by Ellen Weineck

Created on: November 18, 2007

In some ways the evacuation was a great success. In other ways it was not. It really depends on which way you look at it. I think the success was not just a success, but a 'great' success when you consider the number of lives that were almost certainly saved. In 1940, major cities in Britain, such as London, were heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. This was known as the 'Blitz.' It killed many people and destroyed many homes. But, if the hundreds of thousands of people that were evacuated, had not been, then the bombs would have killed many more. So, the Government were in this way, right to prepare for the bombing by evacuation.

At the time of the evacuation it was not successful socially. This was because of the misunderstandings between city and country people. The evacuees from the city often found it hard to settle into their new homes. Things such as flannels, toothbrushes, farm animals, wide open spaces and proper toilets were hard to get used to. Often the evacuees from the city had lived in poverty. The hosts of the evacuees found it strange hat they had lice, and many of them wet the bed. But, these were the conditions that many of them were used to living at home. However, not all children evacuated had come from poor homes. This caused problems for them, because they did not like the way their hosts stereotyped them. They thought all people from cities were poor and uneducated when this was not always true. So, during the evacuation itself, things did not always go well due to mismatches within the families.
However, after the war, the evacuation could be seen as a great success. Prior to the war, most country did not realise how bad conditions were in city slums. The evacuation opened people's eyes to the differences in quality of life within different classes. As a result, the Government realised that something ought to be done. Thus, after the war the welfare state was set up. This meant that basic medical health care and housing could be provided for everyone. For those who had previously lived in poverty, their quality of life was improved. So, you could say that in the long term, socially the evacuation was a great success because it brought about important changes in social attitudes.
During the evacuation, many children were unhappy for a number of reasons. Firstly, they missed their parents, and could have been worried they could be killed in the bombing. The parents also missed their children, and the Government only provided a cheap rail

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