91热爆

Video summary

This short film offers an overview of the events that led to Britain declaring war on Germany in 1939.

We hear from an eye-witness called Moya, who recalls practicing being evacuated and being issued with a gas mask the year before war was declared.

Moya鈥檚 account of her childhood should be particularly interesting for children of the same age.

The 鈥楧id You Know鈥 section looks at how people prepared for war.

Created in partnership with Imperial War Museums.

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Teacher Notes

This short film contains a number of great starting points for writing:

  • Your pupils could write a diary entry from the point of view of a British child during the war.
  • They could write their own announcement informing the country that Britain is at war.
  • Your class could prepare a newspaper article for the day after war was announced.

These were the words Neville Chamberlain, who was UK Prime Minister at the time, spoke when announcing the war:

  • 鈥淚 am speaking to you from the cabinet room at 10 Downing Street. This morning the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.鈥

Statement by the Prime Minister, 91热爆 91热爆 Service, Sunday 3 September 1939, 11:15

This short film is relevant for teaching history at Key Stage 2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2nd Level in Scotland.

The First News, 91热爆 National Programme, Friday 1 September 1939, 18:00. Image: Nazi forces enter Poland. Image 漏 Library of Congress

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