To record the ‘Home Front’ memories of local men and women from WW2
Mackay Country
Home Front Oral History Project
Life on the Home Front during WW2
The Blackout
The Blackout was introduced in September 1939. To stop lights on the ground showing enemy aircraft where to drop their bombs.
To make sure that no lights could be seen from house windows, Air Raid Wardens patrolled the streets after sunset. People took a long time getting used to the Blackout.
Post boxes were painted yellow, white stripes were painted on the roads and on lamp-posts. To stop light escaping from windows in ordinary houses black out curtains were put up.
Even though steps were taken to make the streets safe, without proper lighting thousands of people died in accidents before the bombing even started. When men went out in the evening they were advised to leave their shirt-tails hanging out so that they could be seen by cars with dimmed headlights.
Air Raid and Gas Raid Precautions
Nearly everybody in the country had been issued with a gas mask (38 million) by September 1939. Everyone was instructed to carry their gas masks at all times in case of attack. Adults masks looked like a pig-snout and the children's masks were soon given nicknames such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
The government was genuinely afraid that the Germans would use gas, launched from airplanes or boats. Gas had been used on the battlefields during the First World War with terrible results but had not been used on civilian populations. In the end gas was never used against the British, so the effectiveness of the preparations was never tested.
Bomb Shelters
Plans were made for the construction of large public shelters, and the erection of small units in private gardens ("Anderson" shelters) and inside houses ("Morrison" shelters). Experts said that bombing would kill hundreds of thousands of people..
People developed a false sense of security and were not keen to have shelters. Bombing of Britain did not start immediately, although the War began in September 1939. Shelters became more popular once heavy bombing began, from the summer of 1940 onwards. Railway arches and basements were also used and, in London, people slept at night in the Underground Stations and tunnels.
The shelters saved the lives of many people, but there were deaths when large bombs fell directly on shelters. In total German bombing had killed over 60,000 people in Britain. The experts had over-estimated the strength of the German air force, and the amount of bombs that it could drop. However, many more would have died if shelters had not been provided.
The Blitz
Germany prepared to invade Britain In June 1940, after the defeat of France. German leaders felt it was essential to destroy the British air force to stop it sinking the ships that would carry German soldiers across the Channel. Bombing raids on Britain started in July. The Royal Air Force fought back hard in what was later known as the Battle of Britain.
German losses of aircraft and aircrew were very high, and the invasion of Britain was postponed. The attacks were switched to other targets, such as docks, factories and railways to force Britain to surrender. Because bombing was not exact, and because most of these targets were in cities and towns, many bombs fell upon streets and houses, killing people.
German bombing did not stop war production or force Britain to surrender, although much damage was done during the Blitz. Over 30,000 British people were killed during this period - over half in London, which was bombed almost every night.
When much of the German air force was sent east to prepare for the invasion of Russia in mid-May 1941, the Blitz came to an end. The immediate threat of a German invasion of Britain was over, although bombing was to continue at less intensive levels in 1942 and 1943.