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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8037-4081-5

More By and About This Author

Bradley (Jefferson's Sons) examines WWII through the eyes of a disabled child eager to escape her life of neglect and abuse. With the threat of German bombs being dropped on London, most parents are anxious to get their children out of the city. But Ada's mother, shamed by her daughter's deformed foot, doesn't seem to care. Ada takes it upon herself to board an evacuee train with her younger brother and, without their Mam's knowledge, they arrive in a country village with a crowd of students. Malnourished and filthy, the siblings are placed with Miss Smith, a woman lacking any experience with children, who claims she isn't "nice." Nonetheless, she offers Ada and Jamie food, clothing, and security, and she owns a pony that Ada is determined to learn to ride. In this poignant story, Bradley celebrates Ada's discovery of the world outside her dismal flat, movingly tracing her growing trust of strangers and her growing affection for Miss Smith. Proving that her courage and compassion carry far more power than her disability, Ada earns self-respect, emerges a hero, and learns the meaning of home. Ages 9-12. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (Jan.)

Pre-Recorded Audio Player - 978-1-4676-9743-9

Paperback - 978-607-01-2887-5

Prebound-Glued - 352 pages - 978-0-606-38843-6

Compact Disc - 6 pages - 978-0-553-55651-3

Audio book sample courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio

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Children's Book Review: The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8037-4081-5

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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8037-4081-5 More By and About This Author Bradley (Jefferson's Sons) examines WWII through the eyes of a disabled child eager to escape her life of neglect and abuse. With the threat of German bombs being dropped on London, most parents are anxious to get their children out of the city.

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The War That Saved My Life (The War That Saved My Life,...

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Read 11.7k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds set during World War 2, from t...

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Interviewer: "How much were you used to looking after your sister?"

Ronald McGill: "Um, I hated the sight of her; she hated the sight of me, so we always were in conflict. Uh, of course that died very quickly with the outbreak of war and then she hung on to me and I hung onto her really. I became the older boy, I was nine, she was seven and a half and so it changed the relationship completely. Suddenly I became almost like a mum and dad, and it became very close for children, very close."

On the same day that Germany invaded Poland large-scale evacuation procedures were taking place across Britain. The threat of German bombing of British towns and cities was imminent, and Britain was prepared. Ronald McGill, heard in this recording, was sent away from his home in Vauxhall in 1939 aged nine, holding the hand of his younger seven-year-old sister with little more than a toothbrush and a spare pair of shorts. His parents said they'd see him back by Christmas, but his teachers told the children to prepare for at least a year away from home. Many children didn't know what town they would end up in, who they would live with, or when they would see their parents again.

The choice facing parents to send their children on a train into the unknown did not come easily, but the option to keep them at home was even worse. How and why did these parents make this choice?

Evacuation on this scale had never been attempted by the government before but it was their task to safely transport millions across the country. So, how was this mammoth task accomplished?

Alan Jeffreys: "It was the first time the government had organised an evacuation scheme. There had been aerial bombardment in 1917 with the Gotha raids and people had evacuated from the cities then but there'd be no government scheme in place. School-age children were evacuated, pregnant women, mothers with young children, and the disabled and also their carers and helpers, and teachers as well. The evacuation between 1939 and 1945 amounts to the biggest mass migration of British history."

A few days after the announcement of war Ronald McGill boarded his own train along with 500 other pupils from his school headed for Reading. The school had been preparing for evacuation for a few weeks and some schools had already started leaving the cities.

Ronald McGill: "Now only that morning were we told it was Reading. So, we marched in there we waved goodbye and the parents stayed on one side of the road and they all cried our eyes out, it was terrible. Although we were all happy and joking by then, we'd had our apple, we said our goodbyes, banged our gas masks on and we were off."

Within the next three days, 1.5 million evacuees were sent from cities and towns into rural areas considered safe, and over the course of the war around 4 million people left their homes. It was a huge logistical exercise that required tens of thousands of volunteer helpers.

Alan Jeffreys: "The initial organisation is administratively quite thorough, but then it definitely deteriorates after that and it just depends on where they were going. So, a billeting officer in a town or small city would quite often be a local government official but then in smaller towns and villages they were usually volunteers and they just had to do what they could. And obviously people volunteered to take evacuees in, so the people who took in evacuees were compensated they got 10 shillings and six pence for the first child and then eight shillings and six pence for further children that they took in to look after."

Mary Whiteman: "Mostly the school children went straight to the training college and then were taken, met by billeting officers who offered to find them homes, and it does credit to the town to say that that first night everybody had somewhere to go. And they just counted up the rooms that was the idea you've in the old days, you count how many rooms and how many people."

As well as the huge logistical challenge for the government, towns, families, and volunteers, evacuation was an emotional upheaval, distressing for both children and parents. Evacuation was also entirely voluntary, so why did so many thousands so readily sign up before the war had even started?

Alan Jeffreys: "In the interwar period, especially in the 1930s, the great fear was of aerial bombardment. The MP Stanley Baldwin said in 1932 and the bomber will always get through and so this was one of the great fears across the nation in the interwar period."

The fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools, and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers. There was also a propaganda campaign encouraging citizens to take part.

Ronald McGill: "My parents were worried, they all thought that our part of London would be devastated by bombs the first moment the war was declared. They had a very real fear - my mother had seen the zeppelins come down over Elstree in the First World War and she thought that was going to happen again. And I actually heard her telling another lady that if Germany did attack, she would rather kill her own children than let them be taken."

Interviewer: "What did you think of that?"

Ronald McGill: "I just couldn't believe it! I just couldn't imagine the Germans in my house, it didn't make sense."

Across the country throughout the war and particularly in three separate waves of 1939, 1940 and 1944, children, mothers and vulnerable citizens left their homes, not knowing where they would end up, who with, or for how long. Luggage had to be limited. Parents were issued with a list detailing what their children should take with them when evacuated. Though the list was short for such a journey, in fact many families struggled even to provide their children with all the items listed.

