1. Sheffield Archives and Local Studies: History Key Stage 2 Unit 9 Sections 2 and 3 (What was it like for children in the Second World War? What was the Blitz? Why were children evacuated?)
Sheffield Blitz
By using these local resources pupils will explore:
The Sheffield Blitz addressing History Key Stage 2 Unit 9 Sections 2 and 3:
What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What was the Blitz?
Why were children evacuated?
They will learn about:
Why Sheffield was a target for German air raids.
How the city tried to defend itself from attack.
The impact the Blitz had on the city.
What it might have been like to have been an evacuee/spend a night in an air raid shelter during the Blitz.
Rescue operations in the aftermath of the bombings.
The need for reconstruction of the city once the war was over. 1

2. Sheffield as a Blitz Target
These are pictures of Sheffield steel works in operation before the Second World War.
Sheffield was famous for making steel and the city’s steel works produced many of the weapons used by British soldiers in both the First and Second World Wars.
The background to why Sheffield was a Blitz target is introduced.
Sources:
Pictures of Cyclops Works and Grimesthorpe Works, Sheffield (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. s00538, s09740 and s00542).

3. Sheffield as a Blitz Target
These are extracts from secret German plans to bomb Sheffield during the Second World War.
As part of Hitler’s plans to invade Britain, the Germans started to bomb Britain's cities in air raid attacks from September 1940, hoping that the British would panic and surrender.
This period was known as The Blitz. 'Blitz' comes from the German word 'blitzkrieg', which means 'lightning war'.
According to the 2nd document, how many aircraft were the Germans planning on sending to attack Sheffield? Why do you think the Germans were particularly interested in targeting Sheffield?
The term ‘Blitz’ is introduced and defined.
Pupils are encouraged to think about why Sheffield became a target for German aggression, being a major industrial steel manufacturing city which contributed hugely to the British weapons industry and the war effort at large.
Sources:
a) Extract from German plans to bomb Bessemer Steel Works, Sheffield, marked ''Geheim!'' [Secret!], c (Sheffield Archives ref. X196/1); b) Copy of document from Sheffield Local Studies Library Blitz Education Folder.

4. Defence
Barrage balloon
Anti-aircraft guns
These are pictures showing some of the ways Sheffield tried to defend itself from attack by German aircraft during the Blitz.
How might each of the following have helped in the defence of the city?
Barrage balloons
Anti-aircraft guns
Sandbags
Pupils are encouraged to think about ways British cities tried to defend against the Blitz:
Barrage balloons were designed to act as a barrier against low-flying enemy aircraft.
Anti-aircraft gun emplacements were positioned to try and shoot down any attacking enemy planes.
Sandbags were used to protect buildings and people against bomb damage.
Sources:
Photographs of: a) Royal Air Force [RAF] barrage balloon on Crookesmoor Recreation Ground, b) Anti-aircraft gun emplacement, Warminster Road, c) Sandbags piled outside the Central Library on Surrey Street (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. s03559, s03553 and s19703); Cartoon from “All Clear” the Sheffield ARP Wardens magazine (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref S).
Sandbags

5. Defence These are Sheffield pictures of people wearing gas masks.
At the start of the Second World War there was a fear in Britain that German bomber planes would drop poison gas bombs and so the government gave out gas masks to all British people.
People were expected to put on their gas masks during an air raid.
What do you think was the purpose of the gas mask?
s02555[1]
The gas mask was designed to prevent people from breathing in poisoned gas.
Sources:
Cartoon from ARP Wardens magazine (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref S); Picture of schoolchildren wearing gas masks, c (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref. s02555).

6. Defence
These are photographs of air raid shelters in gardens in Sheffield. They were known as ‘Anderson Shelters’.
Anderson Shelters were half buried in the ground with earth heaped on top to protect them from bomb blasts.
As soon as enemy aircraft were spotted in the night sky, air raid sirens sounded to warn everyone that an air raid was coming.
On hearing an air raid siren, many people chose to go into air raid shelters rather than stay in their homes in case their houses were hit by bombs.
What do you imagine conditions would have been like in these shelters?
What might you have taken with you into an air raid shelter during an air raid?
Pupils are encouraged to think about some of the problems they might face in air raid shelters – e.g. dark, damp, dirty, cramped, lack of things to do.
When thinking about what they might take into the air raid shelter, discussion might centre on what sorts of things were available to children living during the Second World War (i.e. no mobile phones, hand held computers or i-pods!).
Sources:
Photographs of air raid shelters being installed and an air raid shelter in Attercliffe (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. s02366 and s02365).

