At the outbreak of war in September 1939 up to three million children and their teachers were evacuated from Britain’s cities to safer places in the countryside. Dubbed ‘Operation Pied Piper’, the entire process took just four days and remains the largest mass movement of people in British history. The children left home with no idea where they were going, nor when they would be coming back. For some the experience of being billeted with new families was deeply traumatic; for others it was more of an adventure. Seventy years on sociologist Monica Morris, herself an evacuee, has collected testimonies from some of those who were evacuated, and talks to Jane about the impact it had on their lives.
‘Goodnight Children, Everywhere’, by Monica B. Morris, is published by The History Press, ISBN: 978-0-7524-5282-1
