Ship of children from Britian to Canada 1940?

[RedMystic]

Hello all your great Chatters. I'm not sure if this is best posted here or on the Armed Forces board as it has to do with WWII, but not directly. TX in advance for any insight you can provide.

I have a relative that was a child in England at the start of WWII. I have a picture of her in England dated Aug 1940 & then a Canadian newspaper article & pic dated March 1941. Family lore is that she was put on one of the last passenger ships (or perhaps last passenger ship taking unattended children) to safety in Canada. The other part of the unverified family story indicates that there was one more passenger sailing after her ship left port, but that it was sunk at sea by the Germans.

I believe she landed in the port of Quebec. I know that she boarded the CPR and headed to western Canada, eventually ending up in Vancouver.

I know that she had no relatives in Canada, that she travelled with quite a few other children, and that they were being sent as part of a program that intended to find temporary homes for the children with strangers for the duration of the war.

Is there anyway to track down
- whether there was an official voyage for the purpose of sending children to safety, and if so,
- is there any way to identify any background about the program and/or
- identify the ship on which my relative was likely to have arrived?

[stanmapstone]

In 1940 the government set up the Children's Overseas Reception Board (C.O.R.B.) for sending children overseas, the response to the scheme was staggering, and applications were being received at the rate of seven to eight thousand a day by the end of June in that year. The first evacuee ships left towards the end of July. The first ship, on the way to Canada, to be torpedoed was the Volendam on the 30th August, but all the children and the ship were saved, however on the 17th September the City of Benares was torpedoed and sunk, and only 13 of the 90 evacuees survived .

Stan

[Stumped!]

http://www.cst.ed.ac.uk/Events/Conferences/documents/SmerdonCPaper.pdf

I don't know whether you have seen this paper?
It doesn't answer all of your questions but might be of some help.

Peter

[RedMystic]

In 1940 the government set up the Children's Overseas Reception Board (C.O.R.B.) for sending children overseas, the response to the scheme was staggering, and applications were being received at the rate of seven to eight thousand a day by the end of June in that year. The first evacuee ships left towards the end of July. The first ship, on the way to Canada, to be torpedoed was the Volendam on the 30th August, but all the children and the ship were saved, however on the 17th September the City of Benares was torpedoed and sunk, and only 13 of the 90 evacuees survived .

Stan

TX Stanmapstone.

That gives me a great start.

Because of the photograph, I know that she was still in Britian on August 1, 1940. The story is that her ship was at sea when one was lost. Apparently, there was a difficult decision made regarding whether her ship was to continue or turn back. I suppose that could have been either the Aug 30th or Sept 17 sailing you reference.

It's a very sad story about the Sept 17 evacuees.

Thank you Stumped! for your link. I'll take a look at it to see if it gives me a more holistic feel about the program.

Once again, many thanks to you both.

[RedMystic]

http://www.cst.ed.ac.uk/Events/Conferences/documents/SmerdonCPaper.pdf

I don't know whether you have seen this paper?
It doesn't answer all of your questions but might be of some help.

Peter

Wow Stumped!. This is amazing information. Thanks again.

She was from a reasonably well healed family, so would have been part of the 1500 or so in a similar situation. She never returned to Britian to live - visiting only 2x in the decades following the war.

Based on this document, I'd guess that my relative's ship was on the water at the time of the sinking of the The City of Benares - though that is just a guess as it seems to align with the stories that have been passed through the family.

Is there anywhere I can look to find a list of the ships that sailed & their departure / arrival dates?

[emarbe]

Hello again

If you let me have her name (by PM if she's still alive) I'll have a look on the passenger lists, there might be something.

Mike

[bykerlads]

There were definitely children sent to Canada as evacuees- I remember talking to a lady who had been sent with her sister from our small West Yorkshire town as part of an arrangement amongst Rotarians. they had been put in a French speaking family!
It seems as if only wealthier families could do this to protect their children- my parents and their siblings and the majority of their neighbours remained in UK- so much for wartime solidarity!

[HMac]

I have the list of all those who sailed on the last voyage of 'CITY OF BENARES' - happy to look up a name for you.
Regards
Hugh

[RedMystic]

There were definitely children sent to Canada as evacuees- I remember talking to a lady who had been sent with her sister from our small West Yorkshire town as part of an arrangement amongst Rotarians. they had been put in a French speaking family!
It seems as if only wealthier families could do this to protect their children- my parents and their siblings and the majority of their neighbours remained in UK- so much for wartime solidarity!

Hi bykerlads

I think I understand the sentiment you are expressing about wartime solidarity & the unfairness for those that remained in England to suffer the terrible years. In this case, her father was responsible for re-engineering / conversion of US aircraft for British RAF use & her older brother flew more than 60 missions. After reading the piece that Stumped! provided, I have a much better appreciation for the divisiveness & disconnectedness CORB caused, whether one was among those that were sent away or whether one was among those who stayed and suffered the Blitz.

All we can hope is that we are all lucky enough that we do not to have to visit similar decisions & actions on our children & grandchildren. 

I have the list of all those who sailed on the last voyage of 'CITY OF BENARES' - happy to look up a name for you.
Regards
Hugh

TX for the offer of look-up HMac. My relative was not on that voyage - fortunately for her.

Stanmapstone generously volunteered to do a look up and found her on another vessel - departing only a few days after the date on the Aug 1940 photo I have of her. I'm off on an internet search to see if I can find some archived news reports of the vessel's departure or its arrival in Canada.

Many thank to all for your interest & your knowledge. Your perspectives & contributions have given me insight into this relative that has been both interesting & invaluable.