Introduction
1 : Contents
Contents
Introduction
1 : Contents
2 : World War II in Brief
3 : Evacuation in Luton
4 : Luton’s War Effort
5 : Rationing
6 : Air Raids
1
2
7
9
13
18
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
8 : Invasion Instructions Leaflet
9 : Civil Defence Information Leaflet
10 : Food Facts
11 : Warship Week Programme
12 : Wings For Victory Week Cartoon
13 : Salute The Soldier Programme
14 : War Weapons Week Leaflet
15 : Acknowledgements
19
33
35
39
40
43
44
45
46
About This Pack
The information in this pack was originally collected to provide a resource for Luton’s teachers and children
to help them understand what their town and its people went through during the Second World War. However,
much of the material in this pack is available nowhere else and is, therefore, of interest to a wider audience.
Front cover photograph: Covering Luton Town Football Ground with camouflage netting.
Luton Museum Service • Lifelong Learning • Luton Borough Council
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
2 : World War II in Brief
World War II in Brief
After the First World War Germany was in a bad economic state and confidence in the future was at a low
ebb. The people needed a strong, dynamic leader who could boost their morale and promise them better things.
Adolf Hitler was a man who was able to make passionate, rousing speeches full of visions of a new powerful
Germany - people wanted to believe he was the person who could achieve this for them so they supported him.
Hitler blamed Germany's troubles on the Jews, the Communists and the Socialists. He developed an intense
hatred of Jews, seeing a Jewish conspiracy all around him and becoming a fanatical anti-Semite. He believed
the Germans to be the 'Master Race' of pure German stock with himself at its head. By 1934, after abolishing
all other political parties, Hitler was the leader of the German National Socialist Party - known as the Nazi
Party - and Chancellor of Germany. The Nazi state, called the Third Reich, was created; there was no free
speech and leading politicians from other parties were arrested and detained in concentration camps, where
many of them were assassinated.
Germany built up a strong army and began to threaten and invade the countries around it - Hitler wanted to
build an empire in Europe and began in 1938 by invading Austria, followed by part of Czechoslovakia. The
British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met Hitler in September 1938 and told him that if he promised
lasting peace, he could keep the Czechoslovakian territory. However this did not work as Hitler took the rest
of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. France and Britain took immediate
action and said that German troops must be withdrawn from Poland; if this was not done, war would be declared.
Hitler refused and on 3 September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany. In the days that followed first France
and then Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India also declared war on Germany. This was the beginning
of the Second World War which lasted until 1945 and was fought over much of Europe and Asia. There were
no land battles in Britain but air battles and bombing were widespread causing great loss of life and enormous
damage to buildings.
Aftermath of a Luton air raid
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Introduction
2 : World War II in Brief
However, this did not happen immediately. It was not until April 1940 that German troops attacked and
conquered Norway, then Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. By 20th May they had reached the
English Channel and more than 500,000 British and French troops were trapped at Dunkirk. Boats sailed out
from Britain and rescued nearly 340,000 of them but they left behind many tanks and guns. By 17th June
Germany had taken most of France which then surrendered. Most of North West Europe was now in Hitler's
hands and he began to plan the invasion of Britain.
Hitler thought this would be easy and Britain stood alone with scarcely anyone to help. The United States of
America had not yet entered the war and countries such as Canada and Australia were too far away. Hitler's
plan to conquer Britain was called 'Operation Sealion'. First he had to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) so
that they could not bomb the German Army as they advanced across the Channel. This proved to be more
difficult than he had thought. British and German planes fought in the skies over southern England from July
to September 1940 - this became known as 'The Battle of Britain'. German losses were far greater than they
had expected so Hitler changed his plan to send the army to invade and the German airforce, known as the
'Luftwaffe', would bomb Britain, especially London until it surrendered.
This intensive bombing began in September 1940 and became known as the 'Blitz'. There was a series of enemy
raids over Britain for the next four and a half years on 26 major cities. London was bombed every night for
over two months. By the end of the war 60,000 people had been killed, half a million homes destroyed and
four million damaged, including Buckingham Palace. Germany's bombing targeted airfields and factories,
warehouses and ships at the docks thus destroying weapons, foodstuffs and other vital goods. Nearly two
million air raid shelters were built and in case of attacks from poison gas, everyone had to carry a gas mask
at all times although the gas attacks did not happen in the end. After dark all windows and doors had to be
blacked out so that German bombers would find it difficult to locate their targets.
Air raid practice at Denbigh Road
School. Each child has a gas mask.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
2 : World War II in Brief
The War spread to Asia, the Mediterranean and North Africa in 1940 when Italy, then Japan, allied with
Germany. In December 1941 the Japanese attacked the Pearl Harbour navy base in Hawaii, bringing the USA
into the war on Britain's side and soon American troops appeared at bases throughout Britain. Over 1 million
US troops came to Britain, soon joined by Canadians.
From February 1942 systematic area bombing of German cities was carried out in an attempt by the British
to disrupt industrial production and morale. 1942 also saw the beginning of Hitler's plans to exterminate the
Jewish people, which was known as the 'Final Solution'. They were rounded up together with Gypsies, disabled
people, homosexuals, people with mental illness and others, then transported to concentration camps in Germany
and Poland. By the end of the War 6 million people had been murdered in these camps. By the end of 1942
however, Germany was playing a defensive role in the War, having been defeated at El Alamein in Egypt and
by Allied landings in North Africa. It looked at last as though British efforts both at home and overseas were
beginning to pay off.
