Day 4: Another World War (1939-1945)
At the end of the 1930s, the world has been shaken once more by the start of another World War (WWII). World War Two started on the 1st of September, 1939 when an army from Germany invaded a country called Poland. Two days later, England and France declared war on Germany and WWII began.
Activity 1: An Eventful Experience
WWII was made up of many battles and events. Follow this link to read more about the timeline of WWII.
Choose two key events and find out some more information about what happened on those days. On your blog, write a short summary of two events, including the names of people involved and where the event happened.
- 3 September: Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany↙
In 1939, the Allied Forces of Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand responded to Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland by declaring war. Two days before war was declared, German forces had bombed Polish cities and towns, killing and injuring thousands. After the Germans failed to meet a deadline set by The Allies to retreat from Poland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced on radio: "I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and consequently this country is at war with Germany." This marked the beginning of World War II.
- 7 April: Italy invades Albania
In spite of Albania's long-standing protection and alliance with Italy, on 7 April 1939 Italian troops invaded Albania, five months before the start of the Second World War. The Albanian armed resistance proved ineffective against the Italians and, after a short defense, the country was occupied.
The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Activity 2: A Call to Arms 
Over the course of WWII, approximately 140,000 New Zealanders were sent overseas to serve in the war. Many were sent to fight in huge battles, including the Battle of the Atlantic that lasted for 2064 days (over 5 years)! The Battle of the Atlantic came to an end in 1943, in large part due to the heroic efforts of people like Lloyd Trigg, a pilot from New Zealand. He was awarded a special medal from the New Zealand Government for his bravery. It is called a Victoria Cross (‘VC’ for short). A total of 22 New Zealanders have been awarded VCs.
Click on this link to find a list of VC winners. Choose one from the Second World War, and read about him. On your blog tell us about him. Who was he? What did he do to earn a Victoria Cross medal?
Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham, 20th Battalion, 2NZEF
got awards on: 14 October 1941 and 26 September 1945
Charles Upham is probably New Zealand’s most famous soldier. His actions during the Second World War led to him becoming one of only three people – and the only combat soldier – to have won the Victoria Cross twice. he earned his first VC in Crete in May 1941, and his Bar at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942
Bonus Activity: Women at Work
Both men and women served in World War II. Many women chose to enlist as nurses and be stationed overseas caring for wounded soldiers. My nana was one of those nurses. She (Dorothy) spent much of World War II working on a large Red Cross ship that was stationed off the coast of Cairo, Egypt.
For this activity, you are going to imagine that you are just like Dorothy and that you are working as a nurse on a large medical ship.
One day you are walking along the deck of the ship when you hear a loud bang. You start to run as you see smoke coming from the far end of the ship. You run towards the room where your patients are waiting to receive treatment from the doctor. Just as you arrive at the door to their room you hear another loud bang and you…
Complete the story provided above. To earn full points you must write, at least, 8-10 sentences. What happens next?
BONUS POINTS: 20
One day you are walking along the deck of the ship when you hear a loud bang. You start to run as you see smoke coming from the far end of the ship. You run towards the room where your patients are waiting to receive treatment from the doctor. Just as you arrive at the door to their room you hear another loud bang and you immediately terrifyingly cry as you open up the door. As you were opening the door you saw your patients lying down coughing you could also see smoke coming out of the room as the smoke in the room got bigger and bigger you were trying to see if anyone was still alive.But you couldn't with all the smoke so you had no other choice but to run you were trying to run so quickly that you got to the front of the ship then you heard 2 loud bangs so you started to panic. But lucky you found a life jacket you Quickly put it on then straight away jumped out off the ship and tried to swim far away from the ship as possible. finally you were far away from the ship then you were watching the ship explode after that you were trying to find land but you got tired to so you fell asleep in the sea.While you were sleeping in the sea you suddenly had a bright light shinning in your face you could also hear someone saying you then you woke up and you found the sea captain holding a flashlight shinning it in your face then you found some of the patients and a nurse in a boat you got into the boat then you all headed back home.
THE END
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ReplyDeleteHey Hilary, thanks for completing the story where you pretended to be a nurse named Dorothy working on a large medical ship. You've done a great job using descriptive language as the events unfold. I like how it moves from one thing to another quickly. You've carefully conveyed the emotions that the nurse would have felt. As a reader, I was able to imagine I was there and see things from the nurses' perspective.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, keep up the awesome blogging Hilary!
Billy
Hey Hilary,
ReplyDeleteThis is Jade C from the Summer Learning Journey blogging team.
This is a good summary of the event that happened on 3 September 1939- 'Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany'. I can see that you have done some research and found out about the event. Wow you have used some complicated and sophisticated words like 'imperialist policies', Perhaps you could give me a definition or explain what that is, that would be great :)
Thank you for sharing information about Charles Upham, so far, you are the first one that I came across to write about him. Your description of him make him seem like one of the bravest and courageous person in the world - and he sure was!
I used to belong in the Upham house when I attended Macleans College. Upham house was named after Charles Upham, a New Zealand soldier who earned the Victoria Cross twice during the Second World War. I've read and heard a lot about him and his stories in the war. He was also very brave, smart, and courageous. He was considered as a legend of WW2.
Do you know any other soldiers who had received the VC? Do you have any family members who were involved in the war?
I'm looking forward to reading your other blog posts!
Jade C.