THE HOME FRONT
KEY STAGE 3
Second World War: The Home Front
It wasn’t just soldiers who were affected by the Second World War. Life changed a
lot for the people who stayed at home, especially women.
1. AirSpace
During the Second World War, bombing campaigns
were being led by both the Royal Air Force and the
Luftwaffe (German Air Force). Find the Avro
Lancaster bomber, near to the Airborne Assault
museum. Have a look at the aircraft and read the
information board.
Avro Lancaster © IWM (MH 30791)
The Lancaster was designed to bomb targets in
Germany, what design features does it have to help it do this?
By looking at the aircraft, how do you know it was designed to bomb at
night?
Lancasters carried Grand Slam bombs. How much did these bombs weigh?
Hanging above the Lancaster is a De Havilland Mosquito. These
aircraft were used by Pathfinders who dropped incendiary bombs
that caused fires before the heavy bombers got to the target.
Why did the RAF need Pathfinders?
De Havilland Mosquito
© IWM (CH 7778)
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2. Hangar 4 (the Battle of Britain)
Children were affected by the Second World War.
Find the section entitled ‘The Many’, near the Spitfire.
How were the lives of children changed by the
Second World War?
© IWM (D 2591)
People who couldn’t fight on the front line took on lots of
different roles during the Second World War. They would
often do their day job and go straight to a volunteer war job
after work. Make a list of examples of war work people
did in the Second World War.
© IWM (D 4053)
To stop the bombers reaching their targets, ground defences
were used to help Fighter Command. What ground defences
were used in the Second World War?
© IWM (Art.IWM PST 14622)
Find the true or false cards between the Spitfire and the Anderson shelter. Discuss
your answers with your group.
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Draw a field sketch of the Anderson shelter.
Would the Anderson shelter have been effective during an air raid?
Find the information boards between the Nash ambulance and the V1 flying bomb.
The bombing during the Battle of Britain is known as the Blitz. What it ‘Blitz’
short for?
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Why were Coventry and Norwich chosen as targets during the Baedeker
raids?
The name ‘V1’ was a shortened version of
Vergeltungwaffe 1. What is this in English?
V1 flying bomb © IWM (CL 3433)
How many British civilians were killed during the bombing raids?
During the Second World War, Germany was also bombed. How many
civilians were killed during the raids on Germany?
Did you know?
To stop V1 flying bombs from reaching their targets, some pilots
would fly alongside and use their wings to tip the bomb off course
into a field, like the Spitfire pilot in the picture. The first pilot to do
this was flying a Gloster Meteor, which you can see in the Cold
War area of the hangar.
© IWM (CH 16281)
The ME 109 after it crash landed in 1940 © IWM (HU
During the Second World War, one important job
for the people at home was to raise money for
the war effort. You could put money into a Spitfire
Fund or pay to visit an exhibition of downed
German planes. Have a look at the fuselage and
tail of the ME 109, which travelled around
America. Can you find proof of what happened
to the aircraft whilst it was in America?
67701)
Key stage 3: The Home Front
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Teacher’s notes and answer sheet
Using the trail
We have tried to highlight the areas of the museum which are relevant to your talk
and provide activities for the pupils to do there – there is no expectation that any
one class or group will complete the whole trail!
This trail focuses around Hangar 4, the Battle of Britain and is a 10-15 minute walk
from the Visitor Centre.
If you would like to visit other hangars or cover topics outside your talk, please feel
free to browse our other workshops and trails.You are welcome to use images and
ideas from these trails to create your own trail – please keep copyright numbers
with images where appropriate.
Answers
The Lancaster has a large bomb bay and a long range so is designed for bombing.
It also has a space for the bomb aimer in the nose, machine gun turrets to fire at
fighters and is designed to fly at high altitude. This aircraft is painted to bomb at
night as the underside is painted black to match the sky at night and make it harder
to fire anti-aircraft guns at. Grand Slam bombs weigh 22, 000lb or 9, 979kg. The
RAF needed Pathfinders so the bombers could find their targets during the black
out.
Children were evacuated from the cities into the countryside, so were taken away
from their families possibly for the duration of the war. Represented in this hangar
are the Observer Corps and ARP Wardens, however there are also anti-aircraft
guns that were operated by the ATS and Home Guard, a balloon winch operated by
the Balloon Corps (part of the WAAF), an ambulance operated by the Red Cross
and an Alan Williams Turret used by the Home Guard. Pupils can also make
suggestions from their own knowledge, for example nurses, fire fighters, joining the
Land Army, working in a munitions factory…
Ground defences included anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and barrage balloons.
Anderson shelters could withstand bomb blasts and protect their occupants from
falling debris. They could withstand a direct hit.
‘Blitz’ is short for Blitzkrieg, the German phrase meaning ‘lightning war’. Cities that
were bombed in the Baedeker raids had received a three star rating or more in the
Baedeker guide book. Vergeltungwaffe means ‘reprisal weapon’ or ‘revenge
weapon’ in English. 60, 000 British and 750, 000 German civilians were killed in
bombing raids.
The ME 109 has people’s names scratched into the rear of the fuselage.
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