1. These Polish children had to leave their homes, after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Notice the horse- drawn carts, piled with refugees' belongings.

2. U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima, Japan on Feb. 23, 1945

3. A family goes into an Anderson air raid shelter in their garden, 1939. Each person carries a gas mask in a little box.

4. November 1940, and children sleep in hammocks in the London Underground. The electric track was switched off, for safety, when people sheltered in Tube stations.

5. A photo of a bomb-damaged street, 1943. The boys have made a swing from ropes tied to a lamp post.

6. Christmas in an air raid shelter, 1940. This little girl has decorations and presents around her bed.

7. Not a popsicle! These children are eating carrots on sticks, instead of ice cream, because of wartime rationing

8. A city in Britain, after the air raid of 14 November 1940. People walk through the ruins of their city.

9. This photo was taken during the Blitz on London. St Paul's Cathedral is seen through the flames and smoke of blazing buildings.

10. Rescuers pull a man from the rubble of a house hit by a V-1 flying bomb in July 1944. The photo was taken by policemen helping with the rescue. The rescued man was alive.

11. A farewell kiss -A soldier kissing his daughter goodbye before he leaves Britain.

12. Starved prisoners at Ebensee Concentration Camp in Austria. The camp was reputedly used for "scientific" experiments.

13. Mushroom Cloud over Nagasaki, Japan after the atomic bomb

14. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. They flew and maintained combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

15. This London woman was cleaning up her property after an air raid.

16. What was World War II? World War II was the most destructive conflict in history. It cost more money, damaged more property, killed more people, and caused more far-reaching changes than any other war in history. The Second World War (World War II) lasted from 1939 to 1945. It was fought in Europe, Russia, North Africa and in Asia. Over 50 countries fought in or were affected by WWII. 60 million people world-wide died in World War II. About 40 million were civilians. Children as well as adults were affected by the war

17. Who fought in the war? World War 2 was fought between two groups of countries. 1. On one side were the Axis Powers, including Germany, Italy and Japan, and more. 2. On the other side were the Allies. They included Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the US, and more. Germany was ruled by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Hitler wanted Germany to control Europe. Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific. Some countries did not join the war, but stayed neutral (on neither side). Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ireland were neutral countries.

18. The war spreads The War began in 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. Britain and France wanted to help Poland so they entered the war that same year. They were too late. Poland was occupied by the Nazis. By the summer of 1940 they had conquered Holland, Belgium, France, Denmark and Norway. Enemy planes dropped bombs on cities in Britain. Allied ships were sunk by submarines in order to gain control of the Great Britain. In 1941 the Soviet Union (Russia) was attacked by Germany. In 1941 America also joined the war, after Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

20. Occupied countries Occupied countries (like France and Norway) were invaded and taken over by the enemy. Occupation was hard for the people. It meant the end of freedom: you had to work and do what you were told, or be punished. For children, occupation meant being hungry (enemy soldiers took the best food) and scared (the enemy sometimes took away or killed your family and friends). Anyone who fought back, by joining the Resistance, risked jail or death. Jews from all over occupied Europe, including thousands of children, were rounded up, and sent to die in prison camps.

21. The Holocaust In 1945 Allied troops freed prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. In these camps, millions of Jews and other prisoners had been killed or had died from hunger, disease and cruelty. This terrible war crime became known as the Holocaust. It's thought 6 million Jews were killed. Among the victims were many children. One young girl left a diary of her life in hiding, before she was captured. Her name was Anne Frank.

22. There were no computers or computer games in 1939. Home computers had not been invented. Wartime birthday cards were smaller, because paper was rationed. People passed the time with books like 'The Blackout Book', which had puzzles and quizzes to do indoors. One tip for beating the blackout was to put a cocoa tin over a light to give a narrow beam - enough to read by. In 1939 a TV set cost about the same as a small car. Few people owned either a TV or a car. A favorite for breakfast or tea was bread and 'dripping' (the cooled solid fat from roast meat). Many boys wore short trousers until they left junior school, when they were given their first pair of long trousers. Schoolboys in the 1940s often wore school caps, as part of their school uniform. Girls wore school hats too.