Figure 1.--London was again full of children by the tine the Blitz began (September 1940). Bombsites were extremely attractive playgrounds for energetic, curious boys. (The girls were more cautious.) They were also very dangerous places. Weakened walls could cave in. There was unexploded bombs and ordinance everywhere. Boys of course loved to hunt war itens like shrapnell, shells, and other war memorabilia.

London when the Blitz began was full of kids. While most of the children had been evacuated when the war began (September 1939). When the German bombers did not come after the declaration of War and the Phony war developed, the evacuated children began returning to London and other large cities. Most of the kids had been brought home by Christmas (December 1939). Thus when the Blitz began (September 1940), London was again full of kids. The attacks on London began very suddenly. Even after the Battle of Britain began, the Luftwaffe avoided London. The sudden shift of tactics caught both the RAF and London civiliansd by surprisde. For the boys there was a mixture of fear and excitement. A British reader tells us, "You can see in the last poster that many boys wanted to stay in the cities and help the war effort, but according to my relatives, they were often a "bloody nuisance". Parents after the Blitz began wanted them back safe and sound in the countryside!" Bombsites were extremely attractive playgrounds for energetic, curious boys. (The girls were more cautious--i.e, sensible.) They were also very dangerous places. Weakened walls could cave in. There was unexploded bombs and ordinance everywhere. Boys of course loved to hunt war itens like shrapnell, shells, and other war memorabilia. There was also all kinds of valuables in the ruins. Keeping the children out of harms way was a major concern. Our readers says, "It seems odd that I often played on a real bombsite as a boy - left over from the war twenty years before and the worst I got was grazed knees and a nail through my foot once.Mum could soon patch that up (and issue dire warnings about not playing in "dangerous" places) but how different it must have been when the bombs were actually falling and the worrries of Mums back then." A reader writes, "It is very interesting to read about the children in London during the Blitz. It brings to mind some scenes from the film, "Hope and Glory", reminding me how much the boys in that film played in the bombed out houses and looked for war souvenirs."

Created: 9:39 PM 11/23/2006
Last updated: 9:40 PM 11/23/2006