IN EVENT OF WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 132, 1 December 1938, Page 27

IN EVENT OF WAR

EVACUATION PLANS

BRITAIN'S CROWDED PARTS

COMMITTEE'S PLANS

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London Representative.)

LONDON, October 31.*

The evacuation of 4,000,000' people ''from industrial areas vulnerable to air attack is planned by the British Government. It' has accepted the recommendations of a Committee of Evacuations, and these will be followed in the preparations to, be made against the possibility of war. Evacuation will not be compulsory, except where people may be expected to leave for military or other special reasons. The plans provide for 1,900,200 people to be removed from London and Middlesex, 130,300 from Newcastle and Gateshead, 515,700 from Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, dnd Hull, 611,400 from Liverpool, Bootle, Manchester, and Salford, and 320,700 from Birmingham. They would be taken comparatively short distances to safety zones. -Similar proposals are made for evacuating 513,000 .people from the more denselypopulated parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee. "-To limit the movem<#it of people into vulnerable areas, and to assist the outward movement Of refugees, bank holidays may be declared 'in the first days of the war. London refugees will first be taken fifty miles from the heart of the city. They may be moved further away later. Sixty-two per cent of London's workers and many employed in the larger towns are engaged in essential war-time industry, so that complete evacuation in these areas can* not be contemplated. THE LIMITING FACTOR. Accommodation in the safety zones will be the limiting factor in evacuation. There will riot be room in the relatively safe areas for all who could theoretically be spared from the vulnerable industrial areas. The main line railways, with "feeds" from the underground, will primarily be used, and evacuation froni London could be carried out at 100,000 persons an hour, with seats for all |n the. trainsSchool children will have first claim on transport and billeting arrangements. Refugee open camps will not be set up. Temporary accommodation in empty houses, halls, and other large buildings will .first be used. • AH available local transport facilities will be commandeered to take refugees from the railway. stations. If distances are "relatively short," re- ! fugees will be expected to walk to. their billets. .. ,/,•..■./: .. .-:•-,. .-..■.'.•, Billeting for adults will be compulsory, but "evidence encourages us to believe that accommodation for the full number of school children might be found on a voluntary basis." If sufficient time is given, to work out the food control plans "no. serious difficulties are anticipated in feeding the refugees." COMMUNAL FEEDING. Refugees will •be accepted to link up without delay with local retailers. Private householders will not be compelled to cook for. refugees, and "largescale plans for communal feeding" will be necessary. Health services An the safety zones will hay to be strengthened. At first only the "bare j essentials of existence" may be proI vided. They will not be lacking, even if on a "somewhat meagre scale." The report says: "There' rriay here and there be considerable friction between the inhabitants of these areas and the incomers who are billeted on them, and who will find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, with the minimum of the necessities of life and very little with which to occupy their time. "Such a situation, will be' fruitful of trouble unless special steps are taken to counteract the consequences of boredom and discontent. At a N later stage conditions more nearly approximating to normal life may be attained, especially: if, as ma,y be anticipated, a large proportion 6t the refugees show a spirit of helpful co-operation." DECISIONS FOR PARENTS. It 4is suggested that if the dangers are properly explained to parents they will part from their-children so that whole schools as a unit can be evacuated. The final decision, however, will rest with the parents. So far as is practicable, education will continue. Meetings will be held at schools to draw up a census of parents willing to part with their children in this Way. Very young children will not be separated from their, parents. No new responsibilities will be placed on the police. The Government will bear the entire cost of maintaining children as well as their evacuation. The Committee mention a fieur'e of 10s 6d a week for children boarded out. The Committee states that an ideal scheme would be one in which the Government would be able to determine in advance % which individuals should remain where they were and which should leave. "Any effective step in this direction—for example, the compilation of a national register— would be likely to contribute to the smooth and efficient* working of any plan of evacuation,"'adds the Com-i mittee. , % ; "THERE MUST BE NO DELAY." Again and again in the report is the emphasis: <* "There must be no delay. Everything depends on the speed at which the plans are now drawn up." The Home Secretary (Sir Samuel Hoare), in a memorandum, states: "Action has already been taken" to prepare detailed schemes.

The report was prepared by a Committee consisting of Sir John Anderson, M.P. for the' Scottish Universities, and three London M.P.s—Sir Percy Harris, Dr. Haden Guest, and Colonel Doland.