Transcript Document

The Impact of the War on Britain
What do you know
about the effect of
World War 2 on
Britain?
What do you assume when you think about life on
the Home Front during World War 2?
There was a strong sense of community during the Blitz?
There was little multi-culturalism and ‘foreign’ people were rare?
British People hated the Germans?
People were aware of what was happening?
Jewish Refugees from Germany were welcomed?
The source gives the impression that…
Story
The Brays
Tadeusz
Czerwinski
Freddy
Godshaw
Bill Clark
Herbert
Mason
Mr George
Adolf
Bob Davies
Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4
Source 5
Source 6
Source 7
My overall
impression…
The Impact of the War on Britain
To describe Britain
before and during
WW2.
What can you infer from these sources
about life before and during WW2?
World War 2
– 1939 to
1945
All the sources
‘British People hated the Germans
during World War 2’
How far do the sources in this paper
support this statement?
Use details of the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Remember to identify the sources you
use. [12]
SOURCE 1 - Mr George Adolf
During the 1800s thousands of German men and
women moved to London to seek new lives. There
were many reasons for this, but most came to
seek new lives.
George moved with his family and started a
Bakery in the East End of London.
It was successful. He married and had 5 children.
SOURCE 2 - Mr George Adolf
He fought for Britain during
World War 1. However, while
he was away the family bakery
was destroyed. There was a
huge amount of anti German
feeling. There were riots
across London and Liverpool.
Anti-German riots occurred intermittently in British
towns and cities during the First World War. The first
report shown here describes damage caused to
German bakers' shops in the East London district of
Poplar shortly after the outbreak of war.
Government officials were hardly sympathetic to the
cause of the victims of such unrest: the cover sheet
for the riots in Poplar concluded that 'the Germans
deserved what they got.'
SOURCE 3 - Mr George Adolf
The Anti German feeling was very
strong throughout the first world
war. The family found it hard to
survive. Even his wife's family
ostracised them.
As Hitler rose to power George’s sons
were concerned that it would return.
They pleaded with their father to
change his name. He refused. They
felt English and wanted an English
name. His sons and daughter changed
their family name to Arnold. Grace
Arnold is Miss Yelland’s Great
Grandmother.
SOURCE 4 - Mr George Adolf
At the outbreak of war there were around 80,000 potential
enemy aliens in Britain who, it was feared, could be spies, or
willing to assist Britain's enemies in the event of an invasion.
All Germans and Austrians over the age of 16 were called
before special court hearings and were divided into one of
three groups:
'A' - high security risks, numbering just under 600, who were
immediately interned and sent to the Isle of Man;
'B' - 'doubtful cases', numbering around 6,500, who were
supervised and subject to restrictions;
'C' - 'no security risk', numbering around 64,000, who were
left at liberty. More than 55,000 of category 'C' were
recognised as refugees from Nazi oppression. The vast
majority of these were Jewish.
The Adolf family were allowed to remain running their Bakery
in East London. The Arnold boys fought in the war.
SOURCE 5 - Mr George Adolf
Thousands of Germans, Austrians and
Italians were sent to camps.
The majority were interned on the Isle of
Man, where internment camps had also
been set up in World War One. Facilities
were basic, but it was boredom that was
the greatest enemy. Internees organised
educational and artistic projects, including
lectures, concerts and camp newspapers.
At first married women were not allowed
into the camps to see their husbands, but
by August 1940 visits were permitted, and
a family camp was established in late 1941.
That many of the 'enemy aliens' were
Jewish refugees and therefore hardly likely
to be sympathetic to the Nazis, was a
complication no one bothered to try and
unravel - they were still treated as German
and Austrian nationals. In one Isle of Man
camp over 80 per cent of the internees
were Jewish refugees.
SOURCE 6 - Mr George Adolf
Any enemy pilot who was shot
down was placed in a Prisoner of
War Camp. This picture shows
the camp in Bedminster, Bristol.
Did you know...
In 1939 there were only two
Prisoner of War camps in Britain.
By the end of the war, there were
more than 600. Although some
were built from scratch, the
majority were located in disused
factories or industrial buildings.
17/18.05.43: Target Cardiff: I/KG 2.
