1. AN APPRAISAL OF CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
IN WARTIME BRITAIN
AMY LOUISE WARD
An extended essay submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a BA Hons in
History, De Montfort University 3rd May 2013
Module Code: HIST 3000
Word Count: 10,910
Dissertation Supervisor: Dr John Martin

2. Thankyou John for always responding to my emails so efficiently, your time and
efforts have been much appreciated. Brilliant tutor and historian!
Abstract

3. Theintention of this dissertation is to assess the impact of the Second World War
upon British children’s childhood experiences. The effects of the evacuation
programme with special reference to the social and welfare needs of children
once evacuated occupies chapter 2. The third chapter is devoted to the wartime
national education service and how the evacuation of British children
subsequentlyaffected the provision of education in the reception and evacuation
zones. In addition there is an appraisal of the 1944 Education Act. Chapter 4
looks at the wartime work children were involved in during the war and argues
that their involvement was a crucial element in the wartime food production
campaign, whereas, the historians within this field have generally ignored their
valuablecontributions. The availablehistoriography fails to adequatelyaddress
British children’s wartime experiences and this study will enhance our
understanding of wartime childhood through the exploration of previously
neglected primary source materials.
Contents
Chapter I – Introduction

4. Chapter II – An Assessment of the Impact of Wartime Evacuation on the lives of British
Children
Chapter III – A Critique of the Impact and Legacy of Evacuation on Wartime Education
Chapter IV – An Assessment of Agricultural Wartime Work Undertaken by British Children
Chapter V – Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendices
Abbreviations
CWEAC – County War Agricultural Executive Committee
FW – Farmer’s Weekly

5. IWM – Imperial War Museum
LEA – Local Education Authorities
LCC – London County Council
NUT – National Union of Teachers
NA – National Archives
NUAW – National Union of Agricultural Workers
TUC – Trade Union Congress
TES – Times Educational Supplement
Chapter I – Introduction
When war broke out in 1939 it is fair to say that British children were unprepared for it. Britain
was to experience almost six years of total war and at the centre of the struggle would be the

6. nation’s children. Children were to be uprooted from everything that was familiar to them and
evacuated, they were to witness the break-up of their families, live with the threat of aerial
bombardment, experience hostility from the hosts who took them in and all the while suffering
from the privatisations of rationing, a fractured education system and an uncertain future1.
This study will address the experiences of children during the Second World War with the
exploration of three interrelated issues. Firstly there will be an analysis of evacuation which
will shed light on the experiences of children who were moved from areas of Britain which
were potential targets for enemy bombing. There are different interpretations of evacuation and
this study will explore the debates which concern the impact that the scheme had on the lives
of children. There is the popular interpretation of evacuation as a successful project which
saved thousands of lives, gave disadvantaged children a chance for a holiday and brought
together the most divided classes of society demonstrated by historians such a Norah Barding,
B. S. Johnson and William Busby2. However this idealistic interpretation requires revision
because the evacuation of children in 1939 was not as successful as first thought and there is
evidence which points towards severe failures in the government’s policy in terms of providing
the care and welfare of the children of Britain whilst attempting to evacuate them to safety. The
logistics of the operation went without serious mishap3. However it is the social problems and
the apparent lack of preparation on behalf of the government which will be addressed here.
Secondly, this paper will explore the failures and successes of the system which is so important
to the development of children. With many teachers being drafted into the armed services,
school buildings taken over for wartime undertakings, the upheaval of evacuation and the terror
of bombardment, surely the British education system suffered more so than historians have
1 Mike Brown, Wartime Childhood, (Oxford, Shire Publications, 2011), pg. 5
2 Norah Barding, A Friendly Hearth, (London, Cape, 1946), B. S. Johnson, Evacuees,(London, Victor Gollancz
Ltd, 1968, William H. Busby, Our Evacuees: A Reminiscence, (London, 1941)
3 Ben Wicks, No Time to Wave Goodbye, (London, Bloomsbury Publishing Limited, 1988), pg. 7

7. currently suggested. P.H.J.H Gosden and Carlton Jackson have viewed evacuation as the key
to understanding the subsequent educational reforms4. The interpretations of the 1944
Education Act have often been very positive. The passing of the Act will be explored in order
to identify what it aimed to achieve, why this Act was required in the British education system
and if it actually succeeded in meeting those aims.
Finally, the work British children undertook on farms during the war will be addressed and
their contribution to the maintenance of agricultural output will be evaluated. With the
exception of Richard Moore-Colyer5, historians have generally overlooked this aspect of the
war but there is evidence to suggest that children played a much more important role in helping
Britain to victory than historians have so far suggested. Through the analysis of their
experiences this study will ascertain how valuable their work was to the successes of the war
on the home front. In addition, this study will address the debates which were underway at the
time regarding whether it was appropriate for children to be involving themselves in manual
labour.
In a sense the wartime evacuation of children has been somewhat glamorised and although the
negative experiences have been made apparent in the historiography, there does seem to be an
overarching idealism and nostalgia which taints the true childhood experiences. The purpose
of this study is to explore a topic which has been neglected by historians. Whether it was
evacuation dominating government policy or helping with the war effort as best they could,
children were actively involved. Under parental and state control children have often been
4 Carlton Jackson, Who Will Take Our Children:The Story of Evacuation in Britain, 1939-1945,(London,
Methuen,1985)
5 Richard Moore-Colyer, ‘Kids in the Corn: Harvest School Camps and Farm Labour Supply in England 1940-
1950, The Agricultural History Review, Vol. 52, No. 2, (2004)

8. viewed as objects rather than subjects and this makes their participation in the war interesting6.
Children’s actual contributions to the war effort are generally overlooked and the work that
children did during the war be it helping on the farms, salvaging scrap paper, domestic work
or simply trying to save money, their contribution is a neglected area of historical research.
The existing secondary source material provides little contextual analysis with regards to
children and the war. Instead they provide a detailed narrative which eulogises the evacuation
of the nation’s children during the great fight for freedom. When most people think about
children and the Second World War, evacuation is the first thing that comes to mind. Hence
this study will attempt to draw on the evacuation schemes as well as the role of education and
the war work in order to make it clear that children did play an active and beneficial role in the
war which goes way beyond simply being evacuated from the cities.
This study will make use of many previously neglected primary sources materials. Included
will be a range of newspaper leading articles published during the war years, contemporary
accounts found in diaries and interviews, school histories, school magazines, BBC broadcasts,
and evacuation surveys. Surviving documents from the Ministry of Information, Ministry of
Health, Board of Education and LCC memoranda, posters and papers (significant collections
of official papers can be located at the National Archives, Kew) will also be used as they
provide a useful insight into wartime planning.
6
Brenda Mayall and Virginia Morrow, You Can Help Your County: English Children’s Work During the
Second World War, (London, Institute of Education, 2011), pg. 4