The Home Front in the Second World War
Preparing for War
From 1937 onwards, the British government began planning for a war it hoped to avoid. Air Raid Precautions (ARP) were established, and by September 1939 every household had received a gas mask. Millions of Anderson shelters — corrugated steel structures half-buried in gardens — were distributed free to households with incomes below a set level. Blackout regulations required all windows to be covered after dark so that enemy bombers could not identify towns from the air.
When war was declared on 3 September 1939, the government immediately began evacuation. In the first three days, approximately 1.5 million children were moved from cities to rural areas, separated from their families and billeted with strangers. For many urban children it was their first encounter with the countryside. The experience was mixed: some children found kind hosts and new opportunities; others faced difficult conditions or simply ran away home. A second wave of evacuation followed during the Blitz in 1940–1941.
In the first three days after war was declared in September 1939, approximately 1.5 million children were evacuated from British cities to rural areas. Experiences varied enormously: some children found caring hosts and benefited from country life; others faced hardship or returned home without permission.
The Blitz
From September 1940 to May 1941, German bombers attacked British cities in what became known as the Blitz. London was bombed on 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940. Other cities including Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Plymouth and Glasgow were also heavily targeted. The Coventry raid of 14 November 1940, in which over 500 bombers dropped incendiary and high-explosive bombs, destroyed the medieval city centre and killed approximately 568 people.
The Blitz killed approximately 43,000 British civilians and made around one million people homeless. Londoners sheltered in Underground stations, basements and purpose-built shelters. The government promoted an image of the “Blitz spirit” — ordinary people enduring hardship with stoicism and good humour. While there was genuine community solidarity, historians have also noted that the reality included looting, panic and a significant toll on mental health. The East End of London, where working-class communities lived near the docks, suffered disproportionately compared with wealthier areas.
The wartime government and the BBC promoted the “Blitz spirit” narrative — images of cheerful cockneys singing in shelters, shopkeepers hanging “Business as Usual” signs in bombed windows. This narrative was partly genuine: crime rates did not rise dramatically, community mutual aid was widespread, and many people displayed remarkable resilience. However, censorship suppressed news of panicking crowds, looting and the psychological breakdown of some individuals. Churchill personally visited the East End to be seen among the people. Historians such as Angus Calder in The Myth of the Blitz (1991) have argued that the “Blitz spirit” story was partly constructed to serve morale, and that class inequalities — wealthier families leaving cities, poorer families having no choice but to stay — were glossed over.
Rationing
Rationing was introduced in January 1940, initially for butter, sugar and bacon. By 1942, most foods, clothing and petrol were rationed. Ration books were issued to every person; shops would stamp a book when the week’s allowance was used. The weekly ration for a typical adult included 4 oz of bacon, 2 oz of butter, and 2 oz of cheese — quantities that seem tiny by modern standards but which, combined with unrationed foods, kept the population adequately fed.
Paradoxically, the war years improved the health of many working-class Britons. Rationing ensured the poorest families received a guaranteed minimum of protein and calories — better than many had managed during the Depression. The government introduced the “Dig for Victory” campaign, encouraging people to grow vegetables in parks and gardens. The “British Restaurant” scheme provided cheap hot meals in community canteens. Rationing continued well after the war ended: meat was not fully derationed until 1954.
Food rationing began in January 1940 with butter, sugar and bacon, and expanded to cover most foods and clothing by 1942. Although hardship was genuine, rationing actually improved nutrition among poorer families compared with the Depression years. Rationing did not fully end until 1954.
Women’s Roles in Wartime
As in the First World War, women’s labour became essential to the war effort. However, the Second World War went further: the National Service Act of 1941 made all unmarried women aged 20–30 liable to conscription into the women’s auxiliary services or essential war work. Women worked in aircraft factories, on the railways, in the land army farming the countryside, and in the armed forces’ support services (the ATS, WRNS and WAAF). By 1943, around 7.75 million women were in paid employment or the auxiliary services.
Women’s wartime roles challenged pre-war assumptions about what women could do. Factory managers who had doubted women’s ability to operate machinery found them capable and productive. However, women consistently earned less than men for the same work — a grievance that would resurface in the post-war years. When the war ended, many women were expected to return to domestic roles as returning male veterans reclaimed jobs. The experience of wartime work nonetheless contributed to longer-term changes in women’s expectations and aspirations.
The Ministry of Information, established at the outbreak of war, controlled the flow of news and produced posters, films and radio broadcasts to maintain public morale and shape behaviour. Famous campaigns included “Careless Talk Costs Lives” (warning against discussing troop movements), “Dig for Victory” and “Make Do and Mend.” The BBC became the trusted voice of wartime Britain: its news bulletins were heard across Europe by occupied populations as well as British audiences. The government balanced censorship with enough honest reporting to maintain public trust — early wartime disasters (such as the fall of France in 1940) were reported, if carefully framed. Documentary films like Listen to Britain (1942) celebrated ordinary resilience.