Do 217E-4, Wnr.5305, U5+DL of 3/KG 2
Ltn. Emil Holthaus (F) missing
Uffz. Fritz Richter (B) killed
Uffz. Heinrich Schumacher (Bf) kille d
Uffz. Willi Petzke (Bm) killed
Collided with Do 217 U5+EK at 03.10 hrs.
Crashed in the sea off Woodspring Bay,
Somerset. Richter is buried at Greenbank,
Bristol.
SOURCE 7 - Mr George Adolf
German Pilots that
were killed were buried
in war Cemeteries like
Greenbank alongside
British servicemen and
civilians killed in the
Blitz.
There was no return to
the anti German feeling
of World War One.
All the sources
‘The British Government put the British
People first’
How far do the sources in this paper
support this statement?
Use details of the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Remember to identify the sources you
use. [12]
Herbert Mason– Source 1
Herbert Mason (1891-1960) was a
British producer and film director.
He was also a photographer during World
War II. During The Blitz he took the
iconic image, St Paul's Survives, of St
Paul's Cathedral surrounded by the
smoke of burning buildings.
Description Front page of the Daily Mail, 30
December 1940.
Date 31 December 1940
Source Daily Mail
The image took up a large chunk of the
front page, while above it ran the
headline War's Greatest Picture: St
Paul's Stands Unharmed in the Midst
of the Burning City. The paper went on
to describe it as ‘a picture that all
Britain will cherish - for it symbolises
the steadiness of London's stand
against the enemy: the firmness of
Right against Wrong.'
Herbert Mason– Source 2
On 29 December 1940 the Luftwaffe's sustained bombing of London that became known
as the blitz was well under way and the city was taking a pounding. World War II was at
it's height.
Herbert Mason (1903-1964), staff photographer of The Daily Mail, took this photo of St
Paul's Cathedral surrounded by the smoke of the fires all around it.
The photo appeared on the front page of the 31 December edition under the heading
'Wars greatest picture: St Paul's stands unharmed in the middle of the burning city'.
Miraculously St Paul's was almost totally unharmed while almost all the buildings around it
were gutted by the fires and bombs and it became an inspiration for the people of London
and indeed the whole country.
In all St Paul's was hit 28 times by bombs during the blitz which lasted from September
1940 until May 1941, but it sustained only minor damage with the help of St Paul's Watch,
a group of 200 volunteers who risked their lives in the roof of the building extinguishing
wayward firebombs.
Mason's photograph became a symbol of Britain's stand against the enemy and the
indomitable spirit of the people.
Herbert Mason– Source 3
Prime Minister Winston Churchill realised that the cathedral's
destruction would be a serious blow to British morale and
that night directed all local fire-fighting resources to give
special attention to saving St Paul's. As many as 29 incendiary
bombs fell on, or close to, the cathedral, but were put out by
volunteer firefighters. One incendiary bomb hit the roof and
lodged in its timbers, but simply burned through and fell to
the floor where it was smothered.
Other local buildings were not so fortunate: the Guildhall was
severely damaged, Paternoster Row and eight churches
designed by Sir Christopher Wren were destroyed, and many
railway stations and hospitals were hit. More than 160 people
were killed, including 16 firemen.
In the aftermath of the night of 29 December, there was
some debate among government censors over whether
Mason's photograph should be published. It wasn't until 31
December that it finally appeared in the Daily Mail. It was
cropped to reduce the number and prominence of the
damaged buildings in the foreground.
Herbert Mason– Source 4
Let Us Go Forward
Together, Winston
Churchill 1940 War
Poster
Herbert Mason– Source 5
“London burns”
The picture's significance was
interpreted differently in the
German press, which used it to
demonstrate the
effectiveness of the
Luftwaffe's intensive bombing
campaign. The front cover of
the Berliner Illustrierte
Zeitung on 23 January 1941
showed Mason's picture with
the triumphant headline The
City of London Burns!
On the night of the 29th December the American reporter Ed
Murrow pronounced the St Pauls Cathedrals death in a live
broadcast to the U.S.:
‘The church that means most to London is gone. St Paul’s Cathedral
is burning to the ground as I talk to you now.’