7. Defence
These are Sheffield cartoons of Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Wardens.
ARP Wardens helped to defend the city. Their duties included:
Making sure everyone turned off their lights at night time when an air raid was expected (this was known as ‘blackout’).
Handing out gas masks and organising air raid shelters.
Reporting on bomb damage and helping emergency and rescue services.
Pupils have the opportunity to discuss the role of ARP Wardens in helping to defend the city against air raids, including enforcing ‘blackout’ – a strategy designed to make it as difficult as possible for pilots of enemy aircraft to find their targets in the dark.
Suggested activity:
Pupils could draw their own pictures of an ARP Warden, labelling the equipment he is carrying and explaining what each item is used for.
Sources:
Cartoons from “All Clear” the Sheffield ARP Wardens magazine (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref S).
Why do you think it was important for lights to be switched off during an air raid?
What different pieces of equipment can you identify being carried by the warden on the left? What do you think he might have used each item for?

8. Evacuation
These are extracts from Sheffield School Log Books (school diaries) mentioning government plans to ‘evacuate’ school children.
‘Evacuation’ meant moving people to safer places outside the city to protect them during the Blitz. Why do you think children would have been safer in smaller towns and the countryside?
In early September 1939, with heavy German bomb attacks looming, 20 special trains took 155 groups of Sheffield children to places like Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
What happened to the schools during the evacuation period according to the documents? Did the children travel alone?
The concept of ‘evacuation’ is introduced and pupils are encouraged to think about evacuation procedures and consider why children would have been safer outside of the city during the Blitz.
Sources:
Extracts from school log books, Aug - Sep 1939: a) Langsett Road Council School, b) Brightside Mixed Board School, c) Owler Lane School (Sheffield Archives refs. CA35/126, CA35/145 and CA35/298).

9. Evacuation
These are newspaper pictures of children from a school in Carbrook, Sheffield, preparing for evacuation.
Most children were evacuated in school groups with their teachers. Children and their teachers met in the school grounds. They wore name tags and carried their gas masks in cardboard boxes over their shoulders.
What object in the sky are the children looking at in the first picture?
Sources:
Newspaper cuttings from Carbrook Council School log book, Sep 1939 (Sheffield Archives ref. CA35/964).

10. Evacuation
This is a photograph of Sheffield children about to board a train and be evacuated.
Many children were sent away from their families for months (and sometimes years) until it was thought safe for them to return.
How do you think these Sheffield children are feeling?
Pupils are encouraged to empathise with the child evacuees in the photograph and consider they might feel in their position. Discussion might centre on feelings of fear and sadness at leaving homes and families, or excitement at moving to a new place.
Suggested activity:
Pupils could imagine they are evacuees sent away to the countryside and write letters to their families back in Sheffield, describing how they are settling into their new homes.
Source:
Photograph of evacuee mothers and children on Victoria Station, 1939 (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref. s02044).

11. Blitz
This is a map showing where the bombs fell in the Sheffield Blitz (bombs are marked by dots).
Can you identify where on the map your school would have been located?
Were there any bombs which fell nearby?
Pupils have the opportunity to visualise how widespread the bombings were and consider how the Blitz might have affected the particular locality in which they live.
Sources:
Images taken from Sheffield Blitz: in Words, Pictures and Memories by Paul License (Sheffield Newspapers, 2000) (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref Q).

12. Blitz
These are photographs showing the impact of the Blitz on Sheffield.
The main attacks on Sheffield took place on the nights of 12/13th and 15/16th December 1940.
On 12th December over 330 German aircraft are believed to have attacked the city.
Two nights later the bombers returned and 90 enemy aircraft attacked the city.
Almost 700 people were killed during the air raids. Over 82,000 houses were damaged. 106 out of a total of 154 Sheffield schools were damaged, with 8 being completely destroyed.
Pupils have the opportunity to visualise the destruction visited on Sheffield during the Blitz.
Sources:
Photographs of Sheffield Blitz (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. s01137, s01084 and s03524).

13. Blitz
These are more extracts from Sheffield school log books (school diaries) written the day after air raid attacks on the city.
What particular damage did the bombings do to these schools?
Why do you think the schools were closed?
What happened to children who turned up to school the day after the bombings?
Discussion might centre on the damage done to school buildings and the surrounding neighbourhood and the fear inflicted on people by the bombings.
Suggested Activity:
Pupils could write their own diary entries the day after an air raid attack, describing what happened the night before.
Sources:
Extracts from school log books, Dec 1940: a) and c) Woodbourn Road County School, b) St Stephen Church of England School, d) Clifford First Church of England School (Sheffield Archives refs. CA35/172, CA35/794, CA35/172 and CA35/735).

