Home Front

Home Front — page 1 — HOME FRONT Introduction More than any previous conflict World War II involved entire populations People living at home far from the fighting faced shortages and whole communities were mobilized to support and pay for the war effort world War II was a highly provide materiel for the Allies U S technological conflict It President Franklin D Roosevelt said depended on the production of arms and that he wanted to make the United ammunition together with tanks fighter States the arsenal of democracy aircraft ships and submarines From the start of the war whichever side 1 Forms of Propaganda could produce more materiel a word With so many men called into military that describes all military equipment service it was necessary to find new would have an advantage workers to keep industry functioning As the war began whole economies Millions of women in all combatant were converted to military production countries found themselves working in Normal peacetime activity virtually factories or shipyards or on farms For disappeared The military had priority many the change was welcome they for scarce resources nylon and silk for escaped the home and enjoyed making clothes for example was diverted to friends with their colleagues they had make parachutes and military uniforms their own income for the first time At The resulting shortages were usually the end of the war when returning controlled by means of rationing that soldiers reclaimed their jobs many limited individuals to strict allocations women found it difficult to return to a of new goods Food too was rationed role as a traditional housewife increasingly throughout the war Britain Changes in women's roles also which depended on imported food impacted children Some had their lives imposed rations from early in the war disrupted by being evacuated from their Germany and Japan which both started homes to places at less risk of bombing the war with more generous allowances Others were pressed into military ran dangerously short of food near its service All suffered the same shortages end when they were facing defeat dangers and upheaval to their normal lives as the rest of the population Arsenal of Democracy In the United States rations were relatively generous Even before the This U S poster shows a woman working in a factory while she thinks of country officially joined the war in her husband on the battlefield It makes a December 1941 however industrial direct link between success on the front production had been geared up to line and industrial production home 4 at

Home Front — page 2 — WORLD WAR II SOURCEBOOK E THE GIRL HE LEFT BEHIND IS STILL BEHIND HIM Shes a WOW WOMAN ORDNANCE WORKER

Home Front — page 3 — HOME FRONT HELP BRITAIN Industry DEFEND AMERICA More than any previous conflict World War depended on industrial production All countries involved dedicated their factories to manufacturing the goods needed for victory The most important products included aircraft and tanks artillery weapons and ammunition But countries also needed huge numbers of ships and military vehicles along with goods to make sure that civilians on the home front lived reasonably well SPEED PRODUCTION Industry in the United States In the United States the demands of the war finally ended the effects of the Great Depression that had begun in 1929 When the war started in Europe in September 1939 more than 15 per cent of U S workers were still unemployed a normal unemployment rate today is about 5 per cent Even before the United States entered the war some Americans wanted U S industry to help the Allies Britain France and others in Europe LIBERTY SHIPS When German U boats sank British cargo ships U S shipyards produced thousands of vessels to replace them These so called liberty ships were manufactured in a process that engineer Henry Kaiser based on assembly lines in the car industry The ships had standard parts that could be put together by workers with little experience induding many women The speed of assembly rose quickly by the middle of 1942 it took only 80 hours to build a ship and three were being completed every day The Allies were building cargo ships far quicker than the German navy could sink them The liberty ships 2 700 were produced in all helped ensure that the British would not be starved into surrender Liberty ships near completion at a shipyard in California in 1943 The ships panels were joined by welding which was far quicker riveting 6 than

Home Front — page 4 — INDUSTRY BIG GURS OF THE HOME FRONT ACTION STATIONS Everyone This poster was created to encourage industrial workers in Canada Before the United States entered the war in December 1941 Canada was Britain's main supplier of war 7 materiel

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