“I had everything; gas masks, tags, bags and suchlike. I even had some sweets which where rare at time. I remember walking and seeing the train waiting for us. Everyone was very nervous and even the lads didn’t mess around. It was very surreal.” 1*
This is an eye witness report and has no bias so we should take it in earnest. It was a long time ago but as she talked with such detail and it is obvious her memory is intact. This quote confirms that the evacuation process of getting the children to the station and away from the danger zones was organised.
Another success that the evacuation process boasted was the relief it gave to parents and the many lives it saved. It is not possible to estimate how many lives it did save but it certainly saved well over 100,000’s that may have perished in the danger zones.
Also through the process of evacuation many new families where formed, many kids benefited from a change in surroundings:
“We where treated like royal princesses…happy memories.” 2*
The above quote from source F showed many children where happy there and enjoyed there time. The source is from an eye witness account and has no bias aims:
“…children who remained fitted in well and both they and the local children benefited from the experience.” 3*
Another source showing a positive view on evacuation was source D. This showed that all the children evacuated before when the poster was released (1940) where very happy and contented. Whilst analysing this source I noticed it is a piece of propaganda issued by the government with a bias towards evacuation. It has a clear purpose to encourage more people to foster. This is a bias source and I kept that in mind whilst viewing it.
Though evacuation had many successes it also had many failures as well. It put great pressure on families both in the danger zones and foster families taking in evacuees. Many foster families could not survive with the government allowance provided them with and held this against the children:
“A great many hosts find it impossible to manage on government allowance…majority treated girls as unpaid maids.” 4*
The above quote shows how hosts struggled to pay for extra house guests and often compensated for this by treating evacuees as servants.
Also children where often placed in homes with people who had no idea how to look after children and had often had no experience with children:
“Miss Evans looked down at their feet….Why should you have slippers…” 5*
This is taken from a novel about evacuation and though it is a work of fiction shows the real situation that evacuees where in. Children where often mismatched in class and foster families got a shock when taking them in:
“I got a shock. I had little dreamt English children could be so completely ignorant of the simplest rules of hygiene” 6*
This quote shows how people from the different environments found it difficult to interact and where not used to each others company.
Also many people in the danger zones refused to send there children away to the country:
“They can’t be looked after where they’re sending them.” 7*
though this source is taken from an uneducated man it still shows the public view at the time but its limitations is the fact it is only one persons view and that the man is not informed of the benefits of evacuation.
Though the British evacuation scheme had no casualties the CORB ship sank killing 73 evacuees. This was a blow to the evacuation scheme and caused the end to the overseas evacuation scheme.
Many evacuees tell of unhealed scars that evacuation has caused them and how traumatic it was. But many also say about how much it benefited them and how they enjoyed it. I think that evacuation was achieved its aims but caused many children trauma while doing this. It also never followed up on children to check how they where or if they where looked after properly. I think it was handled well until they reached there destination where the where left to fend for themselves. Overall I think it achieved its aim of saving many lives but was a failure for those involved.
Footnotes:
1*: Doris Jackson, a real life evacuee who was evacuated from London in 1940.
2*: Evacuation: Home ground. A video where real evacuees talked about there experiences.
3*: Evacuation and Billeting ‘A remarkable success’
4*: An extract from a statement from a 17 year old evacuee for the mass observation organisation.
5*: Carries War by Nina Bowden
6*: Oliver lyttelon ‘Memoirs of Lord Chandos’
7*: Source E, An interview with a parent in May 1940
