Welsh Journals

NORTH WALES RECEIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST GOVERNMENT EVACUATION SCHEME, 1939-401 By GILLIAN WALLIS The Government's declaration that the first day of September 1939 was to mark the beginning of the Evacuation Scheme heralded a period of intense activity in many parts of north Wales. The idea of evacuation grew out of contemporary theories about the character of a future war. It was regarded simply and solely as a military expedient, a counter- move to the enemy's object of attacking and demoralising the civilian population.2 The concept of evacuation had been officially recognised as early as May 1924,3 but details as to how the idea was to work in practice remained largely neglected until events in the late 1930s4 forced the Government into serious consideration of the whole issue. In July 1938, a committee under the chairmanship of Sir John Anderson5 outlined for the first time the main principles of any future evacuation scheme. Basically, this was to be non-compulsory, except where specific areas, for military or other reasons, needed to be cleared of civilians; reception was to be on the basis of billeting in private houses, with compulsion available for use by local authorities; the Government was to bear the initial cost of evacuation but refugees who could afford to contribute to their maintenance were to have to do so. Finally, for parents unable to make their own arrangements, special provisions were to be made to enable schoolchildren to move out in groups from their schools in the charge of their teachers. The scheme was to concentrate on removing certain 1 Based upon the author's thesis: 'North Wales: A Case Study of a Reception Area under the Government Evacuation Scheme, 1939-1945' (MA Wales, 1979). This contains full details of primary and secondary sources consulted. 2 R. M. Titmuss, History of the Second World War: Problems of Social Policy (London, 1950), 23. 3 First meeting of the ARP Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. See T. H. O'Brien, Civil Defence (London, 1955), II. 4 In particular, the Spanish Civil War and the Munich Crisis. 4 Sir John's name was, of course, during the war, to become a household one with the introduction of the famous Anderson shelters. See J. W. Wheeler-Bennett, John Anderson, Viscount Waverley (London, 1962).