London after the Blitz

This resource will help students to understand the painful experience many families endured in London during the Second World War, 1939 -1945. It also deals with the heartfelt decisions individuals made in leaving loved ones behind to find a new life in a foreign country. It is the oral history of Belle Johansson, a Camden elder who shared her experience of living during the blitz and losing six family members. She talked about the stigma of TB in her family after the war and hoped that “people will walk by each other, and they will not notice their differences. " Bell tells us about her great nice who wanted to be Doctor of Science and how the family struggled to support her financially with her studies. Her great nice later took the opportunity to fulfill her dreams by leaving her close-knit family behind to go to Australia to study. Bell concludes, “it was a great wrench when she went, for her and us.” The final narrative shows the family was able to meet up again in Australia, bringing joy to all. This two-page document and supporting archive images is perfect for older students to get an overview of history and shared life experiences and can help in writing narratives for a book, magazine, stage plays, and film. The resource is useful for parents and teachers for home teaching, helping to participate in interactive discussions with students about family heritage, identity, and belonging. Parents and teachers can also create their unique comprehension worksheets for students, based on issues raised in the narrative. Belle Johansson’s oral history was part of the Heritage lottery funded project, The Ones We Left Behind, produced by Lorna Holder, 2006.