WW2 Controlled Assessment 1

Evacuation of people on the Home Front in Britain 1939-1945

Read and learn the following key information to help you with your studies. The 2 essays for the controlled assessments are worth a total of 25% of the GCSE History exam grade. The 2nd essay is about the evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940.

 

3rd September 1939 - Britain declared war on Germany on this date.

 

Neville Chamberlain - The British Prime Minister who declared war on Germany.

 

Winston Churchill – Replaced Chamberlain as PM on 10th May 1940.

 

Operation Sealion - The German invasion plan to invade Britain from the French coast between May and August 1940.

 

Emergency Powers Act - A government law that gave it unlimited power over people and property in Britain.

 

The Blitz - The name given to the bombing of British cities. London was the main target of the German Luftwaffe. The bombing began in September 1940.

 

Gas masks - Issued in small cardboard boxes to save lives in case of a German poison gas bomb attack. Hitler did not use gas on the people of Britain.

 

Operation Pied Piper – The name given to the evacuation of 3 ½ million children to protect them from the bombing of cities.

 

Evacuees – Children who were transported away from the cities to the countryside for protection from the German bombing. They were given identity labels to wear on their journey away from the cities. On arrival they were placed with a ‘foster family’ to look after them.

 

The Phoney War – Period between September and March 1940 where there was little action between Britain, France and Germany.  Phoney means ‘not real’.

 

Malnutrition – Many children came from poor families in the cities. As a result many were unhealthy and undernourished because of poor diets.

 

Lack of hygiene – Many children did not know how to wash or clean their teeth and were badly dressed. They also suffered from illnesses such as scabies. (A contagious disease caused by mites resulting in severe itching)

 

VE Day – Celebration day for the victory over Nazi Germany on the 8th May 1945. (VE=Victory in Europe)

 

Good effects of evacuation – Evacuees benefited from an improvement in nutrition, care, cleaner air and above all safety from the bombing of cities.

 

Bad effects of evacuation – Many children found it difficult being away from their families and home. Many would never see their parents again. Some were treated badly by the people who looked after them.

 

An interpretation – A person’s point of view or opinion about something.  In history people often have different interpretations of the same event. For example the Moon Landing on July 20th 1969.

Reliable source – Information a historian can treat as truthful and correct about an even in the past.  For example: a school history text book.

 

Useful source – Information a historian can use in studying an event in the past. The useful source does not necessarily have to be reliable or trustworthy.