Evacuee Collection

Catford Evacuees
A group of excited evacuee schoolchildren wait with their nurses on the platform of Catford train station in south east London. (Note the barrage balloon behind them)

Evacuation - World War Two - Children Safer in the Country
Evacuation - World War Two - Children are Safer in the Country.... leave them there. Governement advice recommending children stay away from the big cities and targets of the bombers. circa 1942

Child at receiving centre WWII
Bette Malek waits with her doll at the Fulham receiving centre in London during World War II

Sheep Hatch Camp Schools - 5 October 1945
View of wooden buildings with large grass area in front George Garland Collection West Sussex Record Office Ref. No. N25498

World War II evacuees
Evacuee train leaving the station with people waving goodbye during World War II

Union Workhouse, Dursley, Gloucestershire
A distant view of the Dursley Union workhouse (left) from the road at Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire. The workhouse, designed by a Mr Fulljames, was erected in 1838-9

Evacuees during World War Two. 3rd September 1939

Evacuee children in gas masks near Windsor, 1941
London babies find peace in the country: a nurse walks evacuated children in gas masks across a playground, to accustom them to the wearing of gas masks. LCC Residential School near Windsor

Evacuation as a National Service - Poster
It Might by You! Caring for Evacuees is a National Service circa 1942

Evacuees waiting to leave Paddington Station, 1939
This image shows eight young boys and girls about to leave London as evacuees to the countryside. Although the images shows them laughing it must have been a daunting experience for them

Shardeloes country house during wartime
Scenes from a country house, Shardeloes, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, during World War II

Evacuated children in Wye, Kent, walking down a country road. 1939 / 40
Evacuated children in Wye, Kent, walking down a country road. 1939/40

Woman police officer Kathleen Saville, London, WW2
Woman police officer Kathleen Saville (joined January 1940), on duty in London during the Second World War, seen here at a railway station helping a group of child evacuees find their train

Late Evacuees
4th July 1940: Three evacuees from Islington, London, make a dash for the train which will take them to the country, during the Second World War. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Queen Mother visiting London evacuees at Horsted Keynes, 1939
The Queen Mother(1900-2002) with evacuated children from Battersea

Belgian refugee children WWII
Belgian refugee children arrive in England during World War II

Evacuation at East Ham Station, London. 3rd September 1939

Children from various schools in Liverpool arriving at Colomendy School camp in Wales, where they are being met by friends and playmates previously evacuated to the camp. 5th March 1941

Children Evacuating London During War
(Original Caption) 8/31/39: London kids ready for evacuation. Chelsea District

Children Evacuating London in War
A group of children wave and cheer as they are evacuated from London to Devon from the war in 1939

Evacuees Waiting for a Train
Cornelius Aedo peers down a London train platform with other children and their mothers. They are waiting for trains to take them to safer towns during World War II

Refugees Fleeing Battle in Saigon
(Original Caption) Saigon:While the battle blazes on behind them

School Children Awaiting Evacuation
As the Chinese Communist Army comes nearer to the Tachen Islands, school children are evacuated to Taiwan

Tachen Islands Family Abandoning Home
As the Chinese Communist Army comes nearer to the Tachen Islands, a family prepares to evacuate to Taiwan

Chinese Nationalists Loading Belongings onto Sampans
As part of Operation Pullback, Chinese Nationalist civilians bring as much of their belongings as they can carry to be loaded onto sampans to be taken to an offshore US Navy landing craft

Policemen Leading Subway Passengers to Safety
(Original Caption) Policemen lead commuters through a subway tunnel where they were trapped late November 9th when power failure stopped all trains. The black out affected United States and Canada

Policemen Leading Subway Passengers to Safety
(Original Caption) Policemen lead commuters through a subway tunnel where they were trapped late November 9th when power failure stopped all trains. The black out affected United States and Canada

American Paratroopers Evacuating Vietnamese Family
(Original Caption) Vung Tau, South Vietnam: Viet Nam Scene. A paratrooper of the 173rd Airborne helps a weeping Vietnamese woman carry her children near Vung Tau, December 20th

Helicopter Picking Up Wounded American Soldiers in South Vietnam
(Original Caption) Evacuation. Dak To, South Vietnam: The battle for Hill 875 is over and American Paratroopers have captured the summit

Boats Transporting Refugees
(Original Caption) March 27, 1973 - Da Nang

South Vietnamese Soldier Holding Gun
(Original Caption) April 1, 1975 - Nha Trang

