Evacuees of the Second World War | Operation Pied Piper
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- čas přidán 24. 11. 2020
- Evacuation in Britain during the Second World War amounted to the biggest mass movement of people in British history, with around 4 million people leaving their homes to escape the air raids of the Blitz. Many children didn't know where they would end up, who they would live with or when they would see their parents again. How did it feel to be an evacuee, a parent or a volunteer host? And how did the government organise the mammoth task of Operation Pied Piper? IWM Curator Alan Jeffreys tells us more.
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My late mother was evacuated with her younger brother to the Mid-Wales town of Llanidloes from Birkenhead. I don't know the precise details of when she left and came back. Her father died in a bombing raid, so the risk was very real.
In about 1969/1970 we went back to the town to see if we could rediscover the family my Mum was billeted with. The mother of the family had passed away a few months before, but we did find the father and the daughter they had lived with.
It was the start of a long on-going friendship for a number of years until they passed away.
Different times to our modern day crisis in 2020.
I realise that the war was disturbing and disruptive to the education of young people, but evacuation at least broadened their outlooks outside of the towns and cities.
Thank you for sharing.
I didn’t ask
haha
My mother was likewise evacuated to Wales from Liverpool but I don't know to where. My Grandparents lived in Colwyn Bay and we used to fly over and visit during the summers when we were stationed in Germany in the late 50's.
Thank you for sharing this story! 🙂
here is the answer whyyyyy
Around 1960 my mother was evicted from our home in London and me and my 3 brothers were separated from my mother and sent to Foster parents in Hastings Sussex , I remember having labels on our coats like the kids in this film... fantastic foster parents.. never forget them.. hated returning to London. They probably cared for children during the London Blitz.
I feel bad for her getting evicted.
My dad was sent to Scotland as a young boy
He told me it was the worst time of his life he was always getting in fights with other Scottish boys.
In the end his parents got him sent back to London their theory was if the London house got bombed at least we can die together
The footage doesn't show much of the anguish of the parents but shows a cheerful lot of kids on their way to a holiday in the country. In my mum's case it was quite different. She was evacuated to Cwmtillery at the age of 12 with her sister and wrote to her mum of the problems she met. Amongst these was the food. She wrote of "bread and dripping" every day and no main meals. Of a tyrannous man of the house who left early every morning to go down to the mines and the kids in school who didn't accept them. In the end my granny rushed down to Cwmtillery and took them home.
Very heartbreakng
First evacuated at age 4 and a bit (1940), then again (somewhere else) in 1942/3. Still going strong at 88, but with lots of memories of that time. Some good, but some not so ! That's life though.
Honestly, the war was quite saddening...
Yeah, all those people that lost their lives. 😞😞😞😞😞😞😞
I can fully understand the good intentions behind this movement, to help keep children safe from the air raids that did materialize not long after children were evacuated to the countryside. But I can also understand how traumatizing this could be for the kids, and how agonizing it could be for the parents, with neither of them knowing exactly where they were going, who they were going to live with, or if they would be chosen by nice people (the families taking care of the kids were allowed to pick the kids who were going to stay with them). The evacuation proved to be a mixed blessing for the kids. For some who ended up with caring families, it was a pleasant time in spite of the uncertainty of the era, and they bonded with their foster families and in some cases, even returned to the towns to finish their education, especially if they had no remaining family members to care for them. For other children, it was a traumatizing experience, if they didn't have kind foster families to care for them. Some kids were rejected because they weren't physically capable of doing farm chores, wore glasses, or just appeared to be "slow" mentally, and had trouble being placed. Probably one of the most terrifying aspects of the evacuation movement was the potential for kids to be sexually abused, in an era where such a concept was swept under the rug as much as possible. This would have been a pedophile's dream, since the only checks done on prospective foster families were to see how much room they had, not if they had any crimes against children in their past, and the unfortunate children in these situations probably wouldn't have had a trusted adult to confide in, and thus could easily be taken advantage of. Some unhappy children decided to take their chances of enduring, and perhaps getting killed in air raids, to a miserable existence with a host family, so they ended up running back to London on their own. However, if there were children who were orphans who were taken in by kind people who eventually adopted them, the evacuation DID prove to be a blessing for them!
Thank you. My neice just got a project to talk about this topic. I so wish those narrating could be part of it . It is so very important ❤
My great grandma was alive in the war
Learn as much as you can about her experiences, and never forget them. Pass them on.
So was everyone else’s
My husband's grandmother is in this short film
My husband's mother was evacuated during the 2nd World War to Wales, which she hated.
Annette.....My Aunt was also sent to Wales ( from Dover ) She was 10 yrs old leaving behind her Mom, Dad, two older sisters, and a niece. The family who took her in made her their personal maid. By the time she returned home, her two sister's had died and her Mom badly burned when their home imploded during a bombing. She hated every second........
Well - I was an evacuee - Southampton to Dorset aged two -A beautiful calm experience ! Rather like Cider with Rosie -No dramas ! Back to Southampton and bomb ruins to play in- and discover I had a big family -A safer , happier life for five years than it is now ! My Mum served in the Wrens during this time - I have recordrd it for posterity !
A very beautiful post. I'm sure many will agree. Thank you very much for sharing it with us. God Bless.
Heartbreaking video, great effects.
Thank you very much!
My admiration for the British people overrides all the parting sorrow. Perhaps it gained understanding between the City folks and the Country folks. Something America is in desperate need of right now.
