Figure 1.--The Luftwaffe launched its last major assault on London (May 10, 1941). After that the bulk of the Luftwaffe was shifted east to prepare for Barbarossa, By the summer, British cities had become rlatively safe spaces at the smae time that RAF Bomber Command was laying the foundation for a massive assault on German cities and war industries. We are not sure, however, just when the evacue children began coming home. We suspect that a lot of British parents after surviving the full fury of the Blitz, and not knowing the next turn in the War, decided that the children were safer staying in the country side. Here we see children several months after the major Luftwaffe raids had ceased still in the countyside. We now know now it was safe to return, parents at the time had not have the advantage of future insights. Notice the glass windows, a sure indication of a safe location. The caption read, "Their new life: A number of children from the East End of London [The East End had been a major Luftwaffe target.] have recently been moved to a large country residence taken over for this purpose at Cheltenham. Photo shows a conservatory prviously used for raising rare flowers now makes an ideal sun-room for rest and play." The photogrph was dated August 1, 1941. Evacuee families were mostly taken in by families. In this case, presumably becaue of their age, they are being cared for in a group home.

The Luftwaffe was forced to shit to night-time raids (September 1940). This mean that signicabt targets could not be hit, only whole cities. The lufwaffe continued hitting British cities during the Fll. Coventry ws leveled (November 1940). As winter set in, raids declined because of the difficulty oprating in bad weather. The last major raid was a massive blow at the heart of London (May 10, 1941). It ws a parting shot as much of the Luftwaffe was being shifted east. Hitler was preparung for Barbarossa--the massive invasion of the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe was an overwealming force at the start of the war. But by this time both Aerican and Britain were outproducing the Germans. And unlike the relatively small battlefields in the West, the Soviet Union presented a huge battlefield that it could not fully support at it had done in the smaller battlefields in the West. As Hitler gave a priority to Barbarossa, significant bombing oprations against Britain were no longer possible. The Luftwaffe just did not have the planes and men for both. Hitler's plan was to concentrate forces in the East, smash the the Red Army and Air Force in a quick summer campaign and then return to settle ccounts with the British. There were nusisance raids, but no more massive raids as in the Blitz. This meant by the summer, British cities were relatively safe. The Baedeker raids involved only a small number of planes and becayse of the griwing strength of the RAF did more damage to the Luftwaffe than the British (1942). The mere fact that thre were raids, howevr, no matter the size was probably enough to convince sime parents not to bring the children home. we are not sure when the children began coming home. Again tearful letters began arriving from the children asking to come home. This time many parents having experienced the Blitz were more inclined to leave the children in the countryside knowing that they were safe there. we know that the children began coming home after the raids ceased, but we have not found any statistics on just how many and when. There may have been an age factor here. We suspect that it may have been more difficult keeping the older children in the countrside. You would think that again Christmas was a critical time. Perhaps some data exists, but we have not been able to find it. We know that some children did not come home until the end of the War. And there were even some children in the cuntrside (1946). Of course this may have been in part due to the V-1 and V-2 ecacuarions during 1944.

Created: 5:05 PM 3/12/2015
Last updated: 5:05 PM 3/12/2015