primary homework help war blitz

What other cities were bombed?

One devastating raid on Coventry in November 1940 was the biggest air-raid the world had ever seen. 4,330 homes were destroyed and 554 people killed. At one point during the night 200 separate fires burned in the city.

During the Blitz 32,000 civilians were killed and 87,000 were seriously injured.

Two million houses (60 per cent of these in London) were destroyed in the Blitz.

What type of bombs were dropped?

Different types of bombs were dropped from the enemy planes. There were:

• H.E. (High Explosive) bombs of various weights;
• Incendiary Bombs, also termed Fire Bombs as they caused fires. and

One in every ten bombs that fell was a 'dud'. which meant that it did not explode on impact. But some bombs had a delayed action fuse, which meant they could go off at any time. This meant that it was almost impossible to tell which bombs were which. People had to be evacuated until the bombs had been made safe.

From 1944, two new types of weapons were used, which had a rocket type of propulsion to launch a war head. They were known as flying bombs.

• The V1 ( Doodlebug) - They had no pilot and made a droning noise. As soon as the droning noise stopped people had 15 seconds to escape from the powerful blast that followed. Many V1's fell short into the sea, others fell in the countryside. Almost 9,250 V1's were fired against London, but less than 2,500 reached their target. About 2,000 were destroyed by anti-aircraft gunfire; 2,000 by fighter planes, and almost 300 by barrage balloons. The first doodlebug exploded in Swanscombe in Kent.
• The V2 - The V2's arrived without any warning sound. They also flew very fast and high up in the air; much too high to be shot down by the anti-aircraft guns of fighter aircraft.

Air Raid Shelters were built. To help prevent the Germans from seeing where the towns were, a blackout was rigorously enforced after darkness. This meant that all sources of light had to be blacked out.

What was life like during the Blitz?

Life was very hard during the Blitz and frightening too. London, in particular was very bad as it was bombed nearly every night. People in London spent most nights sleeping in Air Raid Shelters.

No one within any distance of a likely target such as a big city could sleep entirely easy in their beds. Sometimes German bombers made mistakes and dropped their bombs in entirely the wrong areas. At other times, returning from a raid, they would dump the remainder of their explosives at random in order to fly home in greater safety. Many bombs fell on the areas around the cities and in the Kent countryside, known as 'bomb alley' because it lay on the flight path to London.

It was difficult to move around at night time due to the Blackout and the problems it causes.

Families were separated with children being in evacuated.

Food and clothing were rationed and hard to get hold of because of shops being bombed.

How did the government try to protect cities from being bombed?

Barrage balloons were put up to force the german planes to fly higher – so their bombing would be less accurate. The Barrage balloons were tethered by steel cables strong enough to destroy any aircraft which flew into them.

Redsands Fort

To stop enemy bombers finding their way up the Thames estuary, in 1943 the army built Redsands Fort, a group of anti-aircraft platforms off the Kent coast.

When did the blitz end?

The Blitz ended in mid-May 1941, when much of the German air force was sent east to prepare for the invasion of Russia.

The next big air attacks came from the terrifying V-1 and V-2 attacks. These were flying bombs (doodlebugs) catapulted into the air from camouflaged launched sites in northern, Occupied Europe.

Further information

Images of the London Blitz (pictures)

Cabinet War Rooms 1

Cabinet War Rooms 2

A War time home (BBC) Have a look around a home and see if you can spot ways people protected themselves during the blitz.

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Scheme of Work: The Blitz: all we need to know about World War II?

Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (resourced)

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The Blitz: all we need to know about World War II?

This unit provides children with the opportunity to look at the Second World War as an aspect of British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066.

This 8-part enquiry is useable in full or to use sections of as stand alone shorter enquiries. Pupils will be encouraged to examine different aspects of World War II including the Blitz and to make judgements about significance.