During early 1944 British, American and Canadian troops were part of the plan to carry out the invasion of
France, driving out the occupying German army. This operation became known as the D Day invasion and
began on 6 June 1944. After a month of desperate fighting they broke through the German lines. The Allied
forces marched into Germany in February 1945 and soon captured most airfields and rocket sites. On 30 April
Adolf Hitler committed suicide. The war ended in May when the Germans surrendered. Celebrations were held
throughout Britain on 8 May called VE Day - Victory in Europe. The War in the Far East continued until
August when Japan surrendered. There were two atomic bombs dropped in Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
resulting in devastating loss of life.
Collecting scrap metal for the war
effort in 1941.
4
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
2 : World War II in Brief
The Second World War affected the lives of every British citizen to some extent. Families were separated by
men going overseas, some of them killed in action or taken prisoner, children were evacuated from large cities
to the safer areas of the countryside, women did jobs that were previously thought of as only suitable for men.
There were severe shortages of food, clothes and raw materials and much had to be rationed. Life was hard
and drab and no one knew when the War would end. Morale had to be kept up. Winston Churchill was elected
as Prime Minister in May 1940 and the speeches he made at various crucial points during the War did much
to give the impression that the British people would never give in to tyranny and could rise above setbacks
and disappointments to win through in the end. "We will never surrender" he said.
During the War, large towns and cities in Britain, as well as Germany and other countries, were bombed by
enemy aircraft. Many city children went to live in the safety of the countryside, other towns or overseas. This
was called evacuation and the children who were evacuated were called evacuees. This evacuation of children
had been planned long before the War actually started. Whole schools were evacuated together with their
teachers in charge. Children did not have to go but their parents were told it was for the best. Children younger
than five years old went with their mothers. Brothers and sisters were kept together if at all possible. Pregnant
women and disabled people were also evacuated.
Children and their teachers travelled by train and often did not know their destination; they were told of the
arrangements at very short notice and said goodbye to their parents in the school playground or at the railway
station. 3.5 million children were evacuated from 1st September 1939; many children came from the slums
of London, they had few clothes and were often dirty and unwell.
Many children went to live with grandparents or relatives in the country but others stayed with people they
had never met. Families in the country were asked to take one or two children, sometimes more, according to
the available space they had in their homes to accommodate them. This was called billeting. Children arrived
at the railway station, taken by bus to a school or church hall and chosen by foster parents.
Covering Luton Town football ground
with camouflage netting.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
2 : World War II in Brief
Some of the farmers would choose the biggest, strongest looking boys first to help on their farm whilst some
women chose strong looking girls to do housework. It was obviously more difficult to place a mother and
perhaps two or more very small children in the same home. Children did not necessarily stay in the same place
but were moved quite frequently from one home to the next. Some children had a dreadful time and were badly
treated and some used as slave labour. However, others enjoyed new found friends, a different way of life and
experiences they would never have had otherwise.
Many adults today who were evacuees have fond memories of a happy time and some looked on their foster
homes as their extended family. Lots of children did not stay evacuees for long and within weeks many of
them returned to the city because they were so homesick. Also although bombing had been expected to start
immediately, nothing happened until the following spring and many children returned to the cities. By the end
of 1939 only 63% of the children who had been evacuated were actually still away from home. Air attacks
began in earnest in the summer of 1940 and children were moved again to safer places than their initial
destinations.
The foster families were paid a small allowance for having evacuees but it had to be increased. The money
was to pay for food and clothes but parents tried to send additional items as well. Parents could visit their
children in the country but it was much more difficult than it would be today; very few people owned a car
and even if you had one, no petrol was available to run it. Train services were disrupted because of bombing,
the blackout and the need to conserve fuel. Very few people had telephones; children could write letters home
but as there was a shortage of paper, they were discouraged from using precious notepaper and envelopes. In
some cases any letters were read through by foster parents before posting. Evacuated children still had to go
to school. The evacuated school would often share school buildings with the local school; having lessons one
day and the next day off, perhaps having games in the park or walks in the country.
People dancing in Luton town centre,
celebrating VE Day, 8th May 1945.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
3 : Evacuation in Luton
Evacuation in Luton
In January 1939 a survey of households in Luton decided that there were 22,000 surplus rooms which could
be used to billet evacuees. Although only 30 miles from London, Luton was considered safe and suitable for
the reception and billeting of evacuees from more dangerous areas. Luton received its first evacuees from
London on Friday 1st September 1939, war was declared 2 days later on the 3rd. During the first three days
of evacuation, 1-3 September 1939, 25,866 evacuees were expected to arrive in Luton; 22,000 were to be
billeted in Luton while the rest were to go Dunstable and surrounding villages.
On the first day 27 school parties had been billeted - a total of 4,887 children and 548 teachers. On the second,
expectant mothers and mothers with small children arrived. The expectant mothers were billeted by Beech Hill
School so they would be close to the hospital. Over 200 blind people also arrived that day. By the end of the
third day a total of 12,285 evacuees had passed through Dunstable Road school, less than expected. 8,091 of
these were billeted in Luton.
