Trekking During in WW2: When Thousands Slept in Fields for Safety

Trekking During in WW2: When Thousands Slept in Fields for Safety

Today I want to continue our look into life on the British Home Front during the Second World War. I want to look at something that many people may never have heard of, and that was trekking. It was not an official evacuation, and it was not organised by the government. It involved ordinary people leaving cities at night to sleep somewhere they thought would be safer.

When the Blitz started in September 1940, Britain was suddenly facing night after night of air raids. For many families, the evenings were the hardest part. Night brought with it fear and a lack of sleep.

In London, many people sheltered in basements, public shelters, or even in the London Underground. Some Londoners also began leaving the city each evening, travelling to the quieter outskirts or nearby towns. A few even slept in their cars. But compared with other cities, large-scale trekking from London was relatively small, partly because London had more shelters available.

It was in Britain’s smaller cities that trekking became especially common. Places like Bristol, Coventry, Kingston upon Hull, Plymouth, Southampton, and Swansea often had less shelters and less protection. Many families just did not feel safe staying at home.

Can you imagine how draining this must have been. After a full day of working and maybe even volunteering for the war effort, instead of relaxing, thousands of people packed up blankets, even taking their children if they had them, and set off into the countryside. Some people walked for miles. Others caught the bus, used their bike, or car if they were lucky enough to have one. 

In early 1941, trekking reached huge numbers. After heavy bombing in April 1941, at least 30,000 people left Plymouth each night, with numbers rising to around 50,000 on some evenings. In Belfast, they were nicknamed “ditchers”, and large numbers also left after devastating raids. Many ended up sleeping in roadside ditches, fields, barns, churches, or any shelter they could find rather than sleeping in their warm bed.

The British government initially worried that trekking showed that morale was reducing. Some officials believed that it was only nervous or weaker-minded people that left. But that was unfair and misunderstood what people were actually feeling.

Most trekkers were not giving up. They were adapting.

Research later showed that the main reason people trekked was simple: they desperately needed to sleep. Imagine trying to rest while there were bombs going off. Fear and exhaustion built up night after night.

Many people were frustrated with the government. They believed they had not been given enough protection. 

Over time, the government began providing more rest centres and support. But by May 1941, the worst phase of the Blitz had passed, and large-scale trekking gradually declined.

To me, trekking says something about human survival. These people were not cowards. They were exhausted mothers, fathers, workers, and children doing whatever they could to protect themselves while still carrying on with daily life. Even after sleepless nights in fields or barns, many returned to work the next morning and kept going.

I think that shows incredible resilience.

Could you imagine leaving your home every night not knowing if it would still be there in the morning?