IT’S hard to imagine caravans as anything but a way to escape on an affordable holiday, but the Second World War completely transformed them – and our travel – forever.
Before World War II, caravanning was a luxury hobby for the wealthy, with families setting off on adventures to explore the countryside.
Before World War II, caravanning used to be just for the wealthy[/caption]
The Caravan Club, founded in 1907, created a community for these well-off holidaymakers and provided a space to share and plan experiences.
But when war broke out in 1939, this all changed.
Holidays away nestled in the rolling hills of the countryside became a distant memory, as caravan manufacturers stopped production and families turned to prioritising their own safety above all else.
Yet, for The Caravan Club, this was a call to action.
Caravans were adapted to provide for the war efforts, transforming them into mobile first aid providers and libraries on the front lines.
It was the start of something that would revolutionise the leisure activity forever.
Sara Riccabone, who has helped to curate a new exhibition called ‘Pitch-up and Carry On caravans in wartime Britain’, at the National Motor Museum said: “It completely changed caravanning.
“While up until the 1930s, caravanning was a hobby for wealthy people that could afford to spend up to £500 on a caravan – which was an incredible sum for the time – after the war, when there was a lot of surplus material from war production, new manufacturers started to appear.
“Like Berkley, who used to be before the war, a furniture manufacturer. They converted their production to caravans.”
One such supplier that boomed post-war was Alperson Products, which used surplus materials, new resources, new technology and new skills, to create new caravans.
Then by the 1950s, caravan prices had tanked, opening up the hobby to the masses, and in the 1960s, the leisure activity was thriving with Brits caravanning as a form of escape, particularly from the struggle of the 40s.
Sara added: “Caravanning became hugely, hugely popular.
“And this was reflected by The Caravan Club as well, because while in the 1930s it had kind of a stagnation period with not many new members, during the war, especially in the first two years, new members joined at a rate of one a day.”
In fact, by 1947, The Caravan Club had over 4,000 members – despite petrol rationing still being in place.
“[The Caravan Club] offered an essential service, and I think the increasing memberships really reflects the fact that people saw the value in the club,” Sara added.
“People saw the potential of caravans and saw the value in being members of a club that was sharing advice, that was sharing conversation, that was helping newcomers.”
At this point in time, there were no official sites for the caravans, but The Caravan Club would send lists of places where people could find a safe place to pitch up.
“These updates were sent out throughout the war, so people had a constant list of places that they could go, where they could find refuge, where they could escape the cities.
“So they offered an essential service, and I think the increasing memberships really reflects the fact that people saw the value in the club.”
Though Sara confessed that The Caravan Club may not have been solely responsible for the hobby’s post-war boom, she did admit that the club’s reactive approach showed how amazing it was to be a part of the community.
“I think the UK was a particularly fertile ground for this kind of development in a way.
“With big cities being rebuilt, people felt the need to escape them and then move to the countryside for a holiday,” she said.
The Caravan Club showed throughout the war how caravanning was a community and that different uses were easy to achieve.
For example, advice issued by the club during the war included how to keep warm, improve storage and even how to camouflage caravans – advice that also helped caravanners post-war.
And even The Caravan Club’s vice president, Mrs. O’Lear, got involved in the war effort by transforming her four caravans into touring first aid posts for the Red Cross, showing how caravans could be repurposed to help those in need.
Sara shared: “She completely converted the interiors, she had accommodations for people that were hurt, she stored a lot of emergency kits, she had kettles for hot boiling water to make sure she could disinfect wounds and equipment.
Many were transformed for different uses including becoming first aid posts[/caption]
Following the war, caravans then became cheaper opening up the hobby to the masses[/caption]
“She was based in Leamington in the Midlands, and when Coventry was hit by air raids particularly bad, two of her caravans were immediately moved there by her and some nurses of the Red Cross that worked with her.”
Many other caravans were used as canteens to reach workers in different locations and libraries to supply soldiers with books as well.
Some manufacturers were even commissioned by the government to create dentistry vans.
Sara explained: “Not only the government in general, but even the military was incredibly influenced by the Caravan Club trying to promote caravanning as an incredible, versatile solution for a lot of issues.”
All of these new versions of caravans were a far cry from pre-war ones with a lounge area that could be converted into sleeping quarters and a small kitchen area.
Sara said: “When production swapped this quickly, manufacturers realised that there was a huge versatility and a huge potential in caravans because it was a fixed structure that could be adapted to all possible uses.
The Caravan Club, which contributed to this, has since grown in memberships to over one million people today[/caption]
“And similarly, they discovered that so many more materials could be employed in manufacturing of caravans.”
These different uses didn’t just cease post-war either, as many caravans were also used as temporary housing solutions once the war had ended.
Eventually, caravans were also advertised as permanent living accommodation too.
By the 1960s, all that happened to caravanning during the war had helped to make it a thriving leisure hobby.
Different uses for caravans in the war inspired new designs, alternative and surplus materials also made the hobby cheaper and ultimately, the public were shown how accessible and beneficial an escape the country was.
In the decades following the war, more campsites and caravan sites then emerged to accommodate the growing number of caravanners.
Today, the hobby still thrives with The Caravan and Motorhome Club (as it is now known) having over 1.1 million members across the UK.
The exhibition will take place at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu between September 13 and July 1 2026.
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Today, thousands of Brits go on caravan holidays each year with the UK now being home to vast network of official camping and caravans sites[/caption]