MILITARIA COLLECTING
There are several million people – including their descendants – who have a single government World War Two policy to thank for their existence: evacuation. Though it saved countless lives, it separated many families for several years during the Second World War. Austin J Ruddy explains why evacuation collectables are some of the most moving memorabilia of wartime Britain.
REALISING CITIES would be major air raid targets in a future war, plans were drawn up in 1938 to evacuate Britain’s most vulnerable citizens. The country was divided into three areas: evacuation or danger zones, mainly larger cities where bombing was expected and the evacuation of children and mothers was highly recommended; neutral zones, such as county towns and cities, which were under some threat, but where children could remain, and reception areas, such as the countryside, where the threat was believed to be minimal. During the Munich Crisis of September 1938, several schools tried a test-run of their evacuation plans for getting children out of the cities to safety.
However, a year later, just two days before the outbreak of war, on 1 September 1939, under Operation Pied Piper – a slightly puzzling title,…
