Why did the English carry boxes during WW2?

It was probably the gas mask. Everyone in Britain was given a gas mask in a cardboard box, to protect them from gas bombs, which could be dropped during air raids.

What were the boxes people carried in home fires?

In Season 2, a great many of the characters (both female and male) carry what appear to be rectangular cardboard handbags with a string shoulder-strap. No one ever refers to them or opens them. I’m sure these bags are something that everyone alive during WW2 would have known a bout, but they remain a mystery to me.

How many children died in the UK in WW2?

7,736 children
At the start of the Blitz, London was attacked on 57 successive nights and later there were heavy raids on other major cities and ports. During the Blitz 7,736 children were killed and 7,622 seriously wounded. Many children were orphaned or lost brothers and sisters.

Why did they have to wear gas masks in WW2?

To protect civilians from the effects of dreaded gas raids, respirators were issued to the entire population. Gas played a major role in the First World War, meaning that in 1939 a lot of men carried the horrible memories of the horrors of a gas attack.