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Evacuation Of Children World War 2

Birmingham children en route to their new temporary homes.

More evacuees at Snow Hill Sept 1939
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These were at Aston station Sept 1939. Not such a happy group as the orevious group.
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Birmingham children settled in Cheltenham getting a visit from the Mayor of Birmingham in October 1939. Viv.
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Another fantastic picture - BHF is doing well recently. Victor, welcome to the Forum and many thanks for posting the picture.

Maurice
 
Good Morning, I've just recently started researching my Mum's family, the Pollock's. I have some information but am hoping to fill in some of the blanks. I'm hoping someone can help to point me in the right direction to find out more information about the family. My Mum, Jeannie Marie Pollock, lived in Birmingham at 149 Durham St., I guess my Nan, Margaret Pollock, had a boarding house at that address. In 1939 she and two of her sisters (Annie and Helen/Ella) were evacuated. Does anyone know if there was a central location where they left from?All I know is that Annie came back to Birmingham first because of her age and my Mum and Helen/Ella came back when my Nan found out the person they were living with was abusing them. At that time my Mum would have been 11 and Helen/Ella would have been 9. My Mum used to say that they had to"hide" because if anyone found out they were back in Birmingham they would have been sent away again. Is there a list anywhere that tells where they were sent? A cousin recently told me that my parents held their wedding luncheon (April 1954) at the Golden Hillick (sp?) school, would this have been done? My Dad was an American GI so shortly after they were married they left for the states. They ended up in California, where in 1955, during a flood, my Mum helped evacuate and save a number of other war brides and was awarded the British Empire Medal. If anyone knows where I could start looking to see where she was evacuated to in 1939 I would greatly appreciate it.
Have a nice day,
Bonnie Cameron
 
Welcome Bonnie60,
below is a link to a large thread here concerning evacuees in WW2. There are others, relevant to certain Birmingham schools as well. I am sure your post will be a good addition.
 
Going through some of Mom’s old photos, I came across a couple of snaps that I believe may show the arrival of wartime evacuees. The location is Bredon, Worcestershire, and the viewpoint is outside the Fox and Hounds in Church St. The buses are parked opposite Bredon Hancock’s School.

My Mom was an evacuee there for around two years, and like many, her experience of those times was a bit mixed. Her final billet was with the village school Headmaster, where she was happiest, and she kept in touch with her ‘auntie’ long after the war.

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Good photos to be sure. And there was the Midland Red buses which took them there it seems. They look rather like SOS IM4's, delivered in the mid 1930's. but the Red is not my speciality, so someone else may know differently.
 
I was speaking to my 91 year old aunt this morning about her evacuation during the War. She says that she was evacuated from the Sacred Heart Scool in Aston to Woodville near Swadlincote. The had arrived at school without any knowledge that they were to be evacuated, and she did not know whether her parents had known beforehand. She says she was sent on a coach with the other children and during the journey they stopped at a village where a spread had been laid out. They enjoyed their cakes and went on their way, later they learned that it was set up for the children from St Joseph.

At first they went to school with Protestants but trouble between the children meant they were subsequently bused to a Catholic school.

The clips from the Birmingham Daily Post of 15 September 1939, and show that the locals were not best pleased with the state of the Birmingham children !



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I think the parents had the final decision on whether their children were evacuated or not, not the Council or Education department. My 2 sisters and I lived in Shirley at the outbreak of war and my parents considered it a reasonable safe spot so we were not evacuated I'm glad to say. Actually they were wrong for our house was bomb damaged in November 1940 but only minor. Eric
 
yes eric i think you are correct about the parents having the final say about their children being evacuated...my dad who lived in hockley was evacuated along with his siblings but our mom was not...never understood why as she lived in paddington st..an area that was hit very badly...mom was lucky

lyn
 
Lyn, it was just a matter of luck, in those days bomb aiming was hardly a fine art, we tried to get our Grand parents who lived in Aston to stay with us but they declined the offer, a wise decision for our house was damaged and theirs was not ! Eric
 
Lyn, it was just a matter of luck, in those days bomb aiming was hardly a fine art, we tried to get our Grand parents who lived in Aston to stay with us but they declined the offer, a wise decision for our house was damaged and theirs was not ! Eric

hi eric...yes i recall you mentioning this before..must have been awful not knowing if you were going to be spared...

lyn
 
Lyn, I was only 10, I don't think you realise the seriousness of the situation at that age, I didn't for a start. Eric
 
eric i guess to some children it would have been seen as a bit of an adventure and excitement but of course the adults knew differently...

lyn
 
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