This unit is structured around 8 enquiries:

• How significant was the Blitz?
• World War II: whose war?
• What was the impact of World War II on people in our locality?
• How well does a fictional story tell us what it was like to be an evacuee?
• Evacuee experiences in Britain: is this all we need to know about children in World War II?
• New opportunities? How significant was the impact of World War II on women?
• What did men do in World War II? Did all men have to fight?
• When was the most dangerous time to live? How different was the Blitz?

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WW2 Home Front - The Blitz

Subject: History

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

5 September 2021

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A colourful, well-presented, and creative resource. Includes worksheets and embedded links, ideas and activities.

Main contents … ( 67 pages in total )

1 - Simple key word and vocabulary starter, matching activity. Extension, differentiation option included.

2 - Background and overview gap fill exercise.

3 - Source study ( all sources included ) and template worksheet. The focus here is … Air Raid Warden / Precaution / Children of the Blitz / Blitz Spirit / Impact / effect of bombing on civilians. Students can colour code, categorise then summarize the key information discovered into a neat template.

4 - Source Skills / type activity - understanding primary, secondary and tertiary sources via Blitz source type examples.

5 - Air Raid Warden / Precaution focus. This included well-presented information worksheets, primary sources and a summary /via a fun, diverse differentiated literacy activity to consolidate learning.

6 - The Blitz Spirit - Four focus sources and supporting worksheet template that consider the idea of The Blitz Spirit.

Extension - Creative exercise gives students examples of Blitz propaganda and option to create their own piece of propaganda.

7 - Take Shelter - Covers the various ways people tried to escape the bombs. Morrison and Anderson shelters, London Underground, communal shelters, and countryside evacuations for children. There are two activities here - one allows students to match the group to the shelter, the second is a simple table summary.

8 - Strike Back - This is a very interactive activity that covers RAF Bomber Command and British response to German bombing. Students can be put into teams and make decisions based on their given team role / perspective. Cross curricular links here with - Math / e.g., using statistics - ethics / moral decision making. This activity also looks at D-Day, Dam Buster Raid and the Battle of Britain - albeit in brief.

There are many links to videos and other websites embedded in the resource throughout.

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The Great Fire of London was a fire that was so big that it burned nearly all of the buildings in London, with the exception of the Tower of London as that was made from stone, and stone doesn't burn up easily.

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29th July 2018

The blitz (which is German for “lightning war”) was a period where the Germans started dropping bombs on large British cities such as London. It lasted from 7th September 1940 to 11th May 1941 and killed 43,000 people over the 8 months it happened. How did the major cities prepare for this?

Air raid shelters

Throughout the major cities, London in particular, there were multiple air-raid shelters. Before there was a bomb attack, an air-raid siren would sound and everyone would stop what they were doing and head to the nearest air-raid shelter, whether that be in their back garden or in the street.

You can hear the air-raid siren sound below:

What were they made from?

Air-raid shelters were made from rugged metal and other materials given to them at the beginning of the war by the Government. They may have had some protection at the top, such as sand bags, which helped protect it if a bomb exploded nearby.

Regardless of whether you were in a city or not, you had to have a gas mask. This was so everyone would be safe in the event of a mustard gas attack.

What is mustard gas?

Mustard gas was a deadly gas used during World War I (but not during World War II.) This gas can cause large blisters on any uncovered skin and in the lungs (if breathed in.) It’s now classified as a chemical weapon.

There was no mustard gas attack in the UK during WW2 because the Nazis knew that Britain would fight back even more should they have used it.

The Blackout of World War 2: Facts and Information

Here are some facts about the World War 2 blackout:

• During World War 2 , the blackout was a nationwide effort to turn off all lights in towns and cities. It was devised as a defence against German bombers, so they could not be guided by the lights.
• The blackout was ordered two days before war broke out. London and other large British towns and cities had a blackout, as well as cities in Germany, France and other European countries.
• Each home was given enough blackout material, which was usually a dark cotton fabric. Putting up and taking down the material quickly became a boring and unwanted daily task for most households.
• Windows were covered in the dark material. Car headlamps were also blacked out, causing many accidents, and people were not allowed to smoke cigarettes or cigars outdoors.
• Many small shops had to have an extra door fitted, to stop light from showing when people came in and out of the shop. Some large factories with glass roofs had to paint their entire roof black.
• Because of the risk of car accidents in the dark, the speed limit was reduced to 20 mph. To help drivers and pedestrians, white lines were painted on roads, which are still there today.
• The blackout offered some protection against the Blitz , the bombing of Britain that began in 1940..
• The blackout was enforced by Air Raid Precaution (ARP) wardens, who made sure that no light could be seen from buildings. There were heavy fines for anyone who did not follow the rules.
• In coastal areas, ships were also blacked out to prevent them from being seen against the shore. It made them less of an obvious target for German submarines.

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World War II

What was World War II?

World War II involved many countries around the globe fighting against each other, including the UK. It lasted six years, from 1939-1945.

The War became a global conflict after the German military, led by Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland in 1939 because he wanted to take some of their land for Germany . France and Britain declared war on Germany because they didn’t think what Germany was doing was right, then Italy joined with Germany, and gradually other countries in Europe and around the world became involved with either the Allies or the Axis powers.

Life during the Second World War was very difficult. Today, we mark special days to remember the many millions of people who fought and died during World War II.

Top 10 facts

• World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945.
• World War II began when German troops invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 .
• The UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. It was announced by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
• While many countries were involved in the war, they each took sides – either with the Allies, or the Axis.
• The main Axis countries were Germany, Italy and Japan .
• The main Allied countries were Great Britain, the United States , France and the Soviet Union ( Russia ).
• British Prime Ministers during World War II were Neville Chamberlain until 1940, then Winston Churchill .
• The Battle of Britain , between the German Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force, was the first ever battle to be fought only in the air. It was made up of lots of air battles that lasted from 10 July to 31 October 1940.
• World War II ended in Europe on 8 May 1945 – this is also known as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day).
• World War II carried on for a few months after it ended in Europe, and officially ended when Japan formally surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945 (also called VJ Day).
• 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland
• 3 September 1939 The UK and France declared War on Germany

• 14 May 1940 The Home Guard was created (The Local Defence Volunteers)
• 26 May-4 June 1940 The evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk, France
• June 1940 German troops occupied the Channel Islands.
• 10 June 1940 Italy declared war on Britain and France, and allies with Germany
• 10 July-31 October 1940 The Battle of Britain
• 7 September 1940 The Blitz begins in London
• 8 September 1941-27 January 1944 The Siege of Leningrad
• 7 December 1941 The Japanese attacked an American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• 8 December 1941 The United States declared war on Japan, and joined with the Allies
• 6 June 1944 D-Day, when troops from Britain and the US landed in France to fight against the Germans
• 16 December 1944-25 January 1945 The Battle of the Bulge
• 8 May 1945 VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), when Germany surrendered
• 15 August 1945 VJ Day (Victory in Japan Day), when Japan surrendered
• 2 September 1945 Japan formally surrendered, and officially ended World War II

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Did you know?

• Even though World War II involved countries all over the globe, there were two sides fighting against each other – the Axis powers and the Allied powers.
• The UK was part of the Allies.
• Two types of aeroplane were used in the Battle of Britain – bombers that dropped bombs on towns and cities and fighters that attacked other aeroplanes.
• The main aeroplanes flown by the RAF were fighters called the Spitfire and the Hurricane . They tried to destroy German bombers before they could attack British towns and cities.
• The Luftwaffe (Germany’s air force) used both bombers and fighters. They used the bombers to attack towns and cities, and the fighters to stop the RAF fighters from destroying German bombers.
• The German’s most famous fighter aeroplane was the Messerschmitt and their main bombers were the Heinkel, the Junkers and the Dornier.
• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin were known as the ‘big three’. They were all leaders of Allied countries.
• The Siege of Leningrad – when all the roads going in and out of Leningrad were closed off so nobody could come in or go out, even to get food – lasted for 900 days (about two and a half years).
• The code name for D-Day was ‘Operation Overlord’.
• D-Day is a name the military use when planning an event – the ‘D’ doesn’t stand for anything.
• The code name for the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk was ‘Operation Dynamo’.
• Hitler’s plan to invade Britain in the summer of 1940 was called ‘Operation Sea Lion’.

