In addition to this, it is hard for one to actual use this source as we do not know the purpose behind the interview being taken, and we do not know if the teacher is telling the truth. This shows some of the source’s limitations.
From the two sources, I personally believe that source B is much more reliable as it is a virtual image of the happenings and it supports the views of many historians who believe that evacuation was a great success. Furthermore, I doubt that the photograph was a form of propaganda as the photo was taken during the period of the evacuation and it was a very busy time and I find it would be quite hard for the government to stage such a photograph at such a busy time.
Q2)
Source G is a small extract from a children’s novel. I personally believe that this novel is not reliable as novels are mostly fiction; they are made up and most likely this novel is probably also made up. Furthermore, the novel does not go into extreme details of evacuation. The reason for this is that if it was to go into extreme details then the children may find it boring. Also to make the novel more interesting the author may have also added false details just to make the story more interesting, hence it is no longer reliable. The book is aimed at young children, therefore it misses out some of the true, harsh details of the evacuation such as how the rich looked down on the poor and treated them badly and how some people saw children as burdens. Novels of such nature would not contain gruesome facts and happenings of the evacuation. The novel misses many things out. For example, it does not contain facts such as children getting lost, children being abused and parents worrying. The novel does not contain such events because it would startle and worry children.
Conversely, the source could also be very useful because I am sure that the author did not just write the novel off the top of her head. She must have done a great deal of research; she may have even interviewed evacuee children and evacuee carers. Also the novel contains some true happenings; it shows clashes of different classes which is a true reality.
Conclusively I believe that the source is not very useful because it is a novel aimed at children so it misses out many details and adds many false details to make the novel more appealing. Furthermore, most novels are fiction so the higher probability is that this novel will also be fiction based.
Q3)
I believe that evacuation was overall a good success. I say this because firstly it was a very good idea to remove children from the danger are and to a safe area. This removed potential target of civilians from Hitler.
Source A shows us that the evacuation was a success as it was very organised and appropriate arrangements were made. However, source A shows us some failures of evacuation. It shows us that arrangements did not always run smoothly. It also states some of the problems that occurred when the children actually moved in the countryside. It shows us that there were clashes of mixed classes, children wetting their beds, children’s hair crawling with lice and it also shows us that children disrespected their carers.
Source B is a photo which was taken while some of the evacuees were going to the train station in London in September 1939. It is a very useful source as it shows us that evacuation was a success. It can be seen that this source was a success because the evacuees were happy; they are smiling and waving at the camera. Furthermore, they were very well supervised and they had there baggage with them. All this shows us that evacuation was a great success. I can also say that evacuation was a great success based on my own knowledge. I believe that evacuation was a great success because they managed to evacuate masses of people within a short space of time. Moreover, it was a success because it remove potential target of civilians away from the Nazi’s. In addition to this it improved morale of the workers as they knew their children were safe and they could concentrate on their jobs. Also the children who were evacuated had access to clean food and water, they also had medicine and were still able to go to school.
However, as well as being useful, source B does have its limitations. The limitations being that the photograph could have been staged as a form of propaganda by the government. They could have staged the photograph just in order to show the workers that there children are safe and happy. Nevertheless, if the photograph was staged then the source is still useful as it shows to what extent the government took propaganda to.
Source C is an interview with a teacher in 1988. This source also shows us that evacuation was partly successful. I believe that this source is extremely important because she is talking from personal experience as the teacher was actually present at the time. The interview was taken almost 50 years after the evacuation; hence some would say that the source is slightly unreliable as it is hard for someone to recall incidents that took place 50 years ago. However, the time gap could be a positive aspect as it gives a person plenty of time to make a fair judgement. Furthermore, only part of the interview is shown so one cannot tell if it shows a good or bad thing. In addition to this, we do not know the purpose of the interview, and therefore cannot test its reliability as the teacher could be lying.
Source E shows evacuation as a failure. It does this because it shows the clash between classes that was pretty common during the evacuation period. It shows that people did not get on well due to this clash as they could not cope with the filthy habits of others which they were not used. Furthermore, it also shows that the actual mother of the children was not really bothered and did not really care. It also shows that life was made very difficult for the countryside people due to the evacuees. However, this interview could be un-useful as it is only one side of the story, for all we know she could be lying to make herself look nationalistic for putting up with such evacuees. For this reason the source could be biased.
Similarly, Source F also shows us the failures of evacuation as it shows us the clash of classes that took place. This source could also be biased as the evacuee seems quite proud and could be lying to make himself look better than the others.
Conversely, Source G once again shows us the success of evacuation as it shows that even though clash of classes took place, the people tried to understand the others and their backgrounds and were helpful, kind and patient with them. However, the source is not reliable as it is a novel and the author could have made the situation up, to make the novel more interesting and sellable. Nevertheless, the source may be reliable as the author may have based the book upon a true situation and facts and will have possibly done a fair bit of research on evacuation before writing the novel.
Source H show us that evacuation was a great success, largely due to the fact that it save a great deal of lives. The source shows us that people moved from cities which were likely to be bombed to the countryside where they were safe and could carry on with their daily lives. However it shows us some of the negatives as it shows us that evacuation started off at a slow pace and it took time for the evacuees to settle in and the people to get used to each other. On the other hand, this could be false information as it could be a form of propaganda to just attract more people to provide homes for evacuees.
Apart form some of the sources showing that evacuation was a success, I can also strongly say that evacuation was a great success based upon my own knowledge. I believe that evacuation was a great success because it removed the potential target of civilians from the Nazi’s. On the whole evacuation saved a great deal of lives. Furthermore, it improved morale of the workers, as they knew that there children were safe and did not have to worry about them while they were serving their country. In addition to this the children that were evacuated had access to clean food and water, they were also provided wit medicine and schools.
However, some of the evacuees underwent terrible experiences; they suffered clashes with people of different classes, some were treated badly by their carers and other some evacuees even got lost as the government did not recognise it as a priority to collect information at such a busy time of war. Due to this it became hard to collect exact information. Also a lot of money was spent on evacuation and hence some of the money was not able to be spent on the war. Also there was a lack of communication between the evacuees. However the majority of the problems took place at the start of the evacuation and situations improved later on.
Conclusively, I believe that evacuation was a great success as it saved a lot of lives. It saved lives because it remove the potential target of civilians from the Nazi’s and also it saved lives because the workers were more focussed on their job as they knew there children were safe. Also the evacuees had access to clean food, clean water and medicine. Also the children were provided with schools.