Evacuation

As war approached, the British government took urgent steps to protect the population from the threat of air raids by evacuating children from towns and cities.

On 1 September 1939, two days before war was declared, the evacuation of a million children began - the largest movement of people ever seen in Britain. Most travelled by train with their schools. They went to live with foster parents in country areas as far away as Cornwall and the north of Scotland. Evacuation was an adventure for some who had never seen the countryside, but others were homesick and unhappy. Foster parents were often shocked by the lack of hygiene and poor diets of inner city children. Equally, some town children found themselves staying in isolated, primitive cottages with no electricity or running water.

When the expected air raids did not happen, many evacuees went home. By spring 1940 half had returned to the cities. But the invasion of France and the start of air attacks on Britain led to a second wave of evacuation, including some 16,000 children who were sent overseas by ship to North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.