Figure 1.--Here are a group of London children in 1946 who are excited about going to Switerland. You might have thought after the War evacuation experiences that they would not be to interested in spedning 6 months away from home. The press caption read, "Swiss Holoday for London Children: Two hundred 'delicate' London children have been invited by a department of the Swiss Red Cross to spend six months holiday in Switerland. They left Victoria [a London train station] today." The photograph shows "Some of the lucky London children leaving their school Syowey House, Clapman Commons prior to their departure from Victoria this morning." The photograp was taken April 24, 1946. The children arewearing their school uniform, we suspect in part because it was their dressest outfits.

World War II rationing which continued even after the War affected nutrition. You see incidents like Switerland taking in 'delicate' children to improve their health with good food and fresh air. Here are a group of London children in 1946 who are excited about going to Switerland. You might have thought after the War evacuation experiences that they would not be to interested in spedning 6 months away from home. The press caption read, "Swiss Holoday for London Children: Two hundred 'delicate' London children have been invited by a department of the Swiss Red Cross to spend six months holiday in Switerland. It appears to be part of the Swiss Red Cross Kinderhilfe (Child Support) effort to aid children harmed or endangered by the War. They left Victoria [a London train station] today." The photograph shows "Some of the lucky London children leaving their school Syowey House, Clapman Commons prior to their departure from Victoria this morning." The photograph was taken April 24, 1946. The children are wearing their school uniform, we suspect in part because it was their dressest outfits. We do not know how the children were chosen. Presumably the British Red Cross had something to do with it. We have been unabl to find any information about the school. The name of the school suggests a private school, but coed private schools at the time were rare. It is possible that the school was an assembly point and not all the children were from the same school. The suitcase provides us the name of one of the boys, T.E. Kingman.

Created: 4:06 PM 3/27/2017
Last updated: 4:06 PM 3/27/2017