Jannette Tucker: "Oh, we weren't allowed to take too much you know, just sort of a change of clothing mainly, just a few clothes. And we had to wear a mac, strong shoes, that sort of thing but we didn't take a lot of toys or anything, there wouldn't have been room."

Interviewer: "You know you were 12 and your younger sister was eight?"

Jannette Tucker: "Yes, yes."

Interviewer: "Did she take anything?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh yes, she took some toys you know, sort of dolls and that I think, you know. I can't remember which ones but sure she did."

For many evacuees from poorer inner city areas, it was their first experience of the countryside.

Interviewer: "There must have been some little children who hadn't even been to the country as much as you had?"

Ronald McGill: "Never, some had never been. Literally some had never seen cattle."

Jannette Tucker: "As I say we were quite excited and looking forward to it really because it sounded interesting to go and live in the country."

Interviewer: "What did you imagine that meant to go to the country?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh well I don't know, I suppose see all the animals and trees you know. It seemed nice to us, living in London."

Alan Jeffreys: "For some people it was the happiest days of their lives their evacuation experience. Whereas for others they missed their family and their home and especially if they were ill-treated by their foster carers. The experiences of the evacuees could really vary to a considerable level."

In some instances, a child's upbringing in urban poverty was misinterpreted as parental neglect. On the other hand, some city dwellers were bored in the countryside or even used for tiring agricultural work.

John Wheeler: "But I honestly don't remember whether head nits, head lice was more than an initial problem. It certainly was a problem when they arrived because most of them were infected based. Cat and Bill Milcoy in the first weeks they were with us spent more time in the bath almost than they did in bed."

Alan Jeffreys: "One of the quite important legacies of evacuation and definitely goes on to affect government legislation even during the war but certainly in the Labour government after 1945 was that evacuation drew attention to the economic and social deprivation that really existed in inner cities in the 1930s, and this really came to the fore through evacuation."

Interviewer: "I was going to ask if you had ever thought whether had you children they would be evacuated? You've seen it as a child, what would it be like as a parent?"

Ronald McGill: "I wouldn't send them. I wouldn't send them unless it was to somebody I knew, or I'd go there first and try and find people. I wouldn't like to do that, too vulnerable, yeah too vulnerable. It did transform my life it really did I can't say it enough. Scarred you in many ways because you lost so many friends and relatives, but I wouldn't have been without it. I think in many respects I was lucky to survive but also lucky to have been there which I'm only realising that in later life."

For some children the end of the war brought an end to a prolonged period of fear confusion and separation. For others it brought considerable upheaval as they returned to cities and families they barely remembered or homes that were no longer there. Despite the huge undertaking that evacuation was and the emotional distress to the citizens, by 1945 the impact of the air raids on cities across the country had been devastating.

Evacuation had allowed for the protection of millions of children from the worst of these aerial attacks.

Thanks for watching. Don't forget to hit the button to subscribe to IWM's YouTube channel for more videos like this and much more.

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The Evacuated Children Of The Second World War

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Evacuation took place in several waves. The first came on 1 September 1939 - the day Germany invaded Poland and two days before the British declaration of war. Over the course of three days 1.5 million evacuees were sent to rural locations considered to be safe.

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With the start of the Second World War came Operation Pied Piper. This was the plan to evacuate civilians from cities and other areas that were at high risk of being bombed or becoming a battlefield in the event of an invasion. The country was split into three types of areas: Evacuation, Neutral and Reception, with the first Evacuation areas including places like Greater London, Birmingham and Glasgow, and Reception areas being rural such as Kent, East Anglia and Wales. Neutral areas were places that would neither send nor receive evacuees.

Evacuees themselves were split into four categories, focused on specific social groups deemed non-essential to war work: 1) school-age children; 2) the infirm; 3) pregnant women and 4) mothers with babies or pre-school children (who would be evacuated together).

The Government Evacuation Scheme had been developed during the summer of 1938 by the so-called Anderson Committee, chaired by Sir John Anderson and charged with looking at how the country could respond to prolonged, destructive, aerial bombardment. The report laid out the foundations of a wartime evacuation policy, recommending the evacuation of schoolchildren, mothers with infants and the elderly to safer locales - typically rural communities. This proposal, together with the incorporation of another plan designed specifically by the London County Council (LCC) coalesced into an official government Evacuation Scheme from November 1938, and was one of the most radical works of social engineering ever conceived. By the summer of 1939 the LCC were requisitioning busses and trains in preparation and following a mass registration of both evacuees and billeting accommodation, Britain appeared ready for the worst.

On the morning of 31 August 1939 (three days before war broke out), an evacuation order was given for the next day. Children began frantically assembling in their schools early on the morning of 1 September and Operation Pied Piper began in earnest.

It was an epic logistical challenge requiring thousands of volunteer helpers. London alone had 1,589 assembly points and although most children boarded evacuation trains at their local stations, trains ran out of the capital's main stations every nine minutes for nine hours. Some children in London were even evacuated by ship from the River Thames, sailing to ports such as Great Yarmouth, Felixstowe and Lowestoft. The process involved teachers, local authority officials, railway staff and 17,000 members of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), who provided practical assistance, looking after apprehensive and tired evacuees at stations and providing refreshments.

Over the course of the first three days of official evacuation 1.5 million people were moved. In England alone 673,000 unaccompanied schoolchildren, 406,000 mothers and young children and 3,000 expectant mothers were relocated. Children had to carry a kit, and a Ministry of Health leaflet outlined what this should comprise: 'a handbag or case containing the child's gas mask, a change of under-clothing, night clothes, house shoes or plimsolls, spare stockings or socks, a toothbrush, a comb, towel, soap and face cloth, handkerchiefs; and, if possible, a warm coat or mackintosh. Each child should bring a packet of food for the day.' Each child had a luggage label pinned to their coat on which was written their name, school and evacuation authority. Separated from their parents, and, sometimes, siblings, schoolchildren were instead accompanied on their journey by a small army of guardians, mostly teachers and WVS personnel.

