ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a characteristic remark that neatly summarizes the essence of the battle on the home front. At least 60,000 people, half of them in London were killed by enemy action, while 87,000 were seriously injured, and 150,000 slightly hurt. Until half-wav through the second world war, more women and children had been killed than soldiers. The widespread despair and panic have been predicted by the authorities before the second world war never materialized. On the contrary, people's mental health seemed to improve. The suicide rate went down, among both men and women, as did the number of admissions to hospital for 'neryous' disorders. Then the chapter presents some case studies on the people's mindset during the second world war and they are listed under various categories like the magazine editor, the stockbroker's daughter, children asleep during an air-raid alert, extract from the diary of a London man, the enemy alien and so on.
