1. How old were you when you were first evacuated? ... 2. Which town did you live in before you were evacuated? ...
3. Were you evacuated on “E-Day” (1** September 1939)? Yes No
4. Were you given an explanation about what was happening? Yes No
If so, what were you told?
5. How many billets did you have in total? ...
6. How were your billets arranged? (e.g. through school, family etc.)
FIRST BDLLET
7. Where was your first billet located? ... 8. How long did you stay in your first billet?... 9. Did any of the following people stay with you in this billet? (please circle)
Mother Brother(s) Sister(s) School friend O ther:... 10. How often did you see you parents during this time? (please circle)
Mother - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time Father - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time 11. Why did your first billet end?
End o f war [ ] Billeting family did not want evacuee [ ]
Unhappy in billet [ ] Parents unhappy with billet [ ]
O th er... 12. Did you keep in contact with the people with whom you were first billeted
after you had left? Yes / No
13. How would you describe your experience during your first billet? (please circle)
Very Quite Neither positive Quite Very
14. W here was your second billet located? ... 15. How long did you stay in your second billet? ... 16. Did any of the following people stay with you in this billet? (please circle)
Mother Brother(s) Sister(s) School friend O ther:... 17. How often did you see you parents during this time? (please circle)
Mother - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time Father - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time 18. W hy did your second billet end?
End of war [ ] Billeting family did not want evacuee [ ]
Unhappy in billet [ ] Parents unhappy with billet [ ]
O th er... 19. Did you keep in contact with the people with whom you w ere billeted
after you bad left? Yes / No
20. How would you describe your experience of the second billet? (please circle)
Very Quite Neither positive Quite Very
positive positive nor negative negative negative
THHU) B ILLET (If you did not have a third billet, please go to question 28.)
21. W here was your third billet located? ... 22. How long did you stay in your th ird billet? ... 23. Did any of the following people stay with you in this billet? (please circle)
Mother Brother(s) Sister(s) School friend O th er:... 24. How often did you see you parents during this time? (please circle)
Mother - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time Father - Never / Less than once per 2 months / More than once per 2 months / All the time
25. W hy did your th ird billet end?
End o f war [ ]
Unhappy in billet [ ] O th er...
Billeting family did not want evacuee [ ]
26. Did you keep in contact with the people with whom you w ere billeted
after you had left? Yes / No
27. How would you describe your experience during the third billet? (please circle) Very positive Quite positive Neither positive nor negative Quite negative Very negative
The following questions relate to vour overall experience during the Second W orld W ar 28. How happy were you in general during your time as an evacuee?
Very Quite Neither happy Quite
Happy happy nor unhappy unhappy
Very unhappy
29. Did you experience any bombing raids in your home town? Yes No
30. Did you experience any bombing raids whilst evacuated? Yes No
31. If so, did you usually use an air-raid shelter during the raids? Yes No
32a. W ere you ever ‘bombed out’ in your home town? Yes No
32b. W ere you ever ‘bombed out’ whilst evacuated? Yes No
33. W ere any of your close relatives or friends killed during the w ar? If yes, who was that person(s)?
Yes No
Grandmother [ ] Grandfather [ ] Aunt
Brother [ ] Sister [ ] Uncle
Mother [ ] Father [ ] Cousin(s)
Friend(s) [ ] Someone else [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ]
34. Did you retu rn to your original home after the w ar had ended? Yes No 35a.
35b.
Did your hosts offer to adopt/foster you after the w ar? If so, was this offer accepted?
Yes Yes
No No 36. How happy were you in general in the months after you returned home?
Very Quite Neither happy Quite
Happy happy nor unhappy unhappy
Very unhappy
37. How did family life after the evacuation had ended com pare with family life before you w ere evacuated?
Your evacuation experience [ ] Your mother’s wartime experience [ ] Your father’s wartime experience [ ] Other relative’s wartime experience [ ] Other reason...
39. Name three good things about the experience of evacuation (if possible):
a)
b) c)
40. Name three bad things about the experience of evacuation (if possible):
a)
b) c)
41a. Have you ever had any form of psychological therapy? Yes / No 41b. If yes, did you talk about your evacuation experiences? Yes / No
If you had bad experiences during your time as an evacuee, how did you cope w ith them AT TH E TIM E?
Thought about it and tried to solve the problems it caused [ ]
Blamed myself / others for its effect on me [ ]
Pretended it was not happening at the time [ ]
Spoke to other people about how I felt [ ]
Tried not to think about it. Put it out of my mind. [ ] Tried to think o f nice things instead (e.g. a trip in the country,
winning a million pounds) [ ]
In general, how do think you are coping with them NOW ?
Think about it and try to solve the problems it caused [ ]
Blame myself / others for its effect on me [ ]
Pretend it has not happened [ ]
Speak to other people about how I feel [ ]
Try not to think about it. Put it out o f my mind. [ ]
Try to think of nice things instead (e.g. a trip in the country,
experiences during the war, please use the space below:
(Continue overleaf if required)