Evacuation
As the Second World War began with fears that German bombers would menace the capital, Churchill's government drew up plans for mass evacuation. The huge logistical exercise began in November 1939 - almost 1.5 million adults were taken by train and bus to live with families in the safety of the countryside. Children remained behind - small and nimble, Churchill reasoned, they would be harder targets for German bombs to hit.
The youngsters were trained to keep London running all by themselves, filling every role except for the few jobs that only adults could do, such as reviewing the theatre or fetching things down from high shelves. Office workers, train drivers, zoo keepers - all these jobs were done by the under-fifteens.
Henry Heath, eight, photographed outside one of his 23 London factories
This strategy was not without its problems. Work in one accountancy firm ground to a halt when its wartime boss - six-year-old Neil Follett - sent a memo to all staff warning of "a tiperiter monster" loose on the second floor. By 1941, for the first time, Britain was a net importer of rusks, and to this day, bathtime is technically illegal in Bethnal Green.
However, all in all things went very smoothly, and indeed London's wartime economy was at its healthiest since 1929. But the situation was very different in the countryside, clogged as it was with bored, shiftless adults, forever getting under the feet of their unwilling hosts. The displaced grown-ups became such a nuisance to the important activities of farming and food production that Churchill was forced to evacuate them again - this time to the Isle of Wight where they were put to work "making sandwiches for the Front".
The adults were finally allowed back in London in June 1944, gladly taking back their old jobs; although for most, proper work didn't resume until September that year, by which time all the jam had been hosed off their desks.
(Source images: Frankie Roberto, Owen Blacker, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0)
The youngsters were trained to keep London running all by themselves, filling every role except for the few jobs that only adults could do, such as reviewing the theatre or fetching things down from high shelves. Office workers, train drivers, zoo keepers - all these jobs were done by the under-fifteens.
Henry Heath, eight, photographed outside one of his 23 London factories
This strategy was not without its problems. Work in one accountancy firm ground to a halt when its wartime boss - six-year-old Neil Follett - sent a memo to all staff warning of "a tiperiter monster" loose on the second floor. By 1941, for the first time, Britain was a net importer of rusks, and to this day, bathtime is technically illegal in Bethnal Green.
However, all in all things went very smoothly, and indeed London's wartime economy was at its healthiest since 1929. But the situation was very different in the countryside, clogged as it was with bored, shiftless adults, forever getting under the feet of their unwilling hosts. The displaced grown-ups became such a nuisance to the important activities of farming and food production that Churchill was forced to evacuate them again - this time to the Isle of Wight where they were put to work "making sandwiches for the Front".
The adults were finally allowed back in London in June 1944, gladly taking back their old jobs; although for most, proper work didn't resume until September that year, by which time all the jam had been hosed off their desks.
(Source images: Frankie Roberto, Owen Blacker, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0)
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Who could ever forget those images of the adults sitting on the trains, some weeping, all looking confused and sad, while their children watched and waved from the platforms? I could, but now I have remembered them, thanks to this post. Many thanks, Stupid London!