Evacuation
Introduction
As the Second World War became increasingly likely, Britain began to prepare for devastating bombing raids. London Transport set up an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Committee as early as 1937 and by September 1938 they had drawn up detailed defence plans.
A key part of this was an evacuation scheme. Vulnerable civilians including children, expectant mothers, disabled and elderly people were to be moved away from city centres to avoid anticipated air raids. London was at the heart of this plan, with London Transport tasked with quickly moving people direct to the countryside or to mainline stations for onward travel.
ARP arrangements came into effect on 1 September 1939, two days before war was officially declared. In four days around 550,000 evacuees were moved out of London by London Transport vehicles, representing a huge effort from everyone in the company. Though it was not until September 1940, when the Blitz began, that London faced a concentrated bombing campaign.
This poster advertises the government evacuation scheme in 1940, highlighting the categories of civilians that were targeted for evacuation. After the initial wave of evacuees in August and September 1939, there was a period of relative quiet and inactivity, often described as the ‘phoney war’. This led to some evacuated civilians returning home. The start of the Blitz in September 1940, when London came under heavy attack, led to renewed evacuation.
Thousands of school children were evacuated by London Transport in the first four days of September 1939. London Transport trams were among the vehicles used, in this case taking these girls of Charles Edward Brooke School from Camberwell to Waterloo station for their onward journey.
London Transport buses were also extensively used, both to take evacuees to mainline stations and to convey them directly to the countryside. These school children appear to be among those who saw evacuation as an adventure, but for others it was a traumatic experience. For many of these children, this was the first time they had left their families or their homes.
Over 400 London Transport T type Green Line coaches were converted into ambulances, with many used for the evacuation of early September 1939. In this photo a nurse stands in the rear doorway of one of these coaches, which was used to evacuate patients and staff from Westminster Hospital on 1 September 1939, two days before Britain declared war. A poster on the inside of the door has a series of photographs documenting the evacuation.
Bill Brown became a London bus driver in 1927. When war was declared on 3 September 1939, Bill was tasked with driving a converted ambulance, carrying expectant mothers, from London to St Neots in Cambridgeshire.
While some evacuee patients were taken to their destinations by adapted London Transport vehicles, others were dropped at mainline stations for onward travel. Some trains, like this one, were adapted for this purpose, evacuating sick Londoners, expectant mothers and vulnerable people to medical facilities in more remote areas.
Many of the stories and objects here can be seen within the London’s transport at war gallery.
