distraction, to which were added story-telling, guessing games such as ‘I Spy’, charades and recitations. Sometimes a school would put on a show with each class taking its turn in entertaining the others: scenes from plays, music solos. As the war went on, shelters became better equipped with lights and heating and some lessons could be carried on there.
Schools were often hit, although with most of the bombing happening at night there were few casualties. The results of daytime raids, however, could be awful: at lunchtime on Wednesday 20 January 1943 a Focke Wulf 190 fighter-bomber, one of a group carrying out a tip-and-run raid, dropped its 1,100-pound (500 kg) bomb on Sandhurst Road School in Catford. No sirens were sounded. Teachers, hearing the plane circling overhead, had begun to lead the children down into the shelters. The bomb went through the wall of the school and exploded about a minute later in the dining hall, demolishing the centre of the building. Being lunchtime, many children were in the hall, and it was here that the casualties were at their highest – in all, thirty-eight children and six teachers were killed. The headteacher, Margaret Clarke, later said: ‘The only question the children were asking was “How can I help, Miss?” They took home the younger ones, tore up their clothing to bind the injuries and even helped in the rescue work – a grim job for youngsters of 14 and 15.’
When an LCC nursery school was destroyed by an incendiary bomb, the children were luckily not there at the time. The school was later evacuated to the village of Crockham Hill in Kent where, on the morning of Friday 30 June 1944, it received a direct hit from a flying bomb. Twenty-two of the thirty children and eight of the eleven members of staff were killed. It is a chilling example of the devastation caused by these weapons that the last bodies were not recovered until two days after the incident.
Overall, the effects on children’s education cannot be understated. D.J. Ryall’s experience was typical: ‘Due to the war my year did not complete their education past 16 although we all intended to stay on ’til 18. I left from Lingfield aged 15½ in 1940.’ The disruption was not always unwelcome, Iris Smith explains: ‘I did my school certificate during the war. We had done our mock certificates before and I had done quite well – I kept hoping the sirens would go – if they went while we were taking it they would have accepted our mock marks and I would have passed – but there wasn’t a sound.’
FIVE
Shortages
One of Britain’s great advantages in time of war is that the British Isles are exactly that – islands. This makes invasion far more difficult. But it also has a drawback: most of the food and raw materials that Britain consumes have to be imported by sea from other countries. In 1939, like an army laying siege to a castle in a medieval war, Germany put Britain under siege, using U-boats to sink merchant ships bringing in food, oil, petrol, wood, and many other vital materials. Losses were huge – over half of all the British merchant ships at the beginning of the war had been sunk by the end of it, and Britain came closer to losing the war to the U-boats than in any other way.
The situation was made worse by the need for vast amounts of material for the war effort. Thousands of aircraft, tanks, ships and guns had to be manufactured and millions of tons of steel were required, as well as rubber, oil and petrol. And the soldiers, sailors and airmen needed hundreds of thousands of uniforms, stitched from miles of cloth.
Scarce materials had to be conserved, so the government introduced a series of special measures. Petrol was a particular problem and the use of private cars was drastically cut back. Ration coupons for petrol were available solely to those using their cars for war work. Other materials soon followed: rationing was introduced first for food, later for clothes, and even for
Schools were often hit, although with most of the bombing happening at night there were few casualties. The results of daytime raids, however, could be awful: at lunchtime on Wednesday 20 January 1943 a Focke Wulf 190 fighter-bomber, one of a group carrying out a tip-and-run raid, dropped its 1,100-pound (500 kg) bomb on Sandhurst Road School in Catford. No sirens were sounded. Teachers, hearing the plane circling overhead, had begun to lead the children down into the shelters. The bomb went through the wall of the school and exploded about a minute later in the dining hall, demolishing the centre of the building. Being lunchtime, many children were in the hall, and it was here that the casualties were at their highest – in all, thirty-eight children and six teachers were killed. The headteacher, Margaret Clarke, later said: ‘The only question the children were asking was “How can I help, Miss?” They took home the younger ones, tore up their clothing to bind the injuries and even helped in the rescue work – a grim job for youngsters of 14 and 15.’
When an LCC nursery school was destroyed by an incendiary bomb, the children were luckily not there at the time. The school was later evacuated to the village of Crockham Hill in Kent where, on the morning of Friday 30 June 1944, it received a direct hit from a flying bomb. Twenty-two of the thirty children and eight of the eleven members of staff were killed. It is a chilling example of the devastation caused by these weapons that the last bodies were not recovered until two days after the incident.
Overall, the effects on children’s education cannot be understated. D.J. Ryall’s experience was typical: ‘Due to the war my year did not complete their education past 16 although we all intended to stay on ’til 18. I left from Lingfield aged 15½ in 1940.’ The disruption was not always unwelcome, Iris Smith explains: ‘I did my school certificate during the war. We had done our mock certificates before and I had done quite well – I kept hoping the sirens would go – if they went while we were taking it they would have accepted our mock marks and I would have passed – but there wasn’t a sound.’
FIVE
Shortages
One of Britain’s great advantages in time of war is that the British Isles are exactly that – islands. This makes invasion far more difficult. But it also has a drawback: most of the food and raw materials that Britain consumes have to be imported by sea from other countries. In 1939, like an army laying siege to a castle in a medieval war, Germany put Britain under siege, using U-boats to sink merchant ships bringing in food, oil, petrol, wood, and many other vital materials. Losses were huge – over half of all the British merchant ships at the beginning of the war had been sunk by the end of it, and Britain came closer to losing the war to the U-boats than in any other way.
The situation was made worse by the need for vast amounts of material for the war effort. Thousands of aircraft, tanks, ships and guns had to be manufactured and millions of tons of steel were required, as well as rubber, oil and petrol. And the soldiers, sailors and airmen needed hundreds of thousands of uniforms, stitched from miles of cloth.
Scarce materials had to be conserved, so the government introduced a series of special measures. Petrol was a particular problem and the use of private cars was drastically cut back. Ration coupons for petrol were available solely to those using their cars for war work. Other materials soon followed: rationing was introduced first for food, later for clothes, and even for
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