Disabled Boy Traveling Along Highway
(Original Caption) Houng Loc, South Vietnam: Crippled boy pushes his wheelchair along Highway One, April 14, 1975, near Houng Loc, 28 miles north of Saigon

Evacuees Boarding a Helicopter
A CIA employee (probably O.B. Harnage) helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy

Evacuees Boarding a Helicopter
A CIA employee (probably O.B. Harnage) helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy

Evacuation of Saigon
A CIA employee (probably O.B. Harnage) helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - Dear Mums - I am thinking of you
The message on the card is My Dear Mum and Dad, I don t think I need write much here, the front explains quite a lot don t you think. Not very nice here at the moment bit showery

Young boy alone on a playground swing 1939
Photograph showing a young boy on a swing in Geraldine May Harmsworth Park. The park is empty following the evacuation of thousands of children in the first few weeks following the outbreak of war

Evacuating a sick man on a wheeled stretcher through Louvain, Belgium. Belgium surrendered to the Germans at the end of May 1940. Picture taken 19th May 1940

Headmaster of St Michaels Church School, Buckingham Palace Road, giving children last minute instructions for tomorrows evacuation. 3rd September 1939

Evacuation to Wales. May 1940. Many thousands of people, along with vital institutions and priceless historical objects, were evacuated to Wales for safety in the Second World War

Evacuation to Wales. August 1940. Many thousands of people, along with vital institutions and priceless historical objects, were evacuated to Wales for safety in the Second World War

Headmaster of St Michaels Church School, Buckingham Palace Road, giving children last minute instructions for tomorrows evacuation. 3rd September 1939

Country Houses in Wartime - Shardeloes, Amersham, Bucks in use a Maternity Home for Evacuee Mothers. The Orangery, dating back to 1790 - Mrs Clark in foreground. Date: 1940

Here and Now #5
Tal Paz-Fridman

Here and Now #2
Tal Paz-Fridman

La Suisse fraternelle; le passage a Geneve des evacues des departements envahis; venant d'allemagne, par Schaffhouse, ils se dirigent, apres avoir ete reconfortes et pourvus vetements

Evacuated Children with their Teacher, 1943. Creator: Unknown
Evacuated Children with their Teacher, 1943. Scene from the Second World War: British evacuees in the countryside. From "Women's Institutes, by Cicely McCall. [Collins, London, 1943]

Children Leaving London for the Country, 1943. Creator: Unknown
Children Leaving London for the Country, 1943. British evacuees escape bombs during the Second World War. From "Women's Institutes, by Cicely McCall. [Collins, London, 1943]

School Dinner for Evacuated Children, 1943. Creator: Unknown
School Dinner for Evacuated Children, 1943. Scene from the Second World War: British evacuees are fed. From "Women's Institutes, by Cicely McCall. [Collins, London, 1943]

WW2 - Evacuees
A WW2 children's story book illustration which portrays a pair of evacuee children. Date: circa 1940

Goodnight Children Everywhere
An illustrated WW2 music sheet cover for Goodnight Children Everywhere, written and composed by Gaby Rogers and Harry Phillips. Featured and broadcast by Gracie Fields in France

The Secret Of The Evacuee
An illustrated front cover for The Secret Of The Evacuee, written by Paul Urquhart, no. 731 in the pulp fiction series, The Sexton Blake Library

WW2 Evacuees And French Soldier
A pair of WW2 illustrations from a children's ABC book

Spanish Civil War child refugees arrive at Southampton, 1937
Children from Bilbao waiting to land from the Spanish Compania transaltantic liner Habana at Southampton docks-child refugees evacuated to England during the Spanish Civil War, 1937

Street Scene with Two Couples, n. d. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
Street Scene with Two Couples, n.d

Before the Invasion, 5723. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
Before the Invasion, 5723

Evacuees, 5723. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
Evacuees, 5723

Exodus —1915, 1915. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
Exodus -- 1915, 1915

Evacuees from Verdun, plate thirty from Actualites, published May 1916

The Belgian Exodus, 1915. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
The Belgian Exodus, 1915

Refugees from the Meuse, 1915. Creator: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen
Refugees from the Meuse, 1915

Serbian Exodus, plate twenty-one from Actualites, 1915, published January 1916

Comic postcard, evacuee baby? WW2 Date: 20th century

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - Looking for news of you
The Caption is Looking for news of you. The card is from a young girl to her parents and was sent under cover with gifts

