drills. As there were so many evacuees coming to the country side they

had to split the school times. The

younger children were taught for

a couple of hours in the morning

and the older children were taught

later in the afternoon.

During the war all food was rationed, so as to keep the stocks lasting. They

had to limit their intake of food as a lot of it was being sent to the soldiers.

Most children that grew up during the war had never tasted bananas oranges.

They ate fruits and plants such as black berries, crab apples, mushrooms and

dandelions leaves the food was mainly picked by the children they made syrup

out of wild rose hips which gave them a large source of Vitamin C.