Wicked War - A rise in crime
Extract from Tough Times and Grisly Crimes
World War Two created numerous temptations for people who were normally lawabiding. Rationing of food, petrol and clothes made life on the Home Front pretty miserable. And, while hundreds of thousands of men and women were risking their lives overseas, there were some who were determined to try to get around the hardships by cheating the system.
One such crime was looting goods from bombed-out buildings. The Defence Regulations were introduced in July 1940 to clamp down on the thieves. By the end of 1943, more than 4,900 men, women and children had been caught looting. Some of the worst culprits were the men who were supposed to be protecting the properties.