Evacuation day was inevitably a deeply emotional and, often, traumatic experience for all involved and full of uncertainty and tearful goodbyes. Although some children were excited at the prospect of the forthcoming 'adventure', most evacuees were unaware of where they were going, what they would be doing and when they would be coming back. Faced with enormous upheaval and prolonged separation from loved ones, the initial separation was devastating and heart-rending for both mothers and children as whole families were dislocated and uprooted. However, the fear of bombing attacks meant that most parents considered evacuation for the best, as children would be safer away from the city. Yet, evacuation was not compulsory and some parents were understandably reluctant to take part, despite propaganda posters which encouraged co-operation. For those parents who did co-operate it would be a nervous wait of several days to find out where their children had gone with notification coming via a postcard through the mail.

It was one thing to remove children from at-risk areas, but it was another to find somewhere for them to go. Various options were discussed, with civilians generally preferring the option of camps to be set up and supervised by teachers, but government ministers instead decided to use private billets. It became compulsory for homes to host assigned evacuees, with host families being paid 10 shillings and sixpence (53p; equivalent to £26 today) for the first unaccompanied child, and 8 shillings and sixpence for any subsequent children. Places were assessed in terms of accommodation available rather than suitability or the hosts' inclination for raising children. This could lead to resentment of those who would be forced to care for children against their will, compounded with that many children did not want to be there in the first place and tried to run away. This problem was particularly prevalent in the lower-class families, as wealthier families often had relatives or school friends in the country to take in their children, rather than relying on strangers.

Obviously, parents and children often missed each other. In the 'Phoney War' that followed the start of the Second World War, Hitler was not ready for a full-scale attack on Britain and France. This meant uneventful months passed, giving a false sense of safety, so many children began to come back. Despite warnings by the Minister of Health, nearly half of all evacuees had returned to their homes by Christmas. But, when France fell in June 1940, Britain became the next target and the Blitzkrieg began. Cities such as London, Coventry, Birmingham, Swansea, Plymouth and Sheffield were pounded mercilessly and evacuation became a policy grounded in reality. The south coast of England was also quickly changed from a Reception area to an Evacuation area due to the threat of invasion and so 200,000 children were evacuated (or re-evacuated) to safer locations. This 'trickle' evacuation continued until the end of 1941, but even after the Blitz ended, danger remained. Air attacks continued sporadically, then in 1944 an entirely new threat arrived in the form of Hitler's V-1 flying bombs and V-2 ballistic missiles. This began Operation Rivulet, the final major evacuation of the war. Running between July and September 1944 more than a million people moved out of danger zones.

To try and ease the blow of being separated from their parents, a special song was written for children in 1939 by Gaby Rogers and Harry Philips, entitled 'Goodnight Children Everywhere' and broadcast every night by the BBC:

Goodnight Children Everywhere

However, it is often overlooked that not all children were evacuated in the first place. Evacuation was a voluntary process and, while blackouts, gas masks and other wartime changes were accepted, many parents refused to part with their children during the war. Parents' concerns were not helped by the fact that the government could often not even tell them where their children would be going, and so only about 47 per cent of children were actually evacuated in the initial wave. The children left at home endured bombing raids along with the economic and welfare problems of the cities, and yet strangely grew more than their city counterparts. This led to varying interesting theories as to why this was, for example that country children, rather than using that energy for growth, were too active. This was until Anna Freud proved emotional well-being was also important to a child's growth. This changed the face of child warfare forever.

When the war ended the evacuees could finally return home. Some found their houses had been bombed or their families had departed (or no longer wanted them) but for most it was a happy reunion and brought an end to a prolonged period of fear, confusion and separation. But, for children used to being in the country, and parents not used to having children to deal with, this was not always easy. Many evacuees were now four or five years older than when they left; appearances, accents, outlooks and preferences had changed. Evacuation had reshaped an entire generation of youth, yet without Operation Pied Piper, and the biggest movement of people in Britain's history, the death toll in the Second World War would undoubtedly have been much higher.

More than 2.5 million children and countless families, including foster carers (whose role was vital), coped both practically and emotionally with evacuation in World War Two, having to make very real sacrifices in very unsettling times. It's hard to imagine how society would cope with such a situation today and, thankfully, is a dilemma that most of us have never had to face. Nevertheless, the subject of evacuation is one which continues to resonate.

You might also be interested in:

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The History Press | The evacuation of children during the Second World War

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Learn how the British government sought to protect its citizens during World War 2 through the mass evacuation of children from cities.

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Operation Pied Piper

The evacuation of Britain's cities at the start of World War Two was the biggest and most concentrated mass movement of people in Britain's history. In the first four days of September 1939, nearly 3,000,000 people were transported from towns and cities in danger from enemy bombers to places of safety in the countryside.

Most were schoolchildren, who had been labelled like pieces of luggage, separated from their parents and accompanied instead by a small army of guardians - 100,000 teachers. By any measure it was an astonishing event, a logistical nightmare of co-ordination and control beginning with the terse order to 'Evacuate forthwith,' issued at 11.07am on Thursday, 31 August 1939. Few realised that within a week, a quarter of the population of Britain would have a new address.

Talking to evacuees now about the events of those days in 1939 recalls painful memories that have been deeply hidden for 60 years, exposing the trauma of separation and isolation and the tensions of fear and anger. Most were unaware of where they were going, what they would be doing and all were wholly ignorant of when they would be coming back.

The fear of air attack from German bombers at the start of hostilities encouraged parents to send their children to safety. There were predictions of 4,000,000 civilian casualties in London alone, and, as early as 1922 - after the air threat from Zeppelins - Lord Balfour had spoken of 'unremitting bombardment of a kind that no other city has ever had to endure'.

The Government had stockpiled coffins, erected masses of barrage balloons and planned, at least in outline, for the mass evacuation of British cities before 1939. But it is now revealed that these plans were hopelessly flawed.

In the first place, the estimates of casualties were grossly over-exaggerated and the subsequent Government propaganda caused near panic rather than controlled movement. In addition, the man in charge of evacuation, Sir John Anderson, was a cold, inhuman character with little understanding of the emotional upheaval that might be created by evacuation.

The day of evacuation

Most evacuees have a vivid recall of events on the day of their evacuation. The images are of busy train stations, shouting officials and sobbing mothers.

