Evacuation was so big in the Second World War that many books, plays and films have been produced based on it. Most of these though have been exaggerated for there own success on the genre. A novel that was wrote in 1973 by Nina Bowden called Carrie’s War is based on stories of evacuees. This is not really reliable evidence as it is only based on evacuation and like commented above it will be changed slightly to fit the needs of the author. In an extract from the novel you see different views on the success of the war, (which are not useful pieces of evidence). This shows that the foster families had a different expectation of the children from the cities but only for the stories use.
Foster parents were needed all over the countryside’s as more and more children were been evacuated. There was a popular advertisement issued by the government in 1940, which was clearly propaganda. It was a persuasive poster aimed at foster parents and parents in the cities asking for more families to take in evacuated children. It has pictures on it of two children a young boy and girl who are smiling happily. They look clean, tidy and cute, just the right picture to make you believe the children evacuated are in reliable hands. In the text beneath the picture it says how great foster families have been and it thanks them for there work. This shows that evacuation is successful however it could also mean that they are in trouble, as more foster parents are needed urgently, but this may also mean that it is becoming so great that more parents are sending their children away to safety and so they simply need more foster families. There are two sides to this poster but overall I think it shows a successful side to evacuation.
Whilst evacuation was taking place it was important to know the opinions of the public on their view of evacuating children. There was a famous survey, which the government took to see how successful the war was, this was called the Mass Observation Survey. A source showing an interview with a parent in May 1940 explains how a father felt about evacuation. The interviewer asks him if he is going to send his boy to the reception areas and he replies: “ I’m not letting him go. They can’t be looked after where they’re sending them.” This shows a view against evacuation but this is only the opinion of one parent so it is not reliable evidence. It shows that this one parent feels like he can’t trust the foster families and that the children were safer at home. This is a source that makes evacuation look non-successful.
Below is a postcard written by a young evacuee during the war.
“Dear Mum and Dad
Arrived safely. We were all tired but we had to stand in line and wait for people to choose us. It was horrible. Mrs Lewis picked me. She's nice but she talks funny and sometimes I can't understand her. Rose is my age. She says I don't talk right and makes fun of me. There's lots more food here. We had eggs for tea. I miss you very much. I hope I can come home soon.
Lots of love
Alice”
This makes evacuation seem pleasant in parts but also make it look like a frightful experience to begin with. The child says how it was horrible to be stood in a line and wait for people to choose her, this makes it look unfair and a little unkind on the evacuees. She explains about someone been there with of the same age but she doesn’t seem to get along with her. This could show that because of social differences the children get picked on or feel afraid as they are from different parts of the country. Yes evacuation stopped them from getting killed but still made other problems such as bullying or homesickness. She says that she has difficulty understanding her foster parent, which could cause complications for her and the family. However she does say that there is more food and that she ate her tea, which could show that they are kept healthy and fed. I think that this postcard shows that children did not enjoy their stay with the foster families as at the end she says: “I hope I can come home soon.” This source does not make evacuation look successful.
In total there was over 1 million people sent away on evacuation and all of these remained safe from death, which was the whole idea of it. The government came up with this to stop children dying or getting injured due to battle, and this is what happened. In one view I believe that evacuation was a success as there were so many people who actually went through with it. Also some children liked where they were moved to so much that they continued to live there after the war. Another view however is that it caused a lot of emotional pain for many families to let their children go and also changed so many lives of the country side public through no fault of their own.
From analysing the above sources I found that the one’s which showed a good side to it were more reliable and useful for evidence and the one’s showing that evacuation wasn’t successful are not as reliable or exactly accurate. Therefore from the sources I think that evacuation was very successful and a great idea that had a huge impact on the Second World War in the U.K.
