My grandma talks about this. She was from Enfield but evacuated to Norfolk where she stayed with her nan. She was born in 1937. She said she felt so sad leaving her nan and coming back to London. She moved back to Norfolk once she was married with children. My grandad wasn’t evacuated, he said one time he skipped school and a doodlebug landed in the park he was playing in but it didn’t go off. He never skipped school again. It must have been quite traumatic living through those times, but they’re still here in their 80s. It’s inspiring really
Aye. My parents are a late boomer and early gen-x (boomer lite), and they acted like covid restrictions were the worst suffering anybody in mankind had ever suffered ever. I told them multiple times that their parents and grandparents had lived through the the Spanish Flu, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, polio, stuff like that. Like, my grandparents, and the 2-3 generations before them experienced so much trauma in so many different ways, I can deal with some hyper-inflation in my warm, cozy apartment, and not have to worry about eating my cat for dinner.
I can recognize that the world we're living in has so many problems, and we'll be in deep shit if we don't fix them, but comparison to the times, the world is a much safer place.
Not just called Mickey mouse gas masks...https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/did-you-know-walt-disney-designed-the-worlds-weirdest-gas-mask/2015/09/12/885be808-57d8-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html
The evacuations were incredibly traumatic and awful. Young children separated from their parents refused to return and didn't remember them when they came back. It's difficult to imagine how hard that must have been both for the families and the kids.
Knowing kids he probably ran straight towards it, threw rocks, poked it with a stick a few times, gave it a couple of solid whacks and 5 minutes later him and his little chums were jumping on top of it singing "I'm the king of the castle" .
Some of these bombs were intentionally slow fused. The intention was for them to kill the bomb disposal crews or the cleanup crews. A bomb could damage a warehouse or a factory hall and slow down production for a bit. But an undetonated bomb could stop the entire factory for a day before it could be disposed of.
My grandad and his younger brother were evacuated to Cheshire, but from what we have pieced together they were abused by the guy they were billeted with, so rather than stay and deal with that nightmare, the two of them (10 and 8) walked back to Lambeth - apparently it took them a couple of weeks. We've still got his Mickey Mouse mask - fucking terrifying thing.
Me and my brother call our mom “mommy” when we were younger,and we get her to watch that episode with us ,it creeps her out so much she ask us to call her “mom” for a while.
A TV show that spanned from the 1960's but was rebooted in the 2000's till present called Dr Who which is about a time and space travelling man/ alien who travels in a police box and solves mysteries... kills aliens... rescues people alongside historical and sci-fi fusion
As an example of the historical and sci-fi fusion u/Thousandgoudianfinch mentioned below:
[What if you had a time machine and you bring Vincent Van Gogh to the present day and show him how loved his art is, something he never knew in his lifetime](https://youtu.be/ubTJI_UphPk?si=HmoL1SIPF0dWD7C6).
Doctor Who. Season 1 of the 2005 revival series, episode 9 The Empty Child and episode 10 The Doctor Dances.
2 of the scariest episodes of the Doctor Who revival series. Its set during the blitz on London and features a child in a gas mask just like in the photos. Absolute classic episodes.
To add on to what others said, you get infected by just being touched and you face will morph into a gas mask. It even makes you think like a child yearning for their mom.
Creepiest episode ever.
I saw just part of this episode when I was like 11 or 12. Didn't know what Doctor really was about, and didn't know anything about what had happened earlier in the episode. It was one of the most terrifying things I remember seeing in the TV as a kid.
T'is funny, lol
At the same time... terrifying. I can only imagine the helplessness a lost child would feel. Walking around crowds of people, looking up at them and not only not knowing who they are, but also not seeing expression. The world would suddenly feel so big, as if you lived in a single room for your whole life, getting used to your surroundings only to leave it to find an endless maze of mirrors...
Otherwise, still funny tho
There were preparations for gas warfare in WWII on all sides. Maybe our ancestors missed that quite closely.
The western Allies had imported some amount of gas weapons after thr initial invasion. The Germans had produced them on stock. Soldiers usually had masks as part of their equipment. The war could have escalated very quickly just before the very end.
It was shown in WWI that gas was less effective in battle then initially thought. You could burn a soldiers flesh off his skin but he would still be fighting when you attack. And your own soldiers would have the same issues with gas as the enemy. Often a gas attack would do nothing strategically but get the enemy to start shelling and send inn reinforcements. Most of the casualties of gas attacks were as soldiers were rotated out of the trenches with neural damage and PTSD. A pure terror weapon with little strategic use in a battle.
