British child evacuees in Canada in the Second World War

[chalstead]

Hello,
My current PhD research focuses on British children who were evacuated to Canada in the Second World War. I research children who came privately or through CORB and have created a database of over 3000 children (I have their names, placement information, ship, etc).
I would love to hear from former evacuees or their families. Please contact me if you are trying to trace an evacuee. Moreover, I would also love to hear from those who remember these evacuees (in Canadian schools etc.)
I hope I can share my findings!
Thank you! 

[Gwendoline Francis]

Fascinating subject. I was a six year old London evacuee who landed up in Nailsea with a family who exploited me for a year or so until my Mother found out & before long I was  back home in London.

I often wondered how some children were chosen to go to Canada, obviously a better way of life, or was it? I would love to hear of experiences of these children, good or bad I wonder?

[chalstead]

Thanks for your reply!
Your experience sounds very saddening. Unfortunately, it seems that it was not totally uncommon.
The children who went to Canada did so because their parents made an application to the Children's Overseas Reception Board or privately arranged for them to be sent to distant relatives etc. The window to apply to CORB was quite narrow -only June/July - September, 1940. Were you evacuated in 1939?
There was an application process and a medical exam. However, fundamentally, parents had to apply for their children's overseas evacuation. Therefore, it wasn't the government deciding (beyond the application process) who should stay and who should go.
As for their experiences - I am very careful to not paint their experiences with a broad brush. Each individual is different. Like the domestic evacuation within Britain, some children had a good experience whilst others suffered some form of abuse and homesickness. What I can say though is that so far, I have not uncovered any such cases of abuse in my work. That is certainly not to say that it didn't exist however. Further, domestic evacuation was organised as such that 'host families' had to take in evacuees - it was obligatory. In Canada however, all 'hosts' dedicated themselves to the cause by their own feel will. They were not paid for their care (although there was a very slight tax reduction) and could move the children on if everything got too much for them. With a population of over 10 million, absorbing 3000 evacuees was less of an influx.
I recently had an academic journal article published in the British Journal of Canadian Studies on this topic. I could send it to you if you wanted to private message me.
Best wishes!   

Fascinating subject. I was a six year old London evacuee who landed up in Nailsea with a family who exploited me for a year or so until my Mother found out & before long I was  back home in London.

I often wondered how some children were chosen to go to Canada, obviously a better way of life, or was it? I would love to hear of experiences of these children, good or bad I wonder?