Plymouth, Devon: Children Evacuated 1941

Some of the children in this silent footage were very young, but even the children approaching their teenage years must have been very nervous about what was going to happen to them. Most evacuees had no idea where they would live, who with, or for how long.

It's interesting that they arrive at the railway station by bus, accompanied by a small number of organisesers but not their parents. Clearly their parents were not allowed to be there, which makes sense for organisational reasons and perhaps made for a calmer departure.

All they had was one bag, and a label attached to them to identify them, before leaving on a steam train.

Children Evacuated From Plymouth (1941) - British Pathé on YouTube