14. Blitz
Look at the statistics on the left for the Blitz attacks on Sheffield in December 1940.
To the nearest 100, how many people were killed?
How many unexploded bombs were found?
Were more buses destroyed in the city or more pictures lost in the art gallery?
Read the account on the next slide of Muriel Rodgers who was a schoolgirl in the Sheffield Blitz and see if you can answer the following questions:
Why didn’t Muriel’s dad join the family in the air raid shelter at first?
What emotions did Muriel feel as she entered the shelter that night?
What animal did she compare herself to and why?
How did Muriel’s mum suggest they entertain themselves in the shelter?
What nasty shock did the family get when they climbed out of the shelter the following morning?
Pupils are invited to process and extract statistical data in the first exercise. They are then tested on their understanding of the real life reminiscences (on the next slide) of a schoolchild living in the Blitz.
Source:
Copy of document from Sheffield Local Studies Library Blitz Education Folder.

15. Blitz Suggested activity:
Pupils could use tables to create their own air raid shelters and act out their own plays set during a night in the Blitz.
Source:
‘Air Raid Over Sheffield’ by Muriel Rodgers, in Sharrow Today and Look at Life, No. 127 (Sep 1994), pp (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref SQ).

16. Rescue
This is a photograph taken after a bomb raid on Sheffield. What is happening?
Once an air raid was over, a siren sounded the “all clear” and people went outside to survey the damage.
Some found their homes destroyed. Others found dead or injured relatives and friends.
Explosive bombs, fire bombs and delayed action bombs (or “time bombs”) kept police, fire fighters, bomb disposal men, ambulance drivers and air raid wardens very busy.
More recently, other parts of the world have suffered similar destruction to that illustrated in the photograph as a result of disasters other than war. Can you think of any examples?
Pupils are encouraged to think about the aftermath of an air raid including the search for survivors and attempts to rescue people injured or trapped in bombed buildings. Discussion can turn to other disasters in the wider world in more recent times which have required relief and rescue operations, e.g. as a result of earthquakes, floods, etc.
Source:
Photograph of Blitz injured being rescued (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref. s02104). 16

17. Rescue
Pupils ability to understand and extract information from an official local government report is tested.
Suggested activity:
Pupils could write a newspaper report describing a dramatic rescue of individuals trapped in a bombed house after an air raid.
Source:
City of Sheffield report on air raid damage, 12 Oct 1941 (Sheffield Archives ref. CA538/4).
These are extracts from an air raid report describing the rescue of a boy and his parents from a house on Ellesmere Road, Sheffield, and the bravery shown by an air raid warden, H K Sandford.
How did Warden H K Sandford get into the bombed house?
How did the boy Kenneth Middleton help the rescuers?

18. Peace and Reconstruction
Despite the terrible bombings, British cities like Sheffield stood firm and refused to surrender.
In May 1945, Germany was defeated and the Second World War was over in Europe.
The black and white pictures on the left are taken from a Sheffield Town Planning Exhibition in 1945, showing plans to rebuild large parts of the city.
Why do you think Sheffield would have needed to make special plans to rebuild the city after the war?
If you were responsible for rebuilding Sheffield what changes/improvements would you make?
Discussion should focus on the destruction caused to the city and the need to construct new replacement buildings.
Suggested activity:
Pupils could imagine that Sheffield city centre has been destroyed as a result of air raids and they are the town planners responsible for designing plans for the rebuilding of it. They could work together in groups to draw up a new plan of Sheffield showing what would their ideal city centre might look like, thinking about what buildings, parks, leisure facilities etc. it might have.
Sources:
Cartoon from “All Clear” the Sheffield ARP Wardens magazine (Sheffield Local Studies Library ref S); Photographs from Sheffield Re-planned Town Planning Exhibition, 1945 (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. u03521 and u03523).

19. Recap 1. Why was Sheffield targeted by the Germans during the Blitz?
2. Name three ways the city tried to defend itself from attack/protect its people.
3. In what month and year did Sheffield suffer its worst air raids?
4. To the nearest 100 how many Sheffield people were killed in the air raids?
5. Give one example of an ARP Warden’s duties.
Answers to plenary questions:
1. Sheffield was a large industrial city with many steel works which produced weapons for use in the war.
2. The following examples may be given: barrage balloons, anti-aircraft fire, sandbags, evacuation, gas masks, blackouts, air raid shelters.
3. December 1940.
5. The following examples may be given: enforcing “blackout”, handing out gas masks, organising air raid shelters, reporting on bomb damage, helping emergency and rescue services.
Sources:
Photographs of: a) rocket batteries going into action, c. 1940; b) air raid damage to W. Northend, Printers, West Street (Sheffield Local Studies Library refs. s02559 and s01286).

20. Sheffield Archives and Local Studies
If you prefer to use this presentation as a basis for a class visit to Archives and Local Studies or in a visit by us to your class please contact us. Students will have the opportunity to see and touch the original items.
We offer
Access to original primary source material from Tudor times through to the 21st century.
Class visits to the Central Library and to Sheffield Archives.
Visits to schools to deliver classroom sessions.
Introductory sessions for teaching staff.
Online PowerPoint lesson resources.
Focus Packs of colour facsimiles linked to the National Curriculum.