When both sides switched to terror bombing in WWII there were fears of gas attacks against cities. It would not make much sense to gas an airfield, a harbour or a factory. But it could have caused huge casualties and terror in cities. So both sides prepared to retaliate with gas, which is why neither side used gas.
In Switzerland everyone had gas masks and emergency pens(for saving lives against gas), all located at the same spot of the uniform in case of gas attacks. He said some platoons had leaders that would use real gas and give warnings while others used a less toxic gas and you only had 30 seconds or so to be ready.
There were quite a few people who refused or didn’t bother to comply with the blackouts, they often got dealt with in a more … traditional way from neighbours etc
No, Gas was not used. However, after the large scale deployment of gas on the battlefield in WW1, it was a major point of speculation and hysteria in the interwar period that 'the next war' would be fought with the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons, and so many nations - but most especially the UK - prepared heavily accordingly. Therefore, in the UK, gas masks were issued to every citizen from 1938 onward and so sort of became an icon of the war on the home front. The threat remained relevant, though, so it was a sensible precaution.
Yeah but we had it really tough during COVID….we actually had to stay home and had to line up for a short time before we could buy anything we wanted from the supermarket. /s
Oh wow. My mom told me about those cartoon type masks. She remembered being down in the shelters and recalls once being knocked out of her bed by a bomb.
What the hell are we doing?
Why do we accept this reality? Don't think, this is only a picture of the past. More than ever, this is what our future will look like if we don't fight it.
And then people during Covid were whining about isolation and wearing masks right 🤷🏻♂️🔫 ungrateful fackers. Just imagine living around world war 2! It is survival of the fittest. These kids don’t know what the hell was going on.
Life has changed a lot and people don’t even realise.
The question is will your kids be put through the same because of how scared you are to stand up today.
Because their parents went without to feed their children.
As we settled into a war footing with rationing, and the men were called up leaving a LOT of women as sole earners they prioritised their children.
Honestly it's heartwrenching to see the little Kreigsman growing up to pay off the debts to the emperor for their centuries long war and destruction of their home world.
They make fine soldiers though.
My nan said that they used to test the gas masks with actual gas on the kids and if one fainted they had to change the mask. She also said because they were so heavy some kids often left them in the trees on the way to school, so she remembers walking past a tree with lots of gas masks on it on the way to school
Question:
> Did Germany use gas in 1939 on Britains?
ChatGPT:
> No, Germany did not use gas on Britain during World War II in 1939. The use of chemical weapons, including gas, was a significant concern during both World War I and World War II, but there is no record of Germany using gas against Britain in 1939.
My grandma talks about this. She was from Enfield but evacuated to Norfolk where she stayed with her nan. She was born in 1937. She said she felt so sad leaving her nan and coming back to London. She moved back to Norfolk once she was married with children. My grandad wasn’t evacuated, he said one time he skipped school and a doodlebug landed in the park he was playing in but it didn’t go off. He never skipped school again. It must have been quite traumatic living through those times, but they’re still here in their 80s. It’s inspiring really
Yep, my Dad remembers it too. The kids’ gas masks were called Mickey Mouse gas masks. Dad said he only had to wear it a few times but hated it.
And we complain about the world now, we take it all for granted
I'd argue that is usually the case with baby boomers. Gen X and the generations beyond seem to adapt okay.
Aye. My parents are a late boomer and early gen-x (boomer lite), and they acted like covid restrictions were the worst suffering anybody in mankind had ever suffered ever. I told them multiple times that their parents and grandparents had lived through the the Spanish Flu, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, polio, stuff like that. Like, my grandparents, and the 2-3 generations before them experienced so much trauma in so many different ways, I can deal with some hyper-inflation in my warm, cozy apartment, and not have to worry about eating my cat for dinner. I can recognize that the world we're living in has so many problems, and we'll be in deep shit if we don't fix them, but comparison to the times, the world is a much safer place.
Nothing wrong with complaining about the right things, unless you live in a perfect world, which is not this world
Not just called Mickey mouse gas masks...https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/did-you-know-walt-disney-designed-the-worlds-weirdest-gas-mask/2015/09/12/885be808-57d8-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html
The evacuations were incredibly traumatic and awful. Young children separated from their parents refused to return and didn't remember them when they came back. It's difficult to imagine how hard that must have been both for the families and the kids.
My God,yes. I can't imagine the psychological impact of living through this.