Browse through the gallery and see if you can spot the following:

• Spitfire planes
• The bombing of Cologne in Germany
• Omaha Beach in Normandy
• A D-Day commemorative statue
• Soldiers' graves in Normandy
• The evacuation of troops from Dunkirk
• Winston Churchill during WWII
• Neville Chamberlain declaring war on Germany
• Supermarine Spitfire aeroplanes
• Hawker Hurricane aeroplane
• A Luftwaffe aeroplane
• Adolf Hitler
• Benito Mussolini
• Franklin D Roosevelt
• Hideki Tojo
• Joseph Stalin
• World War II British Army uniform

The main countries and leaders that made up the Allied powers were:

• Great Britain – led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill
• The United States – led by President Franklin D Roosevelt
• France – led by Charles de Gaulle
• The Soviet Union – led by Joseph Stalin
• China – led by Chiang Kai-shek

The three main countries and leaders that made up the Axis powers were:

• Germany – the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler
• Italy – the Fascists, led by Benito Mussolini
• Japan – known at that time as the Empire of Japan, led by Hideki Tojo; the emperor of Japan during World War II was Emperor Hirohito.

World War II began when the UK and France declared war on Germany, after German troops led by Adolf Hitler had invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 to claim land there as their own. Hitler had already invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia, so the war began over his plan to take more land for Germany.

The Siege of Leningrad is a famous event during World War II. For 900 days – from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 – the city of Leningrad in Russia was surrounded by German troops. That meant everyone inside the city had to stay there, and that there wasn’t any way for food or other provisions like medicine to get in. Many hundreds of thousands of people died during this time (600,000-800,000) because there wasn’t enough food or heating to go around, but the people who lived in Leningrad refused to surrender to the Germans.

In 1940, the French port of Dunkirk was the location of a big turning point for the Allies in World War II. Hitler’s armies bombed Dunkirk heavily, and many Allied troops were waiting on the beach to be rescued because they didn’t have the resources they needed to fight back. From 26 May to 4 June, over 550,000 troops were ferried to safety across the English Channel – the code name for this was ‘Operation Dynamo’. Some British civilians (people who weren’t in the army) even used their own boats to help save as many people as they could. The rescue operation helped to boost morale in Britain, where they really needed some good news. This helped in going into the next major event in World War II, the Battle of Britain .

The Royal Air Force were the stars of the Battle of Britain , which is the first military battle to be fought entirely in the air. In ‘Operation Sea Lion’, Hitler planned to invade Britain and add another country to his list of conquests. But, first he had to fight off the RAF, which is where he ran into trouble. Britain’s RAF beat Germany’s Luftwaffe, but after a long series of battles from 10 July-31 October 1940. The whole thing is called the Battle of Britain because it’s what made Hitler eventually change his mind about trying to invade the UK, and he went after Russia instead. The RAF pilots showed tremendous courage and bravery as they kept fighting the Luftwaffe even when it looked like they might lose.

June 6, 1944 is also known as D-Day. On that day, the Allied forces launched a huge invasion of land that Adolf Hitler’s Nazi troops had taken over. It all began with boats and boats full of Allied troops landing on beaches in the French region of Normandy. They broke through the German defences and carried on fighting them back through Europe for the next 11 months until they reached Berlin, where Hitler was then hiding.

The Battle of the Bulge took place from 16 December 1944-25 January 1945, and was the last major effort by Hitler to defeat the Allies. He had hoped to break up the parts of Western Europe that the British, American and French troops secured by splitting the area in half – this would mean that the armies wouldn’t be able to get supplies across to each other, and would make them easier targets for Hitler and his armies to fight against. But, all Hitler did was to make the Allied line of troops ‘bulge’ in the middle as he fought to push them back, and the line didn’t break completely. So, he didn’t accomplish his goal, and the Allies won the battle.

