The Matchcover Storyteller

“Plaid”  —  “Tartan”  —  They fall into the realm of “small category”, I think and I’ll be passing this one on to RMS member Randy Lauer who collects them; I bet he might like yours if you can spare them.

“The Scottish Clan Evacuation Plan”  —  this cover also fits into a realm of World War II covers dealing with British, world and related endeavors to help allies before America formally entered the fight near the end of 1941.

The Scottish Clans Evacuation Plan was created October 12th, 1940 after the fall of France.  Of all things, it was an American initiative founded by a Mrs. Marie Macneil of Barra, then living on Long Island.  Her plan was to turn over the Isle of Barra in the Hebrides, hereditary homeland of her husband for the purp0ose, but the British government placed it in a zone restricted for military operations and the highlands were a safer place.   She had cabled Cameron of Lochiel, the Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness-shire, suggesting the children of English cities facing the Nazi bombing blitz of cities might be safer if moved to locations in the Scottish highlands.  He agreed.  Mrs. Macneil then organized a variety of supports and soon children were being safely moved into first private homes, and then into a variety of castles, hotels and more.  Locations were a careful concern due to fears of Nazi bombing of Scottish cities that were Britain’s big shipbuilding centers.  Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President FDR, became a sponsor.

This was basically a volunteer organization raising money to move children from bombed zones into a largely un-bombed countryside further north.  It was comprised mostly of women of Scottish descent living in the New York area and in 1941 opened an office 4 E. 57th Street in Manhattan.

There appears to be no real record of just how many children were moved.  It’s also important to remember that this volunteer effort was quite separate from the truly massive government evacuations labeled “Operation Pied Piper”. More than 1.5 million people were evacuated in that one including specifically 176,000 in Scotland alone.

So this cover from Universal in New York, fits this small category, but also your WW II patriotic and particularly that grouping that includes “Bundles For Britain” and covers for relief efforts for Greece, Norway and more.