Source based Evacuation Coursework.

Evacuation Coursework

Question One

Although the photocopy of Source B (the 1939 photograph) is unclear, I get the impression that the children are happy by their smiling bright faces. The strongest theme in the picture is that the children have been told to look happy, which is why I believe that this picture is a genuine article of propaganda of the time. This is what has led me to believe that the photographer has Government links. The picture is very professional and does not look the type that a parent would have taken as a part of the memory. The children’s behaviour reminds me of children that are going on a day trip. The line is calm and orderly and their faces tell the story that they know the consequences if they were to be unruly. The photo is a good example of propaganda of the time, as it is of the sort that would encourage parents to evacuate. Through this photo evacuation looks like one big holiday and would look appealing to the children as well. The evacuees would be persuaded to leave their parents if they thought that they would be living in the ‘lap of luxury’ with other children. The children in the photograph are all looking straight at the camera and are all waving unanimously, which is strange to be done spontaneously by young school children. The man in the bottom right hand corner of the photo looks to me to stand in the air of importance about him. Because he is dressed in a suit he could be the headmaster of the school that is being evacuated or he could have been a local politician, so there again he would have Government links, which seems another important theme in this photograph.

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The passage of which is Source C (the teachers memory) has many good, useful factors. It gives examples of the emotion of the times. The children were quiet, scared. This could not have been helped by the fact that the mothers followed. There was a sense of mystery, even for the teachers. But most of all, there was a sense of loss for all. The Government, again, were seen to be totally in control, with all the decisions made by them and not you. On the other hand, there are some factors that could make the source unreliable. It was forty-eight years ago and so the teacher may have either forgotten or added details to her account. She could have also exaggerated details without meaning to. Then again, by what she says, she has neither sad nor happy moments, which I suppose adds to the reliability. Also, it is primary evidence, written in the secondary from which also adds to the reliability of the source. But there is such a contrast between Source B and Source C that one has to be wrong.

After analysing both sources I have come to the conclusion that both are useful. Although Source B (the 1939 photograph) has some unreliability on the stage management front, there would have been some children that really did behave like they were going on a school trip, as they didn’t understand the seriousness of what was going on. There would also be children that, when they saw a camera, would smile and wave to it,

Source C is also useful because she was a teacher of the time so she was obviously older and memories stay with you longer. The extract is a very serious one, as where it says, “All you could hear was… too afraid to talk.”

Both sources have their limitations, which I have listed above. So, for the reasons stated, I think that, used together, both sources would be very useful, but Source C is the most reliable.

Question Two

Source G is an extract from a novel, a source of entertainment. But this should not change your view of whether or not this is a good or bad source of information. Any good author, when writing about a past subject, would research it thoroughly before even putting pen to paper. The novel looks at the common view of evacuees, that they were all poor. This is shown in the extract “She thinks we’re poor children, too poor to have slippers.” Then again if you look at the list of essential clothing, written below: -

Girls: 2 each vests, knickers, nightclothes, bodices; 2 from the following- warm frock, jumper and skirt, tunic and jumper; either 2 pairs of shoes or 1 pair each shoes and Wellingtons

Boys: 2 each vests, pants, shirts, pyjamas, shorts or long trousers; 1 jacket; ; 1 jersey, either 2 pairs of boots or 1 pair each boots and Wellingtons.

Everyone: 3 pairs of stockings or socks, 1 overcoat and mackintosh (or mackintosh only, if warm). 1 pair plimsolls, soap, facecloth, toothbrush, handkerchiefs, 2 towels

Other Equipment: Ration Books, Gas Mask and Identity Card

You will see that there is no mention of any kind of house shoe or slipper is mentioned. Also. With all this equipment to take and limited amounts of weight they can carry, there would have had no room for un-essential things like slippers, as it says in the extract “She had meant to explain…room in their cases for slippers.”

There are also strong hints of where and what the class system is. This definitely shows how the contemporary attitudes of the people if the times were.

The host family are a well off, or middle class family, and they think automatically that because the children have had to be evacuated, that they are lower class. This obviously proves wrong in Carrie and Nick’s case, but as of yet, Miss Evans still doesn’t know. This could be very upsetting for some evacuees, as Source F shows.

Question Three

After my studies on evacuation, I have now to draw upon a conclusion on whether, in my view, evacuation was a great success.

In my view, I think that in some ways evacuation was a success but in other ways evacuation was a great success.

The Government was expecting heavy bombing on Britain’s larger industrial centres, such as London and Manchester. Therefore, the Government decided it would be safer to evacuate people from these centres to the countryside. To do this, they drew up a plan of Britain and it was divided into three zones:

Evacuation areas: Where heavy bombing was expected

Reception Areas: Mostly countryside areas that was safe from bombing. The evacuees would move here and stay with local families.

Neutral Areas: These places may experience light bombing. Nobody would be evacuated to of from these areas.

But once the evacuees had reached the reception areas there were many problems. Quite often things were not very well organised. Villages that were expecting young children received thousand of pregnant women and this did not go down well with the residents of the houses.