Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Under the name "Operation Pied Piper", the effort began on 1 September 1939 and officially relocated 1.5 million people.
There were further waves of official evacuation and re-evacuation from the south and east coasts in June 1940, when a seaborne invasion was expected, and from affected cities after the Blitz began in September 1940.
The country was divided into zones, classified as either "evacuation", "neutral", or "reception", with priority evacuees being moved from the major urban centres and billeted on the available private housing in more rural areas.
The government had overestimated demand: only half of all school-aged children were moved from the urban areas instead of the expected 80%.
Art treasures were sent to distant storage: The National Gallery collection spent the war at the Manod Quarry near Ffestiniog, North Wales.
Some private companies moved head offices or their most vital records to comparative safety away from major cities.
Under "Plan Yellow",[6][7] some 23,000 civil servants and their paperwork were dispatched to available hotels in the better coastal resorts and spa towns.
Under this plan, the nucleus of government would relocate to the West Midlands—the War Cabinet and ministers would move to Hindlip Hall, Bevere House and Malvern College near Worcester and Parliament to Stratford-upon-Avon.
[8] Winston Churchill was to relocate to Spetchley Park whilst King George VI and other members of the royal family would take up residence at Madresfield Court near Malvern.
The architect T. S. Tait was responsible for the design of the buildings, which included accommodation for over 200 children and staff, recreational halls, wash blocks and a dining hall/kitchen complex.
The dining hall and kitchen complex is protected as a Grade II listed building because of the importance of Tait's work, and because of the painted murals depicting the life of the many evacuees.
One evacuated school was sponsored by the FPP in Knutsford, Cheshire, with each child being financially supported by an American citizen.
Between March and September 1940, 1,532 children were evacuated to Canada, mainly through the Pier 21 immigration terminal; 577 to Australia; 353 to South Africa and 202 to New Zealand.
About 14,000 children were evacuated privately to overseas relatives or foster families, including 6,000 to Canada and 5,000 to the United States.
Efforts were made to remove the vulnerable from coastal towns in southern and eastern England facing German-controlled areas.
Guernsey's Forest School reopened in a church hall in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire where it operated until August 1945.
Even at the time, there were some that had grave concerns about the psychological effect on especially the younger children, and wondered whether they would be better off taking the risks with their parents.
