Furthermore, parents were obviously concerned about the fact that an often anonymous person would be responsible for their child for an indefinite period of time. Anita Taylor, the mother of two evacuees, recalled in an interview: “No one knew how long the war would last, or when we might see our children again. It was awful.” Some parents even feared that at the end of the war, their children would want to stay in the countryside with their new family. These fears were far from unfounded: many evacuees never returned to the city as they grew fond of their foster parents, enjoyed rural life, and – frequently – there parents had been killed in the air raids.
As the war progressed, many parents were increasingly pained to be away from their children. In the period of the Phoney War – the first year or so of WWII – there was very little bombing at all. Janet Hughes – mother of several evacuated children – claims: “This was the most difficult and stressful period of the war: the strain of waiting for something to happen was incredibly nerve-wracking.” A large number of children returned to their parents in the cities during this time, as many could not bear to be away from their children for any longer, and saw no immediate danger. When the bombing raids did begin, some children were not re-evacuated, remaining instead in the city with their real families.
The attitudes of children towards evacuation depended on their personal experiences and personalities. Some simply hated it, but for many others evacuation was a great adventure (many had never left the city, or been in a train). Evacuee Barbara Male remembers how when she left London: “Some of the very small children were crying… [however] when the train left Paddington Station, they brightened up. They soon forgot their troubles, and they were all looking out of the carriage window talking and laughing for all they were worth.”
Sometimes, siblings were split up. This could be good or bad, depending on whose point of view it was – often younger children would miss their older brother/sister, whereas an older, more independent youth might prefer the freedom.
Second World War evacuee Malcolm Lewis recalls how, at the age of five, he was sent to live on a smallholding with an uncle (who he had never met before) when the war began. The place was dirty and little emphasis was placed on comfort; within a month, Lewis had contracted scarlet fever, ringworm, and numerous other maladies.
“Unfortunately, I had a terrible time. Imagine being lined up amongst hundreds of others at a train station, with a nametag round your neck, a small box containing some clothes and your gas mask. Your mother waved you goodbye, and you were facing an indefinite period of time with someone who you had never met in your life. For me, it was a ghastly experience.”
Despite his young age, within six weeks of arriving Lewis had tried to run away. “My mother came up to visit me as a result, saw my distress and the filthy conditions, and ended up taking me back to our home in Ruislip [north London].”
Life back in London, however, was far from ideal. “One morning when I woke up there was a huge crater at the other end of our street. Sixteen houses had disappeared; there was a gigantic hole in the middle of the road.” Experiences like this really brought home the imminent dangers of war, yet many families still chose to stay together in the cities.
In spite of incidents like this, though, many people became rather casual about the bombing as the war progressed. Lewis claims: “When the V1s came over, you heard the engine splutter and die out. There would be a short silence, followed by an almighty boom. Sometimes we would go out by the back door to see if we could spot them.”
There were children, however, who thoroughly enjoyed the evacuation adventure. Housed happily with kind billets, their time in the countryside was a fascinating experience for them. For many, the homes they stayed in were larger, cleaner, and generally more pleasant than their city houses. Evacuee George Knott remembers: “I was always warm, comfortable, and well fed by my foster parents.” Moreover, many schools were evacuated together, so children still saw familiar friends every day as well as meeting those from rural backgrounds. Some children were terrified to start with, however learned to cope once they became familiar with the new lifestyle.
The people they stayed with obviously had opinions too. Many of these stemmed from their initial reasons for taking in evacuees. Some families felt it was their duty, helping the war effort. Some had no choice, while others were encouraged by the financial incentive provided by the government, or some other reason. Irene Griffiths recalls: “My foster parents were quite kind and welcomed me — I think they were really happy to have a senior girl evacuee and I became a useful baby sitter for their only 3 year old son.” It was not uncommon for evacuees to be adopted at the end of the war; many never went back to live in the city.
Other carers were astonished by lack of manners and uncouth behaviour displayed by some children, however over the course of the war many of these youths who stayed would have been taught manners and politeness, and so learned to co-exist peacefully with their billets. George Knott remembers: “I think our foster mother found us a bit hard to understand with our more worldly ways.”
Overall, every Briton at the time had a unique experience. There were many factors that influenced how they felt about evacuation, and many of these views were altered throughout the war as circumstances changed and people became more tolerant and adaptable.
