WHY DID THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DECIDE TO EVACUATE CHILDREN FROM BRITONS MAJOR CITIES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR?

History evacuation coursework 1 Page of Asim Bhatti

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War the government decided to begin moving people from Britain's cities to the designated reception areas. The reason for this was that there were going to be attacks on major towns and cities. Some people were reluctant to move and only 47 per cent of the schoolchildren, and about one third of the mothers went to the designated areas. This included 827,000 schoolchildren, 524,000 mothers and children under school age, 13,000 expectant mothers, 103,000 teachers and 7,000 handicapped people so in total the number of people evacuated was 1,474,000.

The government decided to evacuate children from Britain's large cities in the early years of the Second World War. Sir John Anderson, who was placed in charge of the scheme, decided to divide the country into three areas: evacuation (people living in urban districts where heavy bombing raids could be expected); neutral (areas that would neither send nor take evacuees) and reception (rural areas where evacuees would be sent). The reason for evacuation was that there were going to be attacks on major towns and cities so by evacuating children from those major towns and cities would reduce the number of civilians being killed or injured. Another reason for the government evacuating children is that when the major cities would have been attacked such as London and Manchester, because the Germans were destroying military targets, they were bound to get the children. This could have led to mothers taking their children to the country and therefore Britain being left with no workforce. The government also thought it was vital to maintain the morale (spirit) of the population. Bombing of cities was intended to destroy morale by terrifying the population to the point where the government would have to ask for peace. Literacy also added to peoples fear for example H.G. Wells’s novel and film “The shape of things to come” began with a devastating air raid which terrified people. The government believed that adults would be happier knowing that their children were safe-the workers would continue to work efficiently and their morale would not be so easily undermined. Service men in the armed forces would also worry less knowing that their children were safe. So evacuation was a weapon against air attack-it was a way of defeating the enemy’s objective of destroying morale, throughout this essay, I am going to investigate other reasons why the government decided to evacuate.

In 1939 at the home front people still had memories of World War One. They remembered things such as Zeppelin attacks, bomber raids and planes. Many people feared an inland attack such as zeppelin bomber attacks such as the ones in World War One. An example of this attack is when German warships bombarded a light house killing 19 people. The furthest damage was three miles inland on a farm. Many people were conscious of the aeroplane which had developed since World War One.

Number of fighters (Spitfires and Hurricanes) belonging to Germany in Fighter Command eloped since World ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Number of fighters (Spitfires and Hurricanes) belonging to Germany in Fighter Command eloped since World War One this worried people even more.

The main fighter planes of the RAF were the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Germans relied primarily on their Messcherschmitt fighters and their Junkers dive bombers - the famed Stukas. At the start of the war, Germany had 4,000 aircraft compared to Britain's front-line strength of 1,660.

So in conclusion Germany had much more tanks, Battle ships and planes than Britain so you can understand the fear and why they found necessary to evacuate.

In 1937 during the Spanish civil war, between communist and anti-communist government, Hitler had this opportunity to fight communism but at the same time try out his new weapons and army. In the Spanish civil war German bombers had nearly completely destroyed the city of Guernica It alarmed people in Britain as 1,654 people were killed and 889 wounded. This showed people in Britain what Hitler and his army were capable of. If this happened in Britain it would result in British people’s morale collapsing. Some strategists believed that bombers could win wars by bombing towns and cities until the peoples morale collapsed. The Germans had built a large bomber force in the late 1930s and had developed “Blitzkrieg” tactics. They used twin engine bombers and scary “Stuka” dive-bombers.

The government also thought it was vital to maintain the morale (spirit) of the population. Bombing of cities was intended to destroy morale by terrifying the population to the point where the government would have to ask for peace. So evacuation was another way of keeping a high morale.

The policy of Appeasement to avoid war was partly because of the fear of an air attack. It was believed to be practically impossible to defend against air attack. Fighter planes could only operate in daylight-and Britain didn’t have many Spitfires and Hurricanes, or pilots in 1939. There was also the fear of a gas attack from the air. Bombers could easily find cities like London in the dark. Air raid precautions like the Blackout, shelters, anti-craft guns, search lights, blast protection and drills could have some effect, but “The bomber would always get through”. When war was declared the government ordered One million coffins this shows what the government thought of what was to come. Therefore it was very important to the government to make sure the children are safe.

When the children were going to be evacuated they would go to school as usual but with their belongings. From school they would be taken on a train to the designated reception areas. Then would come the process of distributing the children to the small communities where they would be evacuated.

Evacuation could not have been avoided and if it was there would be a massive increase in deaths and casualties in major towns and cities. If it was avoided many more problems would occur such as Britain left with no workforce at the home front therefore the British army would suffer a shortage in ammunition and other supplies also peoples morale would be down as a result of the heavy bombardment in Britain because children in major towns and cities were living in fear.

I conclude that the British government evacuated children from major towns and cities in the early years of the Second World War to reduce the number of deaths and casualties in the war. They knew that there was going to heavy bombing because people knew what Hitler was capable of as he had shown them in the Spanish civil war. They also did this to maintain a workforce at the home front, this was essential for ammunition and other supplies for the war, and to maintain a high morale of women and Servicemen in the army; this would be maintained by them knowing that their children were safe which was a known tactic of winning wars. Another reason for evacuating children was to maintain population of children for the future generation. I think the main reason for evacuation was so the morale of children’s parents would be high and so it was a way of winning the war this was a well known weapon for winning wars.