Britain was in what was called the 'inter-war years' between 1918 and 1939. This was the period of time after the end of the First World War and before the start of the Second World War.
People didn't know that at the time though, as everyone hoped that there would never be another war like the one that they had experienced between 1914 and 1918 They could never have dreamed that it could happen again.
The1920sand1930swerehardformany people,astherewasaworld-widerecession (meaningthattherewasn'tmuchmoney around).The1930ssawmoreindustrial growththananyotherdecadeinBritish history
YetitwasatimewhenpoorpeopleinBritai weredyingofstarvation!
"A good mother went without many a meal. Kids come first. And husband. She was last, though she worked harder than anyone. But you didn't find out till it was too late."
After the First World War many returning servicemen took back the jobs that they had to leave when they went off to fight, meaning that there were fewer jobs for women workers
During the 1920s and 30s the UK economy was plunged into a recession leading to very high levels of unemployment. Between 3-12 May 1926 there was a general strike in protest against the reduction of wages and working conditions for 1 2 million coal miners and all industries stopped in support
So, it was not surprising that many women who tried to find work to continue using the skills they had gained while working during the First World War were treated badly by newspapers, who said that they were ‘taking up brave ex-servicemen’s jobs’
The Sex Disqualification Act of 1919 made it easier for wealthier women to go to university and take up professional jobs as teachers, nurses and doctors Working class women would continue as they had before the war in industries like laundry, dressmaking and domestic work.
Places like Morecambe were bustling with holiday-makers and brochures like this one from our collection told them what to do when they were here.
(LANLM 2002 26 5)
By the 1930s cars cost half the price that they did in the 1920s This meant that more middle-class people could afford to own a car.
A bathing beauty tableau Morecambe SuperSwimming Stadium, mid 1930s (LANLM.1982.77.23)
Morecambe's Midland Hotel, built in the ultra-modern style of the 1930s A place where the rich and famous stayed (LANLM.1993.21.8)
People flocked to cinemas which were playing films full of adventure, dancing and music.
(John McNamara, an out-of-work factory hand from Lancashire)
The head of Britain's government is called the Prime Minister. We have had female Prime Ministers more recently, but before that they were all men. Here are the men who were in charge from the first to the second world war.
David Lloyd George
1916–1922
Neville Chamberlain 1937–1940.
Stanley Baldwin 1923–1924, 1924–1929, 1935–1937
Ramsay MacDonald 1924, 1929–1931, 1931–1935.
Winston Churchill 1940-1945 Clement Atlee 1945-1951
The First World War was meant to be "The war to end all wars". But war was not far away again and 21 years later Adolf Hitler's German army invaded neighbouring Poland Britain declared war on Germany two days later, on 3 September 1939
The Second World War, also called World War 2, World War II or WWII, is considered the biggest war in global history The war lasted six years and one day in total It affected nearly every country in the world
news that Britain was at war was broken by Prime Minister ille Chamberlain at 11:15am on Sunday 3 September 1939
5 minute broadcast on the radio, he announced that Hitler had acted on British demands to leave Poland and the famous ds rang through people's ears with dread:
"This country is at war with Germany." ults could remember how awful the last war was and young men young to fight last time would be old enough this time. Fathers, s, brothers, uncles, even grandfathers would all go off to the nt to fight Children would be sent away from home, some for whole six years, and women went back into factories and king on the land, keeping Britain going!
THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT PUT AN END TO ANY HOPEFULNESS (1939)
"This country is at war with Germany"
Like an argument, there are always different sides during a war. Sometimes countries change sides and this happened during the Second World War. There were two sides: the Allies who were on Britain's side, and the Axis who sided with Germany
Allies before the Japanese attack on the American Navy in Pearl Harbour (Hawaii) Allies after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour Axis Powers
Russia started as Axis and became Allied Neutral, or countries not involved in the war
nin1889.Whilehewasclever dsinprimaryschool,itall rongoncehegotolder.Tolook atthisyoungboy,itishardtobelievethathewoul growintothemosthatedmaninhistory.
