The Second World War

Ian Roberts, Brian Moses

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134018857
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book will support children as they:

* Find out about wartime phrases and use them to write a dialogue

* Write a letter home from a P.O.W. camp

* Read wartime adverts and slogans and decide how effective they are

Part 1

Source materials and activities

Evacuee children (1)

Stimulus material

Pictures of evacuee children and school log book entries 1939.

Background

Thousands of children considered to be living in areas at risk from heavy bombing were evacuated to the countryside. For many children, it was the first time that they had been away from their parents and their homes.

When the evacuees arrived in the reception areas, they were allocated to local homes and enrolled in village schools.

While some evacuee children settled into their new lives and made friends with local children, others found the changes difficult to deal with. Some city children had never seen farm animals before and were consequently frightened of them.

Sometimes it was necessary for evacuees to be re-evacuated as bombing strategy changed or the risk of invasion increased.

Suggested activities

Imagine that you are a teacher of evacuee children. Write contrasting reports on two of them. One should be about a child who has adapted well to the changes while the other report should focus on a child who has found the move extremely difficult. Your report could comment on each child’s ability to make friends, respond to lessons and settle into village life.

Imagine that you are either an evacuee city child or a village child who makes friends with a child from a different area. You are then separated by re-evacuation. Write a letter to your friend. You could give news about your school and neighbourhood in addition to telling your friend about the ways in which you miss them. Remember to ask some questions in your letter. This should encourage your friend to reply!

Evacuee children (2)

Stimulus material

Postcard from an evacuee and quotes from accounts of evacuation plus ‘The End of Evacuation’ (see Section 2, p. 56).

Background

Parents were not informed as to where their children were being taken. However, on arrival, each child was issued with a postcard on which was to be written a brief message along with hislher new postal address.

Suggested activities

Attempt to empathise with what children went through: imagine coming to school with your suitcase, sandwiches and gas mask, then walking to the railway station wearing a label with your name and address written on it. Imagine boarding a train with many other children and travelling for hours and hours, stopping and starting again and again until you finally reach your destination where you are talcen to some village hall and handed over to strangers, or worse still, made to stand in a bunch while the strangers pick you out one by one.

Write a postcard home which tells your parents where you are and how you are, who you are staying with, what the house is like. Are there pets?

The postcards would have been read by your foster parents so you wouldn’t be able to say that you disliked your new home or were feeling homesick. But maybe you can say something in the postcard that would reveal to your parents that you weren’t totally happy in your new situation.

Pamela Buckley writes of missing the things she had to leave behind. What would you miss in that situation? Who would you miss – family, pets, neighbours, friends? Make a list and offer reasons why. Would there be some things (or even people) that you wouldn’t miss?

Evacuee children (3)

Stimulus material

Pictures of evacuee children and posters encouraging evacuation.

Background

At the beginning of the war there was a period when there did not appear to be an immediate threat from bombing. This became known as ‘The Phoney War’. Some parents were keen for evacuee children to return home.

In an effort to discourage children from returning to areas at risk from bombing, the government mounted a publicity campaign.

Suggested activity

Write a government leaflet designed to encourage evacuation and discourage the return of evacuees. Your leaflet might try to persuade parents that their children will be happy, healthy and safe in the countryside or it could emphasise the risks associated with a return to the city streets.

Everyday life in wartime

Stimulus material

Newspaper articles and ‘The End of Evacuation’ (Section 2, p. 56).

Background

Most city schools were closed once children and teachers were evacuated. As children began to return to the cities, ways had to be found to try to educate them, and the newspaper report from Sheffield is an example of one city’s attempts to continue children’s school work.

Suggested activities

Discuss in groups and then list the advantages and disadvantages of the home system. Some of these can be found in the newspaper report, others will be less obvious. Would anyone prefer this system to a normal school day?

Read the newspaper report ‘Lonely, Left in London’ and the account ‘The End of Evacuation’ (p. 56). These represent two contrasting viewpoints. Archie in the report is lonely and longing to leave London, whereas the boy in the account is homesick and would do anything to get back to London.

Who do you think you would have been in this situation?

With a partner, prepare interview questions to put to either Archie or the homesick boy – you could give hi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Source materials and activities
• Part 2: Anthology
• Notes on anthology selections