6. Londoners went about their business with gas masks at hand
Before the beginning of the Second World War, the use of poisonous gas through aerial bombardment was a very real fear of defense planners, and gas masks were designed for the wear of even the smallest children. Government planners also expected a sharp increase in anxiety-related mental disorders as a result of aerial bombardment, a belief reinforced by the unexpectedly high rate of “shell shock” diagnosed and reported among the survivors of the British Expeditionary Force evacuated at Dunkirk. A system of mental health clinics and emergency facilities was established to deal with an emergency which Churchill told Parliament could affect up to four million people. As the Blitz went on in London it was found that the opposite was true, and many of the facilities were closed since nobody was using them. One of the mental health professionals involved was Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud.
Londoners carried gas masks to work, on errands, in the pubs, and when touring the bombed-out areas of their city, which they did to such an extent that they often proved a problem to the rescue workers trying to dig people out of the rubble. Nearly all publicans reported an increase in business, probably because beer, though significantly weaker in alcohol content, wasn’t rationed throughout the war. According to polls, British morale remained high despite the pounding from the air nearly every night. Organizations and associations for the defense of the city were formed, with scouts guiding fire trucks to where they were needed, and canteens being operated in the shelters and among the ruins above ground, while other groups worked to find shelter for those displaced by the bombing.