*** war and social upheaval: World War II air campaign -- British evacuation of children reception








World War II British Evacuations: Reception--Host Families and Communitites (September 1939)


Figure 1.--Here are Manchester children who have just arrived in Blackburn (September 8, 1939). The women are probably their school teachers. The children are dressed for a warm sunny day so it suggests that the summer of 1939 was a warm one. Boys and girls were ankle socks. Most of the boys were short trousers, jackets and some boys are wearing their school caps. For many inner city children, their school outfit was their dressup clothes.

Communities all over Britain prepared reception areas for the evacuess. These were usually church halls, schools, and various public buildings. The children who arrived mostly by train were gathered together at the reception areas. Here there billeting assignments were made with local families. Post cards were sent home informing each family where the children were staying. The vast majority of the children evacuated were sent to the safe towns not believed on the Luftwaffe target list or to the English countryside, usually to live with individual families who volunteered to care for them. Accompanying the children to supervise their care went about 100,000 school teachers. A family had to be found to take in each of the evacuee children. Some of the matches are a matter of legend. In some cases some of the poorest children in Britain from the inner city slums of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow found themselves living with aristocratic families in oppulent mannor homes. A good example of reception can be found in newspaper accounts of Manchester children. Mamchester was a major industriasl city and sure to be targeted by the Luftwaffe. Some of the children were evsacuated to nearby Blackburn. A Blackburn reader has consultef 1939 newspapers and found details about how the Manchester children were received and billited in Blackburn. The evacuees attended the local schools. An example of the schools that took in evacuee children was the Kirkmichael School in Ayrshire which hosted children evacuated from Glasgow.

Evacuations

Britain wa not prepared for war, it was prepared to evacuate a ewhole generation of children from the industrial cities that the Germans were believed to be targeting. The Government designated Six cities as vulnerable to German bombardment. There were an estimated 1.9 million in the major cities. Evacuation was not mandatory. Many mothers could not bear to sepazrate themselves from the children. School children were not the only group to be evacuated. Operation Pied Piper moved over 0.8 million schoolchildren, more than 0.5 mothers and pre-school children, a relstively small number of expectant mothers, 0.1 million teachers and a few handicapped people. British children and the other designated individuals gathered for evacuation (September 1939). It was a huge undertaking. In London alone there were 1,589 assembly points for the children. Here the parents turned over their children. Many children did not want to go. Others saw it as aeat adventure. They were thun funelled to rail stations. Operation Pied Piper was the largest evacuation of children in history and amazingly carried out in just a few days. The succedss of the operation was in large measure due to the organization of the Women's Volunteer Services (WVS). The VMS volunteers got the children out of the cities, but this is not to say the operation went smoothly. A major problem was the uncertainty of the registration process. Authorities did not really know how many children to expect. The operatiojn began smoothly, but the volunteers at the city train staintons were soon gathering the children into groups and putting them on whatwever train arrived in the station. The priority was to get the children out of London and the big cities. The volunteers on the other end of the orocess wouuld ghave to cope. Many were too young to really understand what was happening to them. Many of the children saw in as a lark and assumed they wsoukd soon be back home. The older children had a bettwr udea of what was happening. All had no idea of where they were headed, Most did not realize that they could be split from their brothers and sisters.

Train Trips

Plans to keep school and family groups together were impaired by the need to separate the children in the transfer from mainline trains to local transport to small towns and villsges. The length of the trips varied. Some were quite short. Other children were on the train 6-7 hours. Given the fact that they had gotten up early and spent time getting to the statiions anf getting on trains, the children were tired, hungasry, and emotionally drained by the time they got to bthe receptionb centers. There they faced another ordeal.