Appeals for donations of food, clothing, furniture and items like prams and pushchairs were made through the
local newspapers. A press cutting from the Luton News about these first evacuee families is included in this
pack. However by 21st September 1939 over half the mothers and children had returned home, unable to settle
without husbands and neighbours and feeling that London was as safe, if not safer, than Luton.
The evacuated schools remained in Luton sharing school buildings with Luton Schools or working in church
halls and libraries. Schools even held classes in the Museum at Wardown Park. This situation did not please
Luton parents. Many felt that their children were losing out and letters of complaint and concern were written
to the local newspapers.
Evacuees arriving in Luton. This
photograph was taken in Station
Road, outside the railway station.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
3 : Evacuation in Luton
However, Hitler seemed not to have known that Luton had been designated a safe area. In 1940 Luton got its
share of the blitz, not unsurprising considering the town's industrial capacity had been switched to the war
effort producing military machines and munitions.
This may have had something to do with the fact that by the end of the war there were only 200 official evacuees
left in Luton. A few of these had been here from the beginning and most had been evacuated more than once.
Evacuee children with their gas
masks and belongings.
Streams of evacuees and a line of
buses in Station Road.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
4 : Luton’s War Effort
Luton’s War Effort
Air raid precautions in Luton began in 1938 when gas masks were issued to schoolchildren and work began
on air raid shelters. Deep tunnels were constructed in four areas, Upper George Street, Albert Road, High Town
and Beech Hill, the latter two being the deepest. Underground shelters were built in school playgrounds and
10,000 Anderson shelters were supplied for gardens. The indoor Morrison shelters came later in the war. In
1940 children often did their lessons in air raid shelters as air raids were very frequent. There were 900 air raid
warnings in Luton during the war. Some Luton families got used to sleeping in shelters but most stayed in their
beds and took a risk.
The Civil Defence Service recruited Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Wardens; the Service was divided into 84
sectors and 650 wardens were needed. The bigger companies and public utilities made their own ARP
arrangements. Wardens’ duties included firewatching, sheltering people from bombs, rescuing the injured and
recovering the dead, enforcing blackout regulations, housing the homeless, clearing up the mess and generally
keeping the life of the town functioning. Every adult male had to take his turn at firewatching.
There was a blackout throughout Luton and prominent buildings and factories were camouflaged to obscure
them from the air. There were fourteen air raid sirens in the town operated from a central control. Smoke
screens were made on clear nights which hid the town in a thick smoky mist. For several nights in succession
the fires in London from air raids could be seen clearly from the higher parts of the town. Luton was a military
objective, various factories were geared to war production, each factory specialised in some product related
to its peacetime trade.
War work at Skefco ball bearings
factory.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
4 : Luton’s War Effort
The British Expeditionary Force lost practically all its equipment in France at the time of Dunkirk in June 1940
and thousands of Luton-made Bedfords and Commers had to be abandoned there. Blockmakers made woodwork
for aeroplanes. Every available woman was put onto the production of war material. 22,000 women and 10,000
men were registered. Women played a very important part in Luton’s war production. The manager of Luton
Employment Exchange during the war said in 1945: “The women workers of Luton have undoubtedly performed
a marvellous job. I pay tribute to them and particularly the married women who had to look after their homes
in addition to working in the factories. They were a big factor in winning the war.”
There were restrictions on imports of materials for hats, the trade lost many men to the armed services and
women to other industries. The Authorities wanted to release a further 25% of the women who remained in
the hat trade - they said hats were a luxury and could surrender a lot of its young women. However, the trade
kept going and in the end turned to producing caps and hats for the WRNS, WAAF and ATS, tropical hats
and helmets. There were also many women released from offices, shops and domestic service into war work.
By the end of 1941 all workers were subject to ‘direction of work’ to be sent where they were most needed.
In December 1941 the National Service Act rendered single women liable for the first time to be conscripted
for the Women’s Services.
Churchill said “Give us the tools and we will finish the job”. Luton factories were turning out these tools and
the town became one of Britain’s huge arsenals. Luton factories were producing items not normally made in
Luton from Churchill tanks to ships’ bells, shells, mines, grenades, rockets and fuses, depth charges for U
Boats, Mosquito jets, Sabres, parachute tapes, photographic film, chemicals and concentrated foods.
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall’s workforce grew to 12,000. The firm built the 38 ton Churchill tank, which became a very successful
offensive weapon, as well as steel helmets and six-pounder armour-piercing shells - these produced at the rate
of 5,000 a week. Winston Churchill and the King, among others, came to Luton to visit Vauxhall. In all 5,247
Churchill tanks were delivered, many of which came back to the Luton plant for repairs after damage on the
battlefield. Vauxhall was also involved in the development of the first jet engines to be built in Britain. A third
of trucks supplied to the Forces were Bedford trucks - during the six years of the war nearly a quarter of a
million trucks were made. Special ramps were built in Wardown Park to test vehicles.
Hayward Tyler
Hayward Tyler made steam engines for Admiralty barges, milling machines for Ministry of Supply, gun parts
and breech mechanisms for the Admiralty. They also built turrets for Churchill tanks and cast and supplied
engine sumps & pumps for oil tankers. For the first time in the history of the company women were employed.
