How Things Changed In World War Two

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The start of shelters

As attacks on Britain and air raids were becoming common, especial  if you lived in a well known city so Anderson, Brick and Morrison shelters were made to increase chances of survival. Made to protect you from bombs nearby not direct hits. The different shelters were usually for where you lived like most people with Anderson shelters lived in houses and brick shelters were usually for flats or tenements. Anderson shelters went under tables and anyone could have one.  

Anderson Shelters

Anderson shelters were introduced at the start of the war and were mostly made from corrugated iron sheets, to help with the protection they were  also partly underground.it also had steel palates at either sides. Anderson shelters were used a lot during World War Two and many had them but some things you may not know about them was that they were very uncomfortable for reasons such as, they were very dark (but that was mainly due to blackout), they were often damp or wet due to weather which leads on to the next point they flooded very easily as they were partly underground and they may have protected you from bombs but it didn't protect you from the noise so sleeping in them (which was partly their purpose) was very hard. Sometimes in places that were not bombed so often or as bad didn't even use their bomb shelter and stayed inside and hoped for the best. Another reason that they were quite unpopular was that they were quite expensive. One and a half million were put up free to those who made less than £5 a week but for those who made over £5 had to buy one for £7, which at that time was quite a lot especially for not such a nice thing. Despite problems they may have had many did survive the war and did their job, unfortunately many have been taken down now.  

Brick Built Shelters

Another shelter that was fairly common was the brick built shelter. These were made from concrete and their width was two bricks deep, to give more power to the buildings they had a metal rod going between them. Inside there was usually a bench that ran around the outside of the wall. These kinds of shelters were often used for flats or tenements. Also in side their was usually a fire which was your fire and heat source. When you walked through the entrance you would notice that it was narrow, that was so less shrapnel could pass through there was also a turning to get to the main space to help with the shrapnel. So you could breath properly there were several spaces near the roof to allow in air. 


Unlike the Anderson shelter the brick shelter was more comfortable to be in as it was dry, more spacious and warmer. As there was more space people often did more like play games and talk.Some did sleep too though. Despite them looking very strong they also had their flaws so may sheltered in placed like the underground, many sheltered here and it was a good alternative to shelters.

Morrison Shelters

The final shelter that I will tell you about is the Morrison shelter. These shelters were made more for people with no gardens and named after Herbert Morrison was a very protective shelter. It was made with steel bar and mesh as another layer. It also like the other shelters could not protect you from a direct hit but could if the bomb was close. A study was done to show that 80% using a Morrison shelter survived without a major injury. More public things were used as shelters too other than the underground. Surprisingly something people used was caves these actually gave good protection . Something that was used by home owners or tenement and flat owners was basements and cellars these also worked well.