Figure 1.--Here three boys are looking out the reain windiow at it leases the Portsmouth station, a few days after a massive Luftwaffe raid (probably May 1941). Portsmouth was ann imprtant Channelmport vand Royal Navy base. It was one of the last important Luftwaffe raids before the shift East to prepare for Barbarossa. They do not seem excited, but rather puzzled and worried.

Most of the children evacuated did not fully understand what was going on. Many considered it a great adventures and in particular did not realize that they would be separated from their parents for a considerable time. This was especially the case for the initial 1939 evacuation. One evacuee recalls,"We all thought it was a holiday, but the only thing we couldn't work out was why the women and girls were crying." 【Prest】 When the children had to be evacuated again, even the younger children were on to what was happening. One source reports, "Most evacuees have a vivid recall of events on the day of their evacuation. The images are of busy train stations, shouting officials and sobbing mothers." We see some tearful scenes at the train stations, but for the most part the evacuations were dome through the schools. And thus it was hear that they said good bye to their parents, but thy were with their teachers and schoolmates, so it was not so frightful if they were immediately being separated from all they knew. We do nit know whah was going through their minds. For the most part this is lost to history, although their are some published accounts written, although written years later. Basically what we have to go on is the expressions on the faces of the children leaning out of the train windows. What we see varies substantially. This can be very telling and is probably the best evidence of what was going through their minds. . Some children are excited and waving good bye and in a kind of holiday mood. Others were more reflective. Social class was a factor. Middle-class children were probably accustomed to train travel. Many working-class children were less accustomed to travel and the trains. From the beginning there was concern about the traumatic impact on the children. This was not generally apparent on departure and as best we can tell, the problems that emerged was less the result of separation from parents and more about who the children were billeted with.

Sources

Prest, David. "Evacuees in World War Two - The true story," BBC History (February 17, 2013).

Created: 8:18 PM 1/31/2024
Last updated: 8:18 PM 1/31/2024