Evacuation

Pupils investigate the experiences and feelings of evacuees from a wide range of information sources.

To give pupils an overview and understanding of the reasons why evacuation took place and what it involved read the background information:

World War Two background information doc.doc (28 kb)  

Evacuation background information.doc (25 kb)

People living in the past left many clues which we can use to investigate aspects of their lives. These items can include books, personal papers, government documents, letters, oral accounts, diaries, maps, photographs, reports, artifacts, coins, stamps and many other things including novels and short stories.

Historians call all of these clues the historical record.

They are all sources of information which can be used to find out about the past.

Primary sources are actual records that have survived from the past, such as letters and ducuments, photographs and objects.

A history textbook is a secondary source. It was written by someone long after historical events took place.

The Primary and secondary sources in this teaching and learning package include items that are available from Lincolnshire County Council's collections at The Museum of Lincolnshire Life and Libraries.

• Photographs
• Newpaper reports
• Posters
• Original and reproduction artifacts
• Memories and stories by people who remembered life duiring WWII
• Fiction
• Biographies

Newspapers from the period give information recorded at the time. Look at the image of a front page from the Lincolnshire Echo. What is the headline?

Photographs and reports from September 1939 show evacuees arriving at Lincoln. What luggage are they carrying? Why have some evacuees brought their buckets with them?

Evacuees wore special labels for the journey to reception areas showing details of their names, school and town they were from. Can pupils see these in the newspapers pictures?

Activity - Pupils can make their own evacuee label by using the template from evacuee label.doc (24 kb)

Posters have been used as an important way to give information and messages to people.

During the period of WWII the government printed many posters on different subjects.

Look at and compare the two posters. Who are they aimed at? What is the message they are aiming to give? How is this message conveyed?

The memories of people who  lived through a time period or event in history are useful sources that enable us to investigate the past.

 

Read the document Personal memories - Paul Fitton.doc (29 kb)  

In this document a lady who was a small girl during WWII remembers the evacuee Paul Fitton who stayed with her family.

How did she feel about the evacuee?

Look at the boy's picture.

Read the document Personal memories - Betty.doc (25 kb)  to understand how another Lincolnshire girl felt about having evacuees to stay with her family.

Read the document Personal memories Elizabeth Mossman.doc (26 kb)  to find out the thoughts of a wartime evacuee.

Photographs are a rich source of evidence about life in the past.

The photographs in the links opposite are held within the Museum and Library collections of Lincolnshire County Council. They highlight aspects of life for children during WWII. They can be used with pupils as sources of evidence encouraging visual literacy, thinking and discussion skills.

Encourage pupils to discuss what they can see and what is happening in each photograph.

Literacy/Art Pupil Activity. Using photographs from this selection pupils can create a comic book style response.

It may be useful to show pupils examples of cartoons and comic styles from books, for example Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs.

Cartoon template worksheets.doc (2841 kb)

 

Discuss with pupils what different sorts of  sources of information they might find in a museum.

Are they primary or secondary sources?

These images from The Museum of Lincolnshire Life show examples of the types of real and replica items that pupils can use to find out what life was like in wartime.

Arrange a visit to the museum where pupils can investigate the topic through a series of object handling activities, museum staff led 'Living History'  sessions and museum displays.

 

Discuss with pupils different types of information that they can find from books. Are they primary or secondary sources?

Provide examples of different types of books themed around WWII and read extracts together. Discuss whether they are based on factual or fictional events.

Examples could include:

Biographies - War Boy by Micheal Foreman and Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs.

Fiction - The Amazing Adolphus Tipps and Friend or Foe by Micheal Morpurgo

Discuss with pupils the types of information that they can find by visiting their local library. Libraries membership is free! Libraries provide access to primary and secondary sources through factual and fictional books and stories and local studies collections (which include books,magazines, maps and photographs). Pupils can use the internet for research and borrow film and sound recordings.

From the Lincolnshire County Council web page you can search the library catalogue for information sources about WWII.

Arrange a visit to your local library to investigate sources of information if possible.

 

 

Following investigation of a range of the resources included in this teaching package:

Ask pupils to imagine they are wartime evacuees and that they need to write a letter home to describe their feelings and tell their family about their experiences so far.