In London, the schoolchildren sang 'The Lambeth Walk'. Elsewhere there were choruses of 'Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye'. For most it was 'like going on an adventure': a phrase that is still uppermost in the minds of evacuees 60 years on.

'We marched to Waterloo Station behind our head teacher carrying a banner with our school's name on it,' says James Roffey, founder of the Evacuees Reunion Association. 'We all thought it was a holiday, but the only thing we couldn't work out was why the women and girls were crying.'

For the newspapers the evacuation represented an irresistible human story. An upper-class Englishwoman, Mollie Panter-Downes, described the scene in her fortnightly piece for the New Yorker and remarked on the 'cheerful little cockneys who could hardly believe the luck that was sending them to the countryside'.

The stereotypical images were already forming in people's minds.

Parents gave instructions to their children: 'Don't complain,' 'Grin and bear it,' 'Look after your sister,' 'Write home as soon as you can.'

Broadly speaking the four-day official exodus worked surprisingly well. The real problems came in the reception areas where the Government had left arrangements for the children's arrival and care to local authorities, with little more than an injunction to do their best.

The result can only be described as a typically British wartime shamble. Hundreds of children arrived in the wrong area with insufficient rations. And, more worryingly, there were not enough homes in which to put them.

Twelve months earlier, the Government had surveyed available housing, but what they had not taken into account was the extent to which middle-class and well-to-do families would be making their own private arrangements. Consequently, those households who had previously offered to take in evacuees were now full.

Keeping control of the whole thing became a joyless task. 'The trains were coming in thick and fast,' says Geoffrey Barfoot who had been seconded from the town hall to act as a billeting officer in Weston Super Mare. 'It was soon obvious that we just didn't have the bed space.'

I'll Take that One

As a result of the mismatches, selection was made according to rudimentary principles. Billeting officers simply lined the children up against a wall or on a stage in the village hall, and invited potential hosts to take their pick. Thus the phrase 'I'll take that one' became etched on the memory of our evacuees.

Steve Davis, a clinical psychologist specialising in the study of war trauma, says this was the first of many moments that caused upset and humiliation for the evacuees and put their welfare under serious threat. 'It was little more than a paedophile's charter', says Davis, whose work involves counselling former evacuees.

For him the current anniversary marks a watershed. 'Surveys show that childhood memories lie dormant for a period of around 60 years and now they are returning to haunt people in a big way.'

Understandably perhaps, those with only good evacuations cherish their memories, and are irritated by those who seem only to recall the gloomier side. The unhappiness of others somehow besmirches their own idyllic picture.

However, contrasting experiences have stayed with the evacuees and what is left can only be described as the best of times and the worst of times.

Rita Glenister, from North London, stayed with a working-class family in Somerset and was treated like a member of the family, given love and affection and secured friendships to last a lifetime. Norma Reeve, from a lowly background in the East End, was taken in by a titled lady with servants and a butler who served Norma her meals.

Little things, like going to the pictures, learning to bake bread, walks in the woods and the generosity of those who took evacuated children into their homes, have remained constant in the minds of evacuees. For many it was a life-enhancing, mind-broadening experience, leaving them with memories they treasure to this day.

Others, however, were beaten, mistreated and abused by families who didn't want them and didn't care about them. The painful experience of John Abbot, evacuated from Bristol, reflects the darker side. His rations were stolen by his host family, who enjoyed good food whilst John was given a diet of nothing more than mashed potatoes.

He was horsewhipped for speaking out and, with a bruised and bleeding body, was eventually taken in by the police. Then there was Terri McNeil who was locked in a birdcage and left with a chunk of bread and a bowl of water.

Of course, it would be wrong to suppose that evacuation under the government scheme was one long misery for most of those involved. Clearly it was only a minority that were ill-treated, but it did happen. The present writer spoke directly to nearly 450 ex-evacuees, and of these 12 per cent say they suffered some sort of mental, physical or specifically sexual abuse, as defined by the children's welfare organisations of today. Naturally, and sadly, deep scars lie just below the surface for that minority.

Daily Mirror's coverage
Saturday, 2 September 1939 No hitch on great adventure
Evacuation of schoolchildren from London went without a hitch. The children, smiling and cheerful, left their parents and entrained for unknown destinations in the spirit of going on a great adventure.

'I wish all our passengers were as easy to manage,' a railway official said. 'The children were very well behaved.'

At Waterloo, 80 per cent of the normal travellers saw nothing of the schoolchildren. After Earl de la Warr, President of the Board of Education, had toured a number of schools in West London, he said, 'If the arrangements at the other end for receiving the children are as good as at this end, it bodes well for the scheme.'

Waiting rooms, turned into first-aid posts at various stations for the children, were rarely if ever used.
First school to start
Earliest school to start evacuation was Myrdle Street School, Commercial Road, E. Two hundred children, aged from three to 13, assembled before dawn. Each child carried a gas mask, food and change of clothing and bore three labels. 'Don't suck or eat your labels,' the head teacher, Miss DL Herbert, told them.

Freda Skrzypee, nine, who arrived with her parents and brother from Danzig on Sunday was among them. She speaks no English, but has a companion in Ruth Rosenzweig, Jewish refugee from Berlin. 'The Germans have taken away our nationality,' she said, 'But I am happy here.'

While waiting to be taken away - they did not know where they were going, except 'to the country for a holiday' - the children had community singing. As dawn was breaking the children marched to Aldgate Metropolitan Station, where they entrained.

At the Ben Johnson School, Mile End, E, mothers were allowed into the playground where 300 boys and girls said a bright 'cheerio' to their mothers. Then Mr HC Cawsey told the parents: 'Your children will be safe. Remember Mr Morrison's message and smile!'

Daily Mirror; part two
Saturday, 2 September 1939 And they did smile
A teacher cheerily told a father: 'We'll be back in a week. The weather's glorious for a nice holiday.'

Organisation was so good that a quarter of an hour after the assembly the children were ready to move.