InHighSchoolhedidn'thavemanyfriendsandhe dislikedhisteachersHewasfailingatschool,but hehadaninterestinartHeappliedtotheVienna AcademyofFineArts,butwasnotaccepted
So,withnoformalqualificationsandhisrefusalto getajob,thereweretimesthatAdolfwas homelessBothofhisparentshaddiedbythetime hewas18.
Adolf Hitler died by his own hand on 30 April 1945 toward the end of the war. He was scared of being captured and having to face up to the world about what he had done.
Adolf became interested in politics, and realised that he was good at public speaking and getting the crowds going He gave his first speech to the Nazi party in 1919 He was then referred to as Hitler Hitler eventually became the party's leader, and gave many speeches that convinced the Nazis that certain people were to blame for Germany's problems, based on their race and religion
Hitler ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945. He called himself Führer (Leader) He believed that Germans were born to rule over other people and thought it was his right to take his army into other countries and say that they were now Germany's.
Hitler was a cruel and violent man People were afraid of him His speeches attracted thousands of peoplemany were scared to disagree with his regime.
It is estimated that during the Second World War 11 million people died as a result of Hitler's horrific regime.
In stark contrast to the public monster that Hitler was, eyewitnesses say that toward the end of his life he became a vegetarian because of his concern for animal suffering...where was his concern for people?!
Britain Germany Tripoli, Libya Cairo, Egypt
The government realised that people living in cities were at great danger from the bombing raids that Germany was sending over to Britain. They decided that the safest thing to do was to evacuate as many children and vulnerable people as possible to places in the countryside.
The order to evacuate came at 11:07am on 31 August 1939.
Within a week a quarter of Britain’s entire population had been moved. It was the biggest mass movement of people the nation has ever seen. Within only four days, nearly 3,000,000 people were moved. Most of these evacuees were school children, as well as 100,000 teachers.
which one thing do you think you would pack to take with you?
Operation Pied Piper was named after the German folk tale, where the Pied Piper of Hamelin played his music and all of the children of the village followed him
The city of Manchester evacuated over 20,000 children to the countryside and smaller, less vulnerable cities and towns, such as Lancaster.
Salford was one of the best-prepared cities and began evacuation two days before war was declared. More than 75% of the school population travelled to safety.
The children of Seedley School in Salford were transported to Lancaster via local railway t ti l i th i t d thi
Some children would think of their evacuation from Salford as an adventure Many others would be desperately homesick
For those younger than six or seven their lives before evacuation would be almost forgotten and when they were able to return home, they were once again taken away from all that they had grown to know. Some going back to live with mothers and fathers who they barely knew and leaving behind adults who had cared for them as though their own for up to 6 years
When war broke out in September 1939, some men volunteered to join the armed services, but Britain could still only raise 875,000 men. This wasn enough
In October 1939 the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in ‘reserved occupations’ could called to join the armed services This was called 'Conscription' Men aged between 20 and 23 were the first to register to serve They were allowed choose between the army, the navy and the air force As the war continue men from the other registered age groups received their ‘call-up’ papers Men who were too old, too young or not completely fit joined the Home Guard, known as 'Dad’s Army'.
In 1941 single women aged between 20 and 30 were also conscripted. Women did not take part in the fighting but were once again required to work in munitions, factories and farming – to enable men to be drafted int the services Even the two Princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret enlisted
Many thousands of men made a "conscientious objection" to military service. This meant that they refused to carry weapons and fight because of religious or other beliefs 7,000 men served with the Non-Combatant Corps Some people thought that they were cowards. This was not the case. They wanted to save lives, not take them. Nearly 500 members of the NCC worked in bomb disposal.
On 4th June, 1940, Winston Churchill delivered one of the most famous speeches of all time He warned about the possibility of a German invasion of Britain and said:
A GERMAN AERIAL VIEW OF LANCASTER DATED SEPTEMBER 1940 [LANLM202231]
You can see that there is a list of 10 areas of interest These are all areas that contain factories, fuel tanks, and things that could be targeted by German bombs Bebaute Fläche means built-up area. The map shows that Lancaster has more countryside than built up areas
A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING NEW ARMY RECRUITS BEING ISSUED WITH UNIFORM AT BOWERHAM BARRACKS IN 1939 [KO0679/03-06] Battalions of the King's Own saw service all over the world during the Second World War
HMHS stands for His Majesty's Hospital Ship The Argyll was built as a Heysham-Belfast ferry and was requisitioned (an official order was made) as hospital ship no 65 during the war It was involved in evacuations of soldiers from Dunkirk and Cherbourg in 1940
DO YOU THINK THAT THIS INFLUENCED THE GERMANS DECISION TO BOMB OR NOT?
" We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
During the Second World War keeping information secret became very, very important. The intelligence service inside Britain, called MI5, was worried about people sending important information to the enemy by something as simple as chatting in cafes, or sending letters to friends.
Posters warned people to be careful about what they said, because 'careless talk costs lives ' Americans would say that 'loose lips sink ships' British spies were working hard to confuse the Germans Confusion tactics like this were important to the success of military operations Having trustworthy information was a matter of winning or losing the war.
To make sure the enemy wouldn't know what was being said, people used coded messages. But, the Germans did too and if the Allies wanted to win the war, they would have to work out how to break the German code.
PatandJeanOwtramaresisterswhogrewupinDolphinholmenearLancaster BothsistersplayedvitalrolesinthewaragainstGermany,buthadneverbeen allowedtospeakofthem(eventoeachother)becauseoftheOfficialSecrets Act-untilnow
PatspentthewarinterceptingEnigma-codedmessagesfromtheGerman Kriegsmarine(navy)andsendingthemontoBletchleyPark.Afterthewarthe Frenchpresentedherwiththeirhighestaward,theLegiond’Honneur. JeanwasacipherofficerwiththeSpecialOperationsExecutivesendingand receivingmessagesforAlliedagentsworkingwithresistancegroups
AlanTuringjoinedtheBritishgovernment’stop-secretcode-breakingdepartmentat BletchleyPark TheGermanshadbeenusingacomplicatedsystemofscrambledmessages calledtheEnigmaCodetosendmilitaryinformationtotheothercountriesontheirside. DecodingthesemessagescouldgivetheBritishandtheiralliesahugeboost,lettingthem findoutwhattheirenemieswereplanning.
TuringnoticedthateveryencryptedGermanmessageendedinthesametwowords,‘Heil Hitler’ Thiswasthebreakthroughthattheteamneededandmeantthaton9July1941the EnigmaCodewasbroken!
During World War II all sorts of essential and nonessential foods were rationed, as well as clothing, furniture and petrol. But why was rationing introduced?
To make the British people weaker, the Germans tried to cut off supplies of food and other things German submarines attacked many of the ships that brought food to Britain, sending essential food and supplies to the bottom of the sea.
Before the war, Britain imported 55 million tons of food each year One month after the war had started this figure had dropped to only 12 million!
So, to make sure that everyone had a fair share of the food that was available the British government needed to ration things and give people a set amount of food This was managed through Ration Books. Every member of the public was issued with a ration book.
The books contained coupons that had to be handed to, or signed by, the shopkeeper every time rationed goods were bought This meant that people could only buy the amount they were allowed They still paid for their shopping with money
at making some authentic 1940s ration recipes
(Yep, mock brains)
1 cup of leftover porridge
1 tablespoon of self-raising flour
1 small onion 1 egg large pinch of thyme salt and pepper
Chop the onion very fine, mix into the porridge, add the flour and flavouring, bind together with the beaten egg, form into rissoles, roll in flour then fry in hot fat until brown.
1 medium parsnip per round of sandwiches
2-3 teaspoon of caster sugar per parsnip
2-3 squirts of banana essence per parsnip
Peel and chop up the parsnip and boil until soft Drain and mix in the caster sugar and banana essence Mash until fairly smooth Cool down Spread on your bread and make your sandwiches!
This was one adult's food rations per week of: tea, meat, bacon, milk, sweets, jam, sugar, cheese and butter Things like bread and vegetables weren't too difficult to get hold of For some people their diet actually became healthier than it was before the war.
(oz means an ounce and weighs the same as half an egg)
Some British children born just before the war didn’t discover what ice-cream actually was until the fighting had finished and rationing stopped!
Rationing didn't formally end until 1954!
