On a positive point of view evacuation did make a lot of people’s lives better and experienced what it was like to live in a different t part of the country and do things they wouldn’t have done if they stayed in their home. Evacuation did prevent a lot of children and vulnerable people loosing their lives.
The period of time when evacuation happened but bombs failed to cause much of an impact was called the “Phoney War”. Consequently many mothers felt it was pointless being separated from their children when they were not in a great deal of danger. It resolved into many children returning back home with their families.
Source A shows a picture of some of the evacuees making their way to the railway station in London 1939. This source is reliable because it is taken from the time of evacuation. We can also surmise from the provenance that a British person took the photograph in September. This is used to persuade people to let their children be evacuated by using propaganda. This source is also limited in the fact that almost every person on the picture is looking at the camera and smiling, which can be argued that they were just posing.
Source B is a teacher recalling being evacuated with the children from her school. From the provenance I can see that the interview occurred in 1988 nearly 50 decades after evacuation happened. This shows the views of evacuation from a British point of view and could be disputed that it is biased. A line of the interview reads ‘We hadn’t the slightest idea where we were going’ this tells the reader that they were putting the Government to put them in a safer place than where they were. This interview was recorded so it can be used as evidence and research in the future. It is first hand experience although it may not be exact to the events because of the time difference. Although, this is the view of one individual so you will need to get lots of other opinions to make your mind up.
Source C is an extract from a children’s novel Carrie’s War explaining the events of evacuation. It was written in the 1970’s by a British point of view after the War and so all the pieces of evidence can not be exact because it is second hand experience rather than first hand. This is also aimed at children so it has been published for the children piece of mind and not as sophisticated therefore a large number of facts would be absent. The source is a story and lots of events may be imaginary in order to make the book more interesting and appealing to the children. However it is still reliable to some extent in that we know people were evacuated to place they did not enjoy or with people who were forced to let evacuees stay for the duration of the War.
Source D is an advertisement to people in Scotland to let evacuees stay with them. It was issued by the Government to persuade families who have not offered a place for evacuees to stay to do so by using propaganda. The source is very persuasive and it makes the reader want to do something for the good of the country. It is very patriotic and passionate when it is talking about helping the country and the children. The picture shows a young girl and a young boy who could be brother and sister hugging one another with a background of fighter planes on one side and a safe countryside on the other. The article appeals to the public and touches everybody. This source is reliable because we know people were evacuated and more people had to enrol to be foster parents. From the provenance we can see the Government created it. If the Government produces something or backs something else more people would take it seriously because they help run the country. It was also taken from the time. It is written in the second person therefore it appeals directly to the reader. It reads ‘Thank you’ which is very touching to who ever reads it, as you feel it is talking directly to you and you want to help.
Source E is another British interview but with a father of a seven-year-old boy in 1940, which is taken from the time and from that perspective it is reliable. The journalist wants to find out people views on evacuation. From my own knowledge I know that evacuation wasn’t compulsory but it was advised and the father in this source refuses to let his son be taken away from him to the other end of the country. He is worried because if he got killed there would be no - one to look after him and the Government wouldn’t do anything for him then. Another reason why he does not want his son to be transferred to a different city is because he feels he would starve because there wasn’t any food ‘before’ the War began. Children were evacuated before the War even began and the casualties were not as high resulting in many people returning home and needing even more persuasion to be evacuated for a second time. This is limited because it only shows one point of view and is biased against evacuation.
Source F is a letter written at the time of the War from a child to their mother. It contains the events the person has done. They got at their new foster home at 8.30 in the morning and tell how they were rationed. From my own knowledge I know that the food was rationed using ration books for each person/ family in order to save money. The families would also send money to their child’s foster parents to help pay for the expenses. However in the letter the child is telling their mother that they have enough money and don’t need any posting. This tells me that the family they are staying with have a lot of money and this is backed up with the way they dress for church ‘green ribbon, jacket,’ also that they had chocolate and corned beef. People would keep in touch by sending letters, because that would be the only way to communicate and it took lots of days to reach the destination. On the other hand this is only one persons view on the events of evacuation but this is a primary source and can be used as research.
Finally, I conclude that evacuation was a success because there were a large number of lives saved especially from the London Blitz. A lot of people did move from a danger zone to a safer part of the country to get a better life. As a result of evacuation many people kept in touch and become close friends because of the things they endured together, especially school children. Another advantage to evacuation was that it brought a lot of people, cities and the country together. The whole country united yet again after the trauma everyone suffered in the past four years. In addition evacuation brought the Beveridge Report, which was housing, sanitation and other similar problems. If evacuation never happened then this wouldn’t have happened and the society today would be very different.
However, I also feel evacuation did not need to be carried out so long before the War as that only produced more problems. Many people suffered the aftermath of evacuation and were haunted by their memories of what happened throughout the duration of the War. A lot of these individuals needed medical treatment to help them surpass being an evacuee. With all the moving around from one city to another a lot of children’s education suffered and were unable to make up for the time they missed out on as a youngster. This would have affected what they did following on from then.