08 May 2019

World War II Unaccompanied British Child Evacuees to Canada

BIFHSGO has just added a third database with the icon *NEW* to its specialist collection. It's 1,834 children evacuated privately to Canada from Britain early in WW2 transcribed from a 20-page document held at Library and Archives Canada (Reference RG7 G26 file 2085-C-2 sub.1).
They arrived in organized parties from companies and schools with the intention they would return to Britain when the war danger had passed. While most returned to the UK many eventually decided to make Canada their home — including a Canadian Nobel Prize winner.
Find the database here organized alphabetically in a Canada-wide listing and as in the original document in the provincial listings.
If you want to dig deeper check out:
Claire L. Halstead's dissertation "From Lion to Leaf: The Evacuation of British Children to Canada During the Second World War" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 3329;
Amy Schaffman’s thesis: "Keep Calm and Carry On?: Examining WWII Great Britain through the Lens of Overseas Evacuation" (2014).Undergraduate Honors Theses, Paper 4; and my own article WW2 British Child Evacuees to Canada.

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