Mr Morton has produced a PowerPoint presentation for a virtual assembly on VE and VJ Day. The presentation includes a range of challenges, with a collection of resources and activities including bunting making and WWII style recipes. The full presentation is available in Show My Homework. If you just wanted to see (and try) the challenges for yourself, please download the VE and VJ Day Challenges.
Here is a piece by Mr Morton.
This Friday is a bank Holiday celebrating “Victory in Europe” when, 75 years ago, Germany surrendered and World War Two came to an end. During the war, which had lasted almost 6 years, 85 Million people worldwide had died and in the UK alone 450,900 civilians and servicemen had died.
At home in 1940, it wasn’t loo rolls, or indeed just flour that people struggled to buy in the shops; from 1940 onwards rationing was commonplace with an adult being allowed to buy just 50g of cheese and one egg a week. Butter, bacon, chocolate and even clothes had to be rationed in order to avoid starvation, then as now, Britain was not self sufficient and we relied on shipping supplies from abroad, however all supplies had to dodge German submarines in order to get their cargos to our shores. Additionally, on the “Home Front” children were evacuated from cities and the bombing of cities and even of towns like Stortford meant that people lived in constant fear of attack. There is a bomb shelter in the cheese shop on North Street and Hockerill Teacher Training College (as it was then) was hit by bombs on 10th October 1940, leaving three studens dead.
As “Key Workers” soldiers, airmen, members of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy as well as medics had been away from home and separated from their families for months at a time. Many of those separated (such as members of the Women’s Land Army) were volunteers, however conscription (forcing men to join the armed forces) had been introduced in 1939, so large numbers of those involved in WWII, including Bishop’s Stortford’s own Cyril Banks, who visited Birchwood in 2018 to help mark the centenary of the end of WWI, and talk about the importance of Remembrance, were “enlisted” to help the war effort without much choice.
The war meant that families did not know when or even if, they would see loved ones again and the risks they took were huge, two years ago, Cyril told a group of our students what it was like serving in Minesweepers in the Russian Convoys and during the preparations for D Day and so it was with understandable joy that parties and celebrations broke out nationwide on VE Day. It meant that the end was in sight and that normality, or at least, a new normal, would return. As it happened, the events of World War Two changed Britain forever with the invention of the NHS in 1948 as a result of the WWII Beverage Report, conscription lasted until 1960 and rationing was not ended until 1954.
In Year 8 many of our History students undertake Family History Projects and it is always fascinating for their peers (and our History team) to see their research and find out how our students relatives were involved in conflicts from the War in the Desert in WWII, or fought on the Eastern Front for the Russians or as part of the Chindits in Burma. As we celebrate our Bank Holiday on Friday, it is perhaps a time to remember and reflect on what this day is for and to commemorate and remember the sacrifices of our Grandparents and Great Grandparents. It’s a huge event historically and one which I hope you take time to remember, indeed if you do have a socially distanced “Stay At Home Tea Party” in your front gardens (Carrot Scone Recipe available on SMHW) please share any pictures with wmorton@birchwoodhigh.org.uk and we will try to use them in a future edition of Birchwood News.