The entire length of Newgate St is ablaze. Flames shoot up into the
night lighting up the skyline at Tower Hill on the night of the attack
when thousands of bombs fell on the city Almost every building
around St Paul’s perished, the cathedral survived.
The next morning, it was bitterly cold. There was a light scattering of
snow as office worker Dorothy Barton emerged from London Bridge
station on her commute.
She gazed in horror at the acres of smoking and still burning ruins —
then her heart lifted as she looked up at St Paul’s, towering over the
scene. ‘I felt a lump in my throat because, like so many people, I felt
that while St Paul’s survived, so would we,’ she said. But mild,
gentle Miss Vere Hodgson looked on the devastation and wrote
bitterly: ‘I shall never bother with Germans or foreigners again. It
makes you want to give other people a taste of what we have had.’
Herbert Mason’s photograph went unpublished for two days while
censors considered whether it would serve Britain’s cause; others —
for example, one of Bank underground station after a raid which
killed 111 people sheltering on its platforms — were held up for as
long as a year.
Herbert Mason– Source 6
Ed Murrow reported
live from London every
night in news reports
that were broadcast in
America.
All the sources
‘Children were evacuated to places of
safety’
How far do the sources in this paper
support this statement?
Use details of the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Remember to identify the sources you
use. [12]
Bill Clark –Source 1
On October the 1st 1916, when I was ten, a
German air ship did reach near us in Edmonton.
It was brought down in flames nearby and
made headline news because it came so close to
the centre of London.
When there was an air-raid, we children loved
to see the search lights criss-crossing the sky
at night, and it was a highlight for us to see a
German aeroplane caught in one of them.
I remember one evening in particular when a
German plane was brought down in flames. The
brilliance and colour of the display lit up the
whole sky and my brothers and I were
mesmerised at the sight of it and thrilled and
proud at what we regarded as a mini-victory
for our country.
Our mother, though, did not smile. She simply
remarked on the sadness for some family,
somewhere.
Childhood by Bill Clarke, of a German
biplane swooping over Edmonton in
World War One.
With hindsight, as an adult, I of course feel
the same, and am ashamed of our childlike
reactions.
Bill Clark –Source 2
The Blitz wasn't the first time London
had been under attack, however.
In 1917 and 1918, twice as many people
used the Tube to escape the air raids as
did in 1940.
So many people remembered the bomb
shelters they had used 20 years earlier,
and headed to the same spots.
Bill Clark –Source 3
Map showing the sight of every
bomb that hit London between
September 1940 and June 1941
Bill Clark –Source 4
Bill Clark –Source 5
Some nice stories but I think the reality
was considerably less positive from what
my parents have told me.
I was one of the children evacuated from
Moston, Manchester, to a place called
Clayton Le Moors.
Evacuated from Southampton, my father
lived with 10 different families between
the ages of 13 and 16, hardly saw his
parents and effectively had his
education - and his self esteem destroyed by it.
I was never told by anyone where or why I
was going and remember crying and fretting
for my mother.
Some of the treatment he received
would be classed as child abuse today and of course, no checks were run on
people who took kids in.
From today's perspective, the whole idea
looks like an unbelievably stupid
overreaction.
Mark, London, UK
Although the couple who I stayed with
were really nice and had a beautiful home,
all I wanted to do was go back to my
mother and nana in our small terraced
house in Manchester.
It had an impact on my life and is one of
the most frightening things I experienced.
I will never forget it: I am now 76 years old
and it still sends a shiver down my spine.
Eileen Robbins (nee Perry), Launching
Place, Victoria, Australia
(Bill Clark) –Source 6
Story about Maureen Watts
When bombs started to fall it was terrifying
for a small child. I was woken in the night,
dressed, very reluctantly, and taken down the
garden to the Anderson shelter. Sometimes
the whole place shook. On occasions we stayed
in the house. The safest place was considered
to be under the stairs so we three squashed in
there while a raid was on.
Later, one night the house shook violently and
we could hear continuous explosions. These
turned out to be the ack-ack guns nearby.
My Mother and myself then went to stay at
Bedford with relatives. Dad stayed at home in
London. We moved from there and stayed with
a very nice couple.
