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Evacuation
from Edinburgh
during
World War II
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Recollections
1.
Jim Patience
Alberta, Canada |
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Thank you to Jim Patience, now living in
Alberta Canada, for writing about his evacuation to Hawick in the Scottish
Borders, about 50 miles to the south of Edinburgh.
Jim wrote: |
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Evacuation to
Hawick
"In
1939, at the start of World War II, we were living in a single-end
at 4a Canon Street, Canonmills, when I was evacuated to Hawick in
the Scottish Borders with my mother and brother..
I recently came
across the evacuation document. Here it is:
©
I
was just about 2 years old at the time, so I don't remember too much
about it."
Jim Patience, Alberta, Canada:
August 24, 2008
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Recollections
2.
Peter Butler
Hennenman, South
Africa |
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Thank you to Susan Draper for writing about
his evacuation to Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders, about 25 miles to
the south of Edinburgh.
Susan wrote: |
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Evacuation to
Innerleithen
"My
mother, my two brothers and I were evacuated to Peebles t
the start of World War II. The
locals were not particularly friendly, referring to us as
'refugees'.
We were all very unhappy and only stayed
for a few days, as my mother said she would rather put up with the
German air raids and, if it were to be,
die in her 'ain hoose'."
Peter Butler: Hennenman,
South Africa: February 7,
2011 |
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Recollections
3.
Ian Thomson
Lake Maquarie, New South Wales, Australia |
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Thank you to Ian Thomson who wrote: |
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Evacuation to Australia
"Hundreds
if children were evacuated to Australia in the summer of 1940 when
the invasion of Britain by the Germans seemed imminent."
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Return to Stenhouse
"Many Edinburgh children were separated
from their families, spending the war years
safely in Australia. Amongst them were two sisters, Maureen
and Mabel Renny, aged 8 and 7, who returned to Edinburgh after the
war and lived in the Earl Haig Houses at Stenhouse."
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Emigration to Canada
"The girls later
emigrated to Canada. During one of out trips to Calgary, in
the 1980s, we met Maureen, but then lost touch with the sisters, and
often wonder how they are now. |
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Other Emigration
"In
1940, many children were sent to the country to escape the bombing.
Though barely six, I remember spending time on a farm near Duns in
the Scottish Borders.
It seems, in
hindsight, to have
been a terrible risk to send ships loaded with children.
In fact, one was sunk by a u- boat
in the Atlantic with heavy loss of life.
Churchill cancelled the scheme in 1941." |
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Ian Thomson,
Lake Maquarie, New South Wales, Australia: May 17, 2011 |
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