The Wartime Memories Project

- Evacuees during the Second World War -


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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

Evacuees



   The first wave of Second World War evacuees in Britain left their urban homes on the 1st of September 1939, before Britain had declared war with Germany, the fear that cities would be bombed prompted many parents to enrol their children in the voluntary scheme to remove them from danger. Much of the organisation was done through the school system, with whole schools, complete with teachers, relocating to the countryside, though some families made private arrangements. Some children were sent across the Atlantic or to relatives as far away as Australia, though this practice largely ending with the sinking of the City of Benares in the Atlantic. The Children's Overseas Reception Board evacuated 2 664 children, 1 532 to Canada, 576 to Australia, 353 to South Africa and 203 to New Zealand and it is believed that another 11,000 children went by private arrangement, over 6 000 to Canada and the remainder to the United States. Children from Europe were also evacuated, some Jewish children were evacuated from Germany to protect them from the rising threat in the years before the outbreak of war either privately or via the Kindertransport, but for many this was not an option.

The arrival of large numbers of evacuees had a huge impact on rural life, schooling was much restricted, many village schools having two sets of pupils attending half days or alternate days to cope with the influx. Mothers of very young children were evacuated with their offspring, but most children went with school friends and siblings, a small comfort amongst the dramatic change in lifestyle. Finding themselves living with strangers was not always a happy experience, especially if their hosts were unwilling, but many evacuees settled quickly and remember the experience fondly, many staying in touch with their new families long after the conflict ended.

 

4th Sep 1939  Great Kindness

7th Sep 1939 Fewer than Expected

8th Sep 1939  Accompanied Evacuees

22nd Jun 1940 Evacuation Schemes

 London Evacuee in Cambridgeshire



Those known to have been Evacuated

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

The names on this list have been submitted by those listed, relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List



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    25th Annversary

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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.




Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home.

If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.



Want to know more about Evacuees?


There are:7 items tagged Evacuees available in our Library

  These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.








Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.



Evacuation

Stewart Ross


Published in association with the Imperial War Museum, this wonderful series uses primary source evidence such as diaries, posters, newspapers cuttings and oral accounts to portray life on the Home Front in a dramatically vivid manner, as well as comparing it with the experiences of civilians elsewhere. During World War Two, enemy bombers dropped thousands of bombs on British towns and cities which became very dangerous places, as everyone was at risk during an air raid. One way to protect people was to provide air-raid shelters. Another was to move them somewhere safer. This was called 'evacuation' and children were the largest group of evacuees. But where did they all go? "Evacuation" will tell you the answer to this and many other questions.
More information on:

Evacuation


Wartime Cookbook: Food and Recipes from the Second World War 1939-45

Alison Cooper


Eggless sponge, carrot marmalade, liver savoury or nettle tea are just some of the recipes British people ate during World War Two. This new version of the Wartime Cookbook, with simplified text, looks at rationing and how British people coped with limited supplies. Full of recipes for children to make at home or at school using only wartime ingredients, the Wartime Cookbook shows you just what life was like in wartime Britain
A World War II Evacuee (The Daily Life Of)

Alan Childs


This was a Christmas present for our eleven year old who read it immediately and found it not only interesting and easy to read, but extremely helpful for her year 6 project on World War II. The illustrations were particularly pleasing and gave us much to talk about.
The Story of a World War II Evacuee (Historical Stories)

Andrew Donkin


Evacuated to the countryside to escape the nightly German air raids in London, Harry and his friends decide to play their own Battle Of Britain. But as a German plane, chasing a British Spitfire, steams into the sky little does Harry know how dangerously real his battle is about to become.
Carrie's War (Puffin Books)

Nina Bawden


Set in WW2, Carrie and her little brother are evacuated to Wales and billeted at the home of the bullying Mr Evans and his timid sister Lou. Unhappy at home, they love visiting fellow evacue, Albert, at the farm of Druid's Bottom. Here they meet Hepzibah Green, who knows magical stories, and Mister Johnny, who speaks a language all his own. But then things go wrong and Carrie takes things into her own hands - without guessing the awful consequences.
More information on:

