A Kiss Goodbye by Frank Rust - Part of The Northcliffe Collection

September 1st, 1939 saw the beginning of operation Pied Piper. 1.5 million people were relocated around the UK and some were sent to other countries including the USA. Evacuations did not stop with Pied Piper and future evacuations led to an estimated 3 million people being relocated.

In this picture published in the Daily Mail on the 17th of March 1941, children are photographed being evacuated from Sussex to escape German bombers. Mother and the baby of the family say goodbye as the daughter joins schoolmates on a train bound for Yorkshire. Many evacuees did not return until June 1945 and the scheme officially ended in March of 1946.

photo by Frank Rust / Northcliffe Collection