Catalogue Number
NMLH.1992.372.2
Object Name
Arm band
Title
LCC 887
Place
Fulham, London, Woking, Surrey, England, UK
People
Ivy Tribe
Events
Second World War, Evacuation of London
Date
circa 1939
Description
A white arm band with stitched red letters 'LCC' (London County Council) and below this, black stitched numbers 887.
This arm band was issued by London County Council (LCC) and the number on it, 887, was the record number for the child evacuee. The wearer of this arm band was evacuated to Woking in Surrey in September 1939. Evacuation was often an upsetting period for many children as they were separated from their families, and sent into unfamiliar environments. Many evacuees recall their arrival in the countryside as bewildering, as many had never left the cities they lived in before. For children from migrant or religious minority backgrounds, like Jewish children from London's East End, there was also the added confusion of being plunged into unfamiliar cultures as most households receiving evacuees they weren't related to, were white, English Christians who were unfamiliar with the evacuee's culturally specific needs.
Thousands of children were evacuated to the countryside following the beginning of the Second World War, as the government suspected that German bombing raids would target large cities and cause high casualty rates. Evacuation moved school aged children to rural areas where they would be at less risk of harm. When the time came to evacuate, each child was given name tags and an identifying arm band to wear, and a gas mask to carry. Children were also evacuated from the Channel Islands when it became clear that the islands were to be invaded by the German military in 1940 - many evacuees from Guernsey were relocated to towns around Greater Manchester.
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