|
|
| The government tried to get people to keep away from London. Click to see a larger poster. |
Living in a big city during wartime is dangerous and from September 7, 1940, London was the target of the
German airforce. Nearly 3 1/2 million people left the big cities to escape to safer areas in the north and west of the
country, mostly children. This site and this site have detailed information.
It was found that one of the biggest problems was the health and manners of city children once they got
to the country. They were smaller and lighter than country children, a result of poor nutrition. City children were also
dirtier. These discoveries led to government health programs after the war.
|
| There was a great need for country families to take in city children. Click to see a larger poster. |
Homesickness became a serious problem for the children who were in strange new places with new families,
despite letters and parcels from evacuees being sent home for free. During the first year of the war, before the nightly
bombings started, 75% of London's evacuated children went back home.
Country schools did not have enough teachers to handle the flood of new students so city teachers were
evacuated along with their pupils. Many children were sent to Wales, a part of Great Britain on the extreme west, out of the
path of the German bombers. Some of them had to learn to speak Welsh to go to school!
When children would get to a place, they would often be lined up so local people could pick the ones they
wanted. Can you imagine being far from home, away from your family and being the last one picked?
This site has a huge amount of information on evacuation. This site discusses when and where children were evacuated.
ACTIVITIES
THINK ABOUT...
Would you leave London? Would you have gone after the war started but before the bombings, just
to play it safe? Could you go to a new place and live with strangers? Think about what it would be like for you. What about
if you went with your younger brothers or sisters. Would you feel like you had to take care of them? Could you?
|
| The City of Benares was sunk by a submarine. |
TRIVIA
At the beginning, children were evacuated overseas to get them as far away from the war as possible. That
ended on Sept. 17, 1940, when the ship City of Benares was sunk by a submarine on its way to Canada. The attack killed
175 adults and 87 children. On board the City of Benares was 14-year-old Beth Williams. She survived, and 64 years
later was brought together with a member of the crew of the submarine on a British television show. Read her touching
story here.
|
