8th May, 1945 was Victory in Europe Day

The day for which British people fought and endured  five years, eight months and four days of war.

VE Day Podcast from History Storytime

Day 1 - Here are the quizzes for Monday ...  Good luck! 

(*answers will be given tomorrow)

Easier Answers:

1) 1939

2) 1940

3) Winston Churchill

4) bombings, lonely, evacuated, rationed 

5) bacon, butter and sugar meat, eggs, cheese and milk, clothes

6) VE Day or Victory in Europe Day

7) Street parties, Singing, dancing, parties, banners & balloons, Flags

8) Eat sandwiches and cakes, cheer, sing, listen  to music, dance

Answers: Harder

1) 6

2) 1940

3) Neville Chamberlain & Winston Churchill

4) Bombings, Loneliness, Husbands & sons went off to the forces, Evacuation of children, Food rationing, Petrol rationing

5) In case German soldiers invaded

6) bacon, butter and sugar meat, eggs, cheese and milk, clothes

7) Potatoes, fruit and fish

8) 8^th May 1945

9) Street parties, Singing, dancing, parties, banners & balloons, flags
10) five years, eight months and four days of war

Answers: Easier

1) Bombing

2) Evacuated

3) Towns

4) Gas masks

5) Rubbery and nasty

6) Loud

7) yes

8) Clothes, Sugar, bacon, butter and meat, eggs, cheese and milk, sweets

9) Digging for victory

10) 50 - 60

Answers: Harder

1) An attack by enemy planes dropping bombs

2) Three and a half million

3) Greeted the children who had been evacuated and helped them get to their new homes

4) Gas attack, Air raids, Bombings

5) They said they were rubbery and nasty.

6) children left the air-raid shelters – they saw broken glass, fires and buildings destroyed

7) Milk, Eggs

8) No icing or sugar on the outside

9) Vegetables  

10) Hotspur, Rover

11) Classes of 50 - 60 Not enough books and equipment.  Children had to share pencils and paper. No one used margins because there wasn't much paper.

12) 8^th May, 1945

Answers: Easier

1) Worked in factories, Joined fire service, police,

2) There wasn’t enough food so it was rationed.

3)  VE Day – 8^th May, 1945     

4)  food, petrol, coal, bread and knitting wool

5) Yes                          

6) Mend

7) Jackets, jumpers, socks – in fact everything

8) Prisoner of war camp

Answers: Harder:

1) Took over their jobs in factories.

2) Fire Service, Police, Naval Service, Shipyards, Munitions factories

3) Husbands, Relations, Friends, Children being evacuated, Homes by bombs

4) Shortages of food, clothes and fuel

5) Coast of Normandy in Northern France.

6) Winston Churchill

7) make health care and social conditions better for all

8)  blood transfusion services, plastic surgery, organ replacement and the use of antibiotics to prevent infection

   From 1939 to 1945 Britain fought in World War II.

World War II was a war between many countries and over 50 million people died and millions more were injured.

My Aunty Marjorie still remembers the sound the air raid sirens made when the German aeroplanes flew over Manchester, where she lived in a bakery.  She and her brother and sister would have to put on their siren suits and go into the Anderson shelter that they had in the garden.

While they waited for the planes to go away, she would play games and read.  Sometimes they would get into the bunk beds that were in the shelter.  It was very scary and she was very relieved when the war was over and they didn't need to go down to the shelter any more.  Aunty Marjorie sometimes remembers the noise the air raid sirens made when she hears a police car.

She and her brother and sister (my mum) missed home and they didn't really like going to their new school in Glossop.  Many children missed their homes and family and they were all very glad to be back home in their own beds when the war was over! 

The main countries involved were Britain and the Commonwealth, France, the USA and the USSR…the ‘Allies’.

On the other side were Germany, Italy and Japan …the ‘Axis’ powers.

The war affected everyone, rich and poor, young and old.  Many people were terrified and suffered from terrible loneliness.

Some mothers had to send their children away to the country, where it was safe and many of them had husbands and sons away at war.

Many families were unhappy about evacuation because it meant they were split up and didn’t see each other for many weeks and months at a time. 

I think a lot of people will understand how they felt because many families are having to be separated because of the Coronavirus.

Until 1945 the world was engaged in a destructive war which affected everybody in different ways. 

The Second World War dominated the 1940s.

The war was fought by soldiers, sailors and airmen and also by civilians (people).  Women and children were also needed to help with the war effort.

Women worked doing heavy and dangerous jobs like working in shipyards and in munitions factories.  

They had to work long hours.  For many women their war work gave them a wage for the first time.

It was a hard time for many women because they had to face losing their husbands, relations or friends in the war, losing their children when they were evacuated and they also ran the risk of finding their homes bombed.

In Britain there were shortages of food, clothes and fuel.  Rationing and the “Dig for Victory” campaign were introduced.

What was it like for school children?

Children in Britain lived with the constant threat of a German invasion.  They lived through frightening air raids and many children who lived in towns were separated from their parents and were evacuated to the country.

Everyone was issued with a gas mask, in case of a gas attack.  Children didn’t like wearing them because they said they were ‘rubbery and nasty’.

Children enjoyed playing war games and dressing up as soldiers.  Comics such as ‘Rover’ and ‘Hotspur’ included war time adventure stories.

In schools, classrooms were very crowded.  There was a shortage of teachers as many were ‘called up’ or sent to help with war duties.

Often there were classes of 50 or 60 children.  There were too many pupils and not enough books and equipment.  Children had to share pencils and paper.  Margins were abolished because of the shortage of paper!

Can you imagine what it would have been like to have shared your classroom with 50 other children? 

 “VE-Day” is 8th May, 1945. 

It is the day that the war in Europe was over and there were all kinds of celebrations.

People celebrated and welcomed home their loved ones from the forces.

The war had brought with it many changes for people – less food, no new clothes and disrupted schooling. 

Adults and children suffered losses and hardships together and VE was a day of celebrations that went on into the night.

The celebrations went on for many days.

It was the happiest day that many people could remember. There was singing, dancing, cheering and there were street parties with banners and balloons everywhere.

VICTORY!

Imagine the joy and relief felt by everybody after nearly six years at war!