Reception Areas

Getting children out of the cities was just the beginning of the evacuation process. Communities all over Britain prepared reception areas for the evacuess. Given the number of children and the time frame, the evacuation went amazingly well. There were of course some problems. Some reception areas were overwhelmed with the number iof children arriving. East Anglian ports received many children evacuated from Dagenham. Some reception areas received far more evacuees than they expected. Other received fewer or in some cases no evacuees. Anglesey was told to prepare for 625 children and 2,468 arrived. Pwllheli in North Wales, was not told ton prepare for any evacuees, but 400 arrived. These incidents, however, were the exceptions. The children who arrived mostly by train were gathered together at the reception areas. They were taken to church halls, schools, and various public buildings. Here there billeting assignments were made by VMS volunteers to local families. This process varied from community to community. The Government did not issue instructions on assigning billets. In the press of thousands cof childrren arriving, the VMS volunteers adopted two basic approsches. One was a kind of haphazard allocation with the VMS volunteers assigning the children to their new homes. Two was allowing the local fasmilies to select their evacuees. Most were seected by the householders who came to the reception sites and picked out their evacuees they wanted. The children were gathered in a town or church hall. The families then came to collect their child. The good looking children were commonly picked first. Then the stronger children who looked like they might be useful were selected. While most of the host families volunteered, if there wre children left over, the authorities began cooercing families with large homes. Some children were taken door to door. One source describes "Scenes reminiscent of a cross betweenan early Roman slave market and Selfridge's brgain basement ensued." [Calder] Children were sent off with complete strangers. This took place for the most part with out the emotion when they left their parents.

Families

Families had to be found to take the evacuee children. The children were not briefed on what was happening by authirities. Some parents explained the process as best they could. Often they were not entirely sure themselves. Others did not explain it to the children. Many of the children were not old enough to understand. One of the greatest shocks to the children is that many of the younger omes did not appreciate that they would be living with strangers. Most of the host families volunteered. Post cards were sent home informing each family where the children were staying. There was a good deal of adjustment involved. The children expected their new hists to behave like their parents. And the hosts and defenite ideas about how children should behave. Many of the hosts were older adults wsho bhad already raised children and thus had space for the new arrivals. Other children were taken in by childless couples, The experiences of the children varied widely. There were many loving host families. There were also strict host families which traumatized the children. And of course all graditions in between. Some of the matches are a matter of legend. In some cases some of the poorest children in Britain from the inner city slums of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow found themselves living with aristocratic families in oppulent mannor homes.

Residentyial Facilities/Children's Homes

Most of the evacuee children were taken in by families. There were also homes that took in the children. Here our information is still very limited. We do not know much about these homes. They may have been children's homes that already excisted and they took in extra children. Some may have been organized for the emergency. We have been unable to find much information on these children's homes and just how important they were in caring for evacuee children. We are also not sure about the groups opening and supporting these homes. We do know that funding drives in America helped support these homes. We would be interested in any information readers may have about this subject. Nor are we sure about just which children were sent to these homes rather than assigned to families. Age may have been a factor.

Villages and Countryside

The vast majority of the children evacuated were sent to the safe towns not believed on the Luftwaffe target list or to the English countryside, usually to live with individual families who volunteered to care for them. The children involved experienced probably the shock of their lives. The greatest shock of course, espedcially for the younger children, was being separated from their parents. But the change in the environment was probably akin to life on a new planent. Countless working-class children went from a grimy city slum to a lovely country village surrounded by idelic fields and fresh air and sunshine. But this was only one set of experiences. For many the experiences was less idealic. Britain had slums where people did not have ruuning water. Britain was, however, not a poor country. There was a large, affluent middle-class whose children lived in comfortable homes. These children were among the evacuees. For these children, the way of life they found in the countryside seemed quaint if not primitive. They were unprepared for outdoor latrines or the lack of running water.

Social Class

Social class has a significant impact on the evacuees. While some slum children found themselves in affluent surroundings. the opposite rarely took place. This was because affluent parents almost always made their own arrangements. Children at private schools based in the cities or in the vulnerable south tended to moveed to available manor houses to the north in the countryside. Thus these children were often kept together.

Small Towns

Not all the children were sent to the countryside. Many were sent to small towns of no industrial importance. A good example of reception can be found in newspaper accounts of Manchester children. Manchester was a major industriasl city and sure to be targeted by the Luftwaffe. Some of the children were evsacuated to nearby Blackburn. A Blackburn reader has consultef 1939 newspapers and found details about how the Manchester children were received and billited in Blackburn.

School

Accompanying the children to supervise their care went about 100,000 school teachers. Many were members of the Woinen's Volunteer Services (VMS). The evacuees attended the local schools. An example of the schools that took in evacuee children was the Kirkmichael School in Ayrshire which hosted children evacuated from Glasgow. Some towns and villages could accomodate the children in the local schools. In other cases the numbers were too lsrge. Thus some some children found themselves studying in pubs, church halls, or other available places where sopace could be found.

Sources

Calder, Angus. The People's War (1969).






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Created: 1:41 AM 9/3/2009
Last updated: 6:42 PM 9/23/2017