The trains that brought a generation to Harrow

On 1 September 1939, Britain's evacuation scheme began. Across London, children gathered at schools with labels tied to their coats, small cases and gas masks. Many did not know where they were going. For thousands, the journey ended in Harrow. The borough was then part of Middlesex, still with farms and open fields between its growing estates. Its stations — Harrow & Wealdstone, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Kenton, Hatch End and Pinner — became arrival points. Trains brought hundreds of children at a time. On the platforms, billeting officers, teachers and volunteers waited with clipboards. Church halls and schools became reception centres, where children were given a drink, a sandwich and a reassuring word. Evacuation came in waves: September 1939, the Blitz of 1940, and the V-1 attacks of 1944. Each brought new arrivals and left new traces in local records.

What the local records reveal

The story is written into Harrow's archives. School admission registers and log books are among the most useful sources. They often record a child's name, date of birth, previous address and previous school, along with arrival and departure dates. Some note air raids and "evacuee classes". Billeting records and evacuation committee minutes show how the scheme was organised: how many children arrived, which streets took them in, and sometimes the names of host families. Parish magazines and local newspapers carry appeals for billets, reports of placements and letters of thanks. Photographs often show groups outside a hall, wearing labels and clutching belongings.

• School records — admission registers, log books and attendance books.
• Council records — billeting registers and evacuation committee minutes.
• Community records — parish magazines, church newsletters and scout logs.
• Personal records — letters, diaries, photographs and oral histories.

These are usually held at the local studies library or county record office. Some are indexed by name or street; others need patience. Together they turn a national story into a local one.

Personal recollections: the small details that stay

Ask anyone who was an evacuee in Harrow, and they rarely begin with dates or policies. They remember the smell of a strange house, the unfamiliar quiet, the shock of a garden. Many came from crowded inner-city streets where they shared a bed or a room. In Harrow they found hedgerows, allotments and very dark nights. Some were billeted with kind families; others moved from house to house before finding a settled place. Recollections often mention the label pinned to their coat, the gas mask they had to carry, and the moment brothers and sisters were separated. One child might go to a large house near Pinner, another to a terrace in Wealdstone. Letters home were read and reread. Food was different: more vegetables, less sugar, occasional treats from a host's ration book. If you have such a story in your family, write it down now, with names, places and dates.

Billets, schools and daily life

Daily life settled into a rhythm. Schools took in far more children than they were built for and often ran a half-day system: local children in the morning, evacuees in the afternoon, or vice versa. Teachers coped with mixed classes and children who had never sat in a formal classroom. Outside school, children joined clubs, choirs and scout groups. Churches ran Sunday schools and youth evenings. In winter there were air raid drills and nights in shelters when the sirens sounded. In summer there were games in parks and visits to local farms. Rationing affected everyone, but evacuees often noticed that Harrow families shared what they had. Hosts received a billeting allowance, but it rarely covered the full cost of a growing child. Most evacuees returned home eventually; a few stayed for the rest of the war, and some never left Harrow at all.

How to trace an evacuee story in Harrow

If you want to find out more about an evacuee who came to Harrow — or a local family who took one in — start with what you already know. Names, nicknames, approximate dates and street names are all useful. Then work through the records step by step.

• Talk to relatives. Ask about the station, the road, the school and the host family's name. Even one detail can unlock a record.
• Search school records. Local schools and the local studies library hold admission registers and log books.
• Check the 1939 Register. This national record can show who was living at an address in September 1939.
• Look at council minutes. Billeting registers and evacuation committee papers can name host families.
• Read local newspapers. Reports on arrivals, appeals for billets and letters from parents.
• Listen to oral histories. Recorded interviews with evacuees and hosts bring register entries to life.

Not every story will be fully documented. Some records were lost, and some children were never formally registered. But even a partial trail — a school entry, a photograph, a newspaper notice — can help you build a picture. Keep asking, keep listening and keep sharing what you find. Harrow's wartime evacuees were part of a national movement, but their story belongs to this place: its stations, its streets, its schools and its families.