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element of fear appears to have been a minor one
many children sleeping through the worst raids
or regarding the whole as an exciting adventure.
The majority of the more nervous children were
evacuated by their parents, thus leaving only
a small number of nervous children who may have
suffered but showed no obvious signs of deterioration
in health by the end of 1940.
(4) MEDICAL INSPECTION. In Barking it was found
practicable to carry out quite frequent routine
medical inspection, indeed an attempt was made to
carry out full routine medical inspections on every
child in your schools once a term and as a matter
of fact this attempt proved successful.
I am convinced that this took up no more
time than normal medical inspections and carrying
out flying nutritional surveys and so far as my
information goes these frequent routine medical
inspections not only achieve all that can be done
by nutritional surveys but also help to expedite
the treatment of outstanding disabilities. In
making this statement I want to make it quite
clear I express no adverse opinion whatsoever
on the value of nutritional surveys under certain
circumstances.
It was your good fortune that you had
already set up a service which could be intensified,
in the way you determined and which it is my
submission has proved highly successful.
If the number of children inspected
appears to be small it is to be remembered that
a large number of children were evacuated and it
is also to be noted that during 1940 the amount
of time taken over these inspections is longer
than it would have been during peace time
because, of course, the air raids and threatened
air raids interfered with the work of your officers
by reason of the fact that the children were
being, from time to time, shepherded in and out
of shelters.

(b) Other Inspections:
Number of Special Inspections and
Re-Inspections 17,210
-8-