Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain's major cities in the early years of the Second World War?

Why did the British Government decide to evacuate children from Britain’s major cities in the early years of the Second World War?

Indeed in Britain at the start of the war, the British government expected that here would be heavy raids on the big cities. Between the 1 and 3 September 1939 over 1.5 children, pregnant women and disabled people were evacuated to rural areas in mainland Britain. In Northern Ireland the government had made three attempts to evacuate people from Belfast. Unfortunately such was the complacency and strong belief that Northern Ireland would not be bombed, very few people availed themselves of the opportunities open to them. Three days before the big raid on Easter Tuesday, only 3,000 adults had registered to evacuate.

The British Government feared the threat of German bombing in the cities and this made them decided to evacuate all children from the cities to the countryside. The government desired to protect the future generation and with the young safe, then England would always be alive and vibrant and that was a main factor why the government took such action. Evacuation was in the eyes of the government, a military necessity to prevent thousands of people leaving their homes in panic and confusion. The government wanted children out of the way before Germany’s attacks on the country started. Evacuation all began on September the 1st 1939, two days before Britain went to war as experts said enemy bombers would kill 10,000 people every single day. For many of the evacuees, the countryside was a world of unimaginable luxury but for others, it was a traumatic event as some of their new parents treated them badly. Although parents didn’t want their children going away from them, they had no other choice, as death would be the outcome if they stay. Children often arrived at their destinations dirty, hungry and homesick, to discover that families on whom they were to be billeted would only take those who looked cheerful, neat and tidy.

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As part of the governments plans to protect children through evacuation, 9 areas were listed to be evacuated. These were big cities and ports e.g. London, Manchester, Liverpool. Cities such as Glasgow and Belfast were not to be evacuated. This was because the government believed enemy bombers would not be able to fly that far but they were wrong. Evacuation certainly provided relatively safe homes for Britain’s wartime children as the country’s cities experienced heavy bombing by the German Luftwaffe. But it also played another important role in the country’s development. As most evacuees were children from poor areas taken in by middle-class families, the huge gulf between the social classes was brought into focus and highlighted. Evacuation seemed to have played a significant part in shaping the deep-felt desire to create a fairer society when the war was over. The British Government was indeed worried about the safety of its future generation. The government decided to use inner-city schools as emergency canteens and hospitals. Evacuation showed that the government cared. It gave poor parents a chance to send their children to safety. This helped keep up people’s spirits. The government really cared as they ensured that, more and more children were evacuated from the major cities to the countryside and the government’s decision to do that freed up parents to do vital war work to add up to the war efforts the men were offering. Britain needed to have more weapons in order to defend themselves and that was exactly what happened during the period of evacuation. More and more parents had much more time to do war work like working in the ammunitions, which contributed very much to the war effort.

Source D states the government’s desire to take children out of the ‘danger zone-where desperate peril may come at any minute’. Therefore protection. The government wasn’t being pushed to enforce evacuation. They did it through their own desire to protect the future generation. This same source also states how children will be ‘healthier and happier’. Whilst not a principal reason, cold be a minor factor.

Although parents didn’t like the idea, the government saw it as the only priorities, which in the end, helped, save lots of young lives. The government showed how committed and caring they were for the children and not only the children but the older generation as well.

Anthony .A. Abladey

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