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Evacuation
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In 1938 when it looked as if war with Germany would
be inevitable the government started to make its initial
plans to evacuate people from areas they thought would
be at risk. They assumed that there would be massive
bombing of industrial areas such as Liverpool and as
a result law and order would break down, with rioting
and civil unrest.
By the time war was about to be declared in late August
1939, all civilians had been issued with a gas mask,
identity card and ration books.
Right: Identity card
Liverpool Corporation attempted to persuade
as many people as possible to leave the city. Priority
was given to children and mothers with children under
five. The government's instructions to carry out the
evacuation scheme were given on Thursday 31st August
1939. By the following Monday 226 trains had left Liverpool,
carrying 57,000 schoolchildren and 31,000 mothers with
young children.
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This was actually less than had been expected as many
people withdrew at the last minute. Evacuees from Liverpool
were sent to "reception areas" in Shropshire, Hereford,
Lancashire, Cheshire and north and mid Wales. Parents
had to decide, almost immediately, whether to send their
children away, not knowing where they would be going or
who they would be staying with.
Left: Ration book |
Children had to report to their school with a small amount of
luggage, their identity card, ration book and gas mask.
Children assembling in the school yard at St Michael in the
Hamlet School
Teachers from the school travelled with the children and stayed
in the reception area. For many this would have been the first
time that they had travelled outside Liverpool. The country
areas and small town that they went to must have been very different
to inner city Liverpool. Stories of children who had been sewn
into their underwear for the winter, who had never seen sheets
on a bed or slept in a bed on their own and were infected with
lice or had other ailments were reported in all the newspapers.
But it must be remembered that life in Liverpool in the 1930's
had been particularly hard. A lot of people did not have regular
employment or a steady wage. Any available work was irregular
and poorly paid. Facilities, which we take for granted in homes,
such as hot water, indoor toilets and bathrooms, were unknown
to many.
War was declared on 3rd September 1939, but this was the time
of the "phoney" war. The predicted mass bombing did not happen,
although there were numerous false alarms. Mothers with children
and some children began to drift back to their homes.
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Left: Bomb crater in Scotland
Road, May 1941. Caption: Bomb crater in Scotland Road,
May 1941.
When Liverpool was heavily bombed in the period leading
up to the May Blitz of 1941, there was a second wave of
evacuation. This time the traumatic effects of the bombing
made parents more anxious to send their children to safe
areas and they usually stayed away for longer. |
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