Evacuation
In August 1938 Hitler began to make speeches that suggested he was going to invade Czechoslovakia. The British government now began to fear that war with Germany was inevitable. Precautions were then taken to prepare Britain from the effects of a war with Germany. A group of people was assembled to make sure that everything possible was done to prepare Britain and to minimise the effects of heavy bombing on the home front. This group of people was known as Air Raid Precaution Volunteers. Also the British government made plans for the children in major cities to be evacuated into the countryside for their own safety. Sir John Anderson was responsible for ensuring this ran smoothly. Many parents were against sending their children to the countryside, as they didn’t want to leave their children in a crisis. But a propaganda campaign made parents realised that their children would be safer in the country and they reluctantly sent them. The country was divided up into three zones for Evacuation (people living in urban districts where heavy bombing was expected) Neutral (areas that would neither send nor receive evacuees) and Reception (rural areas where evacuees would be sent). Just before the outbreak of war the British government began to move people from Britains major cities to the reception areas. Only 47 per cent of schoolchildren and about one third of mothers went to their designated reception area.