The government launched a voluntary evacuation program in December 1943 which encouraged old people, children and their mothers to move from the main cities and stay in the homes of friends and relatives in rural areas. The government provided civilians with little assistance to evacuate, however. Few people evacuated until the first raid by American heavy bombers on Japan, an attack on Yawata, in June 1944 after which the government urged families to evacuate their children. As a result, 459,000 children and their parents moved to stay with friends and relatives. For families without contacts in the countryside, entire school classes evacuated as groups accompanied by their teachers; by August 1944, 333,000 children had been relocated to rural areas where they continued their education in inns, temples and other public buildings. A further 343,000 urban residents were forced to leave their homes when they were destroyed to create firebreaks; these people either moved to the country or lived in temporary accommodation near their workplace.