On the outbreak of war in 1939 the Government was gravely concerned about the safety of the nation’s children. The experience learnt for the Spanish Civil War had shown the kind of damage to life and property that was possible as a result of air attack and thus the Camp School Act was passed and hastily put into operation in 1939.

Children were evacuated from Scottish cities to five camp sites in Scotland:

Dounans at Aberfoyle in the Trossachs

Abington in the Southern Uplands

Middleton at Gorebridge in Midlothian

Meigle in Perthshire

Broomlee at West Linton in Peebleshire

Known as the “Wee Vacies” the children and their teachers were housed in blocks of wooden dormitories built of Canadian red cedarwood with metal bunk beds with a dining hall and assembly hall. Broomlea or example could accommodate 300 children. Many children stayed in these camps for five years until the end of the war in Europe and although the surroundings were entirely unfamiliar to city children many have very happy memories of their time as a “wee vacie”

When the evacuees were sent home the Scottish Camp Schools were used to house refugee children from the Netherlands where German occupation and war damage had left the people with little food or shelter.

In 1947 the Scottish National Camps Association was established and some of the original camps still survive today as outdoor centres for primary pupils and youth groups.