The 1940's were dominated by the War. For the first half of the decade Britain was under siege. Thousands of men joined up to fight in the services, hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated from Britain's cities to the relative safety of the countryside and life changed completely for the nation's women. They did their bit for the war effort, going to work on the land and filling in for men in Britain's factories. Britain's families were subjected to almost constant rationing and austerity throughout the decade.