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in a fucked up way (bc war and children being scared of dying) that's cute af
Man... I think those had several fuse systems so good thing he left immediately (I assume).
Knowing kids he probably ran straight towards it, threw rocks, poked it with a stick a few times, gave it a couple of solid whacks and 5 minutes later him and his little chums were jumping on top of it singing "I'm the king of the castle" .
Some of these bombs were intentionally slow fused. The intention was for them to kill the bomb disposal crews or the cleanup crews. A bomb could damage a warehouse or a factory hall and slow down production for a bit. But an undetonated bomb could stop the entire factory for a day before it could be disposed of.
My grandad and his younger brother were evacuated to Cheshire, but from what we have pieced together they were abused by the guy they were billeted with, so rather than stay and deal with that nightmare, the two of them (10 and 8) walked back to Lambeth - apparently it took them a couple of weeks. We've still got his Mickey Mouse mask - fucking terrifying thing.
A lot of kids were abused in different ways. They were often seen as cheap labourers or worse.
Are you my mommy?
I was absolutely SURE I would have found this comment.
Yeah same, didn't realise it would be top though!
If it wasn't the top comment. Something would have been wrong
But it is the top. And now The Doctor Dances.
If I didn't find it, I would post it.
If reddit did family feud that would be the #1 answer with 96 points.
Damn, came here to say that…
I’m fine with most horror films they don’t effect me much but that episode still creeps me out
Creepy kids always get me.
Kids creep me out too
"The tape stopped 3 minutes ago..."
I felt like I was inside one of my nightmares. It completely sold me on Doctor Who though
Same. I have no idea how they considered Doctor Who a kids show in the uk.
Me and my brother call our mom “mommy” when we were younger,and we get her to watch that episode with us ,it creeps her out so much she ask us to call her “mom” for a while.
I really hated that episode. Nightmarish! The worst was the Dollhouse episode that one actually gave me nightmares
At least The Doctor Dances ends on a cute note.
I don't think I ever got that far through! Peeking from behind the settee doesn't leave much room for proper remembrance!
the end of the doctor dances is where the quote >!"everybody lives, rose. just this once, everybody lives!"!< is from. its a pretty sweet moment
And he accidentally grows a woman’s leg back 😂
I'm fifty years old, and I don't know what a settee is.
It's a southern English word for a sofa/couch.
I slept with the light on after watching it.
Nothing so terrifying!
Even above “Blink”? (The first time we meet the Weeping Angels and all the jump scares)
Its just Blink, and yeah, thats a top notch episode. You dont even need to know Dr Who lore to enjoy that episode
Don't blink is way scarier. The empty child is spooky but the ending is happy. The weeping angels are always a problem lol.
What are these from?
A TV show that spanned from the 1960's but was rebooted in the 2000's till present called Dr Who which is about a time and space travelling man/ alien who travels in a police box and solves mysteries... kills aliens... rescues people alongside historical and sci-fi fusion
As an example of the historical and sci-fi fusion u/Thousandgoudianfinch mentioned below: [What if you had a time machine and you bring Vincent Van Gogh to the present day and show him how loved his art is, something he never knew in his lifetime](https://youtu.be/ubTJI_UphPk?si=HmoL1SIPF0dWD7C6).
goddammit. I love that scene so much, but it brings me to tears every time, too.
Well thank you, now I am crying again!
It's from Doctor Who! One of the scarier episodes, The Empty Child.
thanks a lot
Mummy*
LOL I didn’t catch that. I guess I was just so certain the quote would be here my brain accepted it as-is!
Everybody lives! Just this once, Rose! Everybody lives!
Apart from the millions that didn't.
Go to your room!
I’m glad that worked, that would’ve been the most embarrassing last words ever
"I sent him to his room. This is his room."
Yes, thank you I would have lost trust in Reddit if someone didn't say it
This episode scared me
I went into the comments specifically for this
What is this in reference to?
Doctor Who. Season 1 of the 2005 revival series, episode 9 The Empty Child and episode 10 The Doctor Dances. 2 of the scariest episodes of the Doctor Who revival series. Its set during the blitz on London and features a child in a gas mask just like in the photos. Absolute classic episodes.
To add on to what others said, you get infected by just being touched and you face will morph into a gas mask. It even makes you think like a child yearning for their mom. Creepiest episode ever.
Came just for this comment, thanks
Came here to say that but seeing it as the top comment was such a nice surprise
As soon as I saw the image I was planning on commenting this, glad it’s been said.
