Why did British government decide to evacuate children from major British cities in the early years of WW2?

However from the day that war was declared and May 1940 nothing actually happened between Germany and Britain. This period was known as 'The Phoney War' which lasted 7 months. During this period, children, pregnant mothers and teachers were moved backwards and forwards between the city and the countryside as the threat of bombing increased and decreased. This had drastic effects to their lives, as they could not settle down and live their lives normally. The second wave of evacuation was taken more seriously this occurred when bombing in the south coast began in Canterbury. After 1941 life got better for these people. Children were now settled in their new foster homes and bombing became lighter for the women working in the cities

Safety was obviously a key reason for evacuation. The threat to civilians was new to people since WW1 bombers and other weapons had significantly developed and posed a major threat to civilians than ever before. Also the German devastating blitzkrieg tactic was a major threat Britain knew what sort of damage this tactic can do to any country; blitzkrieg was particularly effective in the Spanish town of guernica. Although blitzkrieg was a risky tactic it appealed to hitlers gambler instincts. For many people this was a hard and daunting experience. Living on your own during the blitz, with bombs falling all around you in a blacked-out city is an extremely hard thing to do. This turned many people's lives upside down. Having to go out to the shelters every time the siren went off meant that people did not get much sleep. People missed their families because they were either at war fighting, or they had been evacuated. However the blitz ended in the summer of 1941 because the German bombers were needed in an offensive on the USSR. This meant that the bombing of the British cities lessened.

Evacuation also made the government think about the country's welfare situation. The richer people in the country saw how terribly poor the evacuees were and complained to the government about the bad living standards. This caused the government to act in favour of the lower class and make plans for their welfare. A town and country-planning act was passed in 1943. This ensured the building of new houses and would supply 100,000 council houses by the end of 1950.

Evacuation was probably one of the biggest tests ever faced by a British government and its people. It required patience and cooperation of everyone; also evacuation included many different groups of people teachers, parents, evacuees, hosts to name the most important. In my opinion evacuation was fully justified at time and still is without it Britain would have had higher civilian casualties than they did.