Not one of the 250 children was late at Mandeville Street School, Lower Clapton. Once inside their buses they talked happily with their parents through the windows. 'Got your comics, Bert?' shouted a fond father. Bert had them all right, with his gas mask.

The evacuation went off with remarkable smoothness.

Within eleven minutes after the arrival by District Railway at Wimbledon, 500 children from Merton Road School (Southfields) and Wandsworth School were in a main line train station on their way to an undisclosed destination.

It was a brave little regiment, marching in step, which left Ashburnham School, Lots Road, Chelsea, for Walham Green Station where they entrained for Wimbledon. One thousand children are being evacuated from the Chelsea area.

The dexterity with which the children were shepherded through crowds of morning workers at Waterloo Station was a perfect piece of organisation. Police wearing armlets and LCC school officials saw that an avenue to their platform was kept entirely free for the children.

Little tots smiled gleefully and boys whistled and exchanged jokes. One boy, carrying a kitbag over his shoulder in true military style, kept humming to himself as he marched along.

'Cheer up. Your children are going to have a happy holiday and don't worry.' With these words of cheer Miss Violet Horseburgh, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, comforted mothers outside the Vauxhall Central School, Lawn Lane, South Lambeth Road.

One little boy at Ealing Broadway Station, where 50,000 children entrained, had a bucket and spade with him. To cheer him up his mother had told him that he was going to the seaside. Actually, she did not know his destination.

Ten thousand children left New Cross Gate Southern Station.

Mr E Kingston of Vansittart Road, New Cross, who saw two of his children leave on the train said, 'It is the only sensible thing to do. I am not worrying.'

Hospital evacuation too, went off smoothly. Along the blue-windowed corridors of Saint Thomas's Hospital, past the carriage which Florence Nightingale used in the Crimea, teams of medical students wheeled patients (who still require medical treatment but are not seriously ill) in their beds to two centres, where they were transferred to stretchers.

Two fathers arrived and carried their newly born babies from the wards to the ambulance. Bernard Cooke (of Cornwall Street, Victoria), proud father of Patrick Joseph, who weighed 9lb, 14oz at his birth a week ago, said:

'I am sorry to lose my wife and boy. It's my first baby, you know, but I think it's wiser that they should go away.'

The bed patients - 70 in number - were evacuated from Charing Cross Hospital in an hour. 'Goodbye, nurse. I'll see you soon,' called one of the younger women. 'Of course you will. You will be back next week,' was the nurse's rejoinder. Many babies were among the first batch of patients removed from Guy's hospital.

Daily Mirror: part three
Saturday, 2 September 1939 Evacuation plans going smoothly
Great progress has been made with the first part of the Government's evacuation arrangements in England, says a statement issued by the Minister of Health. The statement goes on: 'The railways, road transport organisations, local authorities and teachers and the voluntary workers in the reception areas are all playing their part splendidly.'

'Evacuation will continue. The time that it will take to complete will vary in different areas.'

'Evacuation of school children will continue in areas where it is not already completed.'

'This will be followed by evacuation of young children accompanied by their mothers or by some other responsible person, expectant mothers, blind and any cripples who have received instructions that they will be moved.'

'By this time all these persons in these special classes in the different areas ought to have been informed by their local authorities where to assemble and the day and time at which to be there.'

'If any of you in these classes are in doubt you should at once make inquiries at your local council office.'

'Arrangements for the first day were limited to those areas for which transport plans have been previously worked out. It has already been possible to extend the arrangements to a few other areas.'

'Evacuation form Grimsby and Cleethorpes will continue on Saturday and Sunday. Evacuation form Derby will take place on Saturday and Sunday; from Coventry on Sunday and Monday.'

'All persons included in the Government evacuation scheme who are in receipt of State pensions or allowances should take their pension and allowance books with them, even if the book has just expired.'

'They will be able to draw their pensions and allowances from the nearest Post Office if they present the book.'

'Pensioners who at present get their books from a pension officer and not a Post Office, should get from the Post Office in the new area the address of the local Pensions Officer.'

As a further precautionary measure the Minister of Health has sent instructions to hospitals in the casualty organisation to send home all patients who are fit to be sent home. Similar arrangements have been made in Scotland.

Orders for the transfer of stretcher cases from inner to outer hospitals were issued yesterday.

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Evacuees in World War Two - the True Story

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David Prest explores the mixed fates of Britain's child evacuees.

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Clubfoot is a deformity in which an infant's foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or even upward. Around 1 infant in every 1,000 live births will have clubfoot, making it one of the more common congenital (present at birth) foot deformities.

Clubfoot is not painful during infancy. However, if your child's clubfoot is not treated, the foot will remain deformed, and they will not be able to walk normally. With proper treatment, the majority of children are able to enjoy a wide range of physical activities with little trace of the deformity.

Most cases of clubfoot are successfully treated with nonsurgical methods that may include a combination of stretching, casting, and bracing. Treatment usually begins shortly after birth.

In clubfoot, the tendons that connect the leg muscles to the foot bones are short and tight, causing the foot to twist inward.

Although clubfoot is diagnosed at birth, many cases are first discovered during a prenatal ultrasound. In about half of the children with clubfoot, both feet are affected. Boys are twice more likely than girls to have the deformity.

Isolated (idiopathic) clubfoot, the most common form of the deformity, occurs in children who have no other medical problems.

Non-isolated clubfoot occurs in combination with various health conditions or neuromuscular disorders, such as arthrogryposis and spina bifida. If your child's clubfoot is associated with a neuromuscular condition, the clubfoot:

May be more resistant to treatment

Require a longer course of nonsurgical treatment

May even require multiple surgeries

Walk on the outer edge of their foot instead of the sole

Develop painful calluses

Be unable to wear shoes

Have lifelong painful feet that often severely limit activity

Researchers are still uncertain about the cause of clubfoot. The most widely accepted theory is that clubfoot is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. What is known, however, is that there is an increased risk in families with a history of clubfeet.

The goal of treatment is to obtain a functional, pain-free foot that enables standing and walking with the sole of the foot flat on the ground.

