Westward Ho!

This film has a soundtrack that describes the arrival of the evacuees at their destination and the preparations that have been made to receive them. There is a delightfully posh voice over from one child taken away in a very nice car! When war broke out in 1939 it was assumed that British cities would be bombed immediately. As a result, thousands of children and their teachers were evacuated to rural areas where they would be safer. When the bombing did not happen, many children returned. They were then evacuated again when the bombing of cities began in earnest from 1940 to 1941. The tone of this clip is typically positive, trying to reassure parents about evacuation. We know now that evacuation was a very mixed experience. Some children enjoyed their time in the countryside and even ended up staying there. At the other end of the scale there existed cases of exploitation, neglect and abuse.

Channel: UK National Archives Video Length: 33s Date Found: Sat, Apr 05 2008 10:55 PM Category: History Date Produced: View Count: 81