© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated?

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation Objectives In this activity you will: Explore what it was like for children to be evacuated during WWII.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? As World War II approached in September 1939, children under 11 and mothers with children under five were evacuated from cities in Britain. They were taken to areas where they would be safe from the bombing that was expected to kill thousands of people. The British Government had seen how Hitler had bombed civilians in the Spanish Civil War ( ) and they believed the Nazis would target British industrial cities. Every person in Britain was issued with a gas mask, which they had to carry with them at all times – by law.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? What do you think it would have been like to be evacuated? - Any positives? - Any negatives? Do you think the British Government got it right to evacuate these people?

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? Phoney War This was the name given to the period September 1939-May 1940, when people in Britain expected to be bombed, but no bombs fell. Many children who had been evacuated returned home during the Phoney War – in some cases, just as the bombing started!

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? Some children enjoyed their experience – many had never left London before and found the countryside exciting. Some hosts were very friendly and treated the children as their own. Brothers and sisters were sometimes kept together. Children got to experience the countryside for the first time and enjoyed fresh milk, butter and eggs for the first time in their lives. If the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) had bombed cities, civilian casualties, particularly children, would have been far fewer. Some older children often saw it as an adventure.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? Some children had horrible experiences – some were virtually used as slave labour. There was distrust between the ‘countryside’ kids and the ‘town’ kids. Many children were homesick. Young children didn’t really know what was happening to them. Some of the hosts were very strict. Some hosts didn’t really want the children there and saw them as ‘intruders’. Brothers and sisters were often split up. It was badly organised – billeting officers frequently had to make desperate trips around villages knocking on doors begging people to accept children!

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What were the good things about evacuation? Children were kept safe. Brothers and sisters were always kept together. Some older children saw evacuation as an adventure. It was well organised. Children got to experience new things such as fresh milk. Younger children knew where they were going. All hosts had to be nice to their evacuees. Identify which of the following statements about evacuation are true and which are false.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Interpretation What was it like to be evacuated? Do you think evacuation would happen today? What does your answer tell us about how societies change?