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How did Londoners cope with the Blitz?
After the Battle of Britain in 1940 Hitler ordered his airforce to start bombing British cities, especially London. The Blitz - as it was called - hit the East End especially badly. German bombers were trying to destroy the docks and warehouses: as they were surrounded by tightly packed workers' houses the effect on East Enders was devastating.
Bombs dropped on Leyton, too. In October 1940 a stick of bombs fell around Farmer Road School. One landed in the playground and blew out the school windows. Another landed where the DT block now is and destroyed several houses. A third landed in Skelton's Lane and killed a family of cricket bat makers. Four years later a V2 rocket blew up half of Lea Hall Road.
What was it like for children in the school during the Blitz? How did their families cope with the round-the-clock bombing? How did people shelter from the bombs? What food was available? How did people live their daily lives?
Books about the Blitz often talk about ordinary people being brave and putting up with things, carrying on with normal life without complaining, sticking together and helping each other. But there are other stories, too: of fear, panic and anger, of people close to breaking point.
What can you find out? You have a pack of resources including newspapers from the time, extracts from the school log books, a map of where the bombs dropped in Leyton, individual stories and memories. Use them to piece together a picture of living through the Blitz.
Bombs dropped on Leyton, too. In October 1940 a stick of bombs fell around Farmer Road School. One landed in the playground and blew out the school windows. Another landed where the DT block now is and destroyed several houses. A third landed in Skelton's Lane and killed a family of cricket bat makers. Four years later a V2 rocket blew up half of Lea Hall Road.
What was it like for children in the school during the Blitz? How did their families cope with the round-the-clock bombing? How did people shelter from the bombs? What food was available? How did people live their daily lives?
Books about the Blitz often talk about ordinary people being brave and putting up with things, carrying on with normal life without complaining, sticking together and helping each other. But there are other stories, too: of fear, panic and anger, of people close to breaking point.
What can you find out? You have a pack of resources including newspapers from the time, extracts from the school log books, a map of where the bombs dropped in Leyton, individual stories and memories. Use them to piece together a picture of living through the Blitz.
Try these links too.
There are various ways of posting your work. You can post a comment on this blog. You can make a presentation and upload it to the wiki http://gmhistory9.wikispaces.com/ . You can email your work to Martin.Spafford@sch.walthamforest.gov.uk . You can print it out.
Some Second World War games:
6 comments:
some of the older male students went to the WW2 and bombs fell around the area, making it difficult to hide and survive
adolf hitler bulit up the german army and invaded lots of countries but britan weren't having it
Reply to anonymous:
You are right. It meant that most of the people left in Leyton were either very young, very old or women. But according to one Leyton man's life story, kids at the time loved the bombing because they could play in the ruins and steal from the bombed houses. There were gangs then, too, and each gang guarded its 'own' bomb sites.
Reply to Alice:
Yes, and it is still something that generation of British people are proud of: that they resisted Hitler through the Batte of Britain and the Blitz and didn't give in.
The most effected area was the south eastern areas of the country
Reply to anonymous:
Yes... the south east was in easy range of German bombers and also the place with the docks and some heavy industries, as well as the highest concentration of people.
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