In the booklet, page 4, source N it quotes “And hot water from a tap. And there was a lavatory upstairs. And carpets. And something called an eiderdown. And clean sheets. This was all very odd. I didn’t like it. it was scary.” This shows that even though this person was now living in better conditions, they were not happy were they were and they would rather be home.
I think it depended on your host. If you liked them, then you would likely enjoy yourself. If you didn’t like them the majority hated it.
I will now look at the reaction of the mothers. I think the majority of mothers would have felt the evacuation was correct and would have felt reassured that the Government was taking some action and getting the children to safety. The mothers would also like the evacuation because they would benefit. They could now concentrate more on work now and in the view of the economy this was an advantage of the evacuation. Knowing that their children were now safe and weren’t in danger of their school being bombed, they could work more efficiently and harder, therefore producing more artillery for example.
If the mothers were working harder at work they would be tired at home and therefore if the children were away they wouldn’t have to worry about them misbehaving, or getting into trouble, but they could now relax more. Also they would be better off financially, they may be getting better wages as they had time for over-time, and the didn’t have to spend money on the children or as much food etc.
But some mothers may not like it as much as others, as they may worry about their children being away from them. They may worry that their temporary “parents” did not treat them well or feed the well etc. Some may feel that they would be safer at home “though this was obviously no the case). They may also find themselves very lonely, their husbands had gone and now their children, and there now would be less help around the house
Also mothers are very protective of their children and they may worry that their children may get ill or hurt, and if this was the case they would feel they should be there to care for them.
I now think it is appropriate to look at the reaction of the fathers. As with the mothers I feel the majority of fathers would welcome the evacuations, as they could respect that it was for their safety. They would welcome it as it would be very comforting knowing their children were safe, and they knew that if they felt this way they could fight with more heart, effort and overall increase moral. So contributing to the war effort.
But like the mothers some would oppose it. There concerns would have be the same as the mothers. Also they may feel that they should be there for their mothers as they would be alone, and that the mothers would also need some protection.
I will now look how the British Government reacted to the evacuations. It was the Government who issued the evacuations and therefore would obviously support it. The Government was acting on the opposing danger, which would gain support with the public, if they were acting on the safety of the children, because of this the Government would like the evacuation as they may gain more votes for upcoming elections. The Government would also welcome the evacuations because these children were the future, no one knew how long the war would go on for and these children could eventually be fighting the Germans. Also you didn’t want a shortage of children, as it would affect the futures economy as they would be the workers in years to come. They may also welcome it because children may help on farms, and therefore more is produced from the farms, and so boasting Britain’s economy.
Though, there may have been some in the British Government that didn’t like the evacuations. Children spend a lot of money on sweets, toys and games etc. So if they are not in the cities the income of cities would go down. Some may also worry that the education they were receiving would not be up to scratch, and that the evacuees would be below the expected intelligence.
The next group I will look at will be the civil defence (this is police, the home front doctors etc.). In general they would feel that evacuations were needed. If for example a building was bombed the civil defences would be working to keep people safe and get hurt people to hospital etc. But you would have children running around screaming and crying and basically getting in the civil defences’ way. They would not like this as they could not work properly, but now that children had been evacuated they could work more efficiently. Also it meant that they didn’t have to worry about children for example being stuck in a bombed building, so more attention could be paid to adults.
But the civil defences in the countryside, would likely hate the evacuations. Children would get in their way, and they would find them annoying and tiresome. It just has the opposite effect to the civil defences in the cities.
Finally I will look at the reactions of the hosts themselves. This group would probably give the most varied reactions to the evacuations. If you were a farmer it meant you now had extra pairs of hands for help, and would therefore like having evacuees. There would have been some people who didn’t have or couldn’t have children, and this meant that for a temporary basis they were parents. Some would feel that being so far away from cities made it impossible to help the war effort, but this was the opportunity to do so, and so the would welcome it.
But many would not like the evacuations. Many of the hosts were elderly and they may have found the children very hyper-active and too much. They would not enjoy the company of the evacuees. Many of the children may have been seen as very common. The hosts may not like this as the children may be very disrespectful and rude. They would obviously not want people like this under their roofs. In the booklet page6, source 15, it says how the children had to be “fumigated” (gassed), this suggests how dirty and unhygienic they were. People did not want to live with children this dirty. It also says many children suffered from “scabies” and “sceptic sores”. Again suggesting how dirty and unhygienic they were. I think it just depended on what the children were like, if they were pleasant and clean you were likely to enjoy the experience. If they were crude and dirty you’d probably hate it.
In conclusion to this the evacuation of children was supported by many. Most people accepted it was the correct action to take. They felt it was necessary that the children were safe as they would be a major role to Britain in the future.
