1. Unit 9: What was it like for children
in the Second World War?

2. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
It began in 1939 and ended in 1945.
It was fought between two groups of countries called the Allies and the Axis. The leading countries on each side were:
The Allies
The Axis
The U.K.
Germany
France
Italy
The Soviet Union
Japan
The U.S.A.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

3. What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
1450
1500
1550
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
: Second World War
1666: The Great Fire of London
1850s: Florence Nightingale
Unit 6b: Why have people invaded and settled in Britain in the past? An Anglo Saxon Case Study

4. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
How did the Second World War begin?
The Second World War began in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland.
Britain and France had an agreement with Poland to help in case of war, so Britain and France both declared war on Germany.
Other countries joined the war on both sides, and the fighting took place all over the world, in Europe, Africa and Asia, and in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Both sides used soldiers, aircraft, boats and submarines.
Many soldiers and civilians were killed, more people than had ever been killed in a war before.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

5. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Who were the leaders of the Allies and the Axis?
Britain Winston Churchill
America Franklin D. Roosevelt
U.S.S.R. Joseph Stalin
Germany Adolf Hitler
Italy Benito Mussolini
Japan Hideki Tojo
(died in 1944)
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

6. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
How did the Second World War end?
The war went on for six years, with neither side able to win.
Finally in 1945, the British, American and Russian soldiers managed to invade Germany and capture Berlin, which was the capital city.
When Hitler realised that he was going to be captured, he went to an underground hiding place and shot himself.
After this, Germany surrendered to the Allies. This was known as V.E. Day, which means ‘Victory in Europe’
Japan continued the war in Asia until 1946 when they too surrendered after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan by the American airforce.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

7. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What was the Blitz?
The Blitz is the name given to the bombing of London and other cities by the German airforce during the Second World War.
The name Blitz comes from the German word ‘Blitzkrieg’ which means ‘lightning war’.
Many buildings and homes were destroyed or set on fire by the bombs.
The British airforce also bombed German cities, causing similar damages to buildings and killing or injuring people who lived there.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

8. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
How did people protect themselves from the bombs?
To keep themselves safe during the Blitz, many families built Anderson shelters in their gardens. When an attack started, the family could go into the shelter. They would be safe from any bombs dropped nearby.
People in London often used the Tube stations as shelter during bombing raids. Hundreds of people would gather in the stations and often stay there all night.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

9. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Why were children evacuated?
Because of the bombings, many cities were very dangerous places to stay.
To protect children, the Government evacuated them to the countryside.
They were put with families who could look after them until it was safe to go back home.
The Government arranged special trains to take all the children to safe places.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

10. Look at these posters about evacuation.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Look at these posters about evacuation.
What group of people do you think each one is aimed at?
What is the purpose of each of these posters?
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

11. What was it like being an evacuee?
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Children were
safer in the country
What was it like being an evacuee?
They were often split up from their families
Advantages
Disadvantages
There was more good food available in the country
Many children got very homesick
Some children were made to do chores and hard work
Many children had never had a chance to go to the country before
Some children never wanted to go home
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

12. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What did people eat during the war?
The war meant that foods which would normally come to Britain by ship were in short supply.
Rationing was introduced so that people could only buy small amounts of certain foods each week.
Ration books were used to keep a count of how much food you were allowed to buy.
People were encouraged to grow extra fruit and vegetables in their gardens or allotments.
Ration books
“Grow your own food” poster
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

13. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Here are some of the foods that were rationed during the war. Click on the picture to find out the amount of each food that you could buy each week.
Cheese: 50g
Meat: 1 shilling & sixpence worth
Bacon or ham: 100g
Butter: 50g
Jam: 450g
every 2 months
Milk:
1.8 litres
Margarine:
100g
Dried egg:
One packet a month
Sweets: 350g
a month
Tea: 50g
Sugar: 225g
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

14. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
In what other ways might the war have affected people? Look at the pictures below. What do they tell us about the effects of the war on different people’s lives?
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?

15. Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
What has been done since to prevent another world war?
The United Nations is an organisation which was set up after World War II.
Leaders of most of the world’s countries meet there to discuss ways of solving their problems without going to war.
The United Nations has representatives which it sends to countries who are at war to try and help them to settle their problems peacefully
Do you think the world is now a more peaceful place than it was in the 1940s?
The U.N. flag
Inside the U.N.
Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?