A day in the life activity

How do we know what happened during WWII?

As well as pictures, diaries and journals are an important source of information for historians. Much of what we know about the dramatic events of the night of June 23rd, 1941 comes from the diary of Amelia Broadberry.

 

Read through the first 3 pages of the diary, and then find evidence of the following:

• The time of the crash
• How close the crash was to the house
• What tools and supplies the Broadberrys took to the crash
• The time the ambulance arrived
• The extent of the airmen’s injuries

In groups, briefly discuss how useful the Broadberry’s diary is for investigating what happened. Ask yourselves if a diary is more useful than:

 

• A newspaper report
• An official report from the Royal Air Force
• A conversation with someone who heard a story about the crash

Extension

Your task is to write ‘a day in the life’ for a dramatic or interesting event that you were involved with or witnessed, or recount an event from WWII as if you were there. Remember that different types of writing require different styles, and for this ‘recount’ text you’ll need to think about:

• Audience
• Text level
• Sentence level
• Word level