• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Evacuation Of Children World War 2

School evacuation rehearsals in July 1939. Further details from the article are attached below, including the schools which took part. Did every child have a kit bag for the real thing ? Viv.

.View attachment 123500

thanks viv very interesting as our dad and mom would have taken part in the rehearsals dad went to burbury st school mom to lozells girls.....dad was evacuated to skenfrith in wales but for some reason mom stayed home

lyn
 
My Dad went to his Aunt in the country at Amington near Tamworth. By coincidence his school (the Rosary, Saltley) were later evacuated there as well so he joined back up with his school. Lessons were in the Pretty Pig Pub which had a room upstairs. They shared the room with a London (I think ) school - one group in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
 
The real thing this time .... smooth evacuation at Aston Station. Have posted the caption separately as its not very clear. Viv.

image.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    19 KB · Views: 6
And for reference, the published Birmingham Evacuation Area in 1939. Viv.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    154.7 KB · Views: 17
The single deck bus in the photo is most likely one of the ten Daimler COG5's of 1936, 32-41 BOL 32 - 41 which were used as ambulances during WW2.
 
viv does is say what school it is in the first photo post 139...watermark is in the way

lyn
 
It doesn't give any school names Lyn. Full caption below. Shall try and create some space below captions on future photos to allow for the watermark. Viv
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    28.1 KB · Views: 13
thats ok viv thanks...if you find any of burbury st children i would love to see them as our dad could be there although having said that i have no photos of dad at that age but you never know i may pick him out

lyn
 
Shall do Lyn. This is why I especially like to post any images of people, groups etc as you never know when someone you're searching for might pop up. Viv.
 
There must be more about out why babies were sent to Lancashire. Many mothers would reluctant to part with their babies although the photo does show some older children as well.
Were the children from homes, having no or single parents or just uncaring parents? Or was it a knee jerk reaction. Did the children stay there for most of the war or did many return once the intensive bombing had ceased.
I wonder if Members, or readers of BHF, were one of those children, or knew someone who was.
 
There must be more about out why babies were sent to Lancashire. Many mothers would reluctant to part with their babies although the photo does show some older children as well.
Were the children from homes, having no or single parents or just uncaring parents? Or was it a knee jerk reaction. Did the children stay there for most of the war or did many return once the intensive bombing had ceased.
I wonder if Members, or readers of BHF, were one of those children, or knew someone who was.
I dont believe that you should read something in the event that wasn't really there...wartime was a great coming together of our generation. While true that we did not question decisions that were made requiring evacuation, most of the people I knew felt it was a good and necessary thing. My brother and sister, who were twins, were evacuated, but I stayed with our mom. My dad was in the army, like many other fathers at the time, and he felt it was a good thing. I know of no one that was traumatized or suffered any long term negative effects from being evacuated, in fact, many of the kids I knew, talk fondly about being evacuated to the country side, it was a little like being on vacation. There may be other tales of woe, but I never heard any.
Dave A
 
I was not reading anything in to the article I was asking questions which may or not be answered. These children were not billeted with adults but in some form of home or hospital. That was not the usual way as far as I recall. Even in the latter part of the war young children were billeted with people due to their being homeless after bombing. As their were spare rooms in my home, just Nanny and myself, we got two young boys from Walthamstow billeted with us. Their home was bombed beyond repair.
It might have been a coming together for many, however it was not for me. I lost my mother due to WW2 when I was four and it took my father, a soldier, away from me for six years - my formative years. Not much togetherness there! My father returned from Norway at the end of 1946.
Evacuation. for many children, was good as it introduced lots of children to the countryside and small towns rather than densely populated grimy cities. I lived in the country, so stayed there, but I did have an uncle, just a few years older, that was evacuated to Herefordshire from Birmingham. I guess he liked it so much that not long after his marriage (in the Yardley area) he moved to North Devon.
My future mother-in-law (South Devon) had two brothers from London. They liked her and the place so much that they came here on holiday until their deaths in recent years.
There are, without doubt, many evacuees who had a hard time - their problems are recorded in books and on tv documentaries - for many it could have been a culture shock. But, by and large, children are fairly resilient - well they were then because they had to be.
 