Carrie's War (Puffin Books)


World War II (Children in History)

Fiona MacDonald


Children in History: World War II looks at how children lived in this key historical era, including life on the Home Front, evacuation, making do and mending, education and much more. Children in History allows the reader to explore the past through the eyes of a child. Discover what it was like to go to school, play and grow up during some of the most exciting periods of history.
The Lion and the Unicorn

Shirley Hughes


This Powerful story about a young child's wartime experiences is told with the enthralling illustrations of one of the best-loved children's authors, Shirley Hughes. Product Description As Lenny's father goes off to fight in the second world war he gives his son a brass badge with a lion and a unicorn on it. Lenny keeps it with him when bombs are dropped on his street and when he has to be evacuated to a big house in the country. He misses his parents a great deal and the other children there and at school are spiteful in teasing him. But he finds a secret walled garden to escape to with a stone unicorn. Here he meets the wounded soldier Mick and learns again how hard it is to be brave. It is the unicorn who finally rescues him from his sadness and loneliness and proves itself to be his guardian angel by bringing his mother to him.
More information on:

The Lion and the Unicorn


My Secret War Diary, by Flossie Albright

Marcia Williams


A fascinating diary account of the Second World War, as seen through the eyes of a young girl. Product Description Flossie is just nine years old when, in 1939, Britain declares war on Germany and her father leaves the family home to join the army. Flossie is left to bring up her baby brother and to face a whole host of new experiences on her own. Her diary becomes an outlet for relaying all the news from at home and abroad. From the first evacuees arriving to her sweetheart being killed in Normandy in 1944, Flossie has to endure much hardship. But her own special blend of courage, humour and fighting spirit see her through to the Armistice, when she can welcome her dad home at last.
World War II Children

Sallie Purkis


True-life experiences of four children during World War II, beautifully presented as historical biographies. Through hours of research, Sallie Purkis has uncovered these original histories and retells them for the first time with historical photographs and large colour illustrations. In this book, we find out about Hella who was forced to flee England when the Nazis invaded her country, about Molly who watched the German army march into Guernsey and about John who had a bomb land in his garden in London. The war even affected Gloria in Jamaica, on the other side of the world.
More information on:

World War II Children


The Children's War: The Second World War through the eyes of the children of Britain

Juliet Gardiner


Published in association with the Imperial War Museum, a lavishly illustrated account of how the Second World War impacted on the lives of children. This book is published to accompany the major exhibition in 2005 to be held at the Imperial War Museum on the lives of children during World War II. It looks at the evacuees who were forced to adjust to separation from family and friends; and those who stayed in the cities to endure the horrors of the Blitz. It describes in words and pictures every aspect of life on the home front for children - through letters, diaries, drawings, posters and photos, plus numerous vivid first hand accounts. The result is a supremely nostalgic and poignant reminder of what the war meant for the innocent children caught up in it.
Sam's Spitfire Summer

Ian MacDonald


This book is one of many that fall part of a series. Designed to assist reluctant readers and dyslexia sufferers, this book follows the British Dyslexia Association guidelines (printed on cream paper, double line spacing, large font, left justified and plenty of pictograms). Sam's Spitfire Summer captures all the loneliness of the billeting hall and the excitement of finding a crashed Messerschmitt in this thrilling World War Two adventure, with facts included. When Sam is evacuated, he might as well be going to the moon. Ten-year-old Sam watches the familiar sights of London disappear in a cloud of steam as he sets off on a journey to the unfamiliar world of country cottages, farmyard animals and a hostile welcome at the village school. Packed with fantastic fact pages about life on the home front, and with amazing illustrations by Charlie Clough, here is a book which vividly portrays a child's-eye-view of life at the outset of the Second World War. Suitable for reading age 8 and inte
More information on:

Sam's Spitfire Summer






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