Mum used to get furious and upset when the
Bedford people would stand at night and watch
the red glow over London as a spectacle.
Obviously Dad was right in it. We stayed in
Bedford almost two years. We then returned
home again.
Bill Clark –Source 7
Mothers in London demanding Nursery
education for their children so they
could go to work
All the sources
‘British People came together during
World War 2’
How far do the sources in this paper
support this statement?
Use details of the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Remember to identify the sources you
use. [12]
SOURCE 1 - Bob Davies
Another reason British people didn’t give up was because of how well
Winston Churchill rallied their spirits and efforts.
He inspired the people on to their own heroic efforts and “Their finest
hour” by his speeches. Churchill’s expertise at writing speeches brought
the British people together for a common cause.
Churchill was the embodiment of the British people’s determination to stay
alive and not to give up.
The real spirit of the Blitz was when the people came together and helped
each other .
Civil Defense Forces would help find people in bombed out houses, people
would take a homeless family in to live with them, and strangers would help
clean up around the city.
The CDF would dig for days in bombed out buildings if there was any
chance of a person being buried alive.
People didn’t give up because everybody helped each other which gave
them a determination to survive.
ORAL HISTORY FROM ANNE HARBERSON
SOURCE 2 - Bob Davies
VE Day Village Celebration May 1945 Coalpit
Heath, Near Bristol.
A school, a church and community celebrate
VE Day May 1945 with a party.
SOURCE 3 - Bob Davies
SOURCE 4 - Bob Davies
The Blitz witnessed the very important and dangerous
work done by Bomb Disposal Officers who dealt with
unexploded bombs – and there were many in London that
had to be dealt with on a daily basis.
One such officer was Bob Davies. He and his team gained
fame when they dug 80 feet into the clay soil and made
safe a 1000kg UXB that fell in front of St. Paul’s
Cathedral. Davies himself destroyed the bomb in a
controlled explosion on Hackney Marshes – the explosion
left a crater 100 feet wide. Had it exploded in Central
London, the bomb would have detroyed the Cathedral.
The media eulogised over his bravery as it epitomised
exactly what was expected in war torn Britain. Davies and
a colleague were awarded the George Cross even if certain
newspapers called for him to receive the Victoria Cross.
The Blitz Spirit at it finest – normal people doing
courageous things.
Davies story went wrong in May 1942.
SOURCE 5 - Bob Davies
Davies was court-martialled after being charged with large-scale
and systematic theft throughout his time as a Bomb Disposal
Officer.
He also got cash from the owners of some of the properties he
saved.
Davies also wrote out cheques knowing that they would be
defaulted.
Later investigations also revealed that the 1000kg bomb he ‘made
safe’ had no fuse in it and could not have exploded.
Davies was sent to jail for two years and released in 1944.
However, it was the media that played up the story as part of the
‘Blitz Spirit’: “These gallant men of the RE are many a time running
a race with death.” It was the type of reporting that the
government would have approved of, as its impact on morale was
very high. However, the truth was slightly different.
SOURCE 6 - Bob Davies
There was such poverty in the 1930s and the destruction caused by
the Blitz - all meant that there was widespread looting during the
war. In 1940 there 4,584 cases of looting in London alone. People
would come back to their bombed out houses to find their
belongings stripped from the rooms. The black market in stolen
goods and ration coupons was so widespread that the ‘spivs’ who
operated it became a national obsession.
When the ‘Café de
Paris’ was bombed
in March 1941,
thirty diners were
killed and over
eighty wounded.
In the immediate
aftermath,
survivors witnessed
people coming in
off the street and
looting property in
the café – handbags
were taken and
rings were removed
from the dead and
dying.
Comment on a BBC article
– Does the Blitz spirit live on?
16. At 08:00am on 07 Sep 2010, Lewis
Fitzroy wrote:
"No "The so called spirit of the blitz, has long gone,
like your local pub, jellied eels, pearly kings and
queens, local shops, and your friendly next door
neighbour. its all just a part of war-time history,
Today every-thing is very different in most parts of
the U.K. All new people from other countries with
no idea, or could not care-less about our history.
All the sources
This source quest has 8 sources.
It contains the highest level of
sources.