Manipulation and casting. Your baby's foot is gently stretched and manipulated into a corrected position and held in place with a long-leg cast (toes to thigh). Each week this process of stretching, re-positioning, and casting is repeated until the foot is largely improved. For most infants, this improvement takes about 6 to 8 weeks.

Achilles tenotomy. After the manipulation and casting period, approximately 90% of babies will require a minor procedure to release continued tightness in the Achilles tendon (heel cord). During this quick procedure (called a tenotomy), your child's doctor will use a very thin instrument to cut the tendon. The cut is very small and does not require stitches. A new cast will be applied to the leg to protect the tendon as it heals. This usually takes about 3 weeks. By the time the cast is removed, the Achilles tendon has regrown to a proper, longer length, and the clubfoot has been fully corrected.

Bracing. Even after successful correction with casting, clubfeet have a natural tendency to recur (come back). To ensure that the foot will permanently stay in the correct position, your baby will need to wear a brace (commonly called "boots and bar") for several years. The brace keeps the foot at the proper angle to maintain the correction.

For the first 3 months, your baby will wear the brace almost full-time (23 hours a day). The doctor will gradually decrease your child's time in the brace until they are wearing it only overnight and at nap time (about 12 to 14 hours per day). Although this bracing program can be demanding for parents and families, bracing for at least 3 to 4 years is important to prevent the clubfoot from coming back.

There are several different types of braces - all of which consist of shoes, sandals, or custom-made footwear attached to the ends of a bar. The bar can be solid (both legs move together) or dynamic (each leg moves independently). Your child's doctor will talk with you about the type of brace that would best meet your baby's needs.

Babies might be fussy during the first few days of wearing a brace and will need time to adjust. More information about helping your baby adjust to bracing is provided at the end of this article in the section titled "Helpful Tips for Bracewear."

Considerations of the Ponseti method. The Ponseti method has proven extremely effective for many children. It does, however, require the family to be highly committed to applying the braces properly every day. If the brace is not worn as prescribed, there is a high likelihood that the clubfoot will come back.

A small percentage of children develop relapses despite proper bracing. If the child's foot slips out of the boot on a regular basis, it may be the first sign of a mild recurrence of the deformity. If addressed promptly, this can usually be corrected with a few serial casts and possibly a minor surgery.

In addition, applying the Ponseti method correctly requires training, experience, and practice. Be sure to ask your pediatrician for a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon with expertise in the nonsurgical correction of clubfoot.

Less extensive surgery will target only those tendons and joints that are contributing to the deformity. In many cases, this involves releasing the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle or moving the tendon that travels from the front of the ankle to the inside of the midfoot (this procedure is called an anterior tibial tendon transfer).

Major reconstructive surgery for clubfoot involves extensive release of multiple soft tissue structures (such as ligaments and tendons) of the foot. Once the correction is achieved, the joints of the foot are usually stabilized (made secure) with pins and a long-leg cast while the soft tissue heals.

After 4 to 6 weeks, the doctor will remove the pins and cast and typically apply a short-leg cast, which is worn for an additional 4 weeks. After the last cast is removed, it is still possible for the muscles in your child's foot to try to return to the clubfoot position, so special shoes or braces will likely be used for up to 1 year or more after surgery.

The most common complications of extensive soft tissue release are overcorrection of the deformity, stiffness, and pain.

Your baby's clubfoot will not get better on its own. With treatment, your child should have a nearly normal foot, and they can run, play, and wear normal shoes.

The affected foot is usually 1 to 1-1/2 sizes smaller and somewhat less mobile than the normal foot.

The calf muscles in your child's clubfoot leg will also stay smaller, so your child may complain of "sore legs" or getting tired sooner than other children their age.

The affected leg may also be slightly shorter than the unaffected leg, but this is rarely a significant problem.

1. In boots or sandals with a single strap, tighten it by one more hole, using your thumb to hold the foot and tongue in place. In boots with multiple straps, tighten the middle one first, using your thumb to hold the foot and tongue in place.

2. Try double socks. In boots with a removable insert, place one sock directly over the foot, and a second sock over the insert to help take up excess room.

3. Remove the tongue of the shoe - this will not harm your child.

4. Try lacing the shoes from top to bottom, so that the bow is by the toes.

5. Use 40-inch round shoelaces.

6. Try thinner or thicker cotton socks, or the ones with non-slip soles.

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Clubfoot is a deformity in which an infant's foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or even upward. Most cases of clubfoot can be successfully treated with nonsurgical methods that include stretching, casting, and bracing.

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Overview

Clubfoot describes a range of foot abnormalities usually present at birth (congenital) in which your baby's foot is twisted out of shape or position. In clubfoot, the tissues connecting the muscles to the bone (tendons) are shorter than usual. Clubfoot is a fairly common birth defect and is usually an isolated problem for an otherwise healthy newborn.

Clubfoot can be mild or severe. About half of children with clubfoot have it in both feet. If your child has clubfoot, it will make it harder to walk normally, so doctors generally recommend treating it soon after birth.

Doctors are usually able to treat clubfoot successfully without surgery, though sometimes children need follow-up surgery later on.

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Symptoms

If your child has clubfoot, here's what it might look like:

The top of the foot is usually twisted downward and inward, increasing the arch and turning the heel inward.

The foot may be turned so severely that it actually looks as if it's upside down.

The affected leg or foot may be slightly shorter.

The calf muscles in the affected leg are usually underdeveloped.

Despite its look, clubfoot itself doesn't cause any discomfort or pain.

When to see a doctor

More than likely your doctor will notice clubfoot soon after your child is born, based on appearance. Your doctor can advise you on the most appropriate treatment or refer you to a doctor who specializes in bone and muscle problems (pediatric orthopedist).

Causes

The cause of clubfoot is unknown (idiopathic), but it may be a combination of genetics and environment.

Risk factors

Boys are about twice as likely to develop clubfoot than girls are.

Risk factors include:

Family history. If either of the parents or their other children have had clubfoot, the baby is more likely to have it as well.

Congenital conditions. In some cases, clubfoot can be associated with other abnormalities of the skeleton that are present at birth (congenital), such as spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don't develop or close properly.

