The Blitz, meaning ‘lightning’ in German, was a period of aggressive bombing, from September

1940 to May 1941 of civilian and industrial centres in England by the German Luftwaffe bombers,
organised by Hermann Goering and Adolf Hitler to soften the Army and cripple the RAF ready for
operation Seelöwe, the plan to invade and conquer Britain. The start of the blitz deeply shocked the
people of London because it was in broad daylight as people went about their daily toils on the
streets below. As a result, the people were not prepared, so 430 were killed and 1200 were
wounded. Hospitals were flooded. The raids continued every day for the next two months without
respite. This had a severe detraction on morale, so in order to remedy this, the anti-air gunners were
commanded to fire in the direction of the enemy whether they could clearly see a target or not. This
had the effect of increasing the public standing with the gunners, improving morale.

More information about: The Blitz.

Available:http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/the_blitz. Last accessed 20/04/2018.

Trueman, C. N. (2010). The Impact Of The Blitz On London. Available:

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two-world-war-two-in-western-europe/britains-
home-front-in-world-war-two/the-impact-of-the-blitz-on-london/. Last accessed 20/04/2018.

Conscription, the act of forcing a medically fit and healthy person to fight in a conflict, was
implemented for men aged 20 to 22, then it was expanded to include men aged between 18 and 41,
then to include all men below 60, with front line service being open only to those below 51. The
conscription age for women was 20-30. Conscription helped to greatly improve the numbers of
people fighting to save Britain from invasion.

Conscription: the Second World War. Available: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-

heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/conscriptionww2/. Last accessed
20/04/2018.

Rationing was a system devised to share food evenly and waste as little as possible. It involved
families only being permitted a certain amount of each product depending on the number of people
in that family. Although it was implemented during wartime to cope with the difficulty of importing
goods due to coastal blockades and Atlantic and channel patrols, it was not ended until the mid-
1950s. The ministry of food was set up to enact the rationing system on the people, which also
published books designed to encourage people to waste less and teach them how to maximise their
rations. This was abolished a few years after rationing.

Wilson, S. Rationing in World War Two. Available: https://www.historic-

uk.com/CultureUK/Rationing-in-World-War-Two/. Last accessed 22/04/2018.

I will use this information to assist in the production of my documentary, specifically the voiceover
that will help tie the production together. In addition, any information that is not covered in my
interviews will be picked up on the voice over using this information.