They climbed onto trains in their thousands to flee from air raids to the countryside.

More than 80 years later, their numbers are dwindling and the group which shares their stories is set to fold.

The British Evacuees Association, which produces the Evacuee magazine, has told members it will have to close down in June unless it finds extra funding.

Eastern Daily Press: Children being evacuated from Lowestoft in 1940Children being evacuated from Lowestoft in 1940 (Image: Eastern Daily Press)

It said: "The association is feeling the effects of age like most of our members. The older our members become, the less members we have."

Its members include retired smallholder Roy Fleming, 87, from Watton.

"Evacuees are now becoming thin on the ground," he said. "They're all in their 80s or their 90s now.

"It's important for future people to understand what happened, it's part of World War II history."

Eastern Daily Press: Evacuees arriving at King's LynnEvacuees arriving at King's Lynn (Image: Archant archive)

READ MORE: Former evacuee tells of north Norfolk upbringing

READ MORE: New book shares memories of evacuees

READ MORE: How Norfolk town became safe haven in the war

Mr Fleming, who retired to Norfolk in 2001, was evacuated from south London to Brynamman in the Brecon Beacons at the age of seven, after he and school friends were fired on by a German bomber during an air raid.

"My evacuation was wonderful for me," said Mr Fleming, who was one of nine children.

"I was on a small chicken farm and they looked after me. I even had a lovely bedroom all to myself."

Eastern Daily Press: Children are given refreshments before their train departs from Great Yarmouth in 1940Children are given refreshments before their train departs from Great Yarmouth in 1940 (Image: Eastern Daily Press)

Thousands of children were evacuated from London and other high-risk cities to rural Norfolk after the war began in 1939.

They included the young Maurice Micklewhite - who would go on to become the actor Michael Caine.

They were among 1.5m who were packed off to escape from the bombing in what was known as Operation Pied Piper.

When they arrived in towns like King's Lynn, Dereham or Swaffham, they were lined up by billetting officers so foster families could choose which to adopt.

Some 3,000 were also evacuated from their homes in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth to the Midlands in June 1940, because of the threat of air raids and invasion.