George Kent
Among a huge variety of items made were pyrometers for controlling temperature for heat treatment of engine
parts, shell casings, clear view screens for warships and rescue launches, fuel supply meters, steering gears,
shell fuses, anti-aircraft predictors, cannon shells. The fuse shop was staffed almost entirely by women.
Davis Gas Stove Co.
Davis had 100% war production and made 25-pounder shells, shell cases & shells, ammunition boxes, mortar
bombs, land mines, anti-tank, grenades, vehicle track links, tails for rockets and insulated food containers to
be dropped to troops.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
4 : Luton’s War Effort
Electrolux
Electrolux supplied Royal Navy depth charges, mine charge cases, insulated containers for food and also
produced over a million high explosive and incendiary bombs.
Skefko Ball Bearings
Skefko produced ball, roller and thrust bearings for aero engines, tanks and gun mountings, predictors and
radar. The Luftwaffe had a map of the Skefko factory but only slight bomb damage was done to the extreme
end of the building. To confuse the German bombers a dummy road with trees on it was built on the roof at
Skefko.
Percival Aircraft
Percival’s built aeroplanes which were used for wireless and navigation training and twin-engined Oxfords
for advanced flying training. They also built the Mosquito B Mark XVI - the fastest bomber in the world. Luton
built the Mosquitoes planes which bombed Germany. A third of employees were women.
Brown & Green Ltd.
This firm usually made laundry machinery but during the War production changed to mortar bombs, shrapnel
mines, catapult & rocket firing equipment.
Staff at Skefco with pictures of the
tanks which used their ball bearings.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
4 : Luton’s War Effort
Luton’s War Effort - War Savings
Fighting the war was extremely costly and the Government encouraged people to contribute by buying War
Bonds. War savings in Luton reached £15,255,321 from January 1940 to November 1945. Only part of this
was saved by the ordinary people of Luton as contributions from banks, insurance companies and large local
firms were counted in the total. The highlights of the savings campaign were the Special Weeks when Luton
joined with Dunstable and Luton Rural District to raise a million pounds in a single week. Each week surpassed
the total and, with the exception of Thanksgiving week, the savings of ordinary people in the district accounted
for half of the total raised. To encourage savers there were spectacular displays and often a competitive element
with challenges from other towns, such as Watford in 1942. War Weapons Week raised enough money to buy
two large destroyers and one small one.
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
War Weapons Week
Warship Week
Wings For Victory Week
Salute The Soldier Week
Thanksgiving Week
raised £1,420,423
raised £1,421,714
raised £1,442,299
raised £1,522,635
raised £1,084,757
Saving was also encouraged all year round by the formation of savings groups and by July 1940 there were
nearly 250 in Luton with the number growing fast. School groups did particularly well and later on groups
of people living in the same street were formed with great success.
Luton’s Home Guard
In May 1940 Anthony Eden broadcast on the wireless asking for Local Defence Volunteers to act as an unpaid
army. Two million people responded to the call, 60 people in Luton enrolled the first night and by the next
day that number had risen to 1,000. Later on the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) became known as the Home
Guard.
The town and its outskirts were surveyed, divided into four areas and a leader chosen for each. Some of the
larger organisation such as the Railways, Bus Company and the Post Office had their own Home Guard
battalions. The Home Guard was part of the Army and was initially dependant upon volunteers although later
there was some conscription. Throughout the war, however, the Home Guard was unpaid.
Luton was patrolled day and night and the shifts were four hours on, four hours off. Headquarters at first was
4 Dunstable Road, later HQ moved to the Drill Hall on Old Bedford Road. Defence positions were constructed,
trenches dug and roadblocks built. Various strongpoints on approaches to Luton had to be manned, slit trenches
dug and anti-tank obstacles erected. Battle training and night exercises in open country were frequent. Soon
the Battalion reached the unwieldy number of 4,000 and was divided into several smaller battalions. At the
Drill Hall men were drilled out of doors as well as indoors, gun drill was taken on the lawn where the band
also practiced To the rear of the hall was a pigeon loft which local pigeon fanciers maintained what was claimed
to be the best Home Guard pigeon loft in the country. The Home Guard had ceremonial parades and weekend
camps. The order was given to ‘stand down’ towards the end of 1944 but was then rescinded and it was not
until December 1945 that the Home Guard was finally disbanded. The television series “Dad’s Army” is said
to reflect - albeit dramatically - many aspects of the Home Guard.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
5 : Rationing
Rationing
The sea was a natural barrier for the British against the Germans but it also caused problems because Britain
imported a lot of food and other goods all transported by sea. During the Second World War German submarines
- called U-boats - sank many ships bringing supplies to Britain which meant that there was a shortage of
everything, especially food. Between March and May 1941 more than 320 British merchant ships carrying
food supplies were sunk. The docks in London and those in other large ports were regularly bombed, destroying
goods stored in the warehouses. Instead of storage at the docks, goods began to be distributed to areas throughout
the country which were called buffer zones.
