Evacuation had a huge impact on hosts and evacuees lives, whether it is a positive impact or a negative impact. Source A shows that evacuation had a negative impact as it illustrates how evacuees couldn’t settle into the countryside as hosts were shocked at their poverty level. Source D shows evacuation having a positive impact on evacuees. It displays them looking happier to be living in a richer lifestyle. It must be kept in mind however that the photograph was issued by the government so may be a form of propaganda. Source D shows evacuation having a negative impact on the hosts. It shows that hosts were not used to poorly behaved evacuees, as it was not the sort of behaviour that was expected by the hosts standards. But this source may not be reliable, as not all evacuees will have acted in the same way. Source F is fairly reliable as the evacuee writing it actually experienced evacuation. It shows evacuees were fed up with stereotypical hosts who all thought they were grubby and underprivileged. Finally source G shows evacuation having a negative impact on evacuees. It shows that hosts had a misconception that all evacuees were poor and couldn’t afford to buy slippers. This source should be reliable, as the author will have done research to make the novel more accurate.
Judging by sources B, D and H the governments evacuation schemes were a success. Source B is a form of government propaganda that will have successfully persuaded people to evacuate by showing other evacuees looking as if they are enjoying themselves. Source D was also created by the government and shows evacuees looking happy to be living in a richer lifestyle. Source H is another form of unreliable propaganda. It was a successful appeal for more people in Scotland to provide homes for evacuees. However looking at the figures it seems that the government schemes weren’t so successful after all. In London of 1.8 million potential evacuees 660,000 went (36%). In the provinces, of 3.6 million potential evacuees only 1.2 million went (33%).
Looking at source I evacuation after 1940 was a failure. The source shows what a father thinks of evacuation after 1940. He opposes evacuation and believes that his 7-year-old boy cannot be looked after where he is being sent. This source should be reliable as the source states the father’s exact words.
At a higher level for Britain evacuation was successful in making people more aware of each other. The problem of poverty was brought to Britain’s attention. Source A shows this as it is basically saying that the rich were shocked at the state of the poor. Source E, F and I also back this up by saying that the rich were not used to poorly behaved poor people. Also parents weren’t letting their children evacuate because of the difference in lifestyle of the hosts.
In conclusion some aspects of the evacuation process were a success. It was a great success in some ways because if it had never occurred thousands more people would have died in the war. The preparation of evacuation was the main stage of evacuation that went well. However, evacuation may be seen as unsuccessful as the Phoney War saw a major return to the towns and during the Blitz few were evacuated.
