''Evacuation was a great success'' - Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation?

A photo of young people being evacuated from 1393 show them very happy and smiling, suggesting they are excited and happy about evacuation. This source however, is not very reliable, as they may have been playing up to the camera. Once child from London who remembers evacuation says how ’everything was so clean. We were given towels and tooth brushes. We’d never cleaned our teeth till then.’ This is typical of many children evacuation, especially from the slum areas of London were living in real poverty before evacuation and their health improved greatly during evacuation. Another source exploits this fact further still, as the Government was forced to provide better conditions, as people were so appalled at the state of the children that had been evacuated. ‘Cod liver oil, blackcurrant extracts, and later concentrated orange juice from the united states was given out free of charge at food offices and welfare centres.

However, many children had bad experiences of evacuation, and this would strongly suggest that evacuation was a failure. Source B is a description of evacuation from a teacher in 1988. It says how ‘children were too afraid to talk’ and how the mothers were pressed against the iron bars calling ‘Good-bye darling’. This shows how scary evacuation was for so many children; as well as their mothers; many of them had no clue as to where they were going. As this is an interview with a teacher, it is likely to be an accurate and reliable, it also reflects the experiences of many evacuees. Source C is an account from children’s novel; it outlines the problems of communication between foster parents and their children evacuee’s. ‘’Oh, I’m sorry, how silly of me, why should we have slippers?’’ Many foster parents were surprised at how poor their children were and had to pay out for their requirements. Source E is from a Mass Observation Survey, it is an interview with a farther, he outlines the reasons why many parents think that there children will be better staying at home in the city. Where his children would be sent, in the shires, ‘there is nothing for them; they were starving before the war.’ He also thinks that if he does die, at least friends and family can look after his children. This is very likely to be a reliable source, as it is from a mass ordinance survey, where the father would have no reason to lie. It shows how the government had failed to persuade people that evacuation is the safest place for their children.

A woman’s institute report on evacuees in 1940 tells us how the uncleanness of children would have decreased morale within foster parents, this is another example of how disgusted many foster parents were at the condition of their child ‘Some of the children were literally sewn in their ragged clothes.’ This is a very reliable source, again with no reason to lie, it reflects my own knowledge that the town children who came to stay with foster parents proved to the British public that slum conditions still existed in Britain.

In an interview with Michael Caine, we hear how Caine was beat and locked in the cupboard after his brother Clarence had been found wetting the bed. This is an example of how the Government had failed to protect the welfare of the children who were evacuated into the country, some were abused sexually, but these were few in numbers. This was not a common experience, but the fact that it happened is very worrying that that the Government had failed to stop such events happening.

An account from an evacuee tells us how he was evacuated from Gateshead, which was not bombed throughout the war to Dudley in the Midlands, which was bombed during his stay. This is an example of total failure with evacuation. Not only had the government unnecessarily sent children away from towns which were not bombed, which would decrease morale within the community as many families would wish to stay together during the war. Also, the children had been sent to an area which had been bombed, and had been unnecessarily evacuated from a safe area to an area where their lives were in danger. Though this is uncommon with experiences of evacuees, it could easily have been avoided.  

By 1944 the evacuation scheme had all but stopped, and not even the panic caused by Hitler’s flying bombs and rockets could get it started. This is where the Government had failed to keep up the morale of the country and persuade people that evacuation was the best and safest option for their children and people no longer cared about the possible consequences.

The evacuation process was efficient and with a quick response to war. With little notice, children were packed up with only one suitcase and sent to the railway station to catch a train that they did not know the destination of their journey. On arrival, they were lined up and picked out like slaves. Though many experienced a new life style, in the countryside learning new skills that they would never be taught in the city and they became more healthy and clean with their foster parents. Forced integration of people from very different backgrounds exposed the real divide present in the country. Evacuation was certainly the safest option for the children, and the majority experienced a happy new life, where they became healthier, however, no one was without their problems. Mothers, children and foster parents alike were not informed about what was involved in fostering children, in some cases the children were abused or made to labour on farms, in these cases the government had failed the children. Many however, were happy with evacuation but no one was un scared by the horrors of war.