Figure 1.--A major problem for Britain was the bombed out civilians. Most low-income Brits did not have insurance and those who did found their insurance did not cover bomb damage. Churchill describes an insurance scheme devised to helped those bombed out of their homes and business. Despite the evacuations, there were still many children in Britain t the time of the Blitz. Little ones the age of the boy here were generally not evacuated and stayed with their families.

Many British home owners did not have any insurance, especially working-class families. And many insured home owners found that their insurance did not cover bomb damage. Churchill describes being at Ramsgate at an early point of the Blitz. He sheltered in a tunnel during a raid. When he emerged he surved the damage. A small hotel had been reduced to a 'litter of crockery, untensils and splintered furniture'. he recounts how the propritor , his wife, and staff were in tears. What were they to do. He writes in his history of the War. 'Here is a privlige of power. I formed an immediate resolve. On the way back in my train I dictated a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kingsly Wood, laying down the principle that all damage from the fire of the enenmy must be a charge upon the state and compensation be paid in full and at once. Thus the burden would not fall alone on those whose homes or business premises were hit, but would be borne evenly on the shoulders of the nation." [Churchill , pp. 371-72.] The Exchequer and the Treasury were very concerned about the potential liabilities involved. Eventually Wood devised an elaborate insurance scheme. After May 1941 as Hitler turned East and the raids stopped, funds began to build up from the insurance payments to finance the very considerable outlays as a result of the bomb damage. We are not entirely sure how this worked. We note internet postings claiming that there was no government reimbursement program. This is not a topic that is commonly addressed in histories of the Blitz.

Home Owners Insurance

Many British home owners did not have any insurance, especially working-class families. And many insured home owners found that their insurance did not cover bomb damage. Acts of war are normally excluded from insurance because the potential claims are potentially so massive that no private company could afford the resulting payments. And of course, before the war, bombing London and other British cities seemed unthinkable. This meat when the Blitz began, London and other city home owners and shop owners found that they were uninsured.

Working-class Brits

Most low-income working-class families at the time of World War II lived in rented houses. Owning property was often beyond the economic reach of these families. Home ownership was much more common among the middle-class and professional class. London was the first major city targeted by the Luftwaffe. And their was a lasrge area of the East End inhabited by working-class families near the London Docks. This was very heavily bombed because the docks were such a major target. As the Blitz continued, London zand its people became the target. Here the people most heavily hit were the working-class people living in central London. Middle-class Londoners were more likely to live further out in the suburbs. But here as the housing was more spread out, a bomb payload did less damage. London was spread over a large area. Unlike Germany cities there were not a lot of multi-story apartment buildings. Londoners built out and not up. This made the city much less vulnerable to aerial bombardment. Militarily the Germans were expending their bombers and trained aviators to destroy civilian housing. This had very little impact on the British war effort which at the time had begun to match Germany in aircraft production. . In fact, it has been called the largest urban renewal effort in British history. Much of the housing destroyed was substandard, built in the 19th-century without indoor pluming. Large numbers of East Enders were dehoused by the Luftwaffe, but the replacement housing built after the War proved to be a substantial upgrade.

Government Insurance Scehme

Churchill describes being at Ramsgate at an early point of the Blitz. He sheltered in a tunnel during a raid. When he emerged he surved the damage. A small hotel had been reduced to a 'litter of crockery, untensils and splintered furniture'. he recounts how the propritor , his wife, and staff were in tears. What were they to do. He writes in his history of the War. 'Here is a privlige of power. I formed an immediate resolve. On the way back in my train I dictated a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kingsly Wood, laying down the principle that all damage from the fire of the enenmy must be a charge upon the state and compensation be paid in full and at once. Thus the burden would not fall alone on those whose homes or business premises were hit, but would be borne evenly on the shoulders of the nation." [Churchill , pp. 371-72.] The Exchequer and the Treasury were very concerned about the potential liabilities involved. Eventually Wood devised an elaborate insurance scheme. After May 1941 as Hitler turned East and the raids stopped, funds began to build up from the insurance payments to finance the very considerable outlays as a result of the bomb damage. We do not know hiw the scheme worked. Did homeowners have to sign up? Nor do we know how payments were dolled out. Were there upper and lower limits on payments?

Internet Denials

We are not entirely sure how this worked. We note internet postings claiming that there was no government reimbursement program. This is not a topic that is commonly addressed in histories of the Blitz.

Reader Comments

A reader tells us about his family experience. "My grandparents house in Hornsey (Tottenham) was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. You can see the Germans were a bit off target, if they were bombing the docks. I have attached a map to show where they lived at the beginning of the war (A). The picture show the restored property - the house on the corner. (Where the white vans are parked). Clearly from the different colour of the brickwork, the house next door is a restoration too. Fortunately my grandparents had moved to Southgate. (Red arrow) My father bought the house in 1938 from his parents in exchange for cash and an annuity for the last survivour. This was not a good investment as my grandmother lived until she 104. I don't know what he paidthem for the house, but the annuity was �50 a year. (I paid it after he died.)He was compensated, but only at the end of the war, receiving �120). It was not a very generous handout. [HBC note: Note: The amounts seem rediculously low, but to calculate the actual values, it must be recalled that the pound was worth a great deal more than the modern pound because of inflation. And real estate values as aesult were far less than is the case today. Even so the amounts are very low.] He was only able to rent it for �1.10.0 [ 1 pound 10 shillings] a week (in old money). This did not cover the maintenance. Rents were controlled to stop landlords charging high rents, because of the shortage of houses. We had a socialist government at the time and they were very anti property ownership. [HBC note: Of course the impact of these controlled rates was to ensure that no builders invested money in new homes, creating a permanent housing shortage.]

Sources

Churchill, Winston S. Memoirs of the Second World War (Bonanza Books: New York, 1978), 1065p.

Created: 8:50 AM 7/31/2011
Last updated: 8:50 AM 7/31/2011