I cannot answer for their decision, but my sister told me later that it had been discussed rationally with her and she had the choice of buying a school uniform for Lady Margaret School, as she had just qualified herself by passing the scholarship, or buying clothes suitable for travelling abroad.  It must have been an unimaginably difficult decision.  This was at the time children were being sent abroad to Canada and South Africa, so there would be no chance to change your mind and bring the son or daughter back home for the weekend.   But of course, I knew nothing of the stress and strain this must have put on my parents and sister, as I was interested only in the next Rusk soaked in milk. My sister sailed from Liverpool on 24th August 1940 and arrived five weeks later.  A voyage to Cape Town takes a fortnight, but their convoy had zigzagged the Atlantic to avoid submarines.   Very soon after that the evacuation of children to other countries was stopped after U-boats sank a passenger liner full of children.