In the late 1930s when war in Europe seemed inevitable, the Government planned a new department called
the Ministry of Food. This was set up in 1937 and headed by Lord Woolton, who later introduced food rationing
to make sure that the food available was equally and fairly apportioned. Rationing was a drastic but necessary
wartime measure. The Government controlled prices so shops could not charge higher prices for goods.
Food rationing started in 1940 and everyone was issued with a ration book containing coupons which were
cut out by the shopkeeper when goods were bought. The first to be rationed were bacon, ham, sugar and butter
followed two months later by meat and, at various intervals throughout the war, tea, margarine, cooking fat,
cheese, jam, marmalade, treacle, syrup and sweets. The distribution of eggs and milk was controlled. Strangely
it was only after the war in 1946 that bread was rationed. The average weekly ration was:
3 pints of milk
3 oz cooking fat
1 egg
1 pkt dried eggs (per month)
8 oz sugar
3 oz cheese
2 oz sweets
2 oz butter
4 oz bacon
2 oz jam
4 oz margarine
1s.2d worth meat
2 oz tea
Special arrangements were made for babies, young children and expectant and nursing mothers - they were
allowed extra milk, cod liver oil and orange juice. In fact many poor undernourished children were better fed
during the war than before it. However it wasn't only these children who benefited from a better diet - the
Government took the opportunity to teach the nation about eating healthily. In 1939 at least half the people
of Britain were suffering from some degree of malnutrition but by the end of the war health had improved
enormously. The Government's campaign was very successful.
The general public were bombarded with help and guidance in magazines, cinemas and on the radio. Every
morning at 8 am there was a 5 minute slot called the Kitchen Front from the Radio Doctor, Dr Charles Hill.
He was the Conservative MP for Luton from 1950 to 1963 when he became Lord Hill of Luton.
As the choice of food was limited, more food had to be grown in Britain by the farmers and the general public
"by the little man with the spade as much as the big man with the plough". Encouragement was given to eat
the kind of food that Britain could produce without depending on overseas imports. As Luton was in an
agricultural area fruit and vegetables were generally available but oranges and bananas were almost unobtainable.
"Dig For Victory" the posters proclaimed, "Dig Now, Don't Delay", "Victory may well be won by the country
with the most food" and "Food is your Munition of War".
Parks, village greens, the edges of cricket and football pitches, window boxes, air raid shelter roofs and even
roadside verges were used to grow fruit and vegetables. Part of the grounds of the Tower of London was turned
into an allotment. By 1943 there were one-and-a-half million allotments in Britain. The potato, carrot and
cabbage were dubbed the 'Home Guards of Health' by the Ministry of Food. Cartoon characters called Potato
Pete and Dr Carrot were invented probably because either carrot, potato or both turned up in every wartime
recipe. The carrot's reputation of enabling you to see in the dark seems to have begun during the war - very
useful in the blackout!
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Introduction
5 : Rationing
Many people kept chickens in their gardens to provide them with eggs; some people kept rabbits for the meat
and even used the fur to make winter gloves. Pigs were also kept, sometimes families or streets would share
a pig, feeding it on their scraps and sharing out the meat when it was slaughtered. Everything had to be used,
nothing wasted; beetroot tops, elderflowers, dandelion leaves, nettles, ferns and marigolds were all eaten. Most
people did not own a fridge or freezer so food had to be bought fresh daily. Sometimes a delivery of a scarce
food would be expected and queues would form to buy the goods - housewives during the war spent hours
queuing. Fish was not rationed but in Luton the fishmongers rarely opened before lunchtime as the fish had
to be brought from the coast.
Rationing was not confined to food. Clothes rationing began in 1941. People in the forces were given uniforms
but for everybody else Utility clothing was introduced. This was very plain and used as little material as
possible. Clothing had to be looked after and children's clothes were often made out of the best parts of old
adult clothes. The public were told to 'Make Do and Mend'. Sixty six clothing coupons (later reduced to forty
eight) were issued to every person for the year and sheets and towels were included as well. A man's jacket
required thirteen coupons, a shirt five and a tie one. A woman's dress took up eleven coupons, shoes five.
Women's skirts became shorter so they didn't use up so much material, there were also no turn-ups on men's
trousers. Utility furniture was introduced in 1942; it was very simple and basic and available to those who had
been bombed out or who were setting up home for the first time. It also included electrical appliances and
carpets.
The end of the war did not mean the end of rationing, it dragged on until as late as 1954. Bread, having been
the last food to be rationed, was the first to come off in 1948 followed in the early 1950s by jam, tea, sweets,
cream, eggs, sugar, butter, cheese, margarine and cooking fats, then finally meat in June 1954 - fourteen years
since rationing had first started. Rationing, however, had been highly successful. It had been shown that with
an enormous combined effort, Britain could almost become a totally self-sufficient nation; and, due to rationing,
it was also a much healthier nation than ever before. Lord Woolton's morale-boosting had done its job:
"The whole nation marches to victory on its stomach. The woman in the home kitchen is doing equally useful
work as any woman in khaki or blue" he pronounced.
Girls from Surrey Street School
digging their allotment. It is estimated
that Luton people grew enough
vegetables for 16 million meals.
14
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
5 : Rationing
War Time Rations
Rations varied during the war. Coupons from the ration books were removed when the food was purchased.
