Region remembers the WWII mass transportation of children 80 years ago

  • The archive pictures used in this report are from British Pathé


Eighty years ago the Battle of Britain was being fought as the country feared an imminent Nazi invasion.

Also in full swing was the mass transportation of children to safe havens across the country - away from the threat of enemy bombs.

Evacuation in World War Two saw millions leaving their families. A traumatic experience but it saved many lives.

Alan Hazlewood, who lives near Felixstowe, was 11 when he was sent to live in Wales. Credit: ITV News Anglia

At railways stations all over England eighty years ago, thousands of children a day were sent away from their families.

These were the darkest times in the Second World War with the threat of invasion looming and the RAF fighting the Battle of Britain. 

Children were being moved from big cities and the coastal regions  of Norfolk and Suffolk,  which were targets of enemy bombings, to host families in safer places.

Alan Hazlewood, who lives near Felixstowe, was 11 when he was sent to live in Wales. 

''We were taken out in pairs to cars and I thought, this is good going somewhere where they've got a car, but of course they were just delivering us," he said.

"We were at this very nice cottage and because it was still school holidays we played with their children. I think I learned a lot about the country.''

Over the space of just three days one and a half million evacuees were sent to rural locations considered to be safe. Credit: British Pathe

The first mass evacuation of children in 1939 was called Operation Pied Piper. 

Over the space of just three days one and a half million evacuees were sent to rural locations considered to be safe.

The fact that many schools had closed in towns and cities and that schools were organising mass transportation persuaded families to make the difficult decision to send their children to the countryside.

Mr Hazlewood added: ''You hear all sorts of stories of evacuees who were treated very badly but yeah we were fortunate. We had fights sometimes with the local lads. The evacuees - we don't like them. But in general we got on alright.''

The evacuation scheme was voluntary, some children never left and others came home to families they barely remembered.

The first mass evacuation of children in 1939 was called Operation Pied Piper. Credit: British Pathe