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

Authors Avatar

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

The government of Britain thought of war may begin between Germany and Britain. From this they thought that Britain needed to protect its civilians from bombs and gas attacks. Children were protected by being evacuated from large cities to the country side were it was less likely for that area to get bombed or gassed.

The German army invaded Poland on 1st September 1939 and Britain had tried to get Hitler to withdraw and hold peace, however this failed and on 3rd September Winston Churchill (Britain) declared war on Germany. From September 1939 to April 1940, nothing actually happened during this period. But children were evacuated. The first announcement made to evacuate was 31st August, 1 day before Germany invaded Poland. Britain had evacuated 1.5million children with in 3 days. During the phoney war children started to come back to their families. The phoney war was an attempt by Hitler, to push Britain and other European powers into backing down over Poland, as it had happened at the Munich in 1938.

Technological improvements made the Second World War a very brutal war. The development of aircraft and motorised transport meant that attacks could be made quicker. Hitler had used blitzkrieg tactics against Poland and other countries in the west. This was the use of aircraft and tanks in attacks which were relying on speed and surprise. Germany had done this to the other countries very easily because all the countries were together and could march into the countries. However, if Hitler wanted to take control over Britain, Germany had to have control of the skies of Britain. In this attempt by Hitler this lead to the battle of Britain which was just about won by Britain. The use of aircraft and bombing tactics meant that civilians were at more risk than the First World War. Because the risks were high, the British government took control of many aspects of the lives of its people. People were evacuated and shelters were introduced. Gas masks were also another precaution delivered by the British government.

Join now!

 Evacuation was a scheme that was to move people from highly populated areas to areas that are less populated. This occurred at the beginning of the Second World War. Children were sent from large cities: such as London: Birmingham and others south east areas of Britain, to the country side considering that the country side would be safer.

The government of Britain introduced this scheme because they were worried about a war arriving when Hitler came to power in 1933. The government were afraid that cities and towns would be targets for bombing raids by German aircrafts. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay