1939

January
The British Government had brought in the ARP (Air Raid Precautions)



Act, which made councils responsible for setting up safety



measures such as the blackout, air-raid



warnings and shelters to protect civilians.
28 August
London schoolchildren went back to school to take part in an 



evacuation rehearsal.
31 August
The order was given for the evacuation plans to be put into operation, 



and during the next four days nearly 1.9 million people were evacuated, 



including almost 1.5 million children, over half of whom 



were in school parties.
From the London area alone 376,652 children and their teachers, 



275,895 pre-school children and their mothers, 3,577 expectant 



mothers were transported out of the capital.
1 September
Hitler, Nazi leader of Germany, invaded Poland.
On the same day the National Registration Act was passed in 



Parliament, requiring all citizens of the country to register their details.
3 September
France and Britain (the Allies) declared war on Germany.  



British troops landed in France.
1940
January
Introduction of rationing 
Germany invaded Norway and Denmark and then moved into 



Holland, Belgium, France and Luxembourg.  British troops were 



forced to retreat across the Channel from Dunkirk.
8 August 



The Battle of Britain began with Hitler concentrated the attacks of 



the Luftwaffe (Germany Air Force) on knocking out Britain's air 



bases and destroying the RAF, ready to invade.
September 



Germany launched heavy bombing raids then began the Blitz, 



bombing London and other civilian targets.  The aim was to 



target factories connected with the war effort and to bomb 



civilians to destroy the morale of the country.Barrage balloons 



filled with gas were raised high in the sky, 



to stop low-flying enemy planes.
1941
Hitler stopped bombing raids on Britain and began 



attacking the Soviet Union.
The USA joined the Allies after the Japanese bombed 



Pearl Harbour naval base in Hawaii.
1942
US troops arrived in Britain.
The Luftwaffe began the Beadeker Raids, named after a series of 



Germany guidebooks, and aimed at Britain's historic cathedral 



towns and cities that had no military target.
1944
6 June D-Day (Normandy Landings): Allied troops landed all along 



the coast of Normandy, in northern France, and was soon pushing 



slowly but surely inland and moved into Germany.
Hitler launched the flying bomb - known as the V-1, commonly 



called 'doodlebugs' or 'buzz bombs'. This was a pilotless plane, 



loaded with explosive and launched from the French coast with 



enough fuel to bring it over London.  The engine would then cut out 



and the plane would nose-dive to the ground and explode on impact.
The V1 was followed by the more dangerous V-2 which was a 



supersonic rocket which made not sound until it landed and 



detonated its ton of explosive.
1945
7 May Germany surrendered to the Allies.
8 May VE Day (Victory in Europe)
14 August Japan surrendered.
15 August VJ Day (Victory in Japan) ended the war.