In addition to the ration each person was allowed sixteen points per month. Points could be exchanged for
tinned meat, fish or fruit, dried fruit or dried peas and beans.
Milk
the weekly ration was three pints (1.7l) although expectant and nursing mothers
and small children were entitled to extra. By 1941 dried milk was rationed to
a tin every four weeks.
Sugar
8oz (200g) per week was for cooking and jam-making. Most people stopped
putting it into tea and coffee. Sometimes extra sugar was made available for
jam making and special sugar coupons were issued.
Butter
2oz (50g) per week
Margarine
4oz (100g) per week
Cooking fat
4oz (100g) this dropped as low as 2oz at times. Every last drop was used and
dripping, collected from cooking meat, was used to supplement the ration.
Cheese
2oz (50g) sometimes this rose to 4oz. Vegetarians got extra cheese because
they did not have the meat.
Eggs
normally one fresh egg a week but sometimes only one every two weeks. Dried
eggs were used to supplement this. One packet of dried eggs, equivalent of
twelve eggs, every 4 weeks.
Sweets
12oz (300g) every four weeks
Preserves
1lb (400g) every two months. If they could, people made their own jam,
marmalade and other preserves.
Tea
2oz (50g) per week. People over 70 years old got an extra tea allowance after
1944.
Meat
4oz (100g) of either bacon or ham and one shilling & tuppence (1s.2d.)worth
of meat. This would be about 1lb of beef, pork, veal or mutton depending on
availability. Tuppence (2d.) had to be spent on corned beef. A child had half
this amount of meat. Offal was not rationed unless supplies of meat were really
short.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
15
Introduction
5 : Rationing
Foods not rationed during the war
Many foods, although not rationed, were in very short supply and people queued at shops to get them. Foodstuffs
that had to be imported were almost impossible to find.
Bread and Flour
both wholemeal and white.
Oatmeal
used for porridge and baking.
Potatoes & vegetables
as much as possible were grown on allotments and in gardens.
Vegetables were preserved, salted or pickled, to make them last
past the season.
Fruit
was in very limited supply especially in winter. Bananas and citrus
fruits virtually disappeared along with other fruits that had to be
imported.
Sausages
together with liver and other offal were not rationed but they were
very hard to get hold of. People would queue at butchers to buy
them when they were available.
Fish
unless you lived by the sea fresh fish was only available in small
quantities. Tinned fish was available with points.
The National Flour logo from a Co-op paper bag.
The distribution of flour was controlled centrally.
16
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Introduction
5 : Rationing
Rationing Timeline
On The Ration
1939
September
National Register set up and identity cards issued
1940
January
Ration books issued
Bacon, ham, sugar and butter rationed
1941
March
Meat rationed
July
Tea, margarine, cooking fat and cheese rationed
March
Jam, marmalade, treacle and syrup rationed
June
Eggs rationed
Clothing rationed by points system
August
Extra cheese rations for manual workers
November
Milk rationed
December
National dried milk added to ration
Points scheme for food set up
Cod liver oil and orange juice added to children’s ration
1942
February
Soap, soapflakes and soap powder rationed
June
Dried egg powder added to ration
July
Sweets rationed
1944
December
People over 70 get extra tea ration
1945
January
Whalemeat available for sale, when sold it was called ‘snook’
1946
July
Bread rationed
Off The Ration
1948
July
Bread off ration
December
Jam off ration
1952
October
Tea off ration
1953
February
Sweets off ration
March
Eggs off ration
April
Cream available again
September
Sugar off ration
May
Butter, cheese, margarine and cooking fats off ration
June
Meat off ration
1954
No More Rationing
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
17
Introduction
6 : Air Raids
Air Raids
Luton was a military objective as various Luton factories were geared towards war production. The work force
at Vauxhall expanded to 12,000 and produced over 5,000 Churchill tanks; they supplied a third of the trucks
used by the Forces turning out Bedford trucks at nearly a thousand a week. Percival Aircraft (at what is now
Luton Airport) built training aircraft and de Havilland Mosquitoes.
Skefco produced millions of ball, roller and thrust bearings. That Skefco was a target is certain as a German
map of the Skefco factory site survives. George Kent produced meters for use in aircraft, machinery for ships
and shell fuses. Hayward Tyler, Davis Gas Stove Co. and Electrolux changed over to war production.
There were 900 air raid warnings in Luton, a total of 107 people killed and 500 injured. In these raids Luton
saw the range of Nazi weapons; incendiary (fire) bombs, parachute mines, oil bombs and high explosive bombs
as well as V1 and V2 missiles. While many were aimed directly at Luton it is likely that the V1 and V2s were
aimed at London and overshot their target. Public air raid shelters were built in the town centre and recreation
grounds including Wardown Park. Schools and factories had their own shelters. People built their own Anderson
shelters in their gardens. However, Luton did not experience such heavy raids as other industrial towns. From
the higher points of the town the fires from the bombings in London could be seen clearly.
The following pages detail the worst raids to hit Luton. The information is from the “Bomb Book”, a record
of Luton’s blitz compiled after the war and the Luton News’ book ‘Luton at War’ first published in 1947.
