One of the main reasons evacuation was introduced was to increase morale among the British Population, there was a lot of fear throughout Europe of bombing after the devastating destruction demonstrated during the Spanish Civil War. One of the important reasons for the Germans targeting British civilians was to scare the country into submission and force surrender.
Another significant element to the Germans bombing was to cripple the British economy by targeting both industrial areas and ports, for example Merseyside and Bristol.
The fears stimulated from ww1 memories were an important long-term reason as it was always in people’s minds and there would always be worry, concern and suspicion within people’s minds after that war. This is why I believe it to be an important reason. If WW1 had not been so horrific people would have been less apprehensive.
Evacuation was necessary as it countered the threat of a British surrender due to low morale in many ways as it helped the public to feel reassured that their children were safe; encouraging them to keep their faith in the war effort.
It was common for people not to want to send their children away from home, because of fear of the unknown and of where their children were going. The government combated this by producing many pieces of war focused propaganda: posters, films and newspapers. These encouraged people to have their children evacuated to a place where they would be safe from danger and the horrors of war and also reassured parents that this was the right thing to do for their children.
Evacuation was a scheme masterminded by the government to preserve the important parts of the British population such as children as they were to be the future of the country. The idea was that people were to be taken from the cities which were considered targets and taken to a new home and life in the countryside, where they would be safe from air raids and be under much less threat from the German Bombers.
Children were to be taken in to families households in the countryside, often vastly different to their own in the city. Often teachers, doctors and other skilled workers were evacuated with the children to cope with the new demand for their services in places which the children were evacuated to. Whilst in the processes of being evacuated the children had little or no idea where they were going or indeed the wider implications of what was happening to them. In many cases leaving their homes was a very traumatic experience.
Above all children were the future of Britain and were vital to the country and needed to be protected at all costs. Children’s deaths were the last thing that the government desired as this would increase fear within the country and thus increase the public’s doubts of the war effort and of government.
I believe that the government introduced evacuation to reinforce the war effort in this country through giving the British public reassurance and belief. The evacuation also protected many children and showed the government was making an effort to protect its people in the state of war and save the lives of probably thousands and thousands of children.
