Name: _____________________
Class: _____________________
Work Sheet
The Bombing of Britain
Before doing any of these tasks, you should talk to a parent or teacher.
Tasks
1. If you can obtain permission, buy a 25 watt light bulb and ask a parent
to use it to light a staircase or a room in your house or flat. At night,
with all other sources of light switched off, see how dim the room or
staircase has become. Imagine trying to get down a long staircase, in
this dim light, with hundreds of other frightened people pressed into
the same dark space.
2. If you live in London, find out where your nearest deep Underground
station is located. Is it far from your home? Would you have been
able to get there quickly if there was an air raid? What route would
you take? How long would it take you? If this deep shelter is too far
away, where else do you think you would have sheltered during air
raids? Draw a map showing your house and the shelter that you would
use.
3. Find out how many people in Britain died from enemy bombing during
the Second World War. Look up how many people died in the Bethnal
Green Tube Shelter Disaster, in March 1943. Work out what is the
percentage of deaths from bombing of those who died in that
disaster, that is:
Deaths at Bethnal Green divided into total deaths from bombing
expressed as a percentage.
Is this a significant figure? Does it tell you that the Bethnal Green
disaster was an important event?
4. If you can get permission, make a mock up of a Morrison shelter in
your house- perhaps by using blankets and a table, and see what it
is like to spend some time in a cramped space. (Make sure there is
enough air to breathe.)
5. With an adult helper, stand outside your house or flat at night and
look at how much light is escaping. In the War this was not
allowed as everyone had to obey the rules about the Blackout so
that enemy bombers could not find their targets.
What would you have to do to make sure that no light was showing?
6. Write a letter to the Home Secretary, complaining about bad
conditions in an air raid shelter in the Second World War. Give
details of the complaint – is it damp or dirty? Is it too crowded?
Too dark? Too uncomfortable? Tell the Home Secretary what
needs to be done to make the shelter a better place. See if you
can find out what is the name of the present Home Secretary.
7. Use your imagination to describe in a story, or a drawing, how
people spent their time in air raid shelters. Did they sleep? Did
they talk? Did they play cards? Did they cook food? Did they
sing? Did they read books or newspapers? Remember that, at the
time of the Second World War, there were no small, portable
radios; no Walkmans; no televisions; no computers or computer
games.