You can find our more about what some of the rationing recipes tasted like by clicking on the eye below to watch a video on our website
If you aren't reading a digital version of the case file, go to www.visitlancaster.org.uk/museums/museum-events-exhibitions and click on Hinge of Fate.
IT'S TRUE - MANY CHILDREN ENJOYED A FROZEN CARROT ON
Winston Churchill described 1942 as ‘The Hinge of Fate’; a turning point in which the Second World War could have been lost or won by the Allies depending upon their success fighting the enemy in North Africa.
In Lancaster, people adapted to rationing, new laws and new roles supporting the war effort. Overseas, soldiers of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment were active in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Their bravery helped to change the outcome of the Second World War
Walk around where you live. Can you spot any signs of railings that have been removed? They will look like small nubs of metal, perhaps on top of walls.
Iron railing and gates were cut down due to a shortage of metals like iron and steel. The government asked for people’s support by recycling iron gates and railings and reusing them to make munitions, ships, and other war-related vehicles. People were more than willing to pitch in and cut down their railings and iron gates.
Four Home Guard platoons were trained to defend Lancaster, Morecambe, Barrow and South Lonsdale in case of an invasion. The Observer Corps tracked enemy aircraft, often on bombing raids to Barrow-in-Furness. Sweets, chocolate, and paper were added to the list of rationed items
Scrap metal was needed to construct battleships, so Lancaster’s iron railings were melted down. The public helped by donating lead and other metals to the New Street depot.
Basement shelters had been prepared underneath hotels and the Lancaster City Museum in 1941 Lancaster was not targeted by German bombing. By 1942, many people didn't even bother to carry gas masks and when 1,000 Morrison shelters were allocated to Lancaster, only 100 people applied to get one!
Large numbers of evacuees arrived and in October, a ‘British Restaurant’ was established to help housewives feed them.
ThewarintheNorthAfricandesertwassmallwhencompared totheenormousstrugglegoingoninRussiaatthistime.It was,however,very,veryimportanttotheoutcomeofthewar.
The'EighthArmy'wasbasedinNorthAfricaandwasmadeup ofBritish(includingLancastersoldiers),Indian,Australian, NewZealandandSouthAfricantroops,whoweresupported bysmallnumbersofPolishandFreeFrenchsoldiers.
TheAxiswerebasedatTripoliinWesternLibya. TheAllieswerebasedinCairo,Egypt.
See the map a few pages back
FightinginAfricacamewithevenmorechallengesforthepoor soldiers!
Temperatures in the Spring and Summer could get to 40 degrees Celsius. The Winter was freezing and wet. Life in the desert was plagued with non-stop wind blowing sand everywhere. Aggressive and horrid flies were a constant pain. Ailments included upset stomachs known as the “the pharaoh's revenge”, boils, sores, sunburn, jaundice and eye strain were commonplace. Wounds took a lot longer to heal in the heat.
In 1941, thanks to the soldiers of Lancaster's 2nd Battalion, and despite the challenges of fighting in the desert, the Axis had been forced to withdraw from an important North African seaport town called Tobruk This lifted a siege which had lasted for 241 days! The Battalion finally withdrew on 21 December and enjoyed a much-deserved Christmas break in Cairo.
The Allies eventually stopped Germany's army at a small railway halt called El Alamein Here, the Axis was defeated, and forced all the way back to Tunisia
This was the Hinge of Fate that Churchill had spoken about:
Despite winning important battles, and cracking German codes, fighting continued and the war lasted over six years.
On 8 May 1945, the Second World War in Europe came to an end. As the news of Germany’s surrender reached the rest of the world, happy crowds gathered to celebrate in the streets, holding parties to celebrate Victory in Europe (V-E Day)
The war itself, however, was still continuing further afield The Japanese surrendered on 14 August 1945 (V-J Day) and it wasn't until 2 September 1945 that the Second World War was finally over for everyone.
“Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.”
Visit the Hinge of Fate Exhibition at the City Museum, Market Square, Lancaster. Open until 26 February 2023
With thanks to the Trustees of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum for their support. Watch Out for our Second World War-themed Art Adventures Half-Term activities in February too!
