Germany, Britain and the Americans war-planners had thought that the cities would be bombed very terribly and a lot of damage would be caused. Hitler had used this before World War Two when he helped his friend General Franco, the dictator of Spain. Hitler’s old ally Bcnito Mussolini of Italy had used bombing when attacking African empire of Ethiopia/Abyssinia. In the pacific, Hitler’s other ally Japan, had used gas bombings against people of china, which Japan had been invading since 1931. The strength of the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was known especially during the Spanish civil war where it had been blitzed towns like Guernica.
The most important reason for Evacuation was to keep people‘s morale high and to make people happy which is very important for winning a war. When children were evacuated it made people very happy and they had a high moral which was very important and needed.
In the middle of July 1939 all the factories, shops, houses, and cinemas were ordered to begin “Blackout” preparations. This was to avoid the enemy seeing them and also when it became dark they must not show light to the enemy because it was likely they would give a hint and get bombed. The British thought that a German pilot could see light from 20,000 feet.
The government controlled all aspects of the media, wanted to give the public the impression that was popular among those affected and put out propaganda pictures and films to this effect. The other reason why the British controlled the media was they thought that it would give the enemy information and which could lead to giving help to them. The government only put up good information to make people’s morale and also to think evacuation is working well. This was called censorship.
There were evacuation areas where heavy bombings were expected. There were reception areas which was country side. These were reckoned to be safe from bombing as they had major military targets. The idea was that evacuees will move here and stay with local families. The neutral areas were places where people might suffer light bombing attacks. Nobody was to be evacuated from or theses areas. There were an also safe area which was such as Canada and Australia, where people were rich enough to go.
The British decided that the Home Office should provide everyone gas masks for protection. Searchlights, barrage balloons, and anti-craft batteries were used to combat enemy bomber planes. Sirens were used to warn civilians of air raids.
The government planned that 4 million children would be evacuated but only 1.5 million went. These were manly poor children from working class families. Everything was planned but problems came at the reception areas and when they were billeted to people. The British evacuation plan was called “Operation Pied Piper”.
Small iron huts named Anderson Shelters were provided in the cities from February 1939 onwards. They were to be sunk below ground level in people’s back gardens. Although they would not survive a direct hit from a German bomb, they did provide some protection for thousands of city-families, especially in high risk areas like London and Liverpool docks, or near the main railway junctions.
It went in operation in Friday 1, September. The children had arrived to there destination they were taken to places such as schools, villages, farms, trees, and also fields. At this time pregnant women, blind, disabled, and teachers was evacuated as well because for protection and also the Blitz.
Evacuees came from all types of social backgrounds some poor, some middle class, some alone, some with brothers and sisters, many in ill health, many ill educated. The evacuation experience was similar for most of them being moved away form parents, home and friends into completely different back grounds.
Children were transported by trains.
In 1940 Luftwaffe began the Blitz which caused a lot of problem to the British and also a lot of people were under pressure. This caused a second evacuation.
The official government story was that all young children had been evacuated and that the whole story process had been efficiently organised and executed with precision. This was untrue because hundreds of children had arrived at the wrong area, with little or no rations. The fact that there was not enough homes to put them. If the children had been killed the British would not have cooperated to win the war. They would also believe that the government only carded for there selves. One family that only refused to leave the country that was the Royal family in Buckingham Palace and they were prepared to fight for the country and die. This situation raised the people’s morale because everyone aimed for winning the war. A lot of people helped the country to win the war for instance women worked in factories for longer hours. After the men left to go war the women’s felt that they should help so they worked in the factories which was the men’s job.
Overall I would say that the main reason for evacuation was to take the children from the dangerous areas and protect them. At the same time to tried to keep peoples morale high. The government sent children to countryside for their safety and to be away from danger. As Britain moved closer to War the governments planning became more detailed. The governments plans did not always work but it did save lives.
