Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Wars and ConflictsΒ  permalink

evacuation as children

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by embeth12 (U13854676) on Monday, 2nd March 2009

  does anyone know how to find details of how the children were evacuated from london, was it by borough or school ? and how the destinations were defined

  Link to this forum: evacuation as children

  Report message1

• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by U3280211 (U3280211) on Monday, 2nd March 2009

  There were several evacuations, gradual returns followed by re-evacuations, depending on the type and intensity of threat (e.g. from conventional bombing, V1's and V2's.)
  
  Try Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ "Peoples' War" site (for many first-hand accounts); or google:-
  'Evacuation of Children from London, second world war, placement policy.'
  
  Attempts to keep siblings together often failed.
  
  I know a woman from London who was bombed-out and her father's place of work was bombed and completely demolished on the same day. She and her younger brothers were moved around from Reading to Marlborough then Swindon, ending up in South Wales. Each was billeted in a different town. Traumatic for the younger kids.
  
  Some had happy experiences, others became lousy and mal-nourished. Many people seem to have taken in kids for the extra ration coupons.

  Link to this forum: evacuation as children

  Report message2

• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Monday, 2nd March 2009

  embeth12
  
  The answer, almost inevitably, is both. School age children (5-14)were evacuated by school. Nursing mothers and pre-school by borough.
  
  The evacuation plans essentially followed the rail and road links, but depended on the capacity of the various reception areas to accept evacuees. This could lead to some curious decisions. For instance, Rye Boys Grammar School was evacuated to Bedford, but Rye Girls Grammar School (many of whose pupils were, of course, siblings of the boys) went all the way to Kettering. The South London evacuees who initially went to the South Coast, had to be re-evacuated after Dunkirk, along with their hosts.
  
  Evacuation was not compulsory, although all persuasion short of compulsion was tried, and evacuation went in waves - people drifted back after the initial evacuation phase, when nothing happened, then re-evacuated in late 1940 when the Blitz started. There was evacuation from London again in 1944 when the V-weapon campaign started.
  
  People also evacuated themselves under their own arrangements, and private schools made their own arrangements, usually with another school of the same type.
  
  Most councils have kept their records,and the PRO - sorry, National Archive - has the central government files. Some schools, especially the private and grammar school, also have their own records.
  
  This is a link to the Official History that covers evacuation policy:
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Link to this forum: evacuation as children

  Report message3

Back to top