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Activities for Community Groups: Armed Forces

These activities are designed to be introduced by youth workers and other leaders of children's and young people's groups. They can be used as part of learning activities, drama presentations and community work.

These activities draw on story extracts from the Archive. Story extract titles appear in bold in the activities below, eg A Child Remembers the Outbreak of War. These extracts can be found in the Story Extracts file.

The RAF

Activity 1

Divide the young people into groups of four. Ask the groups to read together the poem Night Flight to Turin in the accompanying Story Extracts file. Discuss where Turin is and why it would have been an important target for the Allies to bomb. Think about the fact that Turin was one of Italy's industrial towns, and that therefore the bombs could damage the enemy's war effort. Read the factfile about the Dambusters Raid in 1943 in the Timeline and tell the story as if it were an adventure story.

Task Sheet

Split the young people into smaller groups and ask them to compose a song or write a poem to describe the feelings of the men in this squadron. The songs or poems could include details such as:

What type of bombs the planes carried
What the Dambusters' mission was
Who the commanding officer of the raid was
What happened on the raid
What impact the raid had on the war effort

The groups can then present their poems or songs.

The Army

Activity 2

Ask the group to read the extracts about the Army listed on the Story Extracts page. Give them the fact files covering D-Day (1944) and the Italy Campaign (1943) from the Timeline.

Now ask the group as a whole to agree on six or seven categories - like Bafta award categories - relating to what makes a good documentary film. You could consider categories such as historical knowledge, sensitivity towards subject matter, and the extent to which the documentary maintains the interest of the audience. Tell the young people that they are going to present their own documentaries in this activity, and that afterwards you will have a Bafta-style award ceremony (although acceptance speech time will be limited). Ideally, each group will then receive some type of prize or certificate.

Task Sheet

You to have to produce your version of a television documentary about D-Day, the Italy campaign or the North Africa campaign, which you will be asked to act out and present.
Assume that the extracts you have just read were written as if the veterans had been interviewed by you for your documentary.
You must also find an extract from at least one other story from the British Army category.
You should remember that the aim is to inform your audience about what happened (the other members of the group you are part of the audience, or invited guests). This means you need to include facts, extracts and images/film.
You should think about your audience, and make your explanation and presentation clear and concise. You must also retain their attention - you need to entertain and not bore the audience.
You should use a variety of presentation media to display key points - for example role-play, a single presenter and PowerPoint, and images and video extracts.
You could make use of the World War Two section at bbc.co.uk/history for additional research.

The Navy

Activity 3

Divide the young people into groups of four. Read the Tirpitz Sunk (1944) fact file in the Timeline and the stories X-craft, the Tirpitz and Inadequate Tow Ropes in the accompanying Story Extracts file. Then give each group the task sheet below.

Task Sheet

Imagine you are the wartime prime minister Winston Churchill. Use the information from the extracts, the factfile and the additional story to write diary extracts he might have written about the sinking of the Tirpitz. You must consider the following points:

Why was it important for the war effort to sink the ship? (Link this to the home front.)
What training did the men undertake?
What were the plans to sink the ship?
What happened in reality?
How could the event be used to boost morale?
What was the human cost of this event?

You will each be expected to read out a section of the diary extracts you have written as if you were reading them on a radio show. You could look at bbc.co.uk/history to find out a little more about Churchill if you wish, but the main purpose is to examine the sinking of the Tirpitz.

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