How People’s Lives on the Home Front Were Greatly Changed by Evacuation?

1434 Words6 Pages
During the World War ll, people’s lives on the Home Front were greatly changed by evacuation. Evacuation plans had been in preparation well before the outbreak of war. It had begun in September 1939. One of people’s biggest fears was that there would be air raids. The majority had been told that the German bombers ‘will always get through’. So, thousands of children were immediately sent away from the likely targets, such as big industrial cities. They had been evacuated from the danger areas into the countryside where they were more likely to be safer. “There is room in the safer areas for these children; householders have volunteered to provide it. They have offered homes where children will be made welcome”. Source A1 is a primary source of evidence from a public information leaflet. It’s useful because it tells us the plans made for evacuation and explains how the process was organised. The reliability of the source may be questioned as it was issued by the government 2 months before the war was declared. It can be seen as propaganda persuading parents to evacuate their children. The government took over Britain’s entire transport system for up to four days in order to evacuate children from the major cities. By road, rail and even sea, children set off leaving their parents behind. Only children under five went with their mothers. All these evacuees had to be housed and in order to find a home the children would have to go through different procedures. On arrival, children were lined up and local people would choose the children they wanted. Usually, the smarter, cleaner girls would go first and the dirtier, scruffy little boys would be left until last. Another way to find a home was by evacuees being led around the town or village and taken door-to-door. Homeowners were asked if they would foster a child for a while. Evacuation highlighted the social
Open Document