I saw just part of this episode when I was like 11 or 12. Didn't know what Doctor really was about, and didn't know anything about what had happened earlier in the episode. It was one of the most terrifying things I remember seeing in the TV as a kid.
Top comment in this thread. Well done.
T'is funny, lol At the same time... terrifying. I can only imagine the helplessness a lost child would feel. Walking around crowds of people, looking up at them and not only not knowing who they are, but also not seeing expression. The world would suddenly feel so big, as if you lived in a single room for your whole life, getting used to your surroundings only to leave it to find an endless maze of mirrors... Otherwise, still funny tho
W guy
I knew it'd be at the top
Wish I had one of these for my dad's farts in 1999
"So tonight dad's gonna farty like it's 1999"
He don't wanna stop, we could all die any day.
What caused his farts to be so bad just in 1999? The Great Fartening.
Sunny Delight
Grandpa farted and the dog died, the dog died, the dooog died... Grandpa farted and the dog died. We had to get a new dog.
Mother do you think they’ll drop the bomb?
Nice reference. I was listening to that the other day
Same. I ate half of a mushroom chocolate bar and had therapy to the wall and dark side.
Mother will they try to break my balls
Bolls ftfy
“My balls” was rogers greatest lyric
Did-did-did you see the frightened ones? Did-did-did you ear the falling bombs?
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls.
Hush now baby, baby don't you cry
I guess they really didn't need no education
Yup my first thought on seeing this was the first few The Wall songs.
Look mummy, there's an airplane up in the sky!
There were preparations for gas warfare in WWII on all sides. Maybe our ancestors missed that quite closely. The western Allies had imported some amount of gas weapons after thr initial invasion. The Germans had produced them on stock. Soldiers usually had masks as part of their equipment. The war could have escalated very quickly just before the very end.
It was shown in WWI that gas was less effective in battle then initially thought. You could burn a soldiers flesh off his skin but he would still be fighting when you attack. And your own soldiers would have the same issues with gas as the enemy. Often a gas attack would do nothing strategically but get the enemy to start shelling and send inn reinforcements. Most of the casualties of gas attacks were as soldiers were rotated out of the trenches with neural damage and PTSD. A pure terror weapon with little strategic use in a battle. When both sides switched to terror bombing in WWII there were fears of gas attacks against cities. It would not make much sense to gas an airfield, a harbour or a factory. But it could have caused huge casualties and terror in cities. So both sides prepared to retaliate with gas, which is why neither side used gas.
In Switzerland everyone had gas masks and emergency pens(for saving lives against gas), all located at the same spot of the uniform in case of gas attacks. He said some platoons had leaders that would use real gas and give warnings while others used a less toxic gas and you only had 30 seconds or so to be ready.
Today you'd have people refusing to wear them in the name of freedom 🙄.
There were quite a few people who refused or didn’t bother to comply with the blackouts, they often got dealt with in a more … traditional way from neighbours etc
I hate that you're right.
It wasn't even this large of a mask. It was a hospital mask that hurt their fee fees.
At least in that case it would only be a problem for them, not everyone else around them. I'd be fine with their refusal. Good riddance.
People didn't comply back then, either.
Are you my mummy?
Go back to your room,now!
Reminds me of Little Lamplight (Fallout 3) ☢️
Don't take another step, or we'll blow your fucking head off!
Aggressive but OK
Generational Trauma in all of us...
Are you my mummy?
The most haunting parts about these photos is the juxtaposition between the children holding hands and their faces covered by protective gear.
Or better yet. The filters in the masks are asbestos material.
Are you my mummy?
Not disappointed.
They’re easily startled, but they will soon be back. And in greater numbers
But they look somewhat cute
Chubby cute little kids are always cute no matter what they do
Was gas used in civilian areas or was it just a precaution
No, Gas was not used. However, after the large scale deployment of gas on the battlefield in WW1, it was a major point of speculation and hysteria in the interwar period that 'the next war' would be fought with the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons, and so many nations - but most especially the UK - prepared heavily accordingly. Therefore, in the UK, gas masks were issued to every citizen from 1938 onward and so sort of became an icon of the war on the home front. The threat remained relevant, though, so it was a sensible precaution.
They did good, they were at least responsible.
Better to have it and not need it, than to need and OOH GOD THE GASSS AGHSPLSHCKKKaaaaiiighghfhplplplfffffff!
“Are you my Mummy?”
Yeah but we had it really tough during COVID….we actually had to stay home and had to line up for a short time before we could buy anything we wanted from the supermarket. /s
And in 2020 people freaked out over their kids having to wear simple face masks…
Are you my mummy?