Mrs. Tebbutt and her son, Colin, outside their
Anderson shelter in Luton. These shelters would
protect up to six people from anything except a
direct hit.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 1 : Friday Aug 30th 1940 at 4.42pm
20
194
59
60
81
enemy aircraft
bombs dropped
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Luton Airport, Caddington,Vauxhall Motors
Church Cemetery Crawley Green Road - 7 bombs
Windmill Rd - Hayward Tyler - 3 unexploded bombs
Fields adjoining Farley Farm - unexploded bombs
Streets Hit by Bombs
Cutenhoe Road/Park Street, Manor Road Recreation Ground, Queen
Street/Chequer Street, Chobham Street/Langley Street, Seymour
Avenue, Strathmore Avenue, Cowper Street, Baker Street/Cambridge
Street, Harcourt Street, Albert Road, Tennyson Road, Wellington
Street/Windsor Street/Salisbury Arms Hotel, Milton Road, Russell
Rise, Nos. 32, 79 & 108 Farley Avenue, Farley Green Cottages.
LutonCultural
BoroughServices
Council Trust
(Museum
Service)
©©Luton
revised
2011 2002
19
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 2 : Friday Sept 20th 1940 at 4.42pm
1
6
0
direction of raid
enemy aircraft
bombs dropped
casualties
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Wardown Park near East Lodge
Havelock Rise
People’s Park
Additional Information
Number 13 Wardown Crescent was damaged, three occupants
escaped without injury. One bomb landed in the back garden of the
house opposite, doing no more damage to the house than breaking
the windows.
20
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 3 : Sunday Sept 22nd 1940 at 9.14pm
1
2
8
5
42
enemy aircraft
parachute mines dropped
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Farley Avenue
Park Street
Additional Information
Park Street Bus Station took a direct hit, 46 buses at the bus depot
were damaged, leaving 19 working buses. These had not been in the
depot at the time. Fourteen houses were also demolished in Park
Street, leaving 100 people homeless. The bomb left a crater 38ft
across. The other bomb exploded in the air and caused no damage.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
21
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 4 : Wednesday Sept 24th 1940 at 12.27am
6
bombs dropped
(includes 2 parachute mines)
dead
wounded
1
8
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Moor St/Dunstable Road
Luton Airport
18 Kenilworth Road
flats at rear of Odeon Cinema
20 Moor Street
Eaton Green Road - Percival Aircraft
Additional Information
One parachute mine got stuck in the roof of Percival Aircraft Factory
without exploding. It had to be defused by the Mines Disposal Section.
A disabled man died when he was unable to escape from 18 Kenilworth
Road when it was hit by an oil bomb.
22
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 5 : Friday Sept 27th 1940 at 12.30am
1
1
0
enemy aircraft
bomb dropped
casualties
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
LMS Railway mainline, to the rear of Skefco Ball Bearings
Leagrave Road - 300 yards north of LMS railway bridge over Leagrave
Road
Additional Information
The bomb left a crater 31ft across, and fell only 16ft from an air raid
shelter. One child in an Anderson shelter less than 100ft from the
crater slept through the explosion. Houses were damaged up to a
quarter of a mile away from the explosion.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
23
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 7 : Friday Oct 4th 1940 at 8.00pm
1
1
1
5
direction of raid
enemy aircraft
bomb dropped
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Limbury Road near Coniston Road
Allotments to the rear of 50/54 Limbury Road
Additional Information
Number 54 Limbury Road was completely demolished and numbers
48, 50 and 56 were very badly damaged. The crater was 51ft across
and 50ft deep. The chalk blown up from the crater covered houses
as far a quarter of a mile away. A piece of this bomb that was found
showed it was at least 2ft 6ins in diameter.
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 9 : Monday Oct 14th 1940 at 12.15pm
1
1
13
35
enemy aircraft
bomb dropped
dead
wounded
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Area Bombed
Old Bedford Road/Frederick Street
Additional Information
One bomb hit a hat factory in Old Bedford Road at the junction with
Frederick Street. Most of the casualties were the women and girls
who worked in the hat factories. The blast threw a blocking machine
over house tops to land in a garden a considerable distance away. A
14 year old factory boy, Tommy Walker, was found alive in the ruins
after two and a half hours of digging.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 13 : Saturday Oct 26th 1940 at 2.35am
153 bombs dropped :
0
150 fire bombs
1 oil bomb
2 high explosives
direction of raid
casualties
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
New Bedford Road
Waldeck Road
Highbury Rd and Studley Rd to Clarendon Rd and Reginald St
Clevedon Road
Lye Trading Estate (immediately south of Wardown Park)
Additional Information
An incendiary (fire) bomb hit a silk warehouse on the Lye Trading
Estate causing £1,000 of damage to stock. Most fires were quickly
put out by the fire guards.
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© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 14 : Monday Nov 4th 1940 at 7.33pm
24
1
2
9
bombs dropped
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Dunstable Road from Dunstable Rd school to Westbourne Road
Hazelbury Crescent
Avondale Road (worst hit)
Kenilworth Road
Beech Road
Oak Road
Additional Information
The first bomb fell on Dunstable Road School and exploded. One
house in Oak Road was completely destroyed but the owner, who
was in bed, escaped unhurt. The casualty was a girl of 18.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 15 : Friday Nov 15th 1940 at 11.28am
17
1
2
2
direction of raid
bombs dropped
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Turners Road
Crawley Green Road
Bushmead Road/Old Bedford Road
Riddy Lane/Old Bedford Road
Additional Information
Numbers 219 and 69 Crawley Green Road were completely
demolished. A disabled man of 70 was killed when his house received
a direct hit. A canary was rescued alive from one house having been
buried in its cage for 11 hours.