Movie "Hope and glory" worth watching. We had a dear friend from London, that went with his Dad to a boy scouts meet, leaving his Mom and sister home. Came home and all was lost, the house a direct hit from a German bomb. Many many tales like this during the war. My self in Yardley Brum I never knew of any nippers been sent away during the war, We went to school everyday and carried on in true British fashion with a stiff upper lip.
 
I was not reading anything in to the article I was asking questions which may or not be answered. These children were not billeted with adults but in some form of home or hospital. That was not the usual way as far as I recall. Even in the latter part of the war young children were billeted with people due to their being homeless after bombing. As their were spare rooms in my home, just Nanny and myself, we got two young boys from Walthamstow billeted with us. Their home was bombed beyond repair.
It might have been a coming together for many, however it was not for me. I lost my mother due to WW2 when I was four and it took my father, a soldier, away from me for six years - my formative years. Not much togetherness there! My father returned from Norway at the end of 1946.
Evacuation. for many children, was good as it introduced lots of children to the countryside and small towns rather than densely populated grimy cities. I lived in the country, so stayed there, but I did have an uncle, just a few years older, that was evacuated to Herefordshire from Birmingham. I guess he liked it so much that not long after his marriage (in the Yardley area) he moved to North Devon.
My future mother-in-law (South Devon) had two brothers from London. They liked her and the place so much that they came here on holiday until their deaths in recent years.
There are, without doubt, many evacuees who had a hard time - their problems are recorded in books and on tv documentaries - for many it could have been a culture shock. But, by and large, children are fairly resilient - well they were then because they had to be.
I'm sure we have much in common...I did not lose my mom in the war but like you,I never saw my dad until 1946. It goes without saying that most moms would be reluctant to give up their children for an unspecified number of days, months or even years to an unknown environment. However, it does seem to me that it was quite acceptable at the time to put our children out of harms way, children were our future...my contention was, and please forgive me if I got the wrong impression, that you were questioning whether the children were mainly from (like many of today's children) broken homes, single moms and / or uncaring parents.
Dave A
 
The image gave no other information about the nature of the Edgworth home. I’ve found this reference to nursery centres in the.Courier January 1940. Presumably these were to help their mothers go out to work. Maybe mothers who accompanied their evacuated children made use of this provision ? Viv.

F38E1552-E281-4DE1-9DED-7B55530C3ACB.jpeg
 
In another thread there is an interesting account about being evacuated during WW2 and problems which arose as posted by Roy Blakey.
Re: Birmingham History

THE CODE.

Kingstanding ( 1940 ). Mom's and Dad's gathered to make the decision regarding whether to allow their children to be evacuated or not. The decision in General was made to accept the evacuation.

My Dad suggested to me that when I sent any letter home that I use a simple ( me to him ) code. I think he was concerned that letters sent home by evacuees might be subjected to some sort of censorship. The simple code we agreed on was to draw a picture on the letter as follows : (1) An ' Anti-air craft gun if everything was OK or (2) A ' Spitfire ' if their was any problems.

The story then ran ( from my younger brothers and my own point of view )

Excitement at school on the evacuation day whilst we all waited for the Buses and Train to take us on this adventure.

We eventually arrived at our evacuation destination late in the afternoon and then we sat through to late evening in this strange school hall awaiting ' Selection '. After a very lengthy period my brother and I were eventually put with a local couple and taken to their home.

Things didn't go we'll right from the start. We were transferred to another couples house within the first eight days of the evacuation ( this was a nice couple but this overall situation was not going to be for us ).

I sent a letter home at this time which included the ' Spitfire' drawing code.
index.php

index.php


Mom and Dad arrived within a few days and brought us both back home. On arriving back in Brum there was a full scale
Air Raid in progress . No problem. Just glad to be back. No place like home.
Yet another successful mission accomplished by the old ' Spitfire '.
 
Back
Top