Around half of the 1939 evacuees were back in their homes by Christmas, driven partly by homesickness and partly by the fact that the expected air raids had not taken place. A second wave of evacuation took place with the start of the blitz on London in 1940. A third wave occurred in 1944 with the start of the V1 & V2 rocket attacks directed at London, and at the homes in the counties around London.

By 1940 till the end of the war, learner drivers could drive alone without 'L' plates. White lines were painted down the centre of the road to guide drives in the black out they are a modern legacy of World War Two.

Bath water throughout the UK was restricted to a depth of five inches or 130mm.

The ending of the black - out was an anti-climax. So called 'half lighting' - the end of the compulsory use of black out curtains began on the 17^th September 1945, by December trains became almost fully lit and car headlamp masks were abolished on the 27^th December 1945.

The black - out came to a final end on Monday 24^th April 1945 except for an inland belt near the coast. The joy of the end of the black out soon became tempered by power cuts and demands for energy saving by the government.

Between September 1944 and April 1945 it became legal to buy a full-scale map, have a wireless (radio) in a car, sleep in a non - camouflaged tent, sound a factory hooter, release a racing pigeon without police consent.

1944 witnessed the first operational success of a jet aircraft when a Gloster Meteor shot down a flying bomb (V1) from the RAF's 616 squadron.

VE Day itself began wet, following a violent thunderstorm in the night. For many, VE day was known as VQ Day because of the endless queues for food and provisions.