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 19 : Saturday Sept 5th 1942 at 11.55am
1
1
5
3
15
enemy aircraft
bomb dropped
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
direction of raid
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Area Bombed
Midland Road opposite LMS Railway Goods Station
Additional Information
Three houses were demolished in Midland Road. There had been no
air raid warning. One man came home to lunch and found his house
in ruins and his daughter dead. Constance Mary Housley was killed
whilst walking to the station. She was not identified until later, when
a telegram was received asking why she had not returned home to
Doncaster.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 21 : Tuesday Oct 19th 1943 at 10.29pm
1
4
10
direction of raid
enemy aircraft
bombs dropped
wounded
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Waller Avenue
Roman Road
Leagrave
Additional Information
There were 400 houses damaged at Leagrave. Four people were taken
to hospital having been buried alive when their house collapsed. The
last bomb fell on the railway line and a 1 ton section of railway track
landed 100ft away into someone’s back garden piecing the roof of
their Anderson shelter. The railway line just south of Leagrave station
was repaired so quickly that trains ran along it normally the next day.
30
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 23 : Wednesday Jun 21st 1944 at 3.35am
2
11
V1 flying bombs
slightly wounded
N
site of 2nd bomb
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
Areas Bombed
Shelley Road
Sowerby Avenue
Wigmore Lane
site of 1st bomb
Additional Information
The first bomb fell on land not far from the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. It escaped completely but 77 houses
in Shelley Rd. were damaged by the blast. The second bomb fell in allotments near Ashcroft Rd. and Sowerby
Avenue, causing blast damage to 258 houses in the area. Many of the elderly residents refused to leave.
Flying Bombs
The V1 was the first successful guided weapon. This meant that it could be launched and fly to its target without
a pilot. A V1 carried just under 2000lbs of explosive and could travel at speeds of over 300 mph, this enabled
the Germans to launch them from near the coast of France, Belgium or Holland and hit targets in the south of
England. Over 9,000 V1s were fired towards London in the last years of the war, but only 2,500 reached their
target. People in Britain called them Doodlebugs.
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
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Maps & Documents
7 : Luton’s Blitz
RAID 24 : Monday Nov 6th 1944 at 9.50am
1
19
23
173
long range V2 rocket
dead
seriously wounded
slightly wounded
N
Borough of Luton
1939 - 1945
showing area & direction of raid
V for Vengeance
The V in V1 & V2 stood
for Vergeltungswaffe, the
German for vengeance.
Details of the Raid
There was no air raid warning. A V2 rocket hit the Commer Car factory canteen block in Biscot Road killing
19 people, injuring 196 and damaging 1,524 houses. It caused a crater 30ft wide and 12ft deep. Numbers 77
- 83 & 58 - 68 Biscot Road were destroyed and houses up to 1.5 miles away were damaged. Brick dust from
the demolished houses reached Wardown Park. If the bomb had hit 5 minutes later the canteen would have
been filled with people.
All reporting of this raid was censored and the rumour put about that it was a works explosion and not a V2.
Only after the war could it be reported.
V2 Rockets
The V2 was a development of the V1, but it was a rocket that travelled at 3000 miles per hour. A V2 contained
2000lbs of explosives and had a range of 150 miles. V2s were first used against England in September1944.
At that time the Allies were pushing the German troops further away from Britain but the long range of the
V2s meant that they could still hit targets in England from further inland in Europe.
32
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Maps & Documents
8 : Invasion Instructions Leaflet
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
33
Maps & Documents
8 : Invasion Instructions Leaflet
34
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
9 : Civil Defence Information Leaflet
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
35
Maps & Documents
9 : Civil Defence Information Leaflet
36
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
9 : Civil Defence Information Leaflet
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
37
Maps & Documents
9 : Civil Defence Information Leaflet
38
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
10 : Food Facts
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
39
Maps & Documents
11 : Warship Week Programme
40
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
11 : Warship Week Programme
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
41
Maps & Documents
11 : Warship Week Programme
42
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
12 : Wings For Victory Week Cartoon
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
43
Maps & Documents
13 : Salute The Soldier Programme
44
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
Maps & Documents
14 : War Weapons Week Leaflet
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011
45
15 : Acknowledgements
Also available from Luton Museum Service :
Teachers’ Pack
•
•
•
•
More primary sources
Ideas for preparation & follow up work
Activities
Linked literacy work for KS2
Activities
Three different taught sessions available.
Contact the Schools team on
Tel: 01582 546740
Email: [email protected]
Acknowledgements
This Resource Park was produced for Luton Museum Education Service by Jean Hudson, Education Services
Assistant, Eleanor Markland, Keeper of Education and Chris Grabham, Photographic Officer. Revised by
David Graves, Formal Learning Officer.
All photographs in this resource pack are from the Luton News collection.
46
© Luton Cultural Services Trust revised 2011