Source B is a photograph taken in September 1939 of evacuees walking to the railway Station in London. It shows most of the children in good spirits with their teachers and with none of the children’s parents in sight. The photographer who took this picture would have had to have the governments permission to take this picture which brings in the arguments of propaganda and censorship. If indeed it was part of the governments propaganda scheme then it would also be biased towards the government to get people thinking that evacuation was a success and the children are happy.
Source C is an interview with a teacher almost 50 years after the start of evacuation. This would make the teacher over 70 years old at best. Therefore the teachers recollection of the event could be true or heavily distorted. The question being asked is which of these two sources are most useful. I don’t believe that one of the sources is significantly more useful than the other when compared with each other, however, they may be more useful than most evidence on the topic of evacuation.
I believe this as in the picture, most of the kids are happy. There are many reasons that they could be happy about. Many people living in London during this time did so in poverty and couldn’t afford a holiday. This is how most parents chose to describe evacuation to their children that weren’t old enough to understand exactly what was going on. So it was described as a holiday, an adventure, this would have put a smile on the kids faces as they are going on holiday with friends in their school class. Some of the kids would have been happy to go on a train for the first time as well. Many children would be tired of the smog filled towns and factories. It gave them a chance to see another aspect of life and new scenery.
Also the government and or the photographer could of asked the children to smile for the picture so that when the picture was on the front page of the newspaper the next day, it would put parents minds at ease. This is what I mean by censorship and propaganda used by the government.
I believe that some of the information given by the teacher in his interview could have been incorrect. I think this as 50 years is a long time to remember exactly what took place on one day. Although it was a big day in the teachers life, some of the information could have been distorted by nightmares or hallucinations. The teacher may also have forgotten some key event in helping us piece together what happened.
Parts of the statement, I think are true and not distorted such as when parents shouted “Good-bye darling” through the railway station gates leading onto the platform. I believe this would have been correct as the emotion that must have been vented that day would have been extraordinary.