Boscastle had a part to play in the largest mass movement of people to have taken place in Britain’s history. Around 3.5 million people, many of them children, were separated from their homes and families during World War Two where most were sent to the countryside in the hope that they would be safe from the expected bombs and gas attacks. This website explores the impact of evacuation in Cornwall through archive sources of the evacuee experience. The sources tell many stories, as each evacuee’s experience was different. We hope that you enjoy learning more about those experiences:
When the war started I was nearly three years old… (Patricia Thomas – nee Atkinson)
A free-range childhood… (David Whitaker)
We came to visit Boscastle at least once before the war… (Nick Valentine)
Sisters from London… (Marie Laver – nee Mayle)
An evacuee in the Second World War (Phyllis Adams – nee Atkinson)
The website also have documents and records relating to World War Two evacuees and war time:
Record of evacuees to Boscastle
Record of evacuees to St Juliot School
Record of bombing raids since the beginning of the war