Why do sources A-F differ in their attitudes to the evacuation of children

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Why do sources A-F differ in their attitudes to the evacuation of children? Explain your answers using the sources and knowledge from your studies.

Source A is a photograph taken in September 1939 showing children and their teachers walking to the station to be evacuated. The photograph could have been taken for a newspaper or for government propaganda. The photographer is unknown but I assume that he was a professional and not a relative, as the photograph does not focus on one particular child. The adults in the photo are teachers who were evacuated along with the children to teach and look after them. This source is reliable as it was taken at the start of the war; however, it is only one person’s perspective, in one place at one time. I know that evacuations took place in most English cities, not just London, so I think that this photograph is a typical example of what was happening all over England.

Source B is an extract from an interview with a teacher who was evacuated with her class at the beginning of the war. She experienced evacuation first-hand but from a different perspective to the children. Although she was evacuated herb account is rather vague as she was interviewed in 1988. She could have either forgotten details or have become confused with other people’s accounts of evacuation. The extract isn’t very detailed and is vague. This could be due to the fact that she wasn’t very well informed at the time she went. She says that none of them “had the slightest idea where [they] were going.” Although Operation Pied Piper was very well organised certain aspects, such as telling parents where their children were going, or making any effort to match children with suitable foster parents, were neglected. This source is more informative than source A is because it is an insider’s view whereas source A isn’t.

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Source C is an extract from ‘Carrie’s War’, a novel by Nina Bawden written in 1973. Although written many years after the war it is the semi-autobiographical account of her experiences as an evacuee during the war. She wrote about her experiences as a child when she was an adult, which gives her view of evacuation from sources A and B. This extract illustrates some of the preconceptions and stereotypical views of evacuees that some of the foster parents had. The woman automatically assumes that Carrie and her brother are poor children from the slums just because they are ...

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