3rd December 1939: The Blackout

The moon is dying now, and the nights are black as ink. I am very nearly blind at night, and make my way through the streets full of pushing, jostling soldiers at considerable peril. I wonder if, as the years roll on, people will come to accept these ghastly nights as being quite normal?

Spent the afternoon and evening with Rose as normal.

Eric, like many other people in the early months of the war, was struggling to get used to the blackout, especially as winter approached. The blackout had been imposed on 1st September 1939 and the lack of street lighting or lights from buildings meant that roads became very hazardous at night. In her book 'Wartime: Britain 1939-45', Juliet Gardiner records that 'in the first four months of the war a total of 4,133 people were killed on Britain's roads, and 2,657 of these were pedestrians. Road fatalities increased by 100 per cent compared to the corresponding months in 1938.' (p.52)

1 comment:

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