Environment. Smoking during pregnancy can significantly increase the baby's risk of clubfoot.

Not enough amniotic fluid during pregnancy. Too little of the fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb may increase the risk of clubfoot.

Complications

Clubfoot typically doesn't cause any problems until your child starts to stand and walk. If the clubfoot is treated, your child will most likely walk fairly normally. He or she may have some difficulty with:

Movement. The affected foot may be slightly less flexible.

Leg length. The affected leg may be slightly shorter, but generally does not cause significant problems with mobility.

Shoe size. The affected foot may be up to 1 1/2 shoe sizes smaller than the unaffected foot.

Calf size. The muscles of the calf on the affected side may always be smaller than those on the other side.

However, if not treated, clubfoot causes more-serious problems. These can include:

Arthritis. Your child is likely to develop arthritis.

Poor self-image. The unusual appearance of the foot may make your child's body image a concern during the teen years.

Inability to walk normally. The twist of the ankle may not allow your child to walk on the sole of the foot. To compensate, he or she may walk on the ball of the foot, the outside of the foot or even the top of the foot in severe cases.

Problems stemming from walking adjustments. Walking adjustments may prevent natural growth of the calf muscles, cause large sores or calluses on the foot, and result in an awkward gait.

Prevention

Because doctors don't know what causes clubfoot, you can't completely prevent it. However, if you're pregnant, you can do things to limit your baby's risk of birth defects, such as:

Not smoking or spending time in smoky environments

Not drinking alcohol

Avoiding drugs not approved by your doctor

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Clubfoot describes a range of foot abnormalities usually present at birth (congenital) in which your baby's foot is twisted out of shape or position. In clubfoot, the tissues connecting the muscles to the bone (tendons) are shorter than usual. Clubfoot is a fairly common birth defect and is usually an isolated problem for an otherwise healthy newborn.

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Just after 500,000 young people were evacuated from London, an Atlantic correspondent roamed the streets of the city, reporting on the weirdness of a metropolis suddenly missing a generation.

BBC

In 1939, visions of a darkening Europe began to fill the pages of The Atlantic. Reading these pieces now is like watching dark clouds gather, but with full knowledge of the destruction that is about to unfold.

" City Without Children," by the novelist Storm Jameson, describes the early days of Britain's war with Germany when, in anticipation of bombings and gassings, more than half a million children were evacuated from London. In the days following the exodus, Jameson explored the neighborhoods that once brimmed with children playing, interviewing the few children who remained and the families who had sent theirs away. Her piece blended observations of life proceeding as usual with the new macabre reality of the war:

Over half a million children were hurried out of the city. Some further hundreds of thousands went independently, packed off to relatives and boarding schools in the country. On Wednesday, September 6, London looked as it would look if some fantastic death pinched off the heads under fifteen. It was an exquisite day; we have had a poor summer, much rain and low gray skies; today, and all this first week, sunlight, the wind mild and fitful, the sky clear. In this light, London is extremely handsome. Very early in the morning the balloon barrage looks unreal and very frail. As the light strengthens, the balloons become clear and hard, oversize stars in a perfectly blue sky. A pity there are no children to point at them.

The balloon barrage was a string of blimp-like vessels connected to ground by steel cables. It acted like a barbed-wire fence around the city, making it difficult for enemy aircraft to maneuver into the city and attack. But these, Jameson illuminates, were only superficial changes to London. The loss of the children ran much deeper. "Overnight, London has become what it will look like in another half century -- war or no war, bombs or no bombs -- when fewer and fewer children are being born," Jameson writes. "Half a million grown men could be moved out of the city and it wouldn't make any serious change. But without children, an essential part of the picture has been wiped out."

The most striking passages in the piece are about mothers who either regretted sending their children away, or had an uneasy time justifying why they let them stay. One sobbed over the thought of the war preventing her from ever having a family. She and her husband had built a nice home for themselves, but what was that worth if they couldn't have children?

No. We didn't send a child away because we haven't one to send. ... Oh, can you understand this war? Tell me why it had to come, spoiling our lives, tell me! Perhaps we shall never have a child now, never; it's all been wasted. Excuse me, I feel ashamed of crying, but when I look at my nice things over two pounds we paid for that carpet -- and he has a shelf for his books, and we were going to have, to have, we were going.

In 1939, the future of the Britain was in question and no one knew the answers. Would the evacuated children have homes to come back to? "Even a well meaning government cannot evacuate the thoughts of its citizens," Jameson writes. One woman she spoke with refused to believe the Germans would bomb London. Her words eerie now, foreshadow the death toll that the war would take across the continent and around the globe:

How could anyone, even Germans, bring themselves to murder thousands and thousands of people in cold blood? Why, you can't believe it; it would be the end of all things. They'll never do it. Never

Read "City Without Children" in its entirety.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Brian Resnick is a former staff correspondent at National Journal and a former producer of The Atlantic's National channel.

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Just after 500,000 young people were evacuated from London, an Atlantic correspondent roamed the streets of the city, reporting on the weirdness of a metropolis suddenly missing a generation. BBC In 1939, visions of a darkening Europe began to fill the pages of The Atlantic.

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An eyewitness account of the first day of World War II in London

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Horse Owning and Care Basics for the Beginner

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Owning a horse can be a lot of work so here's what you need to know if you're interested in owning horses.