I advise you do not start with this
source quest.
‘British People were against the Nazi
Ideas’
How far do the sources in this paper
support this statement?
Use details of the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Remember to identify the sources you
use. [12]
Sam Ostro, was with 14 Jewish young men
who escaped Germany, their situation in
Leipzig was desperate. It was difficult to
get a visa to come to England. He arrived
at the hostel on 15th January 1939. He
felt that if the “hostel wasn’t heaven, it
must be next door to it.”
Freddy Godshaw – Source 1
The Godshaw family came to Welwyn
Garden City from Hanover because the
Zanders were here. They sponsored them.
Freddy says ‘I was born in Hannover, Germany the
youngest of six children born in 1923. Our family
department store was called Molling, my mothers
maiden name. All my brothers and sisters left Germany
between 1935 and '38 and I left with my parents late
in July '39. We came straight to Welwyn Garden City
were we had some friends and where the Quakers has
set up a hostel for German Jewish Refugees. I stayed
in that hostel for the first 2 weeks before my parents
moved in to a rented house’.
Freddy Godshaw – Source 2
Freddy Godshaw (Gottschalk) sailing
with his friend Peter Zander at the
camp
The outbreak of war resulted in
Freddy being interned on the Isle
of Man “with the intelligentsia of
Europe” which he described as one
of the most interesting periods of
his life. He had his 17th birthday
on the island and was released
after 4 months.
By the end of 1940, 14,000 ‘enemy aliens’ were interned on the Isle of Man .
Many of them were University Professors and other professionals and the camp included
such inmates as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, Lord Weidenfeld, Sir Charles Forte, the famous
artist Kurt Schwitters, and the concert pianists Rawicz and Landauer.
Slowly this traditional holiday island was transformed into an internment camp. Boarding
houses became barrack blocks and internees took part in local farm work, ran their own
newspapers, and even set up internal businesses.
Freddy described it as a great education.
Oswald Mosley was the leader the the
British Fascist Party. He started as a
conservative MP, switched to Labour –
and became very high powered. As the
Labour party failed to deal with the
effects of the depression he started
his own Party and formed the fascist
Black shirts. Modeled on the Fascist
leader Mussolini and Hitler.
By 1934 the BUF had 40,000 members
and was able to establish its own
drinking clubs and football teams. The
BUF also gained the support
of the Daily Mail.
They were strongly anti Semitic and
staged Rallies through areas of East
London – home to the Jewish
Community.
Freddy Godshaw – Source 3
Freddy Godshaw – Source 4
In October 1936 Mosley and the Fascists
attempted to march through an area with a
high proportion of Jewish residents, and
violence resulted between local and nationally
organised protesters trying to block the
march and police trying to force it through,
since called the Battle of Cable Street. At
length Sir Philip Game the Police
Commissioner disallowed the march from going
ahead and the BUF abandoned it.
Freddy Godshaw – Source 5
Juliet Gardiner, author of The
Blitz: The British Under Attack
2010
"The 30s had been a very difficult period,
with high unemployment, class antagonism
and industrial relations very bad. There
were strikes during the war and antiSemitism rather increased during the Blitz.
"People felt during the Blitz that they were
expected to take it, especially the working
class population, who got the roughest of
the Blitz because they lived near where
they worked, near factories or the docks,
and often in houses not very well built.
They felt they suffered a lot and the
government owed them."
In 1943 there were two major
stoppages, one was a strike of
12,000 bus drivers and
conductors and the other of
dockers in Liverpool and
Birkenhead. Both were a
considerable embarrassment to
the government .1944 marked
the peak of wartime strike action
with over two thousand
stoppages involving the loss of
3,714,000 days' production. This
led to the imposition of Defence
Regulation 1AA, supported by the
TUC, which now made incitement
to strike unlawful.
Freddy Godshaw – Source 6
NIGHTS UNDERGROUND IN DARKEST LONDON
The Blitz, 1940-1941*
GEOFFREY FIELD
There were reports and nasty accusations: that Jews
grabbed the best places in public shelters, that they were
the first to panic and flee, that they controlled the black
market, or that as shopkeepers they put prices up
There were also charges from Stepney’s black population
that they were discriminated against in shelters especially
by Jews and Jewish police. There were reports that
Jewish business men had been charging people for places in
the Air Raid shelters.
