Needless to say, World War 2 changed millions of lives. Due to constant bombing and gas attacks, people, especially children were evacuated from big cities and towns to smaller areas and to the countryside. This meant they had to leave their families and basically their normal lives and start afresh with new people and new surroundings. The evacuated children suffered unimaginable psychological stress.

“The impact of evacuation on children depended to an extent on which social strata you were in at the time. Parents who had access to money invariably made their own arrangements. Children at private schools based in the cities tended to move out to manor houses in the countryside where children at that school could be, in the main, kept together. But 1.9 million children gathered at rail stations in early September not knowing where they were going nor if they would be split from brothers and sisters who had gathered with them”. (1)

Rationing was another event that took place during the war. Food, petrol, and clothes were rationed to conserve what the people had. Coupon systems and point systems were set up to regulate what consumers could obtain. “Rationing started on January 8th 1940, when bacon, butter and sugar were rationed (by weight), followed by meat in March 1940 (by price rather than weight). In July 1940, tea, cooking fat, jam and cheese were also rationed (by weight). Eggs and milk were rationed by allocating supplies to shops in proportion to the number of customers registered there. People were permitted one egg per fortnight but this was not guaranteed, as with other foods. Rations varied considerably; the cheese ration, for example, varied from 1oz (30g) per person per week to 8oz (225g). The meat ration worked out at approximately 1lb (500 grams) per week”. (2)

One major problem that came with the rationing of food was the beginning of the black market. Items that were rationed were sold here under the radar, at a higher price. Rationing did not end till 1946 after World War 2 ended. “Life resumed as normal and the consumption of meat, butter, and sugar inevitably rose. While Americans still live with some of the results of World War II, rationing has not returned”. (3)

As in World War 1, women started working, but this time, the numbers increased much more. 6 million women took wartime jobs, or replacing men on farms. Around 3 million women signed up to work for the Red Cross as nurses and over 200,000 women served in military. “The ladies of the Women's Voluntary Services, WI, and St. John's Ambulance worked tirelessly throughout the war to help relieve the hardship suffered as a result of the bombing and shortages all over Britain. Nurses were in demand at home and abroad. Even those with children worked in the munitions factories or were assigned fire-watching or other war duties”. (4)

An increase in the health of children was seen and this lead to surveys showing that children were taller and heavier after the war. Also, due to the rationing of foods, there was an increase in the number of restaurants that were set up all around Britain. Nutrition became a more serious issue and people tended to be slimmer and have less tooth decay. Due to the rationing of petrol, more people moved around on foot and this increased the amount of exercise that was done. The possibility of bombing and gas attacks stirred much fear and worry into the lives of civilians, robbing them of sleep and causing a massive blow to the morale of people. Blackouts were carried out throughout Britain to prevent bomb attacks in large cities. These blackouts themselves caused a lot of health hazards in the forms of trips and falls. Poor ventilation, caused by covering windows, lead to more coughs and throat infections.(5)

(1): http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/children_and_world_war_two.htm

(2): http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/20-97-world-war-2-Food-facts.html

(3): http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html

(4): http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/20-96-Life-in-world-war-2.html

(5): http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/20-98-world-war-2-Health-facts.html