Names to know

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) – British Prime Minister from 1937-1940; Chamberlain was Prime Minister when Britain declared war on Germany. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) – British Prime Minster from 1940 to 1945, then again from 1951 to 1955; Churchill was Prime Minister during most of World War II.  Churchill is famous for his speeches that inspired people to keep on fighting. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) – German dictator during World War II, and leader of the Nazi political party Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) – Italian dictator during World War II, and leader of the Fascists; Mussolini was also known as ‘Il Duce’ (‘the leader’), and joined forces with Hitler as one of the Axis powers. Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945) – United States President during most of World War II Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) – leader of the Soviet Union during World War II Hideki Tojo (1884-1948) – Japanese leader and military general during World War II

Related Videos

Just for fun...

• Learn to sing songs that were popular during WWII , including 'White Cliffs of Dover' and 'Everything stops for tea'
• Use interactive maps to see the battles of WWII in Europe, Africa and Asia
• Take a WWII quiz
• Design the interior of an Anderson Shelter and try some WWII craft activity ideas with the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum Armchair Explorers Activities
• Watch the Horrible Histories song about WWII pilots, The RAF Pilots - The Few Song
• See a Battle of Britain dogfight in action and find out about Britain's pilots in a BBC interactive guide to the "secret" of winning the Battle of Britain

Children's books about World War II

Find out more:

• A series of BBC films about WWII for KS2 children  offers a comprehensive overview of World War Two for primary schools
• Watch a brief video overview of the Second World War
• Read about the 5 phases of WWII
• 10 facts about WWII from National Geographic Kids
• Watch WWII video clips from the BBC archive and find out more about evacuation, the Blitz, rationing, famous WWII songs, news reports, speeches and eye-witness accounts
• A children's guide to WWII from DKfindout!
• Interactive articles and timelines about the major events and people of World War Two
• Video information about rise of the Nazis
• Read a BBC Bitesize summary of WWII
• A complete BBC interactive timeline of WWII , including videos of key events
• Maps, investigations and individual sources about WWII from the National Archives
• Look at an interactive map of the world and events during World War II
• Watch short BBC films about the significance of D-Day, the biggest air and seaborne invasion in history
• Understand more about D-Day: look through information sources about D-Day and read a D-Day guide from the National Army Museum
• The  CBBC guide to D-Day
• See photographs of the Dunkirk evacuations
• Read about what people who lived during World War II remember from those difficult years at the website ‘The People’s War’
• Find out about 9 iconic aircraft from Battle of Britain , including the Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane
• A detailed guide to the Spitfire, the most famous plane of World War Two
• Find out about all the different types of World War II defences (called pillboxes) that you can still see around Britain
• Watch a Newsround introduction to the Holocaust
• The life and times of Winston Churchill , and how Churchill's speeches (and his dentures!) contributed to the war effort
• Read about life during WWII in kids' historical fiction set during the Second World War
• Nathalie Sergueiew, 'Treasure', was a WWII spy
• Look through photos of Victory in Europe (VE) Day celebrations

See for yourself

• See exhibits from the Battle of Britain and the Blitz at the RAF Museum in London . You can even climb into a Spitfire and experience what it would have been like to fly one!
• Take a tour of the HMS Belfast, one of the ships used to ferry troops to Normandy on D-Day
• See the aeroplanes involved in the Battle of Britain, inside on of the hangars that was actually used in 1940, at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford
• Walk through the Cabinet War Rooms , which were located underground so Winston Churchill and other leaders could kept safe during the Blitz and hold top security meetings
• Britain built thousands of defensive structures called Pill Boxes all over the country that soldiers could use to defend the country if the Germans invaded. Are there any near where you live?
• Find out about code-breaking at Bletchley Park
• See and find out about objects from World War II
• Hear all the sounds of WWII: Chamberlain and Churchill's speeches, WWII songs and music, news as it was reported in 1939-1945

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