It was also reported that showed that anti-Semitic
prejudice was a good deal bigger in the suburbs and small
towns around the Outside of London where large numbers
of Jews had fled.
Freddy Godshaw – Source 7
Public demand caused the government in October 1940
to build new deep shelters within the Underground to
hold 80,000 people but these were not completed until
the period of heaviest bombing had passed.
By the end of 1940 significant improvements had been
made in the Underground and in many other large
shelters. Authorities provided stoves and bathrooms,
and canteen trains provided food.
Although only a small number of Londoners used the
mass shelters, as journalists, celebrities, and
foreigners visited they became part of the national
debate on social and class divisions.
Most residents found that such divisions continued
within the shelters, and many fights and arguments
occurred regarding noise, space, or other issues.
However – before the war fears of anti-Semitic
violence in the East End did not happen. Indeed one
observer found that the "Cockney and the Jew
[worked] together, against the Indian."
Freddy Godshaw – Source 8
Anti-Semitism in Britain by George Orwell
(article written during WW2)
THERE are about 400,000 known Jews in Britain, and in addition some thousands or, at most,
scores of thousands of Jewish refugees who have entered the country from 1934 onwards. I
start off with these background facts, which are already known to any well-informed person, in
order to emphasise that there is no real Jewish “problem” in England. The Jews are not
numerous or powerful enough, and it is only in what are loosely called “intellectual circles” that
they have any noticeable influence. Yet it is generally admitted that anti-Semitism is on the
increase, that it has been greatly exacerbated by the war, and that humane and enlightened
people are not immune to it. It does not take violent forms (English people are almost invariably
gentle and law-abiding), but it is ill-natured enough, and in favourable circumstances it could
have political results. Here are some samples of anti-Semitic remarks that have been made to
me during the past year or two:
–
–
–
–
–
Middle-aged office employee: “I generally come to work by bus. It takes longer, but I don’t care about using the
Underground from Golders Green nowadays. There’s too many of the Chosen Race travelling on that line.”
Tobacconist (woman): “No, I’ve got no matches for you. I should try the lady down the street. She’s always got matches.
One of the Chosen Race, you see.”
Young intellectual, Communist or near-Communist: “No, I do not like Jews. I’ve never made any secret of that. I can’t stick
them. Mind you, I’m not anti-Semitic, of course.”
Middle-class woman: “Well, no one could call me anti-Semitic, but I do think the way these Jews behave is too absolutely
stinking. The way they push their way to the head of queues, and so on. They’re so abominably selfish. I think they’re
responsible for a lot of what happens to them.”
Milk roundsman: “A Jew don’t do no work, not the same as what an Englishman does. ’E’s too clever. We work with this ’ere”
(flexes his biceps). “They work with that there” (taps his forehead).
Chartered accountant, intelligent, left-wing in an undirected way: “These bloody Yids are all pro-German. They’d change
sides tomorrow if the Nazis got here. I see a lot of them in my business. They admire Hitler at the bottom of their
hearts. They’ll always suck up to anyone who kicks them.”
Intelligent woman, on being offered a book dealing with anti-Semitism and German atrocities: “Don’t show it me, please
don’t show it to me. It’ll only make me hate the Jews more than ever.”
I worked as an instrument maker at a local
factory right through the war.
Freddy Godshaw – Extra Info
I tried to join the army but was rejected as I
was in a 'Reserved occupation'.
I left the factory as soon as the 'Essential
Works Order' was relaxed. It was illegal to
change jobs before then.
Went back to watchmaking and worked at
Rolex for a little while and than started my
own business first in Hatfield and later moved
the business to Welwyn Garden.
At one time I had 5 shops in various parts of
Hertfordshire and now my son is running the
business we still have four shops.
I first married in 1937 and had five children
and after my first wife died remarried again
and have now 10 grandchildren which are a
great joy to us.
I still live near Welwyn Garden and I am still
active in the business and also active in local
affairs first through Round Table and now in
Rotary.
