The November 1938 edition of the Great Western Railway Magazine (the fiftieth since its first publication) recorded that for three 12-hour periods in September that year some 170 trains were run each day to evacuate civilians from London. Children from London County Council schools and orphans from Dr Bernardo's homes were carried from Paddington to more than 30 provincial destinations. Forty more trains were held in readiness to start evacuating the civilian population, while similar arrangements were planned for Birmingham, and special trains were formed to evacuate hospital staff and patients from the two cities.
Photographs dated 29 September 1938 show crowds of women and children at Paddington boarding trains for the West of England, the day that Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich pact. The week before that was marked by unusually high numbers of departures from London as people left of their own accord. News of the signing of the pact led to the termination at Bristol of a special train that was to have conveyed naval ratings to Scotland. A 'reverse plan' was implemented to return people to London.
Under the heading "A Splendid Example", the magazine recorded that one of the GWR's auditors, Mr R.J.R. Loxdale, of Llanilar, Cardiganshire, had sent a cheque for £50 to the Railway Benevolent Institution in order to express his "gratitude and appreciation that the horrors of war [had] been averted".
I wonder if he asked for his money back the following year?
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