Lord Ashcroft Survey: Most Young People do not Know Battle of Britain was Fought in the Air; Only One in Five Know What Happened on D-Day

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• Publié par: www-lordashcroftpolls-com
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• Langue: English

Extrait

Lord Ashcroft Survey: Most Young People do

not Know Battle of Britain was Fought in the

Air; Only One in Five Know What Happened on

D-Day

PR Newswire

LONDON, June 25, 2012

LONDON

,

June 25, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

Only just over two in five secondary school children know the Battle of

Britain

was fought in the air, according to a new survey conducted by Lord Ashcroft.

The research also shows that only one third of children know the Second World

War began in 1939, while only one in five know what happened on D-Day.

The survey of 1,000 children aged 11 to 18 throughout

Britain

was

commissioned to mark the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in

Green Park,

London

, on 28 June. The Memorial honours the 55,573 men of

Bomber Command who lost their lives during the Second World War.

The findings of the survey highlight the importance of ensuring that current and

future generations remember the sacrifices made by those who served

Britain

in time of war.

The survey found:

Only 34% of children - including less than half (45%) of those aged 17-18 - knew the

Second World War began in 1939. 39% knew it ended in 1945 (again including 45% of

17-18 year-olds).

While 92% of children could correctly identify a picture of Churchill the insurance dog,

only 62% correctly identified a photo of Sir Winston Churchill.

43% knew the Battle of

Britain

was fought in the air; 29% said it was fought on land,

and 8% at sea. 20% said they did not know.

Only one third (34%) correctly said the Battle of

Britain

took place in the 1940s, and

only 11% of these - about one in 27 of the whole sample - knew it happened in 1940.

Only a fifth of children had some idea of what happened on D-Day. The most frequent

answer was that it was the day the war ended.

86% correctly said there had been two World Wars. One in twenty thought there had

been three.

Nearly a third (29%) were unable to give any unprompted explanation of why

Britain

had fought the Second World War. This included more than a fifth (21%) of those aged

17-18 and a quarter of those aged 15-16.

89% correctly named

Germany

as an adversary in the Second World War. Only 15%

named

Japan

unprompted. Nearly a quarter thought

Britain's

enemies had included

Russia

,

France

,

China

, the

USA

,

Australia

or

New Zealand

.

Only 61% correctly named the

USA

as an ally of

Britain's

in the Second World War.

One in ten thought our allies had included

Italy

,

Germany

or

Japan

.

Offered four different explanations for what Bomber Command is or was, only 36%

correctly said it had been part of the RAF.

There was some encouraging news, however: 95% correctly identified the

Royal British Legion's poppy, and 84% knew what it signified.

Commenting on the findings, Lord Ashcroft, who made a £1 million donation

towards the new Bomber Command Memorial, said:

"It is sobering to find that so many children of secondary school age simply do

not know important facts about crucial events in

Britain's

recent history. My

own father fought in D-Day, and I was keen to discover how much today's

young people know of what happened just 70 years ago.

"I don't mean to criticise the children. We must all take responsibility for

ensuring that what we know is passed to the next generation. These findings

show we can never be complacent about our duty to remember.

"One of the ways we can do this is to build lasting memorials to those who have

sacrificed so much to serve our country. That is the purpose of the Bomber

Command Memorial, which I am proud to support.

"The Memorial is long overdue. Those who flew on countless missions over Nazi

Germany

and occupied

Europe

, many of whom were barely out of their

teenage years, knew the odds were stacked against them, and many did not

return. All of us should be thankful for the sacrifice they made to ensure that

we can all live in a free society."

Notes to Editors

1,007 children aged 11 to 18 were interviewed face-to-face between 15 and

23 May

2012

. The survey was conducted throughout

Great Britain

and the results are nationally

representative. For full details of the survey please go to

http://www.lordashcroftpolls.com

.

The Bomber Command Memorial is being dedicated and unveiled in Green Park,

London

, on

28 June 2012

. The memorial honours the 55,573 men of Bomber Command

who lost their lives during the Second World War.

Lord Ashcroft is one of three major benefactors of the Bomber Command Memorial,

alongside John Caudwell and Richard Desmond. Further details of the Bomber

Command Memorial can be found at

http://www.bombercommand.com

.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

KNOWLEDGE OF WORLD WAR TWO AMONG

CHILDREN

SURVEY CONDUCTED BY LORD ASHCROFT:

JUNE

2012

1,007 children aged 11 to 18 were interviewed face-to-face between 15 and 23

May 2012. The survey was conducted throughout Great Britain and the results

are nationally representative. For full data, please go to lordashcroftpolls.com.

