Evacuation Why and How?
London: United Kingdom, Lord Privy Seal's Office, 1939. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Single sheet, printed on both sides. Sheet is approximately 11 inches by 8.5 inches, folded in half, with printing on all four sides/pages. Sheet has wear, soiling and some staining. Some creasing noted. This is Public Information Leaflet No. 3. It addresses Why evacuation, The Government Evacuation Scheme, What You Have To Do [with sections on Schoolchildren, Children under five, Expectant Mothers, and The Blind], Private Arrangements, and discussion that Work Must Go On. On the last page, there is a note at the end identifying the ;evacuable' areas under the Government Scheme, which includes a long list of locations from which there may be some evacuations. Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organizations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s and 30s, with the Raid Wardens' Service set up in 1937 to report on bombing incidents. Every local council was responsible for organizing ARP wardens, messengers, ambulance drivers, rescue parties, and liaison with police and fire brigades. From 1 September 1939, ARP wardens enforced the "blackout". Heavy curtains and shutters were required on all private residences, commercial premises, and factories to prevent light escaping and so making them a possible marker for enemy bombers to locate their targets. With increased enemy bombing during the Blitz, the ARP services were central in reporting and dealing with bombing incidents. They managed the air raid sirens and ensured people were directed to shelters. The evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to protect people, especially children, from the risks associated with aerial bombing of cities by moving them to areas thought to be less at risk. Operation Pied Piper, which began on 1 September 1939, 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. There were also official evacuations from the UK to other parts of the British Empire, and many non-official evacuations within and from the UK. Other mass movements of civilians included British citizens arriving from the Channel Islands, and displaced people arriving from continental Europe. The Government Evacuation Scheme was developed during summer 1938 by the Anderson Committee and implemented by the Ministry of Health. The country was divided into zones, classified as either "evacuation", "neutral", or "reception", with priority evacuees being moved from the major urban centers and billeted on the available private housing in more rural areas. Each zone covered roughly a third of the population, although several urban areas later bombed had not been classified for evacuation. In early 1939, the reception areas compiled lists of available housing. Space was found for about 2,000 people, and the government also constructed camps which provided a few thousand additional spaces. The government began to publicize its plan through the local authorities in summer 1939. The government had overestimated demand: only half of all school-aged children were moved from the urban areas instead of the expected 80%. There was enormous regional variation: as few as 15% of the children were evacuated from some urban areas, while over 60% of children were evacuated from Manchester, Belfast and Liverpool. Over 3,000,000 people were evacuated. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Civil Defense, Air Raid Precautions, A.R.P., Public Information, Emergency Procedures, Evacuation, Schoolchildren, Children under five, Expectant Mothers, Blind, Private Arrangements, Remaining Workers
[Book #83838]
Price: $50.00