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County

Designated evacuation areas

Cheshire

Birkenhead and Wallasey County Boroughs, Runcorn Urban and Rural Districts

Derbyshire

Derby County Borough

Durham

Gateshead, South Shields, Sunderland and West Hartlepool County Boroughs, Hartlepool and Jarrow Municipal Boroughs, Felling, Hebburn and Whickham Urban Districts

Essex

East Ham and West Ham County Boroughs, Barking, Chingford, Dagenham, Ilford, Leyton, Walthamstow and Wanstead & Woodford Municipal Boroughs, Hornchurch, Thurrock and Waltham Holy Cross Urban Districts

Hampshire

Southampton and Portsmouth County Boroughs, Gosport Municipal Borough

Kent

Bexley, Chatham, Dartford, Erith, Gillingham, Gravesend and Rochester Municipal Boroughs, Crayford, Northfleet and Swanscombe Urban Districts

Lancashire

Bootle, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford County Boroughs, Crosby, Stretford and Widnes Municipal Boroughs, Litherland Urban District, Warrington and Whiston Rural Districts

Lincolnshire

Grimsby County Borough, Cleethorpes Municipal Borough

London

All Metropolitan Boroughs, Cities of London and Westminster

Middlesex

Acton, Brentford & Chiswick, Ealing, Edmonton, Hornsey, Tottenham, Willesden and Wood Green Municipal Boroughs, Enfield Urban District

Northumberland

Newcastle-on-Tyne and Tynemouth County Boroughs, Wallsend Municipal Borough

Nottinghamshire

Nottingham County Borough

Staffordshire

Smethwick, Walsall and West Bromwich County Boroughs

Surrey

Croydon County Borough, Barnes, Mitcham and Wimbledon Municipal Boroughs, Merton & Morden Urban District

Warwickshire

Birmingham and Coventry County Boroughs

Worcestershire

Oldbury Municipal Borough

Yorkshire

Bradford, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Rotherham and Sheffield County Boroughs

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This short guide will help you to research records of children evacuated during the Second World War. Most of the records at The National Archives that relate to evacuation are central government policy files. What do I need to know before I start?

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Beginner horseback riding - free lessons! walk, trot, canter & gallop! Free horse lessons for ALL disciplines - many topics!

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The German Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people. More than 70,000 buildings were completely demolished, and another 1.7 million were damaged. The extent of the damage to each and every one of these buildings was logged and mapped in near real-time by surveyors, architects, engineers, and construction workers.

The result is an incredible collection of maps, color-coded by hand, that reveal the extent of the destruction in painstaking detail. Today, the maps remain an invaluable resource for academics, family historians, and even builders trying to avoid touching off unexploded bombs.

Now these bomb census maps are available in a beautiful oversized book released earlier this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Blitz, a nine-month period during which London and other British cities were relentlessly attacked by the German air force. " The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps, 1939-1945 " contains large, high-quality reproductions of all 110 maps of the London region along with commentary from Laurence Ward, principal archivist at London Metropolitan Archives, which holds the original maps.

"There are just so many stories which these maps provide the starting point for," Ward says. "They're a great source in the sense that they make you want to go on and find out more."

As soon as the bombs fell, data collection for the maps began. The London County Council, the central administrative authority of what was known as the County of London (roughly the area known today as Inner London), tasked its Architect's Department with responding to bomb damage as it occurred. Surveyors, who before the war mostly worked on building sites to make sure regulations were followed and buildings were up to code, suddenly found themselves in charge of rescue operations. They worked with local rescue services made up of people from the construction fields, like engineers and bricklayers.

"Their primary aim was to pull people out of rubble and destroyed buildings and try to save lives," Ward says. "They were set up as the rescue service because they had an understanding of how buildings worked, so if a building was about to collapse, making a judgment on how much time you had to get into the building and try and save people." In all, the rescue services responded to 16,396 incidents and saved 22,238 people. Fifty-four of them died during these efforts.

Once a rescue operation was finished, the surveyors and rescue workers would work together to classify the damage, building by building, into six categories ranging from "blast damage-minor in nature" to "total destruction." Their reports were sent to the London County Council, where they were recorded onto 1916 Ordnance Survey maps. Each damage category was given a color (shown in the key, above right), and the status of every affected building was colored by hand on the maps.

A diary entry included in the book, from architect Andrew Butler on April 20, 1941, gives an idea of what the work was like:

For the block I have started on-eight floors high with two flats on each floor-has had its whole face ripped off ... I found it possible to stand on part of the roof. So, clutching a broken chimney, I surveyed the damage there. My notebook became very messy. What with the dust and soot, wet filth and the perspiration of fluster on my hands, it was difficult to read what I wrote. The notes served their purpose however when, after drying the book, I had to transcribe them into a report.

Visually, the maps are quite striking. The apparent randomness of the colors stands in contrast to the more orderly pattern of streets and buildings. In some places, whole swaths containing several blocks and dozens of buildings are colored black (total destruction) and purple (damaged beyond repair). In other places, the severity of damage varies widely, with areas colored yellow (minor blast damage) peppered with black, purple and red (seriously damaged).

Circles on the map denote strikes from V-1 and V-2 rockets, late additions to the German arsenal that caused tremendous damage. Beginning in June of 1944, Germany added the V-1 flying bomb to its attacks, which up to that point had mostly consisted of aircraft dropping incendiary bombs. The V-1 was a pilotless aircraft carrying a 1,870-pound warhead that could navigate by autopilot and crash into a target. More than 2,000 landed in the London region, killing 2,329 people. In September, a V-2 rocket, the world's first ballistic missile, hit London. By the end of the war, 517 had detonated in London, killing 2,511 people.

The damage from World War II transformed London into the architecturally diverse city it is today. The maps help explain how rows of grand old flats can be interspersed with more modern buildings.

"Looking at a very, very small area, you can have buildings dating from maybe five different centuries sitting in quite close proximity to each other," Ward says. "As you go further out you might be walking along a very fine Victorian street full of these beautiful terraced houses with lots of Victorian detailing on them, and then suddenly right in the middle of this road, there'll be this kind of 1960's low-rise housing block, very functional, very square. But it's often that was the result of bomb damage."

The book also contains a remarkable collection of photos of damage in the City of London, a square-mile section at the center of greater London, taken by two police officers who would photograph damaged areas in the wake of attacks. The combination of the maps showing how widespread the destruction was, and the photos, such as the one above, showing what the damage looked like up close, really brings home the scale of the devastation.

"I just find it staggering that they managed to just carry on. London just carried on working," Ward says. "It must have been an extraordinary time."

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Bomb-Damage Maps Reveal London's World War II Devastation

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The German Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people. More than 70,000 buildings were completely demolished, and another 1.7 million were damaged. The extent of the damage to each and every one of these buildings was logged and mapped in near real-time by surveyors, architects, engineers, and construction workers.