1. I am going to show you some photos of some people you may or

may not be familiar with. For each one, please tell me their name. If

you don't know it, that's fine.

% correctly

naming

The Queen

100%

Jedward

97%

Wayne Rooney

92%

Churchill the

insurance dog

92%

Adolf Hitler

87%

Barack Obama

86%

Katie Price

82%

David Cameron

77%

Johnny Depp

75%

Marilyn Monroe

63%

Sir Winston Churchill

62%

Albert Einstein

57%

Nick Clegg

38%

Ed Miliband

35%

2. Do you recognise this? What cause or charity does it represent?

% correctly

identifying

Royal British Legion -

Poppy Appeal

95%

Comic Relief - Red Nose

90%

Help for Heroes wristband

53%

Marie Curie Cancer Care

daffodil

39%

AIDS Awareness/World AIDS

Day

32%

3. Why do you see people wearing Poppies in November each year?

[Unprompted]

To remember those who died or were injured defending

our country

77%

To raise money for the Royal British Legion

7%

Other

10%

Don't know

6%

4. Was the Battle of

Britain

fought on air, land or sea?

Air

43%

Land

29%

Sea

8%

Don't know

20%

5. In which decade was the Battle of

Britain

?

1900s

3%

1910s

2%

1920s

5%

1930s

10%

1940s

34%

1950s

2%

Other

3%

Don't know

40%

6. And can you tell me in which year?

[All those who correctly named the

1940s]

1940

11%

1944

17%

1941

12%

1945

14%

1942

11%

1946-9

2%

1943

11%

Don't know

22%

7. How many World Wars have there been?

[Unprompted]

One

3%

Two

86%

Three

5%

Four or more

1%

Don't know

5%

8. In which year did the Second World War begin?

[Unprompted]

1950 or

Before 1930

1930-38

1939

1940s

after

Don't know

4%

8%

34%

13%

3%

38%

Less than half of respondents aged 17-18 knew that the Second World War began in

1939 (45%).

9. And in which year did it end?

[Unprompted]

1945

Another year

Don't know

39%

21%

40%

Again, only 45% of those aged 17-18 knew the Second World War ended in 1945.

10. Why did

Britain

fight the Second World War?

To stop the Germans/Hitler

18%

Germany / Hitler invaded other countries

15%

Britain was bombed / to defend Britain

12%

Germany / Hitler invaded Poland

10%

Because of Hitler / Germany / the Nazis

5%

Innocent people were being killed / concentration camps

5%

Germany / Hitler wanted world domination / revenge for World War

One

4%

Other countries went to war against Germany / Hitler, and we were

allies with these other countries

3%

Hitler was evil

1%

Germany started a war

1%

A treaty was broken

1%

Other

3%

Don't know

29%

More than a fifth (21%) of those aged 17-18 were unable to give a reason why

Britain

fought the Second World War. A quarter of those aged 15-16 (25%) were unable to do

so.

11. Whom did

Britain

fight against

in the Second World War? And who

else?

[Unprompted]

Germany

89%

Japan

15%

Russia / The Soviet

Union

13%

Italy

9%

France

6%

China

2%

America / The USA

1%

Australia / New

Zealand

1%

Other

4%

Don't know

8%

12. Who were

Britain

's allies

in the Second World War? And who else?

[Unprompted]

America / The USA

61%

France

44%

Russia / The Soviet

Union

13%

Australia / New

Zealand

9%

Italy

7%

China

2%

Germany

2%

Japan

1%

Other

7%

Don't know

21%

Nearly one in ten (9%) of those in Year 13 (aged 17-18) were unable to name any of

Britain's

allies in the Second World War. 13% of those in Years 11 and 12 were unable

to do so, as were nearly a quarter (23%) of those in Year 10 (aged 14-15).

13. What happened on D-Day?

The war was declared over / Germany was defeated / Germany

surrendered

19%

Allied forces crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches

of Normandy / France was invaded

16%

A day lots of soldiers died

4%

Troops were brought home from the war / rescued

3%

A big battle

2%

Germany bombed / invaded Britain

1%

Other

6%

Don't know

50%

40% of those aged 17-18 said they didn't know what happened on D-Day.

14. During the last, just over 400 members of our

Armed Forces have died in

Afghanistan

. How many of

the British military do you think died during the six

years of the Second World War?

0 - 1,000

10%

1,001 - 10,000

20%

10,000 - 50,000

8%

50,000 - 100,000

8%

100,000 -

500,000

8%

More than

500,000

14%

Don't know

32%