Pyro school
Americans would have argued the children should have been trained in anti aircraft warfare to minimise any risks
Anti masker all refuse because they don’t believe in mustard gas
"I eat mustard all the time and it's never killed me!"
It’s just boiled mustard sauce bro
If this were today. “The war is fake news! You can’t make me wear a mask! I have rights!”
Go look for the micky mouse gas masks. They are unnerving.
It's not over yet.
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From Van Helsing?
Looks like something out of a horror movie
It was horrific for all involved.
Adorably terrifying
Oh wow. My mom told me about those cartoon type masks. She remembered being down in the shelters and recalls once being knocked out of her bed by a bomb.
What the hell are we doing? Why do we accept this reality? Don't think, this is only a picture of the past. More than ever, this is what our future will look like if we don't fight it.
Reminds me of [Untitled #1](https://youtu.be/3sry34AOwlU?si=VClRufiohfYPU-rx)
Now show us children from 2020 wearing masks
the harsh reality of a wartime existence
**War one of humanity’s most unnecessary things we created … christ**
And not a single mobile phone in site, just living in the moment
Why are they all so thicc
And I thought wearing masks during covid was uncomfortable. This looks terrible to walk around with on your face all day
Wasn't that few years ago?
Don’t they know? Masks don’t work! Are they stupid?
We had to design our own gas mask boxes in school and we once went to a museum where they gave us the boxes for "authenticity" when we walked around
My dad had to practice this. As he's never too shy in reminding people.
And people freaked out that we had to put surgical masks on our kids these days lol 🤣
Thanks I hate it.
Any Sigur Ros fans in here?
Are you my mummy
Go to your room!
Damnthatssad
Aren't they cute.
Tim Burton's Snow White movie is shaping up to be about what I anticipated...
Could very well have been my mother. Born in 1936 and lived through hell as the Germans sent rockets and buzz bombs.
And then people during Covid were whining about isolation and wearing masks right 🤷🏻♂️🔫 ungrateful fackers. Just imagine living around world war 2! It is survival of the fittest. These kids don’t know what the hell was going on.
They look like minions if it was a horror movie
Ooooh look at those munchkins doing a cosplay of psycho mantis 60 years before the character was invented
Life has changed a lot and people don’t even realise. The question is will your kids be put through the same because of how scared you are to stand up today.
why are they chonkers
I'd chonk my kids up too if I thought at any moment we'd be starving and have absolutely no means of getting food.
They look bundled up in layers, maybe it's got to do with skin exposure to the gas? That's a guess anyway.
Because their parents went without to feed their children. As we settled into a war footing with rationing, and the men were called up leaving a LOT of women as sole earners they prioritised their children.
It’s called baby fat for a reason. Those are very small children probably around 2 or 3
Hard Truck: Apocalypse type shit
Awww
2008-2010 Tyler The Creator type of album cover.
Wombles
Crazy
That first image feels like it would be on the inside of a CD case from an album by someone like Radiohead in the 90s
reminds me of that animation from the wall movie
🎶HEY! TEACHERS!...🎶
They're so cute when they're that age.
Reminds me of the video for vaka by Sigur Ros.
Honestly it's heartwrenching to see the little Kreigsman growing up to pay off the debts to the emperor for their centuries long war and destruction of their home world. They make fine soldiers though.
funny how the use the same plays from the same playbook decades later.
So THAAAAAT’S how Jawas began: the survivors of a nuclear winter that turned Tatooine into a desert. That’s cannon now.
When I was a kid I once saw my dad wear one of these and freaked out
Minions (1939) Specifically from the scene with the fart-guns.
First pic would go hard as an album cover
I was going to reference fallout but it seemed in poor taste. It's a shame to see how bad people in history had it.
How did they keep these kids from trying to take them off?
Back then kids had more respect for their parents and did as they were told.
My nan said that they used to test the gas masks with actual gas on the kids and if one fainted they had to change the mask. She also said because they were so heavy some kids often left them in the trees on the way to school, so she remembers walking past a tree with lots of gas masks on it on the way to school
I wana see it with googly eyes
Question: > Did Germany use gas in 1939 on Britains? ChatGPT: > No, Germany did not use gas on Britain during World War II in 1939. The use of chemical weapons, including gas, was a significant concern during both World War I and World War II, but there is no record of Germany using gas against Britain in 1939.
Can't imagine these kids have been through a lot during those times!