My father was evacuated from East London, to north Weald in Essex, where there was a RAF airfield, which was heavily bombed , so he didn’t stay long there
Those battered toys broke my heart
My dad was 4 y.old, moved to the north, he wrote to the couple twice a year until they passed.
Lovely video, you've set a good tone there. It's easier to imagine this as happening or having happened, rather than something from a history book.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My mother lived in Liverpool during WWII. She told me she was sent to Wales during the blitz.
My great gran was almost arested for riding a pushbike with a candle at night because we live next to Rolls Royce factory's in ww2
Great video, thank you for the info!
My mother was evacuated to a family member's farm at Alfrick in Worcestershire. My grandma took her. They began early morning with a tram ride into Birmingham, a train trip to Worcester, and finally, a bus to the farm.
My grandma stayed the night, and the next day returned home. She got home just after midday to find worried neighbours waiting for her. A telegram had arrived, and that was always bad news.
It was from Alfrick. Apparently, my mum had screamed constantly after my grandma boarded the bus at the end of the lane by the farm. The family said that they were unable to keep her.
Without even taking off her coat, my grandma had to leave home and go and collect mum. Mum was away from home for two and a half days!
My dad was not evacuated. His mother refused to let him go, though his brother went. My dad was not allowed to go as he was treated as a servant and had to stay home in order to clean the house, work in the garden, and do the shopping. (His former neighbours told my mum when they knew she was marrying into the family. Even on his wedding day, he had to do the shopping! He was in his 70s before we discovered that he had also been abused, mentally and sexually!)
Some think Covid 19 pandemic lockdown destroy their kids life😂
This is a great piece of information for children to get educated on. I learned about this in primary school,in year 4.
I went on a school trip to learn about it too,and it was great.
I really think all primary schools should be teaching this to students, years 3 and 4,ages 7-9 is the right age, I say, to be learning about this.
I hope, when I have kids of my own,they will be learning about this in primary school, in lower key stage 2 too.
My father told me that several children were evacuated to Canada during the war. Did those children find their way back to Britain and their families?
So basically, the thumbnail scares me. It looks like me (not trying to slip the topic off the rail).
Thanks for reminding us that kids are 1 of the victims of war.
I've cought the train from Reading.Station but not in tha way ....I got on the wrong train ....thst's another story XXX
Great video
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I agree
OmG tEcHnObLaDe
Many never saw there children again.
@Frater Sol
Of course they saw their children again. Where on earth did you get such a silly notion from?
Some children would have died if they lived away from parents for several years. Some parents would have died as well. The parents weren't offered a ticket out, were they? @@Bisley56
I came here because my homework
watching this in a history lesson. My teacher sent us the link
Would this be classed as a primary source or secondary source?
Great question. The video itself I would probably say is a secondary source - particularly the narration and historian interjections - but it contains clips of primary sources within it. (Only a year late).
I understand that some were evacuated to Australia - or was that a social 'experiment' or intervention not related to the war? Could you please see if that can be covered?
I believe that was a Barnados program postwar where orphaned and wards of the state were sent to all corners of the empire to face appalling treatment, they are today considered part of the 'forgotten Australians' and there have been federal enquires and apologies here and the UK
The government is not good at raising children and never has been anywhere
My Mother-in-Law was evacuated from London to Leicester. She is gone now, and we know almost nothing about the details. Are any records still in existence (either the UK Govt, London or Leicester)? Is there perhaps a support group or maybe a Facebook group or something similar to help find more details? Thank you!
I came her for my work
I was sent to this video from drama-- why are we doing history in drama?
hi
Is there anyone out there that would be willing to talk about their experience?
I can only say that I was evacuated from Maryhill Glasgow at the age of 2. I have no memories of this experience. I learned about if from my mother. She told me she took me to the station put a label on me and I was sent off. I never learned my destination or of those I was with during this time. I have no memories of this time.
@@marymc70 Wow. Thanks so much for sharing.
My great great great grandad got evacuated from London in 1939
@De’vorris Robinson I was evacuated to Teignmouth in Devon from Ealing - the whole school was re-located complete with teaching staff - billeted with foster parents in street which was bombed (Mistaken by Hun as Plymouth..). Then re-fostered nearby. Fun days!
I'm made to watch this at home now at school and it sucks blame virus
Olaaaa
i am from poland
unnecessary. The entire Luftwaffe was involved in Poland and the spitfires stood idle for many consecutive months...
My Nan used go with my dad
V druhé svetové vojne môj otec mal len 4 rokov nevedel kde sa narodil rodičov stratil v druhé svetové vojne nemal európsky pôvod povedal že niekde z blízkeho východu nevedel nezabudni na Einsteina
Connect them to current Sri Lankan human rights
i amfrom interhigh
Technobalde is the best!!
Technoblade never dies
WE WIN THESE
Bro shut up
whos here from ms gw
Me
3:42 haha
Wasnt the biggest migration quite comfortably the Partition of India, in which a million were also estimated to have died after a hasty British withdrawal?
I imagine the author is talking about the biggest migration within the U.K. Certainly there are millions of people in Canada who have ancestors who migrated here from the U.K.
It always makes me laugh when people say the British were tyrannical colonizers but also blame them for leaving too quickly and not preventing the Natives from murdering eachother. Well what do you think the Natives were doing before the British arrived and created law & order with a sophisticated court system?
Law Enforcement Officers.
Police Constables.
FROM WHAT THE PALESTINIAN IS RECEIVING, YOU CERTAINLY ARE PRIVILEGED ARENT YOU
Anyone not born into the islamic cult is very lucky