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - When am I goin to see you again
On the back of the card is a plaintive message to David.. Do you still miss us my darling? I will be delighted to have a little card from you

Evacuee arriving at her new home with the Billeting Officer
An Evacuee arriving at her new temporary home. The great evacuation scheme, arranged by the Miistry of Health, was carried out by school teachers, members of the WVS and local authorities

A father leads his two children to be evacuated 1939
A father in the middle of his two children with backpacks and gas masks photographed from behind as he takes them to be evacuated

Evacuees receive their kit bags in the country 1939
A group of evacuated children are greeted by a smiling woman and man and given their kit bags upon arrival at their countryside destination. September 1939

Evacuee children walking through countryside gate, Sept 1939
A woman helps children through a kissing gate in Somerset evacuated from south Blackfriars in London. A boy named Charlie in the foreground is the first through and holds a bouquet of flowers

Man greeted by his evacuated children and wife 1939
British man, having traveled to the country to see his evacuated family is greeted by his children and wife, during the second weekend of the war. September 1939

Lowther Castle, Cumberland, home for WW2 evacuees
Lowther Castle, Cumberland, home of Lord Lonsdsale, requisitioned as a home for WW2 evacuees, 2 September 1940. 1940

Refreshments for evacuees, WW2
Refreshments for evacuees during the Second World War, no doubt including a warming and fortifying hot Bovril drink. Date: 1940s

Camden Town Kid, or Cockney Stoic, 1940 (oil on paper laid down on panel)
829800 Camden Town Kid, or Cockney Stoic, 1940 (oil on paper laid down on panel) by Nevinson

Dutch children who are to travel to Coventry. February 1945

Two Dutch children preparing to travel to England with 500 other Dutch children who are to stay near Coventry. February 1945

Evacuees during World War Two. 26th August 1939

Mrs Gwen Heads, of Kensal Rise, London, with her three boys and 2 month old baby girl, waiting for the train at Paddington. They are being evacuated to the Midlands. July 1944

The Wilson family arrive back in London after being evacuated to South Wales. 4 year old Binnie holds 5 month old Jennifer in ner arms, while 2 year old Peter looks around him. September 1944

The face the future with courage - Newcastle mothers and their infants set out yesterday for the reception areas under the Governments evacuation scheme

World War Two - Evacuation of children A Marshall leads the way to the buses, during todays evacuation of school children at Wallsend. 6th September 1939

EVACUEES AND FLOWERS
These two evacuees from a crowded east London tenement can now pull wild flowers to their hearts content in the west of England Date: 1940s

Evacuee Play Centre, c1943. Creator: Elise Dalton Hewland
Evacuee Play Centre, c1943. Evacuated children at a nursery during the Second World War. From " Womens Institutes, by Cicely McCall. [Collins, London, 1943]

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EDITORS COMMENTS

"Catford Evacuees: Finding Safety and Shelter in the Countryside during World War Two" During the tumultuous times of World War Two, countless children were sent away from their homes in urban areas to find safety in the countryside. Known as evacuees, these brave young souls embarked on a journey towards an uncertain future. One such place that provided refuge was the Union Workhouse in Dursley, Gloucestershire. Here, children found solace amidst chaos and formed new bonds with fellow evacuees who shared similar experiences. The image of a child at a receiving center during WWII captures both hope and apprehension. These centers became temporary homes for displaced youngsters, offering them shelter until they could be placed with host families willing to take them in. In 1941, an iconic photograph emerged showing evacuee children wearing gas masks near Windsor. This haunting image serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present threat of war that loomed over their innocent lives. Evacuation became more than just an act of survival; it transformed into a national service. Posters urging citizens to participate showcased how this collective effort aimed to protect future generations from harm's way. Sheep Hatch Camp Schools played a vital role in educating evacuated children after the war ended on October 5th, 1945. These schools not only provided academic instruction but also fostered resilience and camaraderie among those who had endured so much together. The sight of evacuees waiting anxiously at Paddington Station in 1939 evokes mixed emotions - fear mingled with anticipation for what lay ahead. It was here that many bid farewell to loved ones before embarking on their unknown journeys towards safety. Even women joined forces during wartime efforts; woman police officer Kathleen Saville exemplified strength and dedication as she protected Londoners throughout WW2 – including vulnerable evacuee children seeking refuge from danger.