Freddy Godshaw
Walter and Freddy Godshaw (Gottschalk) with their uncle Ernst Meyerhof;
London, England
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 1
Tadeusz Czerwinski
is buried in
Greenbank Cemetery
alongside British,
Italian and German
soliders and air man.
Tadeusz Czerwinski –
Source 2
Tadeusz Czerwinski was born on 17th February
1910 and joined the Polish Air Force in 1936, he
was serving as an instructor when war broke out.
When Poland fell in September 1939 he made his
way to France and joined the Armee de L'Air.
In June 1940 Czerwinski was serving with Groupe
de Chasse 1/145, flying Caudron C714's. On the
3rd he claimed a He111 destroyed, on the 8th
two Me110's and on the 10th a Do17. After the
French collapse, he escaped to England.
Czerwinski converted to Hurricanes and joined
302 Squadron at Leconfield on 23rd July 1940.
After the swift and successful invasion of Poland on September 1st 1939, many young
Polish Air Force fighters made their way to Britain. The Luftwaffe had full control of
the skies over Poland.
The Battle of Britain took place
between August and September
1940.
Germany was winning.
They had taken Poland, and moved
through Europe.
At Dunkirk the British army had to
leave France very quickly. They left
much of their equipment behind.
America had not joined the war yet.
Russia was struggling against the
Nazis and France was occupied.
Britain was on their own.
The Battle of Britain remains one of
the most famous battles of World
War Two.
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 3
At the start of the war, Germany
had 4,000 aircraft compared to
Britain's front-line strength
of 1,660. The weakness of the RAF
was the fact that they lacked
sufficient trained and experienced
pilots. Trained pilots had been killed
in the war in France and they had
not been replaced.
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 4
Battle of Britain is a 1969 film directed
by Guy Hamilton. The film broadly relates
the events of the Battle of Britain.
The film endeavoured to be an accurate
account of the Battle of Britain, when in
the summer and autumn of 1940 the
British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on
the Luftwaffe and so ensured the
cancellation of Operation Sea Lion - Adolf
Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
The film is notable for its spectacular flying
sequences, echoing those seen in Angels
One Five (1952) but on a far grander scale
than had been seen on film before; these
made the film's production very expensive.
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 5
The Polish Squadron was brought in to make up
for the lack of British Pilots.
It destroyed more Luftwaffe aircraft than any
other Hurricane equipped squadron and by the
time the battle had finished, 303 had the fourth
highest tally of all squadrons.
By the time the Battle of Britain had ended, the
Poles had shot down around 20% of all Luftwaffe
aircraft.
“The experience of seeing their homeland at the
mercy of the Germans had hardened the Poles
and they were regarded by fellow pilots as more
than usually concentrated and aggressive.”
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 6
The Germans targeted the Filton Airfield. One
night my uncle, Arthur Bailey, was sitting on top
of one of the air-raid shelters and got killed.
On September 26th The Polish Squadron was
moved from the south coast to Filton because
they were needed for protection of the airfield,
so they had a base here, which paid dividends. On
27th September I understand that blanket
bombing was supposed to happen over Bristol
again, but they were met by the Hurricanes so
they couldn't do it.
When I was a little older I can remember seeing
a dogfight between a Messerschmidt and a
Hurricane. The German plane had a French pilot,
and was doing a reconnaissance, and he had
pictures of Bristol's only power station down at
Broadweir. We caught him and shot him down.
This is a very vivid in my mind.
The sound of those engines stays with me - you
can't get away from the sound.
Story from Sheila Farr
Tadeusz Czerwinski – Source 7
The gratitude of every home in our
Island, in our Empire, and indeed
throughout the world, […] goes out
to the British airmen who, undaunted
by odds, unwearied in their constant
challenge and mortal danger, are
turning the tide of the World War
by their prowess and by their
devotion.
Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so
few. All hearts go out to the fighter
pilots, whose brilliant actions we see
with our own eyes day after day;
Speech from Winston Churchill 1940
The source gives the impression that…
Story
The Brays
Tadeusz
Czerwinski
Freddy
Godshaw
Bill Clark
Herbert
Mason
Mable
Mr George
Adolf
Bob Davies
Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4
Source 5
Source 6
Source 7
My overall
impression…